If you’re a fan of Coachella Valley-based authors or have a strong interest in Thomas Edison, you’re probably familiar with David Church.
Church’s latest book is Thomas Edison and the Magi Solution, which was slated for release on April 30. He grew up in a small town in Indiana and said his initial creative outlet was as an actor, but when he got to college in Boston, he discovered that rather than having an “actor’s instinct,” he had a “creative instinct,” which manifested itself much better by putting pen to paper. Church started by writing short sample sitcom episodes, but then moved on to longer pieces.
Church said he’s the only member of his family who was bitten by the writing bug.
“It was not a world my family members knew, so they were puzzled by it, but also gratified by it,” he said. “… If you can really enjoy the process, it’s completely worthwhile.”
Church made his way to Los Angeles after college and got a “day job” as an advertising executive with J. Walter Thompson, but never stopped writing. He penned some screenplays, two of which sold, as well as a musical play.
During his L.A. years, Church made sporadic trips out to the Coachella Valley to de-stress. He made a permanent move here about four years ago, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and said it’s one of the best decisions he ever made.
With collaborators Jim Webber and Joe Patrick Ward, Church wrote the musical Judy’s Scary Little Christmas, which has been performed in various places since 2002, including a couple of times in L.A. It is licensed with Concord Theatricals, and every year, one or two productions are mounted at theaters in the U.S. Church is hoping a theater here in the valley will put it on sometime in the future.
When asked about his writing process, Church said: “It’s two separate ways for me. If I am writing something, it is more the moment of impulse. … You just think and think and think, and hope that it evolves into something of value. When I’m re-writing something—and rewriting is 90 percent of it—it’s much more surgical. It’s almost like solving a puzzle.”
Church said he used to keep a pen and paper next to his bed to write down random late-night thoughts, but stopped, because when he’d re-read his notes, they often made no sense at all.
One day while puttering around at home, Church put on the History Channel. His ears perked up when he heard that Thomas Edison once tried to invent a machine that could communicate with the dead. Curious, Church contacted the Edison estate in Fort Myers, Fla., and spoke with the docent, who confirmed that for three decades, Edison worked on versions of what he called the “spirit box.” The goal was to bend sound waves that could tap into the afterlife.
Church also learned that in February 1918, during World War I, Edison disappeared for an entire month. No one had any idea where he went. So Church thought to himself: What if he went to the afterlife? What if this wasn’t a spirit box, but a traveling machine? That was the impetus for the first book, Thomas Edison and the Purgatory Equation, in what became a trilogy.
In 2019, a voluminous book on Edison by Edmund Morris partially answered the question of where Edison was during the month he went missing.
“At that time, Edison had come up with a variety of machines, in theory, for the War Department,” Church said. “But they denied all of Edison’s machine proposals, primarily because they did not kill people.”
It is believed that Edison had a nervous breakdown, and that his wife took him to a friend’s villa in South Florida, where he recovered. Church said this seems to be the most plausible explanation so far.
As for writer’s block, Church said it’s not really a problem for him. “Once I know where I’m going, it’s incremental enough that I can see it moving forward in my mind’s eye,” he said.
Church did not plan for his first book to be part of a trilogy, but once he completed it, he realized that he had laid in enough elements that could transfer to another book.
“The trick was,” Church said, “that the first book was very much a traditional adventure. The second book takes place in 1933, and it tends to mirror the element of the times, which is kind of a screwball comedy quality, though there are some very dark things in it. The third book takes place in the final days of World War II and is a bit more sober.”
The process of creating the first book took several years. Church said he wrote it, and then set it aside for a year or so before coming back to it.
“I realized it was over-written,” he said. “I had to keep paring it down, because it really should read like an action-packed adventure.”
As for writer’s block, Church said it’s not really a problem for him.
“Once I know where I’m going, it’s incremental enough that I can see it moving forward in my mind’s eye,” he said. “Usually, I know the beginning, and I know the end. You’ve just got to fill things in, in a way that gets you there.”
Church said he loves Palm Springs, calling it “a progressive town with great restaurants.” There’s a collegiality and a civility here that is missing in many other parts of the country, he said.
“It’s refreshing to be here,” he added.
Palm Springs does have its dark side, though. Nonetheless, Church said if he were to set his next novel here, it would be more of a comedic piece.
Church and some of the “marvelous” friends he’s met here sometimes get together at Koffi, which they call “the office.” Church is a member of the Palm Springs International Film Society, which he feels does “incredible work,” and recently joined the Palm Springs Writers Guild.
Church said there comes a point in life when you have to look at the world and ask yourself a question: Am I going to be a good guy, or a bad guy?
“And I’m telling you, man, being a good guy is so much easier, and so much more rewarding,” he said.
His advice to young writers just starting out? “Don’t let anyone dissuade you. Everyone has at least one story. Find a way to tell it.”
Learn more at edisontrilogy.com.
Bonnie Gilgallon has written theater reviews for Independent since 2013. She hosts a digital interview show, The Desert Scene, which can be heard on www.thedesertscene.com and viewed on Mutual Broadcasting’s YouTube channel. Learn more at bonnie-g.com.
