Jeffery Lyles never envisioned himself as a writer, but his first novel, Nephilim: The Long Journey Home April 18, and was based on many accounts from his own life.
“I took my experiences and put them into the book,” Lyles said. “My idea was that we all try to make the right decisions, but sometimes you can only do the best you can with what’s in front of you.”
A longtime pipe fitter and outdoorsman, the 57-year-old Tennessee native and Yacolt resident could often be found out on many hiking trails, taking photos of animals and landscapes. One such excursion back in Tennessee, however, nearly cost Lyles his life.
“I was out cliff diving in my younger days and didn’t realize how far the water level had dropped. I ended up diving from 15 to 20 feet, head first, into about three feet of water,” said Lyles. “I was able to get myself out of the water but soon collapsed because of both the pain in my neck and numbness throughout my upper body. I eventually got up and drove home and my dad took me to the hospital.”
What the doctors told him was frightening. They said he could potentially be forced to live the rest of his life as a quadriplegic due to the nerve damage in his neck and back. Amazingly, Lyles didn’t end up in a wheelchair, but as he got older, the effects of the accident took its toll.
“I moved out to Woodland in 1985 and worked in the construction industry all over the country,” Lyles said. “I worked at paper mills, nuclear, commercial and high-tech plants, chemical plants and oil refineries. But your body can be like a book sometimes and it forces you to revisit chapters. Eventually the pain became so bad I had to stop working.”
Returning to a doctor’s office in 2010, he finally saw the extent of the damage that had lingered in his neck. The C-5 vertebrae was fractured and the C-6 was fully collapsed, and Lyles said his doctor asked him a stark question when the results came back.
“He genuinely asked me how I was still alive,” Lyles said. “Under the circumstances, it truly was a bit of a miracle.”
After undergoing spinal fusion surgery in October 2011, he began the long road to recovery, while also realizing his body had undergone some unforeseen changes.
“Because my spine was so compressed, they straightened it out and my height increased by an inch,” Lyles said. “It may sound a little crazy, but I had to get used to where my mouth was now so I could get food into it.”
During the preparation for the surgery, he had begun formulating the story, but had reservations about actually sitting down to write it.
“I’ve always liked literature and would usually read one paperback book every day, but grammar was never my best subject,” Lyles said. “I didn’t have the money to work with a professional editor so I had to take my time and make sure every chapter was written properly.”
In putting together the story of his protagonist, Adam, Lyles also interjected his fascination with both Christianity and Native American spirituality, while trying not to pander to either side.
“My concern about religion is that in having read the Bible from start to finish, I remembered most of the stories from when I was a kid and others were incomplete,” Lyles said. “Native American culture and spirituality comes about the same issues from a different angle, so I wanted to find a way to blend the two in a respectful way.”
Aside from making sure the words were right, Lyles said his biggest challenge was to overcome his physical limitations to sit at his computer and churn out the manuscript.
“I would try to work all day, but it was hard to write consistently,” Lyles said. “Physically, I wasn’t able to write to my expectations and it was frustrating, but I got through it.”
Looking ahead, he admits he has the structures formed for two more books, but Lyles is reluctant to say if he’ll produce them or not.
“It will depend on the response I get from this first one,” Lyles said. “I really hope it’s a book people will like and appreciate, and it’s been a humbling experience, seeing it online.”
If he does decide to write the new stories, Lyles admitted he will make it a more collaborative effort, “I’m hoping to save up to have a professional editor the next time, but even though this book is done, it’s never really finished. I wanted to leave the idea that the door is always open to new possibilities.”
Nephilim: The Long Journey Home is available for purchase on www.Amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com and www.powells.com in both paper and electronic formats. Lyles lives in Yacolt with his wife of 27 years, Linda.
