Third Wish - The Czech Edition of Fulghum’s New Novel My novel, Third Wish, began as a what-if? adventure. More than anything else, I’m a storyteller by trade. But my stories have always been short. Could I write a really long story? Why not? Commercial publication was not my original goal. I wanted to write a book I would want to read - one I would want to keep and read again - one that was a product of a life I would have to live to write it. A keepsake. If there was only one copy, so be it. The life got lived and the book got written. The first two volumes were self-published as an art book In November, 2004, THIRD WISH (Volume One) was published in the Czech language by Argo Publishers, Prague. The translated title is TRETI PRANI, with marks over letters that my computer won’t reproduce.  In my office, we call it “Treated Prawns”. The book was well received by the Czechs, selling somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 copies.  The Czech edition of Third Wish The second volume, THIRD WISH, THE REST OF THE STORY, ALMOST was released in October, 2005 and the final volume, THIRD WISH, GRANTED was published in May of 2006. The Czech edition of Third Wish: The Rest of the Story, Almost So, what’s it about, this novel? Big themes - life and love and death and history, and the need to have a Witness to what happens to us in the world. The root setting is the island of Crete in Greece, but action takes place elsewhere as well - Spain, France, England, and Japan. Words from seven languages are woven into the text. The story spans 90 years. I ignored or revised many of the conventions of the novels you might find on the NYT bestseller list.  As I said, I set out to please myself. It’s grand that the Czech publisher was also pleased. Argo did a fine job with the pubilcation: quality paper, faithful reproduction of handwritten notes in the text, sharp and careful printing of illustrations in color, and a built-in red silk bookmark. I could not have asked for more.  And who knows? It might be published in the United States some fine day.