Editing David Eddings (section)

=== Early literary career ===
Eddings had completed the first draft of his first published novel, ''[[High Hunt]]'', in March 1971 while serving his jail term.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gifford.mla.hcommons.org/2020/02/03/on-reading-monsters/#13n|title = On Reading Monsters – James Gifford| date=3 February 2020 }}</ref> ''High Hunt'' was a contemporary story of four young men hunting [[deer]]. Like many of his later novels, it explores themes of manhood and [[coming of age]]. Convinced that being an author was his future career, after a short period in Denver, David and Leigh Eddings moved to [[Spokane, Washington|Spokane]], where he relied on a job at a grocery shop for his funds. ''High Hunt'' was published in early 1972 by [[G. P. Putnam's Sons]] to modestly positive reviews.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/david-eddings/high-hunt/|title = HIGH HUNT &#124; Kirkus Reviews}}</ref>

Eddings continued to work on several unpublished novels, including ''Hunseeker's Ascent'', a story about [[mountain climbing]], which was later burned, as Eddings claimed it was "a piece of tripe so bad it even bored me."<ref name="auto1">David and Leigh Eddings, ''The Rivan Codex'', {{ISBN|0006483496}}, p. 11</ref> Most of his attempts followed the same vein as ''High Hunt'': adventure stories and contemporary tragedies. None were sold or published, with the eventual exception of ''The Losers'', which tells the story of [[God]] and [[the Devil]] cast in the roles of Raphael Taylor, gifted student and athlete, and Damon Flood, a scoundrel determined to bring Raphael down. Though written in the 1970s, ''The Losers'' was not published until June 1992, well after Eddings' success as an author was established.<ref name="starlog210"/>