THE WRITER'S LIFE
If I could hang my hat on a short story I wrote, it would be Echo Beach. If I can hang my hat on a novel, it'll be Cyrus Song. If anyone were tempted to read one article on this blog, I'd point them here for now.
There are many more short stories planned, as well as whole new books. But recently, I've had to move things around a little. I'm planning what I think is a very appropriate Christmas gift for my parents (and I'm out of the horror market for now). When you're given the opportunity to look forward five years, certain plans take shape.
In my last blog post, I mentioned a book which I was planning for my dad. Now that I've had time to start plotting it out, it's going to take longer than I originally thought to put it together. But I've resolved to make this book before I move onto the next one. Why would I post this here, in a public forum, and now indelible? The reasons are as simple as the ones I have for writing the book: To hang my hat on a blog post, step forward and offer the chance of final judgement for those who still hide in the background, and who will remain there.
I don't seek forgiveness from any false deity, nor do I repent for my sins in the eyes of an unseeing God. My debts on Earth are repaid to the humans who matter to me, and those who will come after them. And they will attest to this, but not in a kangaroo court.
What went on (that would be me going into meltdown), is all squared with family and real friends: I got drunk. I was addicted (I'm still an addict, and always will be), I was on anti-depressants, which, combined with alcohol, can result in blackouts. But I re-live it, as it is not to be denied. I've got a medical record which convinced two tribunal panels that I am mentally ill, but otherwise well in the situation which took so much effort to win, and which now sits around me: A modest, secure home, with a social landlord, meaning long-term security. Now that I have that, I live as a diagnosed functioning alcoholic with chronic depression and anxiety. But I live: Perhaps some people will never be happy with the outcome. Finances are still lacking, so I have to make things. But I digress.
My mum (always affectionately referred to as 'The Mothership' here (Hi mum), because she gets me: she was a conspirator in making me), sometimes reads this blog. So am I spoiling a surprise? No. What this post does (if The Mothership reads it) is make a promise to her, in public. She trusts me now, based on the last three years of drawing ever closer as a family. So she knows that I won't break my promise. And I know that I will be able to refer back to this post in five months or so and be vindicated in the eyes of remaining doubters. To be honest, those people bother me no less than an infection which can be ignored. My point with all of this, is to raise two fingers, with a sharp chop to my inside elbow and a reflex raising of my left hand. It's my cure for cancer.
Will mum tell dad? Maybe. It doesn't matter. The book I'm planning is one which they can both look forward to seeing in print. I've expanded my research a little, just into the history of the house and village where my mum lived, before she and dad lived together. The rest of dad's life was spent with mum, in the same places. What occurred to me at first as a way to give a temporarily fading memory something to hook onto, has become more as I've plotted it. Now it will be a story of two people and how they left marks together, like names carved in a tree.
Every fine garden which my dad created and tended, will always bear his footprint. Every meal which my mum cooked, back in the family unit day, fed labour, and the imagination of a kid. My parents created the means to tell their story. I am that thing which they made, and this book seems an appropriate way to give something back and say a simple thank you.
I can write, compile, edit and publish a book, all from my desk. There will most likely be only a few copies given away, but the book will have an ISBN as part of the publishing process. My parents and those who know them will have a book. Anyone will be able to buy the book; a slice-of-life story from the Kent countryside (beware of spoonerisms). The bottom line is, I can immortalise my parents: I think that's a nice gift from a writer, who was given the gift of writing (albeit unwittingly) by his parents. It's something they can share. They gave me this IQ of 147, and now I know what it's for.
And they are a proud couple, with every right to be. They are proud of me, and I will always give them every reason to be. They are proud to have such as a strange thing as a writer. I write bedtime stories for my kids now. So I can write a book which tells a brief history of how it all started.
All of which means I'm able to agree with myself that my future publishing schedule should go something like this(ish):
Cyrus Song: Now late August / early September, with 12 days left for final test reader comments.
Quietly, Through the Garden of England: Now the working title, being as it's the journey of two people who would otherwise have gone unnoticed, but who made such a difference. I'm resolved to December publication.
Reflections of Yesterday (still the working title for an anthology): July 2018. I'm writing the fourth of 17 shorts for this: Longer stories, written in different personal circumstances from The Perpetuity of Memory's 25 tales. 42 in total.
Cyrus Song II: December 2018. If my confidence in the original is vindicated, this would be the right time.
Infana Kolonia: July 2019. This is still planned as a sci-fi epic but the current plot takes it to 1200 pages, so it needs some work.
Forgive me No-one: May 2020: My uncensored autobiography, if it's noteworthy. And that all depends where eight published books gets me if I make 50. I don't seek forgiveness from any false deity, nor do I repent for my sins in the eyes of an unseeing God. My debts on Earth are repaid to the humans who matter, and those who will come after them. Despite what's in my head sometimes, with this plan in place, I hope I live to be my parents' age. Maybe then I'll be half as wise as them.
In the meantime, The Afternaut is shaping up into something really quite original, but which still sticks to the brief sent into the Unfinished Literary Agency. It should now be out in the first half of August, and I think the idea donor will be pleased: Not just with their idea being turned into a story, but knowing that it's out there and that anyone could read it, if they had time.
And you've been so busy lately
that you haven't found the time
To open up your mind
And watch the world spinning gently out of time
Feel the sunshine on your face
It's in a computer now
Gone are the future, way out in space...
(Out of Time: Blur, Ben Hillier, Marrakech, 2002).
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