DEAR DIARY | THE WRITER'S LIFE
Despite suffering from diagnosed chronic anxiety in general, the separation kind is the specific one which I'm able to deal with most effectively. Obviously my main separation anxiety is with that from my children. But we all agree that things worked out in a funny way for the best, so the month between each meeting is one spent looking forward to the next. The most difficult separation to deal with at the moment, is the one from my own fictional characters. And then there's the one my dad has, from the past...
Simon Fry, Hannah Jones and the others have been away with test readers now for three weeks. Those readers still have just under two weeks left to do their thing, then Cyrus Song will be out not long after. While the manuscript has been out, I've finished all editing, other than any which might be suggested by the beta readers. So now I'm restless.
Part of the angst is anticipating the forthcoming launch of the book. I'd convinced myself it was a good book a long time ago, which is why writers need test readers. I've re-read the book after doing my best to ignore it for a month, and it's still good. I've had positive comments and reviews from casual readers, but it all hinges on the two remaining test readers with whom I have contracts. As I've said recently and in the past, being an optimist or a pessimist makes no difference to the outcome, but the optimist has a better time leading up to it. And I still miss my characters.
I've started plotting the sequel to Cyrus Song, I'm writing new short stories (The Afternaut will be the next one, in a week or two), and I'm working on some freelance projects. I've also started a small personal project, which will benefit very few, but for those very few, it ought to be a nice thing. A little recent history will help to place things into context:
My dad (75) has had some neurological issues for some time now, and he was recently diagnosed with excess fluid around the cerebellum of his brain. He's seen a consultant and had an MRI scan, and the hope is that the fluid can simply be drained to alleviate what is hopefully a temporary condition. An intelligent man, my dad has grown frustrated at times, because his condition affects his short-term memory and his orientation. Just as I envy my own children and the technology they will have available to them later in life, so it is quite tragic that my dad and many others don't have access to, nor understanding of, current technology.
Dad is interested in many things, but mainly history. A labourer all his working life, he worked at stately homes and public schools, with all of the history and stories which such places hold. Like me, he's not only interested in things but how those things work and how they came to be, and how we have moved on since. He's interested in the history of places and things which he has a connection to: It's a classic case of nostalgia.
Well, my dad's own son (that's me) is a writer, with access to technology and research tools. After some searching, I've managed to track down a reprinted copy of a book from 1917 about Ightham and the surrounding area. Ightham is the village where myself and my sister grew up, where our parents worked for a wealthy family and we lived on their private estate, in the grounds of Oldbury Place. It was a childhood filled with hopes and dreams, in a 19th century stable cottage built of Kentish ragstone, set in the middle of a private woods.
Beyond the grounds of the main house is Oldbury Hill and Oldbury Woods, with its caves and remains of an Iron Age hill fort. In Ightham itself, there are many buildings and places of note, the most famous of which is Ightham Mote. The village and surrounding areas have been populated by historical figures, landed gentry, entrepreneurs and philanthropists. It's a small Kent village, absolutely stuffed with history and fascinating facts.
My dad's not really one for reading, although my mum is. I'll give the 1917 book to my mum as a keepsake, but short of her actually reading my dad bedtime stories, he wouldn't gain much from that arrangement. So before I hand the book over, I'm going to do some additional research of my own, to pull in some points of interest specific to my dad. Then I'm going to write a book: A very small book, in large print and with pictures. It won't be a commercial release; It'll be a one-off. I can use the publishing process I'd normally use for a mainstream book and order printed book proofs at relatively low cost. So what my dad will get, will be a personalised historical record of some of the places he's attached to, in an easy to read and digest format: Oldbury and Ightham, Yotes Court (an 18th Century house), and Tonbridge School (founded in 1553). In comparison to the places he's worked, my dad is very young. And I want to take him back there with his book.
Perhaps there'll come a day when I'm no longer judged by some people for my wrong deeds (which I made amends for and pay the price for daily). Maybe those same people might undertake some research of their own, so that they can see how alcohol and anti-depressants can lead to blackouts. They might one day even ask me themselves, rather than continuing to judge. Frankly, I have nothing to say to such people: It's all in this blog. And a lot more besides, about the various ways I've helped others and continue to do so.
What I'm keen to be judged on, is the new novel. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks my separation anxiety will be over, when my characters return to me. Then me and them can get out there in the wider world, while we write a sequel. And soon my dad will feel younger again.
Cyrus Song should now be out around the end of August. A Personal journey through the garden of England is pencilled in for December (with a Staedtler Noris 122).
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