It suddenly struck me that after I finish the book that I’m working on, that I have one…maybe two…books left until all the McKenna books that I have written so far are caught up.
What!
When I began publishing this series, I of course hoped they would be the great American novel and bring in rolling gobs of money and maybe some recognition.
That was one hope. As I have gone along, however, I really have changed to just wanting to transform all those yellow legal pads full of writing into something tangible and readable.
Something that can sit tidily on a shelf. Something that my kids and the grandkids can mosey over to and say: That looks interesting. And pull it down to open it up.
And, by George, I think I might just get it done!
As I have finished the 15 or so pads full of longhand that it takes to make one book, I carry them back down to my basement and stack them in order in the big Tupperware bins from which they emerged. The newest ones sat there for a decade before I began putting them on disc. They gradually got more crinkly, and they got wet, and some random cat puked on some of them because the top of the container wasn’t on right.
Some of the older ones; the Two Houses ones; have been sitting since before our third daughter, Brynn, was born. She was born on this day in 1980. That’s a goodly amount of time to sit in a Tupperware bin.
So, now, they will be all cleaned up, typed up, bound within a cover, ready to sit on a shelf. I have most of them on mine. Not all, but most. Mission accomplished.
Almost.
I still have a couple to go. One, I was in the middle of writing when I began typing up Two Houses. I haven’t got back to that one yet. And it is quite interesting, if I may so. It will answer some questions. It will bring up a few more; like most of the books tend to do.
Like Life does, I guess.
So, I can’t leave it hanging. I’ll write that one, too. But this time, I’ll be purely creating, not typing what was created years ago. I’m looking forward to that.
Then, too, there are about 3 books that I’m tentatively calling The Duggansville Years, which I wrote in the early ‘70’s. I think I will probably have to write them from scratch again, although I know the storyline.
But I’m just going to enjoy straight creative writing, on a computer, for awhile. I don’t know how much further it will go. How many more generations of McKennas will be born in the North Georgia hills, grow up, find true…or not so true…love, go off to war in Korea, or Viet Nam, or the Gulf, or maybe be flying on Sept 11; who knows?
We’ll see.