A couple things:
1) After writing the Rwanda thing, I wanted to give it a day or six to sit and be read instead of being skipped past or buried under a a bunch of “What Peanuts Character Am I?” type of posts. Then I wrote “Daddy’s Sacred Underwear,” of which I happen to be rather fond. I wanted the underwear thing to sit for a day or six too.
I know that I have to keep updating my blog or the readership will fall off, and I don’t want that. I like the fact that a dozen or so folks check in on the blog every day or two. You readers are the very best!
2) After writing the underwear thing I got to thinking (often a scary thing). If I start with the premise that my father has been inexorably drawn to McCarthy since birth (or at least since his mother died) then I can use this thread to connect a whole mess of stories. Pretty much everything relating to the family could be connected without losing that thread and there are a LOT of family stories I can put together. It doesn’t even have to be about my Dad and McCarthy as much as MY watching my Dad and his steady progression toward McCarthy (it IS, after all, all about me). Add some fleshier history lessons about McCarthy, I think I’m capable of putting together a few hundred pages of hilarious (or at least amusing), potentially informative, potentially occasionally touching stories. I’m no David Sedaris but I’m pretty sure I can pull it off.
I’ve floated the idea past the family and they seem enthusiastic.
The question to my constant readers is this: Would you have any interest in such a thing? Would it be worthy of my time to try it out? Would you recommend I post parts of it as they come out (if I really want to sell it, would it be wise to give it all away to begin with?)
I’m eager to hear suggestions!
4 comments:
I read about your Dad's sacred underwear and even checked out some of the links... So, yes, your project sounds interesting to folks as far away as Florida. And yes, sample chapters posted in you blog do generate interest...
Besides that, you are a talented writer whatever your subject.
Is the project commercialy viable???
Who knows.
Go for it.
Eric,
I say go for it! Your ability to "show" us what you are saying in a kind of Edgar Allen Poe meets Patrick F. McManus (http://www.mcmanusbooks.com/) kind of way is both entertaining and informative. There is also a Field of Dreams kind of thing here, Listen to The Voice that says "if you write it - they will read it". You only have 3 things to be true to, Yourself, Your Subject, and Your Humor. With that all said, LETS SEE SOME.
- TV
Who cares if it is commercially viable ? With all of the technology today, you can publish from home. Look at all the creative CDs you have made for your family over the past few years. Imagine what you could do with some bindery gear and some fancy paperboard to create a book. Add some oddly morphed real family photos so it doesn't really resemble us so closely, and voila!
I can't speak for the rest of the family, but as I said in your email, as long as you embarrass yourself as equally as you do the rest of the family, it is all good.
If you need help on stories, etc, I can think of quite a few funny moments.
J-bro
Thanks John and Pete and Jaws and J.
You are my most loyal fans and I appreciate the support more than I can adequately express.
By the way, I'm ordering John's novel "The Lazarus Projects" tonight. I try to avoid reading with my eyes, but I'll make an exception here. John, if any of your books are available as audiobooks, let me know.
Oh and to J: The idea would be the book would be pretty much about everyone else but from my perspective. That said, I am most always the biggest baffoon in any story I tell. Sometimes one has to play the hands they are dealt, eh?
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