kneed two know
I’m sure everyone is sick to death with my whining about my knee surgery, so l won’t. It’s been a long haul but I’ve had good care from my doctor and my family. I have much to be grateful for. Bt by gum and golly I am ready to heal. I’ve gone from bed to wheelchair to walker to cane and since the knee occasionally gives out on me I don’t think I’m going to lose the cane anytime soon. Helas.
On the other hand, I’ve had nothing but free time so I went back over all my books, fixing infelicities, print errors, and just plain old bad writing. I’ve also found things that were not, or insufficiently, explained. I had good writing teachers but when it comes down to it, you have to be your own harshest editor. I was told that you’re not a writer until you can cut a passage you absolutely love (a work of sheerest genius) because it doesn’t work there, in that time, in that spot. Another thing I had to face is that I’m a good deal less clever, witty, and prescient than one (me) might think and my sense of humor can be pain in someone’s royal fundament. So that has to go, too.
It’s been absolute hell. I’ve loved it.
Possibly under the good vibrations emanating from all that humiliation I was able to finish a book I began (I kid you not) in 1991. That’s 30, three zero, thirty years. It went from as short as 80,000 words to over 600,000 words and I was never happy with it. I have good forebearing friends and relatives who will happily (teeth gritted and cursing under their breath) read a work in progress and give an honest (sometimes too honest) opinion. These folks are pearls beyond price.
Being only arrogant, but not completely arrogant, I took their suggestion, opinions, editorial advice to heart. Sometimes. LOOKING FOR TENNESSEE WILLIAMS is dedicated to those folks who were good loving friends, though none of them speak to me any longer. Well, one is deceased so I cut him some slack. I finally got the book into a shape I was not embarrassed to publish. And, yes, I’ve rewritten it as well during the great Knee Hiatus.)
On that… right when the pandemic began, I published the sixth Jeff Chaussier and since the thing dragged on and on I wrote and published another. Sorry to say, there are three other Jeff’s in the pipeline though number ten is not yet finished. Because the knee got better and though I can’t drive I’ve hired two family members as Uber drivers and can get out a little. Largely, to see doctors about my knee.
My knee. That’s what I was supposed to write about.
Too late now. I’m tired.