One of my favorite authors in the ‘70s and ‘80s was Lawrence Sanders. You may remember him from the Edward X. Delaney series, the first two (The Anderson Tapes, The First Deadly Sin) of which were made into movies featuring, respectively, Sean Connery and Frank Sinatra. He also authored the Commandment series, the Archie McNally series, and a couple other series, as well as several stand-alone novels and stories, beginning his career as a novelist at the age of 50.
Though I enjoyed reading his more than two dozen titles (mostly in the criminal genre), the one that has stuck with me through all these years is The Tomorrow File, a tale of ‘social-science fiction’. Akin to Orwell’s 1984, Sanders’ story predicts the future in a surprisingly accurate way.
In this story, a patent officer periodically comes across applications which he steals and places in a manila folder labeled The Tomorrow File. His plan is simple: hold the patents until his retirement whereupon he will reap the future rewards of his thefts.
Having read this, I created my own ‘tomorrow file’ of ‘bucket list’ and story ideas upon which I recently stumbled. (Don’t ask how or where). Though the list is full of a young man’s aspirations, some were viable and have subsequently appeared in print or on film though not written by me. (The industrious early bird does indeed get the worm!)
Three fledgling concepts in the file still pique my interest: a horror story involving a stalked writer, a tale about an international serial killer, and a concept based on the book and subsequent movie titled The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. With a more mature eye, and the realization that these untold tales of mine may now be considered derivative, I spent some time over the last several weeks fleshing out plot-lines and characters. Odd how the timing to do this has coincided with the government shutdown.
Yes, it took time away from The Last Elf Series. Yes, I apologize to those who are waiting for Book 3 The Gathering Fails. And finally, yes, I am committed not to pull a ‘Martin’ or a ‘Jordan’, though I have no control over the latter.
Having satisfied my writer’s desire (for the moment) to explore all the stories which insist be told, I am back at work on Book 3. I wish I could say the same for our government.
That t-shirt in the photo was a Christmas present from my bestie and his wife.
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