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Hi, everyone!

 

So I owe a special nod of thanks to Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge.

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Really I'm referring to LeVar Burton, who played Geordi (we Star Trek fans are all on a first name basis with the characters) during the entire run of ST:TNG.

 

I owe Mr. Burton my gratitude because some time ago did an interview with the New York Times. The main thrust of the interview was his upcoming guest hosting duties on Jeopardy and his desire to serve as the show's permanent host. But in addition to that, he took the time to talk about what it meant to play a number of roles that have become important cultural touchstones: Kunta Kinte in Roots, his work on Reading Rainbow, and, of course, Geordi La Forge.

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What moved me--and what made me examine my own work as a writer whose career seems to be following a pattern of failure, followed by moderate success, followed by failure again--is the way Mr. Burton spoke of his own disappointments.

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He said this: "The real truth that I have come to recognize is that everything that is supposed to be for me comes to me. If it doesn't come my way, it wasn't meant for me. It's all perfect in its design and execution."

 

This knocked the breath out of me. American Ghosts was clearly a gift that had come to me. At the time, I was just thinking I could begin writing again, but I had only a twelve year old, plodding desktop with no functioning writing software. Before starting a novel, I would need both a new computer and Microsoft Office. Money, of course, was the big hurdle here.

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And then, unexpectedly, the needed money fell out of the sky and landed in our mailbox. With Christie's encouragement, I bought what I needed to begin writing my first new novel in seventeen years. I finished the first draft of American Ghosts in two and a half months. It was nearly 300 pages long. For perspective, The first draft of Pepperland was just over 200 pages long and took me a year.

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Just as Commander La Forge said, if it's meant for you, it will come to you.

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So now that  American Ghosts is finished and ready, and I can hold it in my hand and see its cover staring back at me, LeVar Burton's words once again give me great comfort. I believe I'm meant to write novels. When I'm ready, they'll come to me. It's all perfect in its design and execution.

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Thanks, Geordi.

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-Mark

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