Whew!

 

I just spent the last five days (perhaps six) audio recording, listening to, and then editing my next book, DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal: A Harvest of Memories from the Fan Who Knew Him Best.   It’s an enhanced version of my 2001 title DeForest Kelley A Harvest of Memories, My Life and Times with a Remarkable Gentleman Actor.

 

The new title has at least 80 new pages and lots of images that weren’t in the original version of the book. De’s last days in the hospital have been thinned out, too, so the book is mostly a rip-roaring fun read.

 

I have to admit, though, when I got to the last pages, I had a helluva time getting through them without crying. I had been re-living (vicariously)  the good times while audio-taping, so I started to dread the idea that I would eventually reach the parts of the saga that were hard, painful and harrowing (internally) for everyone involved (De, Carolyn, their friends, and me). When I finally got to the end times, there were times that my “reader’s voice” cracked, betraying me a little bit.  It was hard to give actual voice to those trying times; it was easier to write them, although I still cried when I wrote them back in 2000–but privately!

 

Anyway, audio-taping the book has boosted my spirits tremendously. The vast majority of the story is so much fun that I spent hours speaking and then editing (to take glitches out–hesitations, double words, false starts, and the like).  Now that the audio-taping is complete, I feel liberated and left with stronger memories of the good times than of De’s last days. I hope the book has the same effect on readers because that’s what De and Carolyn would want, for sure!

 

Lisa Twining Taylor is putting the manuscript into Scrivener so it can be exported into just about any format we want– e-book (Kindle, Nook, etc.)  and tree book (which is what I call real books made from trees).  She says she should have it pretty well put to bed by Halloween, so I have created a book launch event for January 8th-11th to kick off Star Trek’s 50th anniversary with a DeForest Kelley book.  I already have pre-orders and there is a lot of developing interest in the book.  I’m ready to start taking on radio, Internet and emailed Q & A interviews now during the lead up to the launch…  t will be up to De’s fans to carry the ball and get the word out about the book, because my marketing budget is going to have to go toward ISBN numbers and bar code costs for the various versions we’ll be putting out. (Each requires a separate ISBN number and bar code.) My former publisher will be sending  the pre-order money so I can get going on those.)

 

I can’t wait to unleash on the world DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal. My hope is that it will extend his legacy in wonderful ways when fans new and old discover every facet of the REAL ‘McCoy’.  I want every fan to know that he didn’t just “seem” like a good man; he really was a good man. Every fiber of his being was fabulous.

 

His father, a Baptist preacher, wanted De to follow in his footsteps because he was such a beautiful soul with a heart for the hurting and the lost.  Although De decided to become an actor instead, he did have a ministry.  We (trek fans) were his ultimate flock–and he never betrayed a single, solitary one of us.

 

May his spirit endure forever in those he touched and in those who sought–and still seek–to touch him.

 

We love you, De!

 

P.S. I have a feeling that fans who want a printed copy or e-book will also want an audio book because at the end of the audio book there are actual voicemail messages from De and Carolyn, Harve Bennett, Teresa Victor, and Tippi Hedren. They’re a lot of fun to listen to. Plus you’ll hear the voicemail message that I recorded for my outgoing message that has De leaving me a “McCoy” response after he heard it. It’s very funny!  So is the message from someone who dialed a wrong number and got my voicemail message. She left a response that is priceless, too!