Series
It started out so easy. Just a throwaway idea when the writer was twenty-seven. Not the great literature he made a living trying to teach bored teenagers about. Not even anything that he would read himself. A silly idea. A made-up world with endless possibilities.
His hero was named Matthew. A man on a quest. Matthew began the first novel young and innocent. The writer knew that by the end of the series, Matthew would be lucky to be alive, and so scarred by the things he’d seen there would be nothing left of this optimistic little boy.
The first novel was published. The writer’s friends were surprised. The writer was surprised. He wrote a second novel, and a third. Then, the fan mail started. His fourth novel established Matthew’s quest as a big deal.
Then came the movie deal. And more fans. And money. The writer stopped teaching, even though some of the kids in his class were reading his books and paid attention to him.
The writer was comfortable. He didn’t watch the movies made from his books. He knew how Matthew’s quest was going to pan out. He saw people on the Internet debating whether or not Matthew would die at the end.
Working on his sixth novel. The last-but-one novel. A letter came from a teenage fan. She wrote Dear Mr. Walcott, I am a huge fan of the Matthew Saga, and have followed it from day one. I don’t want to bother you with my problems, but I’m very ill. I have a brain tumour, which the doctors say is inoperable. They’ve given me about a year to live—fifteen months tops. I don’t expect you to finish Matthew’s quest in that time, but could you please tell me how it turns out? I promise I won’t tell anyone.
The writer put down the letter. The day before reading it, he had given an interview where he said a short story he’d published under a fake name was the thing he was most proud of. Now, he felt like a bit of a dick for saying that.
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