NATCHEZ &045; There were some impressive numbers at Trinity Episcopal Day School Saturday afternoon &045; 800, to be exact.

With two hours still to go, that was the number of books sold as part of a Greg Iles book signing that serves as one of the school’s biggest fund-raisers each year.

But another impressive number to keep in mind is 1 million. That’s the approximate number of book ideas the Natchez author said he has floating around in his head.

On Saturday, Iles kept busy signing copy after copy of his latest novel, &uot;Blood Memory&uot; which, like &uot;The Quiet Game,&uot; is set in Natchez.

&uot;It’s more of the settings, and not so much the people, that (readers) will recognize in this book,&uot; Iles said. &uot;But I’m also honest about the current state of Natchez in this book.&uot;

In fact, Iles said one of the book’s characters is a man trying to help save the fortunes of the city, which has lost thousands of jobs to plant closings in recent years.

Iles has said his next book will also be set in Natchez.

And like &uot;Blood Memory,&uot; which explores the territory of sexual abuse of children, his next novel will have dark themes &045; specifically, the murder of a high school senior.

Especially since becoming a school board member at Trinity, where he graduated in 1978, Iles has had on his mind the grown-up things teens face at every high school in the area and, he believes, the nation.

So his next novel will serve as his chance to explore such themes. &uot;It will be an inside look at the world of a modern high school,&uot; he said, noting that many parents of today’s high schoolers don’t know the depth of what today’s teen face.

But that book, now half-written, is just one of the 1 million ideas in Iles’ head. He also wants to write &uot;Sea of Tranquility,&uot; a novel about what it was like to grow up in the South in the 1970s and early 1980s.

And a historical novel about the meeting of East and West in 250 B.C. And some books for young adults. And a couple of screenplays.

&uot;What I do is get some general things in mind and then go and live for a while&uot; until he gets enough material to fill in the blanks, Iles said.

It’s only natural that Iles should have so many books on his mind at once, given the pace at which he must write &045; one book a year, with his current publishing deal.

&uot;People will come up to me at book signings and say, ‘My favorite of your books is &uot;Black Cross,&uot; or ‘My favorite is &uot;The Quiet Game&uot;’,&uot; Iles said.

&uot;They don’t realize that back when I was writing those books, I had a couple of years to write each one.&uot;

Because he now only has six or seven months to write each book, he has to already have his next books in mind.

But what Iles had in mind most Saturday was his past &045; roots that run deep into Trinity School &045; and the present &045; what he can do to help Trinity raise the funds it needs to operate well.

About four years ago &045; everyone’s lost count by now &045; Iles decided to do his part by doing for the school what he would be doing somewhere anyway, a book signing.

&uot;It’s the duty of those who graduate&uot; to support their alma maters, Iles said.