The Writing Life, 2 December 2023

An apology for being short and to the point this week.

It’s not been this snowy recently, but this is my back yard. Figured it was an appropriate photo for the start of December 2023.

I’ve had more than a little bit going on the past couple of weeks and all that plus the holidays has been a considerable time drain. When you factor in my traveling halfway across the state of Iowa and back again today, as well as the rest, this newsletter might actually might be one of the shortest I’ve done rather than a substantial recap of how productive I’ve been over the past two weeks, which would be a massive exaggeration¹.

So let’s talk, even though there’s been only a little bit of writing going on.

The Home Front

There’s been more than a few things going at home, and some of it I prefer to keep to myself. One of the things I will share is the passing of my father-in-law this week. Larry had been in ill health for several years, but his condition had gotten worse over the past several weeks until he entered hospice care at his home on the Iowa River in Louisa County.

He and my wife Laura had not always had a good relationship, but it had improved during the last decade-plus of his life, which I was happy to see. He was also able to get to know my kids then as well, which I was very grateful for.

Even though we knew this day was coming sooner rather than later, it was still a rough situation when it arrived. All I’m glad for is he’s at peace and Laura was able to properly wish him goodbye, because that’s not something everyone gets.

What I’ve Been Writing

I haven’t been writing a massive amount, but I did whip up two new poems last week during the Thanksgiving break, if you hadn’t noticed.

Unlike some of my previous poetry posts, this was actually brand-new material and not some poems I had lying around from past years. I was happy I was able to put them together, and I’m finding myself challenged by the prospect of putting together verse with more vivid descriptions and word choice than I typically use in my prose.

There’s an interesting story connecting the two poems I can’t quite get into at the moment. I’ll get to it eventually, however.

I’ve been lagging on some of the other projects, however, including The Yank Striker 2 and some of the others. However, I’ve been counting up my word totals and even without adding in whatever pitiful words I wrote this past week and beyond, I’m already ahead of the 200,000-word total I had hoped to meet at the beginning of this year. If I can get a little more consistency with my writing productivity, I’d be happier, but it’s a good milestone to have.

What I’ve Been Doing Having to do With Writing

Very little, although I am planning today to meet with some of my writing group friends in Des Moines for a holiday get-together today. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Really haven’t been able to make many other related plans. I’ll let you know if any come up.

Writing Quote(s) of the Week

Two quotes of wisdom today. The first one by fantasy novelist, fellow Midwesterner and fellow Gen X writer Patrick Rothfuss:

If you want to write a fantasy story with Norse gods, sentient robots, and telepathic dinosaurs, you can do just that. Want to throw in a vampire and a lesbian unicorn while you're at it²? Go ahead. Nothing's off limits. But the endless possibility of the genre is a trap. It's easy to get distracted by the glittering props available to you and forget what you're supposed to be doing: telling a good story. Don't get me wrong, magic is cool. But a nervous mother singing to her child at night while something moves quietly through the dark outside her house? That's a story. Handled properly, it's more dramatic than any apocalypse or goblin army could ever be.

• Patrick Rothfuss

I never related to all of these writing quotes about how difficult it was to write and how much psychological torture writers must put themselves through. On the other hand, this quote was much more relatable to my experiences toward writing and its importance in my life.

Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.

• Graham Greene, Ways of Escape

Where You Can Find my Books

I’ve got links to my books in paperback and ebook format in the sidebar here, but you can get them in person at these fine Iowa bookstores:

• Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave # S1, Des Moines

• Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.

• The Book Vault, 105 S Market St, Oskaloosa.

All three are great independent bookstores who deserve your support. However, I’m always looking for some new places to place my books, so feel free to hit me up in the comments if anyone has a suggestion.

Final Thoughts

That’s it for right now. It was a bit tough to get out this week’s newsletter, but sometimes you take pride in the couple hundred words you squeeze out of your brain over a long night rather than the few hundred flowing out of it on other days.

Next week I owe everyone (and myself) some new fiction. Right now I’m leaning toward an except from The Yank Striker 2 or this pro wrestling project bubbling in the creativity cauldron off to the side. You’ll see it next week, though.

So, this month:

• December 9: new short fiction/excerpt.

• December 16: The Writing Life newsletter.

• December 23: Poetry Night at the Writing Life.

• December 29: Not sure - might take the holiday off. We’ll see. :)

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1. Then again, I originally thought I was going to have three weeks between official newsletters rather than just two of them. I’m the sort of person who has to triple-check each event on my calendar and even then check it one more time.

2. Don’t give me ideas. (Insert grinning emoji here.)