Back in the U.S.A.

Jetlagged & Tired

Happy 4th of July fellow pilgrims of the digital labyrinth.

I’m out here in the California High Desert drinking a cup of coffee, writing a bit, and overall enjoying a beautiful summer afternoon. A few feet from me my daughter is playing “The Floor is Lava,” with her cousins and I’m having a hard time focusing on writing because I keep stopping to listen to the random child-brained insanity that comes out of their mouths.

I can’t think of a better way to spend the 4th of July.

Last week I planned to finish the Mircea Eliade series and post two novel reviews. I managed to accomplish nothing at all. But I have an excuse, I spent most of last week in airports and airplanes.

My long South Pacific adventure came to an end a few weeks ahead of schedule. The truth is that when you are on a South Pacific Island powered by diesel generators, with an airfield lacking in a ground crew, field lights, or most things required for safe aircraft operation, you take a ride on the first available plane willing to land.

So, the majority of last week was spent flying from island to island, sleeping in airport lounges, drinking complimentary airline wine, and praying that my luggage would make it to the next airport. Before I set out on this journey, I had the idea of spending my free time writing. I’ve always read about those authors that finish their novels on trans-pacific flights and imagined myself joining their ranks. Sometime around 2 AM, halfway through my 16-hour layover in Singapore, with four glasses of wine, three espressos, and two pints of some local IPA, I tried writing. It didn’t work out as intended, a page in I started losing consciousness and everything I put down was incomprehensible nonsense.

I decided to postpone all serious posts until I got home and kicked the jetlag. Until then, have a happy 4th of July, I’m off to spend time with the family and drink the rest of the Trader Joe's box wine I picked up on the way here.

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Substack has become my go-to for online reading and essays. I wanted to share a few that I think you should subscribe to.

A Hellene Author’s latest post, Nothing, Sincerely, explores nihilism in character writing and the idea that believable characters must have actual beliefs.

Teach Robots to Love Newsletter has Autumn Christians Rules for Writing. I’m a fan of both her writing and the ideas around authorship. I’m in the writing camp that believes a writer is more than a technician and good writing is more than skill. Good art is not a commodity product, there’s something there beyond work and technical skill.

Chuck Palahniuk’s Plot Spoiler, my favorite writing Substack, in mystical synergy with A Hellene talks about the idea of The Soapbox or horizontal writing in fiction. A character must believe in something, even if the belief is wrong.