October Surprises Abound
Two book events, a new cocktail called The Baywood, and a monster bird essay make for a fun end to spooky month
Thank heavens the Dodgers won. That’s the first great October news, other than I had another birthday. Womp womp wooomp. Can’t seem to get any younger. Anyway, it’s good to be doing this newsletter more regularly, talking to you about writing, my latest bookish happenings, and random who-knows-what. Have to say, October is still my favorite time of year. Watching all the scares, reading It and Sacrificial Animals. Lots going on with two events, a monster essay, a new cocktail, and more. Okay, let’s get going . . .
October Book Signing & Book Talk
Real quick, I have two events coming up that you won’t want to miss if you’re within striking distance of San Luis Obispo, California.
October 25, 4 p.m. Barnes & Noble, San Luis Obispo. Book signing. Don’t be late. I have some gifts to give away. First two in line get the best giveaways, though there are a few more than that. Come have a chat. Then go enjoy a nice dinner somewhere in downtown San Luis Obispo.
October 26, 6 p.m. San Luis Obispo County Library Community Room. I’m special guest for this Kelp Journal event featuring writers reading from their new surf noir anthology The Amber Waves of Autumn. I’ll give a brief talk on “Truth, justice and nature in eco-fiction,” and a short reading. Big thanks to Leanne Phillips of SLO NightWriters for inviting me!
New Creepy-yummy Cocktail - The Baywood
There’s a new drink in town: the Baywo-o-o-o-d. Say it in a scary voice! Yeah! It’s part of the most amazing pairing of drinks and books in the history of drinks and books, and was created by Elias Eells of Bar Cart Bookshelf! This martini riff is green, creepy, oceany, and an ode to Baywood in The Deading, where all bad things happen! I’ll be creating this on Halloween night. Watch the short video below and get Elias’s review of The Deading at the same time. You’ll probably want to watch all of his videos. He makes some mind-blowing concoctions.
I’m in Nightmare Magazine’s The H-Word!
True! I wrote a craft essay titled, “The Monstrous Bird.” Here’s an excerpt:
Birds aren’t monsters. Then again, maybe?
Every mammal, fish, or insect has the ability to stimulate our imaginations—I’ll give animalia that. But birds, something special about them has the ability to tap into the darker depths of our creative core. Maybe because so many bird species can fly. Maybe because they make so many strange sounds. Sing me your Super Mario video game song, mister black-throated sparrow. Maybe it’s because birds come in all shapes and sizes, small as a bumble bee, or can weigh half a motorcycle, some tall as a towering grizzly. Maybe because they’re everywhere, and like most things, we can try to ignore them, that is until that pesky mockingbird cycles through five different renditions of your neighborhood car alarms and beep-locks.
But there’s something else—birds represent mysterious windows to a past when many strange creatures inhabited the planet. Why else would people make constant quips about birds being dinosaurs? Aren’t they?And if dinosaurs are monsters, then we’ve half convinced ourselves that birds are . . . monsters too. Makes me wonder if this is why some people say, or joke (I can’t ever tell) that birds aren’t real? Which is silly. We need birds. Can I get an amen for hummingbird pollinators? How about our threatened western snowy plover chicks—the cutest puffball you could ever see. We need those shorebirds. They help facilitate the transfer of nutrients along our coastlines. Nothing monstrous in that, unless you’re a tiny sand crab seeing kaiju-plover coming your way . . . Read the full essay.
Never give up
Here’s my latest encouragement to writers. I know this is hard for you, but you have to keep honing your craft, make your words do your bidding. My best advice today? Seek clarity in your writing. I’m reminded of this very thing because I’m going through copy-edits for Ten Sleep (taking a break to write this). And I think if there’s one thing that I’m noticing in the copy-edit comments, it’s me not being clear enough. So, there you go. I can do rewrites for my editor, and my editor loves my stuff, but in the end, even the copy-editor is saying in not so many words, Can we be clearer here? I’ve been reading Sally Rooney’s works. Just finished Normal People. Now reading Beautiful World, Where Are You. If there’s one thing I notice, it’s clarity in prose. Rooney, her editor, and her copy-editor have succeeded in creating books where the prose shines in a simple, straightforward style. So, yeah, simplicity. Clarity. Cut out the wordiness. That kind of thing. Now get at it! And don’t get disappointed in yourself. Be motivated to create!
Support the scares, become a paid subscriber
It’s true, you can support my writing by sponsoring this very newsletter. Just select a yearly subscription, and know you’ll be supporting me with some burritos during the year while I create new books for you to read. This is a really tough business, and I can’t do this without your financial support. So, please, become a paid subscriber—there are several of you now, and that really means a lot. Or buy more copies of The Deading direct from Kensington Books, or from some other cool bookseller. Thanks again, so much. Until next time! Cheers!