Dog Days of Summer
The seasons come and the seasons go and summer always seems to go faster than any of them. Here in Minnesota, we live for the summer, which should be understandable once you learn how long our winters last. With the kids out of school we made it a priority to do some traveling and get them away from their iPads. This began with our first trip to Duluth, which sits on the edge of Lake Superior. If you’ve never seen one of the Great Lakes, I highly recommend it. The coastline seems to go on and on forever. I envied the sailboats skimming across the cloudy waters as we took in the beautiful waterfalls and scenic sites. Not surprisingly, the kids liked the indoor waterpark best.
We did a lot of boating, swimming, and bike riding. The weather was kind this year, bleeding off most of the humidity early and leaving only a few muggy days to mow the lawn.
I finished the first draft of my latest novel and am hard at work on the second draft. I’m excited to tell you all more about it, but there’s a kernel of paranoia left over from my screenwriting days that says, “don’t jinx it! Someone will have the same idea and beat you to publication.” Shouldn’t be too long until I post some news about it. Keep an eye on the blog here or my twitter feed.
I read less books than usual this summer, but probably more than most people. I’ve been eagerly waiting Jay Kristoff’s final installment in his Nevernight series, Darkdawn. Only another week until it comes out. Ironic that it’s the same day as the kids go back to school. I finally started Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Oh, woman, she can write. Love her prose and her dark sensibilities. Saving every minute of it. I also picked up Elizabeth George’s “Write Away,” which denotes her advice for authors. Look forward to diving in.
With young kids we have little time to get to the movies these days and catch most of the latest releases once they get to cable. Recently we watched Aquaman. Not surprisingly, I saw a lot of similarities between it and my novel, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE LOST CITY OF ATLANTIS. I should point out that I wrote the screenplay version of Columbus in 2005, long before Aquaman. The use of Atlantis on film will likely prevent any studio from pursuing my novel, which is sad considering how bad Aquaman was. Great visuals, but the writing was terrible. Typical of Hollywood. When our power cut out midway through my wife said, “Thank God.” She laughed through most of it and not in a good way.
Television has been the gold standard of thematic storytelling for the last decade or so. the quality and quantity is staggering. For someone that likes to read it at night, it makes it hard to keep up with the Jones. With only an hour each night to watch a show, we’re uber picky. Having finished Stranger Things, we moved onto Mindhunter. Some of the character arcs have been arch so far, but the investigation subject matter is astoundingly good. Eager to finish it. Lots of good shows on the horizon too. Excited to watch The Boys and mildly intrigued with Stumptown. Who knows what else will pop on the radar.
That’s the latest for now. The focus returns to the new book and making it as good as possible. It’s flowing easy at this point, which I’ve always found to be the best sign. Hoping I can wrap up this draft by the end of September and get it into the hands of some beta readers.
Hope your summer went well too. Let me know what you’re reading, especially if it’s something you love. Always looking for a good rec.
Best,
EJR
Dog Days of Summer
Can’t they last a little longer?