A Note of Thanks to You and 2012

So I'm a bit late with the whole out with 2012 thing. Perhaps I was still mourning the failed end of world predictions, that or I didn't expect I'd be able to actually "log on" to anything other than throwing a log on my fire!Still, there it is never too late to reflect on a year gone by or to thank folks for their support. 2012 was by all measures an amazing year for this writer kid from the tundra.

Atticus finishing my latest novel for me.

 I probably couldn't even fully capture all the incredible events that single year of my life held. Just one photo of my son's smile would be enough, and really would encapsulate so much of all that I am already grateful for in my life, but then again, I was fortunate enough to have other things to be thankful for in 2012, especially when it comes to my literary career.

Early in 2012 I learned I was awarded an Innovate Award from the University of Alaska Anchorage for research on my next novel. (You can read more about that award and the new novel I'm working on here.)

Then in May I learned that The Raven's Gift received 1st in the Alaska Professional Communicators statewide writing contest.  (This win made it eligible for the National Federation of Press Women's contest, and in the fall the novel was awarded 2nd place in that national contest!

In June I had the incredible honor to be faculty at the prestigious Kachemak Bay Writers Conference in Homer, Alaska. The keynote speaker was none other than Barry Lopez, and I can not begin to say how fortunate I felt to get to hear him, and then spend some time chatting with him. He's an amazing and generous human-being, and getting to become friends with him was one of the ultimate highlights of the year.

Just as the June sun in Alaska barely sets, so too did the excitement barely stop. July hit and The Raven's Gift began to fly off shelves in Australia and New Zealand. Published by Text Publishing, the novel has received and continues to receive some great reviews. 

The summer grew more amazing, if not unbelievable, with news that The Raven's Gift would finally be published in the good old United States of America by Pintail, a new imprint of Penguin in 2013.

So yes, 2012 was quite an incredible year. I have many people to thank, from my amazing family, friends, mentors, colleagues, and readers like you. Thank you. I can only hope that in 2013 I will be able to entertain you, surprise you, make you laugh and cry and love this great planet we call home. May you find the energy to follow your own passions in 2013, and may you strive to be the best human being you can. May you read more. Write more. Learn more. And love more.

Here is to an exciting and enriching 2013.

All the best to you,

Don

Put this author OUT IN THE COLD!

Unless you're one of those big rockstar authors, the likelihood of a publisher in today's turbulent writing times handing you a big fat advance to fund the research you need for your next big non-fiction project is slim.  Very slim.
Enter this whole new idea of crowd sourcing. Here the public can weigh in the perceived value a project has and the author can endeavor to raise the money and hit the research road.
I have a friend (no really, I do have a friend!) and he currently has a pretty cool project up on Kick Starter. He's working on book about surfing in Alaska.  I shot and edited the video, so don't blame him if you don't like it, that's all on me. Check his page out and if you can afford to, chip in a few bucks to help Kris out. Too often authors with great ideas are left out in the cold, but in this case, Kris needs your help to hit the rough surf of Alaska and get Out in the Cold.

My First Annual Alaskan Holiday Gift Guide

Someone once attributed the quote "with great power comes great responsibilty" to comic book legend Stan Lee, but that someone was incorrect and the real someone who supposedly said this, in French, was Voltaire. Of course, I only know this because I lack both power and responsibility, otherwise I have no way of explaining why I discovered the source of the quote from Wikipedia and not somewhere with a little more academic clout.

But alas, as my nephews recently decided I was famous after seeing my photo beside a column in a recent op-ed piece in the Anchorage Daily News I've decided to use this fame to share, albeit responsibly, with the general public my First Annual Alaskan Holiday Gift Guide! Or perhaps it would be better titled:

THE FAMOUS DON REARDEN 2012 ALASKAN HOLIDAY BOOK GIFT GUIDE

[ First a disclaimer to all, these are Alaskan books that can be given to non-Alaskan and Alaskans alike. I am not paid to put the authors or creators of these books on my guide; however, I will gladly accept payment. ]

FOR FICTION FANS
 Two must read Alaskan books from 2012. 

Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child

Simply put, this is an amazing novel. There is a spellbinding magic at work here, that makes The Snow Child an instant Alaskan classic. Eowyn kindly wrote that my novel earned a place beside Velma Wallis's Two Old Women and Seth Kantner's Ordinary Wolves (two other books to add to your list!), but if any book deserves to be amongst those two favorites of mine, it is The Snow Child.

Kris Farmen's Turn Again
 From my blurb on the back of the novel:
“Kris Farmen’s Turn Again is a spellbinding masterpiece. A powerful epic with unforgettable characters, rich Alaskan history and culture, and an authentic glimpse at a time when humanity was forsaken in the name of progress. Farmen has crafted a haunting tale of mythical transformation and lost love. There is much to be learned from this modern parable.”
    —Don Rearden, author of the critically acclaimed novel, The Raven’s Gift




 FOR NON-FICTION FANS




Crude Awakening by Amanda Coyne and Tony Hopfinger

If the Money and Mavericks don't get you, the Mayhem will. This is a must read about the dark and dirty days of Alaskan politics and greasy oil shenanigans. 







Heat: Adventures in The World's Fiery Places by Bill Streever.

This isn't out until Jan 15th, but you can pre-order to bring a little heat into your life! I was fortunate to read an early draft of Bill's book and if you liked Cold, then you'll love Heat. And if you haven't read Cold, well add that to your list too!






FOR THE POETRY FANS

Joan Kane's The Cormorant Hunter is out in a new edition from the University of Alaska Press.  I can't say enough about the talent of this Alaskan writer. I find myself returning again and again to the poems in Joan's collection. A power and life exists in this work that borders on some sort of shaman at work in the words.







30 Years of publishing America's top writers. For fiction, non-fiction, or poetry you can't go wrong with Alaska Quarterly Review. And seriously. You can't find a better deal. Subscribe for your favorite reader or yourself now.

Working to Beat the Devil

Eskimo Medicine Man, Alaska. Exorcising Evil Spirits from a sick Boy.



 A favorite photo of mine from the Alaska digital archives. The photographer captioned it, "Working to Beat the Devil." Quite ironic when you consider the background and the history of colonization and the "work" put in to defeat shamanism.

After the Earthquake

From: http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cdmg11/id/7324/rec/44

Peering Down at What Could Be a Cold, Dark City.

From here on this crisp clear night in Bear Valley, far up on the mountain from the twinkling lights of Anchorage, I am trying not to imagine what I could be seeing --- nothing but dark, perhaps a few structure fires --- had the recent quake 5.9 quake been anything but a little hiccup compared to the devastation wrought by the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake.
We would be sitting around a warm woodstove, our small living-room lit only by the flicker from the fire. The emergency radio would be on, though I wonder who or what would be transmitting if the powergrid sustained damage. It's already near zero outside, and it would be a long night of tending the fire to keep the pipes from freezing, if they weren't already broken. We would be concerned for our friends and family in town, who have only natural gas or electricity to heat their homes, and for the safety of those coastal residents. I would be calculating food stores and in all honestly probably preparing for an early morning, and completely illegal, moose hunt. But then as I write this, I realize that might not be true, as when this quake struck I was home alone with my 18 month old son, so I wouldn't leave to hunt, not because I couldn't take him hunting, but because we'd be stuck here, waiting and hoping Annette would return home. See that's the thing about Anchorage, our city is so spread out, so much of our infrastructure built on unstable ground. We could only hope she'd be able to walk the thirteen miles up the mountain to our house, as the roads would be too damaged to drive. 
It would no doubt be a long and scary night for my son and I, and for you too if you live here, and you know what is scarier? It wouldn't be just one night either. Anchorage is built upon a tidal mud flat, we have one road in and out of town, and an airport built right beside the ever interesting Earthquake Park. If the quake was as big as the one in '64, and scientists say we will have one again, you can count on the city's transportation infrastructure being crippled. Repairs from the last quake took months to years to fix, and just look at the poor folks still suffering from Sandy if you don't think we would be waiting more than a day or two.

What is my point?

Simple.

We Alaskans pride ourselves on how big stuff is here, big bears, big moose, big mountains, and this big earthquake. The thing is that Alaskans might brag about our history, but we don't seem to learn anything from it. I'm talking about myself here, too. We aren't ready for the big one. Individually or collectively. And I'm not just talking about Anchorage people here either, if you live in the bush or the interior and rely on Anchorage for your food and fuel, well, then I'm also talking to you, too. Individually we need to all have supplies and food stores, on hand, not to mention some sort of family plan (as the family cell phone plan probably won't be working) of how and where to meet up. Collectively we need to have plans at work and for our communities. It wouldn't hurt to run the occasional drill, but then follow-up with action plans and discussion.

We'll need warm shelters and food distribution centers.

We'll need leaders.

We'll need to figure out how to come together for warmth and comfort, just like they did in '64. In fact, there are many old timers still around; we could start by sitting down around the woodstove and listening to their stories, perhaps learn a lesson or two from them. It's going to take that and more.



[Curious where to start your preparations? I'll begin documenting and sharing my preparations here. But you could also get started really quickly with prepackaged kits like these.]   and an emergency food kit like this:

49 Writers: Don Rearden: An Appeal, In Appeal, Unappealing

This post first appeared on the 49 Writer's Blog.

  An Appeal, In Appeal, Unappealing

I’m here at 49 Writers Headquarters lounging on a fine Italian leather couch and sipping an amazing mocha made by our incredible in-house barista, who also edits my novels, waxes my skis, and grades my students' essays for me.  Of course this Headquarters is completely fictional and exists only in my rather wild imagination, so it costs nothing more to our organization than a complete loss of credibility on my part for sharing such goofiness.

And yet here I am at said HQ, relaxing and trying to prepare myself for our annual 49 Writers Giving Campaign. The comfy seating arrangement and hot beverage helps, as does the nice neck massage I’m now receiving from the barista, who coincidentally has just finished another round of edits on a draft of my new novel and sent it off to her aunt, a senior editor at a major publishing house. 

Yes, life is good at HQ and none of this fictional world would happen without fine folks like yourself. You’ve helped build this place. Heck, you’ve even attended our real writer events and sat in on workshops with some of our amazing instructors. We couldn’t do it without our army of dedicated volunteers, without such support from the community of writers and readers, and without you. Yes, you. The real you, not the you I imagined sitting near our crackling woodstove, pecking away at your latest project.

You make all the difference, and that’s why the real you might be hearing from one of our board members in the next few weeks. We’ll be calling, emailing, or writing actual snail mail letters to solicit your financial support for the 49 Writers.  As a member of the board of directors for the organization, I’m learning all about how a small non-profit like ours stays in business. It takes thousands of volunteer hours, an incredible and incredibly hard-working director, and requires money.

As a member of the board of directors, one of our many tasks is to try to build a level of sustainability into the organization's budget. This requires us to make what is called an “appeal” for some level of giving to members, friends, family, companies, corporations, and Oprah.

Let me be honest, which I always am, even when I’m admitting to fantasies of a barista who grades my students essays for me --- this is the part of my duties as a board member that is most uncomfortable for me. Perhaps it’s something I need counseling for, or just another facet of my being from growing up in rural Alaska, where so many of the people I know would give me the parka off their back in a blizzard, whether I needed it or not. In short, asking for your continued financial support of 49 Writers does not “appeal” to me.  The use of “appeal” reminds me of my favorite Robert Frost poem “Out, Out” where the young boy’s arm has been lopped off by a buzz saw and he holds up his bloody stump “half in appeal.”

There is more to build on, and we are not the ones dead (yet, though you might consider putting 49 Writers in your will, just in case!), and so I must learn to suck it up and ask you not to give an arm and a leg, perhaps just a finger or two as I make my appeal.

Well that’s it. I’m back to reality. The mocha replaced by a cold cup of coffee, the barista replaced by my one-year-old son pulling on my pants leg; he’s ready to go sledding. 

As I close, and before you rush off to put a check in the mail or donate online here, I hope you’ll take note of the actual definition of appeal. You’ll see I’ve attempted to reach all levels of said definition in this appeal to you. I’ve been rather “earnest” and “arousing,” and made requests and referred to the higher court of Frost.

I’ve made an appeal to you, revealed how I am in appeal, and maybe I've been totally unappealing. I’ve done all that’s in my power here to be “attractive and interesting” as I entreat your support of 49Writers. I’ve done it all but ask a “higher authority” or “greater power” for help, but perhaps I’ll be asking my mother-in-law for a donation as well.   

Thank you for your continued support of 49 Writers!

Don Rearden is the president of the board of directors for 49 Writers and author of the novel The Raven's Gift which will finally be released in America on July 30th, 2013.  We can only hope the novel is wildly successful so that he clicks here, renews his membership, and substantially increases his yearly giving to 49 Writers.

Snow. September. Seriously.

Eight inches of fluffy white await my shovel.