Paradise Found

Flipping through some old photos and this caught my eye. Instantly transporting me back to a place that is quite literally paradise.
I snapped this on the beach on Kalalau Beach, at the end of the Napali Coast Trail on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai.
You can only get to this beach by hiking a rugged 11 mile trail, but the effort is worth the sweat. Pristine beaches. Fruit trees. Crystal clear streams. And about as close as you can get in the US to a tropical paradise without the trappings of civilization. No cars. No electricity. No computers. Just you, your thoughts, the sunshine, and your footprints that will be washed away, along with your stress and your feelings that you can't live without all those gadgets and so-called necessities that really aren't.

How to Write a Novel AND be a Parent.

You want to write good books. You want to be a good parent. But how do you do both?
I have found the solution. It is unbelievably simple. Outsourcing. Not the parenting, though that is a great idea, but the writing. The best part is you don't even have to look outside your home let alone the country.
Just make your child do the writing for you. Sure, it may not be great, and it may not even make sense, but hey, if Snooki can write a novel, well I'm sure your toddler can too.

On Being Haunted by a Dead Writer

I could list off about a hundred reasons why a smarter writer wouldn't even think of attempting to write on the subject that I've selected for one of the novels I'm currently working on (or rather, not working on and writing this blog post instead!); however, a certain specter looms just over my left shoulder as I type each and every word, and this is new to me. I am unaccustomed to having such an unexpected guest reading and criticizing my work as the words appear on the screen.

1st Ed. Moby Dick.

The general topic?

Whaling.

The owner of the ghostly shadow hovering over my shoulder?

 Melville.

Perhaps, I am have chosen a voyage, not unlike Captain Ahab, that dooms me to the same fate as the Pequod: sunk. 

Hopefully, this ghost will get tired of haunting me and I'll be like Ishmael and live to tell the tale. (Though, if Ishmael's experience, post-white-whale encounter, was anything like the horrors the sailors from the Essex endured, the true story of a whale bark destroyed by a sperm whale, the one that Melville modeled his epic on, I am not so sure I want to survive!)

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.