Snow. September. Seriously.

Eight inches of fluffy white await my shovel.

Spring Throwback --- A Tundra Boardwalk

Haven't posted to the old blog in quite a while! Fall has fallen like the trees in the yard, bringing two hurricane strength storms, a Mac-tastrophe with a crashed laptop, and a leaking roof. Yup. I don't even need to get creative with the excuses.
The death of my beloved old Mac set me back several weeks on the two novels I've been working on. I have yet to decide if I'm going to pay the ridiculous price to retrieve the data from the fried drive.
Thus the ups and downs of the writing life, I guess. Reminds me of a board walk across the tundra, but perhaps with slightly higher peaks and valleys?

Here's a shot of one of the boardwalks in Bethel. Not quite as famous as the ones in Atlantic City, but there is always something to look at and you need to watch your step.

Wilderness Boys, Bug & Novel Jackets

 I don't normally post photos of myself with my boy, but today this photo from an adventure in the Alaskan wilderness a few weeks ago popped up on my screen and I thought I would share it. The scenic backdrop of this particular location (somewhere up the Takotna River) looks strangely similar to the first jacket cover of The Raven's Gift from Penguin Canada with the black spruce, taiga, tundra, and mountains in the background. 

The strange jacket I've got on is a bug suit, as the mosquitoes and no-see-ums were vicious, but they could have been worse, as we were actually able to uncover and snap a quick photo in the tundra cotton. The bugs in Alaska can be so thick at times that they will literally drive you mad. The little blood suckers fly into your eyes and nose and ears, and the hum can be unnerving, as if the very air around you has transformed into some sort of monster trying to devour any exposed flesh. I have seen caribou who have been driven crazy by the bugs. They run themselves to near death. Not a pleasant sight, and I've been there a few times myself. Had I the energy or the ability to run crazy across the tundra I would have. We humans don't have that option. All we can do is cover up and hope for a strong wind. You could bathe in 100% DEET until your nervous system failed, and the bugs would still feed on your carcass. Alaska bugs are no joke, hence the reason I was holding Atticus so tight, they little bastards would have carried him away.

August and Fall in Alaska

And just like that, fall hath fell upon Alaska like a storm off the Bering Sea. Oh, right. This storm struck Alaska courtesy of the Bering Sea. The giant hurricane like beast appeared slightly smaller than Texas on the radar, and with it carried torrential rain, category one or two winds and the notion that summer in Alaska is over.
Folks on the Lower 48 don't quite get that idea. See, August is still summer in the rest of the USA, but not here in Alaska. Sure we might get a sunny day or two, but for the most part August means the leaves will begin to turn and that the majority of us can expect rain, winds, and silver salmon. Silvers are the official sign to put your sandals away and get your X-tra Tuffs back out.
August for me is winter preparation time. Actually right now I need to get off the computer and repair my leaking roof.  The rest of August, after I return from the bush,  I'll spend too many hours each week sawing and chopping wood to keep the woodstove crackling for all those cold winter nights soon to blanket our little mountain home. Sure I'll get a little writing done, but for the good majority of this month, I'll be swinging an axe...

Writing Re-Charge, Alaskan Style

About this time every year I disappear into the Alaskan wilderness for a few weeks. I'm still actually visible for that duration, but by modern standards, I don't exist. No electricity. No running water. No phone.
Okay, so I'm not totally telling the truth. There is running water by way of the Takotna River flowing past the cabin. A small red Honda generator hums for a few hours each day to charge the laptop battery. And I could climb a tree and make an emergency radio-phone call if I needed. Important messages come by way of public radio announcements on KSKO McGrath. The only web connection comes when walking down trails in the morning and feeling the sticky spider snare on the skin of your face.
Yes, this is where I go to recharge my writing batteries and reconnect with the Alaska I love most...
The only tweets come from camp robbers and their friends. The status updates from beaver tails slapping the river. The calls from ravens, magpies, and late at night a wolf or two.
Here I'll spend several hours each day repairing sheds, the cabin roof, or cutting trees and clearing brush. Take a hike or two. Pick berries. Swat at and curse mosquitos and no-see-ums. Then at night I'll sit down at the table beside the crackling woodstove and write like mad in the perfect stillness.
And for those stormy rainy days, if I'm not curled up with a good book, I'll be hunched over the laptop working away at the next novel.

Preparation for US Publication

Of course I'm working on my new novels, but my brain is also quietly humming away with plans for the US publication of The Raven's Gift in 2013. I know I won't top the Alaskan launch party for the 2011 Canadian Edition, but I might just have to try!
I've got a couple cool publicity ideas and contests. I'll retool my book trailer. I'll devise some fun social media readings and interactive events. And who knows what else I'll come up with. See this is the new paradigm for an author. Your publisher expects you to do some heavy lifting when it comes to publicity. Trust me.
I knew that going into the game, thanks to several highly successful author friends. I anticipated this part of being an author, and for those of you who want to do the same, you should too.
The thing you can't forget is that the writing comes first! If you hope to continue being an author you must keep writing.
[Photo is the of the tundra of SW AK, where I grew up!]

The Circuitous Route of a Raven

My friends, a pair of Ravens

Raven's tend to fly in wild circuitous loops, at times with no apparent destination. Just when you think they might not be going anywhere, they suddenly veer off and seem to be right where they planned to go all along.
So too seems the story of my novel The Raven's Gift. Just this week, thanks to my incredible agents at Moveable Type and Baror International this particular raven first visited Canada, then hit Australia, and will take a slight detour to France next spring, and finally will land home here in the United States with a little black and white friend named Penguin. 
I have been humbled by the rave reviews from far off lands like Winnipeg to Brisbane with a few stops in between! The continual email and Facebook messages from people going great lengths to getting the book in their hands has been incredible.
 I couldn't be more excited to share with you the news today that Pintail, an imprint of Penguin, will publish The Raven's Gift next year. Stay tuned for more details and thanks again for all the support.