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.

Good News is Like Floating

When you've worked hard on a novel and then send it off to your agent there isn't much you can do other than begin work on the next story, or in my case spend quality time with your family on a few adventures.
When good news does hit, there is a sensation that it isn't real, and indeed if you've been doing this long enough it might not be, but you still need to enjoy it. Celebrate the opportunities that come your way and cherish that sweet feeling of floating.

[I snapped this photo a few nights ago, while kayaking the Missouri River.]

Incredible Support

As a writer on can only hope for support from friends and family, but when you also get it from your workplace? Well that, my friends, is the icing on the lake. (I just made that up, but it works, as in the North there is nothing better than when the lakes and rivers begin to freeze and you know winter is knocking!)

Here's that support I'm talking about:

http://greenandgold.uaa.alaska.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9629&Itemid=127


Sent via smoke signal...

First review in from Down Under!

http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/publishing-and-writing/the-ravens-gift-190179


Sent from my iPhone

The New Cover from Australia

Coming to a bookshelf Down Under!

July 2nd, 2012 from Text Publishing