Book Progress, The Heat Dome, and Our Complicated Relationship with Mother Nature

I couldn't be more happy with the progress I'm making on my new book, Walking with the Muse. This week has felt a little like time-traveling.

As I've been combing through almost thirty years of stories—deciding which ones will make the cut, editing, and drafting the front matter I've realized how much I've missed doing this. I feel like a different person, one who has more energy and a better outlook in general.

It's quite possible I'll even get this manuscript to the book designer in the next couple of weeks. It's almost as though I can hear @owasco's voice whispering... CELERITY!

I'll share with you some of the front-matter—a quote, the dedication page, and the prologue:

Quote

"Love the humble art you have learned, and take rest in it. Pass through the remainder of your days as one who whole-heartedly entrusts all possessions to the gods, making yourself neither a tyrant nor a slave to any person." —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.31

Dedication

To C. Michael Curtis. Thank you for teaching me the rules and for your encouragement, which gave me the courage to break those rules.

Prologue

As a young man, I was irresistibly drawn to the writings of authors like James Thurber, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway. I identified deeply with the Modernist period in American literature. In my own imagination, I daydreamed I was an honorary member of the Lost Generation. Sometimes I felt like I was born in the wrong place and time.

That glittering literary world born in the twentieth century, centered in New York City and orbiting around smoky cafés, publishing houses, and speakeasies, was one I dreamed of experiencing. Yet the invitation never arrived. The door to those fabled rooms and exclusive circles remained closed.

I’ve managed to make a living on the outskirts of this mainstream literary world as an indie author. It hasn’t always been easy but this work has never grown old, and I pray it never will. Something has kept whispering, calling me forward. For nearly three decades now, I have answered that call.

Who does the call come from? I refer to it as the Muse.

The Muse is a quiet companion who walks beside me, the unseen presence that stirs the stories waiting within. It doesn’t require grand mansions or being in the company of celebrities—only attention, discipline, honesty, and the willingness to follow where it leads. In the company of the Muse I’ve learned that every one of us carries a treasury of tales inside of us, each story begging to be told.

Sharing mine with you has been among the deepest joys of my life. Welcome to these pages. Thank you for picking up this book. Now let’s walk together with the Muse.

The Heat Dome

When many of you think about Minnesota the first thing that comes to mind is probably below zero temperatures and deep snow. The truth is, in the summertime, our weather here can also rival the intense heat and humidty of Florida. It's truly the land of extremes.

We're smack dab in the middle of the worst of summer's heat and humidty now and it's even been a challenge for me, someone who doesn't usually mind this kind of weather.

Thankfully I have a book to work on and during the worst of the day's heat I'm at my desk in the cool, dry air conditioning.

Our Complicated Relationship with Mother Nature

Some of you might remember back in June we planted two flowering "prairie fire" crab apple trees in your back yard.

Well, these trees haven't even been in the ground a month and we discovered they were completely infested with Japanese Beetles.

Normally, I don't like using chemicals in the garden and Japanese Beetles usually aren't a death sentence for plants but we were advised to use insecticide on the trees since they're still vulnerable from being so newly planted.

I felt like a cross between a Ghostbuster and an Oompa Loompa as I donned a white paper suit with hood, a mask, and began using the hose-end sprayer on the trees. But, thankfully, I'm pretty well convinced that we caught this in time and the trees will live to see another season.

Dealing with Mother Nature can be pretty damned complicated sometimes.

Mother Nature can be challenging and fickle but then she can also give us experiences like these...

Somehow, this makes it all worthwhile.

All for now. Make this a wonderful day.

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www.ericvancewalton.net