FEBRUARY 2022 – Everyday life, on the surface, doesn’t seem to present a lot of opportunities to go off in search of buried treasure, defeat the bad guys with your bare fists, or explore distant galaxies and step foot on faraway planets. I think this is why so many of us love to read, to watch movies, and immerse ourselves in the creative visions of others. Where we can go beyond the limits of what is possible (or at the very least, probable, haha) and explore the heroic realm, while finishing a bag of chips and drinking a favorite beverage of choice. Really is an amazing thing, I have to say! But I am aiming to make a point of adding more adventure into the everyday and I think it will only serve to not just liven up the day to day, but translate into writing better books too. By having that much deeper of a well to draw from when placing my characters in vital circumstances that require bold moves on their behalf.
Thank you to all the people in my life that have shared said adventures with me, as I am always stoked to share the exploration of places near and far with those who’s company I enjoy the most.
Not currently working on the brainstorming/draft of my next book, will pick it up again in the not-too-distant future. And I am constantly absorbing ideas and experiences that can plant seeds that will grow into plot elements for my next project, so there is no real off switch for this type of creativity, which I appreciate (mostly, haha). Been turning my attention to my work/life/academic balance and making the most of the daylight hours as they come. Have been doing a lot of hikes and tons of reading.
Last book I finished reading was ‘Pirate Latitudes’ by Michael Crichton (need to slow down reading his collected works as I’m going to run out of new ones too quickly) and was published after he passed away. He only had the opportunity to do a draft of it, versus his usual full creative process, and I do think it feels different than a lot of his earlier books as a result. When another author comes in to finish a deceased author’s manuscript, it is often unclear how far along the project was before the baton was passed. The Caribbean setting of this story was quite cool and I think he captured the brutality of the seventeenth century quite well.
Here’s to many more continued real-life adventures as the year progresses forward, and until next time, keep after it!
~ CS
