Taking a forty day road trip break from my novel turned out to be….interesting. The good news is distance helps perspective. The bad news is that you vacate your character’s heads. So I’m back at it, and doing things to the story I probably wouldn’t have done before, using that perspective to my advantage. The working title is Without, and it’s chock full of poachers, private investigators, critters, mythology, and adventure. I hope to have the first draft complete by December 15th. Whew.

Oh, and I finally started a Facebook page. Why? Peer pressure. I couldn’t begin to count the scrunched up faces on my western trip when asked if I had a Facebook page. So at last I have one, as of three days ago. Feel free to stop by. I’m especially pleased that Grand Teton National Park featured one of my photos on their page. A good start to my Facebook experience. If you’re reading this, you know I love public land, especially national parks and forests. I’d place Grand Teton in a top five national park list, easily. Grand Teton was my introduction to the Northern Rockies many years ago, and the majestic landscape has inspired me ever since.

There’s a hell of a lot going on right now. I do feel tremendous pressure, but I’d rather have that than no pressure at all. The December issue of Penumbra Magazine will be out in a few days, and with it my story “Seven Fish for Sarah”, which I’m quite proud of. Beyond that, my eerie tale of a retired miner facing the Appalachian winter is due in The Old, Weird South Anthology(Storm Fronts).

As always my focus remains on novels. I’ll continue work on Without, while touching up two other novels.

And we can all agree that naps in the sun are underrated:

What an incredible trip. I was fortunate to have seen so many great things. I met so many outstanding, fun, and intelligent people. I saw more wildlife than I had image storage space for, and landscape scenes that will always haunt me. I remember waking up in Glacier National Park, the wind wicked, my eyes stinging from sleet and snow. I remember the howls of wolves in Yellowstone on a ten degree night, and the crashing of branches near my tent at 2 a.m. as a bull moose stomped past. I could go on a tangent here, but honestly after a month + in the mountains I think I forgot how to freaking write, lol.

I thought I’d share a few images from the last night of the trip (and two that were not from the last night…I just like them).

The last night is always bittersweet. Hell, leaving the beauty of Montana is always difficult, but this time was easily the worst (and not just for landscape reasons). As I approached the state line near the “town” of Hodges (yes, that is correct) at 2 a.m., fog rolled in and limited my speed to about 20 mph. And good thing, too. As I slowed, a chunky coyote bolted in front of my car. I swerved. The coyote lived.

The last night at camp:

Loading up the car:

The last elk:

This small black bear was enjoying berries (balanced in a tree while chomping away). I was glad to have my father at my side while filming this bear. He came out with me for a week early on for the Gallatin National Forest, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Park portion of the trip. I don’t blame him for leaving when it hit ten degrees in Grand Teton, lol. Watching this young, acrobatic black bear was an experience I’ll always remember.

The elk and bear images are meant to be viewed much larger, so give them a click.

Many more images and thoughts are on the way.

It is strange to go from a million acre national forest to a million acre parking lot. Very strange.

In terms of writing news, I have several things either just released or forthcoming.

“Grangy” is now up at AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review.

My story “Seven Fish for Sarah” is forthcoming in the December issue of Penumbra Magazine, and my story “Storm Fronts” is appearing in the Old, Weird South Anthology in November. Also keep your eyes out for the January 2013 issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly, and with it “From the Mountain, Fury”.

A packed release schedule, but that’s a good thing. Hopefully readers can find something they really enjoy.

Magic still exists, and majestic landscapes filled with creatures as wild as any imagination could dream of.

Greetings from the heart off the Northern Rockies, where the last grizzlies roam.

I filmed this mother and her cub in Glacier National Park.

It’s been an incredible trip, and the camping/road time has allowed for a plethora of ideas for the second half of my new novel.

In writing news, my story “Grangy” is now up at AE: The Canadian
Science Fiction Review, with a fantastic illustration by Lisa Grabenstetter. I changed the title from the leaning-pretentious “Of Rotting Logs” to simply “Grangy”, which conveys the story content better. I also had a recent acceptance by another magazine, which I’ll post about later on. In the meantime, I’d rather be enjoying Yellowstone National Park than updating this site.

On the way back to Chicago I hope to spend time in Wind Cave and Badlands National Parks.

I just made my last food buy for the trip, plus a container of stove fuel. The nights have been cold, averaging below freezing, with a few dips into single digits. So awesome.