It’s almost been one year since I moved to the great state of Montana.

Living here has always been a dream of mine. I love the space, the majestic variety of megafauna, the forested slopes and the clear streams.

It’s been great for my writing career. I launched my debut novel in the friendly arts town of Missoula, and the media was supportive. Along with the debut novel, I scored a Hollywood movie deal.

However, it hasn’t exactly been good for my writing. While in the Chicago suburbs, I felt the crush of overpopulation, of 10 million people bearing down on me. I saw nothing but endless strip malls and too many cars to count. This crush propelled an anxiousness that produced eight novels…most about trapped people (not surprising).

But Montana removed all that, and therefore my “inspiration”. I don’t feel trapped here. I don’t feel squeezed in. Even on Brooks and Reserve I can see the Lolo National Forest. Lesser national forests are six hours from Chicago. This acts as a release valve, and I don’t feel as compelled to sit down at the keyboard like I used to.

Until now.

This past week, I started a new novel called “Dry Lake”. It’s based in Missoula, as it should be. A long time ago Missoula was an enormous lake, but no more.

Sometimes things come back….

Hey everyone, I want to apologize for the comment box issues the past year. I was alerted to the problem from a kind friend this evening. For a year I’d been receiving blank comment notifications in my email. I assumed these were spam comments.

They were not.

It turns out the database was corrupt. After a database repair this evening. all comments have been restored as well as comment function.

Again, sorry for the frustration and thanks for stopping by!

There’s exciting news coming (like, a day or two), so stick around.

Best,

-Michael

The holidays are slowly approaching. Halloween is by far the best, but we won’t get into that here. With that in mind, let’s take a look at choice gifts for the writer in your life.

Now, I’m not insinuating that I personally want any of these things. That would be greedy and wrong. 😉

10. Netflix subscription. Writers often have odd schedules. I’m one of them. I also don’t watch a lot of television. So when I do, I like to pick and choose. The no-commerical status of Netlifx preserves the mind and soul, too. This is a great way to unwind from constant reading and research.

9. A Kindle or Nook. Hardcover purists would scoff at this, but you can fit a hell of a lot of books onto one.
Furthermore, Kindle/Nooks are the perfect device for those with slight and not-so-slight OCD tendencies (clutter). I prefer the older E-ink versions to the Fire.

8. A gas card. Eventually, even writers need to go outside. Hopefully it’s someplace beautiful and not the local strip mall. Road trips feed the imagination.

7. Vicodin. These good-time super pills will have your beloved writer shedding manuscripts like leaves from an October maple. Aches and pains interfering with your immersion? Gone. Normally tired after 2,000 words. Ha! Let’s go another 2k, pardner’. Pick and choose your spots, though, or these little white devils will have your ass faster than you can delete a form rejection.

6. Red Bull/Green Tea/Coffee. Yes. I know some prefer chocolate, but as writers we spend way too much time sitting on our ass, so low-cal boosts are superior.

5. Music. Lots of music. Check Rate Your Music for exceptional (and quite possibly definitive) all-time and year-end lists.

4. Something to play music. An iPod. Or Neil Young’s new Pono player. Even better, a CD player and head unit that plays actual CD’s. Or vinyl.

3. Microsoft Word. It’s still the best.

2. Final Draft. For the screenwriter in your life.

1. A real computer monitor. Too many writers are stuck using 13 inch TN panel laptops. TN panels do not have a stable image. Even moving your head an inch causes severe color shift and contrast issues. Some writers even use iPads (a true horror story). No. Just no. Do your favorite writer a favor and splurge on a decent IPS panel. I recommend the Asus PA248Q. The Asus comes calibrated from the factory, has no viewing angle issues, and even connects to most laptops via HDMI and DVI.

Yellowstone. Glacier. Grand Teton. Redwood. Sequoia/Kings Canyon. Yosemite. Lassen. Sierra NF. Trinity NF. Six Rivers NF. Klamath NF. California coast. Crater Lake. Oregon desert. Oregon coast. Siuslaw NF. Tillamook SF. Mt. Hood. Mt. Rainier. Mt. Saint Helens. Wenatche NF. Craters of the Moon. Sawtooth NF. Boise NF. Bitterroot NF. Lolo NF. Kaniksu NF. Kootenai NF. Flathead NF. Lewis and Clark NF. Gallatin NF. Custer NF. Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF. Helena NF. Payette NF. Shoshone NF. Teton NF. Targhee NF. Chippewa NF. Badlands. Custer. Black Hills NF. Theodore Roosevelt. Superior NF. Porcupine Mountains SP. Ottawa NF. Polar vortex’s, monsoons, droughts, floods, wildfires, wildlife poachers, bears, earthquakes, tens of thousands of miles of two tracks and gravel forest roads, and many other state parks, forests, and campgrounds too numerous to mention.

In all of this, not once was I left stranded. Not once.

My mind, my thoughts, were always about the destination. But this car? It was the places in-between.

Goodbye old friend. It would bring me great joy to see you on the road again one day. Even better, I hope you pass me.