. . . i've only driven through west texas, but i love the southwestern landscape, and i grew up star gazing in the mojave desert, so i can appreciate the starry sky part . . . i dig austin . . .

Happy New Year, Jonathan!

Love the avatar. Isn't that how we all see our super-heroic authors? Especially the men (although I doubt I would like to Patrick Rothfuss in tights...)!

I was just wondering if you have ever journeyed far south to the wonderfulness that is west Texas? More specifically, the Big Bend area.

I must spend at least a month a year hiking and camping out there as, aside from Paris, it's my most favorite place in the whole wide world. There is no other place that has that many stars...

. . . island living is not for everybody, but i love it . . . i'm only a half hour ferry ride from landing smack dab in the middle of downtown seattle, and yet there are 140 wooded acres right out my back door, cut through with trails (some of which i made myself) . . . i even have a little office out in the woods, where i sometimes work in the summers . . .it's about fifty yards from a coyote den, and yet i never actually see the stealthy little fuckers . . . i just hear them cackling to beat the band and howling . . . the other nice thing is that i have roots in this town, having lived here for half my childood, so a stroll through town for me is like barney fife walking through
mayberry . . . and they all buy my book! i've probably sold more copies of lulu on this island than i have in say, philedelphia . . .

I spent some time on Vashon Island back in 2000. A very beautiful and lush green place. Island living is somewhat different from living on the mainland, but it was an interesting time.

. . .ahoy, dennis, i decided to write west of here for the very reason that it was ambitious . . . i'd just finished a debut "voice" novel which had been well received, and i felt i owed it to my readers to evolve, rather than play it safe . . .i never want one of my books to overshadow another, thus, i plan on continuing to push myself to new places . . . the most difficult part of writing WOH was juggling dozens of limited points of view, and creating a web of connectivity sufficient to allow me to move fluidly between these points of view, some of which are a hundred and fifty years apart, and some of which are essentially in another dimension altogether, half of them male, half of them female, some of them indian, some of them white, some of them black, one of which belongs to colonel sanders, and another to an indian prophet, and another to a dying mule, and another to gass-huffing teenager, and another to a arctic explorer, and another to a chinese frontier doctor, and another to an amateur cryptozoologist, etc, etc, . . .

. . .the next difficult thing was achieving a convergence with all of these potentially divergent arcs . . .particulary difficult in light of the fact that they were seperated in many cases by a hundred-odd years . . .

. . .the third difficult thing was to try and make what could easily read like an experiment, read like a jack london novel on steroids. . .

. . . i could go on all day about how i wrestled with this fucker, but i'm grateful for it, i learned so much, i feel like i developed whole new sets of tools in writing west of here, and i'm now excited to take these tools into new frontiers . . .

Hi Jonathan,

You might have already discussed it--I'm new to the group, so please forgive me if I'm asking for a rehash--but could you tell me a little more about West of Here? How is it different from Lulu? What made the writing so difficult? What inspired you to write such an ambitious novel? And, most importantly, when can I expect to see it in my local bookstore?

Best,

Dennis

. . .i'm on bainbridge island-- a ferry ride from seattle . . .

Hi Jonathan,
Alana here (Chason's honey).
Yes - always happy to try to help provide information or direction via email (not meant to replace the hands-on care / examinations of a good veterinary visit, just to supplement). Also recognize that without a true exam (valid veterinary-client-patient relationship) I cannot officially diagnose, but am certainly happy to try to send you in the right direction.
So much of exotics / rabbits is husbandry - i.e. don't treat the problem, prevent it.
Where are you located (geographically)?
Email is: Dr.AlanaDVM@hotmail.com

hey chason, yeah, i gotta' drive thirty miles to get decent care for my bunnies . . .believe it or not, most vets consider them "exotics" and won't treat them . . .i found one vet closer and they were terrible . . .thanks for the offer--what a great resource!

Jonathan, My significant other is a veterinarian and - she loves when I do this - if you ever need some free medical advice for your bunnies or your dog or any other pets you might have let me know. I'm sure she'd love to get some bunny questions because I don't think she sees many of them at the vet clinic where she works.
Where can I get a copy of "Welcome Avenue"?

. . . i've been somewhat distant since spring because of my workload, travel, etc, so now that i've finished west of here (or at least set it aside), and i've got the time for a life again, i thought i'd play a little catch-up, here . . . this promises to be a big sprawling, potentially dull preamble to nothing, where it ought to be a dazzling picaresque, full of unicorns and jello shots, but writing-wise, i feel a bit used up at the moment . . . already consumed and occupied by the commercial fate of lulu these past six months, i've also been wrestling west of here to the mat every morning, noon, and night, which has been at turns exhilarating and grueling . . .i've never worked half as hard on a book, either on a sentence level, or an orginizational level, than i have on this one . . . but i believe hard writing makes easy reading, so let's hope i'm in good shape . . . my new bitchin' avatar, by the way, was made by my gentle friend and fellow fictionphile patrick . . .on good days--say when i'm camping at fort flaggler, and i've just finished a ten mile hike, and i've got a couple beers in me, and some burgers on the grill--i feel exactly like that avatar looks . . . that's about half the time, actually . . . you gotta' love the literary life, baby . . .i'm broke as fuck, but man, have i got freedom . . .prepping my taxes today, i gathered all my campground receipts for this year, and there were thirty-one of them, for a total of fifty-six days camping this year (and i was touring better than half the summer, so i didn't even camp during high season). . .i spent freaking two months camping this year! and i'm not even homeless (yet)! . . . . . . so, i've got that going for me . . . and the old dorkapallooza ('76 dodge sportsman with orange swivel chairs and lush shag) just keeps rolling along . . . that thing has changed my life . . .
. . .so, the bunnies are well . . .mcbunnyland has been winterized for the year . . . foot foot is still a bit of an outcast (she being the only non-sibling relation), but they accept her when you get down to it. . . though i care for them tirelessly, i haven't been able to spend as much QT with my little lovelies in recent months, but that's gonna' change tomorrow . . .the cuddle shop is open tomorrow! . . .
. . . the dogs are well, too . . .sparky looks like oscar the grouch at this point, and in is badly in need of grooming . . .dave humps EVERYTHING . . . he's been mounting lauren, lately . . .lucky bastard . . .little snapper is now well over fifteen years old, and is still in great shape . . .he's slowing down a little, but he's still more than capable of hiking ten miles, as he did out on marrowstone island a couple weeks back . . . i told you this would be a dull post-- shouldn't you be doing something? making a sandwich or something?
. . . what else . . . been reading lots and lots, since i've got more free time . . . about half the stuff i'm reading is dead white dudes (messrs. stegner, elkin, berryman, yates), and half contemporary women (miraim gershow, maria semple, lydia millet) . . . it's funny, but i'm a little restless not having a book to work on . . . i've already got about twenty pages of notes on my next book, which will be called the revised fundamentals of caregiving . . . i wrote a story by the same title, which is somewhat related, and another story called my good side, which is also loosely related to the novel i'm conceiving . . . i've got a good handle on the themes, characters, and arc, but i'm still trying to decide how to approach it; whether to return to a first person voice novel (from which west of here was a big departure), or to use multiple fluid limited POVs, or else to use multiple first person narratives . . . that's what i'm ruminating on in recent days as i'm walking through the woods, or staring at the ceiling . . . christ, are you still reading this? really, shouldn't you be watching divine design with candace olson? or knitting a hat, or something? . . .
. . . the news on lulu is good, she was the only indie title to make hudson's best of '08 list, which means even more amazing coverage in four hundred airport stores her in america . . . the foreign rights sold at auction in both germany and italy, and sold well in brazil and switzerland . . .the euro is on my side, but lordy, the calendar is not! . . . debut writers, let me demystify something for you: it takes literally FOREVER to get paid . . .whole valleys have been carved to dust and detritus in the time it has taken me to see a royalty statement (the first one earned me out, but not much else, and the next one is not due until fucking april, but i'll tell you one thing, when i cash that fucker i'm going to fiji or some shit, and sit my ass in chair) . . . on the film front, crossroads is still out to directors for the film, and i'm really excited about some of the people who are interested, although, alas, i can't say who, because, well, i might screw something up . . .i also optioned an earlier novel, welcome avenue, to actor/producer joseph cross, who is determined to make it his next project! . . .he just produced a film called son of mourning which comes out next year . . .
. . . so, that's about it for now . . . hope everybody is having a great fall, and best to you and yours come turkey day!