Michael Hodges's Blog, page 2

The Missoula Barnes and Noble November 21st appearance has been rescheduled!

Hey everyone,

Due to larger than expected turnout and the supply chain issues currently hitting the country, the November 21st Missoula Barnes and Noble book signing has been rescheduled. As soon as the supply chain issues are resolved, I’ll post the new date.

Best,

– Michael

Book signing in Missoula, November 21st.

Hey folks, I’ll be signing copies of my nature thriller “The Puller” at the Missoula Barnes and Noble on November 21st, from 2 to 4 pm.

I’m excited to see you all in person!

It’s been a really great year so far. I’ve finished a new novel, explored some of our great parks and forests, and met many cool people.

“The Puller” comes out November 16th, and you can pre-order the novel here from Simon and Schuster. Those of you who love nature and animals should really enjoy the story.

The Puller cover reveal. And pre-orders are now LIVE at Simon and Schuster!

The new “Puller” cover! The moose is from an image I took in Montana. It has never been seen in public until now. It’s a giant bull moose rising up from a lake and I consider it my best image. So there’s the plot twist!

I’m totally honored that Pyr used it for my book. It’s definitely a nature novel featuring moose, bears, etc so the cover totally fits. A big thanks to Jennifer Do for the awesome cover design.

It’s been a really interesting year. It will be out November 16th wherever you find books. A certain cat was nestled at my feet while I wrote this book. I think you guys know his name. This is dedicated to you, old friend.

Pre-orders are LIVE now at Simon and Schuster!

If you don’t want to pre-order from a big store, use the Indie Bound button to grab it from any indie book shop near you.

The Puller cover reveal!

“The Puller” cover sneak peek.

Yesterday I was able to see the new cover for my novel “The Puller”. Let’s just say it’s…absolutely EPIC. Here’s a sneak peak of a small portion of the cover.

Hope you all are having a good summer.

Best,

-Michael

The Puller.

“The Puller” cover sneak peak.

Yesterday I was able to see the new cover for my novel “The Puller”. Let’s just say it’s…absolutely EPIC. Here’s a sneak peak of a small portion of the cover.

Hope you all are having a good summer.

Best,

-Michael

The Puller.

Father’s Day

I’ve been walking a lot in Missoula. It’s what I do when I’m taking an hour break from writing. Usually I’m on my headphones listening to music, taking audio notes, trying to pet whatever dogs and cats I see. Yesterday, I walked past a bookshop I’m familiar with. The shop was where I had my first ever book signing in 2015. The book was my debut.

Eight people showed up.

One of those was my dad.

He flew out from Chicago for it, sat in the “audience” to support my first ever novel. And make no mistake, at the time that was me jumping off into the unknown. A leap of faith. A new valley to call my own.

After the signing (it didn’t take long haha), we ate ice cream and watched the river. A bald eagle soared over the valley, searching. He and I watched the scene quietly, an unspoken understanding between us.

No matter what, through it all, this guy has had my back. I strive to be more like him, more kind, less judgmental, more logical and practical.

A few years ago we took a camping trip to my favorite Montana river, and then on to Yellowstone. He bought a new tent and sleeping bag just for the trip. We fly fished and took pictures deep in the national forest. I still remember us wading the river at sunset, watching as the trout nipped bugs on the surface, as a moose and calf slowly emerged from the woods and crossed the river. Or filming the elk in Yellowstone, or the spectacular night sky. Or the poor guy having to eat my terrible cooking.

When I was a teenager and getting into trouble, he set me aside and told me I could be anything I wanted to be if I put my mind to it. I never forgot that lesson.

I miss those trips. Those times. I don’t see my parents as much as I used to.

But you see, that’s what they taught me. A healthy eagle flies far from the nest.

Happy Father’s Day.

My dad on the most epic of Montana’s rivers.

Writing and social media update, Missoula, Montana June 2021

Hey everyone,

So, there’s a lot going on. My official Facebook page reached 1 million readers in the month of May.

I’m shocked, and the impact on my life has been immediate. I appreciate you all sticking by me over the years and participating in my art.

To put that into context, one of the top outdoor magazines in the country (and one my work has been featured in), Outside Magazine, reached 650,000 people last month.

On the writing front, my nature thriller “The Puller” is coming from award wining PYR in November, with distribution by Simon and Schuster. I couldn’t be more thrilled. I’m currently planning a tour in Montana, California, and the PNW. Can’t wait to see you guys!

I’m also working on two novels, called “Lost Planes, Lost River”, and “Beneath the Rolling Clouds”.

If you look at my novels, “The Puller” was always a literary thriller at heart. Much of the novel is dedicated to landscape as character (see Cormac McCarthy as the best example of this) and to the relationships, with social commentary. My novel “Black Friday” expanded on this style, with a very expanded landscape, and also a focus on relationships and social commentary.

I was fortunate that “The Puller” was optioned for film and in development, and there are currently other options in the pipeline, for other stories.

I’m bringing this up because “Lost Planes, Lost River” and “Beneath the Rolling Clouds” are absolutely a continuation of “The Puller” and the “Black Friday” literary experimentation style.

There were several directions I could’ve taken my career, but this path seemed to be the most organic fit. It’s not forced. It’s just what’s in my heart.

More news to come.

Respecting bears and the Northern Rockies.

Hi. There’s been a lot of bear content in the news lately, especially in the Northern Rockies. A bear attack (sadly), and video of curious bears “following” people. I’ve noticed that it’s occurring more frequently this year. And that’s because a lot of people are moving to the Northern Rockies…people who think their new backyard is just like their backyard in Texas.

It’s not.

Unlike Texas, which has almost no public land or wilderness (and which most people sadly confuse as a wild place), the Northern Rockies are still very wild, with incredibly vibrant ecosystems and a full array of native fauna.

I’ve been filming grizzly and black bears in Montana and NW Wyoming since 2004.

How many times have I followed a bear into the woods? Zero.

How many times have I gone for a jog or bike in grizzly habitat? Zero.

How many times have I not paid attention to the woods in grizzly habitat? Zero.

More and more, I’m seeing people that think the Northern Rockies are some kind of paradise playground, a tame personal backyard.

They are not.

The moment you step into that national forest, you better give those woods 100% of your attention…not your music app on your phone as you jog or bike. Or that random text.

The national forests and parks of the Northern Rockies are the real deal. They are the home of the wildest and rarest animals in the world.

And for those continuing to consider a move there, here’s the reality. Check out the frost-free days of these Montana towns:

97 frost-free days in Bozeman
102 in Whitefish
110 in Missoula.

Can you handle 250+ days of cold? Think about it. For real.

The truth is, Montana is a place best visited. It’s home to a unique brand of hearty people who’ve developed a tolerance to the harsh winters and abundant wildlife.

Growing up, I used to want a cabin on a lake. Then I realized that’s how you ruin the place you love. I saw it happen to the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Soon, trees were cut down for a “better view”. Pine needle and sandy forest floors were replaced with chem-lawns that depleted oxygen levels in the lakes.

And if enough people keep building homes next to places like Glacier, they’ll deplete grizzly bear habitat like the oxygen in the Northwoods lakes.

To capture the essence of Glacier, tent for a few days in a campground. Or take a boat tour, or hike, or just drive. You won’t capture the essence by building a home there . You’ll only ruin it.

The Northern Rockies are more than your outdoor clothing catalogue dreams. More than your desire to “invest in a vacation home”. They are more than your personal goals. They go beyond you…beyond me.

They are the last of the best.
-Michael

Why Instagram is dying, and how to fix it.

Why Instagram is dying, and how to fix it.

Instagram used to be a social media app, but has now slowlydevolved into a shopping and private chat room app.

What went wrong? It’s very simple. The elements and featuresthat made it a social media app were removed, effectively destroying organicdiscovery and interaction.

1. The feature where you could see what friends liked was removed.

This feature had its pros and cons, but mostly they were pros. Sure, it had some elements that might seem creepy (seeing the exact posts your friends liked, which might not always be flattering). BUT, that’s what makes “social”, SOCIAL. If you put something embarrassing out in your lawn, or say something in public, PEOPLE SEE IT. This is what makes it social.

Instagram should’ve just offered a feature to disable the ability for people to see what you liked. By removing this feature, Instagram walled off accounts from each other that were connecting in the most organic way possible. In essence, they created a sterile, gated neighborhood. This was the single best way to discover new content from CREATORS and NOT generic aggregation pages.

Solution: bring back this feature to restore the connective fabric of the community.

2. Rewarding aggregation pages and NOT the actual content creators.

Some people may  notknow what a data aggregation page is, but I’ll explain briefly: Instagram isitself an aggregation app/website. It collects all the images of all its usersinto one place. This is its sole function.

For example, you have an account by a photographer who lives in Montana. This photographer takes her own images (spends the gas money and time to really put in effort to create original content), posts them on her Instagram page under her name “Kelly’s Montana Photos”. BUT,  there are several “Montana Awesome Photo” pages that simply share her images on their page (and other photographers images), doing literally no work to create original content for Instagram.  Montana Awesome Photos is not a content creator and should not have priority on Instagram. In fact,  it should NEVER show up in the “Explore” page. Why should it? INSTAGRAM itself is the main data aggregation page.

Solution: restore the connective nature of the community by removing aggregation pages from the Explore page and replace them with the content creators’ pages. Create a verification system to label pages who create original content.

3. They removed Locations and Hashtags from Stories.

This is yet another brick in the wall, another gate in thegated community, effectively destroying the connective fabric of the community.

Once upon a time you could visit the “#cats” hashtag in a story, and see a ton of stories under that hashtag. Or, you could click the location tag in a story (like @Nashville, for example) and see a long train of stories based in Nashville. It was fun, you could see cool stuff and really connect in real-time. This was social, thus “social media app”.   But this feature is gone now, further nudging Instagram towards being a shopping and private chat room.

Solution: Restore hashtags and location viewingfunctionality in Stories.

4. Reels.

Weren’t Stories Reels?

Why not just offer the option to have a Story post to yourfeed?

Redundant.

Solution: Delete Reels, add functionality to Stories withoption to share to feed.

5. Clunky GUI updates (Graphic User Interface)

A “Redesign” is not slapping on a new GUI over the old GUI.The new Instagram requires MORE CLICKS to accomplish a task than it did before.This is not a “refresh”… this is going backwards in functionality andaesthetics.

Solution: Simplify the GUI experience.

Initiating these several steps will help restore the “social” in “social media app”.  And let’s be honest, if someone is worried about what someone sees on social media, they shouldn’t be on social media.

Instagram used to be an amazing, vibrant app. Slowly, yearby year, it has become a private, gated community. It’s in bed by 10pm and upat 5 mowing the lawn.  The social isgone.

Zzzzzzzzz.

The Puller finds a new home.

I’m happy to finally report that my debut novel “The Puller” has been picked up by the excellent Pyr. This is part of the news I’ve been hinting about.

The harrowing story of Matt Kearns lives on, and will be in hardcover, with distribution by Simon and Schuster.

A big thank you to my fantastic agent Lane Heymont. The Puller would not have been possible without Sarah, Debbie, Charlie, and Pam Welsh. And my father, Bruce Hodges.

I’m thrilled that this story continues to move people. More novels to come. And thank you all for sticking around.

[image error]Happy my debut novel found an outstanding new home.