Katey Schultz's Blog, page 22
November 11, 2013
Going Solo: Big Agnes, Granite Gear, & MSR Get Me Through
Look, everyone! I'm practicing taking time off, like a normal person! From 2pm Sunday to about 4pm Monday, I hustled up the Colbert Creek Trail in the Black Mountains (my backyard) and spent the night on the ridgetop of the highest mountains in the East. This is the view of sunrise from Deep Gap. After a leisurely breakfast, I headed down the trail and eventually off the trail for an adventure bushwacking my way home via a new route. Twenty-six hours off. (Lest my readers think that a book tour was time off, see the previous 3 blog posts for details. Book touring, for all its glory and as good as it looks on Facebook, is a helluva lotta work.)
The impetus for the overnighter was to test my new ultra-light gear. I set my tent up on a completely exposed ridge where the wind whips short grasses into a fury as it pours east and west over the Black Mountains. Breaking all the rules in my own book, I wanted to test the limits of my gear. It was 25 degrees down in the valley, which meant it was about 17 degrees at Deep Gap. With wind gusts up to 40 mph, I'm confident saying that wind chill had me experiencing single digit temperatures last night, perhaps for long stretches at a time. My Big Agnes Flycreek 2 held up beautifully in the wind. It's design is so smart and sleek, so durable and light...and with every extra stake in, every extra hook latched, and every extra rope tied off, I'm happy to report that the tent withstood every moment of that very long night in high winds without a moment of failure or, even, apparent stress on any of the seams or poles.
The bag was another matter...but let me be clear: it did the job it claimed it would do. I used my new Big Agnes Juniper down bag rated to 25 degrees
The other part of the Gear Test 2013, which I might as well go ahead and call it, was enjoying my new Granite Gear Nimbus Meridian Ki. My god, why did Granite Gear discontinue this pack (letting me get it for the delightful price of just $163!)? They've got similar models still out there, but man do I love this pack. It's lightweight, strong as steel, and comes with a custom fit as hikers can order shoulder, chest, and hip straps as per their individual measurements. After backpacking for 11 years with an REI Valhalla that has enough padding for a small bed, I had my doubts that an ultra light pack could possibly be as comfortable. But it was...and not only that, it was so tight and fitted that it didn't jerk around and throw me off center, nor did it feel bulky when I bushwacked through the rough patches on my way back down the mountain. I'm completely sold!
The final hoorah of Gear Test came when I had to light my new, shamefully lightweight and simple, MSR Pocket Rocket, which I got on sale at REI for a whopping $25. Good god...if ever there were a backpacking stove to buy, especially for you solo hikers out there like me, this is the one. (For group trips, I always bring my Whisper Lite instead.) The Pocket Rocket lives up to its name. And while I couldn't light it on the ridgetop in 40 mph gusts, who would want to do that? I ducked off the ridgeline and behind a comfy boulder, enjoying my homemade bison chili and Stash Vanilla Decaf Chai tea in relative warmth...and with total fuel and stove efficiency, to boot.
The evening was full of adventures in gear...and the next morning would bring adventures off the trail. Stay tuned...meantime, here's sunrise from the other direction across Deep Gap--looking west.
November 7, 2013
What I Learned on Book Tour (Part 3)
Precisely because of Part 2, and also because of some points mentioned in Part 1, the other crucial element to a book tour is hiring professional help. For Flashes of War, I hired a publicist (more here and here) who handled press leading up to the book launch and for the month following release. From there, my book tour manager took over. Of course, everyone remained in communication throughout, but this is how it worked for the most part.Because I funded my own tour, I had to think especially hard about where I could afford to go. I received some advice very early on that confirmed my suspicions: go where you know you already have at least some small audience built in. I grew up and went to undergrad and graduate school in the Pacific Northwest, therefore I knew I wanted to work very hard to be identified as an Oregon or Pacific Northwest author. But I've lived in Western North Carolina for 12 years, so I also needed to work to become known as a North Carolina author and an Appalachian author. These reputations take time to build, but I can't say enough about actually touring in those places you hold near and dear to your writerly heart. Physical presence and word of mouth in the areas you aspire to build your audience is, hand down, the most enduring way to earn your readers and keep them. You won't make money selling books at a bookstore, but you'll build relationships and have experiences that are priceless and that pave the way for your future as a writer.
Like the spokes of a wheel, I found the major cities
I learned that if I could combine some of these bookstore events on the road with speaking events at colleges and universities, I could offset some of my expenses. Likewise, by touring in cities I knew, I was able to rely on the good deeds of friends who put me up, loaned me their cars, let me cook in the kitchens and write in their living rooms, and sometimes even took me out to dinner. These kind gestures are what made the tour possible, as I simply couldn't have taken on the other financial burdens if I were also responsible for funding housing and 100% of my transportation costs.
Of course, at a certain point, it all had to stop. I reached the limits of my budget, I was road weary, and I wanted to get on with the rest of my life. But the book still needs to sell and it still needs press coverage. How am I handling that? Stay tuned for Part 4 next week!
November 4, 2013
What I Learned on Book Tour (Part 2)
...I've also learned that a 1-hour book event in a new city and a venue you've never visited before is much more than a 1-hour book event. It takes time to mentally prepare, to arrive early but not too early, to double-triple check your directions and your car and the traffic, etc. For example, let's say you're staying in Seattle at a friend's house. Let's say you have a reading on a Thursday at 7pm. Don't kid yourself that you can work four full days at the desk that week, then finish your writing time around 5pm Thursday, hop in the car, and go. You're on a tour, so first of all, your "work at the desk" will constantly be interrupted and you won't have a desk, you'll have a couch or a floor or a coffee shop or a hotel room. Also, because you're on a tour, you likely have another event after this one, and you've just come off of one two days prior...so you're going to be tired. Tired but excited. Ready? Here you go:
You'll be borrowing your friend's car since you're on book tour and no, your publisher is not paying for any of it. And there will be traffic, because it's a week night. Parking will be tricky because you won't know the parking rules in this city. And getting there could be hard because you've never seen the place before. You need to arrive by 6:30, which means you should plan to arrive by 6pm just in case. But with rush hour traffic, even though the place is only 20 minutes from your friend's house, you'd better give yourself an hour. So you should leave at 5pm...but what if you get lost? What if you get a flat? What if you can't find parking. You'd better leave at 4pm.
Before you leave, you'll want to make sure to do laundry. You're traveling and you don't have that many clean socks and underwear with you and everything is all folded and jumbled and you've got to iron your dress. So do the laundry while you're working that day, and around 3pm stop working and take a shower, iron the dress, and get ready to go.
Since you're leaving at 4pm, there won't be as much traffic yet, so you're ironically going to find yourself at your own event at 4:30 with 2 1/2 hours to spare. When you park (Where's the e-brake on this car? Should you set the e-brake? Does your friend set the e-brake, it's his car after all...Is parking free after 5pm in this city? Where's your change for the meter....wait, they don't have meters here, they have box thingies. How much are box thingies per hour?) You'll be in a dress and heels and that's not normal for you. You'll find a nearby coffee shop and even though you don't need more coffee, you'll drink it anyway. Save the receipt. You can write it off. Tip the barista well. Always tip well.
You'll casually walk into the bookstore at about 6:40pm, as though you have just walked in off the street through a crowd of imaginary adoring fans. Inside, there will hardly be a soul, but you can always count on a middle-aged woman. Every bookstore in America right now has a middle-aged woman in it. Bless the middle-aged women. At the counter next to the cash register, you will find a stack of your books and a flyer with your name and your event announcement on it. If you are lucky, your name will be spelled correctly. If you're me, there is a 70% chance someone will spell your name wrong. Don't ask me why because I have been trying to think of an empathetic reason for all the booksellers (who I love, I truly do) who have spelled my name wrong (typing it KATIE or SHULZ, to name only two, right next to the cover image of my book--which has the name, of course, properly spelled since it's the cover of the book) and I can't think of one goodgoddamnreason why.
You'll smile and greet and this is the best part: You're in bookstore surrounded by titles written by amazing, inspiring, famous people who you someday hope to know or emulate (or at least earn a similar paycheck to). You will make small talk with the bookstore owner and that is always great: real people who love real books and dedicate their lives to...books. The only other people you'll ever meet in your life who dedicate their lives to books are other writers, and we all know that other writers are often awkward (they're writers, they're allowed--and yes, that means you, you, are awkward). So soak this moment up. Enjoy it. Talk to the book-loving bookstore owner who is not awkward and find out why she does what she does. Ask her about her cat names. Her children. Her fave authors. Find out how many years her store has been open and thank her and thank her again.
Now, you'll need to choose your own adventure: CHOICE 1 involves a well-attended, highly publicized event. CHOICE 2 involves a typical event.
CHOICE 1? Ok, here goes: 10-25 people arrive. Some have already read you book and have questions. Others bring their book club friends and buy multiple copies of your book because they just know they're going to love it and they are going to give a copy to their uncle who served in Vietnam. You will sell 3-15 books and you will sign several more at the request of the bookstore owner. You will say thank you many, many times and honestly--HONESTLY--you will mean every syllable of it. These are the moments that keep you going. Poeple who care. People who take the time to sit, to listen, to engage. Love every second of it.
CHOICE 2? 1 person comes and that is the 1 person who you know in Seattle (or whatever city) and they came because you asked them to. Twenty minutes into your reading (because you read to the bookstore owner and staff, too), another person arrives. That person will talk to you for the next hour and twenty minutes and you will have no escape. The bookstore owner will not rescue you. She is busy loving the other books at that time and she has left you to your own devices. You will look at that person who won't stop talking...you will look at him or her so kindly and you will want to love that person and you will feel that you should love that person but in your heart of coal you will know that, deep down, you really would rather be wearing your pajamas and drinking tea and reading Olive Kitteridge.
In either case, you leave the bookstore between 8 and 8:30pm and you'll get home around 9pm...six hours after you started getting ready for your hour-long event. You will get to your friend's house and tell your friend all about it. They will be happy for you and a little confused. "You only make $1 per book?" Yes, you will tell them, yes this is true. "Only 1 person came? Didn't the bookstore publicize?" Yes, you will tell them, this is also true. (Or: "20 people? 15 books? That's sweet!") You will be ready for bed around 10. Why are you so tired? You stopped working at 3 today and all you did was read from your book in front of a few people. But oh, you will be tired. You worked all day, then you got ready and you didn't even know it, but getting ready was work, too. Getting to the bookstore was work. Thinking about what read was work. Reading out loud was work. Oh, it was all good, good work that you love, but maybe you should have let yourself sleep in that morning and taken a half day, because you forgot your hour-long book event would involve 6 hours.
Very shortly, you'll find that you are too wired and anxious to fall asleep. Tomorrow you have to pick up the rental car and leave Seattle and drive somewhere else. And you'll want to thank your friend for hosting you and find a meal on your way out of town and pack up everything and make sure your iPod and phone and GPS are charged and that you've got directions to the next place. So you can't go to bed yet, because you've got to plan tomorrow. But it's ok. It's only an hour-long event at a bookstore.
You'll be borrowing your friend's car since you're on book tour and no, your publisher is not paying for any of it. And there will be traffic, because it's a week night. Parking will be tricky because you won't know the parking rules in this city. And getting there could be hard because you've never seen the place before. You need to arrive by 6:30, which means you should plan to arrive by 6pm just in case. But with rush hour traffic, even though the place is only 20 minutes from your friend's house, you'd better give yourself an hour. So you should leave at 5pm...but what if you get lost? What if you get a flat? What if you can't find parking. You'd better leave at 4pm.
Before you leave, you'll want to make sure to do laundry. You're traveling and you don't have that many clean socks and underwear with you and everything is all folded and jumbled and you've got to iron your dress. So do the laundry while you're working that day, and around 3pm stop working and take a shower, iron the dress, and get ready to go.
Since you're leaving at 4pm, there won't be as much traffic yet, so you're ironically going to find yourself at your own event at 4:30 with 2 1/2 hours to spare. When you park (Where's the e-brake on this car? Should you set the e-brake? Does your friend set the e-brake, it's his car after all...Is parking free after 5pm in this city? Where's your change for the meter....wait, they don't have meters here, they have box thingies. How much are box thingies per hour?) You'll be in a dress and heels and that's not normal for you. You'll find a nearby coffee shop and even though you don't need more coffee, you'll drink it anyway. Save the receipt. You can write it off. Tip the barista well. Always tip well.
You'll casually walk into the bookstore at about 6:40pm, as though you have just walked in off the street through a crowd of imaginary adoring fans. Inside, there will hardly be a soul, but you can always count on a middle-aged woman. Every bookstore in America right now has a middle-aged woman in it. Bless the middle-aged women. At the counter next to the cash register, you will find a stack of your books and a flyer with your name and your event announcement on it. If you are lucky, your name will be spelled correctly. If you're me, there is a 70% chance someone will spell your name wrong. Don't ask me why because I have been trying to think of an empathetic reason for all the booksellers (who I love, I truly do) who have spelled my name wrong (typing it KATIE or SHULZ, to name only two, right next to the cover image of my book--which has the name, of course, properly spelled since it's the cover of the book) and I can't think of one goodgoddamnreason why.
You'll smile and greet and this is the best part: You're in bookstore surrounded by titles written by amazing, inspiring, famous people who you someday hope to know or emulate (or at least earn a similar paycheck to). You will make small talk with the bookstore owner and that is always great: real people who love real books and dedicate their lives to...books. The only other people you'll ever meet in your life who dedicate their lives to books are other writers, and we all know that other writers are often awkward (they're writers, they're allowed--and yes, that means you, you, are awkward). So soak this moment up. Enjoy it. Talk to the book-loving bookstore owner who is not awkward and find out why she does what she does. Ask her about her cat names. Her children. Her fave authors. Find out how many years her store has been open and thank her and thank her again.
Now, you'll need to choose your own adventure: CHOICE 1 involves a well-attended, highly publicized event. CHOICE 2 involves a typical event.
CHOICE 1? Ok, here goes: 10-25 people arrive. Some have already read you book and have questions. Others bring their book club friends and buy multiple copies of your book because they just know they're going to love it and they are going to give a copy to their uncle who served in Vietnam. You will sell 3-15 books and you will sign several more at the request of the bookstore owner. You will say thank you many, many times and honestly--HONESTLY--you will mean every syllable of it. These are the moments that keep you going. Poeple who care. People who take the time to sit, to listen, to engage. Love every second of it.
CHOICE 2? 1 person comes and that is the 1 person who you know in Seattle (or whatever city) and they came because you asked them to. Twenty minutes into your reading (because you read to the bookstore owner and staff, too), another person arrives. That person will talk to you for the next hour and twenty minutes and you will have no escape. The bookstore owner will not rescue you. She is busy loving the other books at that time and she has left you to your own devices. You will look at that person who won't stop talking...you will look at him or her so kindly and you will want to love that person and you will feel that you should love that person but in your heart of coal you will know that, deep down, you really would rather be wearing your pajamas and drinking tea and reading Olive Kitteridge.
In either case, you leave the bookstore between 8 and 8:30pm and you'll get home around 9pm...six hours after you started getting ready for your hour-long event. You will get to your friend's house and tell your friend all about it. They will be happy for you and a little confused. "You only make $1 per book?" Yes, you will tell them, yes this is true. "Only 1 person came? Didn't the bookstore publicize?" Yes, you will tell them, this is also true. (Or: "20 people? 15 books? That's sweet!") You will be ready for bed around 10. Why are you so tired? You stopped working at 3 today and all you did was read from your book in front of a few people. But oh, you will be tired. You worked all day, then you got ready and you didn't even know it, but getting ready was work, too. Getting to the bookstore was work. Thinking about what read was work. Reading out loud was work. Oh, it was all good, good work that you love, but maybe you should have let yourself sleep in that morning and taken a half day, because you forgot your hour-long book event would involve 6 hours.
Very shortly, you'll find that you are too wired and anxious to fall asleep. Tomorrow you have to pick up the rental car and leave Seattle and drive somewhere else. And you'll want to thank your friend for hosting you and find a meal on your way out of town and pack up everything and make sure your iPod and phone and GPS are charged and that you've got directions to the next place. So you can't go to bed yet, because you've got to plan tomorrow. But it's ok. It's only an hour-long event at a bookstore.
October 31, 2013
What I Learned on Book Tour (Part 1)
The months-long travel portion of the Flashes of War book tour have ended. I'm shifting toward speaking events that involve other organizations, other authors, or literary connections that are professionally important for me to make. Generally speaking, if I can make the dollars and cents add up for such things, and I can get there on a quick-trip single-day or weekend flight, I'm game! This weekend, catch me on this spectacular panel, Danger Close: Writers on War sponsored by Words After War and moderated by none other than NPR's Quil Lawrence. That's 11/2 at 4pm in Brooklyn. By 11/3, I'll be in Charlotte, NC to read at Park Road Books at 2pm. Please spread the word!
I had the chance to meet with other writers Monday night, catching up on our lives and our current creative projects. It gave me the opportunity to consider some things I've learned from the book tour. When I try to put words to what 4 weeks, 4 flights, 11 events, and 2700 car miles did to me...or what the 16 weeks and 22 events preceding that involved, I get a little dizzy. But if I take a deep breath, very suddenly, a few kernels rise to the top:
I learned that the best moments were when I was in the moment--at a bookstore, at a university, in front of people and engaging with audiences that care. During these events, sometimes only 15 minutes long, other times as long as 2 1/2 hours, I got to learn about how my words landed on people's ears. Their responses always taught me something. From the man who started weeping mid-way during the Q&A in Davis, to the woman who kept looking away in LaGrande, to the college student (also a vet) who nodded at every slang word I threw into my stories, to the mother of an Iraq war vet who came home with several missing limbs...I was so moved to meet these people and share the space with them.
I learned that even though I was frequently asked the same questions in different cities,
I also learned that no matter what, an author must triple check with a bookstore several weeks before his/her arrival, to see that they have ordered the books and included your event in their newsletter/announcements. With several weeks, there's still time to fix any glitches or deal with rush orders. That sounds intuitive, but it's a rule that must be stuck to. Even bookstores that had me scheduled for months and months in advance, and who said they would do their own PR, and who said they had all the book ordering under wraps...still occasionally failed to turn out a crowd and get books in a timely fashion. I'd call a few weeks in advance and find that nothing had been done. Or worse, I'd call a few days in advance because I'd been told everything was taken care of...only to find out that books weren't ordered, calendars weren't updated, etc. It presented some very challenging situations that I tried my best to greet with a smile, although I'll confess to plenty of swearing behind the scenes and more than one sleepless night with a stiff neck and circular thoughts.
More insights about book touring to come, as I can gather my thoughts. Meantime, hope to see you or someone you know at any event this weekend!
I had the chance to meet with other writers Monday night, catching up on our lives and our current creative projects. It gave me the opportunity to consider some things I've learned from the book tour. When I try to put words to what 4 weeks, 4 flights, 11 events, and 2700 car miles did to me...or what the 16 weeks and 22 events preceding that involved, I get a little dizzy. But if I take a deep breath, very suddenly, a few kernels rise to the top:
I learned that the best moments were when I was in the moment--at a bookstore, at a university, in front of people and engaging with audiences that care. During these events, sometimes only 15 minutes long, other times as long as 2 1/2 hours, I got to learn about how my words landed on people's ears. Their responses always taught me something. From the man who started weeping mid-way during the Q&A in Davis, to the woman who kept looking away in LaGrande, to the college student (also a vet) who nodded at every slang word I threw into my stories, to the mother of an Iraq war vet who came home with several missing limbs...I was so moved to meet these people and share the space with them.
I learned that even though I was frequently asked the same questions in different cities,
I also learned that no matter what, an author must triple check with a bookstore several weeks before his/her arrival, to see that they have ordered the books and included your event in their newsletter/announcements. With several weeks, there's still time to fix any glitches or deal with rush orders. That sounds intuitive, but it's a rule that must be stuck to. Even bookstores that had me scheduled for months and months in advance, and who said they would do their own PR, and who said they had all the book ordering under wraps...still occasionally failed to turn out a crowd and get books in a timely fashion. I'd call a few weeks in advance and find that nothing had been done. Or worse, I'd call a few days in advance because I'd been told everything was taken care of...only to find out that books weren't ordered, calendars weren't updated, etc. It presented some very challenging situations that I tried my best to greet with a smile, although I'll confess to plenty of swearing behind the scenes and more than one sleepless night with a stiff neck and circular thoughts.
More insights about book touring to come, as I can gather my thoughts. Meantime, hope to see you or someone you know at any event this weekend!
October 21, 2013
Book Tour Drive-By Video
I'm officially back in North Carolina after 4 weeks on the road, 4 flights, 2700 car miles, and 11 events to wrap up the second (and hopefully final) extended leg of the book tour. I'm happy and exhausted, grateful and conflicted, satisfied and wondering...you name it, I've been on the roller coaster. It's pretty neat to know that even with so many nights on the road, only 2 were spent in a hotel, thanks to many friends and family who hosted, fed, treated, and supported me along the way.
I certainly don't have the same brain I had 32 events ago, when all of this began with the book launch on May 27th. Organizing what I've learned into any semblance of an essay at this point seems nearly impossible, but it will come in time. The major traveling is done, but still...I fly to NYC on 11/2 for Danger Close, with more quick trips on the horizon. As is often the case when I'm so busy that I can't even write, I lean on visual images (still photos and video clips) to express myself. I hope you enjoy this video of Book Tour Drive-By footage.
I was alone between events almost everywhere I went, so the only footage I could grab (and had time for) was often...while driving. That's right, I ran the camera and the car simultaneously. These clips might be a little dizzying, and the soundtrack is certainly neurotic as it changes according to whatever was on the radio in whatever state I was filming at the time. If "dizzy" is how you feel after looking at this, and if you don't always know where you are or what's happening, then I suppose I've succeeded in portraying my experience.
Newest book events are featured on the left sidebar, with more to come!
I certainly don't have the same brain I had 32 events ago, when all of this began with the book launch on May 27th. Organizing what I've learned into any semblance of an essay at this point seems nearly impossible, but it will come in time. The major traveling is done, but still...I fly to NYC on 11/2 for Danger Close, with more quick trips on the horizon. As is often the case when I'm so busy that I can't even write, I lean on visual images (still photos and video clips) to express myself. I hope you enjoy this video of Book Tour Drive-By footage.
I was alone between events almost everywhere I went, so the only footage I could grab (and had time for) was often...while driving. That's right, I ran the camera and the car simultaneously. These clips might be a little dizzying, and the soundtrack is certainly neurotic as it changes according to whatever was on the radio in whatever state I was filming at the time. If "dizzy" is how you feel after looking at this, and if you don't always know where you are or what's happening, then I suppose I've succeeded in portraying my experience.
Newest book events are featured on the left sidebar, with more to come!
October 17, 2013
Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire, The Avett Brothers, and Other Fantastic Escapes
I'm past event #30 for the book and headed toward event #31 tonight...and I'm tired. I've been trying to keep myself centered and fill my well back up in small moments between locations. On book tour, it's difficult for me to get uninterrupted stretches of writing time--which are usually my balm for peacefully co-existing with the world. I've found the fastest way to recharge is running while listening to great music. Touring mainly in large cities or suburban areas, I've been soaking up this anomaly urbanites call "sidewalks." Yes, dear readers, that's right: flat, smooth stretches of concrete designed strictly for pedestrians. Imagine that! Coming from life on the border of the Pisgah National Forest, that's no small treat.On this trip, I've run in Oregon City, Beaverton, Portland, Joseph, Northbrook, and Milwaukee. No gravel. No bear shit. No acorns. No snake holes. No leaf duff. This translates to moving faster, with ease, with a reduced threat of ankle sprains. Turn on the new Pearl Jam album "Lightning Bolt" or my go-to "Suburbs" by Arcade Fire and I'm on a roll. If I want to be transported, I hit up "The Carpetner" by The Avett Brothers because I saw them at Interlochen and ran to their album the rest of the summer. Running to them, even under gray skies, still absolutely makes me think of Michigan forests and fat, blue lakes. Since they're actually from Asheville, their music helps remind me of my current home, too.
Frequently, I choose albums for their beat or for the location I'm in. In Oregon, I ran to The Decemberists because they're a Portland band and to Death Cab for Cutie because their music sounds like Pacific Northwest rain. There is nothing, in fact, that sounds more like "home" to me than Death Cab for Cutie--in a sensory and narrative way, simultaneously. This week, I've been running to Pearl Jam because their album was released on Tuesday and I've been breathless for it for several years now. I'm happy to report that, so far, "Lightning Bolt" is hitting it out of the park. I haven't been this excited about a PJ album since "Vs." - which was, um, a long ass time ago.
I often wonder what other writers do when they're overstimulated, overtired, and scraping by on reserves. What's their go-to rescue remedy to keep a smile on their faces and keep in good graces with the public? No one teaches us these things. We have to live through the grump and learn, then come out on the other side and prevent it from happening next time. When I don't have the mountains and Gus the Superdog for my daily respite, running and rockin' out are my go-to for pushing through. Rock on!
October 14, 2013
Revisiting The Four-Fifteen
"Sea & Land, Land & Sky" by Amy TavernI've written about The Four-Fifteen before but in writing about it again, now, I'm remind myself that balance is always important...even on the road. My dear friend and talented metalsmith Amy Tavern first introduced me to this, and she's on adventures of her own right now in Iceland. In short, this ritual involves four, fifteen-minute sections of time. When combined into an hour, they're like a warm-up drill for writing (or any creative medium). When I'm on the road for long periods of time, this little ritual helps me get centered again and almost, almost, feel as though I'm working from home, my bags are unpacked, and I'm caught up on all my basic tasks. The idea is to not only touch in with my creative self, but also to calm my busy, travel-self down and just accept that even though many things are on hold right now due to the book tour, I can still get my most basic tasks done and I can do so with a smile.For those who don't have a full hour to do The Four-Fifteen, try modifying the ritual into four, ten-minute long sections. Even
For my part, I've got 6 more days and 3 more events, then I head home. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with my sweetie when I get back, settling back into the Airstream, and hitting the trails to catch whatever's left of Appalachian fall when I get back. Of course, Gus the Superdog awaits dutifully. Meantime, if you're in the Midwest, please consider seeing one of my events at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI this Thursday or Lake Forest Books in Lake Forest, IL this Friday. (Wednesday night is at Columbia College of Chicago but that's a private visit to a classroom of fiction writers.) I'm in the home stretch!
October 10, 2013
Afghan Scene Magazine reprints Flashes of War Excerpts
The September issue of
Afghan Scene Magazine
has reprinted an essay that I wrote for
Necessary Fiction
, based on the Epilogue in Flashes of War. Afghan Scene Magazine is the only English language magazine in Afghanistan and has over 8,000 subscribers. In addition to being published in full-color print, they offer much of their content online and in PDF (click here for the full PDF of the magazine and view my "Research Notes" essay on page 10). I found it fascinating to read the advertisements and commentaries by Afghan authors and see the different ways in which the magazine presents Afghan culture.Dealing with the editors for rights of this reprint was a little bit tricky--and I share this not by way of criticism, but insight. Email communication was spotty and, at times, I wondered if I'd sent my writing into a black hole. But I really wanted this to work...and felt honored by the request for a reprint in such a prestigious publication. When I tried reaching out for confirmation, I received a sincere apology: "Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. My girlfriend has been released, but she was kidnapped in Afghanistan and I've been dealing with that."
Talk about a humbling response that puts things in perspective. How can one be impatient in the face of that? It was an eye-opening email to receive and for that reason, I wanted to share my experience. I am grateful to the magazine for the reprint. It puts my writing in front of people who might otherwise never even encounter it.
Next month, Afghan Scene Magazine will reprint 4 stories from Flashes of War: "While the Rest of America's at the Mall," "With the Burqa," "The Ghost of Sanchez," and "Into Pure Bronze." The second story is written from the perspective of an Afghan woman who dreams of growing weapons in her own garden, which she will later use to kill American soldiers. It's intense to think about what it means for me, as an American author, to have a story with that content reprinted in a country where our soldiers (carry them safely home) are still on the ground. But those of you who know the work, know that it is also much more about providing a window into the character's deepest fears, powers, and confusion than it is about suggesting actual violence. In concert with the other stories being reprinted, I think Flashes of War will be well-represented.
If you use social media, please consider sharing this link or any direct links to the magazine on Facebook and Twitter. Not very many folks in the United States know about Afghan Scene Magazine, a publication which I believe could help Americans start to bridge a bit of the culture gap between ourselves and a country we've been fighting for over a decade.
October 7, 2013
MWSA Literary Fiction Book of the Year Press Release
{Faithful readers: Bear with me for one more promo post about the recent award...in a few days, I'll be writing from the Midwest part of the tour with new tales to tell...meantime, if you have any media, literary, or military contacts that you think might find this press release of interest, please share it with them.}
“What really amazes me about Katey’s writing is that she has been able to get inside the minds of people in war. She has an uncanny ability to take the reader into the scenes, the villages, the lives of the people who are experiencing war. She captures perfectly the complex emotions of the soldiers in combat, the people of the country where they fight, the returning warriors, their families and friends as each tries to make sense of their lives. She’s a unique and very, very talented writer.” –Jack Segal, former senior US diplomat and Vietnam veteran
“ . . . a deceptively minimalist style that out-Carvers Carver and exposes the traumas of war without any breast-beating outrage.”
–Los Angeles Review of Books
" . . . these tales are startlingly personal and expose the hearts, minds, and often weary spirits of the characters. Schultz writes crisp, unassuming prose and uses stunning imagery to illuminate otherwise foreign--and even not-so-foreign--hardships."
--Bookslut
Katey Schultz grew up in Portland, Oregon, and is most recently from Celo, North Carolina. She is a graduate of the Pacific University MFA in Writing Program and recipient of the Linda Flowers Literary Award from the North Carolina Humanities Council. She lives in a 1970 Airstream trailer bordering the Pisgah National Forest. This is her first book.
“What really amazes me about Katey’s writing is that she has been able to get inside the minds of people in war. She has an uncanny ability to take the reader into the scenes, the villages, the lives of the people who are experiencing war. She captures perfectly the complex emotions of the soldiers in combat, the people of the country where they fight, the returning warriors, their families and friends as each tries to make sense of their lives. She’s a unique and very, very talented writer.” –Jack Segal, former senior US diplomat and Vietnam veteran
“ . . . a deceptively minimalist style that out-Carvers Carver and exposes the traumas of war without any breast-beating outrage.”
–Los Angeles Review of Books
" . . . these tales are startlingly personal and expose the hearts, minds, and often weary spirits of the characters. Schultz writes crisp, unassuming prose and uses stunning imagery to illuminate otherwise foreign--and even not-so-foreign--hardships."
--Bookslut
Katey Schultz grew up in Portland, Oregon, and is most recently from Celo, North Carolina. She is a graduate of the Pacific University MFA in Writing Program and recipient of the Linda Flowers Literary Award from the North Carolina Humanities Council. She lives in a 1970 Airstream trailer bordering the Pisgah National Forest. This is her first book.
October 3, 2013
New Cover Design for Award-Winning Book!
Ladies and Gents, the new cover design for Flashes of War is featured at left, and the enlarged medallion is shown here. It's been an exciting 48 hours! Many thanks to publisher Kevin Atticks at Loyola University Maryland for the quick design work. Stay tuned for the press release...Meantime, if you know anyone in the Sacramento/SF/Davis area, I'll be reading at The Avid Reader in Davis, California this Friday at 7:30pm. Join me for a presentation, "Where Research Meets Imagination" and author Q&A. I only know two folks in Davis, so if you know anyone there, please help spread the word!
