Doug Walsh's Blog, page 5

Making the Front Page at Kotaku.com

It’s always a pleasure to be interviewed by a well-regarded outlet, but that goes double when it’s one of your favorite websites. Full stop.

This interview I did with Jason Schreier in support of my book The Walkthrough was a highlight of my year. It not only allowed me (and by default, my now-defunct publisher) to shed light on why the Final Fantasy IX guide was such a disaster, but it gave a swath of gamers insight into the behind-the-scenes process involved in making a strategy guide.Read the Interview

The post Making the Front Page at Kotaku.com appeared first on Doug Walsh.

Why I Started CrossFit in My 40s

I carried a hundred pounds for a half mile.

No, not at once. God no. But not on my back either. In my hands. Dumbbells. And after every 200 meters I dropped to the floor and managed twenty push-ups and twenty ring rows (think lean-back pull-ups), eighty each in total. It was only the second-most impressive thing I did that week. Another day saw me deadlift 225 pounds 40 times – sandwiched between rowing a thousand meters and running a half mile. I did it all in 12 minutes.

And I enjoyed it. Sort of.

Like writing a novel, cleaning the gutters, or running a marathon, a CrossFit workout is one of those things that feels good to have done, but the actual doing can feel like torture. This is especially true when you’re new, out of shape, or fail to attend frequently. I embodied this trifecta of noobness for several months until finally committing to attending at least three times a week.

The gains were immediate.

Time for Something New

We returned home from a trip to the Seychelles on my 43rd birthday last October, the night before my first CrossFit on-ramp class. Prior to then, I never had any interest in CrossFit. For starters, I loathed weightlifting. Even as a track athlete in high school and college (Division I), I did the bare minimum in the weight room. Secondly, CrossFit was primarily indoors. And I didn’t choose to live in the mountains so I could exercise under a roof. It was also pricey.

But more than anything, CrossFit felt obnoxious. For years, my primary exposure to CrossFit was the numerous people in my Facebook feed constantly posting about kettlebells and burpees, paleo and keto, and always with a ceaseless sprinkling of acronyms. RFT? EMOM? AMRAP? CrossFit seemed like Fight Club’s dull cousin, where the only rule was to bore everyone you knew about CrossFit.

Photo from SnoRidge CrossFit

Fortunately, the craze died down over the years and I’d all but forgotten about it until I saw someone posting about the free month he’d signed up for. Dare I say, he made it sound fun.  And despite a love of mountain biking and having run a few trail marathons last year, my post-workout IPAs were having a more lasting effect on my child-free “dad bod” than my trail time. Two weeks spent shirtless in the tropics only served to emphasize this point.

It was time to switch it up. And with a CrossFit “box” (groan) within walking distance, it felt like the thing to do. Still, I was apprehensive. I especially feared the anticipated diet sermons – good luck prying the Sausage Egg McMuffins from my cold, dead hands!

So, What is CrossFit?

It began with on-ramp. Four sessions of instruction, usually with nothing heavier than a PVC pipe or medicine ball, culminated in a bodyweight workout called Baseline. Or, in my case, flatline.

Nevertheless, I left feeling ready for my first true CrossFit workout. And a huge reason for that was the emphasis Michelle and Tom — the ownership duo that runs SnoRidge CrossFit — place on technique and scaling.

A CrossFit workout is divided into three components. The warmup, usually two rounds of various stretches and bodyweight exercises, then a strength portion followed by the main workout of the day, the WOD. Having never done any real lifting, and certainly none in over twenty years, it took several months to figure out what I’m capable of, and that I shouldn’t be concerned with saving my energy for the WOD.

Oh shit, this acronym thing is contagious.

Photo from SnoRidge CrossFit

That very first workout included a total of 100 pushups while also introducing me to a CrossFit staple, the dreaded “wall ball.” Grab a 20# medicine ball, drop into a squat position while holding the ball under your chin, then rise and bounce the ball off a ten-foot high target. Repeat 100 times. I “scaled” down to the 14# medicine ball on the second set of 20.

There is usually a prescribed (Rx) weight that we’re to aim for, one for men and another for women. It was made abundantly clear early on that to “Rx” a workout is the exception, not the rule. The point is to get the workout done in a time that approximates what a fit athlete could do with the Rx routine. Eighty workouts in, I’m only now beginning to Rx even a quarter of the WODs. Sometimes it’s due to the weight and number of reps, other times due to the movement. I can barely double-under when jumping rope and bar muscle ups remain as elusive as the Fountain of Youth.

Perhaps they’re linked?

No Place for Ego

As the posters throughout the gym say, “Leave Your Ego at the Door.” Our times, reps, and weights are posted on a white board, a running tally of every athlete’s performance over the course of the day’s seven classes. It’s a constant reminder that there is always someone faster, someone stronger. It’s a wonderful source of encouragement and friendly competition. Mainly, it’s a carrot that keeps you honest. It’s accountability to yourself.

But, guys, CrossFit is definitely not for you if you can’t handle “getting chicked,” as we say in cycling. My morning classes tend to be two-thirds women and it will be years, if ever, before I can match a few of them in overall fitness. I stand in awe on the regular.

Scratch that, I’m usually laying in a puddle of my own sweat, gasping for air as they strut around high-fiving one another.

And lest you think that the other attendees are all half my age, they’re not. CrossFit attracts people of all ages and abilities and if I had to guess, I’d say the bulk of the members at my gym range from 35 to 50 in age.

Photo from SnoRidge CrossFit

Steady Gains

Kettlebells, rowing ergs, jump ropes, and dumbbells make frequent appearances, but none more than the barbell. When I began, I’d never used a bar for anything other than bench press … as a teenager. I knew nothing of clean and jerk, overhead squats, deadlifts, or the dreaded thruster. It took several months before the coaches no longer had to interrupt my workouts to correct my form, but both they and my gym-mates were eager to help me learn correctly. The weight would come, they’d say.

And sure enough, it did, along with my confidence. I no longer check the day’s workout with trepidation, worrying if I could figure out how to do the lift. Now I wake, anxious to go. Unless we’re doing snatch. I go mountain biking on snatch days. That lift can go straight to hell.

I feed everything I do into an app called Beyond the White Board that runs your times, reps, and weights through a series of algorithms, compares it against worldwide leaderboards – there are dozens of “standard” workouts that all CrossFit franchises use, many in honor of fallen military – and it kicks out an overall performance rating, from 10 to 100.

I started using the app in late November, after two months of attending, and it spat out a rating of 28. Now, in May, my rating stands at 38, finally bouncing back after three weeks spent on a book tour. But it also provides a rating for each individual workout. And sometimes, when the stars align and Tom programs a workout that focuses mainly on endurance and bodyweight, I can score in the 60s or 70s. And those are great days.

Photo from SnoRidge CrossFit

To give you an example, one recent workout became an instant-favorite of mine.

Strength

Bench Press: Find your 3-Rep Max

WOD

15-Minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds as Possible): 5 Strict Pull-Ups, 10 Push-Ups, 15 Air Squats, Run 200 meters.

I nearly completed seven rounds before time expired. And I can assure you there is no way I could have racked up 70 push-ups, let alone 35 unassisted pull-ups, back in October.

As an example of the hardest workout I’ve done, allow me to present the “Twelve WODs of Christmas” done to the structure of the famous carol where each day is repeated and built upon. It took 30 minutes and ultimately led to 12 Burpees, 11 Overhead Walking Lunges (45#), 10 Double Unders, 9 Box Jumps (24 in), 8 Knees-to-Elbows, 7 Pull-Ups, 6 Kettlebell Swings (53#), 5 Deadlifts (75#), 4 Power Cleans (75#), 3 Push Press (75#), 2 Thrusters (75#), and 1 Sumo Dead Lift (75#), presumably in a pear tree.

About That Diet Stuff…

Michelle pointed to a nutrition poster the first night of on-ramp and told us to read it. She then said we were all adults and could ask questions if we wanted, but she wasn’t going to discuss nutrition unless we initiated it.

Perfect, I thought. Mickey D’s is safe.

It took very little time to see a change in the mirror. My face thinned out, my shoulders and chest broadened and got more defined. My quads and calves regained a little of their old form. Someone in construction might even say my body’s R-value decreased.

Sadly, the bathroom scale didn’t get the memo. And neither did my middle-aged midsection. Going to CrossFit 2-3 times a week and mountain biking infrequently wasn’t cutting it.

Our 9:30 a.m. class is notoriously chatty and conversation sometimes drifts to paleo recipes and other healthy eating techniques. It’s usually harmless, but I was once caught within the blast radius of a discussion of crust-free pizza. I’m thankful my Italian grandmother isn’t around to know I’m being exposed to such filth.

Still, despite a deep, undying love of food – especially carbs – I knew I had to switch something up. As someone who has worked from home their entire adult life, I know that lunch is my bugaboo. With the fridge and pantry at my disposal, I’ve rarely limited myself to a single sandwich. One often became two, which often led to salsa and chips. And breakfast was no better. Why have just one bagel or muffin, when you can have two? Or three?

I decided to eliminate the temptation. Now, with the help of the nutrition-tracking features on Beyond the White Board, I aim to reach dinner hour having consumed fewer than 1400 calories. For breakfast, I eat an extremely tasty One Bar that, despite only 1g of sugar, miraculously satisfies my sweet tooth (Almond Bliss and Maple Doughnut flavors FTW!). I have a post-workout smoothie (something I’ve always done), then for lunch I have a Huel shake. Huel is one of those powdered meal-replacement formulas, not unlike Soylent, designed by Silicon Valley types who had come to despise the time-sink that is eating real food. The original flavor tastes of watery oatmeal, but the strawberry flavor tastes like the milk left over from fruity cereal and I really don’t mind it at all. And it takes no time to down a 400-calorie balanced vegan shake and get right back to work.

For snacks, I either have a half-portion of Huel or some carrots, nuts, or turkey jerky.

After months of my weight being locked in at a dissatisfying number, I’ve finally dropped 5 pounds in the last two weeks thanks to the new food plan, more frequent (and longer) mountain bike rides, and attending CrossFit 3x a week. And, honestly, I can say I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing at all. If anything, I’m relieved to no longer have to decide what to have for breakfast or lunch. And come dinner, I cook whatever my wife is in the mood for. And weekends are open season on beer and burgers.

Photo from SnoRidge CrossFit

CrossFit? Recommended!

For several years, my review of the RunTastic Results app was one of the most popular posts on this site. Probably because it’s one of the only detailed reviews there are. Unfortunately, I gave up on that app a month or two after posting the review. I got bored. Tired of doing it by myself, over and over with minimal variety. Worse, I found that it was nearly impossible to catch back up to the program if you missed even a couple days. Go on vacation? Get sick? Forget it. You had to start over with a fresh new program.

CrossFit isn’t like that. Yes, it costs a lot more than the app’s $50/year subscription (CrossFit averages roughly $150/month), but with your money you get personal coaching, access to fantastic equipment, a ton of variety, and, if you’re not a jerk, a gaggle of new friends.

I know CrossFit has a reputation for injury, but after seven months of attending, I’m confident that risk has been greatly exaggerated – or maybe I just have responsible coaches and the self-discipline to know my limits. Sure, I’ve got some aches here and there. And my hands are as rough as sandpaper from callouses. But I’m also fitter than I’ve been in a very long time (bike tour aside), at least since 2007, and probably not since 2002.

How many guys in their forties can say that?

Enjoy this post? Read more of Doug’s writing in his road-tripping novel, Tailwinds Past Florence or check out his video game memoir, The Walkthrough: Insider Tales From a Life in Strategy Guides. And, as always, mailing list subscribers get a free digital copy of the travelogue One Lousy Pirate.

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Book Tour: 3 Weeks on the Road as an Indie Author

The fears would pile up twenty minutes prior to each book tour event. The fear of an ill-timed stomachache. The worry of a technical mishap. The dread that nobody would show up. For three weeks I traveled across the country from Colorado to New Jersey, speaking at indie bookstores, signing copies of Tailwinds Past Florence, and regaling readers new and old with the story behind the story.

It was a brute-force way of insisting my book appeared on the shelves of some of America’s great indie bookstores. An airdropped supply of novels meant to infect small communities of readers. Fifteen copies sold here, another eight here, twenty over there. All in hopes of generating a string of patient zeros, devoted readers who might one day recommend my book to others.

The sidewalk signboards always put a smile on my face.

All told, it was a relatively minor tour. But a dream come true, nonetheless. Including the four events I held in the greater Seattle area before embarking on the tour, I witnessed several hundred copies of my novel on display atop counters, on bookshelves, and even in storefront windows. I signed the title page of hundreds of books, only once misspelling a reader’s name — I always double-checked from that point on.

I never had to retreat from the podium in search of a toilet and my presentation always went off without a technical hitch. As for nobody showing up to my events … let’s just say that a gorgeous sunny afternoon can be tough to rival.

The Risk of Being Unknown

The only author events I’d attended prior to embarking on my own book tour were for Yann Martel, David Sedaris, and Andy Weir (with special guest Neal Stephenson). These authors are known quantities. Sedaris routinely sells out symphony halls for his hilarious book readings.

Unlike those of us just rising from the starting blocks of our careers, they don’t need to rely on friends and family to prevent them from presiding over a sea of empty chairs.

Some audiences are slower to arrive than others.

My first event, at the spectacular Boulder Bookstore, was moderately well attended thanks to my brother and a friend helping to spread the word. It was spring break in a college town and a five-dollar voucher was required to attend the event, good toward the purchase of the featured book. Learning that the sixteen or so attendees marked the largest audience the store had had in several weeks left me feeling great. Discovering that a man I met in Rome five years prior drove down from Wyoming to attend the event was even better.

That was a hell of a compliment, Mark. Thank you.

I was in Denver the following night, at the Colfax Avenue location of Tattered Cover. The sudden onset of snow combined with a lack of signage and in-store announcement in a multi-storey shop worked against me. I thought the crowd of seven or so would be a low-water mark, only to have that record broken several nights later in Minneapolis, at Magers & Quinn. Despite assurances of local cycling clubs that they would post the event to their calendar, they hadn’t. I had an audience of three, one of whom arrived with me. Thanks, coach.

I was worried about the turnout after my event at Third Place Books was rescheduled due to a snowstorm, but we had a great turnout. (Photo by B. Wobker)

My events in Wisconsin and Indiana were much better attended, helping me to wrap up the tour on a positive. Which I needed after the miserable afternoon spent in Des Moines, at an event in which I learned the power a sunny afternoon wields against bookstores. The store wasn’t in an ideal location, they’d never hung the flyer I sent them, and the lone worker barely acknowledged me.

Only one person entered the store while I was there.

One reader more than I had an hour earlier — silver linings on sunny days.

Not About the Money…

Bookseller anecdotes about famous authors only drawing a handful of people proved comforting, but unnecessary. A DIY book tour for a debut indie author is not a moneymaker. I knew this going in. Most stores ordered 25 copies of my book, of which only a small percentage of the $14.99 sticker makes it into my coffers. Truth be told, I pocket 3x as much from each paperback sale on Amazon as I do at brick & mortar stores. The $6.99 Ebook earns me even more.

But the tour was never about trying to turn a profit. Given travel expenses, time, and the money spent advertising over a dozen events, how could it?

Signing copies and A’ing some Qs. (Photo by B. Wobker)

No, this was me paying dues. As I reminded myself each evening (and anyone in earshot), every stand-up comic we’ve heard of had a point in their career when they were doing midnight sets on Monday nights, telling jokes to the bartender and janitor. If one person wandered in, laughed, and left a fan, they had won. If that one woman I spotted reading my novel in the corner of the otherwise vacant Beaverdale Books becomes a fan, then it was worth it.

So yes, I spoke to an audience of one. I also had several wonderful turnouts that numbered closer to forty people. I want to believe the quality of my presentation didn’t vary. After all, my goal wasn’t to get famous, but to gain fans. One at a time, as necessary.

Friends & Family

Many of the stores I targeted for my events are often featured in lists of America’s great bookstores. The biggest, the most beautiful, the best selection, etc. But that was only one part of why I chose to request events held at their stores.

The primary reason was family and friends. If I was going to travel across the country promoting my book, then it only made sense to combine it with visits with those special to me.

I spent three nights in Louisville, Colorado with my brother Joe. We hiked, played disc golf, and drank our way through Boulder County. Two of my best friends from the Seattle area flew in to visit a mutual friend, hang out, and attend my event. They flatter me with their love. I spent the weekend in Denver with an old mountain biking friend who relocated away from the Pacific Northwest some years ago. It was great to see her again.

My brother and I outside the fantastic Boulder Book Store. (Photo by M. Vo)

From Colorado I flew to Minneapolis where I met up with my high school track coach, a man I hadn’t seen since a celebratory dinner after the New Jersey “Meet of Champions” in spring 1993. A five-hour bus ride took me to Madison, Wisconsin where I spent four nights with my cousin Jackie and her family. It was my first trip to Wisconsin and Jackie was a tremendous host, Madison a very cool town. The Mystery to Me bookstore, a great venue.

As an aside to my gaming readers, Jackie, ahem Dr. Fulvio, is a Research Scientist studying the causes of motion sickness in virtual reality. Fascinating stuff!

My first green room.

I then piloted a rental car to Des Moines, Iowa (another first-time visit) to fill a couple days before scheduled events in the Indianapolis area. Though my event was a flop, I had the pleasure of meeting the cast of the Pop Tab Podcast who were kind enough to invite me onto their show to discuss The Walkthrough.

Listen to my interview on the Pop Tab podcast here. Or wherever you prefer to listen to podcasts.

From Des Moines, I drove to Chicago to visit a lifelong friend before making my way to Indianapolis where I spent two nights surrounded by my longtime colleagues from BradyGames, many of whom are mentioned in my upcoming memoir, The Walkthrough: Insider Tales from a Life in Strategy Guides. Tremendous thanks to everyone who showed up at Turn the Page Westfield and Indy Reads Books.

I then flew to New Jersey for a meet-and-greet at the cozy Town Book Store where several friends I hadn’t seen in quite some time showed up to keep me company on another gorgeous afternoon seemingly designed to pull shoppers away from bookstores. I spent the ensuing three days surrounded by my New Jersey family and friends. It was great seeing everyone.

If You Missed Me…

I’ll be in attendance at the Local Authors Festival at Island Books (Mercer Island, WA) on May 5th from 2-4pm. Stop by, say hi, and support Seattle area writers like myself.

Reading a passage from Tailwinds Past Florence at Turn the Page Westfield. (Photo by W. Cruz)

If you were unable to make it to any of my events but happen to live near one of the host stores and want a signed copy of Tailwinds Past Florence, it’s not too late. I left signed copies at each of the stores listed below (while supplies last). And yes, despite the pay discrepancy outlined above, buying from your local indie bookstore is encouraged. Tailwinds Past Florence is also available through libraries (by request) and can be ordered by most any bookstore.

Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA
Island Books, Mercer Island, WA
Edmonds Book Store, Edmonds, WA
Boulder Bookstore, Boulder, CO
Tattered Cover – Colfax, Denver, CO
Magers & Quinn, Minneapolis, MN
Mystery to Me, Madison, WI
Beaverdale Books, Des Moines, IA
Turn the Page Westfield, Westfield, IN
Indy Reads Books, Indianapolis, IN
Town Book Store, Westfield, NJ

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Shaking it Up with the Guys of Pop Tab

It took a decade or three to gain full acceptance, but few things hold a larger place in pop culture than video games. And older gamers always want to talk about The Walkthrough.

And Pop Tab, a podcast devoted to discussing all things popular in media and entertainment, definitely knows their stuff when it comes to gaming. I met the hosts of this show the prior night, at a chance encounter while in Des Moines, IA during a book tour. And was thrilled to be a guest on their show the next morning before continuing on to Chicago.Listen In

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Book Tour Details

It’s official! I’ve got one final event in the Seattle area this weekend (March 23rd at Edmonds Book Store at 12pm) then I head out on the road for my first ever book tour. I’ve got eight stops lined up, a number of friends and family members to stay with, and an array of planes, buses, and rental cars lined up to ferry me around. Some of the events are travel presentations, focusing on the round-the-world bicycle tour that inspired Tailwinds Past Florence. Others are more of a traditional book reading event. And, lastly, there’s a purely meet-and-greet event at a little book store in New Jersey.

Come out and say hi, ask a question, and grab a book. The events I’ve done so far in the Seattle area have been a blast. Can’t wait to meet more readers from around the country. See you soon!

 

Complete Event Details

December 15-16, 2018: BikeCraft Expo, Portland, OR
January 24, 2019: Launch Party & Presentation at Compass Outdoor Adventures, North Bend, WA (6pm)
February 21, 2019: Podcast Interview on The Sprocket, Portland, OR
February 24, 2019: Presentation & Book Signing at Island Books, Mercer Island, WA (4pm)
March 5, 2019: Presentation & Book Signing at Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA (7pm)
March 23, 2019: Reading & Book Signing at Edmonds Books, Edmonds, WA (12pm)
March 28, 2019: Presentation & Book Signing at Boulder Bookstore, Boulder, CO (7:30pm)
March 29, 2019: Presentation & Book Signing at Tattered Cover, Denver, CO (7pm)
April 1, 2019: Presentation & Book Signing at Magers & Quinn, Minneapolis, MN (7pm)
April 5, 2019: Reading & Book Signing at Mystery to Me, Madison, WI (7pm)
April 7, 2019: Presentation & Book Signing at Beaverdale Books, Des Moines, IA (2pm)
April 10, 2019: Reading & Book Signing at Turn the Page Westfield, Westfield, IN (5pm)
April 12, 2019: Presentation & Book Signing at Indy Reads Books, Indianapolis, IN (7pm)
April 13, 2019: Meet & Greet and Book Signing at Town Bookstore, Westfield, NJ (2pm)

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The Walkthrough, Uncovered At Last

I should really be revising the seventh chapter right now, but it’s been a month since I’ve posted on the blog and, well, I’ve been keeping this project secret long enough. As mentioned to my newsletter subscribers last month, learning that Prima Games was shuttering hit me pretty hard. You might recall me saying as much back in November.

I wasn’t only sad about losing my one semi-reliable source of income, but the announcement felt like watching something I held near-and-dear get wiped from the planet. Video game strategy guides, for all intents and purposes, no longer exist. Dinosaurs struck dead by an asteroid named Dorling Kindersley. Something that was a part of my life, as a reader and author for over thirty years, is no longer a thing.

Extinct save for the boutique crocodile offshoots that remain.

After a day spent mourning the loss of an industry — and generally freaking out about my newfound unemployment — I got to work writing. My therapy. From the emails I never sent to the journal entries I’m unlikely to read, to my blogs and books, it’s how I process and cope and get things off my chest. It’s also my compass.

The Walkthrough

For nearly a decade I’ve been collecting anecdotes, examples, and insider secrets about the video game industry that I knew I would share one day. That day is May 16th, when The Walkthrough: Insider Tales from a Life in Strategy Guides releases.

Like my travel memoir, One Lousy Pirate, the eBook will be exclusive to Amazon. Paperback too, in all likelihood. Pre-orders are open.

As one of the most prolific authors of officially-licensed strategy guides, someone with over a hundred books to his credit, I feel I’m a pretty good person to tell this story. And it’s one that I truly believe anyone who ever picked up a controller or sat with a strategy guide sprawled across their lap will be interested in.

I sent two-thirds of the text to my editor the other day and aim to have the rest to him before I leave on my book tour in 2-3 weeks. With a five-day writer’s retreat on the docket for May, I can’t wait to dive back into my other work in progress. But until then, it’s a trip down memory lane.

Official Blurb

The Walkthrough offers a rare peek behind the curtain of the secretive video game industry from an unlikely perspective, that of a career strategy guide writer. For eighteen years, Doug Walsh was one of the most prolific authors of officially licensed video game strategy guides. And now he’s ready to talk.

One part memoir and one part industry tell-all, The Walkthrough takes players on an entertaining march through gaming’s recent history, from the dawn of the PlayStation to the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Switch. Follow along as Walsh retraces his career and reveals how the books were made, what it was like writing guides to some of the industry’s most celebrated — and derided — titles, and why the biggest publishers of guidebooks are no longer around.

Walsh devotes entire chapters to many of gaming’s most popular franchises, including Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Gears of War, and Diablo, among others. From inauspicious beginnings with Daikatana to authoring the books for the entire Bioshock trilogy, with plenty of highs, lows, and Warp Pipes along the way, Walsh delivers a rare treat to twenty-first century gamers. The Walkthrough is sure to satisfy the curiosity of anyone who grew up with the works of BradyGames and Prima Games sprawled across their laps.

With over one hundred books to his credit, and countless weeks spent at many of the most famous studios in North America, he is uniquely qualified to give an insider’s perspective of a little-known niche within the multi-billion-dollar industry.

Emerald City Comic Con

I’ll be attending ECCC next week as a member of a panel discussing the importance of writing groups and the ups (and downs) of having critique partners. Everyone interested in taking their writing to the next level can check us out Friday, March 15th at 5:30. I’ll also be on hand signing copies of Tailwinds Past Florence, and to discuss The Walkthrough with anyone interested. Stop by and say hi.

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Why I Don’t Collect Books

This is not about Marie Kondo.

In fact, had it not been for so many bookish types angrily misinterpreting her advice, I may not even know who she is. No, this is about how I came to decide that book collecting isn’t for me. Oddly enough, the revelation hit while attending a rare books and maps fair.

Before I explain my reasoning, note that this isn’t meant to be prescriptive. Few things irritate me more than those who judge how others spend their discretionary time and money. You want to build a book tunnel in your home and live off instant noodles to fund your obsession? You do you.

A Collector at Heart

I get it. I completely understand the desire to catch ‘em all. At various times in my life, I have collected everything from baseball cards to stamps to Simpsons action figures to – this is embarrassing – all six binders of Wildlife Fact File sheets.

The hunt, the organization, the display. Collecting is intoxicating.

But it can also be a fool’s errand. When the Simpsons playsets and talking action figures first released in 1999, I bought every one of the first series. Three years and hundreds of dollars later, I realized I had neither the money nor the shelf space to possibly keep pace as the “World of Springfield” grew to include dozens of playsets and hundreds of action figures. I sold my lot.

Amazon existed first as a bookstore because Jeff Bezos was smart enough to know that books were the one category of merchandise that a normal store couldn’t ever fully stock. And that was back before self-publishing. Nowadays, over 600,000 books get published each year in the United States alone (on average, they sell less than 250 copies each, according to Forbes).

Having the time to read them all is the least of a collector’s difficulties.

Collecting My 5-Star Favorites

Of course, nobody, not even every Amazon warehouse aligned end-to-end has the room to collect every single book. Estimates suggest the average American moves 11 times in their life. As someone who blew their car’s transmission towing an overloaded U-Haul across the country, I can assure you that even modest collections quickly become problematic.

I sold nearly all of my books before embarking on the bicycle tour that inspired Tailwinds Past Florence, only to see my love of reading intensify during our travels. My book consumption quadrupled and I became hooked on Goodreads (follow me here).

Goodreads allows readers to rate, review, and maintain a digital collection of shelves. Updates are shared amongst your friends and followers. It’s one-part Facebook, one-part digital bookshelf. And when it comes to shelves, it allows you to create as many as you want and arrange them however you see fit. One of my Goodreads shelves is labeled “5-Star Favorites.”

My 5-Star Favorites represent my absolute favorite reads. The books I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. The books I would happily display in my home.

Halfway through our trip, I decided to collect hardcover copies, preferably first-editions, of each of the books that landed on my 5-Star Favorites shelf. The first one, an “investment purchase,” was a first edition of Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut. His very first novel.

At holidays, I point those seeking gift ideas to this list. This past year, my sister gave me an absolutely gorgeous, illustrated hardcover copy of Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, complete in a faux-leather slipcase. Much joy was sparked (sorry, I couldn’t help slipping in a Kondo reference).

The Rare Books Fair

I encountered many of the books on my 5-Star Favorites list at the Seattle Rare Books & Maps Fair, from a first-edition of John Krakauer’s Into the Wild to Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. Some were quite affordable while others boasted prices rivaling that of a small house. Or a nice RV.

I walked the aisles, pen and notepad in hand, keeping tabs of potential purchases, jotting down which bookseller had what, and for how much. And as my feet grew tired and my stomach hungry, my desire shifted. For as much as I love the smell of bookstores and pages yellowed by time, what I love even more is reading new books. Stories I hadn’t read.

We left the fair and went in search of a pub for lunch. On the way, we passed by Mercer Street Books, a small used bookstore. And there my wife and I bought a small stack of books, none of which we had already read, none costing more than ten dollars. Eight books for the price of one of the modestly-priced first-editions I was considering.

A glimpse at the entirety of my non-collection.

My Two Shelf System

My reading is split these days, almost in equal thirds between physical books I own, eBooks, and books from the library.

The bookcase in my office has two shelves devoted to books, each coincidentally holding thirty books (not a Kondo byproduct, I promise you). The top shelf contains books I’ve read. The lower shelf houses those waiting their turn on my nightstand. They’re both full.

As I read from the lower shelf, I seek space for them on the top shelf, but only if I enjoyed it more than the ones already there. My 5-Star Favorites don’t get bumped. That’s the rule. For now.

If no space exists, I put the book in a box within my closet where it waits to be sold at Half-Price Books.

A recent unexpected casualty of this system was The Dead Zone by Stephen King. As the first novel I ever read on my own accord (i.e. not school-assigned reading), the book had a special place in my heart. A couple years ago I encountered a first-edition hardcover copy at a farmer’s market, complete with stains and a torn dust-jacket. I bought it for three dollars. I re-read it this past year for the first time in nearly thirty years. It was really good, but not great. Greg Stillson’s disturbing likeness to He Who Must Not Be Named certainly played a role in souring my appreciation of the book. And it now sits in the box, waiting to be sold.

It was one of three or four books I ever re-read. Yet the lack of desire to re-read books plays little role in my decision to not collect.

The Downside of Not Collecting

This isn’t a completely satisfactory solution. Part of me wants to collect all the books of my favorite authors. Sentimentality has me holding onto books I read in my youth. My need for organization wants to double the shelf space and split fiction from non-fiction. The collector-at-heart wants to buy physical copies of the eBooks I’ve read.

But we rent. And I know we’ll one day move. And probably move again after that. Maybe we’ll even do the full-time RV thing one day. Books are bulky. Heavy.

What I’m trying to say, I think, is that I don’t collect books despite wanting to. I don’t find joy in not collecting books. I especially miss the opportunities for conversation presented by a well-displayed book collection.

The bookcase is the first thing I look for in a person’s home. The findings often yielding an abundance of topics to discuss, sparing us the tedium of discussing the weather. Or politics. Some in the writing community like to say a story is a window into a writer’s soul. I’d say the bookcase is an even better indicator of a person’s true self (probably why so many people read 50 Shades of Grey on a Kindle).

My current bookshelf is in my office, not in plain sight of visitors. Sixty books seems hardly worth showcasing. Still, I mourn the book-related conversations that never occur, the lost opportunities to recommend something, the thoughtful reading suggestions only possible by those who can see and get what it is you like to read.

No, I don’t collect books for a number of practical reasons. But I really, really wish I did.

The post Why I Don’t Collect Books appeared first on Doug Walsh.

Upcoming Book Signings!

I'm still adding dates to my spring book tour in support of Tailwinds Past Florence but here's a rundown of the currently known dates.

February 11: Seattle, WA - Third Place Books
February 24: Mercer Island, WA - Island Books
March 23: Edmonds, WA - Edmonds Books
March 28: Boulder, CO - Boulder Bookstore
March 29: Denver, CO - Tattered Cover
April 1: Minneapolis, MN - Magers & Quinn
April 12: Indianapolis, IN - Indy Reads Books

More to come! If you have a favorite bookstore that you know hosts authors events, let me know.

Launch Party Photos!

It was a long time coming, but Tailwinds Past Florence is officially available everywhere books are sold. And what better way to celebrate that moment than with a fun night of food, drinks, and friends new and old. It was also a great opportunity to break out my new “Seattle to Singapore by Cycle & Sea” presentation, telling the story of the adventure that inspired the novel.

Huge thanks to Luke Talbot and Compass Outdoor Adventures for hosting, to Erik Alston of Singletrack Cycles for the photos, and for everyone who came out to help me celebrate the release of the novel. You all rock!

Click to view slideshow.

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Giftcard Giveaway & More

We’re just two weeks away from the launch of Tailwinds Past Florence! To celebrate, I’m offering a chance to win one of three prizes: $50 Amazon Gift Card, Signed Copy of Tailwinds Past Florence, or Digital Download of the book. Enter below!

And if you’re already a member of the mailing list, just click the button to verify and enjoy those 5 easy entries.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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