A Few Updates, Bookish and Non

Hey gang, I’ve reemerged for a one month period during which I wrote over 300 pages of new stuff for books. And good grief, I need a break from that, so here I am.

Touring

My speaking calendar is getting busy again. In October I’ll be in Wisconsin, Monterrey, Minneapolis, and Arkansas. Most of it’s private library stuff. If you’re going to any of the big conferences, you already know where I’m going to be.

Tourette’s

Some of the pain I get from repetitive movements has gotten worse, so I’m trying out a new round of vitamins and anti-inflammatory nutrition practices. Nothing unusual, just really making an effort to clean up my diet so I can run some experiments from which I can actually draw some conclusions. 

Books Read and Re-read in the past month 

I can’t recommend these highly enough.

David Lynch: Beautiful Dark by Greg Olsen (whether you’re a fan of the films or not, this is a wonderful biography of the man, and examination of the work)

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson (still the best)

In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith by Todd Compton. This is a bio of all the women he married. Joseph is way out in the margins on this one. An incredible piece of scholarly writing.

A book about the search for the Yeti. A book whose name I can’t recall at the moment.

Andre The Giant: Life and Legend by Box Brown (graphic memoir. Absolutely charming)

Writing

I have to keep some secrets right now, but big things are coming. I’ve been writing the book I believe I was born to write. It’s non-fiction. It’s mostly memoir. It’s going to give a few people the fidgets.

I’m reminded again that a whole lot of writing can get done with consistency. Habits habits habits. If you’re struggling to be productive as a writer, just make yourself do something, often, daily, even if it’s just a little bit. Give yourself a chance to see what your finished product looks like. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t stop too soon.

Strength Training

The pain from the tics is limiting me right now. I do a little workout each day, but am not focused on getting stronger. Just trying to hold on to some of the muscle I have and do a lot of movement each day.

That’s it for now. More soon.