Hello 2019!
It used to be that the new year made itself felt when I misdated the first check. Now that so many transactions are electronic, as yet, I have yet to misdate anything.
What else seems odd about this new year? In North Carolina, it's warm, with camellias, daphnes, and Chinese paperbush already blooming. My neighbor, Ben, shot this picture of my dog, RoZee (the inspiration for 12 in The Bond) in her bush in front of my writing studio. Gold Dust Plant (Aucuba japonica) is evergreen and makes for a perfect fort.
My collards and broccoli made it through our pre-Christmas snow, and Imade a stew yesterday using their leaves, a slightly late version of the hoppin' john Southerners cook to greet the new year. As I've done for several years, I'm putting the final touches on syllabi and looking forward to greeting a new crop of students.
Yet I find myself more distracted than ever by the news and by other portents. As someone who loves to read (and write!) dystopias, I'm increasingly dismayed by how often the plots of well-known fictional dystopias are appearing as news items. The daily disinformation from the White House is one example. I think even George Orwell might have refrained from saying that government employees who will miss paychecks because of this pointless shut-down are happy to sacrifice for "border security."
Overall, it feels like we have, as a human species, headed off into a new and uncertain direction. I don't remember ever feeling as hopeful -- and worried -- as I do in the early days of this fresh year.
I spent part of the break madly revising Book II of The Bond series, titled A Fateful Haven. The story picks up right where The Bond ends, with Fir and his brothers escaping to the east. I can't wait for readers to meet one of my favorite characters, the Bee Queen, Odide. With my partner, we hid out in an AirBnB on a farm near Galax, VA. The mornings were mostly rainy and foggy -- perfect for revising.
It's hard to believe that (fingers crossed) by this time next year, I'll have two books out and the third well on the way.
On book news, I was so pleased with a shout out from BullSpec, a magazine of speculative fiction based in the Triangle. I'm hoping to get to know the other featured writers and possibly conspire to organize some events. And the postponed book launch for The Bond is this Tuesday at 7 pm in The Regulator Book Store!
Happy reading!