The Good Wolf of the North

Things are at a bit of a stand still with my writing right now. The sequel to Hearts of Prey (I hesitate to reveal the title just yet) is being edited and I am holding back on starting what will be the third and probably final book in the series. I thought maybe I would use this time to write about one of the books that helped shape my writing. There are so many, but this one had a pretty palpable influence on Hearts of Prey, despite being published in good old 1896. Though there are many stark differences between my book and this one, they have two things in common: first is that they both have characters that are both animal and human. Second is that Wells successfully uses sci-fi to thoughtfully examine human nature, and not to mention it's incredibly well written, both being skills I aspire to do. Of course I'm talking about this classic:        I read The Island of Dr. Moreau in my early twenties and it has stuck with me. It's about a shipwrecked traveler w...

 This will be short. I am going to try out a writing exercise and invite anyone interested to try it as well. It's pretty simple. Here are the rules: Make a list of the things that scare you, then choose the one thing that trumps all others. Then write a short piece in which you visit this fate on one of your characters. Here's my list of mostly irrational fears: Angry spirits Bad guys in dark alleys Being buried alive Being sunk in the ocean Loss of meaning to life And here we go: Arnold never spoke about his time in Vietnam. Those close to him knew not to ask. His wife had feared that if he went back in the telling of it, she'd loose him again. When he had returned he was sullen and moody for the first year. He could often be found drinking in the dark in their garage. Then, one spring day, he poured out the contents of his whiskey bottles and joined her in the house. Over the course of that summer he slowly returned to the man he'd been before the war. His wife was s...

 Happy Thursday. Maybe you saw my FB post this week about choosing a character to do a little development piece on? If not no worries. It's already done. I got one vote for Adrian and one vote for Winston. I decided to include them both in this short piece that puts them both at a college party. As far as the novel is concerned, this party never happened. It is just a means to an end, and that end is to get to know these guys a little better. Ray Bradbury once said "Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations." Since Ray Bradbury is not someone you contradict, I have taken his sentiment to heart. Enough said. I will now let you see what would happen if Winston and Adrian had met at a college party and played drinking games together.  Writing Exercise, Character Development  Winston and Adrian go to a party               ...

Every year I try to do something on my birthday, something that is uncompromisingly me. This year I went one step further and spent a whole week in the BWCA. I'm guessing you already know what that stands for, but if not, it is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and it is a one million acre protected wilderness located in the Superior National Forest of northeastern Minnesota. If you've read Hearts of Prey  you know that the beauty and wildness of northeastern Minnesota is the setting that makes the story possible. The boundary waters have been a special place to me since I went on a week long canoe trip when I was thirteen. My appreciation for the area only grew when I made a friend from Ely, Mn while going to college in Bemidji. Ely is the last town before the boundary waters begin. In my first year of nursing school I made more than one trip up there where we would step lightly into the woods by day, then try our young hands at drinking whiskey and singing karaoke at night. I ha...

It's been almost two months since I released Hearts of Prey . By now there's a decent group of people who have read it. If you haven't you can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089DR2B11?pf_rd_r=EA49XK0X2B1QTWSE9SPK&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee  It will look like this:  There's been enough feedback so far to recognize the most frequent compliment I've gotten: "It was an easy read." That is a relief. While I do envy those writers who can elegantly pack each sentence with layers of meaning, I definitely don't want my first self published novel to be a difficult read. And at the end of the day, not even I have very much say in the style and tone of what I write. It just comes as it does.  If that is in a manner that other people can appreciate, than I am lucky.   So in the spirit of sharing, I thought I'd share the answer to a question someone asked me at the book signing I did in Brainerd last weekend. The question ...

This will be my first post since I came up with a direction for this blog, and the direction is all things northern Minnesota. I guess ten years of waffling between topics on my blog was long enough. I felt it was time to make a commitment, and since this blog is a hobby it only makes sense to steer it in a fun direction. Well, what is more fun for a nature nerd than learning about the forests, places, people and events that make northern Minnesota unique? It was my intention to kick off this blog with a post about one of my favorite places, but since we aren't supposed to be going places right now I decided to jump ahead to a topic that pretty much any person in Minnesota can experience from their own deck. What is one thing we probably all have in common? If we listen hard enough we could all probably hear the shrill call of the American Crow by the end of the day. Though often seen as a nuisance, I for one have been intrigued by these birds for years. Not only do they have an e...

It has been almost a year since I left my home in woods for a new one on the plains. I won't lie and say it was an easy choice, but it is one that has been made and it's better to look forward than back. Now the White Pines have been replaced by fields of wheat and soybeans. Country churches and grain elevators dot the horizon where panoramic sunsets can expand unhindered by landscape. Though quiet and beautiful in a structured way, things feel distinctly foreign here. Now what can I do but put in a both feet effort to find a piece that fits? Step one is finding nature, because it's out there, hiding between sugar beet fields. That determination brought me and a visiting friend from back home on a camping excursion to a little known state park, Hayes Lake. If you're wondering where it is, just drive north where the soybean fields meet state forest. Just before you hit the border you'll find a patch of woods welcoming you to camp and explore. A year ago I lived ...