Postcards – Scott William Carter

Port Orford, Oregon – July 2018

July 27, 2018July 27, 2018Scott William Carter

That’s a picture from our recent week-long stay in Port Orford, Oregon. We rented a beautiful house nestled in the hills near Port Orford Heads State Park, and just forty-seven steps down to what was practically our own private beach. Heidi took this photo when we walked down the grass-covered steps that first night at dusk. It was such a magical moment that I actually said, “It’s like something out of a fairy tale.” The southern Oregon coast is so far from the major areas of Oregon that it’s not nearly as touristy, which isn’t a bad thing at all in my book. We had fun hiking the South Slough Estuary, visiting the Cape Blanco Lighthouse, and just hanging out as a family, as we often do when we make our frequent forays to the coast.

Alas, no publishing news to report. It’s been a lot longer than I’d prefer between books, but sometimes it can’t helped. I do appreciate your emails, even the hectoring ones, because a hectoring reader is still better than no reader at all, I think. Yet in the end I just have to write my daily words and trust in the process. While I truly appreciate every reader I have, I can’t do it any other way. The books come when they come. Sometimes they come out fine the first time, sometimes they go sideways and need a bit more work, but I’ve learned the hard way (oh boy, have I) to just keep the focus on the work.

If you want a good book on the subject, check out Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel. It’s one of my favorites. When Herrigel himself was learning archery from a Zen Master in Japan, he was scolded for fixating too much on the goal itself:

“Put the thought of hitting right out of your mind! You can be a Master even if every shot does not hit. The hits on the target is only an outward proof and confirmation of your purposelessness at its highest, of your egolessness, your self-abandonment, or whatever you like to call this state. There are different grades of mastery, and only when you have made the last grade will you be sure of not missing the goal.”

Postcards from the Garage: Otter Rock, Oregon

December 31, 2016December 31, 2016Scott William Carter

I’m writing this as the sun is literally setting on 2016. In a way, we’re some of the last people to say goodbye to 2016 in the United States, aside from Hawaii, that is, as we’re ringing in the new year in a cozy little house just outside of Newport, Oregon, in small community known as Otter Rock. A bit of an impromptu trip, but as we had no plans for New Year’s Eve we thought a couple quiet days enjoying the moody winter weather here on the coast would be a fun change of pace. The shot above was from this morning, when it was bright and clear on the beach, but now the gray skies have moved in, along with a light drizzle. (You can just make out Yaquina Lighthouse on the point.) The fickle weather on the Oregon coast, far from being a drawback, is part of what we love about it.

I have mixed feelings about 2016. On one hand, I think you’d have to be an oblivious idiot not to be concerned about recent trends, both here in my own country and abroad. The rise of nationalist, immigrant-fearing political parties, the never-ending scourge of war, the refugee crisis, cyber espionage, climate change, and just a general turn toward selfishness and fear on a global scale is quite troubling.

On a more personal front, things are going well. In fact, the depressing political season had an unexpected upside. I got so fed up how all the toxic flotsam online was infecting my mind that I made a commitment to become something of an Internet Minimalist, striving to go online only with intention and purpose, and almost never just for something to do. This hasn’t only resulted in a much improved state of mind, but it’s also opened up all kinds of creative energy that I think was bit stymied and dissipated on trivial things. I’d been trying to reduce my online time for a while but this time it really stuck. It’s wonderfully liberating, as long as you accept that you don’t need to be fully wired-in to everything happening in the world every moment of every day. It will still be there waiting for you when you’re ready for it. I highly recommend it. If nothing else, do what I did and follow the advice of a good friend who suggested doing a complete Internet fast for a week to see how it affects your mood. That really made things clear to me.

On the update front, progress on the new Garrison Gage novel goes well, and it should be out early 2017. Hope all is well going into the new year for you and yours.

Postcards from the Garage: Yellowstone, August 2016

August 30, 2016August 30, 2016Scott William Carter

Just a quick summer update, since it’s been a few months. The shot above is from an eight-mile hike I took with the family during our August trip to Yellowstone, walking the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and then out to Ribbon Lake where we had lunch. It was a brief trip, far too short to do Yellowstone justice, but we still had a great time, and had all sorts of what I would consider iconic Yellowstone moments: got surrounded by a herd of bison in our car, spotted a black bear playing in a hot spring, saw three of the most spectacular geysers go off, lots of elk, lots of deer, even a few pronghorn . . . Stayed in a nice house in the Emigrant, Montana area, got some reading in, and tried to stay off-line as much as possible (and still gave into temptation now and then, because, you know, Wi-Fi). The book of the trip was Dennis Lehane’s Moonlight Mile, the fourth (and presumably last) in the Kenzie and Gennaro series. If you haven’t read these books, you really should. Excellent stuff.

The summer has gone by in a blur, with the typical things doing the blurring. Kid camps, a brief jaunt to the California Redwoods, a few trips to the Oregon coast, some for the weekend, some for the day, it’s all par for the course. Heidi and I celebrated our 20th anniversary a week ago, and I can honestly say that our marriage is even better now in year 20. Marrying your best friend is highly recommended. As for the writing, I’m putting the final touches on The Ghost, the Girl, and The Gold, the third Myron Vale book, then it’s off to the copy editor. The copy editor is a bit backed up at the moment, so it may not come out until November, but I’ve learned the hard way not to rush this process, or to settle for mediocre editing, cover design, or anything else in preparing a book for publication. More and more, I just focus on the work at hand and let the process play itself out as it will.

Speaking of that, I’ve read lot of good books on that very subject lately — on staying focused on the moment and the work at hand — as I’ve tried to recalibrate my life a bit to make sure I’m spending my time and my attention on what really matters, and here are a few I heartily recommend:

I’d let myself get a bit sidetracked and distracted earlier this year, and these books all helped me settle into a much better rhythm, with my writing, my university work and life in general. Nothing serious, just the normal recalibration and tweaking that all of us have to do from time to time. The most important takeaway of my little personal odyssey could probably be summed up with this: life is better when you reduce distraction as much as possible and focus as fully on the present moment, whether that means writing fiction or washing dishes. Some people call this a Zen approach. Others call it mindfulness. You can use whatever term you want, but for me it means letting go of my attachment to results and fully embracing the process for its own sake, knowing that the results will take care of themselves if you live the right way. This does not mean ignoring all the things you need to do to be successful; it must means doing them without judgement and worry. It’s a subtle difference when described, but it can have profound effects on your life, I’ve found.

Anyway, for you Garrison Gage fans, you’ll be pleased to know I’m a couple chapters into the fifth Gage novel and having a blast. Man, I love that curmudgeonly bastard. Fall’s almost here. The temperature is cooling in the Willamette Valley, many of the oaks, maples, and other trees are already changing their color and dropping leaves, and the rainy season will be on us soon enough. Cities on the Oregon coast get twice or more the annual rainfall that we do just a bit inland, so I can’t complain too much. Students will be coming back to campus in a few weeks, and that will bring its own changes.

I’m sure I’ll be sending out publishing news to my newsletter list before too long. If you haven’t already done so, please consider signing up. Last time I checked, we were closing in on 2500 subscribers, which pleases me to no end. Since I’m obviously not much of a blogger, and even worse at social media, it’s the best way to make sure you don’t miss a new release.

Postcards from New Zealand and Fiji (April 2016)

April 30, 2016April 30, 2016Scott William Carter

(A shot of Otago Bay from Larnach Castle in Dunedin, New Zealand.)

Partly to celebrate our upcoming 20th anniversary in August, partly because the kids have wonderful grandparents who are happy to watch the kids for a few weeks, and partly because I’ve come to believe that these sorts of adventures are good for both the body and the soul, Heidi and I spent two weeks touring in New Zealand followed by four wonderful days soaking up some sun on the Fijian Island of Malolo. (A brief aside: A conversation with a workaholic friend years ago when I was about to go on another adventure, who snorted that he couldn’t even remember the last time he took a vacation, made me start using the phrase “go on an adventure” rather than “take a vacation” when explaining a jaunt like this, which is a better descriptor, I think, of why I think it’s important to break free from your routine and shake things up now and then on adventures both near and far — even when, or perhaps especially when, you’re somebody like me who pretty much enjoys all the “work” he does, both in my writing life and my university life.)

Crossing the dateline and losing a day in the process, we flew into Christchurch, a beautiful city still picking itself up from the terrible 2011 earthquake, drove to Mt. Cook, where we stayed in the wonderful Hermitage resort, right in the national park and with a fabulous view of both Mt. Cook and many of the Southern Alps that run the length of the South Island. After that, we drove south along the east coast to the beautiful port city of Dunedin, where stayed in Larnach Castle and managed some close encounters with the Albatross, the Yellow-Eyed Penguin, and other wildlife.

Then it was on to Queenstown, where we made a jaunt to the stunning Milford Sound and went on a fun tour of many of the locations used in the Lord of the Rings films. A short flight to Rotorua, in the North Island, allowed us to visit the Hobbiton tourist attraction — 14 acres that were leased from a family farm in the area, which actually exceeded my expectations in really making me feel like I was in Middle Earth. We also made stops at the Waitmu Caves, to take a boat trip through absolute darkness to see the glowworms, and the Waimangu Volcanic Valley, where we both hiked and boated around geysers, hot springs, and a unique ecosystem that felt like something out of the Jurassic era. Then an early morning flight out of Auckland — where about a third of the 4.5 million people who call New Zealand home live — took us into Nadi, Fiji. A bus, another bus, and a catamaran boat finally brought us to own private beachfront “bure.” Here are a few digital postcards from our trip, some of which might show up a bit better if you click on them for the larger versions:

(The happy couple beginning their journey with a shot from the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch.)

(Another shot within the Botanic Gardens.)

(The one’s from our room at the Hermitage at Mt. Cook.)

(A couple glasses of wine, the biggest mountain in New Zealand, what more could you ask for?)

(This, called the “Clay Cliffs,” was just one of those random stops that wasn’t on the agenda, proving that New Zealand has something remarkable almost everywhere.)

(Not the best shot in the world because of the light, but this is Larnach Castle in Dunedin (where the first shot above was taken — high up in the hills over looking Otago Bay). Most of the locals use the word “castle” with a wry grin; you can read the local history if you want to know why.)

(The view of Otago Bay, from Larnach.)

(Two panoramic shots of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. Click for a larger version. The top one was from our room at Hotel St. Moritz, where we learned that many of the cast and crew of the LOTR movies stayed when they were filming in the area. The second is a shot at dusk from the top of the gondola.)

(Heidi standing behind a hot springs in the Government Gardens in Rotorua.)

(Me in the Waimangu Volcanic Valley, waiting for the dinosaurs to appear . . .)

(Lots of shots of Hobbiton, which was about an hour’s drive west of Rotorua. What made the place so remarkable was the landscape around the area, which really made you feel like you were in the Shire. I don’t think I could have afforded Bag End, but I could have been pretty happy in Sam’s hobbit hole.)

(Sunset at Lomani, our resort on the island of Malolo.)

(A shot from within our room, me standing on a fairly private strip of beach, since we were on the far end of the resort, near the point.)

Other highlights? Though remembering to drive on the left side of the road was always going to be challenging for an American like me, I really loved just driving through New Zealand, in all its beautiful and varied landscapes. Like a lot of people, I became intrigued with the country after the original Lord of the Rings filmed came out over ten years ago, and I have to say that it didn’t disappoint. Heidi and I even started joking, when we came around a corner and saw yet another amazing site, that “yes, it’s beautiful, but by New Zealand standards …” That’s right, it’s a country so beautiful that it needs its own scale to measure it. In many ways, Oregon is like a “hobbit size” version of New Zealand, at least in terms of the variety of landscapes (the total land area is almost the same, about 100,000 square miles, and our populations are about the same, too). Oregon has more variety in climates and topography than just about any state in the union; New Zealand just has greater extremes of it — and of course a lot more coastline.

Two weeks was far too short a time for New Zealand — we barely touched on the North Island, for example — which gives us a very good reason to go back, and I’m sure we will. The question, of course, is when. So many other places to see . . .

In other news, I’m back writing the third Vale book. A lot of you have emailed to ask when the next Gage book will be coming along, and all I can tell you is that there will be another, and it won’t be too long, but I can’t say more than that. When it comes to the books, I don’t do deadlines these days. I just write my five or ten pages a day and let the chips fall where they may. That may change someday, I certainly recognize the value of deadlines as a motivational tool, but with the family and the university work, I’ve got enough stress in my life without adding a bunch more for no reason. The writing’s the thing for me, after all. Publishing, as important as it is, and as much as I appreciate my readers (and boy, do I, after many years laboring with very few of them), is in some sense merely a byproduct. So as long as I keep plugging away at the pages, eventually a book emerges.

Since I don’t have a publication schedule, I do encourage you to take two minutes and sign up for my “no spam ever, new release email newsletter.” You won’t get more than a handful of emails a year, and I make sure my newsletter subscribers — over 2000 strong now — are the first to know when a new book is published.

It also looks like I’ll be teaching a new online course for the educational technology master’s program here at Western Oregon University this summer, one called “Publishing in the Digital Age,” focusing heavily on all the changes in how information and entertainment is distributed — not just with the printed word, but with music, video, and even comics. I’m still fleshing it out, but it should be a lot of fun. There’s no better way to further your own learning on a subject than to teach it.