A New Year!!!
I made a gif. Hopefully it’s not too distracting. The creatures featured are Latteans from my other work: Coffee Chronicles.
I’m late!
On Purpose!
I wanted to start the New Year with a blog. And while there is enough to personally celebrate during 2023 that I could have simply written 2 articles, I am also lazy. So I’m only writing one.
What do I have to celebrate in 2023?
Well, where do I start?
1st. After a lot of time, and some help, I finally got The Treasure off the Coast into park bookstores!!!! The first book in the Junior Rangers Investigative Club is now on the shelves in the Everglades, and the Dry Tortugas! You can also find it in the Florida Parks Association Web Store.
2nd. I got to got to my sister’s wedding in Scotland! It was nice to visit a new place after taking a few years off traveling, and Scotland was fascinating! But most importantly I got to hang out with family and friends, and see the next step in my sister’s life!
3rd. I have been struggling, for years, to complete Coffee Chronicles Season 1. The parts have been there. The plans. The ridiculousness, but I’d always held back. Uncertain if it was as good as I wanted, setting it down, only to pick it up again at the start and rewrite the whole thing. What changed this time? Well, I simply decided to go for it. Coffee Chronicles is something I write to entertain myself. If other people enjoy it, that’s a wonderful side effect. It will never be perfect. The whole point was, (and it took me a while to remember this,) never to care about it too much. Never to cling too tightly to it. Because if I had, I never would have finished. (there might be a blog in the future about this.) It loops, a bit. It’s a serialized story, so it seems episodic. I only do a single round of copy editing, and a quick proofread. So if you know me, then you will know to expect spelling errors, and worse! But this sketchy little serial story is Something I love, and I love having the entire first season out there!!!
4th. Reviews started to come in! I’ve now had a chance to hear from people who have read the first two books in the Junior Rangers Investigative Club Series, and I am thrilled by all of the response. I learned a few things, was surprised by more, and am still humbled that anyone reads the books in the first place! And oh so very appreciative of any feedback! So thanks!!!
5th. This blog has now been going for more than a year. I’ve missed a few days, and will miss more in the future, but I don’t see this stopping any time soon. I’ve also developed a better Idea of things I want to say. So, yay!
6th. I’ve buried it deep! But The Specters of Mammoth Cave is out!!!! Book 2 in the Junior Rangers Investigative Club. Honestly, it’s probably better than the first, and I have a lot of people to thank for that! (check out the preface in the book) Hopefully I continue to improve as an author so more and more people can come to love the different Junior Ranger Investigative Club Members, and the parks the visit, as much as I do! It is so awesome to have the book out!!! (you should check it out!!!!)
7th. There’s so much more!
Not everything this last year was perfect. (obviously) Unfortunately, my Grandmother, Angela Clark died this year. She was one of the first people to encourage me to write about myself, to write about my own adventures. And while I hate that idea with a passion, I took that advice in a different direction, and have tried to be more adventurous, so that if I ever did decide to write about myself, I’d have more stories to tell. I miss her. But am glad I was at least able to get book 2 out, with the dedication, in time for her to see it, and read my appreciation. I miss Dad’s parents: Lillie Mae Cheek Landrum, Leonard Landrum (aka Papa and Mema) and my aunt Sharon Berry as well. They were not around to see the books I’m writing, but there’s a lot of their spirit in them too.
Looking outside of the events in my life, things in the real world are, well, real. And in light of world events, I’ve struggled with how and what I want to say about a lot of topics.
This platform is for people to learn about parks, history, nature, and to read fun stories. But I have wondered, and continue to wonder, if this is enough. Here, with this blog, for now, I’ll stick to writerly, historical, and environmental topics. I think it’s important to progress, to look to the future, to approach things with an optimistic outlook. And I’m not here to prescribe. So don’t expect to see my approach in the blog to change, maybe. But maybe it will.
With that in mind. It’s time to look to the New Year.
I want to start it off well. I did start it off well! I learned how to make gifs. Is that a big deal? No. But it’s a new skill, and learning new things is fun!
With that in mine, there’s a whole 365 days left in the year, and so much more to look forward to. So let me lay out some of the things you can expect from me.
#1. More blogs, about more interesting things. My dad has a philosophy. It’s one I’ve heard before, and one I believe as well, but it’s important. “Everyone has their own story.” And it’s true! I’m going to try and feature a few more of them here. And there, and maybe elsewhere, because there are many stories worth telling, and I know a few, or I know how to get in touch with people who do. More about this later (I’ll stay cryptic for now.)
#2. Finishing Coffee Chronicles Season 1 was a blast! But The season 1 part implies that there are more seasons to come… there are! This might be more for me than it is for anyone else, but Kevin, Tazo, Cathy, Linka, and Pizza Steve have only saved All of Everything. . . They have more to do, and soon you’ll find out what. (if you read it, if you don’t, whatever. It’s out there and awesome, you’re the one missing out.)
#3. Coffee Chronicles isn’t the only, other story I have to tell. I expect to embark on another serialized adventure on Kindle Vella soon enough. It should be fun. I will be different. It will be more coherent- no omnidimensional thinking or calculus required. And I will do my best to spell check. So stay tuned. (official title and story announcement pending.)
#4. My friend Dan reminded me that half the job of going on an adventure is coming home to tell the story. I’ve, despite my tendency to lock myself inside and write about things instead of getting out and about, had lots of adventures. I think it’s about time I write about mroe of those. Not because I want to brag, I hate the idea of writing about myself! But There are people and places that deserve more highlights, and even though this is a tiny blog that no one reads, I can, at least, put the words out there for others to see.
#5. Book #3 is coming! It will be out this year!!!! When? Well, that’s up to me, an editor, and Bailey. The Treasure of Biscayne Bay is a big blog of COMPLETED ROUGH DRAFT right now, and I am hewing it down, and making sure all of the characters are having an awesome time being themselves on the adventure, so I am very, very, very, looking forward to sharing it with you.
#6. And on that note, the hewing part, There is no way I can ever fit every interesting tidbit about any park into one book, not while also writing a mystery and describing how characters cooler and smarter than me solve it. So, I’m going to try and do a bit better job sharing the other really cool things I learn, the things that don’t make it into the book, the things that simply don’t fit, and the things that other people have done a much better job of researching, (I will seek to send you to them.) So I will be restructuring the About the Parks section, and looking into other ways to share some of the more awesome stories I come across which don’t quite make it into every adventure.
#7. There is so much more I could say. But this blog is long enough. There’s a lot I need to do. There’s a lot you can look out for,
But mostly, as we turn over this new year I hope that you are also looking forward to that next sunrise, and asking yourself what you want to accomplish, how you want to have your own adventures, and how you want to make things better. Everyone has a story, and that means you do to! Make it a good one, share it with others, and learn their stories too. This is a new year. Nothing really has changed, the sun went down. The sun came up. But just like every dawn, that means we have another day, however many, to think back on what has come before, plan for what is ahead, and also simply be where we are. And where I want to be right now is somewhere else!
I’ve been sitting a lot today. So That’s it!
Happy New Year!
Take Care!
Party on!
And look out for what is to come!