Author: jspeet

Finally, after many mind-numbing hours (days?), the rewriting for Trekker is complete.  My editor is awesome (but, I still don’t accept all her recommendations – just the Type A personality in me). Next step, getting the formatting done for printing and getting the cover art done.  As I’m a bit busy over the next week or so, not sure when I’ll be able to get back to it, but hopefully I’ll have everything lined up for a pre-September release.

Well, the editing on Trekker continues (along with some writing in Explorer). I’m now about 122 pages in (of 373). I was hoping to be done before August ended, but now….

Last night I watched Edge of 17, starring Hailee Steinfeld (from Pitch Perfect 2 and Pitch Perfect 3 fame), Woody Harrelson, and Kyra Sedgewick. Basic plot line – coming of age for a 17 year old girl who isn’t the best at interacting with people, and has issues with her perfect brother and mom.  Truly enjoyable movie (I felt pained just watching Hailee’s character deal with all the stuff she went through, and her overall bad decisions).

I actually enjoyed the movie (what the hell, I enjoy a lot of coming of age movies – The Sure Thing, Sixteen Candles, Some Kind of Wonderful, etc.) and thought the ending, while somewhat predictable, was cute.

Another movie I had the chance to see with the fam was Mamma Mia! Here we go again. Like the original Mamma Mia, the cast was great, the acting great, and the story quite entertaining. No spoilers, so I won’t tell you anything about it other than to say go see it. The only negative thing I found was that the musical score wasn’t as good as the original, but that’s to be expected, as most of Abba’s good stuff was used in Mamma Mia!

I’m hoping to see Incredibles 2 soon (I hear it’s even better than the original!).

Well, after far too long, the hiatus is over. I’m back to working on Explorer (passed 12K words today), and finally got the editor’s comments back on Trekker.  It’ll take a few days to wade through them, make the corrections, and add some stuff she thinks would help the story (then back to her for a quick review on the additions).

So, the short story is that Trekker should be available by the end of August (as long as I can get the artist on board, too).

 

So, on top of preparing to attend the Outdoor Retailer Show in two weeks and having been at the Northwest Overland Rally last week, I managed to sneak in a couple of movies (along with a couple of thousand words in Explorer while awaiting my editor’s comments for Trekker).

Last night I saw the acclaimed La La Land starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. While okay, it wasn’t anything to shout about. I actually thought Gosling’s role/acting was better than Stone’s, but, what the hey, what do I know? She won the Academy Award, and he didn’t.   Good story, good dance scenes, but they killed the dog (reference Turner and Hooch if you don’t understand what I’m talking about).

Tonight’s cinematic adventure was Loving, the story about the inter-racial marriage that made its way to the Supreme Court of the United States. Having been a cop in Virginia, all I can say is, “boy, is that accurate!” I still remember my academy days where they talked about sodomy being a felony.  I know, no comparison, but it just goes to show how much some people like to butt into other people’s business with no just cause.  Anyhow, Loving is a great movie – one I highly recommend watching. Especially as it gives you a sense of what others have gone through just to live life. I thought it was far better than La La Land (despite Stone and Gosling). Great story and fantastic performances.

Changing topic. While at the Northwest Overland Rally in Plain, WA, I met a former Marine (is there such a thing?) who told me about a great video he made while finishing up a tour in Iraq. If you’ve ever seen Office Space (starring Ron Livingston and Jennifer Aniston, with John C. McGinley doing an awesome job), you’ll love Office Space Ramadi.

Well, thanks to all my beta readers, Trekker is now on it’s cyber way to the editor for the final leg of it’s journey before going through formatting and cover art.  Not much is changing – probably because I think the story line is about as good as it’s gonna get (unless I throw in some Blue Meanies, and that ain’t gonna happen).  Bit more action than Surveyor, but still, it’s a trek, so what you gonna do?

So, back to Explorer. This will be the sequel to the sequel to Surveyor. And, yes, I’m still a jerk about how I wrap up the story.

So, not much writing going on – very little internet access. Why, you wonder? Simple – I’m helping my wife fulfill one of her goals since a traumatic car accident that almost killed her just before Christmas, 2015. In mid-April, 2016, when she finally came home, she saw the movie “The Way” and decided that she wanted to walk the Camino. For those not in the know, that’s the Camino de Santiago – a Pilgrimage that starts in France and ends in Santiago de Compastle, Spain (use Google Maps for this).

Now, for a woman with 19 broken bones, several of them still not healed, and one being the big bone in the ankle that supports all your weight, to make this decision, means a lot. So, I did the manly thing – “Yes, dear.”

For the next two years she progressed from wheelchair to hiking shoes. During that time she also went through numerous surgeries to repair bones that weren’t healing (in total, 13 surgeries).  Finally, we reached the point where she could walk 5 miles with a pack. Quite the accomplishment.

Fast forward to now. She hike across the Pyrenees!

Think about that for a minute. Two-and-a-half years ago she was in a coma. A bit over two years ago she was in a wheelchair.

Of course, the trip hasn’t been a stroll in the park. The first two days were a real struggle. She was carrying a bit more weight than she had trained with, and covered more ground and elevation. The first day out her ankle (remember, the one with the shattered talus and six screws?) swelled up like a softball. The second day, it took her 9 hours to cover 13 kilometers and about 750 meters of elevation gain – something an otherwise healthy adult would probably cover in four to six hour. But she did it!

I won’t mention my role – I think sag-wagon and Sherpa are now my official titles.

So, what I’m getting at is, I’m not writing much until this pilgrimage is done.

See you next month.

Buen Camino!