Chasing Words: Building a Writing Life Amid New Stories and New Orleans Streets

I’ve never been one for journals or diaries—writing regularly just wasn’t my thing growing up. This blog, though, is changing that. It’s the closest I’ve come to capturing my thoughts consistently, and it’s part of a bigger shift: building a writing life. For me, habits have always been about showing up—whether for a workout, a shift at work, or now, the blank page. Like my love for trail running or cross-country skiing, writing has its ups and downs. I might fall off the wagon for a week or two, but I always dust myself off and recommit. Right now, my goal is clear: to write professionally, and I’m chasing that with everything I’ve got.

Speaking of that goal, I am working on three projects right now (other than learning how to do book/author marketing). The first project is a short story discussing what happens to Bethany and her parents (characters in my soon to be published book, The Long Walk Home: When the Power Dies) when they get separated from the main character, Tommy. The second project is a short story set in New Orleans where the main character is mugged and wakes up naked without any memory of who he is and how he navigates his new world. The third project is the follow-up novel to The Long Walk Home, prospectively titled, Free From Shadows, which will see Tommy, Charley, and Bethany reunited for a new challenge.

Part of my recent distraction was traveling to New Orleans to scout locations and take pictures for the New Orleans short story. I’ve been to New Orleans many times and this trip was different because of the change in perspective. When I’ve gone in the past it has been purely for recreation. This time I looked for the 8^th District Police Station on Royal from the viewpoint of a disoriented mugging victim getting there from near the French Market. I looked at the Central Business District (known in the past as Faubourg St. Mary) and in both locations I realized how disorienting these beautiful and vibrant places could be, especially in a mentally compromised state. This story should be an interesting study in the interaction of the human at its most stripped down (literally and metaphorically) and its environment. Anyway, I’ve included a shot from that trip as the image for this post.

I won’t bore you with the details of me learning how to do my job, but I look forward to getting back on the writing wagon to get some great stories out to all of you readers. A quick update on the progress of the book before I end this post, the front cover is basically done and will look substantially like what I have posted on the book page of my website. The editing is currently back in the hands of my publisher, Defiance Press, and I expect to have it back to do my final edits. I have submitted my head shot to them, we’ll see if they think a different one is preferred. The Director of Publishing, Lisa Woodward, came up with a blurb that I will have a lot of trouble improving, so I hope we go with that.

Right now I plan on writing about what music I listen to while writing for next week’s post. Don’t forget to “like, share, and subscribe.” Until the next post…