News & Muse (May 2021): One More Adult in the House

My daughter turns eighteen in a few days. I have to say I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I’m so proud of the young woman she’s become, a great student, thoughtful, conscientious, and living a well-balanced life, already admitted to the university of her choice and about to embark on the next chapter of her life. On the other hand, it means I’m definitely getting older. It seems only yesterday that I was bringing her home from the hospital, wondering if I had it in me to be the kind of father she deserved, my life changed forever the moment I looked down into her eyes for the first time. Congrats, kiddo! Now you get to vote in the next election. It’s only for the local school board, but still, use your power wisely.

Writing productivity is up. I think I’m finally starting to unwind some of the fairly entrenched habits I had that might have served me well when I was a part-time writer with a day job but actually get in my way now that I work at this full-time. Coming to the end of another book, but no news other than that. It’s something of a running joke around the house. Other people talk about their days, and when it’s my turn, since I seldom talk about works-in-progress, usually all I can say is, “Well, I wrote 10 pages.”  What an exciting life I lead. 

A Bit of Whimsy: Sunset in Newport, Oregon

That’s a shot at sunset from the balcony of our hotel in Nye Beach, in Newport, one of our favorite places on the Oregon coast. Heidi and I, along with Rosie, our intrepid Irish Setter, made a quick two-night jaunt to the coast in mid-April. It hit nearly 80 degrees Fahrenheit that first evening, almost unheard of on the Oregon coast, though it was fifty-five and foggy by the time we left, more the norm. There is a reason they sell a lot of sweatshirts on the Oregon coast. Even longtime natives seem to have a hard time remembering, despite repeated experience, that it can be in the mid-nineties in the valley and be forty degrees colder once you get over the coastal range. I actually love this, it makes escaping an oppressive heat wave no more than an hour’s drive away, but people who step out of their cars in shorts and tank tops are usually too busy shivering to appreciate it themselves.  

Scott Recommends

Another Man’s Moccasins by Craig Johnson. I continue to be impressed with the breadth of Johnson’s skills. There is a granular detail to his writing that really brings these tales of Sheriff Walt Longmire, and the fictional Absaroka County in Wyoming where he resides, to vivid life, and from the very first page I feel like I’m in the hands of an author with a strong voice and in full control of his craft. This one starts with discovering the  body of a young Vietnamese woman alongside the interstate, a woman who just may have a connection to Longmire’s service during the Vietnam war. Just superb. 

“J.K. Rowling” by Natalie Wynn. I know I’m venturing into controversial territory, but once again, I came to Wynn’s YouTube video (part of her ContraPoints series) a little late in the game. This time it was because I was deliberately seeking out intelligent dialog on a difficult subject and found multiple people recommending Wynn’s video. What difficult subject are we talking about? Why, Rowling’s comments (both on Twitter and on her blog) that many regard as transphobic. My own views are irrelevant except to say that I think we need a lot more listening and empathy these days, and I mean real listening and empathy, the kind that comes without judgement, agenda, or with the barely concealed impatience of someone just waiting for their turn to speak.  I was happy to listen to Wynn deconstruct Rowling’s essay in a thoughtful, entertaining manner, and you just may be too:

Airlie Winery. Almost two years ago, on one our trips to Newport, Heidi and I stopped at Airlie Winery, a cozy vineyard in the coastal range that feels much more remote than it really is, just a few miles from Highway 99 off Maxfield Creek Road. There were two Irish Setters roaming the property at the time, big beautiful dogs, and I said, “You know, if we do get another dog, I think I might like one of those.” Well, Heidi ran with this, of course, and there we were two years later returning to the winery (finally open again after closing during the pandemic) to enjoy some wine, cheese, and crackers while Rosie, our own Irish Setter, was able to occasionally roam and visit with other dogs, including the owner Mary’s setters. We heartily recommend Airlie to anyone in the area. The first shot below is of Rosie running among the vines. The second is from the creek below the main building, where we sat for a bit and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon.

News & Muse (March 2021): A Year of Fire and Ice . . . and Here Comes Spring, Again

I mentioned last month that I was seeing hints of spring. As usual in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where we often get one last whiplash from winter before it leaves for good, we had the worst ice storm two weeks ago this area has suffered in 40 years. It wreaked havoc on the city’s trees and resulted in widespread power outages for days on end. While we were one of the lucky few who never lost power (well, for fifteen minutes, which hardly counts), there were thousands without basic electricity for over a week. And yet today, as I type this, the sun is out, daffodils and crocuses are blooming, and even though I see plenty of downed tree across the street from my office window, spring is well on its way. Of course, we’ll see, right? After the the last twelve months, who knows.

And those twelve months have been a heck of a ride: a global pandemic (and the economic shocks that accompanied it), the end of Trump’s toxic presidency, devastating forest fires raging less than thirty miles from my house, and finally a wicked ice storm. My own family has been very fortunate, however, and for the most part, I’ve just continued plugging away. I did have to temporarily set aside a long book a couple weeks ago, which was very painful, but the longer I’ve been at this the more I’ve come to trust my own process. (I pretty quickly switched to another book). I also think it’s important to take some creative risks, both with your choice of material and your processes, and this book was certainly a big one. It can’t be a risk if you don’t occasionally fall flat on your face. My gut tells me I just need some perspective on it, but we’ll see. 

Not much other news at the moment. Since I’m not using Instagram for much these days, I decided to occasionally post daily practice drawings over there for the fun of it, and for extra motivation to keep practicing. You can find them over at http://www.instagram.com/scottwilliamcarter

A Bit of Whimsy: Joy Unleashed

Heidi and I took Rosie to the largest and most wild park in the city and found a big empty field for her to run. We’re still practicing her recall with our now nine-month-old Irish Setter, and she’s generally pretty good about it, but we do have to be careful. Seeing her unadulterated joy as she gallops around off-leash is pure heaven.

Scott Recommends

A Promised Land by Barack Obama. Like many people, I saw Barack Obama’s keynote address at John Kerry’s Democratic National Convention in 2004 and was captivated by his oratorical skill and his life story. Was he just a flash in the pan that could give a good speech, though? The more I learned about him early on, even before he won his Senate race—in his interviews, in his books, etc—the more I became convinced that his public speaking ability wasn’t even his  greatest strength. His evidence-based intellect, his cool-under-pressure temperament, and his optimistic orientation toward life (an optimism grounded in political acumen, which his opponents would often underestimate at their own peril), he had many attributes, I thought,  that could possibly make him a successful President someday, if the stars aligned. Well, of course the stars did align, and his first post-Presidential book (the first of two volumes) is a great chronology of his rise to power, a balanced historical perspective of his first few years in office, and a wonderfully written memoir by its own merits. As someone who generally follows the news fairly closely, much of the actual information wasn’t new to me, but it was still a great pleasure to read. 

Better Angels: Why Violence Has Declined by Stephen Pinker. I listened to Pinker’s exhaustive but very convincing case on why the world is more safe, more peaceful and more civilized for more people than at any other time in history as an audio book, which made it take a long time to finish, but it was well worth it. I love books that challenge conventional wisdom, and do so with such deft. Progress does not come in a straight line, and to say we live in a much better world overall than our ancestors does not diminish the challenges of today. I also love writers unafraid to take on any particular group’s sacred cows so long as they adhere to the credo of allowing your conclusions to be guided by evidence and not the other way around. If you’re feeling down about the state of the world, this book is a great antidote. 

The Ezra Klein Show (podcast): The Senate is Making a Mockery of Itself. I’m not a big podcast listener. I don’t subscribe to any of them, really, but I sometimes end up listening to a few now and then because of a topic or discussion I want to learn more about. Klein’s discussion with Adam Jentleson, the author Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy, is as good as any about why getting rid of the 60-vote threshold in the Senate (the so-called filibuster rule) might just be the most important change that needs to be made if the United States wants to prevent gridlock from grinding our country to a halt. Just about every argument in favor of keeping this arcane procedural gimmick—a fluke which is not in the Constitution, and only came about as a mistake — is a myth. Definitely worth an hour of your time.

New Garrison Gage book: A DEEP AND DEADLY UNDERTOW

As if dealing with a global pandemic wasn’t enough, here in Oregon we’re also suffering from a series of wildfires wreaking havoc across the state. While my hometown of Salem is not in any danger, the air for the last few days has been so toxic that it’s not safe to be outside without a mask for long. We’ve literally had some of the worst air quality in the entire world. (Fortunately, as my kids pointed out, we already have plenty of masks lying around!) The fires have blanketed the city in an ash-fog that’s lowered the temperature at least twenty degrees. But cooler temperatures, shifting winds, and a coming rainstorm should hopefully bring an end to the worst of this over the next few days. 

But despite what a crazy year 2020 has turned out to be, I go on writing. It’s now my full-time job, after all, but I also find it helps me not focus on everything in the world outside my control. Disappearing into a book as a reader also helps, of course, which brings me to my latest offering: A DEEP AND DEADLY UNDERTOW. This is the seventh book featuring Garrison Gage, and it’s a doozy, one that will leave both Gage and others in Barnacle Bluffs forever changed. More information about the book, including links to retailers, is below.

As usual, the book is available in paperback and ebook first. The audio version will hopefully follow before too long. Thanks for reading!


A Deep and Deadly Undertow

A Garrison Gage Mystery

What kind of treasure is worth dying for?

Years after his wife dies in a mafia hit gone wrong, Garrison Gage finally pieces together a life for himself in the Oregon coastal town of Barnacle Bluffs. Some days the cranky private investigator with the bum knee and the caustic wit could even call himself content. Maybe even happy. But marrying again? Never.

Yet not long after quirky Rita Rodriguez enters the scene, Gage can’t imagine life without her. Unfortunately, when dark secrets violently emerge–involving first loves, tragic loss, and, strangest of all, a Spanish galleon that sunk in 1642 loaded with treasure–their relationship enters turbulent waters.

 Worse, the same deadly undertow that drags Gage into the darkness also threatens everyone around him. His friends. His enemies. Even the town itself . . .

Ebook: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play 

Paperback: Amazon | Indiebound

Cover for A Deep and Deadly Undertow (Gage #7) and a Brief Update

Garrison Gage fans will be happy to know that the seventh book in the series, A Deep and Deadly Undertow, is now with the copy editor and should be out in early September. That’s the cover on the right. (You can click it for a larger version.) Book description will follow soon, but needless to say, this is probably the most consequential Gage book yet. Ghost ships, sunken treasure, dashed hopes and dark betrayals . . .  Even a marriage proposal. It’s got it all. 

If you want a tiny clue of some big changes in Gage’s life, be sure to read Throwaway Jane, the first Karen Pantelli adventure, which features a brief cameo from the curmudgeonly detective. And if you enjoy the book, please do write a review on Amazon or elsewhere. I get a lot of emails from readers who never write reviews, and while I do appreciate your kind words, online reader reviews are even more important these days than reviews from major trades, I think. It’s the new word of mouth. So if there’s one thing you can do to help an author (other than buying his or her books, of course), it’s to write a review of why you liked the book. It doesn’t have to be long. Just a sentence or two is perfectly fine.

More on the Gage book soon. I’d planned to write a few short stories between books, but I’m already hard at work on a new novel, an idea about a local amusement park I’ve been toying with for years. I often find that ideas I mull over too much often turn to mush, or become overly forced and stilted, as opposed to ones I come up with from scratch, but this one’s stayed fresh. I also think I might finally be ready to write it, which I think was the problem with the Big Epic I flamed out on a couple years ago. Just wasn’t ready to write it yet. Though I’m thinking I’m going to take another crack at that one, too. 

My plan right now is to alternate between series books and one-offs, but we’ll see how it goes. Other than that, life in the era of Covid-19 goes on here on Carter Hill (what I’ve taken to calling our 90-year-old Tudor-style house up on a little rise). Our Subaru Forester, which we bought almost 20 years ago, finally had to go, with so many repairs due that we couldn’t justify it for what the car was worth, despite how good the car has been to us (we brought our daughter home from the hospital in it, so it had lots of

sentimental value). We replaced it with a 2016 Nissan Juke, pictured there on the right. We already had a Nissan Pathfinder for bigger family trips, so this is a little town car that can hold four people in a pinch but I think is really intended for two. It has AWD, too, something I pretty much insist on these days, as well as a sunroof and a great sound system. While we bought our Subaru Forester new, I’m a big believer in buying slightly used cars, so someone else pays for the steep depreciation that cars see in those first few years. 

Kids are looking forward to going back to school in a few weeks, such as it is. It looks like it will be almost completely online. I’m typing this on the new flagstone patio I put in over the summer in the backyard. Rosie, our now fourteen-week-old Irish Setter, is sitting at my feet on a beautiful summer morning. The vet cautioned us not to take her off the property much until her series of shots are finished, so we’ve been settling for lots of backyard play, but I’m looking forward to the two of us getting out for some long walks (and eventually hikes!) in the months and years ahead. 

I’ll end this with a recent shot of Rosie. Back before too long. Stay safe out there.