Author: Scott William Carter

Postcards from the Garage: Otter Rock, Oregon

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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.

New Myron Vale Book: The Ghost , the Girl, and the Gold

ghostgold_ebookcover_100916bJust in time for Halloween, the third book in the Myron Vale series is now out in the world. The Ghost, the Girl, and the Gold is available in both ebook and print. For now, the best place to buy the paperback is Amazon.com, though it will be available online at B&N and elsewhere very soon. If you want the ebook, you can take your pick: Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and iBooks all have it for sale now.

As for the book itself, and what’s in store for the Portland private investigator who works for both the living and the dead, you can read more about it on the book’s page here on my own site. Thanks for reading!

The Ghost, the Girl, and the Gold: Cover and Description

Good news for fans of the Myron Vale series. While I originally thought The Ghost, the Girl, and the Gold, the third book in the series, would be delayed, the copy editor was able to work in the book sooner than I’d hoped, and we’re back to an early October release. I’m going over the edits, then it’s off to the proofreader for a final pass. Meanwhile, I’ve got the cover and the book description mostly finalized. As always, there might be a few last minute tweaks, but I’m pretty happy with how they’ve both come out. (Special thanks to my wonderful wife, who continues to provide invaluable feedback that helps whip things into shape.)

Here’s the cover (which you can click for a larger version, if you like):

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It fits in with the design of the first two books. And here’s the book’s description:

The dead do not dream.

A week before Christmas, John and Laura Ray storm into Myron’s office, desperate to find their missing daughter. Money? They don’t have any. Clues? They have few. Plagued by mounting bills and a skull-crushing migraine, Portland’s only ghost detective wants nothing more than to show them the door.

But defying his conscience always proves tougher to Myron Vale than saying no, and he soon finds himself embroiled in one of the strangest cases of his career. The more he learns about this unique little girl and all of her extraordinary abilities, the more he feels a kinship to her. Who took Olivia Ray? And why?

The answers propel him toward a tantalizing solution to all of his problems — and a violent clash with a powerful personality, one who can cause irreparable harm to not just Myron, but everyone he loves.

Myron Vale continues to be an interesting character to me, one with the kind of depth worth exploring further, so I’m sure there will be more books about him in the future. Don’t ask me when, of course, because I’m deep into the next Garrison Gage book, and after that . . . well, we’ll see.

For now, if you’re interested in knowing when The Ghost, the Girl, and the Gold is actually out in the world, please sign up for the mailing list. I know I bang on that drum quite a bit, but other than buying my books, or writing a kind review of them on Amazon or elsewhere, signing up for my very infrequent “new release newsletter” is the thing I appreciate the most. No spam, no giving your email to anyone else — just a handful of emails a year, usually just when I’ve got something new out in the world I think you might like.

Postcards from the Garage: Yellowstone, August 2016

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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.