Desolation Ghosts is a 65,000-word adult literary fiction novel in the vein of The Human Stain. It is set in North Cascades National Park and is about a missing traumatized female veteran with alcohol and relationship addictions who changes her mind about killing herself, but then falls off a mountain and must survive in the wilderness while park rangers battle over how much effort should be spent to locate her. The story takes place during the Covid-19 pandemic and the beginning of law enforcement reforms following the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. This book will appeal to readers who are interested in national parks, outdoor recreation, the Pacific Northwest, and the controversial issue of how emergency services treat people with mental health challenges. It includes exciting stories, based on real-life events, about using rock climbing and short-haul helicopter techniques to rescue a pack string mule who fell off a trail and a mountain climber who fell off a crag, a shoot-out and its impact on park rangers, a couple drownings, an aquatic body recovery and other sad outdoor tragedies, and funny and scary encounters with bears and other wildlife. If you like Jack Kerouac, Nevada Barr, Bree Loewen, Jon Krakauer, Michael Connelly, James Dickey's Deliverance, Matthew Quick's The Silver Linings Playbook or Scott Heim's Mysterious Skin, you may enjoy Desolation Ghosts.

Saturday, November 6, 2021

Wit

While reading all of Fitzgerald's novels in the past two weeks, I noticed how much he talks about epigrams. I wonder how he would feel in today's social media environment, where the quip is king. Pretty comfortable, I'd guess, but I don't think Hemingway would like it. Was cleverness always so important in publishing?

Pitching is not my strength, but I can write a little, just like I'm not good at job interviews, but I'm a good worker. At least I don't have to perform what I write, because I'd be even worse at that than pitching it. I'm excited to see Henry Rollins perform May 17th at the Neptune for the first time in years. What a talent to be able to tell stories audibly like that. What a mind.

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