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.

Monday, March 7, 2022

Torture doing the right thing

There is no way I could have written a novel and worked a regular job at the same time. I know because I'm working a regular job now and trying to finish up revisions, and it's an absolute nightmare. Three weekends ago, I spent time with someone I modeled a character after, and it inspired a chapter I need to write, but it was a Sunday, and I had to go to work Monday, so I scribbled mad notes on an envelope and went to work for a week waiting anxiously for the weekend so I could spit the story out. Thursday night, my sister tells me my mom is coming for a quick, unexpected visit. So I sacrifice the book to spend time with her. It's my mom, and she's old. I lose contact with the chapter, but I have the notes. This past weekend comes, and I put in some time, mostly organizing, but it's stuck. Then I wake up at 3:45 a.m. and it's all there, ready to pour. I get some out, but I have to stop. And go to work. Where I'll lose contact with the spray of inspiration within an hour or two. In fact, it's already slipping away. The temptation to call in sick is strong, but I can't do it because I'm a drunk. I can't lie and stay sober. Also, I don't want to soil the novel with dishonesty. So I'm letting it slip out of my hands again and trusting it will come back. And it hurts. That is all.

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