Tag Archives: Sarah J. Sover

Blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, editing, Falstaff Books, Writing

Monday Musings: Checking In After A Quiet Stretch

It’s been a while since I last posted on this blog, and while I don’t think I have much to say, I thought I should at least say something. So….

Hi. How’re’ya doin’?

Good, good…

How am I?

That’s…complicated. Generally, I’m okay. Life flows along. I had a birthday not so long ago. Never mind which one. But I saw friends and family. I heard from lots of people. And despite the inexorable march of time, I felt pretty good about the whole thing. Especially considering the alternative….

A few days later, though, I was feeling down, and I couldn’t explain it. As I say, I’d just had a nice birthday, and things seemed to be going along pretty well. Yet, I was just so very sad. Why? I finally said something to Nancy, and she reacted with something akin to, “Well, yeah, of course.” And then she reminded me that we were, almost to the day, five years removed from the day Alex called to tell us of her cancer diagnosis.

Suddenly, it made sense. As my therapist used to say, the body remembers. Even if the mind doesn’t actively, the body responds on a primal level to things like seasonal changes — the weather, the angle of sun, the awakening of trees and wildlife. My body remembered the trauma of that conversation, and more, it associated it with this time of year. And once I understood, I felt better. I was still sad, of course, but at least I understood why, and that I could handle.

So, yeah, ups and downs.

Speaking of seasonal changes… Spring insinuates itself daily into the landscape and weather. Spring in Tennessee was a frenzied affair. Temperatures rose quickly, everything seemed to bloom at once, and it wasn’t uncommon to go from winter to spring to days that felt like mid-summer in the span of a single month. Spring here in the Northeast is a far more gradual process, as if the land itself is savoring its rebirth. Fits and starts. Warm days give way to cold ones, which in turn are followed by warmer ones. The end of last week was downright cold. It snowed here yesterday. But earlier in the week, it reached 70. It’s supposed to do the same early this week. And then we could have more snow on Thursday or Friday. Nuts, right? Our crocuses are up. Tulips and daffodils are emerging, but not yet showing blooms. Tree buds are beginning to swell. A few more bird species are flocking to our feeders. The general trend is clear and heartening after a long winter.

With spring, of course, comes baseball, which is still my sport of choice. I love soccer (excuse me: football), but my connection to baseball goes back to some of the earliest memories of my childhood. Playing ball on our little dead end street with the neighborhood kids, playing stickball on my school playground, collecting baseball cards, poring over boxscores in the newspaper literally every day of the season, watching games on TV with my dad, listening to games on my radio on weeknights when I should have been trying to sleep.

I don’t watch as much as I used to. When I was ten, I didn’t have to justify wasting a couple of hours watching a televised game. These days, there always seems to be something else I ought to be doing. But MLB.com airs radio broadcasts of Major League games from all over the country, and because I’m a subscriber, they’re basically free. So, I intend to listen this summer. There is something magical about baseball on the radio, announced by someone who knows what they’re doing. Maybe it’s the slower pace of the sport that makes it work. Maybe it’s just my love of the game. Whatever. I’m looking forward to it.

What? Work? Yeah, I’m doing some work. I am editing stories for the upcoming anthology, Disruptive Intent, which I am co-editing with Sarah J. Sover for Falstaff Books. There have been a few hiccups along the way, but that is to be expected when working on a project with so many moving parts. I can’t wait to see the final product. We have a terrific set of stories from our roster of wonderful writers, and working with Sarah has been a joy.

When not working on those edits, I have been writing my new book. I am not setting any land speed records with my output, but that’s okay. I’m not in any rush. I’m making progress, and I continue to love the concept and the main character.

I did my taxes this past week (which is also part of “work,” since I’m self-employed). That’s really all I care to say on that subject….

Finally, this past weekend, I took part in downtown Albany’s small but passionate No-King’s Rally. The city hosted a couple of rallies, and the region hosted more than a dozen. The one I attended began in the shadow of New York’s statehouse and then marched through the streets surrounding the Capitol Plaza. We chanted and held signs and all that good stuff, and we joined the millions worldwide who called for an end to the war-of-choice in Iran, the extra-legal brutality of ICE, the weaponization of the Justice Department, the assault on voting rights, and the systemic protection of Jeffrey Epstein’s allies and enablers in the White House and elsewhere. It felt good to do something positive with my simmering anger at this Administration, and to be surrounded by so many like-minded people.

And that’s me right now.

I hope you are well, that the onset of spring brings you joy, and that you have a wonderful week.

Blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, editing, Falstaff Books, Invasives, Radiants

A Thanksgiving Post, and Something For Which I’m Thankful

This is not my typical Thanksgiving post, although, before I dive into it, I do want to say that I am thankful for so much: my family, my friends, the wonderful memories I have of those I have lost and the enduring bonds I have with so many who are reading these words. Thank you. I am grateful for my new home, for the daily comforts I take for granted most of the year, and for the opportunities I have been privileged to enjoy throughout my life.

I am also, of course, grateful for my writing career, which brings us a little closer to the core of this post.

It’s no secret that my family and I have been through a rough period, and that during that time, I virtually stopped writing. I continued to post here when I could, but I did not write any original fiction for more than two years.

This fall, I decided I’d had enough of not writing. A few weeks ago, the Kickstarter for the Disruptive Intent anthology that I will be co-editing with the fabulous Sarah J. Sover for Falstaff Books funded. That meant not only that I will have more editing to do before too long, but also that, at the request (insistence? direct order?) of John Hartness, head of Falstaff, I will be writing a short story for the project.

I am truly delighted to report that, as of about a week and a half ago, I have started writing said short story, which will be set in my Radiants universe.RADIANTS, by David B. Coe (Jacket art by Belle Books)

Yes, I am writing fiction again.

It’s coming quite slowly right now. But I am making progress each day and now have nearly half the story drafted. It’s not very good. Not yet. I may have to scrap much of what I’ve committed to phosphors thus far. That, though, is beside the point. I am writing. Finally. It feels really good.INVASIVES, by David B. Coe (Jacket art courtesy of Belle Books)

Before starting on the fiction, I actually took a couple of weeks and wrote about Alex, about losing her, about our relationship, about my grief, about the complex tangle of emotions that seemed to be getting in the way of my creativity. Those words I will never share with anyone. I just knew that I needed to write them before I could move on. The writing was painful, but it was also freeing. A lesson there, I believe. Writing is not always about producing words for publication. Sometimes it is catharsis. Sometimes it is a means of processing emotions that cannot be addressed in any other way. That, at least, is how it sometimes is for me.

In any case, I wanted to share this.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. May you be surrounded by love and laughter.

Blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, editing, Falstaff Books, Writing

Professional Wednesday: New Anthology Project In The Offing!!

Disruptive Intent announcementIn the next week or so, we — Sarah J. Sover, the good people at Falstaff Books, and me — will be starting a Kickstarter for a new anthology, Disruptive Intent.

Sarah and I will be co-editing the collection. Falstaff Books will be publishing it. And we have a terrific lineup of authors who have committed to submitting stories. The theme of Disruptive Intent is, essentially, stories that have a key element challenging the political/social/cultural orthodoxy of this moment in history. Each story will be accompanied by an author’s note, detailing their intent and their reasons for challenging that orthodoxy as they have. Ever wonder while reading a story, “Did the author mean to do that?” Well, wonder no longer!

We are not yet announcing who our authors are — that will come as we draw nearer to the start of the Kickstarter. But trust me: You’re going to want to read these stories. As for my fellow editor, Sarah J. Sover, author of the Fractured Fae series, is as wonderful a writer as she is a person. She is passionate about this project, and like our other authors, she is committed to writing a story as well as editing. And, for the record, I’m committed to writing one, too.

Our publisher, of course, is Falstaff Books, owned and operated by the shy and retiring (/snort) John G. Hartness. So, you know the book is going to be beautifully produced, reasonably priced, and packed with the sort of innovative, exciting stories for which Falstaff is known.

So, watch this space for updated Kickstarter information and author announcements! And help us meet our funding goal!

Blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, editing, Falstaff Books, Radiants, Thieftaker Chronicles, Winds of the Forelands, Writing, Zombies Need Brains

Friday Musings: Checking In and Sharing a Song From Alex

Summer is speeding by, and I have been terribly remiss in keeping up with my blog. For those who have reached out to me in recent weeks, asking if I am okay, the short answer is, “Yes, I am.” I won’t claim to be wondrously fantastic, because you wouldn’t believe me if I did. But I am well.

Our new house continues to feel more and more like home. The house itself is pretty much where we would like it to be at this point. A few more doors, door frames, and window frames need painting, but that can wait for cooler weather. We have found a couple of pieces of furniture to fill gaps in the three-season room on the back of the house, and we now have outdoor furniture for the backyard patio. All we need now is a fire pit for the fall. The yard looks great — Nancy has been planting and transplanting and weeding, and I have been keeping the grass under control with my new (used) standing mower. (If you don’t know what a standing mower is, look them up. This thing actually makes cutting the lawn sort of fun.)

We have a large flock of Wild Turkeys that walks through the yard a couple of times each day. How large? Five hens and twenty-two growing chicks. The young were adorable when they were little fuzzballs. Now they’re bigger, more awkward — like adolescents — but still dependent on their moms. Apparently it really does take a village… We also have a White-tailed doe and two fawns who show up most evenings while we’re eating dinner in the back room. And there is a young buck, with velvet still on his antlers, who appears to be shadowing them. Add to that our hummingbird family, the Indigo Buntings and Chipping Sparrows, and our local Cooper’s hawk, and we have a nice selection of wildlife paying us visits on a daily basis.

I have recently finished reading slush for the Skulls X Bones anthology I am editing with Joshua Palmatier for release from Zombies Need Brains. Soon, we will be making our final choices of which stories to include and will begin the actual editing of the manuscripts. And already I am working on my next editing project, which will be for Falstaff Books with the fabulous Sarah J. Sover. More details to come.

RADIANTS, by David B. Coe (Jacket art by Belle Books)As for writing, I have still not done much at all. But that might be changing soon. There are a lot of moving parts to this development, and nothing is set in stone yet, but for fans of the Radiants books, who have wondered if I ever planned to go back to those stories, stay tuned . . . . Yes, I know that I have promised a return to the Thieftaker universe as well, not to mention a reissue of Winds of the Forelands, which I have had on the back burner for years now. Those will be coming eventually as well. I am slowly working my way back into a writing mindset. I would ask for your patience, as I continue to heal and find my emotional footing again.

Nancy and I have been out to see Erin in Colorado, and will be seeing her again before too long. We have plans for multiple trips later this summer and into the fall, and are also looking forward to welcoming some guests to our home.

Other than that, life has been sailing along. We see family and friends. We watch our favorite shows and listen to music. We cook fun foods and taste new whiskeys. I have been playing music as well, polishing long-neglected guitar skills and trying to retrain my voice.

Alex, of course, is a constant presence in my thoughts. I am learning to live with my grief, to honor her memory in ways that do justice to the loss while also allowing me to function and breathe and be thankful for all that we still have in our lives. At the risk of misspeaking for Nancy and Erin, I believe it is a journey for all of us. There’s no real end point. It is just the reality of our world now, and always will be. Not long ago, I shared a song with my guitar buddy and dear, dear friend, Alan Goldberg. It was a tune I first heard on a mix CD Alex made for me when she was in high school, a tune I hadn’t listened to in several years, since well before her death. I knew he would love the song, but I was also afraid to play it for him. I didn’t know how I would feel upon hearing it again.

I needn’t have worried. It brought a smile. It made me feel close to her, thankful for this tiny gift she had given me — one gift among so, so many. Did it make me miss her? Of course, but it’s not like I need help in that regard. And the sweet memories that came with the melody were a balm.

Here is the song. Enjoy your weekend. Hug those you love.