Starting back after a break reminds me of those movies scenes. You know the ones? A youth, or a grumpy old man, removes the dust cover from an old car hidden in a garage. He turns the key in the ignition, and the engine roars in approval. We’re on! We can redeem whatever we must! Were I wearing a fedora, I’d tip it right about now. Hello, everyone.
Welcome to the apocalypse. As you may know, here in Northern California we’re entering our second week of a serious heat wave. On one of the nights following one of those days, lightning struck hills all around the Bay, for hours. And we literally exploded in fire.
I am safe enough here on the flats, close to the water. But our air quality is so bad that we are advised not to leave the house; we face rolling power outages; it’s hot. Thousands of people have been evacuated to shelters, during a global pandemic. I can’t imagine.
I’m still glad to see you.
There’s no immediate systemic solution. We’re burning so badly largely because it’s been hotter than normal here for several years. Trees dry in heat. So does brush. And our damp fog doesn’t make it as far inland as it used to. Dry burns.
I can’t identify an action that clearly leads to a near-term solution and I don’t do well in prolonged moderate distress, so, again, hello everyone. As I’ve said before, the best way to know to feel better in the face of misery is to act in service of others. To that end, I’d like to introduce some of my writing/speaking colleagues.
I think several of you have begun to follow my friend Marchelle, at @afroliage on Instagram. On September 8th, she’s going to be on Instagram live, speaking with Lucy Jones, the author of Losing Eden. as part of a book club of a UK group called Parents for Future. They focus on the environment, from the perspective of parents hoping for their children’s future. Tickets (donate however much you would like) are available on Eventbrite, here. More information here, in the Facebook group.
And some writers of books. (I remember when my daughter was a few months old it dawned on me I really needed other mothers. I found them. Writing a book turns out to be similar. Writer compatriots are excellent.)
The Aloha Spirit, by Linda Ulleseit: Just published. I haven’t read it yet, but Parade included it as a Poolside Read, here.
The Invisibles, by Rachel Dacus: Has been out for a while. A sweet book for lovers of family relationships, Italy, and maybe a ghost or two;).
The Exit Strategy, by Lainey Cameron: Published a week or two ago, it’s on sale for $0.99, today and tomorrow only. This one I think I’ll be using as a “comp” to mine, in querying agents, given that it’s about two women in tech who find their way to friendship. Exciting, well-written, and pretty hard to put down.
And with that I pat the hood of the polished old jalopy and say, “Next week, let’s take her out for a spin.” “Yes,” says the sidekick/love interest/true hero of the story, “Let’s go see the sights.”
Have a good weekend everyone, wherever it may take you.
(Someone let me know that comments aren’t working. That’s not on purpose! I’ll talk to my support people and see if I can fix it.)