The Lonely Planet Continues…
As of today, you can read Chapter 6 of The Lonely Planet - published on this site in PDF and epub formats.
My goal this year is to learn the ‘rules of writing’, to develop a bit of the basics of the craft of writing with this story. And enjoy the process.
A key part of that is learning the powerful plot beats of The Hero’s Journey. The Hero’s Journey is a timeless story structure that shows up again and again, in everything from greek mythology, to Star Wars. I’ve been most influenced by Vogler’s take in his book The Writer’s Journey.
The hero, has a call to adventure, and after refusing, meets a guide, and is forced across the threshold into the adventure. The hero faces tests, including a huge ordeal, and just when it seems they have lost it all, they overcome and return to their ordinary world, changed.
Chapter 6 brings our Hero to the threshold, and pushes him across. Or… is he pulled by a guide? You’ll have to read to find out!
Favorite Reads of 2024
Favorite reading in 2024
In 2024, I set out to start writing. The one piece of advice that shows up in almost every writing guide is to start reading. Steven King, in his essential ‘On Writing’, noted that his annual reading/listening list tops 70 books a year. I managed to read or listen to 54 books in 2024. Here are my favorites…
Fiction:
Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver - Kingsolver has a stellar reputation, and won the Pulitzer for this. So of course I had high expectations. And they were blown away. She nails poverty and social stratification using an amazing central character coming of age in Appalachia. This is the true hillbilly elegy. Incredibly sharp and insightful, with more than enough humorous observations from the main character to keep such a sad story moving. I grew up sandwiched between Appalachia and the rust belt. Everything rings true in this story. You root for her protagonist, Demon, the whole time. I wanted it to end well for him, and I didn’t want it to end.
True Grit - Charles Portis - If you’ve seen the Coen Brothers excellent film adaptation, knowing their work, you might think that the adventurous plat, strong female lead, and whip-smart dialog is the Coen brother’s creation. And you’d be wrong. Everything great about that story is in the book, now over 50 years old. Portis gives a masterclass in the power of first-person perspective.
Julia - Sandra Newman - A retelling of the dystopian classic, 1984, from Julia’s point-of-view. Whereas Winston, the protagonist of the original, is a beat-down loser who soaks the reader in his grim grey of 1984’s world, Julia adds a warmth and enough humanity to serve as a deeper foil for what society has lost in 1984’s awful future.
Fortress of Solitude - Jonathan Lethem - I’m fascinated by coming-of-age stories. Especially where the protagonist is an unlikely hero attempting to sort their way through an environment stacked against them. Bonus points for the Brooklyn 1970s setting, which Lethem paints with cracked pavement broken glass clarity.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin - This book was everywhere in 2024, including a top spot on Library checkouts across the US. A captivating and somewhat unconventional relationship story (it’s complicated) across decades as lifelong friends lose then find each other, then make wildly popular video games, then lose, then find each other. I heard Zevin speak in Minneapolis and she was as touching and authentic and interesting as this story.
Honorable Mention:
Victor LaValle - I read two novels, and two graphic novels by LaValle in 2024. The Changeling would likely be my ‘number 6’, and I loved Lone Women as well. Fantastical and witty. The Changeling had my favorite opening chapter of the year, and overlaps with New York locations that fascinate me and serve as backdrop for my own stories.
Martha Wells and the Murderbot Diaries - a delightfully funny sci-fi series blending a mysterious backstory, the best of space sci-fi tropes, and a robot that has had enough of humanity’s bullshit and just wants to be left alone to watch TV. My only problem with these novellas is they are so short, yet full priced and popular on the library waitlist.
Favorite Graphic Novel:
The Treasure of the Black Swan - Roca and Corral - A thrilling story of the politics surrounding the discovery of a priceless shipwreck. Gripping, wonderfully illustrated, and all true. A great example of what can be achieved in this medium.
Non-Fiction:
The Wager - David Grann - Read in a single day, couldn’t put it down. The crazy, true story of an early 1700’s shipwreck at the southern tip of South America, and how not one, but THREE parties from the wreck eventually make it back to the UK.
Amusing Ourselves to Death - Postman - written in 1985 - a fascinating indictment of media’s rot on our brains, and this predates social media! A great explanation for the mess we’re in politically and culturally.
The Pidgeon Tunnel - John Le Carre - a memoir and fascinating look inside the writing inspiration for the greatest spy novelist of all time. My favorite author.
What did you enjoy reading this past year? Or are you excited to read soon? Any must-reads for my shelf in 2025?