So recent milestone. I finished the 2nd draft and handed it off to my two readers. The format was ePub, and I’m awfully glad it’s an option. And I’m lucky both readers are on iPhone. All I had to do was email them the ePub and when they open the attachment it opens and reads like any other book in Apple Books. I was even able to add a custom book cover. I believe that makes a huge difference. It’s bad enough asking folks to read a second draft. ePub is more convenient for a reader than a transcript in Word or a PDF.
Took a lot longer than I’d expected it to. I thought the second novel would be published by January 2024. Here it is July.
Speaking of here, and it being July, I’m currently in Maine. In Saco, Maine, which is close to Portland, at the southern part of the state. We flew into the city of Bangor, though, two hours north of Saco. We flew in there because we used to live up there, in the town of Hampden, which is next door to Bangor, and literally down the street from Stephen King’s house (passed it every day; he lives on a main road) in Bangor (never met him; but know plenty of people who did).
When we left we’d been in Maine for six years. Only six weeks passed between being offered the job in Vienna and moving to Vienna. We sold the cars. We found a property manager to rent the house. We had a moving sale. We rented a storage unit. That was July, 2008. Yesterday was the first day since then that we were in the storage unit.
It was in much better shape than we expected, but it had been long enough that the company owners had swapped out the lock for another one, and that was two company owners ago so the manager didn’t have the key and sliced it off. Dusty old memories was what it was. Nearly everything we’d been keeping in there ended up at the dump yesterday afternoon. However, I did capture my old writing and old comic books. And I’m glad I got them, but it strikes me that it would not have been such a big deal if I’d thrown those out, too. I haven’t missed them since I left them in my late 30s, and now I’m in my mid early 50s with no pressing need to look at them. Nevertheless, it was incredibly interesting on its own. Flashback 16 years, and on top of it, dinner with an old friend from the area who I’d not seen nor really spoken with in just as long a period of time. And a great time that was.
It was our first trip to the Bangor dump. The Hampden dump we used regularly when we lived there. Hampden does not offer trash pickup. You have to bring it to the dump bring your trash to the dump once a week, hopefully. It was ultimately why I bought a Subaru Baja when we lived there. The half-truck was perfect for bringing barrels to the dump. But I mentioned that Bangor was different. First off, you don’t need a town permit to go to the Bangor dump, second it’s much bigger. It’s not a couple of dumpsters and processing machines. It’s a big pile of garbage. We just threw boxes and bags and slats and detritus at the great mound of trash. And it was exhilarating. I’ve never done anything like that before, and it is unlikely that I ever will again.
Not sure what all of that has to do with celebrating the 2nd draft, but it is a marker that coincides.
Currently in southern Maine, staying with family. I’m attempting to write a few songs about HD Heathers, so putting words together now.