Friday, December 26, 2008

"Dead Men Hike No Trails" - Tales by the Campfire

So there I was, seeking warmth on a cold desert winter night, at my neighbors campfire. One part scrimping on wood costs, another for the solace of company, I found myself listening to a man travel the travails of his writing career.

There were about eight of us encircled around the fire and more than a few had added beers to the mix, so it was an eclectic conversation. My interest was piqued when I learned the guy sitting to my left was an author.

Being a wannabe writer myself, I was interested in what he had to say. I didn't learn much about Rick McKinney that night, and so here I am, back in New York City hunkering down for the off-season with more time to spare than a clocks and watches case in a pawn shop. "Where to start?" I asked myself, trying to recall the title of the book he'd mentioned writing.

We'd been talking about the Appalachian trail(or something) and I mentioned a book that "most" people will recall, because it sold well. I won't mention it here, because - well, because I want to focus on RICK's book! After all, as he had lamented, he actually hiked the entire trail in a push, and not only that, he wrote his book while actually on the trail!

After a few false GoogleSteps, I came up with the correct title, and hit the listing of Dead men Hike No Trails by Rick McKinney.

The conversation veered away from the topic quickly, but I kept wanting to go back. I learned a tiny bit about his efforts as an author, but no very much. He gave a synopsis of a book yet to be published, if ever a house can get past their concerns of a lawsuit by a mega-giant corporation(how's that for intrigue....?). I even pushed my own idea for a story, wondering if the subject would cross copyright boundaries, to which he responded "I'd write it and let 'em sue me!" Sounds like sound advice in this day of 'any publicity is good publicity.' Well....maybe for an author such as himself, with other works which would surely be of interest within such a commotion.

At any rate - I'm going to order Dead Man Hike No Trails as soon as I hit the Publish button on this post, and while I don't expect you to blindly follow my lead, I do hope that you will at least check out the several reveiws he's received, and perhaps add his blog to your reading list. If you're feeling really generous, and maybe Santa dropped a new computer down your chimney this holiday season, it seems he could make use of your old one. Check his 12/18 entry, entitled Donate Your Laptop? for details.

And - act fast! - click on Jigglebox.com, Rick's website for more where that came from. There's plenty to take you out of the winter doldrums, while doing a good thing - lending an ear to an author's written word.
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Monday, December 01, 2008

The Virgin's Guide To Joshua Tree Climbing

Well, it's ready for public consumption. People ask all the time for the basic information on Jtree - camping, getting around, stuff like that. And I often go to some lengths to tell them what I know. I have been wanting to put it all into a blog post so I could just say "Go Here!" and now I can do just that!

The Virgin's Guide To Joshua Tree Climbing is a hefty resource of just about anything people heading there for the first time might need to know. It includes links to the various businesses, photos from the area(more to come when I return from my nest trip - leaving Thursday morning!) and some stories to back up some of the suggestions I have made.

What it does NOT include are blatant tricks of the trade. I am not going to be responsible for letting the cat out of the bag on some of the stuff best kept in the bag, so don't expect to find out how to get over on fees, camping limits or whatever else people tend to want to work their way around. Some things are better left unsaid, at least on the internet, and if a person can't figure things out for themselves....well, I am sorry for them.

I will be updating the thing with more information as I gather it, and am thinking maybe it can be a winter project to make a print version of the thing available through cafepress. We'll see.....

If there are any areas you feel should be covered and haven't yet been, or have something useful to add, leave a comment here or on the VGTJTClimbing page. I'll do what I can to include it.

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If you enjoy my blog and would like to subscribe through RSS, you can click the FeedBurner Badge here. Thanks for your support!  Subscribe in a reader
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Help support Happiegrrrl in her quest to travel, climb and live an adventurous life(instead of being stuck at home working.....). Visit her online shop, ClimbAddict, for original designs on t-shirts, jackets, caps, stickers and giftware.

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