A Week Away
A novel takes years, and then, suddenly, it's here.
It’s quite a thing to spend days and seasons and years writing and revising, to have this intense, intimate, solitary relationship with the landscape, language, story, and characters—and then to have that relationship made public, to have moments you thought of for so long as your own seen and experienced and, hopefully, treasured by others.
It’s scary and nerve-wracking, of course, and incredibly exciting. And it’s a great blessing and a gift. I tell my writing students that whenever someone says they believe in your work enough to share it with the world—from some scrappy, new, up-by-their-bootstraps literary journal to a New York publishing mainstay like Little, Brown, and Company—well, you say thank you and celebrate and be deeply glad.
I’ve come to understand, too, that the sharing of something you’ve created helps you know that creation again, see it more fully and truly. Our stories go beyond us, always. I’ve been listening to the audiobook of The Entire Sky, read by the amazingly talented Justin Price. Price’s reading—his interpretation of the characters and the novel itself—is gritty and harrowing and suffused with love and hope (check out the sample below). And even before, sharing parts of the novel-in-progress with my agent and editor and my wife, Liz, always brought me back to the characters and their struggles and hopes with deeper insight and awareness.
Just the other day, I went to say goodnight to my fourteen-year-old son and found him reading the book. He said he’d turn out his light soon, but wanted to read a little bit more. “I just got to where Justin meets Rene,” he said. “And I like the dog, O’Malley. I think it’s your best one, Dad.”
I’m thrilled—and a little scared and anxious!—to share The Entire Sky with you a week from today, July 2. If you haven’t pre-ordered, please do. Pre-orders help bookstores know what to stock and mean a lot for the life of a book.
I’m excited to hear from you. Happy reading!
On the Road
I drafted early parts of The Entire Sky in the North Country of New York, much of it in the sunny, messy study I share with my wife here in western Oregon; and I was lucky enough to have residencies at Pine Meadow Ranch and on Shotpouch Creek to work on the novel as well. I also took self-imposed, off-the-grid residencies on a number of Oregon rivers, including the Nestucca, the Metolius, the Deschutes, and the south fork of the Mackenzie, where I set-up our little pop-up camper and my computer and solar charger and worked all morning and fished most of the afternoon. Good, good days.
And now I get to take the finished book on the road! This next week the whole family is headed down through Idaho, Utah, and Colorado to visit old friends and see some country, and then we’ll turn our noses north.
On publication day, we’ll be back in eastern Montana, the landscape that’s the source of it all: on July 2, at 6:30 PM, I’ll read and be in conversation with the rancher, writer, and activist Alexis Bonogofsky at the Western Heritage Center in Billings. Then, on July 3, I’ll be reading at one of my absolute favorite bookstores in the world, Elk River Books in Livingston, at 7 PM.
On July 6, we’ll be back home in McMinnville for the Oregon book release at the Grain Station at 3:30 PM. There’ll be a beer brewed to pair with the book and music by Bootleg Jam and book sales by Third Street Books. Should be quite the party!
The week after, I’ll see you in Portland at Annie Bloom’s Books on July 9, where I’ll be in conversation with Scott Nadelson (whose forthcoming novel, Trust Me, is beautiful and wonderfully sad), and in Sisters at Paulina Springs Books on July 11, where I’ll be in conversation with Oregon literary-luminary Ellen Waterston.
And there are more dates on the way in La Grande, Spokane, Missoula, and elsewhere. Can’t wait to talk books and celebrate with you all!
Congrats! Enjoy every stop of your tour!
Soon to be holding this book in my hands--so eager!