Before I jump into updates, news, and photos, allow me to share something from James Clear's most recent newsletter:
"Some people get addicted to chain-smoking their problems. They spend all day going from sorrow to sorrow. It doesn't have to be that way. You can live each day going from joy to joy—like a sunflower that turns to face the sun as it moves across the sky. It's not about having a problem-free life, but about focusing on the light. Sunflowers still have shadows, but they are always behind them."
I've been pondering this concept a lot lately, so his words came at the perfect time. I'd call this directed presence, a casual, one-hand-on-the-wheel approach to life. As you live your day on a foundation of presence, you choose where to put your focus. There is a whole lot of bad out there, but there's a ton of good too, and I'm going to steer toward the latter.
Apropos my mystery-in-progress: yesterday, I turned in the first round of dev edits to my brilliant editor, Danielle Marshall. Two more rounds to go before copy-editing. This means that I'm back into the world of Otis from Red Mountain. Should I mention a first draft of Otis is due in July? As they say in Spain, no pasa nada. No problem. I'm just gonna have fun and see what happens.
My family and I had the pleasure of going to Sonoma a few weeks ago for research. (Photos below.) We enjoyed sooooo much good food, the Glen Ellen Star and El Molino first coming to mind. Apropos the stunning wines, those of Bedrock, Ramey, Martini, Coturri, Pedroncelli, and Once and Future still linger on my tongue. Oh, and the cheese in Marin, Lord have mercy!
Along with connecting with dear friends, we met with some legendary winemakers and growers and also got a chance to visit the Glen Ellen ranch of one of my writing heroes: Jack London. White Fang and Call of the Wild are two of the books that made me fall in love with reading as a wee lad, so exploring Mr. London's farm and vineyard and walking through his house was a spiritual experience that filled my soul and imagination to the brim. For a long time, I stood in his office and stared with wide eyes at his writing desk and soaked up as much of his mojo as I could.
We also visited Dillon Beach, an off-the-radar spot in northern Marin County. Our friend there, Jacque Martini, sent us home with a bread levain started in Napa in the 1970s. I just made my first peasant loaf from this starter--using
no added yeast. You bakers out there know that a bread made with levain delivers a whole new level of flavor complexity. You can see a shot of my effort below--inspired by a recipe from the book,
Flour Water Salt Yeast. After taking a while off, the baker's bug has sunk its teeth back into me. It's onto making pizza this weekend. Come on over!
Lastly,
A Gentleman in Moscow airs on Showtime on the 29th of this month. You might know it's my favorite book of all time. I even tracked down the author, Amor Towles, and sent him a case of wine as a thanks for his brilliant effort. You can read my deeper thoughts on the novel
here. It's not a page-turner but more a book that causes you to pause with reverence, often times even sending you off in a daze of awe and wonder. I once heard a guitar hero of mine say his band's best performance ever was almost as funky as James Brown on his worst night. I feel that way about Amor. I'd be thrilled if, one day, one of my sentences was worthy of Amor's worst sentence in a draft he ended up deleting. Considering Ewan McGregor is playing the Count, I have high hopes for this show!
Alrighty then… I'm off to jump into the skin of Otis and see what led him to Red Mountain. Next newsletter, I'll be giving away an early copy of
An Echo in Time, so stay tuned!
