Me in a nutshell
I live in Eugene, Oregon, and have been a self-employed professional writer since 2011—nearly 5 years. I’m the author of 3 (going on 4) travel fantasy books in my Rucksack Universe series. I write about craft beer. I help other people with their online content and marketing. Outside of my home office, I spend lots of time with my wife, son, and daughter. And I love to cook.
This month I’m…
Proofreading the manuscript for THE LOTUS AND THE BARLEY… ha ha, nope! The manuscript is DONE! I’ve set the release date… which I’ll be announcing shortly. In the meantime I’m working on the behind-the-scenes stuff around the release of THE LOTUS AND THE BARLEY, the fourth book in my Rucksack Universe series. Once I have a few particulars in place I’ll announce the release date and open up the e-book for pre-orders.
Getting ready to write a lot about craft beer. May is one of my favorite assignments for the Oregon Beer Growler: their Women in Brewing special issue. I’m going to be talking to an Oregon brewery owner who does a lot and is just amazing. I can’t wait to share more of her story.
Chuckling at the universe. I grew up in Roanoke, Virginia, and have lived in Eugene since 2000. One of my favorite breweries, Deschutes Brewing, grew up in Bend, Oregon, back before craft beer was cool. They recently announced that within the next few years, they are opening an East Coast facility… in Roanoke, Virginia. I’m talking with folks all about this development—after all, as Oregon beer writers go, I’m rather uniquely qualified to work on this story.
Pondering a summer book tour to various spots in the Northwest, along with some virtual tour events through Facebook, live video, and such. If you’d like me to come to your town, let me know.
Listening to about 40 episodes of The Introvert Entrepreneur Podcast. I recently heard Beth Buelow speak with Joanna Penn on a Creative Penn podcast interview. What Beth discussed in terms of introverts, how we work, and how we better move through professional life really spoke to me. I’m finding lots of ideas and insights in Beth’s podcast that I can put to work in my writing business. I’d recommend Beth’s podcast for any introvert, actually, not just entrepreneurs, but also introverts who work for others, run their households, whatever. It’s a really useful show.
Preparing more things to support support the release of THE LOTUS AND THE BARLEY: collaborating with my cover designer, preparing Facebook ads, writing the book description, and setting up things like ISBNs, which some author-publishers cringe at but which I really enjoy. Then again, I also thought it was fun to fill out the forms for my kids’ birth certificates.
Walking over 10,000 steps (about 5 miles) each day, aiming for 13,000-15,000 steps (up to about 7 miles) at least a couple of days each week.
Trying to do 10 minutes of yoga a couple of times a week, though that’s been challenging of late. At least I’m doing more work in the garden and more walks with my kids to help compensate and be more active.
Drooling at Edinburgh, Scotland. I subscribe to the Travel with Rick Steves Podcast, and episode 439‘s discussion and listener Q&A about Edinburgh has me aching to make a return trip to one of my honorary homes. 2000 was the last time I was in Edinburgh, and I have a goal to make a return trip there with my wife and kids.
Reading lots of books, most notably:
- The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran (well, re-reading)
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey
- Preserving the World’s Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis by Anthony Max Tung
- The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom : A Celtic Shaman’s Sourcebook Paperback by Caitlin Matthews
- London’s Sinful Secret: The Bawdy History and Very Public Passions of London’s Georgian Age Hardcover by Dan Cruickshank
Questioning my word, CONNECT, as Ali Edwards says of her annual One Little Word class. Last month’s visionboard was a lot more fun that I was expecting, and I got a lot out of visualizing things that connect me to my word (no pun intended). This month I’m writing some questions around my word, and My wife and I are taking the class together. This month Ali’s prompt is to build a visionboard for my word and how I want to interact with it. I’m using this challenge to help me improve on how I share and connect with others.
Here’s a recent article I’ve published:
Backside’s Got Roseburg’s Back – Oregon Beer Growler
More Oregon craft beer goodness is in the April 2016 edition of the Oregon Beer Growler.
I have a fair few other things in the works too, but as of when I’m updating my /now page, they aren’t up yet.
Always intrigued by other people’s stories, so feel free to email me: writer@anthonystclair.com