On Deserts and Learning
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Hello friends, This will be a short missive because I've been in Las Vegas all week, at the big Author Nation business conference and the big Reader Nation book fair. While Vegas is not my favorite place—an understatement. I actually find it very trying—I travel here to learn. I travel here to get out of that proverbial comfort zone. It is good for me to stretch myself, body, spirit, and mind. Sometimes, in order to learn, we must cast ourselves into the strange and challenging... And let me tell you, Las Vegas is very strange! Challenging, too. But past the clamor and lights of the Strip, and beyond the smoke-filled casino floors, what did I find? Camaraderie. Connection. Sparks of insight. Laughter. I studied from other authors, both those at my level and those beyond. I met readers and shared my books with them, which was truly a joy! I helped out where I could, and had many wonderful meals and fruitful conversations before escaping—like the neurodivergent introvert I am—back into my room. So, this week, what I wonder is: What helps you learn? How often do you push yourself into uncomfortable situations, re-center, watch, and listen? As I head home from the desert to rainy Oregon, I'm thinking of you. I hope that, wherever you are, you are able to learn something new. Best wishes — Thorn
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, This morning, the rose city of Portland Oregon is shrouded in fog. Just yesterday afternoon, I walked in cool, crisp air and autumn sunlight. Tomorrow, it will rain. And such is life… days shifting from sun to fog to rain and back again. This past week, very little work has gotten done. Well, not the work on my schedule. Not the emails that need answering or the novel I’m almost finished writing. Not getting necessary paperwork to the book keeper. Not the ordering of books for...
Hello friends, The REM song “Hold On” is playing through my head this week. Partially because, after years of trying, someone in my family couldn’t hold on any longer, finally succumbing to a host of illnesses they just could not shake. The song is also with me because of the sheer number of people struggling right now. Struggling to simply survive. Whether because they don’t have money for food or rent, or lost their job, or struggle with mental or physical health, or they are under attack...
“Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living.” — Mary “Mother” Harris Jones Hello friends, It’s a rainy day in Portland, Oregon. Outside my window, cars shush by on slick dark streets. Autumn leaves catch the moisture from the sky as fluffy squirrels dart about, preparing for the coming cold. Last night, we made dinner, setting out a plate for the ancestors. We lit up a giant Jack O’Lantern on the porch, to beckon any spirits wandering by, ready to appease them with treats, should...