New Year, Same Old Me
Writing, Boarding, and Punching Through the Dumbest Timeline America
Macabre Mobsters, it has been a minute, right?
Promise, I haven’t just crawled inside my shell and hidden these past three months or so, but rather, I’ve been pretty nose to the grindstone on several fronts, and have much to share with you. (Though I am sure you’d forgive me if I HAD just crawled inside a cave to stare at the amorphous shadows flickering on the wall rather than deal with reality).
But no, this winter has been three things:
Snow. Martial Arts. Writing.
First, let me say that winter in Colorado is my favorite season of all time, anywhere. This was my 21st year of snowboarding, after switching away from skis the last time I lived in Colorado and was suffering from some intense combat-patrol related damage to my knees in my final year on Army active duty. For years now, I’ve been saying that my motto should be “I’d rather be snowboarding,” and this year I finally am up to a number of days on the mountains I feel pretty great about. Whether it’s a family trip to Steamboat (my first time there!), or a Saturday with my four-year-old at Copper Mountain, or a Wednesday morning with my partner and spouse just 30 minutes away at our local mountain Eldora, I’ve racked up about 30 or more days on the slopes, with hopefully a few more to come in the waning days of the season. It has been glorious.
Second, when not on the slopes, I’ve been hunkered down either writing, honing my mind and my craft, or spending four to five hours a week at my martial arts dojo, keeping this late forties body in something akin to fighting shape. I began practicing Shaolin Kempo at Boulder Karate a bit more than a year ago, and it has consumed a void I’d been seeking to fill for years. I was recently invited to test for my blue belt next weekend, which, if successful, will be my fourth significant promotion in the past twelve months.
And on the writing front, while I can’t spill too many details, I have nearly completed my first longer form story, my novella BRICK BUILT DAD BOD, a tale of failure, resilience, and redemption. Of building and rebuilding a life, only to have it all come crashing down around you. We expect it to be published next year sometime, and I am beyond excited to share the details with you when I can. I have another contracted story to write later this month for a forthcoming Neo-noir anthology, and I can’t wait to share what I’ve been dreaming up on that front with you as well: a viciously anti-capitalist story of vengeance and violence set in a unique world shared with some of my favorite writers. That one will likely be coming out in 2026 as well, details forthcoming.
Recommendations
What I’ve been reading and loved:
The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Mieville. I sat on this for a while, after picking it up last summer. I quite enjoyed Reeves’ foray into comics (BRZRKR) and this is a whole ass novel in that world, diving deeper into the central character of Unute, and the people who would destroy him. Immersive, epoch spanning, and fun, this one was delightfully strange.
Maeve Fly by CJ Leede. Grady Hendrix called this "an apocalyptic Anaheim Psycho," and that is about as perfect of a description as one could get. I loved it.
This Changes Everything by Tyler Merritt. This is not like the other books on my list. First, I have to mention here that after I read Tyler’s first book (I Take My Coffee Black), I went to Parnassus Books in Nashville, bought every copy they had in stock, and sent them to friends an family all across the country. It was THAT important of a story, it needed to be read by more folks. And indeed, if more folks across the broad swath of this country had read, or read it now, I think we might actually be able to deal with some of the major problems we are facing. This follow-up memoir is just as important, if on a different emotional level than his first. Content Warning, this thing doesn’t merely deal with or mention cancer. It is 100% about Tyler processing his journey from diagnosis in December 2020 through to today, or at least whenever he finished the manuscript. You should read it. He manages to be both hilarious and down to earth and deadly serious all at the same time.
On my short list TBR:
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones. I am so damn excited to read this, having seen it described as like Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridien, only better and with vampires.
Night of the Witch Hunter, by Patrick Barb. Everything my friend Barb writes is worth checking out, and I can’t wait more than one more book (see TBHH above) to check out this newest installment in the fun Killer VHS Series from Shortwave Publishing.
The Hauntings Back Home, by Rebecca Cuthbert, coming Fall 2025, featuring an introduction and 13th story by yours truly. Cover to be revealed soon.
What I’ve been watching:
Silo, Seasons 1 and 2, Apple TV+. Is there anything the actor Rebecca Ferguson can’t do? She stole the show as Rose the Hat in Mike Flanagan’s excellent adaptation of Stephen King’s Dr Sleep. Was a major highlight as Lady Jessica in Dune Parts 1 and 2, and now, holy cow, she utterly nails the role of the rogue mechanic Juliet in Silo, the Apple TV adaptation of Hugh Howey’s dystopian sci-fi series (Wool, Shift, & Dust). Not quite finished with season 2 yet, but this show is rocketing along and I love it.
Severance, Seasons 2, Apple TV+. Is there anything else to add to the conversation? I found this show a delightful carnival of the weird.
Cobra Kai, Seasons 1-6, Netflix. This show is 500% times better than it has any right to be. Emotional depth, fully fleshed out characters built on the scraps of 80’s leftover trash (Karate Kids Parts 2 and 3, looking at you). I loved this thing from start to finish.
What I’ve Been Playing:
The Last of Us, Part 2, PS5. I resisted going back for a second playthrough for the last 5 years but finally did it. I played the first one, I don’t know, ten or fifteen times all the way through, and felt every bit of its depth. If Part 1 was a perfect ten, this is an 11. It emotionally wrecked me again, and now I am going to move on to doing it in Grounded Mode (that is, very limited resources, no HUD, no special listening skills).
Assassin’s Creed Shadows, PS5. Digging it so far, but I am only a couple of hours in. I have loved a lot about this series for many, many years. This will take me a while, being a giant Bethesda game.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you. And I have a question: would you be interested in me posting my own short stories here on occasion? It’d likely be a mix of previously published and new work, maybe once a month, in addition to updates and recommendations. Let me know in the comments or via DM.
Thanks!
-JG