Of literary agents, editors and ISBN's

One of the unfortunate results of last years accident, related to getting my head scrambled, was having my

I don't have a compelling ISBN photo.*

nearly finished novel derailed. However, the novel isn't a dead project! I needed help to get rolling on it again, new tools and methods(for me) and assistance from a literary agent and editor, both of whom I am lucky enough to have access to.

Over a recent weekend, I spent time with both, agent and editor, made a loose plan and started the re-write of the first chunk of the book. Among other things we talked about the digital publishing revolution, something I have been a part of as an editor and publisher and now plan to join as an author. While the European market still views self publishing as circumspect, the practice is enjoying wider acceptance in the States. We talked a lot about the virtues of getting a traditional publisher vs going it alone and for my first literary work I think I'm just going to put it out there myself. You don't even need an ISBN to sell on Amazon anymore. That's pretty cool of them to accommodate authors in that way by creating the ASIN or Amazon Standard Identification Number. (Even if Jimmy Wales is not a fan.) ISBN numbers cost and if you are only buying one they cost as much as $125 when you get them direct from Bowker, the company that mysteriously has control of the ISBN market. If you buy 10 ISBN's the price drops to $25 each. That's pretty real savings if you can swing the cash. So, essentially if publishing holding you back, like it may have even five or ten years ago, and you were afraid of submitting to publisher after publisher facing the black box of getting a mythical book deal, fear not, for times have indeed changed.

Incidentally, once you buy even one ISBN number you are technically a publisher. There is a heck of a lot more involved in publishing than assigning a number but if you ever considered getting into the publishing world, writing a few novella's or something similar, there's no time like now. You might even consider forming a little writers collective with a group of friend's. I've been thinking about it recently as I meet more and more photographers who want to make books. Printing a physical book is still a tough thing to even contemplate but more digital books are sold world wide now than print and the numbers have yet to plateau. Don't get me wrong, they will, but this is as good a chance to find your pet genre and dive in on the ground floor as you're likely going to get.

The key thing to remember in all of this though, if you wrote your book, or even your short story, published or not, you have already achieved something. The success is in the act, not the external validation.

*Me in a tree stump near Humboldt. 

Evolv Royale lace up

I am so not shoe obsessed! ...well maybe a little but in the world of adventure sports, shoes can be a make or break item, certainly essential for some activities, climbing being one of those. So, I'm trying a pair of Evolv Royale lace ups. It's another trad shoe with a suede upper similar to the 5-10 Coyote I've come to know and love. (Still in good shape by the way!)

The Royale is comfortable for wide feet and has a slightly more broad sole that works well for smearing but remains stiff enough for edging. The toe isn't terribly pointy but presents enough to get the job done. Good for both gym climbing and outdoor stuff where you are going to be on route for a while. The laces are nice on leather shoes as the uppers can stretch with heat and moisture and be easily pulled tighter on the go. This wouldn't be an issue with synthetic material shoes but I like my shoes to break in at least a little and I feel like the suede breathes better. Just my opinion but I'm sure I'm not alone in it.

So far it's a nice pair of shoes. Thinking it may be time to dedicate a pair foe gym climbing and other for outdoor. Once I put some more time in with them I'll post again. Either way they are affordable and good looking if you like trad shoes.

Climbing at Ocean Beach

There is a lot of climbing in San Francisco, even in the city proper. Some spots are well known and others you'll almost always have to yourself. A little frequented place for climbing is Ocean beach below the Cliff House. It's best to go at low tide and be discrete but you can get in some great bouldering and free solo routes that probably should be top roped or done with a lead climber placing protection. It's certainly high enough to get hurt and be completely out of safe bouldering range.

You can also find a few small caves at low tide if you look carefully. They are mostly tiny things or simply big piles of breakdown. I've never found any sand caves in this area but I would caution anyone who may to stay out of them, as in completely avoid them, sand caves just aren't safe.

It was definitely a good place to test a Go Pro 3 the other day. I'd say it's probably money well spent to get the remote but most smart phones will do the job as well, if only within wifi range of the phone. For sure a good way to document antics and adventures, especially when  you venture out alone, something I do often. Looking forward to giving it a go sailing and on the long board as well as more climbing and bicycle trips.

Farewell to The Grove

One of my favorite places to grab coffee and an occasional breakfast burrito is, was, The Grove restaurant on Chestnut. Alas it is no more. A Marina neighborhood icon since the 90's, recently closed due to a rent increase, gentrification at it's best. All quips and socio-political commentary aside, the ubiquitous we will miss the place. Coincidentally, the nearby Peet's Coffee is also closing, leaving us with Starbucks, Noah's Bagels and the hold out Chestnut Coffee Roasters  as a remaining local business option.

The Grove has a handful of other local locations, the one on Filmore is great and the Hayes Valley venue, while not as "warm", is in a fun neighborhood for evenings out. One of my favorite things to do after morning rides over the bridge was to roll into the Marina location and meet friends for coffee by the fireplace. Maybe I can talk The Blackwood down the street into firing up their hearth for morning visits to soothe my caffeine and *Cro-Magnon needs to sit near a fire.

Also coincidentally, I went on a bicycle foraging day trip and brought back a couple pounds of wild berries and rode by the now closed location undergoing the last phases of being gutted. Near the front doors was a box of books, containing among other titles, a book about cultivating, cooking and decorating with berries. How cool is that? A literal final chapter to The Grove on Chestnut St.

*Noting the current consensus that Cro-Magnon is Sapiens Sapiens and my being of Northern European extraction. 

Machine made glass in the archaeological record

Glass, it's been in every historic site I have ever worked on. Even digs in what look like empty fields usually contain glass and it's usually broken bottles of one kind or another. Sometimes it serves as a nice indicator of the era you are dealing with and whether or not you have cleared disturbed soil or are simply in historic strata. In short, it's useful. Especially if you learn to tell machine made bottles from mouth blown, not dead simple but an off the cuff indicator that you are working with something post 1903 is the presence of machine made bottles. Pretty cool. 1903 was the year a guy by the name of Michael Owens unveiled what the Corning glass company calls the most significant advance in glass production on over 2000 years.

The knowledge of how to go about dating bottles can be gained in a number of ways, field and lab work, hours of nosing through antique stores and eBay or, thankfully, via a handy site run by a Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management employee! Whew that's a lot of bureau but it's a great resource laid out so you can look at an artifact and run through a series of questions to help pin point the date of a given bottle within ten years or so of it's date of manufacture. Absolutely worth checking out if you have even minor interest in the topic.

http://www.sha.org/bottle/machinemadedating.htm

Ending my social media blackout

Rodeo Beach

For quite a lot of months now I have been relatively social media averse. Between run of the mill social drama, time constraints and ongoing recovery from "the big accident" last year, I just needed a break, especially from things like Facebook. I've been returning to more of what I have come to think of as my normal activities and activity levels, especially in the last couple months or so. Learning to manage some of the aftermath of the crash, get on with, rebuild and just plain old build life anew.

I remain a dedicated bicycle commuter though my knee still gives me grief and it's certainly weaker than it ought to be. I'm not doing much yoga or sailing right now but hoping to return to those as well. I am cycling more each day and trying to get out and climb redoubling my efforts and commitment to pursue the things I'm passionate about. Bound to those efforts I am now riding for Blackburn Design as a Blackburn Ranger. It's been fantastic thus far and I can only imagine it will get better as the project progresses. Without a doubt this is becoming a true growth experience on many levels from personal and physical to professional and creative, things I hadn't fully anticipated.

Here is an early look at a video introducing the project.

Blackburn Out There from Blackburn Design on Vimeo.

Ano Nuevo Seal Rookery

A very cute, dangerous wild animal

After posting about the Chimney Rock release I realized I hadn't written up anything about the Ano Nuevo visit. The visit was back in February during the breeding season when there is a mix of males, females and seal pups. It's one of the few times when they haul out on land. baby seals are incredibly cute and tiny compared to the adults males that can reach well over 5,000 lbs. The pups start out about 60-80lbs and quadruple their weight while nursing before then losing about a third of that during a phase called the "weaner fast" toward the end of the eight to ten weeks they remain in the rookery learning to feed themselves once their mothers have returned to the ocean.

This one is likely just squalling for food

This was another outing with The Marine Mammal Center, a very worthwhile trip. No doubt at least a few of the many animals currently under the care of The Marine Mammal Center in Marin were among those we saw that day. I took several hundred photos, most are still in the editing and post production cue. A local venue in San Francisco has offered space for a show, so I may be putting something together in the coming months.