Living in a bubble

Who, or what, is keeping you relatively sane these days? Are you able to stay motivated? How?

by Dietrich

I live in uninformed bliss, in a bubble you might say. I don’t read or watch the news. Let’s face it, there’s never much that’s uplifting in those headlines, and there’s just not much that I need to know. Besides, there’s always somebody around that’s willing to bring me up to speed on all the doom and gloom. “Hey, did you hear about …”

I stay motivated by keeping my head down and writing more than ever these days. When I do come up for air, I make it fresh air, and it’s amazing how good I feel after going for a long walk through the woods or along the water’s edge.

I read a lot and I’ve been listening to a lot of audiobooks lately; great words are such a motivation for a writer. And it doesn’t matter if it’s fiction or non-fiction, as long as I think it’s good. And I love taking in art that feels uplifting. I could spend a week at the McMichael Gallery north of Toronto and just stare at those amazing works by The Group of Seven. And music puts a bounce in my step, like the new albums by Neil Young and Billy Gibbons – stuff that makes the toes start tapping – ever see a writer dance? God, what a sight – cover the mirrors.

I try not to take anything too seriously. I accept that sometimes stuff happens. And I try to roll with it, and not in it. Laughing is a good way to keep sane, and I like to catch shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I grew up laughing along with National Lampoon, Mad Magazine, Monty Python, the Goons, and French and Saunders. And I always love catching some good stand-up. Lately it’s been Brits like Josh Widdicombe, Sarah Millican, Greg Davies, Joe Lycett, Gina Yashere, Alan Carr, James Acaster – God, what do they put in their water over there?

Oh, and I’m pretty thrilled about the new book too, Cradle of the Deep, coming out this fall, November 3rd to be exact. You can check it out here. And the audiobook for it is being recorded this week, and I was given a chance to listen to the auditions, and I’m really looking forward to hearing what Vancouver actor Keith McKecknie does with the telling; he’s got the perfect voice for the story, and he just nails the rhythm of the words. 

With this COVID thing, it doesn’t look like I’ll be traveling down the coast to California this fall, and it looks like most of the promotion for the new book will likely end up on line. But, that’s okay, it’ll give me more time to start working on the next one.