Scott the Drummer
I didn't think much about drums until our family started attending a new church, back in the early '90s. Way off to one side of the stage was a Plexiglas cage, inside which was Scott. Scott the Drummer seemed impossibly cool. He was some indeterminate age. (In
Artificial windows
My study is in the basement of Hill House. It's a good-sized room, with a few weaknesses. There's no ventilation in the room, for example. I compensate by leaving the door open, and running a fan sometimes. It's a nice room, with one fatal
The parents are not okay
> And suddenly now it’s back to school while cases are rising, back to school while masks are a battleground, back to school while everyone under 12 is still unvaccinated. Parents are living a repeat of the worst year of their lives—except this time, no matter what, kids
A book for me
Now and then, a book isn't for me. That's kinder to say, I think, than This book is bad. As an author myself, I've heard Your book is bad plenty of times, and no matter the reason behind it, it never feels nice. The
The books on my desk
A couple of years ago, taking a cue from Austin Kleon [http://fromyourdesks.com/2011/05/19/austin-kleon/], I squeezed a second desk into my study. In Steal Like an Artist, Kleon wrote: > I have two desks in my office—one is “analog” and one is “digital.” The analog
A place for writing
I built my first web site a little over twenty years ago. Twenty-three, I think. At the time, I worked as a computer salesperson for a small shop in Anchorage, Alaska. We weren't terribly busy, I wasn't a very good salesperson, and I didn't
Quote wall: Squish
On the bulletin board above my desk, I keep a handful of quotes that have taught me something, or that I hope to learn from. Here's one: > You don't have to be famous if you don't want to. It's fun writing
Hill House
The practice of naming one's home isn't common in my family. (I can't remember a single instance, actually.) When my wife and I bought this house five years ago, we gave it a name. I don't remember if we did this intentionally,
Two drafts in one
Sitting on a hard drive in my study are my earliest novels, each written in Microsoft Word in the mid-to-late nineties. That's how I started writing Eleanor [https://www.jasongurley.com/eleanor], too; somewhere along the way, however, I migrated to Scrivener, though I never really took advantage
A red sun
One thing that I've missed since the beginning of the pandemic is my sense of morning routine. It's a small thing, I know; I've learned over the last 18 months just how adaptable I really am. Things I felt were essential to my happiness