He Wonders Why There Were No Survivors
At dusk, the sound of a cricket lurches out from the heavy green grass that must soon be cut. The boy knows it’s time to mow because it was soft and warm under his feet that day. When it’s not time to mow it sticks up scratchy and straight like the stubble of his father’s weekend face.
The sky looms gray and blue and dark in the east. He presses against the window screen. It leaves the imprinted feeling of small hash marks on the tip of his nose. He can smell the stinging sweet smell of metal. Read more 
A Video About My Upcoming E-Book
Here’s an interview of me by Lisa Delay regarding an E-Book I’m working on about making a living as a writer. I’m especially excited about this book because of all of the awesome contributing writers who have agreed to take part. To get updates on this project, and for chances to win your own free copy, subscribe to my monthly e-letter (simply put your email address in the field to the right and click “Subscribe”):
The list of contributors I mention in the video is not the full list because a few more have agreed to join in since this was filmed. Stay tuned in the next week or two and I’ll let you know the final list of wonderful folks who are contributing to this book.
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One of the things I’m most looking forward to about our upcoming trip is hanging out with other writers. If you had the opportunity to sit down with writers all around the country, what is something you would ask them? What are some of the more pressing/interesting topics regarding writing that you’d want to discuss?
Bobby McFerrin, Broccoli, and a Question Jesus Asked
Stop smoking. Start exercising. Stop eating fast food. Start eating broccoli. Stop crossing without looking both ways. Start walking instead of driving. Stop adding salt. Start adding vitamins. Stop drinking alcohol. Start drinking red wine.
The list of advice regarding how to live a longer life is endless and often contradictory. Yet we absorb these recommendations and then regurgitate them with amazing confidence, certain that whatever tidbit heard last is the surefire guarantor of a long life.
But adding a day, or a month, or a year, or even a decade…is that the point? Is that really all that we’re concerned with? Read more
Pictures of the Vehicle in Which We Plan to Travel the Country
My family’s epic adventure begins in 23 days.
So on Saturday we took The Bus for a test drive. Here she is:
I can’t wait to hit the road.
Check out our itinerary HERE. I’m hoping to connect with as many writers as possible, so if we’re traveling close to you and you wouldn’t mind getting a group of writers together, I’d love to hang out and hear about your writing lives. We could meet in a library, coffee shop, someone’s house, or on our bus. Email me at shawnsmucker@yahoo.com if you’d like to talk more about this.
