"Decide Nothing" is now An Ordinary Disaster

name change, Substack memoirist interviews, memoir nearing completion

Potrero Meadow, on the north side of Mt Tamalpais

Name change

I’ve been feeling like it’s been time to update the name of my Substack for a little while now, and after a recent

Writers at Work with Sarah Fay

workshop session I found myself just going for it. The change I made puts the name of the memoir—An Ordinary Disaster—front and center. I’m still plenty fond of the original name (Decide Nothing), the origin of which is explained in further detail in this chapter.

Podcast

As I’ve mentioned in previous updates, recently I’ve felt to prioritize work on my memoir over the Brothers and Teachers podcast that I began when I launched my Substack. That said, I was able to complete a series of twenty episodes with a super-fun interview with my favorite pilates teacher, Sean Vigue, and also recorded two in-depth conversations with fellow writers on Substack:

Andy Johns

and

Lyle McKeany

. While I’ll continue to focus nearly 100% on writing for the near future, I do love to get into it with other writers who are doing personal narrative on Substack, and so if you or someone you know would like to have a conversation like this, please do get in touch ⬇️

E20 / Pilates for Men with Sean Vigue

I'm here to be myself as much as possible—and the absolute truth can only be...nothing.

A conversation about men writing memoir with Bowen Dwelle and Lyle McKeany

Memoir close to complete!

My original goal for this year was to complete the manuscript for my book-length memoir by the end of June. I’m happy to say that I’m very close to meeting that self-imposed deadline—and also that it’s going to take me just a little bit longer, because I’ll be on the road in the van spending some much-needed time in the mountains for the coming week, and also because I’ve unearthed some additional material that I want to include in the book. That said, for those of you who’ve been following along, I put out chapter 21 this past week, chapter 22 is ready and will be published on June 28th, chapters 23 and 24 are also already complete and will come out on subsequent Wednesdays, and I have draft material for the final chapter as well as a few that will slot in between 24 and the end.

I’m getting really close! Of course, once I have the manuscript, it will be on to the next part of the book’s journey, and there will be a ton more work—finding an editor, editing, editing, editing… and then seeking publication. I have a couple of possible editors in mind; if you happen to know of one that you think would be a good fit for my work, please let me know ⬇️

My own writing from May and June

The amateur athlete’s speedball

Chapter 17 — Learning that I didn't have to do it all myself

Chapter 16 — A vision of hell, and a warning

Saved by a climbing gym, two real friends, kitesurfing, and a half-naked haircut.

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