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Winter 2019

  • February 12, 2019
Bill Harley Newsletter

Hi friends

Hope you are staying warm wherever you are – unless you’re somewhere it’s hot, in which case, I hope…oh never mind.
Bill in the snow
Bill "skiing"

I’ve been hunkered down here at home for most of December and January, with one trip to New Hampshire for cross-country skiing with old friends. Despite the recent cold blast of air (here’s my Minnesota pal Kevin Kling experimenting with hot water in Minneapolis!), it’s been weirdly mild and damp here – everyday walks through the woods have me wearing my rubber boots through muck rather than snow and ice. I can almost hear the wood frogs thinking, “Hmmm. Should we unfreeze now? Is it time?”

No, not yet, please.

 

Kevin Kling throwing water in the air to make snow
Kevin Kling making snow

And so it is with the resident border collie who is chewing up things around at my desk at this very moment.

Time for a walk – I’ll be back in a while.

Okay, back. Refreshed. No wood frogs yet. That’s good. Here’s a little snapshot of Django doing one of his favorite things…rearranging the branches in the woods…

While we’re on the subject of dogs – here’s what we did last weekend. That’s an open safety pin that someone decided to eat.

a safety pin inside of Django
Inside Django Block-Harley

All fine. Wallet lighter.

In this issue:

  • Greeting
  • Upcoming Trips
  • Brand New Website
  • The Last Charlie Bumpers
  • A New Project
  • Recording
  • Books
Newsletter Index

Upcoming trips

I’m looking forward to the coming spring and summer. I have trips planned this winter/spring to Ohio, Nevada, Utah, Indiana, Kansas and Missouri. And at the end of the summer I’ll be headed to Ireland for the Cape Clear Storytelling Festival. You can check my calendar on our …(drum roll here…) 

Brand New Website

Steve and Vicki Palmquist of Winding Oak have spent months and months constructing my new website – no small task trying to make sense of my magpie brain and life. But it’s up, and it’s beautiful. Hundreds of hours were involved trying to lasso this crazy horse – we’re really happy with it – check it out! You can order books and music, listen to stories and watch videos and get in touch with us in a dozen different ways. Let us know what you think!

The Last Charlie Bumpers Book

Charlie Bumpers vs the End of the Year book cover

In April, Peachtree Publishers will release the seventh and last Charlie Bumpers book,  Charlie Bumpers vs. the End of the Year. It’s bittersweet to finish the series, and the book itself is bittersweet. Also funny. I think. I’ve tried to tie in and tie up a lot of the themes and characters who have been involved in the series. I am very much in denial that my time with Charlie is at an end. Kirkus gave it a really nice review – we’ll let you know when it’s available for purchase.

A New Project - Radio Drama!

We’re all pretty excited around here because I’ve agreed to write a ten-episode radio drama for families to be produced by BYU Broadcasting. I’ll be writing it this winter and spring with the production dates to follow. Plans are to release it for radio airplay and as a podcast. I’m working on the story and outlining episodes right now. It’s about a middle grade kid who forms a detective agency with friends to solve schoolyard mysteries and while doing so uncovers a plot to control the world through the use of mushrooms. At least I think that’s what it’s about. I’ll let you know as we progress.

Recording

I’ve just spent two days in the studio working on a new “adult” recording (no good way to say that!). Mark Knopfler once said when he makes a recording, he tries to be the worst player in the room. Kind of hard for Knopfler, but I followed his advice and have some great players. No timeline for release, but I’ll work on it over the spring and let you know.

Books

I mentioned in the last newsletter I was about to read Phillip Pullman’s book of essays,  Daemon Voices – On Stories and Storytelling. It seemed like the kind of book a storyteller and writer for children should read. And so it was. Pullman does what I’m always hoping an author will do in a book – make the reader (that would be me) look at something he knows in a new way. Writers, storytellers, and lovers of children’s lit and Pullman’s books will love it.
 
But before I got there, I was lucky enough to come across Laura Dassow Wall’s biography – Henry David Thoreau: A Life. I figured I knew Thoreau – having read his work – some of them, like Walden, numerous times. But the portrait of this odd, intelligent, sensitive man is a very beautiful thing. I highly recommend it. Really highly.  
 
Debbie just finished listening to Wally Lamb’s, We Are Water – a look at one family from many perspectives, their secrets, trauma, care and love – deeply moving. Now deep into The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish – a beautiful story that’s set in London – 1660’s and 21st century – a puzzle of a plot that connects two remarkable women in ways that are surprising and powerful. Also highly recommend The Alice Network by Kate Quinn – fast-paced, historical fiction with two intersecting plot lines and a VERY satisfying ending.  
 
Django is reading nothing, but he has digested several New Yorker Magazines and Johnny’s Seed catalog. We’ll see how it all comes out.  
 
Ha ha ha.
 
Take care of yourself. Take care of each other.
 
Best,
signature - Bill
Bill’s Rules of the Universe
“Sometimes a plate of spaghetti is the best thing in the world.”
“Everything takes longer than you think.”
“It’s always harder to put something back together than it is to take it apart.”
“If you spend all your time cleaning your desk, all you’ll have is a clean desk. That’s not enough.”
“Listen—you’re missing something cool.”
“All children should be given a ukulele when they’re born.”
“We’re more alike than we are different.”
“If you are older than two and can’t sing a song and tell a story, you’re in trouble.”

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