The Writer's Journey - Log 1
The oven-like heat has settled into the Arizona landscape, the sun baking down on us with temperatures now north of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a beautiful landscape that has been damned to some of the worst conditions humans can live through.
My little town of Kearny, nestled in the middle of Arizona's Copper Corridor, is a spot that falls square into that description. Surrounded by mountains and hills that raise the horizon several degrees, the Ray Copper mine visible in the distance, the town's striking location offers breathtaking views, but the moment you step outside in summer, it's as if you just opened an oven cooking at 500.
Night sky over Kearny, May 2025, Photographer: Aaron S. Harp.
Tonight, dusk is setting in with little relief from those temperatures. A few customers are straggling in and out of the convenience store I work at part-time. It's a relatively peaceful night in the desert, and I'm fully expecting a visit from the javelinas as I close the store. The tiny, 2000-person population seems to have spent most of their day at the nearby Gila river, with few people out and about now, tired from their exertions. Other than the occasional customer coming in for a 12-pack nightcap, and the local tweaker getting a .99¢ 44-ounce drink, as my ex-mother-in-law would say, the town's sidewalks were rolled up rather early tonight.
While everyone else is winding down for the night, my mind is racing. Tomorrow, I start the recording for The Stygian Odyssey's audiobook, and, though I have learned a lot from recording the previous two books, I can't help but worry about hitting a snag, or multiple snags, that may push it past the release of the book. That happened for the first two novels, and I do NOT want that to be the case with this one. With the peacefulness of the evening, I can't shake the feeling of a calm before the storm. But whatever that storm brings, I'm ready to push through it.
Though it feels like I'm in the midst of the calm before the storm, the past few months have been storm enough of their own. I've dealt with a blown AC and a house hitting 90-92 inside, money shortages, job denial after job denial, and plenty of days of not wanting to get out of bed. If I can suffer through that storm and make it to this point, I know anything the recording process throws at me will be just a drop in the bucket. After all, when you've been punched in the face by Mike Tyson, a punch from a limp-wristed drunk is nothing more than a mosquito bite.
So, let's see what this audiobook brings with it!
