The Beat (Heat?) Goes On

Hi, all. Hope you’re having a great summer. I took a short break from the madness of writing but I'm back armed with a full ink cartridge, plenty of blank paper, and a ton of projects.

The completed manuscript for Hidden History of Mobile went in to the publisher, History Press, a few weeks ago. I'm just waiting for the edits to come back so I can look at all the red ink and say, “did I write that? No way. Had to have been someone else!" Only to realize - sigh - it was me. Ah, the editing process.

Anyway, we did decide on the cover photo. I was hoping to use this shot from downtown Mobile. I think it’s a nice photo highlighting old and new Mobile.

But, what do I know? They selected a unique old photo from Mobile’s past to grace the cover courtesy of the Mobile Local History and Genealogy Museum. It’s an interesting shot of a promotional event held by the Mobile Gas Company somewhere in the late 20s, early 30s maybe. A man dressed in a polka-dotted outfit and conical hat is driving a cart pulled by a donkey advertising that residents are “invited”  to the “Old Stove Roundup” where they will give you $13.15 for your old stove then set you up with a credit plan - $1 down, 12 months to pay.

How much are stoves and ranges going for today?

We’re still shooting for a fall release on the book.

Meanwhile, work is just beginning on the new Falcon Guide, “Hiking Waterfalls Alabama”, another title I’ve been dying to work on for years. Trouble is, many waterfalls in ‘Bama are seasonal, so, I’m biding my time writing the front and back matter as I await the fall rains. 

That reminds me of the book I co-authored with my friend (I think he’s still my friend..better check), Curt Burdick. It’s titled, Paddling Alabama, and no, it’s not about corporal punishment – or general punishment, for that matter. It’s about canoeing and kayaking the state. We would be sit at our desks at our day job every Friday afternoon and watch the Christmas tree lights of the American Whitewater website, waiting for the reds on the rivers to turn green meaning that the rivers we wanted to check out were flowing enough to paddle. 

Many times by the time we made it from the Gulf Coast to north Alabama, the rivers had dried up again. At times we thought the book should have been called, “Walking the Rivers of Alabama”.

PS, we have no idea who that is on the cover.

But that was then, this is now, and I’m ready to hit the trail again!

Till next time – cheers!