Tidal Tidings

Waxing on bookmaking and storytelling

Hey! What’s the most extreme tide you’ve ever seen?

I remember visiting a small town in Ireland with my uncle and grandfather years ago, seeing boats along the road just resting on the bank of what looked like a tiny river.

After a few rounds of Guinness and more than a few hours in the local pub, I was shocked to see all the boats were soon resting on what could only be considered a sea.

Until this weekend, I thought that would be the most extreme tide I ever witnessed.

I was wrong.

That little coastal town was beat by the magical sight of le Mont St. Michel in Normandy!

Stone Walls, Paper Backs

The incredibly high winds accented the medieval monastery perched on rocky cliffs. The whole setting then surrounded by stone walls reminded me of the city of Veranum in Besnowed.

While my imagined location is likely much colder and definitely an order of magnitude larger in scale, the overall aesthetic felt very similar.

Everything about le Mont St. Michel has an air of magic to it — at least outside of the endless tourist traps.

The old city I created was perhaps extra present in my mind. Just before the trip, I finished preparing the paperback edition of my soon-to-be-released Lux Aeterna.

I wanted to try to set up preorders like I did for the Kindle version last week, only to discover that — for paperback and hardcover editions — setting a future release date keeps the Amazon page hidden until that date.

But more than a segue to self promotion, my nostalgia for Veranum brought up memories of how little I knew about bookmaking when putting together Besnowed.

I was lost between the margins and measurements as I cobbled together formless digital text into printed pages.

The mistakes along the way were certainly lessons I needed to learn.

The process has since smoothed itself out and this time all it took was a few clicks before Lux Aeterna was ready for printing.

A proof copy will be in my hands by the end of the week, and I have a good amount of time to make any edits before the book is officially live.

Stars Aligned

With all this talk of tides, it’s hard not to mention the celestial, particularly the lunar. Orbits and constant motion are mirrored in how they affect our shores and the never-ending bombardment of waves.

The cyclical nature of water and its flow is a believable extension of how everything in life is rhythm.

For those who don’t live by the sea or work on the water, noticing tides holds little pragmatic purpose and is nothing more than a subtle change to the shoreline over the course of a day at the beach.

Said simply, the truth behind that ebb and flow is easy to forget while relaxing in the sun.

The way the moon pulls our oceans up and down is largely invisible when the change holds no meaning.

Spending time on le Mont St. Michel made the tide and that power impossible to ignore. The rock in the sand becoming an island is such a visible effect that highlights the tides and their impact on the Earth.

A look into what the Moon is capable of!

The night sky is then littered with lights from even more distant objects floating through the cosmos.

A battle playing out for natural dominance as gravity pulls us all toward somewhere in the offing.

And that of course gives me a way to mention that submissions for Sidereal Times are closed and I will be discussing them with the judges in the weeks to come.

When I publish the results of the first edition of my writing contest, I plan on sharing some of our thoughts and deliberations to provide insight into how we saw your words.

My hope is that seeing our decision making process will inspire more conversations around what people wrote.

Scripture

There is also a poetic righteousness to the powerful image of Saint Michael on the rocky quasi-island.

The archangel from the Bible is a recurring character in Lux Aeterna, although he wields his sword in a very different setting.

On a personal level, whether it’s ushered in by divine intervention or the changing tides, I can feel a sea change on the horizon.

It’s difficult to know what exactly lies on the other side, but I hope it’s a future where me and my writing are an effective source of stability.

If nothing else, remember to place an order for Lux Aeterna and help support my dream.

And keep your eyes out for Sidereal Times Issue One coming soon!

Until next time.

—JMB