The Literary Cartographer – by Jim Landwehr

Welcome to my newest literary journey! I hope you packed the compass because I forgot it in my other pack, along with my belt and one shoe.

This Substack Newsletter takes its title from two of my passions, writing and mapping. In some respects, it picks up where my old blog (So it Goes) left off. It is my goal to post weekly updates focused on a few core subjects.

One thing it will definitely feature is my writing journey and experiences. Writing is a solitary craft and I think it’s important to share with other writers and readers what we are struggling with as well as our successes. This year marks 15 years that I’ve been writing seriously and I still haven’t figured it out. It’s my guess that there are writers out there with twice the experience who haven’t figured it out either. Anyway, it’s my hope that this newsletter will keep me practiced during those weeks where life gets in the way of writing.

Another subject will be the great outdoors. If you know me, you know I’m a big outdoors person. I’m an avid fisher, kayaker, biker, walker and hiker. My love of nature allows for lots of “thought time” where I am constantly reminded of how lucky I am to live in the time that I do. As messed up as the world sometimes seems, we are living in a time of unequalled prosperity, safety and comfort and everyday I am incredibly grateful for all of it.

Some days in the kayak, I stop fishing and just listen and breathe. These quiet moments serve as a quick reminder that I’ve got a whole amazing life behind me and make me ask, what’s ahead? But then, of course, I snap out of it and get back to fishing. Because fish wait for no one, especially wistful saps like me.

Also, there will probably be posts about my travels, both domestic and international. My wife and I have a recent obsession with international travel, and are heading back to Edinburgh, Scotland, in a week to celebrate our December birthdays in one of our favorite countries. These trips provide a new perspective on our shared experience as humans with those who live thousands of miles away.

I also will occasionally visit the subject of Artificial Intelligence. Like many I have mixed feelings about the technology, but I certainly see some possibilities from it. I used it to generate the image above, and have found it to work much like any new technology. Buggy an wonky at first, but likely to get better. I really want to talk about its potential murder creativity in people if it’s not kept in check. So look for occasional random stuff like that. Hey, it’s my house.

I look forward to where this takes me from week to week. Tell your friends. Tell my friends. Tell my friends’ friends.

So be sure and subscribe. It’s just your email. No need to send buckets of money. That comes in four years or so when I’m more famouser (sic). But if you happen to have extra buckets of money, by all means IM me.

Enjoy the trip. Thanks for subscribing and I’ll see you on Wednesdays.

Peace.

-Jim

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