Hi to both subscribers and anyone new to this page, The Writing Life with Jason Liegois. My official Writing Life blog, which I post on the first weekend of each month, is my monthly newsletter discussing my upcoming writing projects, things having to do with writing, and what’s been going on with me in my corner of southeastern Iowa along the Mississippi River. It’s basically my way of keeping in touch with the rest of the world1.
Let’s talk about writing and life, then.
Personal Items…
After a too-short fall (as it often tends to be in Iowa) some heavy snows this past week have heralded the arrival of winter. Again, I’m not sure whether my parents coming from Wisconsin or the mix of Norwegian and German heritage in my background, but I usually don’t get phased by the onset of winter. It’s time for herbal teas at night, huddling beneath fleece blankets to keep the chill away, and moonlit snow and ice.
Of course, there’s the inconvenience of icy sidewalks and roads, but I can manage it (and the decline of sunlight) easier than I can deal with the near tropical heat you can find in Iowa between June and August. I mean, I can always go outside in December as long as I have a sensible parka, gloves and hat, and footwear with sturdy treading. In late June I only head outside if I want to lose a pound or two to the sauna outside, and there’s not too many types of clothing which will help with that type of heat.
I’ve often wondered what would happen if I did get a chance to live in colder climates where winter is a serious thing. I was scrolling around on YouTube the other day and I saw some videos produced by a couple who live in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Svalbard is a group of Norwegian islands north of their mainland and well above the Arctic Circle, and right about now they are seeing sunset at 2 p.m. in the afternoon. Part of me fears if I was dropped into that environment, I’d want to run back to Iowa in a fortnight. Or maybe it would be the opposite and I’d get interested in narwhal hunting out on the open sea. It’s a fun “what if?” scenario, at least. For now, Iowa’s cold enough.
Writing Projects
I’ve decided to change things up a little in how I present these projects, so you’ll see that here. Hopefully, it will be easier for anyone to follow along.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: All project titles of works currently in development are working titles unless otherwise noted. I often have solid titles in mind for these projects, but I’m a bit superstitious about revealing them until they are close to publication2. The names of the series I mention in this newsletter, however, are the true names.
The Land, The River, and the Waste
LRW, for short, is a sci-fi/horror novel set in Iowa, leaning on the environmental damage being done to my home state. I decided, “What would it take to really get people’s attention to this issue, enough to do something about it?” In speculating on this question, my mind took some wild twists and turns. I started writing this on Halloween Night of this year, and I do believe I might as well set the climax on a Halloween night. Think of Night of the Living Dead, The Purge, The Crazies, Fast Food Nation, Dear Marty, We Crapped in Our Nest, and The Swine Republic poured into the creative stew of my head, along with some hometown and later memories.
I’m now more than 17,000 words into the book and probably around the end of the first act already. Part of me feels like I could use more research into this world, but I have the feeling at least with the rough draft, I need to just to let things rip and get it down on the page.
This is the story that seems to be calling to me now. Every time I return to this setting along the river, to these people, it feels like I’m home. I have no idea how it’s getting published, but it will even if I have to do it myself, I want to get it done.
Timetable: Rough draft completed by the first half of 2026, publication (in one form or another) by the holiday season of 2026 (hope, hope?).
My Ongoing Series (The Yank Striker and The Fool Series)
- The Fool 2: This is the sequel to my debut novel, The Holy Fool, which I’ve decided after the fact will be the first book in my The Fool Series.Briefly, The Holy Fool was a story about Iowa native Samuel “Sonny” Turner, a newspaper columnist for the Chicago Journal, a longtime journalistic institution in the city. In the fall of 2008, in the shadows of the 2008 presidential election and the oncoming Great Recession, he’s tasked by his editor and mentor with protecting his newspaper from sale by its unscrupulous owner. In part, it is my own autopsy of the state of American journalism and what might take its place.
The Fool 2 revisits Sonny in 2024, sixteen years after he’s left Chicago and founded his own news site, The Fool, with a combination of old Chicago comrades and new recruits. In addition to the US’ chaotic political situation and Sonny’s plan to cover it from a distance with the help of his American colleagues, he’s dealing with life as an emigrant to the unfamiliar land of Switzerland, and raising his family and children there.
I’m past 10,000 words on this rough draft. Of the sequels to my works, this is the one I want to get wrapped up first. Partly, this is a mathematical equation, since a series, by definition, needs to have more than one book in it. It’s probably going to take me longer to write this since under the circumstances, I want to see how the events of 2026 shake out in this country and around the world before I decide on how to wrap it up. The fact that much of the action of this year has occurred in Chicago will be useful for my purposes3.
Timetable: Rough draft by the end of 2026, publication ASAP afterwards.
Kayfabe Stories
- Kayfabe Stories: This is a story about a family of pro wrestlers from Texas and a member of this family, an aspiring young writer, who is determined to understand what it all means.
Not much on this project (Kayfabe Stories 1) this month, although I have been reviewing outlines for this project, which I’ve already written more than 50,000 words. Although it will not be a priority until I at least get a rough draft done for LRW, I do want to write a scene where the patriarch of the family steps into the squared circle for the first time. That will be a good one. - Timetable: ??? for a rough draft and publication, but I’m too far ahead to stop now.
Some Acknowledgements
I want to thank the Burlington Public Library for inviting me to be part of their Sterling Lord Author’s Showcase earlier last month. It was a fantastic experience and I definitely would like to return next year. The keynote presentation by Iowa journalist Robert Leonard was an excellent event, as well.
I don’t have any new events scheduled in the near future, but I’ll be back in contact with some of the locations I’ve been at during this year and see what the plans are for next year. I also plan on contacting some of the local independent book stores which are carrying my books and see if I can make some arrangements with them. I’d love to do some holiday-related events if possible.
This is my obligatory announcement that if any podcasters or bloggers are interested in new fiction, if you are interested in stories based in the worlds of journalism and soccer, or if you are interested in featuring writers from Iowa or the Midwest, I would absolutely be open for a feature or interview. Get in touch here or at jasonliegois@liegois.media.
Writing Quote(s) Of the Month (Special Stephen King edition):
Decided to go with two inspirational quotes by one of my literary heroes, Stephen King. The first one touches on why I think writing is special to me, and the other one is about how he sees storytelling.
Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.
― Stephen King
Let’s get one thing clear right now, shall we? There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers; good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn’t to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up
― Stephen King, On Writing
When I Post
Check out this post for when and what I post on a regular basis.
How to support me😊.
As always, go to the links on the side if you are reading this on a desktop/laptop or the links on my profile on mobile. If you follow the links, you will be able to buy both the paperback and ebook versions of my books on Amazon. If you just put “Jason Liegois” in Google. you’ll find them on the first page of search results.
I have quite a few places that now carry at least some of my books, some of the many great and fantastic independent bookstores in Iowa and the Midwest.
These are the bookstores you’ll find at least some of my work4:
- Bent Oak Books, 619 7th St. Fort Madison.
- Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington.
- The Corner and More, 703 Main St., Mediapolis.
- Green Point Mercantile, 217 E. 2nd St., Muscatine.
- The Brewed Book, 1524 Harrison St., Davenport.
- The Black Rose, 116 W. Main St., West Branch
- Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave. # S1, Des Moines.
- Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.
- The Atlas Collective, 1801 5th Ave, Moline, Illinois – my first out of Iowa bookstore, very proud of this.
I’m always looking for some new places to place my books, so feel free to hit me up in the comments if you have a suggestion.
For those who are budget conscious among all of you, my books are part of the collections of the Fort Madison, Burlington, and Musser (Muscatine) public libraries.
My poetry book The Flow and the Journey is available at Bent Oak, Green Point, Burlington By the Book, and The Corner and More, but it is also available online but not on Amazon. I’ve set up a new online store for copies of my chapbook on my WordPress site, Liegois Media. If you want to get a physical copy, go ahead and click on the button below.
The Flow and the Journey
The first collection of poetry from author Jason Liegois.
If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.
Final Thoughts
As usual, all you writers keep writing, and all of you keep safe. See you down the road.
Also, happy holidays.
-30-
While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.
- Apologies to regular readers if some of this is repetitive. With these newsletters, I have to balance giving you all good original content and getting all the new viewers of this blog up to speed. There’s a reason I cut down writing the regular newsletter to a monthly post rather than a weekly post. 😄 ↩︎
- Feel free to tell me if I’m just being wussy about this. I don’t think I need to truly name a thing in public unless it is closer to becoming a reality. It seems to be bad karma in my mind. ↩︎
- And some of the action will take place in Iowa, trust me. ↩︎
- All Iowa locations unless otherwise noted. ↩︎