Chapter 3 — A Change of Heart
Hello Friends,
Today’s chapter is one of the shortest of the thirty-ish chapters that I’ve currently got in solid draft form, so I thought I’d take a little extra time to say a few thank-you’s. It’s the sort of thing that people often put at the end of a book, but many of today’s shout-outs were specifically helpful in getting this newsletter/podcast version of events off the ground, so now seems like a great time to acknowledge them.
If you’re just here for next chapter of The Curve of Time, then feel free to skip ahead.
Anyway, like so many things in life this podcast was the culmination of a sequence of happy accidents. Firstly, I owe a big thank you to my wife and kids for distracting me over the summer. That might seem tongue in cheek, but not only was the summer, as always, a fun time, the having of the fun gave me the space from The Curve of Time that made it clear to me, when I dove back in, that the opening chapters were really in great shape. Moreover, when I realized this, Pae, my wife, encouraged the spark of the idea that initially suggested releasing a chapter a week. So, among many other things to be thankful for, I’m thankful to my family for that.
To pressure test the idea——which at that point was to simply email out a newsletter——I had coffee with my buddy Jeff. And Jeff was kind enough to call out the elephant in the room. “Rufus,” he said, “that’s a fantastic idea! But have you thought about doing it as a podcast too? People don’t really read anymore.” . . . see how kind Jeff was in the way he redirected me? I encourage anyone who is reading this to consider this approach when delivering bad news. Of course, it took but a moment’s reflection of my own habits to realize he was right——I probably read thirty books in the first thirty years of my life (though I did watch a lot of films and series), whereas, by contrast, I probably LISTENED to that many in the first six months of 2023.
But it’s easy to suggest someone build something splendid, the problem is the act of doing so sometimes risks distraction. And I admit I’m particularly sensitive to this as I once built a craft toy company that sidetracked me from a web series that really should still one day see the light of day, but that’s another story. For now, know that I turned to my buddy Crawford——who helped run a very successful podcast——to check if putting a podcast together was as daunting as it looked. “Not at all,” he assured me, “you’ll figure it out in a weekend.”
“Great!” I thought, and I asked Crawford if he’d give me an hour to orient me on the practicalities. His response: “Oh, I have no idea about the nuts and bolts myself.”
Now, I don’t want to diminish Crawford’s help, it was he that gave me the confidence to ask Juan, one of the wizards of Logic Pro if he couldn’t help familiarize me. The difference here: Juan is not only extremely generous with his time and encouragement, he also has technical know-how, right down to obscure details like speaking into the correct side of the microphone!
Of course, it being feasible to produce the audio was one thing, I still needed to actually get it out into the world, which meant: a website (yes, I too was surprised to learn that a website is a prerequisite to disseminate a podcast). Happily, climbing buddies are forever, and Itai is no exception. It was with Itai’s encouragement and guidance that this website came together, much faster than I could have dreamed.
Finally, websites need images——as do podcast feeds, it turns out——and though my good friend Kylie had many years ago taught me the basics of Photoshop, putting images together from scratch felt like an insurmountable workload … until, my buddy Irad welcomed me to the twenty-first century and the wonders of AI generated images.
So, here we are.
Me writing, and you reading.
Writing has a reputation for being a solitary activity. You grab your pen and paper, or your laptop. You find a quite spot, or maybe you like the white noise of a cafe, and you start clackety-clacking away. There’s a lot of truth to that cliche. And truth also, that the process of problem-solving involved in nutting through character and plot predicaments is often solitary. But, like most one-dimensional stories in life, these stereotypes obscure a deeper truth.
Writing is a back and forth, and none more so than at this early stage when a writer is soliciting input. So, please don’t forget: I’d love to hear from each and every one of you about your thoughts on The Curve of Time as the story unfolds.
And with that, a final thanks to everyone mentioned above, but, also, a thank-you to you! Without readers, writing runs a serious risk of missing meaning.
Until next week, be kind to someone and keep an eye out for the ripples of joy you’ve seeded.
Cheerio
Rufus
PS. If you think of someone who might enjoy joining us on this experiment, please forward them this email. And if you are one of those someone’s and you’d like to read more
And now, without further ado, here’s chapter three.
— 3 —
A Change of Heart
Saskia glanced over her shoulder as she pedaled down the street. One last glimpse of Mica as the flirty redhead slid into her car.
Mica had shooed Saskia on her way, assuring her that even her beat up old Subaru could out run Saskia’s bike. “No matter how fit you are!” But in the glance back over her shoulder, Saskia noticed Mica pulling her notepad back out of her bag and jotting down . . . what was she jotting down, Saskia wondered. Notes about the crazy girl with the wavy dark hair and green eyes, who claimed she could slip in time?
Or was she merely transcribing the mundane details that she’d let wash over her as Saskia related her improbable tale? ...The way Saskia recalled watching the TV the second time she saw her lottery numbers come up. She had turned the television on a minute or so before the draw and watched idly as the reporter updated a story about some oil spill in the gulf of Mexico. She’d made herself a hot chocolate and added a dash of Cointreau in premature celebration.
Taken by Mica, Saskia felt sure there had been a better first impression to be made. For one thing, with foresight, she could have side-stepped the question of using her new-found talents on more noble causes. The thing was, she could slip in time now. If she didn’t like the way she’d played it——maybe if she got a better start to the whole thing, this might have potential as a real relationship.
They say first impressions are lasting ones. If she was OK cheating the lottery, then what was the problem with taking a mulligan in love? It made total sense. It would be easy to cut Mica off before she made it to Saskia’s front door.
Saskia slowed her bike. Hopped off, and chained it to a tree.
