Moonshine: Appalachian Trail

So I've received a few notices for my book Moonshine and they've been a bit lukewarm. Which is fine. I'm happy with lukewarm reviews. I've had negative reviews where I've been compared to Hitler, so lukewarm is fine, trust me (yes, I'm still sore about that). Though, as it happens with a lot of my books, lately, I've been fascinated with what I've written not because I'm Full of Myself (I am, but I digress) but because I've been reading a lot about the Appalachian Trail lately. Quite frankly, I'm fascinated with that.

It's hinted at in the book that the wolf came down from the mountains. I wasn't thinking of the Appalachian Trail when I wrote but it makes sense that the wolf would come from there. I will say, I've been looking at a lot of Tiktoks and reading this great short story ("Rules for the Appalachian Trail") which I can only recommend.

That short story, which you can read on Wattpad, is truly great. That story is worthy of the NY Times. It should be going viral. 1MeganAnn (whose picture, heartsqueeze, is Leatherface from TheTexas Chainsaw Massacre) is a great writer. They've made this story which feels real enough to be true yet it is quite obviously fiction. That's hard to do. I can only recommend this.

Living off the Grid appeals to me. If you read my books, you'll understand I dislike technology and where humanity is headed, technology-wise. I do have a certain fear of folklore and of sects and of cults, so I don't think I could ever actually do this. But I do feel like technology is a razor and honestly, it scares me.

I'm interested in doing the Appalachian Trail just because it scares me so much; this uncharted place beyond maps. The Unknown. That's the essence of fear. That is, honestly, the kernel of fear. So, naturally, I want to confront it. Naturally, I'd go there alone.

It would be interesting to do the Appalachian Trail under Trump. Boy, if you thought MAGA was scary, the people who live off-grid on the trail make MAGA look amazing, I'm sure. Just as in Nixon's era, where you saw films like the aforementioned Texas Chainsaw or Deliverance, which said, if you don't like The Silent Majority, there's people out there who don't even vote. There's people out there who, if they showed their face in the supermarket, you might scream.

Honestly, that I'm so into the Appalachian Trail comes at a time where I'm not necessarily feeling that I belong where I am. So, why not go far into this place where, really, nobody belongs? That's why, really, I feel this drive towards the trail.