HOTSHOT Debuts in Five(ish) Weeks
Plus: you can expect more from Wilderness, and a roundup of fire activity
Greetings fellow earthlings! It’s been a while. I (like you?) have been quite overwhelmed with the news cycle– many time I’ve attempted to post here and failed. But here I am, with a game plan (and a news roundup at the bottom!).
First things first:
My debut memoir, Hotshot, will be released in less than six weeks(!). I’m both excited and terrified. You can preorder it here (or at your local indie, or Barnes & Noble, or wherever you’d like) and you can also enter to win a free copy on Goodreads. It also really helps if you add the book on Goodreads or share about it on social media (or in real life).
I am also raffling off one signed copy of Hotshot to raise money for the Idaho firefighters involved in a recent horrific attack, which resulted in two lives lost. All you need to do is donate at least $10 to either of the GoFundMe campaigns linked below, send me a screenshot of your payment confirmation, and you’ll be entered into the raffle.
Wilderness.
What is it?
I first created this newsletter in spring 2020. It was called FIRES. So much has happened since then, including a name change (for the newsletter, and many name changes for me). For the past couple months I’ve been considering what Wilderness (the newsletter) wants to be, and where there are gaps in reportage when it comes to news about wildfire, land policy, nature, etc.
I have another newsletter, called Gathering, which I’m also working on refocusing, and I may end up bringing the two together at some point. But not six weeks before my book’s debut.
For now, Wilderness will be a space where I share news about fires, nature, land policy, along with historical context and a focus on highlighting Indigenous knowledge, scientists, and fire practitioners. My goal is to post frequent (1-3 times a week) news roundups as fire season heats up, along with further reading.
I’ll also be sharing some “Hotshot B-Sides.” My forthcoming book had a limited word count, and a lot of material was cut. Much of it is very relevant and interesting and funny and heartbreaking. It all adds context to the book as a whole, so I look forward to sharing that with you all.
Lastly, I’ll continue in my mission to provide historical and cultural context through longform essays, but these will be posted less often, or broken up into smaller pieces.
Before I leave off for today, I want to say thank you so much to my paying subscribers who have been loyal even as I’ve posted less often. This means so much to me, and has kept me from giving up entirely on this newsletter. But I, like you, believe in the importance of this newsletter, and I think it has a lot of potential. Your help is truly the difference here.
News Roundup:
Wildfires are burning without relief on the Greek island of Crete and near Athens. Risk remains high throughout much of the country. Some important context: Like North America, human-caused fire influenced fire regimes in Greece, but has been limited with population increases and tourism encroachment. You can read about this fascinating history, which includes quotes from Virgil and Homer, in Fire Ecology Journal.
Two people died in a Spanish wildfire, and Europe is currently enduring a massive heatwave, with fires burning from Spain to Turkey.
The Madre Fire, in San Luis Obispo County (Central California), is now the year’s largest fire for the state, at more than 50,000 acres. Keep in mind that California’s first fires of 2025 occurred in January, in Los Angeles.
Oregon, whose fire season doesn’t typically pick up until July, has its first large fire in June. The state is on high alert for more wildfire activity.
Firefighters are trying to contain a wildfire near Chelan, in eastern Washington, and officials warned state residents to be careful with fireworks.
Canada is helping to fund programs for mitigating wildfire risk and increasing ecological health in Southern Yukon Communities.
According to the situation report, initial attack activity is currently light, and the United States is at a PL (Preparedness Level) 3, on a scale of 1-5. There are uncontained large fires in all U.S. regions excepting the Southeast, with only one uncontained large incident in Northern California (despite several lightning starts throughout the region).
Please be safe with your fireworks, and if there’s a high fire danger in your region, consider viewing professional fireworks displays rather than setting off your own.
What’s it like where you are? Tell me in the comments.
What an urgently important and interesting topic!! All the best. Where do o send on a donation?