Danny January: Blog

I have written a draft of Jack Pierce's senior year from August to mid-October (about half of this installment). I'll finish the semester (Christmas) let my editor have a serious whack at it, then publish. My original goal was to publish before Christmas this year and I'm on track to do that, perhaps sooner. It's hot and humid in the Lowcountry in July, making this a good time of year to write. Thanks for all the notes of encouragement.

Congratulations to Porter-Gaud graduate, Tess Ferm, on winning the Miss South Carolina Teen competition. She's not just a beautiful young lady, but her initiative, "From Fear to Freedom" is pretty unique. Off, now, to Furman to study psychology. Furman is an absolutely beautiful campus in Greenville, SC, and their psychology program is among the best. She had some tough competition. https://www.abccolumbia.com/2025/06/28/new-miss-south-carolinas-teen-crowned/

As I work on the next chapter, it crossed my mind that the favorite songs of my youth and those of my sweetheart were radically different, yet we both learned to love each other's favorites. If I had to name one song from those halcyon days of yore, it would be Shattered by the Rolling Stones. It's kind of funny since it's about NYC and I really dislike NYC. Start Me Up would be a close second. On the other side, my sweetheart would list Beneath Still Waters or Boulder to Birmingham by Emmylou Harris. There is no possible way those songs should end up on the same playlist. Anyone out there in SOLville have a wider difference in musical taste than that?

I'm back from Africa and will get to my mail as soon as I catch up on a few other things. Great riding, as usual, and saw some big cats this time, which is always fun.
It's cooler at this time of year than I remembered. There are gift shops in the Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport departure terminal named, "Out of Africa". The name makes me smile and I always say to myself, 'I'm going to watch that movie. It's been a long time.' But then, I remember it's been a long time since I've watched any movie and I don't. I'm back to work on "Lean on Me."

When a story gets as long as the Jack Pierce Chronicles, the number of people naturally grows. As I write the next chapter, I can keep the growing number of characters or let some of them slide into the background to keep from overwhelming my readers. There are some obviously central characters but there are some on the periphery as well. If there are some that you think, "Please don't let this person fade out of the story," let me know, please. It's not a matter of whether certain characters are more or less important. It's simply a matter of keeping it a bit more streamlined so that it's readable. I strive to make it easy to follow. If you have input, fire it my way.
Thanks