Utah!

This Friday I'm off to Snowbird, Utah to speak at the annual conference of the Outdoor Writer's Association of America on a panel with Hank Shaw. Hank's recent book, 'Hunt Fish Cook', was borne out of much the same spirit as the books, classes, workshops and other events I've been doing over the last few years.

I've never been to Utah before and I'm not quite sure what to expect. Snowbird looks like a nice place, though not quite my style. When I hit the road I'm usually more likely to find myself bivvied in a shack, tent or my pop-up trailer in close proximity to water with good fishing and some kind of hunting. I left that world of resorts, room service and air conditioning behind a long time ago, though it might be nice to re-visit it.

When I return from Utah, I'm trying to manage a quick trip to West Virginia to hunt feral goats followed by a run down to Florida for a few days to bag invasive muscovy ducks and tilapia. Maybe snakeheads as well.

Its crunch time. I have to have 'Eating Aliens' handed in to my publisher by the end of August, and assuming 3 or 4 weeks of straight writing I've got to have all of the travel completed by the first week of August. Is this even physically possible? Especially on a remaining budget of only a few thousand dollars? Time will tell.

Is there anyone out there who can help get me on to some snakehead fish, either in Florida or elsewhere in North America? If so, please shoot me an email at jack.landers@gmail.com

By the way, its prime blackberry season. Go get picking!

[Photo copyright 2011 by Jackson Landers. All rights reserved]