Teague de La Plaine: Now
Creating
Well, I finally got my published works into paperback versions. I'm now writing two sequels (Space Force Recondo series and GOST series) as well as developing a military romance series. I have a new home for my newsletter and podcast here at Storyslinger. I've also peeped at tumblr, Post., Hive, Mastodon, and Discord and might do something with those. I’m either @teaguedelaplaine or @storyslinger on all of those.
I’m also working on new songs, thinking about recording some new music (and maybe try to sell songs), and experimenting with house concerts. Small, intimate concerts in people's homes can be great. I can interact with people on a very personal level. We'll see how it turns out.
Reading
I keep reading in fits and starts. I just don't have the free time (and what free time I do make or find I use for writing). I finished Orca by John Pennington and Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins and Generation of Vipers by Peter Cawdron. I just downloaded and started Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. I also really want to read Stephen King’s Fairy Tale. And I'll read anything new that Hugh Howey or Chuck Wendig put out.
For 2023, I plan to read more fiction for both enjoyment and absorbing good writing. I’m still ever-curious about how humans function, so I will continue reading writers like David Goggins (I’m halfway through Never Finished) and Jordan Peterson (12 Rule for Life series).
Land Rover Santana
I bought another old Land Rover. I know! I never learn. Had to have the clutch rebuilt already. Ah, the Landy Blues.
The Santana 2500 is basically a weird evolution of the Land Rover Series III and what that might have looked like if Landy Rover had continued in that direction rather than developing the Ninety and One Ten models that eventually led to the Defender series of trucks. Some folks call the Santana 2500 a Land Rover Series IIIb or Series IV.
I actually like that it’s not a Land Rover.
Tusko is a 1989 Santana 2500D. It’s a three-door (short wheelbase) model with a 2.5-liter Land Rover 12J 4-cylinder naturally-aspirated diesel motor and a 5-speed gearbox. It’s slow and burns about a gallon every twenty miles, which isn’t too terrible.
I don’t know if I will keep it forever (it is, after all, my sixth Landy), but while I have it, I will enjoy every moment behind the wheel.
Sailing Sabbatical
I’ve been talking for over a decade about taking off on a sailboat to see the world. I’ve messed about in boats since I was a kid (and even got my merchant captain’s license at one point in my life). I remember spending allowance money on sailing magazines when I was ten and looking at the boat ads in the back, drawing sailboat layouts on Saturday mornings, and imagining living aboard.
Pat and Ali over at Bumfuzzle first gave me the confidence that I could do it. And many others (Jamie and Behan Gifford of Sailing Totem stand out) have proved to me that this can be done with a family on board.
As I near retirement from the Marines, I’m trying to speed up the timeline. I’ve narrowed down the boat to something like a Hallberg-Rassy Rasmus 35, HR352, or a Dickerson 37. These boats are big enough and small enough and cheap enough (and good enough) that we can conceivable afford to take off in the next three to five years.
I’ve also been thinking of getting a “right-now” boat. This would be something like a Cape Dory 28, Alberg 30, Allied Seawind, or Pearson Triton. These boats are pretty small, but big enough to squeeze into and sturdy enough to head offshore. If I can get my hands on one in the next year or two, I will prepare the family on weekends gunkholing in Tampa Bay or venturing south to the Keys, Dry Tortugas, and into the Caribbean. If you know anyone who wants to get rid of one for cheap (free?), let me know.
Asking Neptune to spread the word and grant me good karma!
Updated January 2023