I’m editing book six at the moment and there is a scene where Vasily is hiking in a rather beautiful national forest area of California. The activity is one that harkens back to my youth when many a weekend was spent scampering around the backwoods of Maine for one reason or another. I can’t say it was ever my favorite activity for I honestly have few memories of good times communing with nature.
It doesn’t mean I don’t have a deep appreciation for the great outdoors — far from it. But unlike some of my friends from back then, I had other interests that were decidedly closer to home and didn’t require close encounters with black flies or other wildlife. Vas seems to be channeling that part of me as I write these scenes, for he is rather awed by the spectacle he encounters but doesn’t let himself be distracted from efficiently completing the task at hand.