A-Viking We Shall Go

It’s 2:15 a.m.

Tomorrow morning I’m getting on a plane and flying to Sweden, the land of my forefathers, with Ben Shive and Andy Gullahorn. This will be our sixth (seventh?) tour in Sweden, where the coffee is black, the ice cream is plentiful, the engineering is sleek and tasteful, the breakfasts are delicious, and the people talk nothing like the Swedish chef on the Muppet Show. Really.

The Captains Courageous and I are sad to leave our wives and children for two weeks (please pray for them, if you’re the type who does that sort of thing), but we’re also grateful for the chance to once again visit such a beautiful country with our songs and stories. The place has become precious to me not just because of my ancestry (my great-grandfather was from a city called Kalmar–a name you Wingfeather Saga readers know well), but because of the friendships that have developed over the years. These two guys named Kaj (pronounced like “sigh” with a k) and Samuel have worked like vikings to set up concert after concert for us, and over the years, the following has grown enough that this trip is our busiest yet (we’re doing eleven shows in about as many days).

Another reason I’m excited about the trip is that just this morning I sent my final, FINAL edits for The Monster in the Hollows off to the press. That, ladies and germs, frees up a lot of mental RAM. And emotional hard drive space. And time. And that means I’m going to read, oh, nine books or so on the flight across the Atlantic, guilt-free. (The Passage by Justin Cronin, The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester, Looking Before and After: Testimony and the Christian Life by Alan Jacobs, and Skeletons on the Zahara by Dean King.) This is what my brother and Stephen King call “feeding the gnome”. After pouring so much into the writing of The Monster in the Hollows, it’ll be nice to take a long, cool drink of some good writing.

If you live in Sweden, we’ll see you in a few hours. If you live in the States, we’ll be back soon. Thanks for reading!