Hi ;

Today it's been one month since my last letter to you and so I sit down to write again, after a long Saturday with my family currently in our summer bubble up here in Cape Cod, having enjoyed an afternoon boat ride and grilling dinner on the beach.

So much has changed! I mean, as I type right now there is LIVE BASEBALL on in the background (the poor Mets are going to lose at home to crosstown rivals the Yankees, but at least no fans have to travel home with their heads down - they're already home!). Soccer was the first sport back and my NY Red Bulls won their first match, lost their second, and I'm anxious about the third as to whether they progress to the knockout round. It's been too long (four months!) since experiencing sports anxiety - glad to have this feeling back in my bones.

Since last month we've packed up the family to end our PA stay to visit good friends who are renting a lovely home (with a pool!) in Hudson NY to keep our tradition of spending the 4th of July together and so our oldest daughters could finally have someone their own age to play with (and play they did, constantly for days). I made the most of my time back in NY State and waited it out in a socially distanced line under the sun outside the Hudson DMV to finally register my car, get my plates, and then have it inspected at a local garage. After months, I'm finally legal (and no better time to own a car again - it's been 14 years!).

Then we continued on to Cape Cod, where my mother-in-law's family has always been and where she has been living full-time for many years now. We hadn't seen her since January and it has been long overdue to share some quality time over meals, drinks, sandy beaches, and family games. Unlike our previous Cape Cod visits, we're not actually in vacation mode here and so we've just survived our first full week of work. She is helpful with the kids, but she also has a life and house to run up here so there's continued trading off and still working nights.

Tonight is Saturday so I don't feel bad taking time away from work to write a personal letter, but I will hold off on sending it until the work week, since last month's letter (similarly sent real-time late on a Saturday) wasn't as widely read as previous ones - which I get! It's the weekend, who wants to spend Sunday in their inbox? So let's get to it!

act one

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes 

(Turn and face the strange)

David Bowie, Changes

Today (as I write this, not when you read this), July 18th, is the birthday of Hunter S. Thompson. Long story shorter, I credit his inventive reporting style for ushering in much of the more enjoyable and readable creative nonfiction journalism and first person POV writing that we take for granted today in most publications and social media - which was absolutely radical in the 60s.

If you had known me in college, or just after graduation, you would know my favorite author and fandom. My history with HST goes back almost two decades with lots of ups and downs. But where it differs from others that fell in love reading a particular author, then that author kills himself, and they continue reading that author, is I feel significant across a few points:

• I was awarded a scholarship to attend his Aug. 20, 2005 funeral in Woody Creek CO.
• I got a tattoo of the 'Gonzo Brand' that he made infamous.
• I wrote my undergraduate thesis on HST and his search for The American Dream.
• My first piece of paid-published-writing outside of college publications was about HST.
• 14 years after I was there for the funeral, I returned to spend a night in his writer's cabin.

It was April 2019 and I had plans to attend Wiley's upcoming partner conference in Denver CO when it was first announced that HST's widow (Anita Thompson) was opening up the guest cabin (aka Writer's Cabin) on the compound property for short term rentals. I was going to be in driving distance of Aspen in two weeks and it felt like a long shot but I emailed her and submitted my application, including a photo of us at Book Expo America in May 2007 (my first!) where she was promoting her first book, The Gonzo Way:

Two weeks later, I'm checking email during the conference while I'm in Denver when I see a response to my application: Yes, please come! I'll see you Friday.

That was in two days. I changed my flights, cancelled my weekend plans, and booked a one way car rental to Aspen. I was suddenly the second person ever to stay overnight on the property and sign the guest book at Owl Farm:

Let me say, it's ok to not meet your heroes (by all accounts, HST could be a violent abusive asshole), but DO stay the night if you're invited and in the area, even if it requires some change fees.

I spent my impromptu evening dining at the local Woody Creek Tavern, then drinking whiskey by the typewriter, and reading the words of HST next to the peacock cage that shared a wall with my bedroom. I rose early in the morning to walk the grounds, sit in the sacred space where his ashes were launched through a 153 foot canon over the valley to the tunes of Mr. Tamborine Man, and caught the first flight out.

There isn't a day that goes by when I wouldn't give anything to read The Good Doctor's thoughts on sports during a pandemic, our reality-president, or anything happening in 2020 really. But we were lucky to have him when we did, for the impact he's made on writing about those topics today.

Honestly, if you don't know where to start with reading HST, try The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved - essentially the origin story of Gonzo, as a genre/style/mindset. It crackles.

act two

This month I've been desperately trying to find some time to re-engage with two things I love but have been lacking: fiction + sports.

My library ebook loan for the new Emma Straub novel, All Adults Here, came through and I started reading it right away - desperate for a story that would grab me and not let go. This is it. For anyone that was ever a teenager, or had parents, or had siblings, or is a parent... it hits on every level. Bonus recognition points for anyone with ties to the NYC/Hudson Valley area.

There are many brilliant lines and phrases and moments that stand out strongly. And once you get to the last third of the book, you're going to need to just keep reading and blow off the plans that quarantine already cancelled.

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My friend Kevin would not shut up about #WelcomeToTheBubble VLOG (aka Video Blogs, in the style of Casey Neistat) that a Sixers rookie was posting from the Orlando NBA quarantine. Now it helps that we're both big Philadelphia Sixers fans from growing up in the area (the last live sporting event I saw was Sixers at Nets on MLK Day in Feb.), but the remarkable thing that this young athlete is doing is somehow being completely authentic, but still chill, and completely smart in his entertaining setups and edits (that he does himself!).

Plus everyone is dying for access to the NBA bubble right now and he gives unique POV from within the system. Candid cool is an art, and Matisse Thybull delivers. Short episodes worth your watch if you're an NBA fan or not.

act three

Work is paying off. Everything we've done in terms of our 'rebrand and expand' is starting to resonate with new clients and sink in with those in the industry that have referred authors to us previously and now know what more we can do. We're building websites, editing video, running paid content campaigns, and more.

A big step was setting up our processes within Monday.com as our internal project management software. I had seen the subway ads, but working within the desktop platform and iOS app is really fun. It looks pretty and it performs - can't ask for more than that. You get out what you put in, so we're trying to go all in and live inside Monday. If you're also in Monday, I'd love to hear how you're using it! Everyone has so many different approaches, so we're still testing a lot of different board setups to see which functions best.

But winning clients is awesome. I love making some tweaks to our proposal, sending it out right away, and then getting on the phone with a prospective client to hear immediate feedback on it. And when it works? Nothing better.

Now that we have new clients, we're putting them in the project management system, setting up our check ins, and doing the work. I'm getting paid to read books and create content from them - which is incredible! One thing I'm excited about is Book Clubs and how companies are adopting them internally. If your organization is doing book clubs, or you know of book clubs that I should talk to - please let me know! We're seeing some real interest and possibilities in developing book-related frameworks for learning and discussion that I'm digging into and curious about improving.

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It's been four months for me now at Book Highlight and while the move was scary back then, it feels like such a good fit now that I can't imagine not having made the leap. Both Andrea and I are lucky to be working jobs that we love and excited about them, that it makes these days even harder.

Our current plan is to lock down a full-time nanny local to our Brooklyn neighborhood that would allow us to return home and be able to dedicate more time to work without subjecting our children to unlimited screen time (and getting our nights back!). Maybe I'll be sending my next newsletter from NYC.

Stay tuned! And stay safe. And keep reading.

Staying Socially Distant - Peter

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Now get out there and enjoy your summer in the bubble!