Gains, Drains, and Canes (Patreon)

Mostly this is a miscellaneous news post for touching base:

· Stella is in the middle of moving this week and next, and I am trying to finish one of the most demanding projects I have ever engaged in, with not much time left. We both try to respond to what you post on Patreon (though remember that Patreon messages don't work!) and of course Stella closely monitors the public email accessible on my contact page. But please be understanding if it takes Stella longer to get back to you than normal for a couple weeks. As for me, July 2021 might be the single busiest month I've ever projected in my life. 

· In spite of that, we do have cool things coming for you in July. I have been a big fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 since the 90s, and then of its later incarnation as RiffTrax, and I was lucky enough to meet and become friends with one of RiffTrax's head writers, Conor Lastowka (when we tried out for Jeopardy on the same day in 2014!). I'm going to have him on for a Crowdcast in mid-July (exact date not yet determined), quite possibly in-person rather than split-screen. Now, like some previous Crowdcasts, this won't be very Norse-related (as when you had a chance to talk to a paleontologist and a sailor / photographer), but I thought some of you might be fans as well and enjoy the chance to pick the brain of a professional comedy writer who's been involved in such a legendary show. On top of that, at the end of July, I have invited William Short of Hurstwic to come back for a second Crowdcast, and talk about his new book Men of Terror: A Comprehensive Analysis of Viking Combat. Exact date on that one also not yet determined, but keep an eye out.

· My fourth book, Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes: Hervor & Heidrek and Hrólf Kraki & His Champions, is completely finished on my part, with all checks and edits made. Anything that's wrong with the book at this point, is going to be wrong with it when it gets to your hands (probably October). Above is a mock-up of the back cover (possibly not completely final), with praise from M. J. Driscoll and Martin Chase, as well as my new author photo by "friend of the show" Jon Wilson.

· On top of everything else, a toe that I broke in January re-broke, so I am hopping around on a cane, and the doctor says the whole situation is in such a bad way that I ought not to wear boots for two years. To be clear, there are multiple, often consecutive, calendar years in which I have worn nothing but cowboy boots, so this is a shocking development.

· I have been getting asked a lot lately about the Prose Edda. I have agreed to produce a translation for Hackett--I agreed to that years ago--and it is in the very beginning stages of getting translated. I have other projects, including other projects for Hackett, in the meantime, and it will take a long time regardless, and then it will be a very difficult book to get edited, get peer-reviewed, and formatted. All of that is to say that it will be years before it is available. In the meantime, the best translation in English--in fact, I would go so far as to say the only good translation in English--is by Anthony Faulkes. It's even available for free as a .pdf from the publisher, for some reason. 

There is a lot going on, but that's most of the updates I can come up with right now. Again, we thank you for your patience as both Stella and I have our arms stacked extra full for a while, and we thank you very much for your continued amazing support of my educational video series. 

All the best,

Jackson Crawford

P.S. Patreon messages still aren't working. I don't  get notifications for them, and if I find one and try to reply, you  won't get a notification for my reply. So please, for now, get in touch  either through the public email (on my contact page or through admin AT JacksonWCrawford.com) or using the community page.