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Some might find the concept of Uku’s hammer being ready to drop a bit strange, especially given the predominance of Thor in Germanic lore, comic books, and blockbuster movies.
One of my cousins came up with an elaborate explanation for its prevalent use on one side of my extended family because of their Estonian connection (Uku was the ancient god of thunder).
But my Aunt Tädi always rolls her eyes and claims her irreverent uncle made all that up after too many sips of Vana Tallinn.
Anybody lucky enough to be in my aunt’s sphere of influence has no doubt experienced one or more of her spontaneous deliveries of the title of this piece. Her rebuke always contains those same three words, but the impact can range from the mild end of the scale to the ultimate freeze in your damn tracks ’cause Thor’s hammer is about to drop. Not that she’s ever laid a hand on anybody I know of since her gritty personality usually takes care of business, along with her warm, quirky side.
I swear, she’s like a jazz improviser in a league of her own.
So the other day I was hiking along ruminating about having to float back down through the raging waters of Revision River after thinking that trip was over and done with a month ago. For the previous ten writing sessions, I’d been tracking down problems in my latest novel, Core Haven, especially unnecessary dialogue tags (as in, she said). That’s what I get for reading the advice of a professional editor on Threads that I’d love to have in my camp—wait, should that be “…who I’d love to have in my camp”?
Anyway, I was grumbling to myself about the amount of time I was wasting on such minutiae when out of the blue, Aunt Tädi’s powerful admonition reverberated in my head like the time she found me turning watermelons over in her garden searching for the best one—a criminal offense in her world.
I froze in my tracks on the trail, sounded my barbaric yawp that echoed like an elk bugle, and gave myself over to a primal laugh till I was out of breath.
Bottom line is I’ll be damned if I let a perfectly fine day be tainted by a measly 214 recent changes and counting in a novel I thought was 99.9% finished.
Coolin’ my jets with the best of ’em.
Drew
I invite you to check out Lee Hall’s excellent video review, especially the first book he includes on his short list of memorable indie reads—uh-huh, that would be Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown.
My first self-published novel, Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown, is currently available on the Kindle Store & Kindle Unlimited.
My completed companion novel, Core Haven, will be released July 31, 2025. I’ll keep you posted.
