Well, howdy folks. I’ve been pretty quiet so I thought I’d drop some updates on you. A good old fashioned no-frills blog post.
Life is life and life is good. I’m mostly just enjoying being a dad, getting settled into the new place and finding the rhythm of life here. Kids are good. Busy and growing and learning. Job is good and it’s giving me what I need to get by. My sense of well being and calm are at an all time high with very few blips and very little stress in my life. A welcome change.
My sabbatical has been quietly over for a few months or so and the writing engine has been slowly chugging back to life. I’m working on a short story, “Of Anchor Chains and Slow Refrains and Light Long Lost in Darkness,” a story from a 19 year old Gregoric’s POV as he accompanies his friend and king, Rudolfo, on a mission for the Androfrancine Order. It’ll be in the Unfettered III anthology edited by Shawn Speakman. After this one, I may do more in this universe (I’m setting up a potential pirate trilogy of novellas with young Rudolfo and another series, Pilgrims of the Dream, following a small independent colony on the moon. And at some point I plan to switch gears into young adult or middle grade with a few different ideas. Regardless of whichever I tackle next, I’m back and working. I have a different relationship with the work and my expectations, thinking and feelings around it all.
I spent a weekend (a really, really lovely weekend) with the Oregon Writers Colony as a presenter at their Annual Conference. It was a really fun teaching gig and I’m now blending some of my new understanding of story and life with my older materials. I may actually have enough from that to put together a small weekend retreat of my own if folks are interested in an intensive short story workshop with me.
The girls and I are more and more settled into the new place. This is my first home without a Den of Ken in about thirty years but I’ve integrated its toys and treasures from the Den into the rest of the house and it’s working out just fine. The library is out in the garage, nearly all unpacked now, and there is a bonus room in the garage that we’ve named The Wonder Room. It’s full of comics, VHS tapes, Xbox games, the non-fiction library, kid books and vinyl with a VCR and record player. My work station is up in my bedroom now but I’m also learning to write on the couch with headphones while the girls do their thing around me.
In other great news, the film option for “Edward Bear and the Very Long Walk” was renewed. Fingers crossed that they are able to get the film financed and made this time around but I’m prepared to keep renewing until they do.
Hymn has been well-received despite it’s very quiet release into the world. I’ve seen some great reviews and some really nice fan mail from folks who tell me they were fine with the wait when they saw how I wrapped everything up. That’s very satisfying after a decade of pushing that rock up the hill. And receiving a larger-than-expected royalties check this week was a nice bonus.
I don’t think there’s much else to report. I should hit the Seattle area this summer and will try to host an open dinner someplace for those who’d like to see me. I’m also hoping to hit L.A. in the fall. Beyond that, I have no appearances planned.
Well, we might as well close on a song by me and the Hendrix Happening. And remember: “Raise your song above the howling of the wind; joy finds us all.”