Sitting in a big empty house in the foothills of Yosemite has certain advantages, not the least of which is the profoundly encompassing silence. Here you can think of, speak, or listen to anything and it will fill up the room like a new reality. Sure, during the day, I can sometimes hear a donkey braying in the distance. But he shuts up at night. Smart donkey. The coyotes are always lurking.
After a writing gig in East Africa; wandering around the lake district of Brussels in a bacterial stupor; teaching English in a graduate school for interpreters; publishing two more stories; teaching multiple writing workshops online; acting in an Estonian commercial; finishing my second book; and spending a fascinating, intense week in England, I’m back in California to regroup. I’m assessing the state of my union while getting the next set of trips, projects, and writings lined up. In terms of fiction, I’m working almost exclusively on the novel.
Yes, that novel, the novel that’s too mean to die. I’m determined to get this one finished and in the mail before this time next year. And NanoWriMo has nothing to do with it.
Where will I go next? There are a number of possibilities—back to Europe, out to Asia, even to various locations in the States. Maybe all of the above. The good news—at least for me (maybe for you, too?)—is that I will be getting back to regular blogging here. I also hope to add video to these posts as soon as my Handycam replacement cables come in the mail. So get ready.
In the near future, I will be writing about the horror that obtains at a regional writer’s conference and The Human Simulacra Project. I’ll also be talking, at some point. about the 3-student intensive writing workshops I’ve been teaching for the past two years since I plan to start offering these through this blog.
More to come.
Michael
The Writing Expedition 