For anyone watching this space, I just want you to know I’m still here. I am in one of those mad seasons of life where free moments are few and fleeting. I’ve been writing on other projects and having a pretty good time of it lately. I won’t say more than that just yet. I don’t want to jinx things.

I do want to say a word of thanks to my wife, Michelle, who is very many things to me. She recently put me back on a productive path by mentioning a simple fact I too often overlook: good stories are always about people.

I have a tendency in all things to get swept up by the ideas, the vivid impulse, the vibrant language,  the rich image. Good stories are about people, the conflicts between people and the conflicts inside them. We cannot hope to write satisfying stories unless we take the time to know the people who live inside our stories. We cannot hope to understand the stories we are trying to tell until we understand not only what each person wants but why they believe they want it.

I’m still here, stacking up words and enjoying the peculiar shapes the mind invents when it is free to play.

There is a lot of joy in this kind of life. A lot of drudgery and a lot of frustration but mostly a lot of joy.

I’m still here. Still feeling grateful.