Time to begin again.

It’s been ten days since I arrived at my brother’s place in the wooded foothills of western Maine.
Two weeks since I left Amsterdam for my now annual summer retreat.
Four months since I posted a piece on this blog recapping last year.
Twenty-nine years since I fled New York City for Europe.
Twenty-nine years ago to the day, in fact.

Spring Forward

In pre-Christian pagan Europe, the first of May was considered the beginning of summer. Hence, the solstice was Midsummer. After a near-freezing cold morning rain, it sure doesn’t feel like summer has arrived – especially since it was so balmy when I left Europe. When I posted a picture of snow at my parent’s house, one Amsterdam friend commented, “Lucky you! You get to have spring arrive twice!” That’s one way of looking at it. Birds are chattering outside now as if spring might actually be on its way. Perhaps my friend was right. Renewal is in the air.

The Inn at Whitefield

Stephen King Country

The thing is that I really am ready to begin again. Except for that fuzzy feeling in my head left over from the Easter flu that knocked me for a loop the night before I rode up here with my brother. I had serious plans for my time in Stephen King country. My new work-in-progress has elements of a historical ghost story, and this seemed the perfect place to get it going full steam ahead. No such luck. But tomorrow I’ll head across the state line to New Hampshire, where there are ghosts aplenty at the 150 year old Inn that will serve as my home base for the summer.

Literary First

So this is kind of a transitional piece, just to get myself back into the habit of writing. I’m going to move forward without regretting the pieces I started but never finished – about the Winter Olympics or Autism Awareness Month. I’ll probably cover more literary topics in the next period, leading up to the release of my debut psychological thriller Calvin’s Head in September. I’ll definitely be writing about that. Having your first book published is a once in a lifetime thing, right?

Festival Season

In a couple of weeks I’ll be in New Orleans for the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival. I’ll be meeting many LGBTQ authors, as well as moderating a panel of the state of gay journalism today. I’ll certainly be writing about that. In June I may attend a Mystery Writers of America University day of workshops in Philadelphia. And in July I’ll be at ThrillerFest in New York City. Plus there’s a retreat my publisher Bold Strokes Books is holding in the Adirondack Mountains. So there will be plenty to write about – as well as inspiration to move forward on the new book.

Time to begin again.