Wow! It has been a long time. I knew I had gotten way behind when one of my regular readers emailed me around Christmas. "You doing okay?" Jim asked. "You haven't posted in a while."

Yes, I am doing okay. It got to be a busy fall. Around Thanksgiving, our 8-week-old grand baby was in the hospital for several days with the first local case of that nasty flu going around. That was scary! Then I was diagnosed with a torn Meniscus and a torn Soleus in my calf. So, the cripple I was, I went on rehab and physical therapy visits. Then deer season came and - to my doctor's chagrin - I decided the best therapy was "hiking around in the woods." Of course Christmas followed, and when you are grandpa to four under six years, well what are you supposed to do at that time of year but spoil them! Life has been full!

But the real reason it's been quiet is that I have been spending every free moment putting - I hope - the last finishing touches on Myles Traveled: Stories of My Journey to The Horseshoe. One never knows how much work goes into a book, until you write 250,000 words, and then try to make sure every single one of those 250,000 is the right one, spelled right, makes, sense, flows, contributes, clarifies, and carries its weight! I have now done that. We have a manuscript - well at least a draft until a copy editor or publisher hacks it up and says "fix." Of course, I have already had several very good people in my readers group do that, so I hope we have a little bit of a head start. In any case, have manuscript, have query letter, have book and marketing proposal, need agent and/or publisher! I have some leads I will now start to tap. But if anyone is listening, well, here is your chance to get in on the ground floor of the next Laura Hillenbrand or Kathryn Stockett! (Ha!) So wish me luck, I am ready to take the plunge into the world of rejection letters. Check back, I promise to keep you posted.