Around the next bend…

This summer, as Rivers crossed the one-year milestone since publication, I observed with delight the inner sense of its being a thing apart from me. 

The notion solidified gradually, of course, once I was no longer composing and revising – after being preoccupied with the project, at varying levels of intensity, for more than four years.

In the book, I wrote of my aim not to live in the past by digging into it. Rather, “I looked back in order to move forward.” It occurs to me this is another time to be careful not to get stuck in the retro view. Not only will there be a sequel to write, looking ahead at the moment is about finding this book its readership – to me, a wholly distinct exercise from the writing itself.

When I recall the initial brain-dump drafts, it’s astonishing to reflect on what the book eventually became. The core of the original vision never changed, yet the finished product is a far cry from what was in my head at the very beginning. A few times along the way, outside forces brought the work to a standstill, and returning to it required reorienting. I’ve finally embraced that my writing practice may always be like that. 

Some writers say they can’t not write. Only when all the conditions are right is that true for me.  I suppose this variance between writers arises both from individual persuasion and from being in what I’ll call different life-seasons.

While I’m clear on my immediate objectives and how to meet them, I’m not anticipating a time when Rivers-related activity will become self-driving.
I must have imagined at one time that it would. Sometimes you don’t really grasp your hidden hopes until they’re not met – true for personal productivity, reader response, and for much else.
All the sweeter when you’re pleasantly surprised by a hope realized.

I will, as the phrase has it, keep you posted here. (And by the way, I’ll keep using my other blog(opens in new tab) for longer pieces.)

Thanks as always for your interest.

(August 26, 2026)