What I’m working on now:
Since Seasons in Manana is just being released, I am busy trying to get the novel out there and visible. As for the near future just beyond that, I’m currently finishing up another novel about a boy who runs away from home to join the ill-fated 1212 Children’s Crusade of France. In addition to that core story, the narrative also explores how that sad medieval crusade affects the life of a 20th century New York museum curator. And, because I happen to own a medieval artifact that I believe references the Ark of the Covenant, the lost Ark actually figures into the novel.
What I’m Reading:
I’ve been currently locked into quite a bit of history and biography lately: 1865: The Month that Saved America by Jay Wink; Astoria by Peter Stark (about the disastrous American attempt to plant a trading empire on the West Coast around 1813; John Adams by David McCullough and the novel, The Men Who Would be King by Nicole LaPorte (about the trials and tribulations of the DreamWorks Studio); In the Shadow of the Cypress by Thomas Steinbeck.
Life Updates:
My wife and I continue to enjoy life here in central Kentucky. I’ve always been an avid University of Kentucky basketball fan, although we’re doing more crying than cheering so far this season. My wife enjoys her work as a methodologist at Liberty University which she feels fortunate to do online. As for myself, I work with a group of antique/collectible/jewelry enthusiasts, mostly contributing my knowledge of coins. In addition, a long-time colleague is helping me explore the history of an old 18th century frontier school that once stood just a few miles from where I live—an unusual school in that it was a three-story Georgian style brick structure that rose out of the isolated Kentucky wilderness back in the days of George Washington! I plan for that school to be a setting in an upcoming book.