That's the traditional thing to say when you pop back in after a long silence but don't plan to write much, right?

I've been doing a lot of riding and even some writing. The writing is on the novel that this journal is at least partly supposed to be a record of, so I guess this constitutes the first official entry on that. I'm about 3,000 words into the first section, the Prologue. I'm using the structure of a multi-stage bicycle race (a prologue along with rough analogs of flat and hilly stages, individual and team time trials) though I didn't tell that to the folks in my writing group when I turned in the pages Thursday night and said, "Here's part of the Prologue."

This means, for those keeping track, that I've definitely decided to write the cycling race across Kentucky book that's sort of a loose prequel to The Voluntary State instead of the giants ruling the earth book that's sort of an expansion of the last story in Bittersweet Creek.

I think it's going pretty well. Par for the course of my recent work, it's been veering around in unexpected directions in terms of characterization and plot, and also par for the course so long as I stay focussed on the language and the thematic material I'm working with I tend not worry about the other stuff.

Speaking of The Voluntary State, I've been very gratified by the reviews its received so far, and by the comments various folks have made in public forums online and in personal notes to me. Thanks, everybody.

The short short series is sort of on hold because of the novel, though I'm kind of halfway tinkering with a script for a mini-comic of Bourbon Queens. All you comix artists who like to work for free drop me a line.

The riding isn't going as well, but it's going. I'm going to compete in my first sanctioned race near the end of July as part of the Bluegrass State Games, which are sort of the citizen Olympics of Kentucky. My goal is to just finish, so maybe I should say I'm going to participate in my first race instead of compete in my first race.

Finally, some media consumption news. My sweetie has led me into developing a sweet tooth for the Gilmore Girls of all things. Smart, funny, 1st season available on DVD.

I've read some okay comics and a decent biography of Shakespeare.

The best thing I've read in ages, though, has got to be Sean Stewart's new novel Perfect Circle, which is just sooooo good. I recommend this to anyone, but if you're a guy of a certain age--say 32 to 42--and if you ever spent anytime wearing jackets that made you feel tough, and if perhaps you thought the Police pretty much sold out after Reggatta de Blanc even though you didn't buy Regatta de Blanc until long after you'd memorized all the lyrics on Synchronicity, then it will speak to you particularly. Oh, also if you see ghosts, it'll speak to you particularly.

And who doesn't see ghosts?

Finally, that longer entry. I'm working on a little mini-essay called "The Pop Music Lover's Guide to the Tour de France," which will be my latest attempt to get all of my non pro cycling loving readers (which would be 18 out of the 22 of you, I believe) to follow Le Tour in particular and the sport in general as a pathway to healthier, more fulfilled lives. It'll have lots of links to pictures of very fit young people and to naughty lyrics and it should be up before the Tour starts on Saturday. It's not too late to sell the car and get expanded cable so you can watch the race on OLN.

That's it. You can now go back to reading the blogs of people who update more often.