20 May The Memory Trick

The road to blogging is paved with good intentions.

But here I am again. Run for the hills. Better yet, now’s probably a good time to put on that white robe and stand on your nearest mountain, cuz now you know the end is near.*

The Progeny releases in five days! So surreal. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was banging my head on my desk trying to write it?

Many years ago, I was a concert pianist. The only problem was I hated performing. At the age of 14, I stood backstage before my first solo recital, sure I was going to suffer a coronary. And so I played a game with myself. I told myself it was really the future, that the recital was over—that I had even lived through it—and that if I could just concentrate, I would return from this moment, where I existed in memory, back to that future present. (Has anyone else ever done this? Tell me I’m not alone, here.)

In a way, I was right—I have looked back on that moment many times in my life and thought, “Yup.”

I tried that old trick during the more difficult nights of working on The Progeny—and though it didn’t work as well stretched out over a period of several months, here I am, remembering back, as The Progeny wends its way to bookstores and mailboxes.

Huh.

At any rate, May 24 cometh. (Order your copy today!)

* Awfully hard to do when one lives in Nebraska, in which case I suggest Memorial Stadium, the most holy place in the state.