Hello, stranger
(ooh) It seems so good to see you back again
How long has it been?
(ooh, seems like a mighty long time)
(shoo-bop, shoo-bop, my baby, ooh)
It seems like a mighty long time

Shoo-bop, shoo-bop, my baby, ooh, indeed. It has been a mighty long time since I was last here. But now I’m–

“Oh my god we thought you were dead!”

Oh, hi! Well, no, I was just–

“Deep undercover inside the Yakuza?”

Not quite–

“Trapped in a well?”

Very pre-Batman Bruce Wayne, but no–

“Frozen in carbonite in Jabba’s Palace?”

I don’t think carbonite’s real–

“Letting life get in the way of writing, what with moving across the country twice, and changing jobs twice, and travelling a lot, and spending your precious leisure hours watching endless HGTV shows or playing video games instead of writing?”

No, that’s–oh. Yes. That last one.

Back in (gulp) November 2014, when I last posted, Mrs. Dan and I were still living in Washington, D.C. In early 2015 we moved to Kansas City for her new job, where we spent a thoroughly enjoyable two and a half years, made some wonderful friends, and ate several farmyards’ worth of barbecue. (Amazing. Do your tastebuds a favour and visit.)

Just three weeks ago we relocated again to Boston where Mrs. Dan is starting a PhD. Fancy! I’ve changed roles at work a couple of times too, which has been good and fun and challenging… and nothing you have any reason to be interested in.

WHERE IS THE NEXT BOOK, DAN. GIVE US THE BOOK. YOU CAN’T WRITE TWO OF THEM AND THEN JUST STOP.

(That’s actual footage of one of my more intense readers, by the way.)

With sincere apologies for the hiatus, I’m here to let you know that I’m back. Back again. Dan is back. Tell a friend. I’ve reinstalled Scrivener, reread ASCENSION POINT and VENUS RISING to remind myself where we’ve got to, figuratively dusted off the two-thirds written work-in-progress – CAUSAL NEXUS, coming to a digital bookshelf near you in early 2018! – and I’m back at it.

I’ll also be posting here more regularly with my usual mixture of superhero movie waffle and self-publishing thoughts – the latter as I try to catch up with what’s been happening in the industry in the last three years. (Are Amazon still in business? I should check.)

See you soon!