So, if you’re a frequent (or even not so frequent) visitor to this Always Write blog, you’ve probably been wondering if I fell off a cliff or got hit by a truck or maybe joined an isolated religious cult somewhere.

Nope, just wicked crazy busy, as is typical for me each year during late July and most of August.

You see, first there’s my real job, meaning my work as a curriculum specialist/consultant in the educational publishing industry. And with teachers heading back to school, I’ve been hopping around the country training them to effectively use the new print and digital materials they purchased last spring from my employer, Pearson Education. In the past month or so I’ve worked in California, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, Texas, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Missouri, New York, and of course my home state of Washington. I leave today for work in Medford and Eugene, then over to Sandpoint, Idaho. Things will slow up some by September; they always do. But in the meantime . . .

And for the middle two weeks of July I was putting the finishing touches on the inaugural Refuse To Abuse 5K at Safeco Field, a wonderfully successful run/walk staged fully inside the Seattle Mariners baseball stadium. As the race manager I made sure that participants had an enjoyable and safe (not to mention officially certified) 3.1 mile experience, as they navigated the four separate concourse levels, underground service tunnels, and rewarding finish on the 3rd base field-level warning track inside the stadium. All proceeds went to support work by the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. If you’re a runner or a walker, you might consider joining us next summer for this unique event.

And in the tween times I’ve been scriving madly on the sequel to my thriller Brother’s Keeper. Someday I’d love to have the pleasure and privilege of writing full time — actually for a living! — but for now I write when I can. Having said that, I’m extremely pleased with how things are shaping up in The Ferryman’s Wake. I’ve targeted publication for the end of the year and am still tracking to hit that. You can read about all of my works in process on my website: www.authorglenngordon.com.

But my world is slowing down — well, slightly slowing down — so in the next few days I’ll be back in the blog saddle with a lineup of upcoming posts:

• Our final 3 days in southwest Turkey, including the final day’s gulet cruise along the coast.
• Our 6 days on the spectacular Greek isle of Santorini. The views alone are enough to make me want to go back.
• There’s a new young lady in my life, grandbaby Cora born a couple of months ago. And grandson Jaxon begins kindergarten!
• I’ve read a few books and seen a few movies: I might have a review or two thrown in there.
• In November I’ll be tagging along on my wife’s business trip to Prague. We’ll also Eurorail it down to Vienna and Budapest.
• I haven’t written yet about my love affair with quality craft beer, the app Untappd, and my home-away-from-home quasi-Cheers neighborhood alehouse.
• And I’ve got a couple dozen other blogpost ideas stirring around upstairs.

So, thanks again for hanging on. And for those who’ve purchased Brother’s Keeper in the last few months . . . an extra thank you! If you haven’t read it yet, don’t forget that the Kindle store and other e-reader sites will generally let you download sample chapters for free.

Just a thought.