* * Update on the Spine, and a new book is forming in my head...

Y'all,

The Spine of the Virginias is non-fiction.  I have been working on it for over two years.  It is now in "final" editing and is being read for the first time by a couple of volunteer readers, checking for any last-minute errors.  It has been typeset for a 6 X 9 book along with several graphics.  The end is in sight.

If you asked me a month ago what I was going to do when it was done, I would have said, "I don't know."  In the meantime a new book has formed in my head.  This is fiction, to be called, Union, WV.  In the course of work on The Spine, I have become enchanted with the tiny Monroe County community of Union. 

In Union, WV, an angry, self-absorbed young man from Northern Virginia visits an elderly great-uncle in Union.  Along the way, he is hurt seriously in an accident and must convalesce in Union.  He sees the cooperative spirit that typifies small towns and as he heals physically, he also heals emotionally and intellectually. Coincident with their story is a story of an ancestor who fought in the Civil War, who also bears physical and emotional scars.

I am beginning the process of research and interviews that I hope will help my write an accurate account of a plausible life in contemporary Union.

Thanks for reading and your continuing interest in my literary work.

Best,

Michael