The Black Dionysia - Author's Blog

The air outside my window was swirling with snow this morning. I've not had as productive a week as I have lately, but I did get another chapter edited. I'm a bit distracted lately with an idea for another book. I think the closer I get to finishing The Black Dionysia the more eager I am to feel my imagination running free again.

You see, I started work on The Black Dionysia about four years ago, during the autumn of my last full year in Canada. Essentially I locked myself in my room for about twelve hours a day, and while the sky darkened and the air dampened outside, I devoured novel after novel, letting the words of other writers create echoes in myself. I called the process 'tracing', by which I meant I was searching for paths presented to me through novels I had been drawn to read. I don't know how best to characterize this 'tracing'. Was it a metaphysical exercise or a religious ritual? Or was it primarily a way to occupy myself through a challenging season of life? Of course it was all of this, but the most substantial thing to emerge from that time was the skeleton of The Black Dionysia. And for the last four years I have kept my creative world centered around The Black Dionysia.

Even when ideas for other books suggested themselves to me I kept my mind focused on this one novel. But all along, especially in the last couple years, I have looked forward to re-embarking, re-tracing. And about two weeks ago I suddenly felt this urge stronger than ever. Too strong to resist, in fact, and as a result I have begun spending my odd minutes and hours on a new project. I'm not ready to share anything about it yet, and probably won't post any of it until the editing process for The Black Dionysia is complete.