Writing a book is a long process, at least for me. I work through something between six (ASHFALL) and seventeen (SURFACE TENSION) drafts of a novel. At some point in the process, I like to take a trip and drive the route my characters take during the novel. In the course of writing the ASHFALL trilogy, I’ve been to northeast Iowa and northwest Illinois at least eight times. For SURFACE TENSION, I drove to North Carolina, following the route Jake, Laurissa, and Betsy take near the end of the book.

BLADES OF SPRING (ASHFALL #4), also involves a road trip, from Speranta, located near Warren, Illinois to Lake Charles, Louisiana. So last year, I applied for a grant from the Indiana Arts Commission to fund a research trip, and in November, I took the trip. My wife and I spent about a week and a half on the road, meeting people and photographing the places that serve as setting for BLADES OF SPRING.

I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the Indiana Arts Commission for their support. Sometimes, being a writer in Indiana can feel a bit weird. There are larger groups of authors in New York, Boston, and even Nashville, TN.  The state isn’t exactly known as a hotbed for the arts, and the values  of its political leaders are sometimes wildly at odds with the values of most artists. (If you doubt that, I could link a few choice videos featuring our former governor here. But let’s not go there. Shudder.)

So it’s heartening to me that we have an institution such as the Indiana Arts Commission that supports and nurtures artists and arts organizations. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, not only for your support of my work, but for all you do to make our state a richer, more livable place.