Though part of me resisted, I've been playing hooky. As a matter of fact, I'm on one of the tightest deadlines of my life, while wrestling two books at once. But a couple of weeks ago, as I was wrapping up the first round of dev edits for my mystery, I realized I was FRIED. Even the thought of writing dragged me down. 

 

With the encouragement of my family and agent and publisher, I did something that's pretty hard for me. I stopped working. I've just taken two glorious weeks off! As I write you now, I'm on a plane back to the US from Valencia, Spain, which was our home during Covid. I'm feeling so rejuvenated. How nice it was to slow it aaalllllll down and breathe in the Spanish air. I love who I am in Spain, the way my heart rate slows, the way I don't feel like I'm scrambling. I cherish how I can sit in a park with friends for hours and not get antsy. I adore waking with little interest in opening my computer, more focused on the sights and sounds and tastes around me. You might remember Baxter, in my novel A Spanish Sunrise, had a similar experience.

It's so American to work our tails off and to be super proud of doing so. I'm as guilty as anyone. Now that Spain has gotten its talons back into me, my goal going forward will be to brag about how I'm not working as much. Sure, I have a book to write, but if I'm in the right place, tapped into Spanish Boo, the words will come out easy, and I won't be clamoring to hit deadlines. Returning home to Maine, I want to spend most of my time simply “being.”

 

Speaking of slowing things down, one of the two books I read was ultra-apropos to my reawakening. Cal Newport is a fabulous forward thinker, and his new one, Slow Productivity, explores the topic of being productive without the stereotypical American over-caffeinated mindset. I also took down The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. I know, I know… I'm late to the party. I often am. Nevertheless, wowsers! What a cool dual-timeline fantasy. Wonderful flowing prose and superb pacing. It's the first book I've actually finished in a while, and I read it FAST. I can almost guarantee you'll adore it.

Spain is so special to me, and I hope you get to visit if you haven't already. First, we stopped in Javea, an expat beach town that is absolutely one of my fave places on earth. Then we walked and ate our way through Valencia. It's like a mini-Barcelona that is just big enough to have everything you would want but without being too intimidating.

 

For a moment, I thought I wasn't going to mention food, but I can't stop myself. Have you ever wept during a meal? Last night, we enjoyed one of the best meals of our lives. Improntas is a Sardinian restaurant in Valencia that we frequented when we lived nearby. The chef's mother is famous in Sardinia for her fregola (a pasta that looks like large Israeli cous cous). Lucky for me, the mother has recently relocated to Valencia, and I had the fregola with fresh artichokes and parmigiano reggiano. The dish was mind-bending. My wife always get the traditional vegetarian pasta of Sardinia: curlurgiones--gorgeous pasta stuffed with potato, pecorino, and mint. The chef does it better than anywhere we've ever had it, including Sardinia. But yesterday, she hadn't prepared any due a a busy several days. My Italian wife was crushed, and the chef was incredibly apologetic, knowing Mikella loves them so. Thirty minutes later, the chef surprised us with a plate of curlurgiones that she whipped up on the fly. Don't you just love Italians? 

 

Valencia, in general, delivers outstanding culinary delights from all around the world. You haven't had good OJ until you've had it from Valencian oranges. The Spanish tortilla, which is basically an omelette chock full of potatoes poached in olive oil, is unforgettable. And the olives… forget about it. 

 

Okay, I lied. I did actually work one day, but it didn't feel like work at all. We have a talented Croatian friend named Victoria who lives in Valencia, and she's been offering to do a photo shoot with me for a long time. It's part of why we came back. She took me to the studio of a friend named Andrea, who recently relocated from Brooklyn. Andrea used to do photography sets all over the world for folks like Rihanna and Lady Gaga. (I'm asking the same thing… why did they dedicate their skills to little ol' me?) It was a really cool experience, and I can't wait to share the photos next time. They kept telling me to stop smiling so they could get some serious shots, but I felt so grateful to be alive and to be writing books for you and to be working with them in this city that means so much to me. It was hard to simmer down.

 

I'll leave you with a few pictures of our journey. Regarding the pic of the Hotel Reina Victoria…. on one of those balconies Ernest Hemingway started a little book called The Sun Also Rises. You can bet I stood there and touched the stone of the building and soaked up some of Hem's good literary vibes. And it's not the first time!

 

I hope you're having your own sort of awakenings. Feel free to hit reply and let me know what's new with you. I love reading your notes.

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