A summer hiatus, sort of

I'd like to apologize to my readers, many of whom have written in these past few weeks wondering if Orcinus had gone defunct. Not to worry; I've just been catching my breath.

To be frank about it, I've been reevaluating my priorities and where Orcinus sits in the scheme of things. A few shocks to the system [see the preceding post] have kind of taken the air out of my blogging balloon, and forced me to take a step back and tend to the things that matter most to me. I hope regulars to the blog will forgive the lapse.

I'll be back to more regular posting for at least the next couple of weeks. I'm planning to wrap up the "Rush" series with a few supplemental posts, then I'll produce the long-promised PDF version for everyone to download. I'm also hoping to join in on some recent conversations in the blogosphere that resonate with the kind of issues I've tried to address here.

However, that's probably going to last only a couple of weeks at best, at least until "Rush" is finished. At that point I'll be putting Orcinus into a kind of semi-stasis through most of the summer, posting only semi-weekly or weekly. I'll be trying to stay on top of important issues, but it will be intermittent (or spasmodic, if you will) at best.

There's a simple reason for this: I'm about to sign a contract for my next book, a study of hate crimes titled Death on the Fourth of July: Hate Crimes and the American Landscape. Since I don't yet have a contract in hand (the agent is hard at work) I can't announce details, but suffice to say I'm planning for the reality.

And the reality is that until Sept. 1, when the manuscript is due, I'll have precious little time to spend blogging. I'd like to be able to make more room for it, but my duty in this case is pretty clear.

But if it's any consolation, I do plan to keep posting semi-regularly, especially on the issues I've tried to emphasize over the past five months. And when I return after the deadline, it will be with something of a vengeance. I have a specific project in mind that will entail a fair amount of reader participation, and I'll be spending the better part of this fall and winter making Orcinus a very active place indeed.

Please bear with me until then. I appreciate the patience.