The book signing for “The Finding of the Blue Feather” was held Saturday afternoon. Thanks to all of you who came to make it a success.

Book signings are a lot of fun for me. That’s a change. A few years ago I was in mortal fear of any sort of public appearance in which I had to have any part, no matter how small. What changed that situation I’m really not sure. Some of it was practice—just getting out and doing it, but a bigger part, I believe, was a change of attitude. I’m a bit less self-conscious, a bit less serious, a bit more willing to let the whole affair be fun. Where did that come from? I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a natural part of growing old.

Anyhow, the book signing was fun—and enlightening too. To prepare for it, I had to go over the book and select readings from it to give people a sense of what the story line was and who the characters were. That gave me a chance to re-introduce myself to the book and, as a consequence, see it in a new light. I found things in it I had not noticed before. I had my Pennycat books there, too, and read a few selections from them and had a chance to revisit every one of them.

When I finish a project, lay it aside and move on to something new, I put all my energy in the new endeavor and tend to forget about the old one. When I again pick up the old project it’s, in many ways, like seeing it for the first time. The best part of that is it starts me thinking, giving me ideas. I think of other ways I could have done the old project and how I can better do the new one. It sometimes starts me thinking about a continuation to the old project—a sequel. A poet once said something to the effect that a poem is never finished; it is simply abandoned. I think that is true of any form of writing as it is true about any phase of life. Life never ceases. A book never does, either. There is always more to be said. The only choice to be made has to do with how that is done and the merits of the various ways of doing so.

So at the book signing I sign the book. I use the signature to mark the end of that book, the finish of one project, of one phase of life, and then move on to a new one, or to a continuation of the old in a brand new form, whatever is the course that is calling.