Hello everyone!

This week I am planning our upcoming trip to Istanbul for Chinese New Year. Dev and I will be in Turkey from February 1 until February 11. I am so excited about seeing the land described by Xenophon and Herodotus, and the stage for Alexander the Great, the Trojan War, St. Mary and St. John, the Fourth Crusade, the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, and much else besides.

In other news, this has been a great career month for me so far. I had my first short story published, I was invited to contribute a monologue to a play (the play is a collection of monologues and vignettes from various authors), and I've been meeting with an interested agent about a possible novel. I'm also launching a new website this month - more soon.

Cromwell was injured yesterday in a fight with Shackleton over an empty yogurt container, and was having difficulty walking all day yesterday with a pronounced limp. He's doing much better now, though, and can put most of his weight on the leg.