I believe there was a Creed song that began, “Hello my friend, we meet again. It’s been a while, where should we begin? Feels like forever.” And with those lyrics in mind, let’s dig back in with a little Q&A about the last few weeks.
Are you finally back to work?
Yes, I am. Thanks for everyone’s patience.
You were a little cryptic when you started this break. Where’d you go?
As it turns out, I didn’t actually go anywhere; I was at my desk working on a book project.
Wait, you’re writing a book?
Actually, yes. It’s not yet done, but the show was kind enough to give me a few weeks off to work on the project full-time, and I made a lot of progress.
And when, pray tell, might we see this book?
That’s a tough one to answer. I’m still weighing publishing options — if you’re reading this and you work for a book publisher, let’s connect — but ideally, I’d like to see it on sale sometime next year. It’s still very much up in the air. As a first-time author, it’s not a process I can speak to with any expertise.
What’s the book about?
I’ll flesh out the thesis in more detail in the near future, but the focus is on what I see as the principal problem surrounding Republican governance.
How’d this come about?
It’s a project I’ve been wanting to tackle for quite a while, but the time never seemed right. Earlier this year, I decided to stop thinking about it and start doing it, though I was working on it mostly on weekends, which made progress difficult. The last few weeks have made an enormous difference, though there’s still plenty of work to do.
What kind of promotional work do you have in mind?
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I still need to wrap up a draft and find a publisher. While we wait for more information, when can we expect MaddowBlog to return to its usual publishing schedule? Immediately. My plan is to work normal weekdays again, starting today. Once the book is actually done, I’ll probably restart “This Week in God” on Saturdays, too. Will you have blog posts covering all the stuff that’s unfolded since your break started three weeks ago? Not a chance. I have tried to keep up on the news during my break, though, and I’ll have plenty of items related to recent developments. While you were out, the comments section apparently disappeared. Yeah, I noticed that, too. There have been rumors about the demise of the comments section, and it looks like the plug was pulled while I was out. You can still reach out and ping me on Twitter and Facebook, and on the latter, I expect to keep open comments threads on the once-a-day round-up posts I publish to Facebook every evening. Any big stories you regret not being able to write about during your absence? I’m still amazed by the fact that the president wanted to buy Greenland and then cancelled a scheduled trip to Denmark when he was told it wasn’t for sale. I mean, really. I would’ve blogged the heck out of that one had I been around. In any case, back to the news….
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
