I’m hunting a novel.

Last week I mentioned the new novel I’m working on and a commenter asked what it’s about. I realized today that I didn’t answer the question; that’s probably because I’m very superstitious about writing and am afraid if I talk about it too much, I’ll jinx it. And also, I like this idea so much that I’m afraid someone might steal it. Isn’t that silly? So, if you promise you are not a novel-idea stealer, read on.

This much I will say: the novel begins in Denver in the late 1890’s, and ends in India. There will be cameo appearances by Swami Vivekananda and Molly Brown. There will be love, pain, mysterious strangers, and yoga. (You know, just like real life).

I wrote the prologue yesterday and — total shock! — I actually like it.

Your role, dear blog readers, is to cheer me on and to provide answers to my burning research questions such as: Could you have eaten oysters in a hotel dining room in Chicago in 1893? And if so, would you have come down with a terrible case of food poisoning?