New New Writing, New Old Writing, and New New New Podcasting

Time for a quick update:

1. As you may have heard, on Tuesday Judge Zagel denied Bill Cellini a retrial. I went to the courthouse to hear the decision, and afterwards I did a short interview with a reporter from the Tribune. I thought he captured my thoughts pretty well. Barring another major appeal, it sounds like the next step is sentencing. I have started working on a long essay about my experience on the trial. So far it's pretty murky, but it feels good to work on something brand new. And somewhat time-sensitive. Aiming to have a solid draft by end of March. Hold me to it.
2. After spinning my wheels for most of 2011, I had a bit of an epiphany on my big Aurora project. The catch is that the epiphany included having to start over. Yep. I'll write a lot more about this later. The good news is that, for the first time in quite some time, I don't hate every single word I write about it.
3. Another big writing project in the works: My good friend Karen Shimmin and I decided it would be a great idea to make a podcast about writing. Just who in the hell do we think we are? Your guess is as good as ours. The show does not yet have a name or a format or really much of a plan. What we do know is that it will include readings and interviews with some very talented writers. Also it will not be stuffy or boring. Look out for more news about this as we roll into warmer months.