I'll be back...

So I have to take a blog hiatus. There are a bunch of reasons for this, some more tedious than others. But two are essential.

Unlike my first four books, my most recently completed novel is set in the U.S., and the book that I'm just starting to write is also set in the U.S.. I may not make my annual China trip this year, which s a bummer. I still follow China news closely, but I'm not an analyst—I've always felt that my most useful work on China is the observational stuff, the small details and anecdotes. When I don't go, I don't have as much to talk about.

The other reason is that I have to focus on a new book that's feeling pretty complicated, and I need to get a good chunk of it done in the next couple of months. I'm not a fast writer at best, and, well, I haven't exactly been "at best" the last couple of years either. The writing takes me longer to start, longer to do, and I don't have a lot of time to do it. I need to focus on the most important thing, the big thing, because I have a tendency to get easily distra—LOOK! SQUIRREL!!

I do hope to come back to MIE, and I plan on writing a guest post now and then when I have something to say that I think you might find interesting. For example, I'm right next to another country, Mexico -- I can literally be across the border in a half hour. This is something I really want to explore.

In the meantime, I have a book coming out in…a week. This is the third novel in the Ellie McEnroe trilogy set in China. I'm really proud of it. I feel like I've finished something big.

You can find out more about the book here.

It's been great fun chatting with all of you, even getting to meet some of you in person.

And to my blog-mates, you are some of my favorite folks anywhere. And everywhere.

Lisa…who will be back...