Hello.

It’s been a few months since I last posted here on my blog. I decided to take a break last fall to focus my energy on a big project. That undertaking extended through the winter and ended about three weeks ago. I raised my body out of that subterranean depth only to return now above ground and fully intact, as far as I can tell.

This return feels more like being a polar bear waking from hibernation at the wrong season—squinting at the brightness of the sun and sneezing miserably. I should have woken up much sooner, but alas, tardiness must be a better friend than absence.

I come back to this space wondering what I want to say. Over the last couple of years, I indulged in lots of book reviews and thoughtful posts about my reading practices. Right now, I am not certain that I want to continue along that path.

Through the foreseeable future, I will keep this space open to any topic that stirs my interest, and I will spend a lot of posts thinking aloud about how I am building a life for myself as an active artist—with the pitfalls of self-doubt and the triumph of accomplishment beckoning to me in their own irrepressible ways.

There is, of course, a purpose that shapes the foundation of this blog. I want to be a good writer. I have been a writer all of my life within various art forms such as essays, short stories, poetry, song lyrics, and film scripts. As with any craft, one can only improve by doing the work as often and as consistently as possible.

I want to write whatever comes to mind about my life, art, and culture, and it is time to do so. I have a lot to say.

I invite you, dear reader, to join me again in this place. The doors are now open. There’s lots of natural light for you and elephants to roam freely. I have made plenty of space for them and you to stay.

—Roqué