Returning to Seville

(on the page)

For many years I've been at work on a novel that takes place in Seville. Last April, finding myself one draft away from sharing the book with editors, I put it aside, again, to focus on other things.

But it's now the new year, and the book beckons—perhaps a dozen small scenes to work in. Printing it out, settling in, is like returning to an old and trusted friend.

Here, below, are the opening lines. But before I get too nested in Seville, I'm headed to the Big Apple today to see...