For the past few months I've been expanding my 2012 Slate series Prog Spring into a book. Some common questions that arise about this:

"Do you have a publisher?" Yes.

"Are you done?" No, and that's a dispiriting question to ask someone as he or she writes a book. Ask another way.

"How's it coming?" Pretty well. I've done almost all of the research and about a third of the writing. Most of that was done on two short breaks in 2013. I need to take a few more to finish the thing by the due date.

This is a meandering yet direct way of saying that I'm off this blog for the next few weeks. For the next five days, I'll actually be on a boat, covering the annual Cruise to the Edge—one of at least three luxury tours that are now run to attract progressive rock bands and fans. The whole story will appear in Slate, and the last interviews for the book will occur somewhere near a pool or conch shell. But that'll mean radio silence from me. While I'm gone some of my talented new colleagues may appear in this space, for which I will owe them dearly. 

And I'm off.