Marty’s photo of the day #4249: Winter is back! I was so tired of the upper-thirties melty-rainy shit. Yesterday, five glorious inches of snow arrived, and this morning it was a proper five degrees below zero. I shot this photo from my writing room window, a little before sunrise this morning. Dropping below are the snow-covered trees of the Essen Wildlife Refuge, and above is the snow-covered Gash Peak.

For my past seven books, I never once had writer’s block. For my new novel, “Barry and Beth,” I’m challenging myself to cut back on the liberal politics and write a mainstream story. I’m not a mainstream guy, so it’s really hard! Earlier this week, I finally broke through the biggest case of writer’s block I’ve ever had. And now, with winter’s return, I’m in the mood for an outstanding day of writing.