In case you were wondering...

I'm taking a breather on the blog for the month of December while I pay a visit to Book Hell.

It's not so much a place as it is a state of mind where you block out about everything that is good and decent and normal in your life to focus on finishing a manuscript without turning into Jack Nicholson in "The Shining." I'm working on a book about Writers Guild of America strike and the digital revolution in television for Syracuse University Press.

Somewhere around the end of March, it dawned on me that the issues that were fought over during what has been called "the first strike of the 21st century" were a perfect reflection of all of the upheaval that is rocking the TV biz these days. From that early ayem epiphany, the narrative structure for a book just kinda fell into place.

Now all I have to do is write it. The big bosses at Variety were kind enough to give me a few weeks off to make some real progress, as my deadline looms early next year. As if that wasn't enough, they were generous enough to run an early except in the Nov. 30 edition of weekly Variety. If you're interested, click here.

I'll be back in the On the Air saddle in January, and I'm forward to counting down days (hours and minutes) until "Lost" returns for season five on Jan. 21.

Happy holidays and Godspeed in 2009.