I’m grateful to the people who take time to write me after they read my work. I have a stack of envelopes from people who’ve read my book, Inside: Life Behind Bars, some of my other books, or articles that my wife publishes for me on our Web site. I’ve not been able to keep up with the correspondence, and I hope readers will give me a pass.

Receiving mail helps prisoners endure the separation from family and community. I know many prisoners at Taft Camp who stand around the officer as he passes out mail, and when they receive a letter from home, their faces light up. I know the joy, as I depend on the regular letters that Carole sends me to make it from one visiting day to the next.

Now, I’m in the midst of writing this new manuscript for Earning Freedom, and the project receives all of my attention. I’ve been in prison for so long that I know the necessity of discipline. I need to write every day, for  many hours each day, because I deem this manuscript a worthwhile endeavor that will add value to society, and to my family.

As a prisoner, even in a minimum-security camp as pleasant as Taft, I know that anything can happen. To ensure that surprises don’t interrupt my progress, I prioritize, meaning I devote my working energy to writing the manuscript and keeping current with my daily blogging journal.

This morning I began writing at 2:24 am, and by the time I put my work away, I advanced chapter six to page 249. I’m still waiting to receive some of my earlier chapters in the mail for editing. Until they come, I’ll continue this work on chapter six.

I ran 10 miles this morning, boosting my running tally to 2,029 miles over the past 229 consecutive days.

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