August was a huge writing month for me: I wrote a dramatic piece that I've been wanting to put together for SIX YEARS--and I'd never found a way in. The trip to Europe in July helped because we revisited an important site: Cirey in the Champagne region of France. Since we returned I'm back walking on the ocean beach every morning, relishing the sound of the waves as the characters finally began to get down to the res in their dialogues with one another. So was it Cirey or this beach at dawn that unlocked the gates to my best work?