Lane von Herzen: Trespassers at the MacWilliams' Home in Portola Valley

My Third Novel's Conclusion, My Heartbreak

My heart begins to break when I think about completing this particular book -- because this narrative has sustained me like no other story I've known. It's both more personal and more universal than my other works. But beyond memory and archetype, it's a cri-de-coeur about needing to become the person one is destined to be. And in the writing, I have met my own life's work, my own fated journey -- having the sense all the while that the pages are suffused with a resonance, an energy, an electrified field that defies explanation. Writers hope and pray to be overtaken by a work in this way -- to be conscripted into passionate service of a profound story. To experience it even once in a lifetime seems a great privilege. I still have several months before this novel is complete, and this constitutes my reprieve. Because I'm not ready for the beauty to end.

Friday, December 2, 2022

Trespassers at the MacWilliams' Home in Portola Valley

This is to document that, approximately one hour ago, at 4:30 AM Pacific Time, I interrupted two male trespassers on the second-level deck of our Portola Valley residence.

This deck adjoins our bedrooms via glass doors.

These men moved in a crouched position from the west side of the deck to the east.

They traversed this space with sufficient quiet and speed, it is my estimation that these individuals almost certainly had military training.

I roused our household with a sound alarm, after which my husband and I repeatedly assessed the interior perimeter of our residence.

I consider this incursion onto our property to be extremely serious.

Its timing leads me to believe that it may be related to the information I recently provided to investigators regarding harm caused to four college students as potentially related to the actions of FBI contractors.

I hereby certify that the foregoing is true and correct.