Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Shed Not the Bitter Tear

Here’s a pretty epitaph that was set above a number of young women’s graves, this one over Patience Holmes, age 24, of Plymouth, Mass.:

Shed not for her the bitter tear
Nor give the heart to vain regret,
‘Tis but the casket that lies here,
The gem that filled it sparkles yet.

Had a busy, fun weekend.  Friday Ellen and I went to a matinee performance of “Life Could Be A Dream,” which was performed at The Old Log Theater in Excelsior.  I am going to set the next Betsy Devonshire mystery there, and wanted a look at how the new owners revived and restored it.  It’s really nice – and what’s more, the performers were very talented, and the show was great fun.  All those wonderful old “doo-wop” songs had the audience, heavily senior, applauding and cheering. "Who Put the Bomp," “Unchained Melody,” “Stay,” many others, the whole show performed by just four men and one woman, full of energy and feeling.  I’m going to have to dial it down some for my version of a play put on out there.

Saturday I had a friend over in the morning to carve pumpkins.  They aren’t the real kind, but the artificial ones you can buy in places like Michael’s.  I like to do elaborate patterns, and doing it on a real pumpkin is such a waste!  All those hours of work, and in a week or less, you throw it away.  I’ve started a gargoyle’s face and will have to work hard to finish it by Halloween. 

Then we went to a writer’s group meeting, where my synopsis of Ebenezer’s Christmas Yarn was praised – with a strong suggestion that I don’t have enough suspects and need to revise it.  Unfortunately, they’re right.  *sigh*

Then we went to see a movie, “The Book of Life.”  I really liked it, it’s brilliant and colorful and made me understand the Mexican tradition of visiting the graves of their departed relatives on the Day of the Dead.

Sunday I rode with my producer to take a look at the site the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) holds its annual Warriors and Warlords camping event.  It’s in Osseo, Wisconsin, a few hours from the Cities.  We are thinking of filming my book Knight Fall there.  I wasn’t wild about it, the site is a work in progress and the woods are mostly white pine, but it’s close to us compared to the site in the book (a campground in western Pennsylvania) and the owner is very excited at the idea of a movie being made on his property. 

This coming weekend we will be in Indianapolis for the grand mystery convention, Magna cum Murder.  I’m going to be on two panels.  I’m excited and hope I can hold up my part – the moderator of one of the panels is Parnell Hall, a wild and crazy and hilarious man.  Wish me luck!

5 comments:

Linda O. Johnston said...

You do sound busy, Monica. And I'll be eager to hear how you enjoy Magna cum Murder. It sounds like fun! I won't be there, but I'll be at Bouchercon next month.

Monica Ferris said...

I've been going to Magna since its inception, over twenty years ago. I think I've missed only one, or maybe two. I don't have the energy to attend both Magna and Bouchercon, so I'm choosing Magna.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you could add another "angel" backer for the production -- say, a mysterious newcomer who turns out to be a writer in hiding because her last book featured a character based on a (now former) friend who so disliked it that he/she has been stalking her ever since. The ex-friend could be a drama critic who has decided to grace Excelsior with his/her presence for the Xmas season, supposedly as part of his/her annual habit of reviewing amateur stage performances of A Christmas Carol.

Betty Hechtman said...

It sounds like you had a busy week filled with interesting things. Magna Cum Murder sounds great. Have fun.

Anonymous said...

Or, perhaps, instead of a critic, he/she could be a director.