KILLER HOOKS has a Life of It's Own

 

Didn't September just begin.  Now it's just about toast.  This week went by in a blur.  Monday a family trip to Disneyland.  I mused remembering being there a few weeks before my son was born and now we were with his son.  

  Tuesday was the release day for KILLER HOOKS, so it is out in the universe now.  No longer mine to tamper with.  It has it's own life now, out of my control.

Wednesday it was back to working on KNOT DEAD, AGAIN.  I wish I could say that I was sailing along on it, but it's more like a spurt of a few words.  I just need some time and I will get back in the groove.

Thursday was dominated by dealing with trying to pay a bill online with a very uncooperative company.  Have you noticed that customer service has gone out the window.    I always love how some bill will say save time and pay online and then it takes forever ti figure out how to do it.

It isn't Friday yet, but my thoughts are focused on the dental appointment I have in the morning.  Not my favorite place to go.  

And just like that it will be the weekend again.  I need to finish the crossword puzzle in my People magazine before the new issue comes out.  It might rain on Saturday.  How strange the weather has been.  No hot windy days like a usual September.  

All this cooler weather has made me think more about cooking.  It helps that I keep seeing recipes online.  Today I saw one for a baked pancake with cooked apple slices.   I used to make a baked pancake often.  It's kind of like a giant popover.  I had a pan I used to use which I have no idea where is.  I was thinking about doing a search for it when I realized there was something right in front of me that would work.  I have a Le Creuset braiser that I use on top of the stove all the time.  I never thought about it being cast iron and fine to put in the oven.  Every time I'd see a recipe that started in a frying pan and went into the oven, I 'd think I couldn't make it.  I can't believe that I never even considered that pan.  It's all about to change.  I can't wait to make a baked pancake for my grandson. 

It's funny about missing things that are right in front of you.  It happens in writing a lot.  I will suddenly see a plot line I missed before.  I guess that's what rewriting is for.

Happy October!

More Writing--Of Course!

           Delighted to say I’m making progress on my fifth Shelter of Secrets story for Harlequin Romantic Suspense. I have it all plotted out, at least, and have put a synopsis together. And I’ve just started writing it. It’s taken a while, but now I’m ready to make more progress. I think it will work well with the series, which I’m having fun with. The series features an animal shelter, yes, but the people who are hired to help out there, who appear to be homeless folks taken in for their benefit, are actually taken in for their benefit for a different reason: they’re under protective custody. And this fifth story will involve a best-selling writer who’s in trouble.

Anyway…   I think I’ll stop writing this post now and start the story. Assuming Roxie will let me. She keeps putting her cold nose on my feet so I’ll throw one of her toys for her to fetch—her favorite thing these days.

Guess I’d better toss something—and start writing!

Something Old is New Again

 With the vast selection of movies available on TV now and with the big screens to watch it on, I forgot about actually going to a theater.  I wasn't fond of the sticky floor, the fake butter on the popcorn and the effort of gong somewhere.

I can't even remember the last time I saw a movie in a theater.  

The theater we used to go to finally closed and was replaced by a new one attached to a nearby shopping mall.  It looked lovely from the outside, but I didn't consider actually going there.  Until this week.  I'm not sure why I agreed to go.  Was it the need to go out in the world, the fact that tickets were cheap, or the movie was  based on an Agatha Christie book that I had tried to read several times and never found out who did it. ?  

When we walked into the building, I felt like I was a stranger in a strange land.  The snack bar was more elaborate then the old popcorn, candy and soda offering from the old theater.  I was glad I wasn't thirsty because the array of drink dispensers with all kind of things to choose from was actually overwhelming.  No more ticket booth-- just machines.  And no more tickets--its all on your phone now.

The theater itself was an improvement over what it replaced.  There were buttons to make the seat recline and a little table for your snacks.  I declined the recline.  It was after nine and I was afraid too much comfort would send me off to sleepy town.  

Since it was late on a Tuesday night, the theater was mostly empty.  

 The movie finally began and with the big screen and the dark room, I got lost in it.  I forgot about time and all the things I needed to do.  No one interrupted  with something they needed right then.  It was a complete escape.  

A Haunting in Venice is very loosely based on the book I kept trying to read.  A major character in the book isn't even in the movie.  I enjoyed it anyway and it turns out the killer was the same in the movie and the book the book that was called HALLOWEEN, even though the circumstances were different. 

When it was over and we walked out in the parking lot,  I felt refreshed and understood all over again the appeal to going to a theater to see a movie.  Next up BARBIE.

And Back to Writing Again!

 

I didn’t mention it last week, but I was visiting family in San Antonio last Wednesday when my blog was posted. They took us on a fun tour including the Alamo, a tour on a river boat, and another tour on a bus, as well as a visit to a charming-looking Texan town called Bandera.

We had lunch at a restaurant along the river, and I got to see some ducks and pigeons—and even feed them a few chips, as the restaurant workers do with leftovers. A good thing to do? Maybe not, but they seemed happy.

I didn’t get to write during those few days of going, coming and being there, but once again I’m back to writing. And as always, my mind was working while visiting, and I came home with an idea for another mystery series. Will anything come of it? Who knows, but I’ll at least have fun researching and potentially plotting it.

But now I’m back to working on my fifth Shelter of Secrets story for Harlequin Romantic Suspense.

And playing with Roxie and Cari, of course.

Sorry this is late!

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