KILLER HOBBIES

I wrote this yesterday (Monday) evening.  Today I woke up early, but then wandered around most of the day, went to the store, came back and ate some lunch, turned on the tv and slept most of the afternoon.  Still groggy, but trying to post this thing.

This past Sunday Ellen and I went to a special gathering of the writers’ group, Crème de la Crime, to honor a founding member, Carl Brookins, on his retirement from active participation.  Lots of people came to see Carl presented with a heavy glass slab carved with his name and our thanks for his work and guidance.  That's Carl, standing in the center. And yes, that’s William Kent Kruger in the picture, sitting on the right.  He was in the group for years – he read Ordinary Grace to us and we were all blown away at its brilliance.  He confessed at this gathering that he was frightened to begin reading it to us, as it was such a departure from his northern Minnesota mystery stories.

It was exciting to be among all those writers, talking with them about their books and other adventures in the world of publishing.  Made me wish with all my heart that I could get back to writing.  Maybe I should set Tying the Knot aside and try to write something else.  But what?  Another mystery?  My biography? I’ve had some great adventures, some sad, some scary, some uplifting, but most of them comical, even embarrassing.  Maybe I could write a young adult adventure story, set in the mid-twentieth century, or in fifteenth century England.  Nah, I want to work on getting Goddy and Rafael married.  And get the killer of that wedding planner captured.

I’m going to start revamping my coin collection display to bring to The Money Show, put on by the Northwest Coin Club in mid-March.  I will also enter it in our State Fair late this summer.  I am eight coins short of having one silver coin for each British Monarch between Canute and Elizabeth II – a thousand years of English money.  Does anyone out there have a William and Mary they’d like to sell?