Sent Off

 I sent off my manuscript for the 4th Writer For Hire Mystery, SENTENCED TO DEATH.   And then, a sort of now what feeling took over.  I was so focused for so long and while the relief from the pressure felt good, it was a let down.

And now I'm faced with all the stuff I ignored, like piles of laundry, sprinklers that don't work right, cleaning a shower, etc.  The boring stuff.  The morning after I sent the manuscript off, I sat down and made a list of all the things I had to deal with.  It went on for pages.

I started to make a dent in it, but then I decided to let go for awhile and read something somebody else wrote and watch The First Lady series that someone had taped for me.  When I read or watch television, it isn't really a passive experience.  I am thinking about the plot, the execution, what I like, what I don't like -- when I read.  When I watch television, I usually have an inner dialogue going about what I'm watching.  I do it even with commercials.  I looked at where it was filmed, how they show people dancing and such in drug ads while they list the side effects that include horrible things.

In the case of the first ladies program, I had even more going on while I was watching.  Particularly in the case of Michelle Obama because they lived in my Chicago neighborhood.  Even though I never met them, it was as if they were people I could relate to living in the White House.

I guess I have a connection to Eleanor Roosevelt as Roosevelt University where I went to school was named for her not Franklin.  The only actual connection I have to Betty Ford is that they show her dancing with Tony Orlando and I didn't dance with him, but was at several parties with him.  

My other presidential connections were having my picture taken with Reagan at a Toys for Tots event,  Not really a presidential connect, but I when I was 15, I and a group from my neighborhood where brought into Bobby Kennedy's office to meet him.  I remember he was wearing a beautiful blue suit and there was a big black dog in the office and kids's artwork on the wall.

I highly recommend the Showtime series.  I had no idea how all the first ladies were hassled about wanting to actually do something.  The three women all had so much substance and still had to fight not to be treated like fluff.

While I'm talking about TV shows, I also watched the Lincoln Lawyer.  It was my one hour of respite when I was finishing the manuscript. There was a lot of active viewing with that series too, as I noted things about the plot and made predictions of what I thought was going to happen.  I was right and wrong.  I was fascinated by how and where it was filmed. I thought the casting was interesting.  I was sorry when it ended, but now want to watch Bosch which is also based on a Michael Connolly book.

I have giving my mind a little time to air out before I start working on the next book, even though I already started gathering reference stuff.