I took a break from working on the rewrite of KILLER HOOKS while I went to Writers Police Academy. It was too intense to do much about get something to eat and crash before the next day. The food getting was a bit of an issue. Breakfast was taken care of at the hotel and part of our registration. Lunch was another buffet served at the technical college where our workshops were. I'm a vegetarian and the food was geared toward meat eaters. I am not fussing and will make due, but I was a little disgruntled when they ran out of salad at lunch since the burgers and barbecued pork weren't options for me.
Although the hotel was located on the main street in Appleton, there weren't a lot of eating options that worked for me. It seemed like every place was a burger and beer place. I find a Jimmie Johns that had a vegetarian sandwich and ate it for two night. It did the job, tasted good and got rid of my hunger.
There was a banquet the last night and they offered a vegetarian option. That's always a bit of a mystery what they'll serve. There are times when I've gotten plates of food that nobody is sure what it is. This time it was straight forward-- some rice with a few sauteed vegetables on top in a sweet sort of sauce. No protein like tofu, nuts, cheese and not even a very generous portion. Apparently, they think being a vegetarian means you're on a diet as well.
But this wasn't a food trip. And I hardly look malnourished.
The weekend conference was great. I met an assortment of people. Most were very friendly and a few were not. I was interested in listening to everyone.
I really enjoyed the workshops. I particularly liked the one about how to K-9s. The woman who put it on was a veterinarian who taught first responders how to treat police dogs who had been injured. First, I fell in love with he dog. He was a Belgian Malinois who had been a working dog, but failed because he had some defect in his jaw and couldn't hold a suspect. But without his working jacket on, he was a totally sweetheart who gave me dog kisses. During the workshop, I learned how to do CPR on a dog, how to deal with their choking and the fact that the first thing to deal with is making sure they won't bite you while you're trying to help them.
There was a workshop on drugs which was fascinating and depressing at the same time. We even learned how to make pills.
By the last day, I was ready to go home. With my stay in Chicago, I'd been gone for ten days. I literally left at the crack of dawn and the streets of Appleton were deserted as the van took me to the airport. I had to fly to Chicago and change planes there. The flight to Chicago was on a small plane and it seemed like we were landing. I could see the ground was close by and then suddenly the plane went up and we were back in the clouds. No explanation. Meanwhile I made friends with my seatmate and he showed me pictures of his strawberry plants and told me he was on his way to St. Louis. There was a second attempt to land and this time we made it to the ground.
The flight to L..A. was nicely uneventful.
I am down to working on the last twenty pages of the manuscript, checking the crochet pattern and making the recipe the recipe. And then next week, it will be off to my editor. It feels like this has been going on forever, but it's always bittersweet to reach the end. Not that it will really be done with. I'll get it back with corrections and have a chance to change things.
I love all these characters and by now know them pretty well. It has been fun spending time with them.
7 comments:
Good morning -- Sounds like you've had an eventful couple of weeks. Interesting learning how to do CPR on a dog. My daughter has been nursing her dog through his recovery from dental surgery -- she said he was so limp before the anesthesia wore off that he moved like he was made out of slime.
My son has several friends here who are vegans -- fortunately, in a big city like Phoenix there are many restaurants that cater to them. At gatherings of friends, they usually bring their own food -- for my taste, some are good, some are really awful.
Last time I flew I sat next to a woman who was looking at pictures on her phone of someone barrel racing, I asked if she minded showing them to me as I knew several barrel racers in Texas. Turned out she was from Weatherford, TX which is near where I lived, even knew a couple of the same people. Weatherford is also known for its peaches -- she baked peach pies to sell. She very kindly sent me a text with her recipe for pie and cobbler -- yummy.
I made a big dent in my stash of yarn -- my granddaughter mentioned she and several friends wanted to make afghans but none of them had the extra money to buy yarn. I said come over and you can take what you need from my stash. I set aside yarns that were off limits to them but they each found something they really like. She hasn't done much crocheting lately but she says she will definitely keep with it.
Today is predicted to be 103 -- a good day to stay in with the a/c on and crochet. I'm looking forward to reading the next chapter in the lives of the Tarzana Hookers -- maybe I should say chapters!!
Enjoy your day --
Patty, the connection to the woman on the plane was interesting. How cool that she knew people that you knew. I love it when things like that happen.
I bet your granddaughter and her friends appreciated that you let them play yarn store. It does sound like a good day to stay inside where you are. Here, it still looks like Seattle. Cloudy and cool. It's a good day to be at my computer.
Molly is working her way to the finish, but where I'm at now, she's in a whole lot of trouble.
I understand they have just started a direct flight from Appleton to Portland. it would be great if they would do a direct between LA and Appleton. That little hop between Chicago and Appleton is a nightmare.
This gloomy weather is getting tiresome. My daughter's family is down from Idaho, and they plan to go to the beach tomorrow no matter what. They did Disneyland and Sea World, but they
must get to the ocean.
Looking forward to the book--they really seem to be asking for a lot of rewriting this time ! Molly always gets in such trouble--and Barry saves her from things like electric eels !
I firmly believe that everyone in Texas is related in some way to everyone else. When we moved back to Dan's little home town, his mom said not to talk about a Park, a Pack or a Parham as they are related to everyone. Very true!!
There was a woman who was called Mama Zim -- she took care of Dan's little sister when she was a baby and later, her son. Dan and I were in a little cafe in Ft. Worth and the man said he was sorry service was so slow but his wife had gone to Stephenville to take care of her aunt's affairs -- the aunt had recently died. I told him that's where we were from and asked the aunt's name -- it was Mama Zim!!
I hope Molly's troubles work out well -- they always seem to. Otherwise, no more books!! Of course, Adele would love to be the central character.
Linda Osborn, there is a direct flight from Appleton to Las Vegas, too. But its a question of which airline you want to fly on. The weather was bad for the short flight to Chicago. After both areas not having rain in a long time, it was raining both places.
I agree about the gloomy weather getting tiresome, though it was probably better than heat and too much sun at Disneyland. I've only been to Sea World once and I really liked it.
Nobody is asking for rewrites on the Molly book except me. I'm doing what I always have, I just never talked about it. Though at this point, it does seem to be endless.I think Molly is looking forward to some time to put up her feet and relax after I get to the end of this book.
As soon as I got home, the interruptions began. This morning, Jakey asked me to make his oatmeal warm again which cracked me up. He's out of school for the summer. He seems so grown up. He's joined the rest of them and comes into the doorway of the little room where I work and asks for whatever he needs. None of it really bothers me and I mostly laugh at their demands.
It was fun writing about the eels.
Patty, Cool story about Mama Zim.
Molly's trouble will definitely work out and be a set up for the next book. You are right, Adele would love to be the star, but then she thinks she is already.
I would have loved to see the workshop on K-9s and spoken with the veterinarian--and learned to do CPR on dogs, Betty! Sounds like you had an enjoyable time--except for the eating part.
Post a Comment