A HIGH SCHOOL REUNION OF SORTS
When Doug Brendel called to tell me about his new novel, I
took a quick trip up to Boston to meet with him to chat. We hadn’t seen
each other for 46 years. By chance, it was also a weekend when three of my girlfriends
were visiting Boston, so the timing couldn’t have been better.
Doug was a year behind me in high school. We bonded back then, in part,
because we both orbited at the edge of the student body. We were too intellectual,
too curious, too intense for Griffith High School. If you grew up in “the
region,” you expected to graduate and immediately go to work in the steel
mills. Doug and I were different. We wanted to spread our wings.
And we did. Today Doug and his wife run a charity in Belarus. I’ve
traveled the globe. He’s done community theatre and writes
fundraising letters. I've been a motivational speaker, a TV talk show host, and an author. He has three kids; I have one.
He’s also grown taller. When he stepped out of his bright
red Smart Car, he towered over me. My first thought on seeing Doug was, “He’s a grown man!” How silly is that?
Of course, when I attended my high school reunion, and saw all the “students” holding alcoholic drinks in their hands, I thought, “Boy, are we ever going to get in trouble for drinking!” Duh.
This visit, Doug and I talked for hours. Revisiting those
years with an old friend was like re-reading a familiar book. I gained new
insights into myself and that world. When time came to part, we hugged and I
marveled over the way two people could go opposite ways, only to converge and
reappear at similar spots in life.
OH, POE!
After visiting with Doug, I spent time with three girlfriends, Marla, Dru, and Yifat. We had a blast exploring Boston and Salem. I'll try to share more about that visit next week.
DISCOUNTED KIKI BOOK #1--
PAPER, SCISSORS, DEATH
Last week 1269 people downloaded free copies of LOVE, DIE, NEIGHBOR: THE PREQUEL TO THE KIKI LOWENSTEIN MYSTERY SERIES. I urged people to share the download link then, and the response has been so terrific that I'm sharing it now: BookHip.com/FXFPLV
This Wednesday and Thursday only, you can buy PAPER, SCISSORS, DEATH: BOOK #1 IN THE KIKI LOWENSTEIN MYSTERY SERIES for only 99 cents. That's a special price good on Wednesday (August 23) and Thursday (August 24). Here's the link--but remember that that price is good for those two days only. http://bit.ly/PSDKL1
Meanwhile, I'm finishing FATAL, FAMILY ALBUM: BOOK #13 IN THE KIKI LOWENSTEIN MYSTERY SERIES. It will be released November 13, 2017.
I'm also doing edits for HAPPY HOMICIDES 6: COOKING UP CRIME, which will be released in October.
COLORING CLUB NEWS
A lot of you indicated how much you enjoy coloring. To encourage all of us, I started a Coloring Club on Facebook. Here's the link: http://bit.ly/JCS-ColoringClub
Each week I'll post a new page for us to color. You'll have a week to complete your work, although we don't really care if you finish or not. After all, the goal is to use coloring as a way to de-stress, not to add more stress to your life. At the end of each week, I use a random number generator to pick a winner from those who've posted their work--and that person gets a free coloring book.
This week we're working on an owl--and I've already gotten mine done! It was a real HOOT to do!
NEW SERIALIZED SHORT STORY
I'm writing a progressive, serialized short story called "Kiki Lowenstein and the Watermelon Festival."
Here's the link to Part I
and here's the link to Part II
If you are on my newsletter list, you'll get notice when I post Part III. To sign up, go to my website at www.JoannaSlan.com or email my author assistant Sally at SALFL27@att.net.
Whew...that's it for this week!
