A rainy day of celebration

A wet, cold day with rain that came and went, a day when anyone who could withdrew into their cozy space, maybe with a book and a hot cup of tea. I was in my cozy space, all right, but in my small corner of the literary world, it was a day of celebration. Irene in Danger, the second Irene in Chicago Culinary Mystery, is now available in print and ebook edition, on Amazon. No shameface for me as I post a link:  Irene in Danger: An Irene in Chicago Culinary Mystery - Kindle edition by Alter, Judy. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.  This is a link to the ebook edition. For some reason, Amazon did not link the two, and I’m not sure how to correct it, but the print link is right next to this one. Not hard to find. I’ve already gotten some nice buzz about the book—like “I’ll order it right now”—so I’m feeling good about that.

And I continue to be excited about the forthcoming—though still a long way off—third book, Irene Keeps a Secret. Tonight, my homework dilemma is whether I want to focus on cheese/spinach souffle or tuna casserole for a sensory food memory. Knowing the current attitude toward tuna casserole—to say it’s out of fashion is a huge understatement—I think I might just choose it. After all, Henny focuses on retro dishes on her TV show.

The other bright spot in the day was a cordial email from Buck Wharton, one of the last two co-owners of the Waggoner ranch. He wrote, with profuse apologies for not sending a handwritten note, for the copy I sent him of The Most Land, the Best Cattle: The Waggoners of Texas. He had just gotten it, said he and his family look forward to reading it, and he’ll be in touch after they have had a chance to do so. I will await that with some trepidation, but it was kind of him to write and the tone was friendly.

So today was a busy day answering emails, posting social media notices about Irene in Danger, and generally tending to this loose end and that. The kind of day I like because it reassures me I am still part off the working world, still part of the literary scene, no matter how small my corner of it.

Tonight, I went to dinner with friends Carol and Lon. We chose a small Italian restaurant, feeling sure it would be fairly empty on this cold night. Couldn’t have been more wrong--the place was crowded! Lots of others must have had our thought. Good dinner, better company. We caught up on all sorts of things.

The rain seems to have quit for now, though I hear it will be back during the night. Sophie is stationed at the back door of the house, looking in wistfully, ignoring the fact that she could come out here to a warm and cozy cottage. Our new tree looks grand and is enjoying this slow, gentle rain, I’m sure. Christian tells me we will have to treat it like a baby for the first year, including formula.

Like many across the country I am disappointed by the election results from Virginia. My own view is that much of the defeat lies on the shoulders of Joe Manchin and whats-her-name (it should be Karen) Sinema for obstructing their own party’s policies and making President Biden look ineffective. I am particularly concerned that Youngkin, who has looked way too smug in every picture all day, apparently won on a platform of encouraging parental participation in the school’s curriculum. Read that as censorship and banning CRT, which none of its opponents understand. I saw a wonderful interview with a Virginia voter who, when asked what he didn’t like about CRT, said, “Well, I don’t want to get into specifics.” Then he admitted he didn’t know much about it, but he knew it was something he didn’t like. Ignorance is what we are up against.

Even that doesn’t dampen my thoughts tonight—yes that’s a play on the damp weather. Stay cozy and warm everyone.