Blogcation

You know how people are taking staycations these days? Vacationing by staying home--either doing those undone chores or exploring their own home cities? Well, I'm taking a blogcation for a week or more. I'm thinking of it as time to regroup. Sometimes I feel my blogs have deteriorated into daily trivia or else I get too passionate about politics and humanitarian issues. I blog because it's fun for me, like keeping a journal only sharing it with others. I'm in a group that focuses on memoir, and when I think about doing a memoir I remember the blog. What I need to do is find time to cull out my favorites and compile them. But I won't get that done this week! Another reason for my blogcation is to catch up on some projects I've been putting off. I never knew retirement could be so busy!
But primarily I want to rethink the direction of my blog. I want to tell you more about my writing--triumphs, failures, lessons learned, etc. all of which is exciting to me and I hope to a few of you. And I hope to rethink some things that are important to me--family, friends, social justice, the direction of our country.
The good news is that I will have my regular Wednesday guest--this week Michele Drier is writing about growing up. Maybe that's what I need to do with my staycation.
Don't leave--I'll be back in a week or so. Meantime thanks for following me.

Ready for a break

I'm at loose ends tonight. I've finished the rough draft of a novel, won't do more until I hear from my critique reader, and not ready to jump into another novel so soon; I'm caught up on various other chores, even got my income tax information to the accountant. And I'm flat out of blogging ideas. So I'm taking a break for a week. No writing, no blogging, minimal email and Facebook. I've got six books on my iPad, and I'm going to read ad laugh and dance and play, eat fine meals and sleep a lot.
So please mark your calendar and check back...oh, next Friday or Saturday, and I'll be back with more Judy's Stew and Potluck with Judy. Until then, see 'ya!

Th value of trivia in blogs

A friend wrote me today, apparently after having read by blog last night. She said she enjoys  the informal blogs she follows, those that give a sense of people's daily lives. When she used to read newspaper columns, she felt she was being lectured to. Well that's all the encouragement I needed, so here goes a trivia, "what I did today" blog.
By three this afternoon, I had gotten my household running including watering porch plants--I think I am drowning two planters of cactus and vow to ignore them. I had been to the grocery and put away what I bought, created a kitchen garden, made ham salad, done my yoga, and written 2,000 words on the current novel. Yes, I  deserved a nap--and had a good one.
Elizabeth, my long-time friend, once student and now yoga guru, came for supper since her husband is at Comic Con in San Diego. I promised her eggs and bacon--instead I froze the bacon, and we had a green salad with lime/cilantro dressing and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, diced tomatoes, and chopped scallions--with white wine, of course. She brought some delicious mocha-chocolate morsels made with coconut oil--and the coconut taste was pronounced. So good! We had a good visit talking about everything from the effect of attitude on health to a cat that is peeing on her bed. Didn't solve the world's problems, but as she said, "We could, if anyone would listen to us." As she left, she said, "It's never just bacon and eggs at your house."
I've thought a lot about the way parents schedule children this weekend. Jordan is out of town on business (Jamaica, poor girl) so Christian is the single parent, and Jacob had a busy social schedule. What ended up being a play date last night, a birthday party this afternoon, and a play date from 6:30 to 8:30 this evening. Tomorrow he has a birthday party at 11:00--don't know what those parents were thinking. That's church time. Since Christian won't be meeting me at church, I'm going to stay home and pickle some veggies--but I'll go to church via the radio. But poor Christian--not a moment to call his own. I'm of the school that kids should be left on their own, and that's what I often do with Jacob. Problem is, when left on his own, he plants himself in front of the TV. I'm seriously thinking of rationing it. It's not a problem this summer, because he's not here much. But in the fall when school starts and he's here every afternoon, I'm going to make some rules. Hmmm--haven't thought of what the rules are though.
Meanwhile Christian is going to bring us supper from Maid-Rite tomorrow night. Looking forward to that pork tenderloin sandwich.
Now I'm going back to the book I"m reading: Jack 1939. It's based on the fictional premise that FDR made a young JFK his spy in Europe as Hitler was trying to buy the U.S. election and defeat FDR.  JFK had a diplomatic passport because his father was Ambassador to England--and a Hitler sympathizer. Wish I knew more about the history of the era so I could tell if this is far-fetched or not.

Blogging and writing

I've been blogging for six years now, almost to the day. Sometimes I find it addictive, like having someone to talk with about the things I find important. But many days, I feel my blog lapses into trivia, sort of "what I did today." A flattering email from the director of a small academic press, suggesting a book of blogs, sent me to looking at some back blogs. I knew the one I did just this week on religion and politics had legs, even if controversial--some people think I should just shut up. But I found others with substance, and the idea began to take shape. I asked if he meant to include my food blog, Potluck with Judy, and he kind of left it up to me. So I'm thinking a two-section collection, with some from each blog. It would take me forever to put that together, and it won't be tomorrow because I've honestly started writing--again--on that fourth Kelly O'Connell mystery.
I have a friend who is writing a memoir. She did everything she could to avoid working on it--laundry, cleaning house, washing windows (well, I don't know about that). Someone suggested she write a letter, "Dear World, I'm sorry I didn't write that book. I was busy doing the laundry." So she set aside two- or three-hour blocks of time, maybe once or twice a week, during which she would write--period. One day she wrote for a while and ran dry, but she was determined to sit there. So sit there she did, staring into space. Oh, it's so easy to give others advice. "Write through it," I said. "Just write, don't worry about what. Just put words on paper. You can edit later."
We never take our own advice. I've distracted myself with editing someone else's manuscript, blogging, writing guest posts for other people's blogs, e-mailing, and reading. But this week I'm back to it, and I'm trying to set a goal--2,000 words a day. If they are meaningless trivia, so be it. I sort of know how this novel is going to work out, but at 20,000 words the end seems so far away that I'm afraid to introduce some of those final elements--or even the building-tension ones--so early. Then what will I do? On the other hand, if I'd go ahead and do that, perhaps my characters would lead me in other directions, and I'd find it all works out.
I know writers who spend four, five, six hours a day at their computers--without even the distraction of e-mail. Would I were such a one. When people ask when I write, I say, "Whenever I can fit it in." That would be easier if I were reclusive by nature, but I'm not. I usually spend Mondays at home all day, so by Tuesday I'm ready for social life. This week I've had lunch with friends two days, happy hour one night (on my porch), and supper out three--if you count tonight when I went to Jordan's potluck (which she had left Christian to host while she went to Jamaica on business). Pizza was the order of the day, so I took an appetizer, had a glass of wine and visited, and came home for my own supper of smoked salmon, cream cheese, tomato--and raspberries and chocolate for dessert. But tomorrow night a friend is coming for supper, and Sunday, Christian, Jacob, and I will eat together.
And then there's the domestic side: I love to cook. So sometime this weekend, I want to pickle some vegetables. That definitely did not intrigue Christian, who is not a vegetable person. But I bought broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, summer squash, and green beans today--plus a cucumber to refresh my stock of marinaed cucumbers. For the others, I think I'll sprinkle in a bit of pimiento just for color (I'm not a fan, but I do like pimiento cheese, especially Palmetto) and instead of pickling spices, I'll use Italian herbs.
I won't even mention reading. But I think it was Stephen King who said if you don't have time to read, you don't have time or the ability to write--something to that effect.
I am reminded of Anne Lamott's book, Bird by Bird. Every writer should read it--to me the basic advice is to put one word after the other, though I also value her thought that we should worry about character not plot. Wonder if I could find that on my bookshelves to give to my memoir-writing friend.

Is blogging passe?

The Liptstick Chronicles, a collective blog by several mystery writers, is closing down as of January 1. Blogging, they say, has seen its day. "The party's over." The authors behind this blog feel that other social media--Facebook,Twitter, Goodreads--have taken the place of blogging. (I am active on Facebook, barely alive on Twitter and confounded by Goodreads--can't figure out how to post). The Chronicles didn't aim to teach wannabe writers to write or writers to sell. These bloggers wanted to show the world that writers are human, with a sense of humor and everyday adventures just like the rest of us. Hats off to
NANCY MARTIN
ELAINE VIETS
SARAH STROHMEYER
HARLEY JANE KOZAK
KATHY RESCHINI SWEENEY
MARGARET MARON
JOSHILYN JACKSON
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN
BRUNONIA BARRY
NANCY PICKARD
CORNELIA READ
BARBARA O’NEAL
HEATHER GRAHAM
AMY HATVANY
They did an admirable job, and many of us will miss them. But their "party's  over" message emphasized a rumor I've been hearing. Blogging doesn't sell books, it's old-fashioned (boy, that happened quickly). Of course, now I'm wondering if I'm a luddite since I've been blogging for five years and have some 32,000+ hits--not all that many for such a long time but still respectable.
Bloggers probably have to examine the reason they blog. If it's to sell books, forget it. No one likes a hard sell. Sure I announce my books and report good things from time to time, but I don't blog to sell--except in a roundabout way. Nor do I blog to teach--what I could teach would barely fill one post. Sometimes I do reflect on writing and various aspects of it, sometimes I report on books I've enjoyed. I almost never mention books I didn't like.
But a lot of the time I  report the high points of my life and the trivia. Are you really interested that my two major accomplishments of the morning were to put Draino in the bathroom sink and re-season my cast iron skillet--I think in the process I may have ruined the latter, and now I've got to do something about the slow drain the tub. Hardly high points in anyone's day.
So why blog? First of all, it's a challenge that's fun--what can I talk about  tonight? I blog almost every night, except those days when my mind truly is a blank or the rare occasion when I'm so busy all day and evening I don't  have the energy or time. I blog about what's happening in my life--if you're a regular reader, you must feel like you know grandson Jacob and my dining pal Betty and my neighbors. I blog about random things I read in the paper or on Facebook. The temptation to blog about politics is almost  not to be withstood by this dedicated liberal but my conservative son-in-law says I'm always political. I think the point behind this kind of blogging is to make and keep friends. I had an email this morning from an old and dear friend who said she was so glad I had a blog so she could keep up with me but then she realized she doesn't have a blog and should write. Wonderful reaction.
My oldest daughter says Skeleton in a Dead Space is a highly autobiographical novel, so that's a minor reason for my blogs. If you like me as a person, perhaps you'll like my autobiographical novel--wait! most of those things never happened to me; I was a single parent, but I've never found a skeleton nor been in a physical fight. Future novels will be less autobiographical as Kelly's life takes turns mine didn't but maybe you figure if you like me, you'll continue to like Kelly. She does, after all, reflect the kind of person I am.
I'm not too busy too blog--in fact, I'm at a hiatus in my writing right now, which is a whole other story. And I'm not ready to quit blogging. I hope you're not reading to stop reading, even if only occasionally.
Cheers and Happy Holidays! I'll be a at Potluck with Judy tomorrow with some kind of holiday recipe. Haven't decided what. Oh,  yeah, I forgot to mention that blogging is a spur-of-the-moment thing for me and not something I labor over. Perhaps you already guessed that.

Falling into a routine

After two-and-a-half weeks with the new pup, my days have fallen into a routine--not a good routine, mind you, just a routine. In the morning I feed the cat, take the pup out until she pees, then lock her in the bathroom while I take Scooby out and feed him, Then back to the bathroom to brush my teeth, gather my towel, hairbrush and comb and the pup and proceed to the kitchen, where I feed her, wash dishes left from the night before--usually a wine glass and a water glass-and wash my hair. Towel my wet hair and comb it back to dry. The trick here is to get the pup back outside to poop without disturbing the older dog--some days it works, some days it doesn't.
Then on to the office, where Sophie, full of energy, runs amuck, chewing on everything but her numerous toys, and I spend a lot of time refocusing her attention. Aftr an hour or so, she runs out of steam and naps. My clue to hop up, make the bed, water the plants, etc. When she wakes, it's time to take her out again, and then depending on my day return to the office or put her in her crate so I can run errands.
Lunch and dinner provide similar juggling acts--take care of cat, older dog, and pup without letting them cross paths because they don't do well together. I'm hoping that will change when Sophie is older and not quite so full of energy--but, omigosh, does she have energy. I bless the days that Jacob and Jordan come and let her run wild in the backyard.
Am I writing? Well, not much. But I have finally, with lots of help from a friend, ordered bookmarks, and by myself I designed a flyer for the signings that will also do as an "If you're oiut of town, here's how to order" flyer. I'm keeping up with emails, writing blogs, including a few guest blogs, and generally trying to be professional about life. I've 2,000 words on a new novel, and every morning I think I'll get back to it, but it's like the weather forecasts: they keep telling us that in three or four days the temperature will go down into the upper 90s, but when the time comes, it never does. And now Hurricane Don is not only going to miss us, it's not much of a hurricane anymore.
I know my days will change and grow easier as Sophie grows older but right now I just keep reminding myself what it was like to have a new baby in the house. Except new babies didn't chew everything in sight (including my hands and feet) with sharp little teeth. Tonight, she destroyed the handle of a wicker basket, which I quickly took away because those little slivers could get in her lungs.
Sophie is truly an amazing, loving little creature--but she's not a placid dog. I said I wanted a dog with spirit, and oh boy, did I get her!

Writerly woes

What's a writer to do in this fast-changing world of e-publishing? I read a lot of listservs and blogs and the like. Yes, they take time but I'm afraid I'll miss some valuable piece of information. Trouble is, I get so much information I can't process and sort it all.
Take blogs: surveys have found that blogs do not sell books. But, hey, is that why I blog? I blog because I likie to and because I like to keep in touch. Individual writers protest that blogs get your name known and indirectly sell books. The thing you must avoid is BSP (blatant self-promotion).  Best suggestions I've heard are that hosting other writers on your blog is a good idea, as is being a guest blogger on other sites. Sort of crossing audiences or whatever. Let me ask you, dear reader, would you like to hear from other authors on this site?
Then there's the question of who's reading blogs? Are we blogging for other writers? If so, that's preaching to the choir. Are we blogging for the general reader (which I hope I am)? Then I have to move beyond marketing and such subjects and back to grandmothering and cooking--two topics where I'm comfortable.
And then there are all the lists and groups you can join: Linked In, BacklisteBestsellers, Good Reads, Kindle Nation, KindleBoards, and a host of others. To do all that would take every minute of every day--when would a person write, let alone have a life? I've deided you have to focus on one or two that seem most valuable to what you want and disregard the others.
And of course there's Facebook and Twitter. I do pretty well with Facebook, not that I'm among the most active--but I do respond to other posts, occasionally post something new, and always put this blog up. But Twitter in my mind is a whole different critter. I'm not sure what to post, and I never think I have anything significant unless it's BSP like "Why haven't you bought my book?" Not appropriate at all. I try occasionally. I read once if you post on Twitter once a day you're doing better than 90% of people. Well, probably 70% are doing better than I am! Sometimes I sit and think, "Hmmm. What can I post on Twitter?"
Then there's the matter of publicizing your e-books. If you don't plunge in and take a proactive approach, no one will ever find your books. All of this is a constant learning process, but I've just learned today how to offer free review copies to e-book bloggers. I have a long list of online bloggers but I'll have to research each one to see if they do backlist e-books. A part of me is waiting to make a big push when I have a brand new title--if ever. But I'll get to work on that. I read postings from people who are making a thousand dollars a month from their backlist, and I know I'm doing something wrong--or not doing something right. I might have a credit account with Amazon and Smashwords, combined, of $10-$12
Okay, BSP: My 1988 Spur Award winning novel Mattie and my short story collection are up on Smashwords (http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Judy+alter) and on Kindle (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Judy+Alter).
And this is retirement? I tell myself it's keeping my brain young and active.
Meantime, back to cooking and grandmothering. Christian, Jacob and I went to church this morning. Jacob was fine in nursery school--after he pitched a wall-eyed fit when I tried to take him last summer. Maybe he's just that much older or maybe his daddy being there made him more comfortable. We both enjoyed the service immensely--the sermon was outstanding. Houston Bowers said when he hears someone say, "I gave my heart to Jesus," or "I gave my life to Jesus," he wants to shout: "That's not the way it works. Jesus takes it!" But best of all for me was that the anthem was "How Great Thou Art," my all time favorite. I told Christian he was to be sure it's played at my memorial service, but he just laughed. I liked being back in church. I just don't like going alone, but now maybe I've broken the ice and also maybe the Burtons will go with me more.
Another dull, chilly day in North Texas--not cold, but it felt that way. The birds swarm to the feeder outside my kitchen window, and I love watching them, though they can be a feisty bunch. I have a pair of cardinals that frequently come. Did you know they mate for life? Then I have pesky squirrels--I bang on the grate of my greenhouse window, and that usually scares them away. I have been known to run outside yelling like a banshee for Scooby to chase them off.

Milestones

I hit two miletones yesterday--and one of them almost slipped by me. When I reached the mark of 19,000 hits on my blog, I thought I'd watch and have a blogobration (is that a blog celebration?) at 20,000. But I must have turned my head. Either that or more people read it than usual, because last night I looked and it was at 20,077. Now folks, this is not the Huffington Post--that probably gets over a thousand hits a day. I've been blogging four years, so that probably averages to 20 hits a day, though I think it's been growing lately. I guess the good news is that people don't read it once or twice and get bored but seem to come back. So I'm pleased. I enjoy blogging, and I'll keep doing it. I thank those of you who read it daily--Jeannie and Marcia and Elizabeth, among others--and those of you who check in when  you have time. Sometimes I think my blog is such a mish-mash that I'm not sure where it's going--but I try to keep it a mix of writing, cooking, and grandmothering--hats off to Melanie for coming up with that concept and title. And I try to avoid politics, though every once in a while I can't resist inserting a bit of my opinion on that subject. But thank you all for reading and caring. I'd like to hear more from you--what do you want me to talk about, what interests you, what bores you?
The second milestone was that I sent the rough draft of my Texas food book to the publisher who's expressed interest--I guess I blogged about that last night. But it was an accomplishment, because when I first looked at the list of foods that began in Texas, I thought writing about all of them was insurmountable. It wasn't. Instead it was fun.
Another phone bank day at the Bill White campaign office. I particularly liked the lady who said she didn't know anything about White, and we got to chatting. At one point she said to me, "I'm 70, but I'm not a dumb 70." I replied, "I got you beat. I'm 72." We laughed and continued to have a good conversation. It makes you feel good when you open someone's eyes to study the issues and the candidates, even if they don't immediately agree with you. Several people said to me, "I don't want to get involved." A campaign worker said, "You should ask them why they don't want to get involved. Don't they realize this is their state, and who is elected affects their daily lives?" I'll try it next week.
Jacob came for supper tonight. Supper consisted for him of seven chicken nuggets and one blackberry. I made myself another version of tuna salad--this with lemon, tomato, fresh tarragon from my porch, mayonnaise, red onion, and ate it along with hearts of palm and hummus. Good dinner, and not too fattening. Jacob's dad came and together they fnished the blackberries. But I turned a deaf ear to Jacob's pleas for ice cream. I think I've learned my lesson about sweets. He proudly pointed out to his dad where he hid under the dining room table the other night, and Christian, bless him, used the occasion to reinforce that Jacob was not ever going to hide from Juju again.
I'm usually a sound sleeper but last night I could not get to sleep. I would swear I didn't sleep all night, but my mom used to tell me I did and just didn't know it. But I do know I never got that deep REM sleep we need--and this morning at an 8:00 breakfast I felt like I was sleep-walking. Jacob's early arrival interrupted a good nap that Scooby and I were sharing, so I'm off to bed early. It seems a busy week looms, but when I think about it, I suspect its easily manageable.
Again, thanks for being interested in me and my doings, my writing, my cooking, my family.

April Fool's and Facebook

I guess I'm a little dense about April Fool's now that all the pranking kids are out of my house. Couldn't figure out why Google said Topeka today until a librarian sent out an email to the whole staff to check it. Then I had to ask him what the deal was, and he explained. Then I saw it on NBC Nightly News, which really made me feel dense. I also get a booksellers' newsletter online called Shelf Awareness. This morning it was all about sweeping changes in publishing--what's in and what's out--due to President Obama's recent triumphs, health care, arms treaty, etc. One publisher was changing its name to Armegeddon and publishing works by Sarah Palin and others of the same ilk. About halfway through, I got the gist of it and had a good laugh. Then there have been funny posts on Sisters in Crime. Maybe I'm not used to April Fool's jokes being so intellectual.
I searched for an old friend today on Facebook and invited her to be my friend. She replied by email that she didn't do any social networking any more (she must check Facebook to know that I tried to contact her) but she was still my friend. So I emailed.
My kids used to tell me I should get on Facebook, and I scoffed. But when I finally did I realized it's a good way to keep up with them--except the Houston Alters who have given it up (and not just for Lent). Now my complaint is almost the opposite--some of them are on Gowalla (whatever that is) where posts show up on Facebook showing where they are every minute--lots and lots of bars and restaurants, maybe more than I want to know. One son-in-law's Twitter posts automatically show up on Facebook, and he's a software engineer, so the posts have to do with stuff I have no inkling about. But then he does go to bars and restaurants.
What I've really found wonderful about it is that I do indeed connect with old friends with whom I'd lost touch--a former neighbor to whom I was close when our kids were young, my best friend from high school, writers I knew in the past but have lost touch with. And I keep up with friends and authors I probably wouldn't any other way. I'm aware of the dangers--one friend says her daughter-in-law got a horrible virus, and I know not to reveal too mch personal information--but I enjoy it.
On the Sisters in Crime listservs they emphasize the importance of Facebook, Twitter, blogging, You-Tube, etc. for publicizing your book. The big new thing is not an author tour to many cities, but a virtual tour online (thank goodness--who wants to sit, looking forlorn, in bookstores across the country while patrons try to avoid looking you in the eye!). So, in case I ever have a mystery published--please cross your fingers, eyes, and toes simultaneously--I've got a good start. I even took a class in Twitter (Jamie told me I was wasting $55), but it's still a mystery to me and I've given up on it. And You-Tube--no, I'm not going there. I'm very happy with my little corner of the social networking world, plus the listservs and blogs I follow. I truly do try not to let it take up too much of my desk time!

A super event, blogging, and a talk with my son

In spite of my promise not to post tonight, I find I'm home earlier than I thought and less tired. So I'll report tht our event--an onstage interview with an author, followed by signings--went well. We had over 500 tickets out for 450 seats but the 10% no-show rate held, and we had a packed audience but no overflow. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, it was a funny, interesting interview, and it all went well. TCU Press got lot of credit from the author, so that was good. There was a party afterwards to which I was invited but I begged off and came comfortably home to my cat and dog.
Three of my four children call me two, three, four times a week. Colin and Megan call when they're bored on their drive home from work; Jordan just calls--we usually talk once a day and often email several times a day. I love being in touch with them and hearing stories of their families. Sometimes we talk about deeper topics, but it's often a kind of "What's going on?" conversation. But I can go a couple of weeks without hearing from Jamie, which he doesn't seem to think is strange at all. He called last night at 9:45, asked if I was asleep, and we talked for 45 minutes--a wonderful conversation about everything from his moving his office to political theory, some about the current presidential race, some about his daughters who are lights in my life. I truly enjoyed it a lot and emailed him today to tell him so. It's the same when I go to Dallas to visit--because he picks me up in downtown Dallas and he lives in Frisco (as Melanie describes it, just south of the Oklahoma border), we have a long drive home--and we always have good conversations then. So I guess I'll stop complaining about never hearing from him--or his family. I thought I had Maddie, age nine, getting into the habit of emailing, but apparently not. And for a while, she tried to teach me about text messaging, but that went away too. I love it that I can have meaninful conversations with all my children. We've all grown up to be great friends.
At the event tonight, a woman came up to me and said she was a counselor at the middle school my children attended. I thanked her for speaking to me and told her that my children had all grown up to be lovely, nice people, married wonderful spouses, and had given me seven grandchildren. "I never doubted it," she said. Talk about pride. It's funny, but there are people in this city who remember me as the mother of my kids, not the press director, not the author. And that's how I hope my obituary reads--I am first and foremost a mom and a grandmom.
Today I read an article in Atlantic Monthly by a professional journalist on why he blogs. It was a deep, intellectual, convoluted article, but what I got out of it was that a blogger is free to say what he or she wants, thinks, believes. No worries about what an editor will think, whether or not it will sell, etc. It's sort of the ultimate in freedom of expression. And I guess that's why I blog. When you write mysteries, your concentration is always on what an agent and/or editor will think. When you blog--and particularly when you get feedback--it's sort of like talking to folks. I'm not much for being onstage--too shy--but this is an easy way to be onstage.

The Grace & Gumption Project and other matters

My string of stupid mistakes continues. This morning I took my car in--yeah! repair of the top-lowering mechanism was covered by warranty. I separated my other keys from the car key (I have a simple pop-apart thing that does that) and went about my day. Betty picked me up for lunch at the Modern Art Museum, where I indulged in a charcuterie platter--I don't often allow myself to eat pate because it's so bad for you, but it sure was good. Then she dropped me off, I got the car and came home. Once in the garage I couldn't find the house keys. I tore my purse apart, called Jordan to say I was coming to get her key to my house (which she couldn't find) and backed out of the garage, thinking I'd tear my purse apart one more time. Found them caught in an obscure pocket. I think that's three things, so the spell should have run its course. Two thoughts on this: if I'd driven out to Jordan's house, 20 minutes away, I would really be mad, though I have no one to blame but myself, and I seem to have a fixation lately about losing my keys, which I've been known to do a lot, except that they always turn up.

Last fall TCU Press published Grace & Gumption: Stories of Fort Worth Women. I've mentioned it before on the blog but to refresh: 14 area authors each contributed a chapter to the first women's history of Fort Worth and, in the process, became a bonded, close-knit group. The book was a huge success, flew off the shelves in Fort Worth, and the project grew wings. Forthcoming is a cookbook, with what recipes we can find from women in the book (they were all deceased--a requirement for inclusion, for practical reasons). People began to write and call telling us about women who should have been in the book, and we toyed with a second volume. One day in a light-bulb moment it struck me that a blog would be ideal for continuing the project. So, as of today, the Grace & Gumption blog is live. Check it out at http://www.graceandgumlption.blogspot.com/. And if you have stories about Fort Worth women, send them to tcupress@tcu.edu. We'd love to have digital pictures too.
I mentioned that Fred Erisman's advice to me in writing is always to slow down. He also said Sunday that Patt, his wife, doesn't like books that are all dialog. She wants description, enough that she feels she is in the story--that is of course my ultimate criterion for absorbing fiction. I told her not to read Spenser novels, but I also took that caution to heart. I knew all along that I was getting lost in dialog, so last night I went back over the first three chapters, filling out description and also Kelly's thoughts. Amazing how in one line I finally captured just the feel I want. She's describing Claire, who has just come to her house, impeccably dressed, to announce she shot her husband in the derriere (not the way she says it). Kelly notices in the midst of this trauma that her outfit is perfect, down to color coordinated sandals, and reflects that she herself is wearing light cotton workout pants and a T-shirt and is barefoot. To me, that captures the essence of Kelly. I felt good about it and other revisions and was really quite pleased with myself. I also rescued from oblivion a column I thought was awful and got a good start on another, so I was full of work and proud of it.
And then I took a little time for myself, almost finishing a Diane Mott Davidson catering mystery, Sticks & Scones. I like Davidson, though the way she puts off cooking for large events until the last minute causes me heartburn, and her recipes are far too complicated for me. But the stories are good, the people engaging, and Davidson knows her fictional town of Aspen Meadows, outside Denver. In fact, I think her novels these days are much better than the first one or two in the series. But it struck me that a lot of implausible things happen to Goldy, the central figure. This time she's come across the theft of a multi-million dollar stamp collection, finds a body in the river, is attacked by a fencing master and then someone pours boiling water on her from a "murder hole" in a castle ceiling. This all made me think--I'm trying to keep Kelly's adventures within the realm of possibility--things that really do happen in urban areas, like hidden family secrets that can lead to murder, domestic disputes that can push someone over the edge, even serial killers. I'm toying in my mind with the distinction and not sure about it yet.
Excuse me, but I got up to the last chapter at the car dealership this morning, and I really have to finish it.

A Blogger Kind of a Day

You know those spells when you do dumb things and everything goes wrong? I think I'm in one. Yesterday I got in my car to go to the dentist and, dreading the appointment, thought I'd cheer myself by putting the top down and enjoying the cool morning air. Only the top didn't go all the way down--or it did, but the car's security system didn't know that. And it wouldn't go back up. So every time I started up after a stoplight or some other stop, the silly thing beeped loud and long at me. I tried pulling over, cutting the engine, and starting again--that worked once before--but nothing. Fortunately, when I got to the dentist's office, it decided to cooperate. I got the top up and left it. So tomorrow, I'm off to the VW dealer.
Then today in the grocery store I asked the check-out girl to make me some new keys, then promptly stood at her cash register and panicked because I didn't know where my keys were. Could I have possibly left them in the ignition? I turned to tell her I had to go to my car--and of course, there were my keys. We both had a laugh, but it was a bit rueful on my part.
But today was a blogger's day. One of our authors worries that his book is not getting enough publicity--there aren't the review outlets that he was used to ten, even five years ago, nor do the biggies like the New York Times or Publishers Weekly notice midlist books from small academic presses (they used to but this is a brave new world). So I wrote and suggested he consider a blog, even a blog tour--whereby an author offers himself to many other bloggers as a guest either for a posting or an interview. It's a big thing with mystery writers, and I thought it should work for a literary author if he put his mind to it. But he wrote with many objections, one of which was that he thought blogs were just personal confessionals gone public and nobody read them but the person who wrote them. He did say it apologetically, because he knows I have a blog. I didn't convince him, and he asked to be excused, which is ok.
But then I got an email from my oldest son's high-school girlfriend--now that's been 20 years or more. She'd stumbled across my blog, said she was interested to learn where all the kids were and what they were doing and about the grandchildren, but she was really interested in what I had to say about writing as process and as an integral part of my life. After a 15-year marketing career, she's trying some creative writing though I don't know what kind. She went on to recall dinner discussions at my table which were, she said, so interesting she often didn't want to leave the table.
Well, talk about make my day. This was a girl I was always fond of, and for her to share such memories and to think I might inspire her somehow was heartwarming to say the least.
I couldn't resist. After I replied to her, I wrote and told the blogger skeptic about it, and he agreed it was a "gratifying" response. Yeah, it was.

Blogging, a pet peeve, and a revelation

I learned a lot about "blogging tours" today--that's when someone with a new book appears as a guest blogger on lots of blogs, at the invitation of the blog host, of course. It's a wonderfully inexpensive substitute for the traditional author tour and probably reaches a lot more potential buyers and readers than all those frustrating stops in bookstores where audiences of one or two wait. I thought I should begin to lay the groundwork now for whenever I have a book--cookbook or mystery--to blog about. So I'm going to invite others to blog about either their books or their cooking. I don't think inviting talk about grandchildren would add to the quality of the reading experience, although I appreciate the indulgence of readers of this blog in putting up with that from me. Which reminds me, I got adorable pictures today of Ford and Sawyer cooking to add to the collection for my cookbook.

But back to blogging, coincidentally Susan came to me today and said she didn't like having to post on things on the A&M blog--she wanted our own blog back. And I agreed with her, so as of tonight The Bookish Frog is up and running--but I won't give the url because we haven't posted anything there yet. But we can have our authors as guest bloggers. I got this whole guest blogging thing going in my mind like a new discovery.

Back to this blog, if any of you want to post a blog, please let me know. I figure it would be great to have one guest a week.

When I taught college freshman composition, I nearly crawled under my desk one day when a student asked me to diagram a sentence. Sure, I learned it once, but I remember nothing about it. I have a pet peeve, though, and I think diagramming might cure it. It's pronoun misuse, as in "She gave it to her and I"--you wouldn't say she gave it to I, would you? And yet I see this even on writers' blogs. And today I got an email with another one: Sheila and myself talked about it. . . . Myself talked about it? That kind of usage--or mis-usage--makes me wince. I may start a collection.

A revelation about my mystery, with which I'm still dissatisfied: last night when Fred and Patt here here, he mentioned that Patt really doesn't like novels with too much dialogue. She wants the richness of description, so she chimed in saying she wanted to feel like she was in the scene. "I want to see the hills if its in Scotland, and I want to see the room, how the people look." I think that's what's missing from my mystery, and I'm not sure I can correct it--but I guess I have to go back and try. If I'm determined to sell a mystery, I can't be lazy or intimidated about it. So that's my next chore.