Stuff

When I send my kids emails about a lot of things, I always put "stuff" in the tagline, and that's what this email is about--stuff.
First, amaryllis. Two friends sent me amaryllis bulbs for Christmas, and both have bloomed beautifully. Jordan took pictures of one before we went to Houston, and I was so glad, because by the time we came back, the blooms had drooped. Every year I tell myself I'm going to plant the bulbs, but I never do. One year I put them in the refrigerator, and then read that you should never put them in a fridge with apples, because apples do something bad to them. Too late--they were already in there with the apples that I almost never keep on hand. Maybe this is the year to plant them.
Jordan, Jacob, and I had a delightful weekend in Kingwood, outside Houston. I'm so lucky that she and I like to travel together and giggle a lot. Jacob proved to be a good traveler, except one time when he got way too hot in the back seat and was furious. And about a mile from home he decided he was ravenous, so I was leaning over the back of my seat, shoving a bottle in his little face.
The Houston Alters are flourishing--their house is spacious and comfortable, the suburb charming because it has lots of those pine trees you find north of Houston, and their baby, Morgan, a pistol. She was sweet with Jacob, petting him and sharing things--and then Sunday morning, it was like it all fell apart and she dissolved in tears. I think she was saying, "Enough already! I've shared. How long does this go on?" It was good training for her in anticipation of the baby brother expected in April. Morgan is really well behaved and every morning about ten takes herself off to nap--most of us would have done flips to have a baby do that. We went to a real Kosher deli (my request, and I loved the chopped liver), visited with Lisa's family, giggled our way through an amazing diaper disaster, and generally had a marvelous time. Colin and Lisa are great hosts, and Lisa wore herself out fixing a wonderful fajita dinner for ten of us Saturday night. On the way down and back, Jordan and I stopped at Sam's in Fairfield, a restaurant that I swear is one of the biggest buffets ever--good food, clean restrooms, a clean changing table. Who could want more?
But Monday morning I was back in the world of books and publishing. Monday night, Susan, the press editor, and I co-taught a class called "The World of Publishing." Actually it's four sessions, and last night, the third, was on New York publishing. We had author Carlton Stowers and his agent, who shall remain nameless for his own protections. They painted a realistic but grim picture--New York is where the money is, but it's so much a business now and not an art. If you've published before, a publisher will look up your sales at Barnes & Noble and Border's; not good? You haven't a chance. If you're unpublished, you have a better chance--but if that first book fails, forget it. I began to see my mystery fading into the woodwork. But today, the agent, said in an email that he thought quality still matters. If you can write really well, he said, there's someone out there to help you. Not necessariliy him, because he's busy out the kazoo, but he has agreed to look at a proposal for my mystery.
And that's my big accomplishment: I finished the first draft of the mystery tonight. I had been avoiding it, even to the point that I wrote the first pages of a second volume before I wrote the end of the first one. I knew where it was going, but I was literally scared of it. It involved a physical fight between two women, and having never been in a fight I wasn't sure how to handle it. Jordan suggested taekwando, but I decided that was too pat and eventually gave the heroine great strength from doing pilates. I don't really know many women who do martial arts, but I know a lot who do pilates. Anyway, the novel is done and is 69,920 words--close to the magic 70,000, which it will surpass with rewrites. I feel a great sense of relief. though I have no idea if the fight scene works. I really tried not to rush through it but instead to linger on the emotions, the feelings, the fear. Tomorrow, I'll print the whole thing out and begin the rewrite process. You know what, it's fun!