Everybody loves
free stuff, right? As I bang the drum and clash the cymbals for my newest
mystery, releasing in two days, it occurs to me that it’s time to point folks
again to the free stuff available on my website. Excerpts from six of my books,
including the first chapter of the new one—Murder
at the Bus Depot, #4 in the Blue Plate Café Mysteries. You can download the
first chapter free. I hope you will and will be intrigued enough to order the book,
either as an ebook or in trade paperback. And a bonus—I just happen to have a
few (ahem!) bookmarks left for Pigface
and the Perfect Dog. You can request at the same freebie site, and I’ll
send you a handful, so you can share them with friends and neighbors. I
promise: no Pigface on the bookmark—just Susan Hogan and an irresistible lab
puppy. You can find it all at http://judyalter.com/freebies/
Meanwhile, aside
from excitement over the new book, today was a food day. My former student, now
chef/friend, came and brought lunch—salmon cakes with a wonderful
caper/lemon/mayo sauce, and a spinach/strawberry salad. So wonderful to have a
real cook for a friend! We talked food and recipes and family and the stuff we
put in our bodies and had a high old time. She left with a portion of my
proposed cookbook tucked in her purse for critique. I hope to get back to
serious work on that—compiling the master file, writing the introduction, and
some separate “helpful” sections soon. But first I have a novel to finish editing
and the new one to promote.
Years ago, beloved
Texas novelist Elmer Kelton said to me he was busier than ever in retirement. I
didn’t believe him at the time, but I do now.
Tonight, Betty and
I went on an adventure. We had supper at Cannon Chinese Kitchen—I had been
there once, but she never had. It’s in an old house in a pocket neighborhood of
older houses, many turned into apartments, close to downtown. The restaurant is
sort of funky, with décor that ranges from modern to floral Chinese; the food
is wonderful, as is the service. Betty, with her addiction to shrimp (she knows
I can’t have it) had shrimp rolls while I tried the sautéed mushrooms in soy paper
with a truffle broth. Both delicious. Then we split a fried trout—moist and
good. We declined the chopsticks, with some embarrassment on my part—wish I
could learn to do that—and they brought a box of forks, from which we each took
one. I wished for a knife, but Betty bravely split the trout with a large
serving spoon.
The whole experience reminded me of my ex-husband's mother who, when asked how her day was, said, "So my son took me to the Chink's for dinner." Since she had a grandson who is half Chinese (my Jamie) I thought that wildly inappropriate and asked if we could teach her a new word. These days it's one of my favorite funny stories.
Afterward, we
wandered around that little neighborhood a bit. A few houses still seem to be
single-family dwelling, but a church and other houses have been turned to
commercial use, and one wonderful Victorian structure apparently houses a
B&B. The treasures you find in your own city!
A much better day
than yesterday, and I’m happy to report that my disposition is sunnier.
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