Ever have days when it seems you’re either early or late for everything you do? That was me today. Yesterday Jordan raised a glass and toasted, “Happy Friday.” I replied, curmudgeon-like, that Friday didn’t seem any different than any other day to me, and she replied, “It should. I’m a different person on Friday than I am on Monday.” So I took that lesson to heart and vowed Saturday would be a lazy, slow day\
It
wasn’t. Sophie got me up before seven. She came right back in after taking care
of business, and I harbored a hope that she’s learning she’ll get a treat if
she comes right back. But she got me up again a bit after eight, and I
reluctantly gave up and put aside thoughts of going back to bed. Still, I lazed
through the morning, waiting for an 11:30 Zoom meeting. But about eleven several
things landed on my desk at once—choose the newsletter issues to submit for
competition, finish the half-written guest post on the food wars in Irene in
Danger, and deal with the frozen spanakopita Jordan fetched from Mary who had
brought it from the Greek Festival for me.
I connected
to the Zoom session. Sponsored by the Grand Canyon Writers chapter of Sisters
in Crime, it featured Delia Pitts talking about the importance of setting in mysteries.
Delia, who has an interesting background as a journalist, a diplomat with the U.S.
Foreign Service, and an educational administrator, is a former colleague. She served
at TCU for several years, and we were friends, so it was fun a while back to
discover she is now writing mysteries. We also have Hyde Park in Chicago in
common—Delia also grew up there, and earned degrees at the University of
Chicago, ending with a doctorate in African history. Check her out at http://www.deliapitts.com.
A
lifelong reader who dabbled in writing since second grade, she has taken up the
mystery genre and made it her own. Her 90-minutes presentation today was spot
on—knowledgeable, lively, fun. She made me see some things about my writing—I too
write short and always have to go back and add words, and I tend to write long
dialogue scenes that float in space without trying the participants to a time
and place. So now I’ll go back to the few words I have on Irene Keeps a
Secret and read them again with Delia’s advice in mind.
I had
tried to call Colin all day because he was to help me with a computer problem.
I have that secure new password storage system, 1Password, so secure that it
locked me out of paying my ATT bill and retweeting on Twitter. The latter not
serious, but the former forced me to change the password on our joint account
which always frustrates Jordan. So, when Sophie woke me early from my nap, I
called Colin—no answer, so I gratefully called back into bed. Colin called
about ten minutes later, and then I was glued to my computer. The fix took
longer than I thought, and I began to look at the clock. I had company coming
at five-thirty, and I was still in my pajamas.
‘Finally,
I told Colin I’d have to leave him to the computer but would take my phone to
the bedroom while I changed clothes. He had access to my computer, but he’d
still ask me questions and I’d have to say, “I can’t look right now I don’t
have any pants on.” I was sure Mary Volcansek was going to arrive while I was
half-dressed.
She
didn’t, put it was close. Colin got the computer fixed just before she walked
up the driveway. I had made pan bagnat sandwiches (fancy French tuna sandwiches
that you put in the fridge and weight down overnight) so fixing dinner was
simply a matter of unwrapping the foil and serving the delicious salad Mary
bought. We had a good visit, and she was on her way by seven-thirty. I felt
like it was midnight and I had to go to bed.
I
think there’s a sleep virus in the air, because I have been so ready to go back
to bed all day. And I am again. Sweet dreams, everyone.
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