Would-be Wayfarer

This week, I'm editing BARELY BEWITCHED (the sequel to WOULD-BE WITCH) and in it, Halloween plays a prominent role. I don't want to give any details of Tammy Jo's adventure away, but while I would advise you to look both ways for cars when crossing the street, Tammy Jo would advise you to look both ways for accursed creatures. That's right, people. All Hallows Eve, which was once the feast of Samhain, marks the beginning of the so called "Dark Season" when the doors to the supernatural world are opened and all kinds of scary preternatural creatures spill over into our world. This is a excellent excuse for humans of all ages to don a costume...aka, a disguise. Then the vampires and witches will think you're one of them and pass you by, looking for human victims. So dress in scary wear, and be safe! Hugs & Happy Halloween!

Thursday - The page proofs for Would-Be Witch arrived. The fonts are so cute that I got misty-eyed. I know...being a tad ridiculous. Friday morning - worked on creating a brochure for booksellers. It came out really well. Microsoft Word is almost too powerful, you know? I have The Terminator-like fears of the days when the machines take over. It's always the software that you have to be afraid of. Friday night -worked at the "day" job. It was a long shift. Friday overnight - crazy random insomnia. I never take sleep aids, but sometimes I am REALLY tempted. Saturday morning - proofread part of Would-Be Witch . Yay! Saturday afternoon - missed a pumpkin-carving extravaganza because was busy sleeping all day. Arg! (Still waiting to see pix...hint to friend, RH) Saturday night - Kim Lenox & Sharie Kohler's book launch party at La Carafe (cool wine bar in very old/awesome building) Neighborhood was too scary to take my expensive Nikon camera. :( Alas, no pictures. Tra...

"I want to be John Cleese, and it took some time to realize that the job was in fact taken." Douglas Adams I have recently been leaving my gate unlocked because there's been a lot of backyard clean-up since Hurricane Ike and workers have needed to get in and out. So yesterday without any heads-up (pressing the doorbell would have been good to alert me to take a look around before coming downstairs in scanty attire. There are French doors with big glass leading from my living room to my yard.) some men turned up back there. Anyway, luckily I heard them crunching over leaves and hesitated before wandering by the windows. My initial plan was to treat them like all the creatures who pass through my backyard...if they don't bother me, I don't bother them. This policy has worked with squirrels, birds, raccoons, cats, and possums in the past and I couldn't see why humans should be any different. If anything, people should be smarter and require less supervision than ...

"I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it." ~ Elwood P. Dowd (Jimmy Stewart) in Harvey My pal, David, is coming home this weekend from Aruba. Yay! Here's hoping the weather was better at the end of the week, because it rained the first part of the week and he was stuck in the hotel a lot, reading, which, as he pointed out, he could have done in his apartment. Sigh. Would it kill the weather to be a little more cooperative when my best friend's trying to have a beach vacation? Anyway, after hurricane Ike, he stayed at my place and one of the movies we had fun watching together was Harvey, so the quote above is for him. Hope everyone else is having a fantastic Sunday!

"When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half." Gracie Allen Okay, there are parts of the writing gig that I love, that I'm addicted to, that I couldn't live without... and then there are parts that I would gladly trade for more pleasurable experiences like a root canal or a stint in a military prison camp. Yes, I'm talking about re-writing, which is a rather significant part of the writing process. There are those writers who reportedly prefer revising to writing. When they say that though, I'm pretty sure that they are either (a) lying or (b) insane. Ahem. I am a professional, so I shall cease complaining. As I get my coffee, I'm going back to polishing Would-Be Witch's sequel, Barely Bewitched, which if I'm pressed I'll admit needs an editing pass--or two. And, by the way, you're unknowingly glad I'm revising because you would have hated that silly souffle metaphor that I deleted from page 87. Honestly, ...

A Brief Guide to American Newspapers The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country - if they could find the time - and if they didn't have to leave Southern California to do it. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train. The New York Post is read by people who don'...

"There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full." Henry Kissinger So I'm finally settling back into my normal routine, post-Ike and post-vacation. (I went home last week to Michigan to see my family.) My nephew is utterly adorable, but there are only so many science experiments one can do from a Borders activity kit before one wonders what in the world one was thinking when she bought it for a 6-yr-old in the first place. (Why yes, we were digging through cupboards and closets for things like tin foil and protractors.) Anyway, mini-MacGyver is back in school where I'm pretty sure he's not making rockets from balloons and fishing line. (That's right the teachers leave the hard stuff to the aunts and uncles.) Still that Borders kit may one day make a difference in his life. You never know who'll end up on Survivor. ;) Have a great week!