So happy to be invited by Left Bank Books and the St. Louis Literary Consortium to be a featured author at the first-ever book event from ALL the independent publishers in the St. Louis region. This is a great way to come out to support local owned book stores and brave publishers who want to feature new voices. Come to the CWE this Friday night, I'll be at Left Bank from 6:00 to 8:00 PM signing books. Have a drink, buy a book, I'll sign it and give you a big hug. MEDIA … [Read more...]
Thank you, St. Louis Cardinals
October 29, 2012 By
If Frankenstorm Sandy wasn't enough to keep folks home tonight, just think if the Cardinals had prevailed over San Francisco and IF they had behaved in their normal nail-biting manner, we would have been in Game 5 of the World Series tonight. NOBODY, not even my dog would have shown up for the book signing at Subterranean Books in the Loop tonight, even if I bribed her with a hamburger. Luck was with me. And so were a lot of loving friends, neighbors, fellow writers, … [Read more...]
Not Your Typical Fat Cats
September 6, 2012 By
They're high rollers, these cats. Like seriously rolling in dough, some of them, with their furry little paws close to the trigger, lest you try to wrest some of their kitty stash away from their cold, clammy claws. Ca$hCats is one of the funniest, most perfect examples of social-media, which defies explanation, nonsense that I've seen in a while. And it just happens that Will Zweigart, the brainchild of this feline phenomenon, is one of the most adored and … [Read more...]
The Dog Stays In the Picture
August 27, 2012 By
Just call me Jean Angsty Whatley, I'm so damn full of angst. Don't know why.. Oh yes I do. I am going to have to get a real J-O-B now that the book is being birthed in two stages, which could be considered by some to be cruel and unusual punishment. Oh the labor. Don't get me wrong, I am as happy as a little girl, but we're having cover issues, for the print edition of the book. The ship has sailed on Amazon, it's up there, for sale, a mere $4.99. At 100K words, … [Read more...]
Coming Soon to a Radio Near You! U-Turn in Utah, The Sequel
August 22, 2012 By
Fate versus randomness. I don't know about you, but I still struggle with this. Although after last summer's road trip across the country, you may be saying, "are you kidding?" I mean when something wonderful happens don't we automatically gravitate toward the "meant to be" column of our lives? Whereas, if we just happen to be in a restaurant and somebody chokes on a piece of steak and we just happen to know the Heimlich Maneuver, wouldn't that justifiably fall under … [Read more...]
Deep End of the Pool
August 9, 2012 By
Bundle of nerves, I am just a big old wad of wound up. I just received the Kindle file to review for Off the Leash this morning and I'm excited on the one hand because every day we're getting a little closer to actually publishing the book, but I'm as nervous as a cat because then it's out there, you know...like out there. Exercise is good. That's what they tell you, right? (Liquor works well too, but is problematic at nine o'clock in the morning.) So I've been … [Read more...]
Anatomy of a Day
August 2, 2012 By
It started out with shadowed splendor, a reflection, of my hands on the rose print fabric of my wing backed chair, which really is a reflection of a writer with too much time on her hands and furniture that looks like her grandmother’s. It was the cottage look I was going for when I bought it and I do have, after all, a bungalow; a cottage by any other name. I was thinking about the privilege of time to observe the daily light show, which passes through my … [Read more...]
Thank You Barack Obama
July 19, 2012 By
Opening the mail around my house these days is rarely a pleasant experience, given the back drop of daily toil and trouble as a self-employed writer. Can you spell plague, as in that’s how vigorously I avoid opening the mail. Except today, I got little present from the Prez. Seems that Golden Rule, the medical insurance company from whom I purchased private health care coverage in 2011, was forced to GIVE ME A LITTLE MONEY BACK! Why? It’s because of the Affordable … [Read more...]
Too Much Time on My Hands
July 10, 2012 By
Suffice it to say a book about an eight-week sojourn across the country with nobody but a dog contains a lot of self-reflection. Was thinking about that this morning, when I was noticing how the early morning light creates interesting shadows and contrasts, something I can indulge in as a gainfully, unemployed writer. This immediately made me think of this day last year, and my pleasant stay at the EconoLodge where I went into somewhat of a significant tailspin of … [Read more...]
What I Didn’t Know Then
July 6, 2012 By
One year ago tonight, at this precise moment of sundown on a Midwestern prairie, Libby and I were headed eastbound on U.S. 64 near Springfield, Illinois, where I would pull in to a nondescript Red Roof Inn, ushering in the first of many nights in which the motel maid was often the first and last human I'd speak to all day. Looking back, I shudder to think of what could have gone wrong. So much could have, what with a middle-aged woman, traveling all over the country … [Read more...]
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