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Literary Challenge

 I have six unread books on the shelf.

The Girl Who Lived Twice, A Lisabeth Salander tale, by Lagercrantz Created by Seig Larsson

A Place Called Freedom, by Ken Follett

A Column Of Fire, by Ken Follett

Fevre Dream, by George R. R. Martin

Squeeze Me, by Carl Hiaasen

Women in the Moonlight, by Patricia Morrisroe

Which one should I read first? 

Full disclosure. I have read all of the Lisbeth Salander books except this one. I think I've read all of Follett's books except these two. For those who do not read fantasy, Martin wrote Game of Thrones.


Book Report.

My novel 26 Women is going to collect some dust for at least a week. I'm going to do research on which platform I'm going to use to Publish. 

My next story, Star Struck, is in first draft status. 

For some reason, story ideas are cascading through my mind like boulders in a landslide.

Since the idea for Jamieson is so close to home, I've been writing a page a day just to keep the atmosphere and urgency of the story percolating. 

Jamieson is about a grumpy old man who slips, falls, and injures himself. This ordinarily nice guy turns into the troll under the bridge to all of the people he encounters in the healthcare system. He is afraid that his condition will sentence him to permanent residence in a rest home, even though everyone from his doctors down to the woman who cleans his room in the rehabilitation unit assures him he be out and resume normal activities in a few weeks.

As I've mentioned, one of my discoveries in the editing of 26 Women is that I write a lot of what my ever understanding editor Pamela calls 'stage instructions.' Anne Wilde also thinks I write stories as if I expect them to become a play. With an effort to not swim upstream in the river of creativity, I'm writing a two-act play that I've given the working title of Ah Huh. 

In this comedy, A man is headed out for his bachelor party for his second marriage. Convinced he has learned his lesson about what it takes to be a good husband and that he has found the woman he wants the rest of his life with, his confidence and resolve is challenged when he runs into his first wife. 

Key to things you might learn from this drama is the scene where wife one and fiance discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the groom/ex-husband, marriage, and women in present-day society. There is an old saying that the worst thing a man can see is his present love and his ex-wife talking to each other.

So I'm busy, eh! Well, I've put off designing my website for long enough. Since it figures into my marketing plan for my writing, I best be getting to it. After that, I'll be initiating a Facebook and Instagram launch. 

Just so you know, I do relax every day. I have my sketchbook and watercolors to play with, and on most days, I take a short afternoon nap. My walk around the neighborhood is a daily habit. I have four different routes, so it isn't so repetitious as to become boring.

When you pick which book I should read next, let me know how you are doing in these (fill in the blank) times.


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