The Muse Calls

The birds are in full voice in the woods surrounding my porch this morning. The purple wisteria and dogwood are in full bloom and a single yellow rose burst forth gloriously atop the one rose bush which withstood the hurricane last fall. A line of thunderstorms west portend a day of thunder and lightning but, for now and except for the birds, all's quiet on the Alabama front.

Perhaps it's the foreboding of impending thunderstorms which may or may not spawn hail or the fearful tornado...or the lack of hearing the first gobbler of spring as he glides down from his nightly perch high in the giant oaks...or perhaps it's just all of the mysteries of nature that impel me to put pen to paper as I spend another day delving into the mind and actions of Private Investigator Hamilton Shamrock as he winds his way through the murders, mayhem and myteries of the underbelly of the small city of Beauville, Illinois in the second of a series about the 'Broken City'. Adios amigos, the Muse is calling.

Too Much Excitement

Just saw the sketch on Drews Broken Moon and it caused quite a commotion on my porch.
It was so exciting it dropped my jaw to the porchboard and I spilled my morning coffee on the cat who jumped through the porchscreen whereupon a possum ate the damn cat whereupon my wife, hearing all the commotion, stepped out on the porch and said, "Shoot that sonsabeehive and shut off that sinful machine and git to doing somethin' worthwhile!" So I went out to my hammock and took a nap...just too much morning excitement out here in the woods.

Donating to the Old Saw File

Old Saws drive me as crazy as the addition of 'you know' to every sentence in a conversation. As a semi-recluse living in the woods I hate to go to town but today I had no choice. When I checked out at the market the clerk said, "Have a nice day" instead of "Thank you, come again"...so I said, "Why? A little rain gives one a better perspective on the day, don't you think?" Then I went over to another store and the clerk there said, "Have a nice day"...so I said, "I have a toothache which really makes it impossible and I know the dentist is going to charge me an arm and a leg, so it's probably just going to be an all-around rotten day!" 'Have a nice day' needs to be donated to the Old Saw file...am I wrong?

The Outlook is Bright

As a former columnist turned novelist and, having completed my first novel, I am taking some sage advice from another novelist and joining the ranks of the totally insane. This morning the view from my porch was cheerily bright and whatever the view is usually determines the rest of my day. Gloomy, I sulk. Foggy, I relive London. Raining, I look for fishing worms. Windy, I think of agents and publishers. I like my front porch and the privacy living in the deep woods gives one. And the mysterious sounds emitting from the surrounding forest tweak the mystery of the latest mystery I am writing. I love writing. Marketing, I hate but today I can laugh it off.