For years people have been telling me that Studly Doright and I need to watch “The Wire.” For some reason we resisted. Now, though, we’ve seen the light. We’re well into season four, and I must say, this is incredible television. It’s gritty and real.
As a former teacher, and as someone who worked as a consultant in inner city schools, this fourth season is certainly resonating with me.
I still remember vividly the day I was standing outside a school on a corner in Newark, New Jersey, waiting for the hotel’s limo service to pick me up after school.
A teacher hurried out from the school. “Leslie, it’s not safe for you out here. Come back in and wait for your ride.”
I took her advice.
At another school, this one in Detroit, Michigan, I had to go to the principal to get the educational materials my company provided released from a storage room. “They’ll only get stolen,” she said.
But I insisted. “Your school district paid a lot of money for those materials, and your teachers need them to implement the curriculum.”
She shrugged, but allowed me to distribute the materials.
That was the same school where I watched a teacher slap a student. I reported it, and then was called down to the school office where I met the superintendent of schools, a handsome, charismatic man who almost made me swoon. I gave him my account of the incident.
I have no idea what happened to the teacher or the student. The halls of that school were littered with glass. That handsome superintendent was dressed to the nines. My mind couldn’t comprehend the disparities.
The Wire has stirred up all these memories. I’m reeling. Probably won’t sleep tonight.
Early Sunday morning, way before I was up and around, my inbox received a series of emails from Kindle Direct Publishing announcing that within the next three to five days I’d be receiving the first royalty payments for my book, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort. I’ll have tens of dollars in my pocket when that happens! Woot woot!
The email gave me pause, though. Why, I wondered, are such payments called royalties? Am I supposed to feel like a queen when I receive these funds? Do the payments come directly from a person of royal blood? That might explain why it takes sixty days from the end of the month in which the sales were made before one receives payment. I mean, we don’t have any royals here in the U.S.—the payments must be coming from far, far away.
I really didn’t think that was the case, so I turned to Google. Here’s what I found:
“The term originated from the fact that in Great Britain for centuries gold and silver mines were the property of the crown; such “royal” metals could be mined only if a payment (“royalty”) were made to the crown.”
I guess in this case the “royal” metals being mined are my precious thoughts and ideas, and I am indeed the queen. Maybe not. It’s very confusing. At any rate, in the future don’t forget to bow or curtsy in my presence. Just in case.
My first novel, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort has garnered nearly 40 reviews on Amazon! I’m pretty stoked.
When it reaches the 40 review mark I’m going to select one of the reviewers at random to win their choice of either a Scout’s Honor coffee cup (pictured below), or a signed copy of Mayhem.
Isn’t it adorable?
So, if you’ve read Mayhem and haven’t yet written a review, take a couple of minutes and let others know what you think. Reviews don’t have to be fancy or flowery, just sincere. If you’ve rated it, but haven’t left a review, I don’t have any way of knowing your name, so if you want to be included in the drawing make sure to write a few words.
If you haven’t yet read Mayhem, even if you read it and didn’t like it, I still love you. I really do.
The Kindle version is only $2.99! The paperback is available on Amazon for $11.99.
Apparently February 19 is the official Love Your Pet Day. Who knew? Here at Doright Manor, every day is Love Your Pet Day. Our Gracie can attest to that.
“I’M not tired of playing. YOU’RE tired of playing.That “come hither” look. Our own children didn’t have as many toys as Gracie does.Helping Studly Doright is her favorite activity.
She’s been such a balm to our hearts after the death of our beloved Scout kitty. I was so afraid we’d adopted her too soon after losing Scout, but Gracie had filled a hole in our lives, and we love her so much.
I’m consumed with watching the news out of Texas this morning. For those who aren’t glued to the Weather Channel, parts of Texas that might see a dusting of snow once every ten years or so, are now experiencing freezing temperatures and icy conditions that would challenge even a seasoned North Dakotan.
We live in Florida now, but Studly and I were born and raised in Texas and most of our relatives still live there. Most of our folks live in the panhandle area which does get snow and ice during the winter and they’re better prepared to deal with the bitter cold. But in and around Austin, Dallas, Houston, and other locations, the infrastructure isn’t holding up.
Yes, we could blame the shortsightedness of certain GOP, libertarian, and Tea Party operatives who have this “every man for himself” mentality, for the mess, but that doesn’t do anything to help those who are freezing even within the confines of their own homes. While some people are ridiculing Texas and Texans, I’m just praying and hoping they get relief soon.
A playground near Houston, I believe.Frosty the CactusCrazy!
I’m at that stage in life where comfort overrides style every single time. Having said that, I do have a pair of shoes that make a statement, and I wear them almost daily.
The green tile beneath these classy shoes is slippery as ice when wet, and cool even during summer months. So I wanted something with a little grip and lots of warmth to wear around Doright Manor. Of course I bought them from Walmart. They only cost $4.99, and after a couple of wearings the right foot had a blowout. And I love it!
Is it a pimple popping out? A tongue? I’m not certain, but I’m positive you won’t find another pair exactly like them. And that’s how haute couture works.
Studly Doright bought me the prettiest roses for Valentine’s Day. We had a wonderfully laid back day. His golf game was cancelled due to rain, so we worked on his dirt bike most of the morning then snuggled and watched the gripping cop show, “The Wire” on Netflix all afternoon.
Nothing says true love like a dozen roses, grease under one’s fingernails, and gang wars in Baltimore.
Every now and again I read a novel that stays with me long past the time I finish reading it. TJ Fox’s debut novel, An Unexpected Turn, is one such book.
I discovered TJ through her blog on WordPress. She’s one of these incredibly talented Renaissance-type women who seems to be capable of doing just about anything she sets her mind to, whether it be writing, photography, decorating, or any number of other endeavors. And she does them all beautifully. Check out her blog at http://tjfox.net.
Recently I recommended TJ’s book to a friend and I started thinking about the incredible way it came to pass. Having spent nearly ten years writing my first novel, (eight of those years it spent on a shelf, nearly forgotten), I was amazed, impressed, and flabbergasted to learn that TJ wrote the first draft for An Unexpected Turn in one week! Yes. Read that and weep, fellow authors.
I asked TJ how she came up with the idea for her novel:
TJ: I had a literal dream I couldn’t get out of my head after waking from it because of how improbable and ridiculous my rational mind thought the dream was. My brain wouldn’t let go of the questions and the “what ifs” that dream dredged up. I had to start writing all those thoughts down to get my brain to process it and it became a book, something that I never dreamed I would ever do. In a way, it feels kind of like I accidentally wrote a book.
Me: But you wrote it in a single week?
TJ: My brain was so obsessed with trying to answer those “what ifs” and trying to take a situation that seemed so over the top and impossible and figure what kind of circumstances would create an environment to make it be possible, that I sat down and wrote the entire first draft in a week. I would sit down in the mornings and write until I hit a problem I wasn’t sure how to get beyond. I’d then go to sleep and by morning, I’d have a solution and I’d start up again.
Of course, I spent so much more time on edits than I did on writing that first draft making the entire process so much longer, but a vast majority of the story was set in stone in that one week. It was one of those rare creative moments where it feels like the creation took on a life of its own and created itself while the creator was just a tool in the process.
As an artist, I’ve experienced similar creative moments here and there, but never on this scale or this completely. Even now, at three and a half years later (sheesh, I can’t believe it’s been that long already), I still struggle to believe it happened.
Me: Incredible and mind-boggling, but I’m glad it happened that way. Now, I’m a lousy interviewer, so I’m going to ask a “catch all” question. What is it you’d like future readers to know about An Unexpected Turn?
TJ: This one is always hard for me. To me, with the story evoking all kinds of emotions as the events unfold, it feels like if I talk about any of those events, even in very broad strokes, that I’ll take away from the emotional impact of the story for any future reader. And it IS a story that is all about the emotions, a lot of really sad emotions, but still laced with the feel-good kinds of emotions that make such hard events bearable. It isn’t like a major suspense kind of story that I’m going to be spoiling the big “who done it” reveal, but I’m never really sure how to talk about my book without feeling like I might cheat a reader from the experience if I were to say the wrong thing. The best I have been able to come up with in trying to describe it is that it is a story about a woman’s emotional journey to finding and creating family in unimaginable circumstances.
Me: That’s a really good description. I think I used a whole box of tissues while reading your book. I remember being shocked by your protagonist’s situation. I felt everything she was going through and became totally lost in the story.
Could we have a sample???
TJ: Again, because I struggle so much with knowing which pieces to share that won’t change the impact of the story, I’m just going to give you what I have as part of my blurb.
“When I take a good look at my reflection, I’m a bit surprised by the fact that the face looking back at me in the mirror doesn’t look any different than the one I’ve seen staring back at me for the last 27 years. I feel like I should look different. That my face should show the upheaval and the weight of the last several hours, that it should somehow show how much the course of my life has changed, but other than the mess from crying, everything is still the same. That seems wrong somehow.”
Me: Okay, now I’m crying again. Thanks, TJ!
You can find An Unexpected Turn on Amazon. It’s available in paperback and as an ebook on Kindle. It’d make a great gift, too.
In my blog I occasionally reference the Texas panhandle as the land of my birth. I throw the word panhandle around assuming everyone knows exactly what I mean. But more than once I’ve had a commenter ask, “What’s the panhandle?” Allow me to illustrate.
Actually, someone already illustrated and labeled it for me. You see, the tan area? That’s the panhandle. At some point somebody thought it looked like the shape of a pan’s handle and named it accordingly. To me it seems too chunky.
Nowadays, I live in the Florida panhandle.
I drew a line around it for you. To me, Florida looks like a gun with the panhandle being the barrel and the peninsula the gun’s handle. I guess the term “Florida gunhandle” didn’t occur to those who had naming rights.
Other U.S. states have panhandles, but I’m tired and don’t want to bore you more than I have already.
This is my backyard here at Doright Manor. Today the temps were in the mid-70’s, and while rain is in the forecast through next Tuesday, we’re enjoying the gift of pleasant weather today. I know we’re very lucky right now.
Wherever you are, I hope you’re warm and dry. Maybe you’ll have a cup of hot chocolate, or a bowl of stew. At bedtime you might enjoy a hot toddy. Heck, now I’m almost in the mood for winter weather. Almost.
Praying for Eyebrowz 