Oh goody, goody, goody! And a couple of jumps for joy! Here is my new baby! It’s almost here.
Don’t ya just love the picture of the tower–so ominous. Yep, bad stuff is happening at the tower–oooh.
The photographer is Chris Van Atta, a local dude with gobs of talent for seeing what is around him and capturing it at just the right moment. Geez, we have so many talented people on Topsail Island.
So—stayed up late last  night to add the finishing touches–nothing is easy when it comes to producing a book. But it is all a labor of intense passion–so rewarding.
Hope you like this book. Differing opinions from my beta readers on the content, but one thing holds true about THE TOWER– it is most definitely filled with more complexity and profundity of thought. One reader said that she got to truly know my characters this time around. Ah well, hope it proves a good read for many. This will be the last murder for a while. Working now on that lil’  ‘ol luv story, y’all.
Oh yes, and please come to Surf City Summer Market on Tuesdays and Pillage the Village Arts and Crafts market on Thursdays in Topsail Beach and don’t forget,  all of my books are on sale at The Mermaids’ Purse–a really cool spot with even cooler arts and crafts from locals.
THE TOWER will be out next week –

QUOTE; It will be found, in fact, that the ingenious are always fanciful, and the truly imaginative never otherwise other than analytic- Edgar Allan Poe

WRITING TIP: Someone said to write what you know, sometimes I think I know very little. If a little is all you know, then write just a little. It is better than writing a lot of idealized reality.

Hallelujah! A day without rain–or at least a morning without rain. Yesterday’s market at Topsail Beach was fantastic! the photo above was taken around 9:20 a little before the market opened. We stayed pretty busy throughout the day and closed at 3 PM. There is a new addition this year, we now have an Italian Ice vendor. Yippee! Sure helps keep the days a bit cooler. Thanks to all of you who purchased from me, hope you come back for the latest installment of my mystery/murder books, due out in a week or so-THE TOWER. I promise, it will be out soon–the cover photo had to be perfect and I think it is now.
Hope to see you at Surf City Summer Market on Tuesday -IF IT DOESN’T RAIN.  Yes, we have been rained out the two previous Tuesdays, but this Tuesday promises to be a pretty day, so come on out and enjoy all 30 some vendors-food and farmer’s market, wine, and all other kind of stuff.

QUOTE:Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want to become-Steve Jobs

WRITING TIP: Your reader knows when your heart is not in your work.

Real dunes at the south end of the island. If you check out the photos on the outside of the library in Sneads Ferry you’ll see a picture of the dunes when they were big and voluptuous; fishermen have their dory ready to take to the sea. Geez, they were gorgeous dunes then. All this dune-age brings me to info about my new project–JUST ADD WATER–the title of the book I have just begun. This will be a bit different from my last three books- this will be a romance-sort of. Anyway, my characters Murdoch, Callie and Rick are well on their ways to living, loving and conniving. Ahh–such is life! The opening chapter has to do with dunes, or the lack of them. It’s always exciting beginning a new project.

QUOTE: Wit as an instrument of revenge is as infamous as art is a means of sensual titillation–
Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel

Writing Tip: There was a line in a Stevie Ray Vaughn song-‘life by the dropper full’- squeeze the dropper when you write.

It’s been a little rainy out there for the last day or so. ALAS! The first Surf City Summer Market was cancelled due to this horrible weather. Well, like my daddy always said– ‘it’s nice weather for ducks.’
Got my fingers crossed for next week though. THE TOWER is still not in, but I’m hoping for the following Tuesday. I trust my editor–she knows best and so I won’t rush the project.

QUOTE: Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value–Albert Einstein

WRITING TIP; remember all the people who have been good to you and make them your protagonists. That’s how you say thank you.

Parents, we all have them or had them and regardless of good or bad times, we love them and cherish memories. Today, my new friends Julie and Drew, sailed with me in the ICW and deposited the ashes of Julie’s father, Gordon. What a lovely day for a sail. What a lovely day and way to remember someone so much a part of one’s life. DANNY BOY,  his favorite song, was played, we enjoyed a rum gimlet, his favorite drink–and we talked about life and what all it brings. Peace and Joy to you, Gordon and to your family.

Little trip to Morehead City and Beaufort last week was relaxing and rewarding. Stopped in the Maritime Museum (skeleton of sperm whale on display) in Beaufort and saw lots of cool historical stuff. Walked to the boardwalk and gaped in awe as a 90 ft. sloop slid by in the water. The horses were out on the little island across the way.
Life is so full of pleasantries–good fudge, nachos–long iced drink—smiling faces, along with a fantastic view in a very laid back setting.
The glass is always half full!
VERY EXCITED about the Surf City Summer Market starting Tuesday May 23rd. THE TOWER  will not be available that day but should be the following week. The book is still at the editors.  PLEASE come and enjoy all the vendors and their wares. I will have all my books on display and would love to chat.
WRITING TIP: that little quote from Hemingway about ‘start with something true’ works every time. ex.–‘his shirt was blue’–and just go from there. Just start with a true statement about your character. Was he or she tall, short, angry-were they smiling? Was the sky cloudy, clear.?Just start–with something true.
QUOTE: Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.

Always liked this picture. Of course, blue fish, though beautiful, are notorious for latching on to fingers and any other place close by their sharp little teeth. We’ve all heard it a thousand times, beauty is only skin deep, looks can be deceiving, don’t judge a book by its cover, all that glitters is not gold. Yep, there are a thousand little sayings about deception, thus the previous blog about friendship. Oh, how precious friendship is and oh how painful is the realization that one has been deceived by that so called friendship. Seems people are out to get what they can and when they’re done, they throw you away.
At least that’s how one of the characters in THE TOWER feels when she learns the truth. Actions speak louder than words, all the blah blah isn’t worth a nickel when the the plain truth is staring you in the face. OUCH!
THE  TOWER  should be out in time for the Surf City Market, if not the first week, the second. Find out who is getting rolled under the bus. Hope you have read the 2 previous books in the series.
WATERLOGGED  and  BRIDGE TENDER.

Here are some quotes about losing a friend.

Losing a friend is more painful than losing a romantic relationship. Anon

A friend is someone who can see the truth and pain in you even when you can fool everyone else. Anon

We’re not close anymore, but I’ll be there if you need me. Anon

The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend–Henry David Thoreau

A quarrel between friends, when made up, adds a new tie to friendship–Saint Francis de Sales

Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or to keep one–Robert E. Lee

True friends stab you in the front–Oscar Wilde

A friend should be one in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide and whose opinion we can value at once for its justice and its sincerity–Robert Hall

You can always tell a real friend; when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job–Laurence J. Peter

Ominous, Ominous…geez what a stormy morning and day we have had. Good day to stay inside and read a book or watch movies. One could say it was an ugly day, but isn’t this photo beautiful–hmm–point of view. Can’t get over point of view. POV is such an involved, intricate thing.  I was reminded again of POV as I watched WINTER’S TALE (within the safety and dryness of my abode) a movie starring Russell Crowe (be still my heart) and Colin Ferrel. I had read the book and was wowed! Helprin’s writing is outstanding and makes my imagination shift into overdrive. But the movie-YUCK. Even sweet Crowe could not save it. On the other hand, I watched THE READER, written by Bernard Schlink–OMG! more, I want more. The movie was so well done, and the story made me want to read the book. Don’t you find it is usually the opposite? Anyway–THE READER was such a moving, intricate story; it made me question right and wrong (one of my favorite things to question)
So for the day, it has been beautiful–a beautiful reading and watching experience. And God did make it lovely outside–from my point of view.