An Aries Knows (this site is more fun when people read and comment)
I need to be organized. I can’t work in clutter. I can’t stand it when I can’t find things. I’m a great filer and organizer (I think The Container Store is a little slice of heaven), but I’ve had too many related things filed in too many different places.
Tim is always (always being an exaggeration of occasionally) nagging me to purge stuff. (Geminis…)
Continue reading “Ruthless Self-Discipline”
Today I am horrified by the images and video I’m seeing from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Besides the fact that one of our LJ friends lives there, and we are hoping he and his loved ones are okay, this is where Tim and I visited when researching THREE FORTUNES.
The residents were so gracious about answering our questions. They were frank about what was good and what was flawed about their state, but none of them talked about moving away. It’s home. In our acknowledgments, we specifically thank two Visitors’ Centers, two GLBT bars, and a cafe in Pass Christian. I don’t know if those places are even still there.
The houses that play an important role in the novel were inspired by the coast’s beautiful mansions, many of which survived Hurricane Camille. In fact, Camille has a part in shaping one of our characters, and some of our characters do what I did when I was there one morning–go to the Hurricane Camille Memorial in Biloxi. Tim and I made a video record of some of the places we saw so that when we came back to Houston, our writing would be accurate. It’s heartbreaking to think of all that beauty destroyed.
I can’t believe the devastation. I know there is a tremendous loss of property, but even worse, the loss of lives. I worry about the evacuees, the survivors, the displaced animals. I feel so helpless. I wish our book would sell a zillion copies or be optioned for a movie, so I could donate enough money to make a difference. I wish I could help people clean up and get their lives back.
All I can do for the moment is send good thoughts, good energy, to these coastal people who shared themselves and their beautiful surroundings with us for a time. It will be home again.
Tonight I had to run some errands, so on a whim, and with low expectations, I stopped by our neighborhood Borders. Alas, no copies of THREE FORTUNES were on the shelf. I picked up another of Greg Herren’s mysteries, MURDER IN THE RUE DAUPHINE (New Orleans being on my mind this evening). I also noted that FARB’s TRUST FUND BOYS looks good in its new trade paper release.
As I was leaving, one of the associates asked if he could help me, so I asked if he could look up two books–Lori L Lake’s HAVE GUN WE’LL TRAVEL, which I’ve heard a lot about, and, well… THREE FORTUNES IN ONE COOKIE by Cochrane Lambert.
Continue reading “An Out-of-Compound Experience”
Sometimes I just have to get out of the Home Office; a change of scenery can provoke renewed creativity.
Tonight, I’m working at Hollywood Cafe. There’s a Jackie Chan movie on and plenty of patrons chattering, but for some reason, I can still work here.
This used to be Hollywood Cafe and Books. Now the bookstore is around the corner on Fairview; it’s the only surviving GLBT bookstore in Houston. As far as I know, Marlon still works there. I adore Marlon. Stop into the bookstore and say hello to him sometime, or to the equally fabulous Ryan.
The affiliated restaurant next door once gave me some fortune cookies late at night because I was shooting photographs for possible use on the jacket of THREE FORTUNES. Alyson went with their own cover, but I still appreciate the generosity of the restaurant.
Check out Hollywood Cafe for coffee, a snack, their wifi connection, the gigantic TV screen, or conversation on the outside patio, where you can keep an eye on people going in and out of the bars, or maybe get Merlyn to read your Tarot cards.
Thanks to Lisa in Iowa, I just became aware that Bart Yates has a new book coming out. I loved his first book, LEAVE MYSELF BEHIND, so I checked out his site for information on the new novel.
His cover is so close to what Tim had envisioned Alyson doing for us on THREE FORTUNES IN ONE COOKIE. When Tim described his vision to me, I said, “Yeah, and they should make it look a little dreamy, with that kind of colorization that was used on Ethan Mordden’s first couple of Buddies books.”
Kensington has done that for Bart Yates on THE BROTHERS BISHOP. When I wrote our editor there and praised the cover, telling him it brought tears (of envy) to my eyes, he said the novel itself brought tears to his eyes because it’s so good.
Congratulations, Bart Yates. I’m not only looking forward to reading your novel, but I love your cover.
It never fails. If it’s a critical time with a manuscript, I will have a computer issue. This week I’m doing the editor’s changes to THREE FORTUNES IN ONE COOKIE, next year’s release from Tim and me. For the first time in weeks and weeks, my computer locked up. Seems to be okay now, but you can bet that next week when I need to print and ship? It’ll be something else.
I really like both my editors (John, Kensington) (Nick, Alyson), but today I REALLY like Nick, who did his Norma Rae for Tim and me. Now if we can just get the cover we want for THREE FORTUNES IN ONE COOKIE, work will be good.
Last night I dreamed that Tim is going to be Michael Stipe’s groupie. Maybe this R.E.M. obsession is getting too intense.
I’m almost finished with my 2004 paperwork, which means I can file my taxes sooner. If only I could afford my accountant.
The manuscript for Three Fortunes in One Cookie is officially on its way to the editor. And thus ends more than a year’s work on two novels. I’m sooooo tired.