Lucky Day
Writing a report no one cares about.
I’ve said it often, I am lucky to be a writer. It’s pretty cool that I get to write books and short stories and people actually pay me for them. That’s one part that makes me feel lucky. The other is that I get to do it at all. The odds of getting an agent are tiny. The odds of getting a book deal, tinier still. The odds of publishing seven books with an eighth on the way…well you can figure out what I am going to say by the context clues.
Yesterday I was tired and cranky and probably not to pleasant to be around if you were one of my coworkers. I got home from work and there was a box on my office chair. It was from Flaviar, the quarterly whiskey tasting subscription service that my Long Suffering Wife has enrolled me in. While I was happy to see the bottle of very strong whiskey from Melbourne Australia, no that’s not a non sequitur, it wasn’t the box that I had been hoping for. I was hoping for a box from the publisher. The paperback copy of THE JUDGE comes out toward the end of this month and I love getting author copies.
A small taste of the strong whiskey from Melbourne proved that while tasty it is best had in small doses. I managed a catnap before we went out trick-or-treating with Captain Chaos. He’s thirteen but loves going out and seeing everyone in our Plat (neighborhood if you aren’t from my piece of New England). He loves talking to the little kids and he loves clowning for the adults. Mostly, I think he loves being the center of attention from people he doesn’t live with. While walking around I also managed to explain to his older brother the fine art of using your flashlight to find shell casings at crime scenes in the dark. What can I say, I’ve had a diverse set of life experiences. Fortunately, while my oldest listened politely, as is his way, he has no interest in being a cop. I am glad of that.
We got home after a solid forty-five minutes of walking around an unusually quiet neighborhood. Usually Halloween in our plat involves swarms of adults and kids. This year it was almost horror movie deserted. Captain Chaos still managed to find people to engage with and we felt like we a very short politicians entourage on the eve of an election.
It also felt a little weird this year because one neighbor, whom we were very close to had moved away. This was the first Halloween we didn’t start off at Joan’s house. Another neighbor informed us that she was ill and this was likely her last Halloween. Fortunately Captain Chaos was extra funny and sweet, as is his way. Also fortunately his older brother wheeled out some of his dry whit, he has killer comedic timing.
Today, I got up and ran some errands. Haircut, dry cleaning, and getting my flu/COVID vaccinations. The UPS man popped by and greeted me cheerily. He handed me a box from the publisher which when I opened it contained several paperback copies of THE JUDGE. It never gets old getting copies of your own book. Trust me.
When I finally managed to sit down at the computer there was a message via my website. This website. It was from a fan who had picked up my first book a month ago and was now working his way through the fourth one. He was originally from Massachusetts but now lived in Hawaii, the books he said reminded him of home. It’s a pretty cool to be able to write and reach people. To remind them of a time or a place in their life. Not as cool as going trick-or-treating with Captain Chaos and his older brother, but still pretty cool.