Another Review

http://www.calendarlive.com/books/bookreview/cl-bk-winslow14jan14,0,4955662.htmlstory?coll=cl-bookreview

The LA times liked Exit A, which the NY Times panned. Different Strokes. Makes me happy for the author.

I'm making Abondigas tonight, a Mexican (maybe Spanish roots) meatball soup. We finished up the Russian cabbage soup at noon today. It's cold now, and soup is the favored entree. Not smocked eel. Why don't English-as-a-seccond-language businesses have someone proofread their menus? Well, then we wouldn't have so many chuckles. Of course I was the one who asked, "Is there much fornication here?" instead of "are there many birds in this forest?" Ah the pitfalls of another language.

Tomorrow I'm giving a speech on crime fiction: A Man With A Gun Comes In. Public speaking does not come, shall we say naturally, to me. I don't use gestures easily. Don't walk around but cower behind the lecturn. But anything can be learned. George Williams, a long ago creative writing teacher, said, "I can teach you to write not badly, but not well." Fair bargain, I guess.

Now I need to go check on the meatballs simmering in the soup. A new recipe is always exciting. Long live ethnic cuisine!

Grapeshot