Barking at the Thunder

The coleus doesn't mind the rain. The petunias like it UP TO A POINT.

This afternoon, I took care of our neighbor's little dog. As usual, we had a thunderstorm. Instead of going outside to do her "business," doggie barked at the thunder, running from one side of the deck to another and to the stairs, yapping the whole time.

We had to go back later when the storm was over. This time she went out for real. Maybe it was a ploy to get another treat. I had felt like barking at the thunder, too, for all the good it will do.

We had a stellar Mexican casserole (tortilla casserole) tonight. I had never eaten a tortilla casserole until we were in Houston and one was served at lunch at a fancy buffet. Thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Nothing fancy about the casserole, but it's very tasty and quite rich, one of those dishes that low fat sour cream and cheddar would not greatly diminish. I'll print the recipe tomorrow.

Today's mail brought some good news. One of my short stories will be published in an anthology this fall. Very excited, naturally. I will have to update my query letter with this info. Three queries out so far today, two more to do. Then I can watch the Red Sox and finish my James Lee Burke book. Goodbye computer, until morning.





Grapeshot

Edgar Winners

I wasn't at the Edgar's banquet on Thursday, but MWA announced the winners right afterward.
Ta Da!

The Grand Masters were James Lee Burke and Sue Grafton--there couldn't be better picks than those two.

BEST NOVEL Blue Heaven by C.J. Box
BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR The Foreigner by Francie Lin
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL China Lake by Meg Gardiner
BEST FACT CRIME American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century by Howard Blum
BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories by Dr. Harry Lee Poe
BEST SHORT STORY "Skinhead Central" - The Blue Religion by T. Jefferson Parker
BEST JUVENILE The Postcard by Tony Abbott
BEST YOUNG ADULT Paper Towns by John Green (BEST PLAY The Ballad of Emmett Till by Ifa Bayeza
BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY "Prayer of the Bone" - Wire in the Blood, Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson
BEST MOTION PICTURE SCREENPLAY In Bruges, Screenplay by Martin McDonagh ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD "Buckner's Error" - Queens Noir by Joseph Guglielmelli

RAVEN AWARDS Edgar Allan Poe Society, Baltimore, Maryland Poe House, Baltimore, Maryland
MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD The Killer's Wife by Bill Floyd

Sue Grafton and James Lee Burke are so gracious and witty--I enjoyed sitting in on their Symposium interviews. Each one signed a book for me. James Lee Burke admitted he had waited nine years between publication of books 2 and 3 and submitted the book 111 times. So let Suck It Up forever be the motto. We never think of published authors having these issues. The book went on to win (I believe) a Pulitzer. So take heart, ye weary writers.

I rode busses in NY and didn't worry too much about the flu because I had my tiny bottle of hand sanitizer with me.

In my next blog, I'll discuss trying to get out of a restroom without contaminating your just-washed hands. This ain't easy.

Grapeshot