Hope everybody had a good Memorial Day. I kept thinking it was Sunday… We put out our trash on Monday nights, so we had to scramble on Tuesday morning to get the cans out… Then found out they’d be a day behind on pickup, which hasn’t happened all year with the other Monday holidays… Hauled them back in, only to bring them back out Wednesday morning… How was your Memorial Day??!!
Spent some time binging The Four Seasons on Netflix. I purposely didn’t rewatch the original Alan Alda/Carol Burnett movie from the 80’s, because I wanted to see the series with fresh eyes. I enjoyed it, especially since it updated the story with one of the couples being gay. I just read a not-so-hot review, saying the writers used too many clichés and didn’t build the characters very deeply. Honestly, I don’t expect a lot of deep introspection from a sit-com. There were some lovely moments, however, especially from Kerri Kenney, who plays a betrayed wife. I will admit, though, that the Tina Fey and Will Forte characters in the last two episodes were annoying as hell. After a bombshell ending, unsurprisingly, there will be another “season” at some point.
Anybody else use the Rice Robot? I love mine! The rice it makes is almost like sticky rice, very moist and heavy. I get the raw rice at Sprouts – white, brown, and mixed (although I haven’t tried the mixed yet). Usually, we like simple rice bowls: I cook some chicken breast to cut into chunks, microwave frozen veggies, and throw it all in ceramic bowls. Yum! It comes with two measuring cups, one for rice and one for water, plus the flat spoon and a small pan for steaming things (haven’t tried that yet, either). Wasn’t too happy with the recipe book, however. No serving sizes and no cooking times… I went on YouTube for the cooking times (about 20 minutes for white, 40 for brown) and, by trial and error, figured about half of the stated amounts work for two servings that are more than enough for us.
If you do a lot of Googling or Duck Duck Go-ing, my advice is don’t depend on the AI summaries that are sprouting like mushrooms at the top of searches. I was looking for information on the books that Beverly Jenkins wrote about a town called Henry Adams. The AI summary had her writing books about a character named Henry Adams… Always check sources, kids!
In reading news this week, I’ve started the first Henry Adams book on my Kindle, Bring on the Blessings, and I’m loving it! Just bought the next in the series. It’s about a woman who comes into a multi-million dollar divorce settlement and decides to buy a failing town originated by black settlers. And having been a social worker, she has a dream of bringing foster children and families together in a town she aims to rebuild to its former glory. Part fairy tale, part soap opera, and part just plain feel-good story, I can’t read it fast enough.
I also read Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles’s Silent as the Grave, a Molly Murphy mystery. #21 in the series, Molly is thrown into the world of pioneering silent films when her adopted daughter, Bridie, is given a role in a movie. There are accidents on every set but when Bridie almost loses her life, Molly investigates what might be sabotage. A fun read, including cameos by Thomas Edison and D.W. Griffith. * If you’re looking for a good mystery series, I highly recommend this one. Molly came to America in the late 1800’s on her own from Ireland, ran her own detective agency for a while, made friends with her lesbian suffragette neighbors, and is now a wife and mother, still dabbling in investigations. Besides being well told stories, the history and navigation of being a modern woman in those times are a real bonus.
It’s Jacaranda time! I love these trees full of purple flowers and they always make me think of The Mom, who loved them, too. When we lived in Whittier (CA), we used to drive through a virtual tunnel of purple to get to our house!
And in writing news:
I’ve taken the first step to start a newsletter! Back in the day (the early aughts), I had a newsletter for my jewelry business, Bear Chick Originals. The current advice for creatives is to have a newsletter because, even if you’re on social media, those platforms can go away with the snap of a billionaire’s fingers, and you’re on your own. To already have your own platform with your own mailing list guarantees that you’ll still have a way to connect with your followers/fans. The set up is a little different than what I remember, so the learning curve is curvin’! But I’m confident I’ll be rolling out the Gray Mare Writes’ newsletter in the next few weeks. Hope you’ll sign up and come along on my writing journey!
Also, I just bought my first book cover package for my debut cozy mystery!! It includes the ebook cover and the front, spine, and back cover for my paperback. I’ll be sending the designers my ideas for the cover art, along with a summary of the book, color preferences, etc. They were running a sale, so I grabbed it, but I’m still in the beta read phase. Once I feel like the book is ready (which may take another round of revisions, foot dragging and continuous tweaking…), I’ll be taking a few weeks to do line edits and grammar/spelling checks. And I have to do more research into which company I want to distribute my book, which will make a difference to the designers, for some reason. So, it’ll be a while before I’m ready to take the cover plunge. But just pressing that BUY button was a thrill!
And here’s a couple of pix from our trip to Discovery Cube in Orange County. We have an annual pass so you’ll probably see more from time to time!
Till next Thursday!
I'm Writing As Fast As I Can 
I wasn’t impressed with 4 seasons. I expected more uniqueness from these comedic heros. Good idea not to rely on social media for keeping your memories safe. They may charge you $$$ access to it at some point.
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