Happy Sugar Diamonte’s Birthday Eve!
Sugar Diamonte is the main character in my cozy mystery series. Her birth date is 8/8/88, the same day I started the best job I ever had, at The Pennysaver, a weekly print advertising mailer in Southern California. I worked there for 27 years with the finest group of accounting folks that became family, many of them employed there as long or longer than me. It’s my little homage to them and our time together, giving Sugar a birth date so close to my heart.
Sugar looks like Sandra Bullock in While You Were Sleeping and a pivotal scene in the book unfolds at a movie theatre after she and her neighbor, Maybelle, see The Lost City.
Kind of a quiet week here. No Knott’s, museums, or Cube visits. Just plain ole livin’ the life.
Our California Writer’s Club meeting on Saturday morning was the highlight of our week. The speaker was LA native Paul Haddad with his talk, “No-Stress Nonfiction: How to Research and Write It.” His sense of humor and casual speaking style made for an entertaining morning. Coming from a background of showrunning, writing, and directing documentary-style TV, including for NatGeo, Discovery Networks and Wild On, he started his prose writing career with a book about the LA Dodgers in 2012. It was his boyish enthusiasm of all things Los Angeles that sparked most of his book writing. You wouldn’t think researching and writing non-fiction would be a fun topic, but he clearly loves what he does and that goes a long way to keeping an audience listening and engaged. And even though I write fiction, I still like to get the facts right, especially the police stuff, so it was as useful to me as it was charming.
Do you calendarize books and streaming/shows so you won’t forget when they’re coming out? Or is it just me, LOL… I get so excited about my fave author’s books that I actually have an Excel spreadsheet for anticipated publication dates 😊 And I put upcoming streaming shows/returns of series dates in my iPhone calendar. Tell me I’m not the only one!
Writing
I’ve been working at the editing for The Bonus Grave on ProWritingAid and I’m thinking of doing a full beta read with them, too. More next week…
I’m also taking a Tropes in Genre Fiction virtual seminar next week. It’s good to keep learning and getting other takes on writing.
Reading
Do you ever put holds on books at the library? I had four on hold ~ this week THREE came in all at once! I think I’m going to be busy reading for a while, LOL!
Still dragging my feet a bit on the ebook I’m reading, which is the third book in a fantasy series. I realized it’s because I’m anxious about what these characters are going through and I’m a bit afraid for them. But it did spark my reading again when another character showed up to assist in the situation… I think things are going to turn out ok!
I’m really catching up on John Scalzi books this year. I believe Starter Villain came out after The Kaiju Preservation Society but before When the Moon Hits Your Eye ~ all enthusiastically recommended. If you’re in the mood for a billionaire revenge novel, mixed with James Bond level spy-jinx, Starter Villain is definitely for you! When Charlie’s estranged Uncle Jake dies and leaves him a mysterious bequest, he’s thrust into the world of global economic manipulation, cats with laptops, and snarky dolphins, topped off with his own villainous volcanic lair. All Charlie wants is to own the local pub, where he and his late dad used to spend quality time. Instead, he has to figure out how to maneuver, with help from his uncle’s right-hand woman, through high stakes meetings with people who’d prefer he didn’t exist, bodies piling up around him, and cetacean union negotiations, all while trying to keep himself alive. This fish out of water tale had me laughing, cheering, and even shedding a tear or two. There’s also a delightful bonus short story featuring Hera, Charlie’s very smart cat.
Streaming/Watching
For my next book, I’ve been doing a little research on basic scams. Have you seen The Tinder Swindler documentary? He perpetrates a Ponzi scheme/romance scam with women in Europe ~ and he’s still active??!! Crazy…
Anyway, this week I watched the 9-part Netflix series, Inventing Anna. A ton of good performances, but the characters, based on a real situation ~ at the beginning of each episode is a disclaimer saying “This whole story is completely true. Except for the parts that are totally made up.” ~ all have agendas, both good and bad. Anna, supposedly a German heiress, scams her way through New York society, leaving a trail of the idle rich, prominent bankers and hotels, among others, defrauded for thousands of dollars. Passing herself off as part of the glitterati, she attempts to build an exclusive social club, enlisting A-list backers. When she’s arrested, a pregnant journalist under a dark cloud, Vivian, wants to tackle the story, hoping this might be a road to redemption for herself. I was reading an article saying that Netflix glamourized Anna’s crimes and villainized one of the characters, but I thought the opposite. Anna might have projected herself into a glitzy world but her crimes were still abhorrent. And the demonized friend she left with a $62,000 bill from a trip Anna had invited her on did what she had to do to stop her from hurting others. This was like watching a train wreck ~ I couldn’t look away. And I wanted to scream at the people on the screen who continued to give her grace and money and sanctuary. Julia Garner as Anna and Anna Chlumsky as Vivian are excellent, and Jeff Perry, Terry Kinney, and Anna Deavere Smith as seasoned journalists exiled to “Scriberia”, are a total joy to watch.
Till next Thursday!
I'm Writing As Fast As I Can 
I put books on hold. The library has exchange with other Western Massachusetts libraries. It’s great. The librarian doesn’t see disruption coming to that service!!!
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