Yee-Haaaa! Friday, Feb 29 2008 

Hello fellow readers and writers.  I’ve returned from Texas which was a hoot: borrowed a cowboy hat, imbibed too many tequila drinks to mention, ate tons of Mexican food & Texas BBQ, and hardly slept.  Heard some great music, esp. Albert & Gage, whose CD’s I would recommend. She is 1/2 French and has a lovely voice and does some songs in Eng/Fr, including my wedding song, “La Vie en Rose” so I’m a fan.  Learned to two-step, saw the countryside, the downtown and the UT campus, all thanks to my good friend and Shakespeare scholar, Susan.  This is one neat place, stuck in the 60’s and swinging on all counts.  And Susan’s kids helped to make our stay a great one, taking us on drives, entertaining us at home, joining us for music and food.   A fun time.

But now back to work and revisions have commenced on the newest novel, featuring RN Trudy Genova, who works as a medical consultant for a movie studio and is usually found helping out at soap operas filmed in the Big Apple.  Behind-the-scenes stuff at soaps mingles with her helping to solve the murder of actor Griff Kennedy, who may or may not deserve his fate, depending on your point of view.   Lead detective Ned O’Malley would rather she left the sleuthing to him, but our Trudy knows better, she thinks.

On the reading front, and since I’m revising Trudy in first person, I’ve kept reading Margaret Duffy’s series featuring novelist Ingrid Langley and Army Capt. Patrick Gillard, as they are written in first person and also highly engaging.  Duffy has a host of stand-alones, too, but this series is identified as having some kind of bird in the title: A Murder of Crows, Death of a Raven, Brass Eagle, etc.  They take place in the UK and I enjoy her description of the male-female relationship as much as the action.

Westminster 2 Wednesday, Feb 13 2008 

Auntie M is glad Roux agrees with me on those ridiculous poodle cuts.  The Best in Show last night had some unusual breeds for a change (Sealyham terrier, Australian shepherd amonst them) but at the end of the day, the little Beagle named Uno walked away with the silver bowl and top honors.  And he knew he won something, judging by his howling and leaping at the excitement and standing ovation.  Watch as the sale of this breed will take a giant curve upwards now, happens every year.

The Spinone who competed was a brown roan, and quite handsome, but overlooked.  Ah, well, as the judges get used to seeing this breed and understand its specialness, it will advance.  Doc and I didn’t make popcorn, but did watch on DVR after the NC game (Go Tarheels).  Now what an evening is that?  Winning basketball, winning dogs, Doc by my side, Spinone sharing my ottoman.  Great evening.

Auntie M will be offline for a week; heading tomorrow to Austin, TX, a state I’ve never been to, to reunite with gal friends from Oxford summer course.  We are all of certain age, which means our two-step will be sedate, but will still be out there.  I understand my hostess, Susan, has an itinerary planned that includes eating, music, museums, eating, antiquing, touring, shopping and eating.   Priorities.

On the book end, will take the next three in Margaret Duffy’s neat mystery series with me, about a divorced couple who remarry at the beginning of MI-5 to confound the baddies.  Not your typical spy novel, or I wouldn’t be interested for sure.  Duffy, who also has other stand alones, has a neat way of describing her main characters thoughts and actions.  And did I mention the guy is missing a limb? Give them a shout.

Westminster Tuesday, Feb 12 2008 

Those of you who know Auntie M personally already know that I am very fond of dogs, and so watching Westminster has the hallmark of the Oscars at our house, although for last night’s first session we did low calorie pudding instead of popcorn.

There are just so many adorable breeds, all puffed out and cleaned up, as well as a few absurd and ridiculous ones.  I mean, the Puli and those cords?  A black mop for sure.  And that sorry cut on the poodle?  I know it has a history back centuries, and those pom-poms keep the dogs joints warm and protected, yadda, yadda.  But I feel for the poor thing out there, strutting his stuff and pretending NOT to be embarrassed by such a horrendous ‘do.  You just know the poor things is thinking: “Get me outta here” but has been trained to keep his nose up and pretend he likes it.
Give me my scruffy Spinone anyday over those tricked out cuts.  A hunting dog with webbed feet and a double coat, this guy has a large nose, human olive eyes, and the silliest grin this side of the Rockies.  As I type this he’s curled up on his ottoman, sleeping off a romp with his choc. lab pal in the marsh.  He arrived home with only a white stripe showing down his back, the rest of him black with stinky marsh mud, requiring a cold shower outside before he could come in the house.  Now the fragrance of Wet Dog permeates the rooms and as he wiggles and stretches in sleep, remembering his morning romp, I have to refrain myself from going over and cuddling the big goofy guy.  Poodle Boy, eat your heart out.

Big Time in the Big Apple Wednesday, Feb 6 2008 

For those of you thundering masses wondering where Auntie M has been, I’ve been to NYC for a writers convention and quite frankly, to enjoy myself.   The loan of a friend’s apartment coupled with a cheap ticket made this possible, and the days included a meeting with The Agent Who Knows All…but that’s another story.  Whilst there, I saw two movies on the big screen (versus none, since the closest cinema to me is over an hour away and we rarely get there–yes, I know, I live in a ridiculously rural area, usually spoken of with three ‘very’s, as in “very, very, very rural”–and how we got here from NY is yet another story.

There was something to be said for seeing “Atonement” in all its period beauty stretched across the wall in startling color, the fashions, the flat-chested  but well-dressed Keira Knightley, and of course, that darkly lit but lovely sex scene in the library.  What kind of bibliophile would I be not to like a movie that has  a sex scene in a library?  Fairly faithful to the book for a change, worth seeing, I’d give it an 8 1/2 out of 10.

Then “The Savages,” with an actor I admire, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who I knew was destined for great things when I first saw him in “Dead Poets Society.”  He plays the brother of Laura Linney, also great in this sometimes amusing but mostly realistic heartfelt story of sibling coming to terms with their aging father, beautifully played by Philip Bosco.  His scene alone on the plane taking him to a nursing home should get him some kind of award for chutzpah.

I  was also gifted a ticket to “Curtains,” an old-tyme musical revolving around murder on a Broadway show set.  Plenty of singing and dancing, and the divine David Hyde-Pierce playing the detective.  So much energy in live theatre makes me want to run to my laptop and start revising a novel or writing a new one…or writing a blog!

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Auntiemwrites Crime-Mystery Author M K Graff

Award-winning Mystery Author on books, reading and life: If proofreading is wrong, I don't wanna be right!

Lee Lofland

The Graveyard Shift

Sherri Lupton Hollister, author

Romance, mystery, & suspense she writes...

Liz Loves Books

The Wonderful World of Reading

The Life of Guppy

the care and feeding of our little fish

dru's book musings

Reading is a wonderful adventure!

MiddleSisterReviews.com

(mid'-l sis'-tǝr) n. the reader's favorite sister

My train of thoughts on...

Smile! Don't look back in anger.

Emma Kayne

The Department of Designs

K.R. Morrison, Author

My author site--news and other stuff about books and things

The Wickeds

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John Bainbridge Writer

Indie Writer and Publisher

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Writers & writing: books, movies, art & music - the bits & pieces of a (retiring) writer's life

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