Catching up and some “Super Sunday” thoughts…

OK. It’s been way too long since I actually sat down with the sole purpose to write something to post on Down Many Roads—my long-standing blog about various topics of which I’m interested. And I’ve frittered away so many opportunities to do that very thing during the past several weeks and months. Reading, rather than writing, has still been my “go to” activity when I’m up before dawn most mornings, and I feel rather guilty about that—but not that guilty! Recently, I have enjoyed reading the following books: Beneath a Scarlet Sky, by Mark Sullivan; The Russia Hoax, by Greg Jarrett; The Saga of the Pony Express, by Joseph J. Di Certo;

Since I last posted regarding our wonderful adventure on the Oregon Trail with our grandsons, I have been busy with a few road trips to Ohio to see Mom and my older sister and husband. Mom turned 90 last month and is doing remarkably well. We had just returned from an 18-day Panama Canal cruise, and our intention was to make the six hour drive to northern Ohio to celebrate her birthday on the actual day—January 22. But a nagging viral infection entered the scene, as did the return of the Polar Vortex, preventing me from making the trip to the shores of Lake Erie.

About that same time, we had been inundated with continuous snowfalls, accumulations mounting daily. As such, I’m planning a trip out in a couple of weeks, hoping that this sudden thaw and this stretch of very pleasant weather will hold on for a while. Fingers crossed.

Our aforementioned cruise began on January 2, when we flew out of O’Hare to San Diego. From start to finish, the whole trip was wonderful, particularly the warm and comfortable weather all the way along, where we ended up in Fort Lauderdale and flew home from there. I will be writing about the highlights of this adventure in future posts.

Watching the Super Bowl yesterday left me in a total state of “the blahs.” Not only was the game a complete flop, the commercials—usually the highlight of Super Sunday—were non existent. There is definitely something going on in our world and society that has changed things that are supposed to be fun into anything but. Too much preachy content that caters to a generation I find difficult to comprehend much of the time. The outcome was not really surprising, and I’m not a Patriots football fan. However, I do admire their achievements and their adherence to off-the-field obligations. Enjoy your White House visit, Patriots!

Now, it’s time to focus on getting through February. Good to be back and writing! See you sooner than later…

2014 disappearing…Books to read on the road ahead

Happy New Year, one and all! This being my final post of 2014, I could go on and on about the wonderful things that happened to me in this year that is about to disappear into the past, but I’ll concentrate, instead, on one of my most favorite topics: Books.

My list of things to read in the coming new year has grown exponentially, thanks to some wonderful Christmas gifts left under our tree. And though I should probably get back to my writing and re-focusing my attention to finishing my current work in progress, a novel titled Sandbar’s Secret, I can’t wait to plunge headfirst into those nice-looking tomes that sit waiting on my “to be read” shelf of my bookcase. I’ll get to the writing, I’m confident!

Before I get into mentioning those upcoming reads, I want to say a word or two about the book I’m about to finish reading for a men’s bookclub this coming Saturday morning. Bill Bryson has been an author I’ve enjoyed, and his One Summer, America 1927 has been a very pleasurable experience. In typical Bryson fashion, he seems to bring out the unique “oddities” that often go unnoticed as history unwinds. At the heart of the book is the Lindbergh flight and the basic birth of aviation it brought about in 1927.

But that’s not all that made an impact on America and the world that summer. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig performed brilliantly as The New York Yankees fielded what is considered the greatest baseball team ever, and that was enjoyable to read about. The convicted anarchists, Sacco and Vanzetti, were executed for their deeds, and Al Capone was nearing the end of his “rule” in the underworld. Movies were swiftly moving away from silent ones into “talkies,” and TV was under development. And that’s merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg of all the neat stuff that Bryson has included in his terrific book! As such, I anticipate a wonderful discussion amongst the gentlemen this Saturday morning, while we enjoy hot coffee and nibble on delicious cranberry muffins.

Now, on to my upcoming reading itinerary:

1. 41 A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush
2. 11/22/63 by Stephen King
3. Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman by Robert L. O’Connell
4. Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella

I realize that some of these books are not new, particularly the Kinsella book which is the one that the movie Field of Dreams was based on, but they’re “new” to me, and I am eager to get into them all! Of course, there’s another book club gathering approaching in a few weeks where we’re going to discuss Dan Brown’s Inferno. I finished that a couple of weeks ago and can take it or leave it. Enough of Dante’s works, already!

Now, as my new year is on the cusp and arriving sooner than later, and my books to read sit patiently for my attention, I wish you all the happiest of things to come in the year ahead. I had the pleasure to make several blogging friends during the course of 2014, and I look forward to continuing those relationships. As we all move forward, may our days be merry and bright as we travel on down those many roads!

Novel Writing Progress and Update #2

Microsoft Word’s “Word Count Toolbar” (Photo credit: Travelin’ Librarian)

I feel like a stranger to my very own blog, not having been here in recent days! But I’m glad to report that I’m nearly half way finished with my novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), just completing my 24,000 word count this morning. What’s even more positive about the whole thing–besides simply piling up a ton of words–is that the story is actually moving along and a lot of fun to write!

The working title is The Bet. It is obviously fiction, but I’m able to draw upon some real-life experiences from my younger and “foolisher” days, and that certainly makes it all that much more solid and organized. It’s a story I’ve been meaning to write for so many years, and this NaNoWriMo has been the perfect avenue for me to actually get it done. I’m pretty much right on schedule to have the 50,000 words completed by the end of the month. As I mentioned in my last update, though, time is going to get a bit tight with my pheasant hunting weekend ahead and Thanksgiving next week. So, in the meantime, I’m trying to exceed a daily output of 2,000 words.

nanowrimo, day 16 goal (Photo credit: paloetic)

 

Stay tuned for the next progress report on The Bet….CortlandWriter

Who’s Your Favorite All-time Author?

Asking who my all-time favorite authors are would be like asking me to number the stars. But for this post, I’ll start small and give my reasons why.

First, there was Clair Bee,  former coach, who wrote the Chip Hilton series of which I could never get enough. These stories all had a basic lesson and goodness at their core. I would skip school, feigning illness to stay home, to follow Chip and his friends through another adventure. Writing as a 61-year-old today, I often wonder what ever became of Chip, Speed, Taps, Biggie, Soapy, and Jimmy LuChung as they grew older, even though they were only fictional creations of a good writer.

At the same time in my life, there was the “conglomerate” of authors writing as  Franklin W. Dixon which produced the Hardy Boys series. Predictable and simple as they were, I loved them and imagined myself writing stories for young people some day. I loved the stilted language and decorum of the period in which the books were written. Frank or Joe were always “ejaculating,” and not the way that word has come to mean, either.

Then came Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who introduced me to  Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson  one cold winter while I was bedridden with a leg infection for several days. I had joined the Doubleday Book Club, where the fabulous deal included several books for something like 99 cents when agreeing to purchase a certain number of books within a year’s time. I thought that was a pretty neat thing! And so it was that the mysteries and adventures of the world’s most famous detective and his trusty companion came into my life and have remained forever. The game is always afoot!

Later on, in high school, I discovered Alistair MacLean and Hammond Innes, two Brits who wrote stories of intrigue and adventure. Campbell’s Kingdom still ranks right up there as a very favorite by Innes, and I re-read it just last year. MacLean’s The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare sit proudly on my shelves today along with When Eight Bells Toll.

I would include Mark Twain for giving me Tom and Huck and all of their adventures along that great river and the shady and seedy characters along the way. Life on the Mississippi is another favorite. I don’t much care for the later, jaded and cynical works, but I’m forever indebted to the humorous and fun Twain. His short stories, such as “Roughing It”  were fun to read in class.

I have come to love Dickens for more than his standard “Scrooge” at Christmas time as well. I particularly love his characters and their many colorful and unique names: Murdstone, Heap, et al. I love reading about the dark underbelly of London and the wretched folks who move about in the fog and back alleys of the 19th Century. David Copperfield and Great Expectations remain my favorites.

So who would you say were your favorite authors–then and now? Drop me a line and tell me who and why.