Celebrations

Writing is like sex. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money.

-Virginia Woolf

Yesterday I finished my fourth Gaston the Poodle mystery, entitled To Die for Pickleball.  Megan and Tim’s wedding and shoulder replacement surgery interrupted my writing big time! 

Four chapters to go. I took a hiatus of nearly three months, but in August I sat down at the keyboard and started to write. I confess, I worried that I’d left it too long and I’d lost the flow. Also, my arm that underwent surgery is weak. I can’t hold it up long enough to type. I propped it up with a pillow. Problem solved. My characters jumped in where I’d left off and insisted that I tell their story, especially Sandra Tooksbury. My first draft is complete just in time to drive to New York and meet my new baby granddaughter, Leona Joyce, born July 29, 6.6 pounds and 18 inches.

A photographer visited the hospital to take pictures of the newborn and the happy parents. Megan sent me a link to the photo gallery but said, “I don’t want any of these pictures. The baby glared at the camera. They’re ugly.”

I disagreed so I ordered some for myself. “I’m going to order one of the three of you. There are some sweet pictures of you two holding Leona. Are you sure you don’t want a copy for yourself?”

“I’m in a hospital gown, I didn’t get to shower. I look terrible,” she said. “And don’t get the one where I have a double chin.”

I’m posting the first photo of the new family. I think it’s beautiful. You can tell how happy Tim and Megan are by how their faces glow.

We’re renting a house together in upstate New York for the month of September. However, it’s in the midst of a critical stage of my physical therapy. There’s a window of opportunity in the next six weeks to achieve the maximum range of motion. If it slams shut, I’ll be limited in my complete recovery. Three of those weeks we’ll be in New York. Luckily, I was able to find a physical therapist there, so I’m optimistic I’ll reach my arm elevation and shoulder rotation goals. I should get some strength training from holding the baby.

Megan gave me strict orders not to bring baby clothes. They live in a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn with limited storage. Tim’s aunt saved baby clothes from his cousins’ children and passed them on to Megan. In addition, friends and relatives have been kind to shower her with girl baby items. But I can bring books! The Very Hungry Caterpillar is in my suitcase, along with a few titles from Sandra Boynton. I saved her favorite book from her toddler stage, My Mean Old Mother Will Be Sorry, Blackboard Bear, Plus Aubrey’s favorite, Do Cows Meow? I can’t wait to hold her in my arms and read to her. One of my favorite childhood memories is my mom reading Home for a Bunny (little Golden Book) to me.

I started with the Virginia Woolf quote, because it’s a gauge of where I am as a writer. I’m somewhere between the ‘do it for love’ stage and ‘for your friends.’ I may never reach the ‘for money ‘ stage but I am pretty excited that my books sold out at the local bookstore, Literatus, thanks to the influx of wedding guests in May. I also sold out at a bookstore in Madison, A Room of One’s Own. It’s exciting when complete strangers buy my books. Maybe it’s a baby-step toward the money-making stage.

I’m including the cover of my new book. I hope you find it intriguing. I made myself learn to play pickleball so I could write from experience, just like Ernest Hemingway and I didn’t have to go to the Spanish Civil War to write with authority, like Ernest.

In addition to learning pickleball, I shifted protagonists from Vlad to Sandra Tooksbury, former Burlesque star, eccentric landlady, and Gaston’s owner. Mystery writer Suzanne Chazin said, “When I sit down to write, my fun comes not from looking into a mirror, but from peeking into someone else’s window.” I enjoyed imagining this offbeat elderly lady plunging into the investigation full throttle. Picture Miss Marple with dyed red hair, false eyelashes, and Fredrick’s of Hollywood outfits.
 
Sandra got a taste of detective work in Murder is as Easy as Pie and she takes the lead in this case. Of course, the whole gang of amateur sleuths weigh in, with Gaston at the helm. An obnoxious pickleball players is found dead in the men’s locker room, strangled by Sandra’s peacock feather boa. Her new love interest, Arthur, quickly becomes the main suspect due to an argument with the victim, caused by Gaston. Past indiscretions won’t stay buried as the detectives uncover secrets and lies. Will Sandra’s last chance at romance lie in ruins as they dig closer to the truth?
 
Keep checking for updates. I’m anticipating a spring launch. Until then, I’ll be hard at work revising and rewriting the book and enjoying my role as grandma.