Well, crap. I just wrote a post and lost it. Just as well; it wasn’t a very good post. But I did mention that I finished the almost-final draft of Love Spun. I’ll take one more pass through it, but it’s almost as good as I can get. And that will have to do. I’m crafting the query letter and synopsis right now. You know, I can sum the book up in one sentence for the blurb. I can do it in a paragraph for the query letter. But trying to sum up the book in two to three pages for the synopsis might just kill me. It’s really, really hard.
I am too stupid to do any more work on it now. So I’ll just write to you.
I took my editor out to lunch the other day. Yes, me, myself, and I. All three of us had a celebratory meal on the water in Tiburon at Sam’s. I asked my editor what she wanted and she said STEAK. So I had a Niman Ranch steak sandwich with horseradish sauce and au jus and a Hefeweisen to wash it all down. I watched the sunlight sparkle on the bay. Watched the tourists take pictures. Watched the boats bob in the marina.
And I watched the cheekiest seagulls I’ve ever seen (and I went to a high school where we were regularly dive-bombed by the dirty birds). They attacked in flocks, six or seven at a time. They screamed down en masse and landed on any table at which the patrons had carelessly leaned back in their chairs. They stole as many french fries as possible before being beaten off by terrified customers. Children were crying all over the waterside patio. As soon as they’d pull it together, another attack would occur sending them into absolute fits. I felt sorry for their parents who would have to deal with the subsequent nightmares. My server gave me my lunch and told me to hover over it. I used my body as a french-fry shelter. And damn, it was worth it.
Pandora??
Wow!
Man!
Not busy at work today, and I traveled to Bear’s Retreat, Albuquerque, tiburon, which is right nearby. Y’all moved to a 300 yr old log cabin and Eddie and I moved to a double wide trailer in Novato! Nell C.
oops. not Pandora. Sorry
Yum. I wish I could have tagged along for lunch. But I wouldn’t want to interfere in that delicate relationship between you and your editor.
Hi Rachael – I haven’t visited you in ages. But today I was listening to my favorite radio show via podcast. It has a Q&A segment for callers. The caller said her name was Lala. Then the host — Dr. Rachel Maddow — says “Lala was my college roommate. She’s from Idaho. She plays the banjo.” and the sidekick says “are you sure it’s the same Lala?” and Rachel M. says “How many Lalas do you think there are in San Francisco who play the banjo?” At which point I stopped in my tracks and realized this was the craziest six-degrees moment of my life! I just had to come by and tell you, and now I remember why I always loved reading your blog. I’ll stop by more often again!
Way to go! next to same thing as final book to send off!
yer public awaits….
Dad
Oooh! That’s exciting. You’ll have to do book signings. Very cool. Boring, but neat. The book signings, I mean. Maybe the restaurant should invest in some kind or bird repellent? does one exist?
That’s so fabulous that you’ve totally stayed the course on your book, man! How many people get 1/2-way and quit, I wonder? You’re definitely an inspiration!
(Now your next novel can be about scary nightmare birds, although I guess that’s already been done by good ole Alfred Hitchcock).
Hey, if you like the steak sandwiches without the attack birds, try the steak sandwich at Fresca (on Fillmore in SF, a Peruvian restaurant). I dream about this sandwich!
Sounds like a restaurant in Cambria that we like; there the Brewer’s Blackbirds also join in the fray. Our server told us that earlier in the day a seagull had absconded with a child’s hamburger — snatched it right out of his hands.
*cackle* The image of the birds dive-bombing and stealing food to the terrified cries of children somehow, some way made me cackle out loud in my office. It’s okay, my co-workers already know I’m a loon 😛
I had a seagull steal an entire hamburger once when I was waiting for the ferry to Alcatraz. They are mean!
Love Spun? I don’t think I’d heard the title yet. That is awesome – I love it!!
I learned early that seagulls are Evil Birds. I once saw a seagull swoop down, land on the side of a grill, pick up an entire hotdog and fly off again. Then there was the one that stole a whole plastic-bagged sandwich from someone’s picnic blanket. Someone didn’t get any lunch that day.
I could never figure out why people despised pigeons so much.
One more thought for what it is worth…write the synopsis linking actions with emotions. A simple history of what she did then tugs every heartstring. In the first chapter, excitement, anticipation, confusion, delight and dismay!
Strong words for emotion seekers.
So cool, can’t wait to read the whole book and make my 257 friends buy a copy.
Dad
GIVE YOUR POSTS TITLES!!! With no title, it doesn’t show up in my feed reader, and then I think you haven’t written. That’s fine most of the time, but what if you didn’t title the post where you said you’d be sans blog for a month, and then I didn’t see it, and I thought you just didn’t post, and then I thought something maybe had happened to you? Maeby u taeks 4 monts walk liek Digit? I don’t know. So titles! Titles!
That steak sandwich sounds good. I wouldn’t have let the seagulls have it, either.