The Writer's Life 8/4 -

Carla Neggers has been writing since she was eleven. She has had great success, publishing 60 novels in the romantic mystery genre. Her work has been translated into 24 languages. I just finished Kiss the Moon (1999). Set in rural Vermont, she describes the area convincingly. The characters are believable and interesting. The mystery worked, although the climax did not ring quite true. It's not easy to create something that is plausible and exciting. As for the romance, it's just not my cup of tea. Of course, I understand this is what her fans expect of her. I simply prefer a cut to the chase. The writing is solid. On a scale of five, two-and-a-half. Tami Hoag's A Thin Dark Line remains the best mystery I've sampled. It transcends the genre. Joy Fielding and Daniel Silva are the smoothest writers. I've restricted myself to one book per mystery writer, so I may not have caught the best work of the others.

I dreaded opening the floating book shop today. It was already hot when I walked to the bank at 10 AM. I was sweating and constantly sniffing at my armpits. I sprayed my T-shirt with Febreze before leaving my sister's house at noon. To my surprise and relief, there was a nice breeze blowing along Bay Parkway, so it was quite pleasant under the tree in front of the Chase Bank. Fortunately, Jack was working. I had a bunch of thrillers I knew he would like, all donated by Simon during the week. He bought five, and a couple bought three. But the best part of the day was a chat I had with Jan (Yon), another employee of Chase. He was 14 when his family emigrated from the Soviet Union. They lived in St. Petersburg. I asked if things were as bad as was believed, which was a dumb question given that his family had chosen to leave. On his first day at school at the age of six, he was turned away, as the quota for Jews had been met. His mom is Jewish. She had to go to the school and fudge the paperwork so that he could enter. He also said that his parents, in the 50's and 60's when western music was banned, would somehow record the Beatles and other artists on x-rays, which were called Bone Records. I had never heard of this before. Sadly, he had an uncle who disappeared two days after making a joke about communism at a gathering. The guy was never heard from again. I wonder if the likes of Bill Maher and Roseanne Barr realize how lucky they are to live in a country that allows them to get away with the things they say.

I learned something else today. In honoring a follow request on Twitter, a young man asked if I was into Emotobooks, which are designed for tablets. What makes them unique is the placement of images that interpret the feelings of the characters. I'll leave this and Kindles to the young.

Visit Vic’s sites:
Vic’s Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic’s Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic’s Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic’s 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6 Vic’s
1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic’s Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f