Hi, everyone.
Well, when we last corresponded, I was moaning about the ridiculously cold weather that had contributed to lots of coffee and “just resting my eyes” occasions in the recliner near the fireplace. Just wanted to let you know that within the past few days, the temperature here in Lincoln was 82 degrees. Yep, set an all-time record displacing a reading of 78 degrees that had been recorded in 1896. That date is correct: 128 years ago. Of course two days later we had an overnight temp of 10 degrees and a wind chill around zero. Today’s high temp is supposed to be in the 60s. Chilly wind, though. I’m starting to feel like I shouldn’t drive into town for a cup of coffee and a donut without packing a full wardrobe.
Writing news: The last newsletter mentioned that the publishing company had sent the second draft of the fiction manuscript for my review. I responded to it with several pages of suggested corrections, mostly related to some weird grammatical stuff – comma placements mainly – that someone had inserted. There were also a few sentence breaks in the page layouts and a couple of indentation problems. Overall, not a particularly good job of quality control. Although I had hoped to get the book out sometime soon, I offered to go through yet another complete scrub of the manuscript before the book is released. About a week ago, I received a note from my contact in the publisher’s office apologizing for the delay in responding and indicating that she had passed my comments to the editorial staff. I expect it will be quite some time before the next round of comments is sent to me. It is a British company, so I hope my remarks did not upset them so much that they spilled tea on the manuscript.
I mentioned also that a couple of sources had suggested the possibility of a small book of short stories and verses. I hadn’t previously considered taking on something like that. It’s still not officially on any “to do” list – and it may not ever appear on one – but I have been going through some stories (some previously published, others that are on the shelf but would still need some tweaks) to see if some combination of things like that might be worth pursuing. If something along those lines ever sees the light of day, it would probably be a mixture of stuff: short stories (fact and fiction), some humor, a few military-related stories, and probably some verses (serious as well as goofy). Your thoughts on the whole thing are welcome. Among other considerations, at the moment I have not the faintest idea of what might be an appropriate title for a mixture of material like that. If any potential names jump out at you – something sure to grab attention on the New York Times best seller list 🙂 - please let me know.
With a prospective book due for release sometime in the future, a list of famous reviews of books and plays that recently appeared in the local paper especially caught my eye. Hopefully, (fingers crossed) mine will not be torpedoed in a similar fashion.
“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” (Dorothy Parker)
Note from George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill: “I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play. Bring a friend … if you have one.”
Reply from Winston Churchill to George Bernard Shaw: “Cannot possibly attend the first night, will attend the second … if there is one.”
“The book fills a much-needed gap. I’ll waste no time reading it.” (Moses Hadas)
And now: TRULY AWFUL PUNS
There is a local watchmaker who is half Spanish and half Irish. His name is Juan O’Clock.
Two guys were crossing a busy street. One’s foot was smashed by a passing car. His friend called a toe truck.
What do you call two guys holding up drapes in a window? Kurt and Rod.
Truly bad – they continue to get worse.
Make it a great day. Best wishes,
Tom
Well, when we last corresponded, I was moaning about the ridiculously cold weather that had contributed to lots of coffee and “just resting my eyes” occasions in the recliner near the fireplace. Just wanted to let you know that within the past few days, the temperature here in Lincoln was 82 degrees. Yep, set an all-time record displacing a reading of 78 degrees that had been recorded in 1896. That date is correct: 128 years ago. Of course two days later we had an overnight temp of 10 degrees and a wind chill around zero. Today’s high temp is supposed to be in the 60s. Chilly wind, though. I’m starting to feel like I shouldn’t drive into town for a cup of coffee and a donut without packing a full wardrobe.
Writing news: The last newsletter mentioned that the publishing company had sent the second draft of the fiction manuscript for my review. I responded to it with several pages of suggested corrections, mostly related to some weird grammatical stuff – comma placements mainly – that someone had inserted. There were also a few sentence breaks in the page layouts and a couple of indentation problems. Overall, not a particularly good job of quality control. Although I had hoped to get the book out sometime soon, I offered to go through yet another complete scrub of the manuscript before the book is released. About a week ago, I received a note from my contact in the publisher’s office apologizing for the delay in responding and indicating that she had passed my comments to the editorial staff. I expect it will be quite some time before the next round of comments is sent to me. It is a British company, so I hope my remarks did not upset them so much that they spilled tea on the manuscript.
I mentioned also that a couple of sources had suggested the possibility of a small book of short stories and verses. I hadn’t previously considered taking on something like that. It’s still not officially on any “to do” list – and it may not ever appear on one – but I have been going through some stories (some previously published, others that are on the shelf but would still need some tweaks) to see if some combination of things like that might be worth pursuing. If something along those lines ever sees the light of day, it would probably be a mixture of stuff: short stories (fact and fiction), some humor, a few military-related stories, and probably some verses (serious as well as goofy). Your thoughts on the whole thing are welcome. Among other considerations, at the moment I have not the faintest idea of what might be an appropriate title for a mixture of material like that. If any potential names jump out at you – something sure to grab attention on the New York Times best seller list 🙂 - please let me know.
With a prospective book due for release sometime in the future, a list of famous reviews of books and plays that recently appeared in the local paper especially caught my eye. Hopefully, (fingers crossed) mine will not be torpedoed in a similar fashion.
“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” (Dorothy Parker)
Note from George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill: “I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play. Bring a friend … if you have one.”
Reply from Winston Churchill to George Bernard Shaw: “Cannot possibly attend the first night, will attend the second … if there is one.”
“The book fills a much-needed gap. I’ll waste no time reading it.” (Moses Hadas)
And now: TRULY AWFUL PUNS
There is a local watchmaker who is half Spanish and half Irish. His name is Juan O’Clock.
Two guys were crossing a busy street. One’s foot was smashed by a passing car. His friend called a toe truck.
What do you call two guys holding up drapes in a window? Kurt and Rod.
Truly bad – they continue to get worse.
Make it a great day. Best wishes,
Tom
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