Well, dear readers, this week is flying by, like a gazelle hanging the laundry on a clothes line. Does anyone still hang laundry on a clothes line? We had one when I was growing up and we also had an incinerator, although I have no memory of it ever being used. The clothes line, however, was always used. What the HELL am I talking about? Ah, the windmills of my mind had a nostalgic clothes line and incinerator moment. Well, let’s put the clothes line in the incinerator and move on, shall we? However, I must tell you when I was a young, perhaps twelve, and hormonal teen, I hid some naughty paperbacks in our incinerator. And I’ll just leave it at that.
Yesterday was a day where I finally had to go up the food chain, publisher-wise. No one was answering the phone, no one was responding to e-mails, and I then warned them all that I’ve been doing this for nineteen years and have people who have my back – I don’t abuse that, but when I need to, I go right to that place. So, I e-mailed the gal who did my very first book in 2002 – she’s a top executive now. She was in a meeting, but she put me right on to another COO, who called me immediately. He’s helped me once before a few years ago. Last year, when I was having similar problems, my gal was available so I didn’t have to go up the food chain. This year, she’s been in the office two days in two weeks – supposedly back tomorrow, but we’ll see about that. So, I brought him up to date and he assured me he would get on it immediately and do what he needed to do.
All I can tell you is that literally fifteen minutes later I had the new galley, I approved it, it goes through a final QC check and will be to the printing plants hopefully sometime today. And suddenly everyone was responding to e-mails, giving me excuses, and asking if they should call. I said as long as my gal is back today and can call me first thing, that I was fine. The bad books were printed and in fact are arriving today – had this been handled on Friday they could have avoided that, but I don’t care – they’ll go right in the trash. I’m hoping we can place the new order this morning and get them overnighted. It’s doubtful I’ll have them for the Sunday paperback show and signing, but I can always bring two or three of the error copies. So, that was the first three hours of my morning, but everything at least moved forward, thanks to a higher up.
After that, I went and picked up a couple of packages, then I got a foot-long spicy Eyetalian Subway sandwich, came home, ate it all up, only perused the newspaper archive once, just to see if I could find the opening day of Tammy and the Bachelor, to see if my memory of Debbie Reynolds being at the Wiltern to hand out signed 45s of “Tammy” was absolutely correct, even though I knew it was. Funnily, I found the opening day ad (the imdb was only a month off), and it had nothing about her in-person appearance, which I found really odd. So, I looked at the days after – nothing. Then I looked at the day before and voila, there it was. Too bad the time machine device in Thrill Ride doesn’t actually exist. Wouldn’t it be fun to go back in time and revisit some of these momentous events?
Then I did some work on the computer, did the event page for the Kritzerland show, and then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I found a one-season “series” (why do they call these things series – they’re just long movies split into many parts, this one into eight forty-three-minute segments. It was called Safe and it’s a Brit show and I got caught up in it and will finish it after posting these here notes. It’s very much based on the Swedish/Danish series, like The Killing and others. Lots of suspects, secrets, all leading up to a serial-like cliffhanger. I’m still three away from the finish. There’s the usual padding, the usual soap opera bits, but it’s very enjoyable and Michael C. Hall and the rest of the cast is excellent.
Then I wrote these here notes, after shaving, because there comes a point in being unshaven, usually three or four days, when I have just enough growth to make sleeping uncomfortable.
Today, I’ll be up early to hopefully have a conversation with my gal and place the new order, I’ll hopefully have confirmation that the print files went to the printing plants, and then I’ll hopefully be able to breathe easier. I’ll go pick up the bad books and hopefully some other packages and mail, then I’ll eat, then I’ll work more on the show order and commentary, then relax.
The rest of the week is meetings and meals, prepping our next release or two, and there’s some stuff happening on the weekend, too.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, hopefully have a conversation with my gal at the publisher, hopefully have confirmations, hopefully pick up packages, eat, work on the show order and commentary, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite crime TV series, the old and the new, including these “series” types of series? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have reminisced about the clothes line, the incinerator, and the naughty paperbacks.