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March 14, 2022:

THE NEW BOOK REVEALED

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, let me just begin by saying I do not like losing an hour of sleep thanks to some buffoon’s idea of starting Daylight Savings Time earlier and earlier. There I was, sitting like so much fish at two in the morning. I look down. I look up. And it’s three in the morning. Just like that. Why must we put up with such things. I still had things to do and do them I did and therefore didn’t get to sleep until after five. I had to reset the microwave and stove clocks. I wonder if the car clock resets automatically? I won’t know that until I leave this morning, but I’m guessing I’ll have to reset that, too, once I figure out how. I gotta tell you. In any case, the Pilgrims are still making progress in Vaughan Williams’ wonderful opera – probably another thirty minutes until they complete the progress. Other than that, I began watching three different Netflix limited series last night. Five minutes into each of them and I realized I’d seen them all before. Go know. So instead I watched a motion picture I hadn’t seen since it came out in a year I like to call 2007. I’m happy to report it has not improved with age. It’s a terrible movie directed by Antoine Fuqua, who makes this kind of film over and over again. It’s based on a thriller I loved reading in the 1990s – Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter and featuring a lead character called Bob Lee Swagger. The book was interesting, very suspenseful, and very satisfying. The movie, of course, is dull, not suspenseful, and not satisfying because they changed so much of the story. Compound that with the awful and terribly wrong casting of Mark Wahlberg, a lightweight and not very good actor and you have a mess. Danny Glover is just plain bad in this, as is Ned Beatty. But they can really only play what they’re given.

 

Yesterday was a weird day due to the time change. I got up at noon but was tired so stayed in bed and got up again at two. Therefore, I didn’t go visit the theater to see how the set is coming along. I had a lot of e-mails to answer and then I had a 30% off DoorDash thing so I used it to order from Maria’s Kitchen – papardalle with Eyetalian sausage and a green side salad. I wasn’t crazy about the papardalle and didn’t quite finish it. The salad was okay. And that was my food intake for the day and evening, so not terrible. Then I went back to proofing, which is what I did into the early evening. I have only about twenty pages left, and then the hope is that on Tuesday I’ll get together with Grant and enter the fixes – there really aren’t that many and there’s just one style thing that happens on two pages – shouldn’t really take more than an hour. So, what is this book? I know some of you have been wondering and so why don’t I just tell you. I had two ideas for books towards the end of last year. One was fiction, one was non-fiction. When I ran them by Muse Margaret her choice was so swift, I couldn’t believe it. I don’t even think I quite finished telling her about the non-fiction idea – she just loved the fiction idea and so that was that. And I’m glad she did. And so, the 2022 book is a follow-up to last year’s Some Days Are Murder. I loved writing that one so much and loved the lead characters so much, and so did Muse Margaret and she just wanted more. I wasn’t originally going to revisit it, but the more I thought about it the more I thought, why wouldn’t I? But I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t gotten an idea for a story right away. And writing this one was every bit as much fun as the last one, and it’s a completely different kind of story. It takes place six months after the last book, during the holiday season in 1975. Even the proofing of it was fun. Doug Haverty came up with four covers, two of which we all really liked. We still haven’t made the final decision about which one it will be – but both will be used – one for the front cover, one for the back cover where the blurbs will be. So, Harry Stearns returns. Here are the two covers.

I’m leaning toward the string of Christmas lights cover, but Grant really loves the other cover – we’ll see how it shakes out. The original title was going to be Harry Stearns Returns, but once I was into the writing I knew a better title was waiting for me and it came to me right after I finished the book and the reaction to it from Muse Margaret and Doug was instantaneous – they loved it. And now you know and you know now.

Then I watched what I watched, and then it was time to listen to music and write these here notes. When I’ve posted them, I’ll then finish proofing the book and hope to be in bed by one at the latest.

Today, I’ll be up by nine-thirty, I’ll do whatever needs doing, and then I’ll be meeting my brother for breakfast/early lunch down near where we grew up. That’s at eleven and I’ll head back to the Valley around one or so. Once back, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and then I must do some writing, I simply must. I have some telephonic calls to make and then at some point I’ll watch, listen, and relax.

Tomorrow will hopefully be spent entering the fixes with Grant, and then I’ll be meeting one of our actors at the theater at around five as he can’t be with us in the evening – just want to run all his stuff. Then we’ll rehearse everything else. Richard Allen will be with us so we can run some music, too. We’ll work on the wrestling sequence, too. We’ll be on the set for the first time, so I’m sure that will require some adjusting, as it differs from what we had at LACC due to the size of the stage. I’m hoping I don’t really have to adjust any of the staging, but we shall see. Then the next two evenings are rehearsals, then Friday is off, and Saturday we’ll hopefully be able to do a real run-through of the entire show, maybe even twice. That would be great. But I might canvas the cast and see if Sunday might be better. I think we might be able to be on the set, which we won’t on Saturday.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by nine-thirty, do whatever needs doing, meet my brother for breakfast/early lunch, hopefully pick up some packages, write, have some telephonic calls, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: When you were in various schools, what were your favorite lunches to eat from the cafeteria or that your parent would pack for you? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have revealed the new book.

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