What a delight to take a walk today around mid-day without wearing a hat! The sun is shining, the sky is brilliantly blue and there is no wind, so it’s a delightful day. We have few neighbors, so it is very quiet and the animal tracks are vivid in the small amount of fresh snow from yesterday. Andy, Marina’s Seeing Eye Dog, ignores the animal tracks and does the work he is supposed to do. What a great animal helper he is!
Last night’s WPCA-FM story broadcast was Shall We Dance, the saga of a flamenco dance troupe performing in Los Angeles. You’ll find that story in the ebook collection Yes, More Break Time Stories and in the paperback The Second Gathering of The Break Time Stories. I heard the story reading several months ago (I never know which story the station will broadcast) and at that time I thought the Spanish words made it read more easily than heard; but I’ve changed my mind. The Spanish words are interpreted and the story flows well, capturing, as one review said, the essence of duende, the gypsy pain and depth of feeling found in flamenco song, music and dance. I am grateful for my exposure while young to a wide variety of flamenco and Spanish dance and guitar artists, as well as the opportunity to explore the genre myself.
My brother, Guy, remains on life support in Los Angeles, where he has been moved from an intensive care hospital in Westminster to the Crenshaw area of Los Angeles. It is difficult to know what to pray for, so praying in tongues (a prayer language) is best.
This morning I completed our annual statistical reports for Wolf Creek United Methodist Church. Once again, the authorities have presented us with a new system to learn and changes in computer stuff usually leave me frustrated. This time, once I got into the system (which took almost an hour of fussing around and getting advice from our excellent District and Conference Assistants) things went fairly quickly.
I have six stories lined up for my next paperback that will be called Six Short Stories. The next step: ship (upload) them to Amazon for production. I have the cover design from my last ebook collection, from which some stories will be included in the paperback. I had the occasion at church sign a copy of Some Mangled Fairy Tales, bought by the reader through Barnes & Noble. I have a call in this morning to B&N to find out how I get paid when people order my books through them. Yes, it is nice to be paid! I’ve always said that it’s nice to write, even nicer to be published, and even much nicer to write, be published, and then get paid for it. When that book is on its way, I’ll wait for the next inspiration. Those usually come between 3 and 5 a.m., dialogue and all.