A Winner And A Flop

Terry and I spent most of yesterday doing a final read-through and making corrections on my new John Lee Quarrels book. Another day or two, and we should have it done and I can start the formatting process.

Someone asked me why it takes so long to get a book out once I finish writing it. That’s because every book goes through me and then three editor/proofreaders. Then, when all of their corrections are made, it goes through a final read-through, and we still find errors from time to time. Even with all of that, as careful as everybody is, it’s not uncommon for sharp-eyed readers to catch a mistake or two. That’s why I always release the e-book first, so we can go back and make any changes necessary before we move to the printed format.

We like to sit in our recliners and watch TV in the evening, and the last couple of nights, we’ve been watching movies on Amazon Prime Video. One was a winner, and one was a flop. The winner was The Tender Bar, based on the best-selling memoir of J.R. Moehringer. The movie follows an aspiring writer who spends much of his childhood at his uncle’s neighborhood bar, nurtured by a colorful group of local characters, and goes on to Yale to pursue his romantic and professional dreams. Terry has never been a Ben Affleck fan, but she really admired the way he played the rogue Uncle Charlie, filling in for the boy’s absent father.

The flop was a movie called Colewell, about a woman postmaster in a small Pennsylvania town who receives notice that her post office, which is the gathering place for the community, will be closing in a month. She has the choice of relocating for a new position in another town or retiring. It started off slow and never got any better. It was disjointed and boring, and the only reason we kept watching is that we believed it had to get better. Then it ended with nothing resolved, and we looked at each other and asked, “What was that all about?” That’s an hour and 17 minutes of our lives that we’ll never get back.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an autographed copy of Written in Blood by Nathan Bush. The first book in the Foley Chronicles: Files from the 8th District is the story of rookie detective Ken Collins investigating a serial killer who begins mutilating prostitutes in the 8th District. Working with his partner, Senior Detective John Filcher, the duo is on the hunt for a brutal and efficient killer who leaves no trail to follow.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed

Thought For The Day – Of course women don’t work as hard as men. They do it right the first time.