Heavyweights
From foxnews.com: A nine-year-old Tennessee boy landed a big one, which he released back into Old Hickory Lake. It weighed just under 80 pounds. His family had a good day, his sisters catching a 39.8 pound striper and a 58 pound blue catfish:
Carol Goodman, 61, is in the midst of an impressive literary run. According to her Wiki profile, she has 21 works of fiction in print, three of them young adult, many in the fantasy genre. She is so prolific she has published under two pseudonyms, one in collaboration with her husband. Her second novel, The Seduction of Water, copyright 2003, came my way via a donation to the floating book shop. It’s the story of a single woman in her late 30’s, a New Yorker, earning money as a teacher while working on a doctorate, unsure whether she wants to be a writer. Her life takes a sharp turn when she has a piece published in a literary journal. A top flight agent becomes interested and asks her to write a memoir about her mom, who had two fantasy novels published before she perished in a fire at 39. Soon an entrepreneur buys the Hudson Valley hotel in which the woman grew up, which her parents managed. Did the mother write a third novel? Are the circumstances of her death suspicious? Are the novels a sort of code for real life events? Part fantasy, part mystery, part author angst, the narrative progresses at a leisurely pace during the first two-thirds, then picks up steam and becomes a more traditional thriller. The 356 pages of the large paperback edition read more like 400, especially given the small print. Those who enjoy descriptive prose would love it. I thought she way overdid it, although it is skilled. I wonder if she has become more economical since then. Whatever, she has many admirers, so it doesn’t matter as long as they’re satisfied. As for the mystery, for a change I guessed the culprit long before the revelation. Since it’s a first person account, it’s obvious the protagonist will survive. The suspense lies in who won’t. Although readers will likely see the rescue coming, there is a neat twist to the main character’s personal history that surprised me. I also enjoyed the account of the day her mom tried to enroll her in a Catholic pre-school and she pitched a fit. A staff member makes a snide remark about what she would do if it was her daughter, and mom responds: “… maybe that’s why God made me a mother and you a nun.” That great line is probably all I will remember about The Seduction of Water. 76 users at Amazon have rated it, forging to a consensus of 4.3 on a scale of ten. I’ll go with 2.5. My hunch is it would appeal almost exclusively to women. If the pace hadn’t accelerated down the stretch, I might have abandoned it. Goodman teaches creative writing at SUNY New Paltz.
Here’s a great headline from nypost.com: “113-year-old woman is world’s oldest person to beat the coronavirus.”… Good news for the President’s backers in a headline at foxnews.com: “GOP poised to retake Katie Hill’s California seat, as Trump-backed candidate wins big in Wisconsin.”… This morning, talk radio host Mark Simone said that the death rate of Corona is approaching 0%. If correct, those who contract it have a better than 99% chance of surviving… I’ve finally remembered to include the fun broadsides conservative pundits aim at the mainstream media: on its failure to cite the failings of leftists — Democratic Immunity; on a certain TV station — MSDNC; on a once great newspaper — The New York Times, The Toilet Paper of Record; and another — The Washington Compost. Love it.
I’v done another proofing of the novella on which I’m working. It’s inched past 21,000 words, and I’ve already made notes on adding more color to the characters’ lives, so it will grow a bit more. I’m not sure how many more passes I will make through it. It’s not nearly as taxing as proofing a novel. I spread it out over three days, even though it could easily be done in two, even one if I pushed myself. What’s the hurry?
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