music that fires the imagination

Not every writer wants music to write by. It has to be the right kind of music. I have a friend who needs absolute silence and no distractions. Earplugs, in fact. Me, I'm a bit of a mix. I cannot write to Spongebob Squarepants no matter how hard I try. Ditto Scooby Doo and all those boomerang cartoons! But lately I've found the perfect music for writing or editing - Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Brooding, intense, romantic, moody. Perfect for those Colonial battlefield scenes and the untamed Kentucke frontier. The violin and cello therein are divine:)

I've never considered Russel Crowe a catch but in uniform he's quite respectable and his acting here is quite fine. Plus he plays the violin. Could I ask for more? I'm also a huge fan of the Horatio Hornblower series. I'd thought of writing a series on the British Navy (well, the Americans) but Kaye Dacus beat me to it!

On the publishing front, the Baker Books catalog for next summer is out and Morrow Little is in it:) I found my copy in the mailbox today and it was an extra blessing. I'm always humbled that I have such a fine publisher and I hope my books do well for them. They really have a heart for new authors. And their covers are the best out there:)

Some upcoming books I can't wait to read: Masquerade by Nancy Moser and She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell. Any in particular on your wish list? How about music?

the donut run and other fun stuff

Paul and I did a donut run this morning - a rare event since we live so far from the nearest Safeway. The donut case seemed to be listing from all the orange and black sprinkles, gummi worms, and frightening Halloween-type donut decorations. Paul loved them all.

We made it to the dress rehearsal for the local symphony at 10 am. Our violin teacher invited us to come and it was really neat. The conductor did his thing with a lot of passion (jumping around and leaping on the podium and waving arms). When Paul got tired of watching him he tuned into the tuba player and the big bass (a titanic-size violin, as he calls it). He liked the conductor, especially after he led him backstage to more donuts and candy corn:(
I wondered why the conductor was so animated (now I know). Somehow Paul managed to stay seated for 2 hours through Mahler and Tchaikovsky.

Randy and Wyatt stayed in the woods and made more cider. In my books they make mooonshine but here all we get is cider! Lots of wind and rain today on the first of November. Good writing weather! I've moved past page 100 of book 3 and am still smiling as I go (only I really don't know where I'm going with this one). But HE does so I'm okay.

Hope you are having some sugar today, same as us:) And reading a really good book.