Winter in Hollywood Today...

Low 40s this morning as we arrived at the Roosevelt Golf Course in Griffith Park. 
As I walked up the fairway on the 4th, the brilliant colors prompted me to pull my cell phone out of my golf bag for a pic. The tee shot of one of my golfing buddies ended up in a pile leaves (pretty but a tough lie).

It's a 9 hole course - and by the sixth I had to shed my outer fleece layer because of the bright sun. 
Tonight it's supposed to get down to 31 - very cold for Hollywood.

Post-project Blues

With A CLOWN DOG'S CHRISTMAS finished, I set the world of Pebbles, my heroine Clown Dog, aside for now.  I leave Budapest and Sun Valley and return to Maxton Falls, the town where my Girlfriend Detectives Jade and Nettie attend middle school, prepare for a talent show... and sleuth.

 

The tricky bit is fighting through what I call the post-project blues.  When I am in the last weeks of completing a project I feel exhilarated... like I'm riding my red Flying Saucer on the steep backyard hill on 60 Banks in Silver Bay. Everything is momentum and acceleration, speed and gravity-defying...

 

Now I'm at the bottom of the hill again. I have the basic story, but I trek slowly up the hill to a better draft.  My snow boots are leaden as I climb, with false steps and a bulky jacket that hinders progress.  Like my Saucer on its rope, I lug the story, CASES OF CONFIDENCE, slowly forward. Gravity is working against me at present.  

A Clown Dog's Christmas - Update

Checked Amazon a short time ago..
CLOWN DOG is now available for Kindle.

Book signing tomorrow in Hollywood - looking forward to it! 

More about A CLOWN DOG'S CHRISTMAS

Well... It's already Dec. 11 and I'm in waiting mode.
The suspense is killing me... waiting on an e-mail from Amazon so I can ship some books to the local warehouse... and waiting also to hear when the e-book conversion is finished.  Remaining shopping days for Christmas 2012 are going fast.

Meanwhile I have printed books which I'll bring down the hill to a neighborhood coffee house this Sunday.  Sunday is Hollywood's Farmer's Market Day.  I'm hoping people who come to buy their fruit and veggies will also stop by to check out my book.  CAFFE ETC. (yes, double ffs).  is a great coffee place...Bill and I have lattes there every Sunday.  They have yummy breakfasts, too.  The owners Viviana and Brian have been so kind to let me put up a table to promote my book.

So while I'm waiting to hear WHEN the book will be available for order via the net,  I'll post some pics - the book's cover and the promo bookmark I created.

Introducing... A CLOWN DOG'S CHRISTMAS

Long time no blog.  I've been working diligently on my novel,  A CLOWN DOG'S CHRISTMAS.


Right now I have an artist finishing a cartoon for the cover and an editor nit-picking through the spelling and punctuation. It will be available in print and as an e-book by mid-December.

Above is a photo of Pebbles, the book's star. My lovely friend Yulia took the picture when she visited us in early July.


Here's the blurb, more of less, of what will appear on the back cover of A CLOWN DOG CHRISTMAS:

It's late December. But instead of Christmas cheer, Pebbles faces life with a clown who's turned suddenly sad!

Pebbles learns the reason for Beppo's gloomy mood.. and also realizes her career as a clown dog may end before it's begun!  It's time to act... and in real life, not just in the recital hall at Budapest U.

Pebbles must use all her talents, plus every skill she's learned in clownery classes, to give Beppo the one Christmas gift he needs most - hope.

My Summer Vacation, a Quick Trip into the BWCA

I lived in northern Minnesota while growing up.  My family camped occasionally, but after a few outings with a tent we switched to renting cabins during the summer, usually in the middle of the state. This summer, for the first time, I ventured way north, into the massive acreage of lakes and forest known on the U.S. side as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Here's our happy group after meeting up on a Sat. morning and getting our gear together:

There are 10 in the photo but unhappily a work conflict left one of us behind.  There are also 2 dogs in photo.  They will share our wilderness adventure.

In photo below you can see our group of  21st century voyageurs ready to be motored across Moose Lake.  Once dropped off we will say adieu to motors. We will depend on our canoes, paddles and muscle power for water transport and for strong backs to lug (or I should say portage) our stuff (or I should say gear) from one lake to the next.

Our group of  9 set up camp on a small island - Robin's Island, I believe.

Bill and I pitched our tent mere feet from a marker pounded into stone: the official international border.
So, from my temporary home's little rear window I could see Canada - You betcha!

Ahh, the Lovely Jacaranda

We DO have seasons in Los Angeles and this is my favorite time of year, partly because of the glorious blooming jacarandas in my neighborhood. Here's Roosevelt golf course in Griffith Park. 

We're sharing the tee box of the Par 3 seventh hole with a jacaranda in full bloom.

Even the parking lot at Roosie becomes lovely when its jacarandas are blooming. Although you might prefer not to park beneath them when they shower down their deep purple petals...