One of the traditions of our winter break in New Mexico is a visit from my brother John and his wife Jean, who live in Florida and are always glad to enjoy a brief stay in the mountains. This trip, we drove up to Taos, about 60 miles north of here, had a great lunch at Orlando's (off the regular tourist route, but a must-stop-and-eat for local folk), saw some of the local sights, and stopped along the road to capture the stunning mountain views. We didn't visit the Taos Pueblo on this trip, but if you're in the area, it's something you'll want to see--a glimpse into the amazingly rich history of one of the longest-occupied communities in North America. The fall harvest festival (called San Geronimo Day, Sept 30) is a wonderful time to visit the pueblo.
Our company has left, Bill will be heading back to Texas in another week, and I'm looking forward to some good time alone, to work on Cat's Claw, the 2012 book in the China Bayles series: a Sheila Dawson book. Sheila is the Pecan Springs police chief, so I spent some time putting together a PSPD organizational chart. I decided (with some reader input--thanks, Facebook friends!) to introduce the book with a chapter from China's usual first-person point of view, then move into Sheila's third-person for the rest of the book--or most of it, anyway. I've been wanting to do a spin-off "Sheila book" for a while. Now's the time, and Sheila and I have come up with what we think will be a strong story. The book is due 3/31, so it'll be my main writing project for the next several months. I'm eager to get started on it--always a good sign, don't you think?
Meanwhile, An Extraordinary Year of Ordinary Days (my journal of 2008, surely one of the more momentous years in the past decade) has earned two excellent reviews, one from the Richmond Times-Dispatch ("The only thing wrong with this book is its title. I'd call it An Extraordinary Year of Extraordinary Days. Even Albert's ordinary days seem extraordinary to me") and the other from Publishers Weekly ("This multi-faceted journal serves as an overview to the way we were"). Reviews of nonfiction journals and memoirs are very hard to come by--especially good reviews. Maybe it's a matter of luck, or of destiny: the book somehow lands on the desk of the right reviewer, who finds the time that week to read it, then writes something considered and authentic (as opposed to something canned). Well, luck or destiny or whatever, I'm grateful. And delighted.