Dispatches from the Flying M

It ain't over till it's over...

...but last night, it sure looked over.

Hillary Clinton's "victory" speech in Indiana (it turned out to be the narrowest of wins, but when she was giving the speech she didn't know how it was going to end) sounded more like a concession speech, with lip service to the idea that she was going on to win the nomination and the White House, but that tossed out without confidence or enthusiasm.  Mostly, it was one of those "it's been a long struggle, and I appreciate your support, and I'll campaign for the other guy" speeches candidates give right before they officially drop out.

Early reports were that Hillary had canceled all her appearances for today, but at the last minute she added one back in, in West Virginia, which votes next Tuesday.  Apparently she also recently loaned her campaign another $6.4 million--hence her appeal for contributions at her website.  Rumor is that she'll hit Obama up to pay off her campaign's debts as part of a final deal.

At this point it looks like she'll stay in it through May 20, the day she'll win Kentucky and Obama will win Oregon, giving them each a solid victory to close the campaign on.  Then Obama will have a brief victory lap in Montana, South Dakota, and Puerto Rico, and the party can get busy healing the rifts this campaign has caused.  If the Clintons hope to salvage anything of their once-beloved status with a lot of Democrats, especially black Democrats, they had better campaign like fiends for Obama.

It's been a long, long road.  My preferred candidate got out of it a long time ago, but both Clinton and Obama have been sounding like Edwards on the stump lately, really addressing populist issues, talking about the squeezed middle class and the poor.  His impact on the campaign has been profound, and the ultimate winner will have to put some of his ideas into the mix at the White House.

On the other side of the coin, the Arizona Republic has studied McCain's voting record long and hard and puts to bed the idea that he's some kind of maverick.  In fact, he's slightly more conservative than his fellow Arizona Republican Jon Kyl--when he bothers showing up to vote at all.  Independents and moderate Democrats need to understand before they swing to McCain that he is not one of them.  More than anything else, he's just a continuation of the right wing leadership that has failed this country so dismally for the past 7 years.

Saturday at Mysterious Galaxy

These days most of the news about independent bookstores seems to be bad. Stores close, forced out of business by the difficulties of competing with giant national chains, discounters, and online merchants.  Troubles in the economy hit independent businesses harder than the better capitalized giants.

But not all the news is bad.  Mysterious Galaxy turns 15 years old this month--15 years of providing books of mystery, science fiction, fantasy, horror and more to a local audience in San Diego and a wider audience around the world.  When we started the store, it was at the tail end of the first Bush recession, before the boom times of the later Clinton years, and it was a gamble.  Through the years of good economy and bad, through times of terrible national tragedy and righteous rejoicing, the store has churned along, thanks to a staff that knows their genres inside and out and an unwillingness to ever settle with doing things the way they've always been done when their might be a new approach out there that can put more books into the hands of more happy readers.

Saturday, May 10, we're celebrating that milestone with a full day of author appearances and other festivities.  You can read the details of the day at the Mysterious Galaxy website. I'm kicking off the day's signing slate at 10:30 am, signing Supernatural: Witch's Canyon, and of course Missing White Girl and whatever else comes up.  I haven't decided yet if I'll read a little of River Runs Red, or just talk about it and Cold Black Hearts and the rest of the books on the way.

I'll be followed by Savannah Russe, Susan Hubbard, Charlaine Harris, Robert Tanenbaum, Jeri Smith-Ready, Samantha Somersby, and Timothy Zahn.  A little something for everyone. There will also be cake, prizes, and other fun.

If you can make it to the bash, do so--you won't regret it.  If not, you can still order signed books via the store's website or toll-free number.   With the help of our dedicated readers and fans, these first 15 years will just be the beginning of a much longer story.

Iron Man

Last night I saw Iron Man, in a packed theater in Sierra Vista (where, take that, city dwellers--tickets are still $6.50!).  I'm not certain yet, but I think it might have been the best superhero movie I've ever seen (not my favorite, which will always be the Adam West Batman movie, but the best).  Downey is definitely the best actor I've seen in a superhero role--he made Tony Stark his own, kept the character interesting and entertaining, and remained true to the Tony from the comics. The action sequences were good--a little jump-cutty, as they almost always are these days, but not so much that you couldn't usually tell what was happening.  The flight sequences were terrific, and convincing.  There was plenty of set-up  for a sequel but it felt natural, not forced, and the movie was good enough that a sequel would be welcome, for a change.

One of the coolest things about it is that Marvel seems to be creating a unified theory of Marvel movies--tying the movies together into a cohesive universe, much as they've done in the comics, instead of letting each movie universe exist independently of the others.  Some, of course, they can leave in the box, as far as I'm concerned--Ghost Rider, anyone?  Daredevil?  But if they keep making them this well, and create a filmic continuity, that'll be a real accomplishment, and we'll be able to celebrate Marvel's decision to launch its own film wing instead of relying on outside studios.

Oh--and if you go, don't leave before the credits are completely finished, because you'll kick yourself if you do and then find out what you missed.

Mission Accomplished

It's been 5 years since George Bush's famous "Mission Accomplished" speech--5 years in which the number of dead in Iraq has skyrocketed, the billions we've paid to the likes of Blackwater, Halliburton, KBR and Bechtel have ballooned, and terrorists are stronger worldwide.

At least George is now officially the most unpopular president in the history of polling.  Took awhile, but it's something.

Nerve-wracking

Speaking of River Runs Red, I had a nerve-wracking experience several weeks ago.

See, it's my theory that most writers (not all of them, by any means, but most) are basically insecure.  Secure people become captains of industry or politicians, and if they make up stories they tell them to the press, who transcribe them directly as if they meant something.  Insecure people make up stories, and then have to write them down and hope other people read and enjoy them, or else they'll feel like they wasted their time.

So the hardest thing for a writer to do is to let someone else read a manuscript.  Especially the first reader or two or ten.  You're waiting anxiously, sweating bullets, hoping that reader or readers likes it and comes back to you with effusive praise.  You say you want helpful criticism, but in fact all you want is praise, and maybe cash.

Next hardest is sending it to your editor (note: this is magnified ten-fold if you're sending it to your agent to shop around--I'm specifically talking about River Runs Red here, which was already bought, on the basis of an outline).

But what was so difficult this time was approaching the sorts of big-name writers who might be able to provide blurbs that would be meaningful to readers who have never heard of you.  I put together a list of 8 people and sent out emails.   These were a mix of very big names and slightly lesser ones, but all well known in the fields of thrillers and/or horror (since the book, like Missing White Girl, combines elements of both).  Of those 8, only one turned me down outright, and he was a long shot I didn't expect to be able to do it, for health reasons.  Bound manuscripts went out to the other 7.  Of those, one never received it, and close to the deadline, offered to still try to read it, although other health reasons might have interfered.  Since it was so close to the deadline and I had plenty of other blurbs by then, I declined, but with regret because it would have been a true honor and a major coup.

Waiting for the responses to the manuscripts was one of the most agonizing periods of my life.  If I were a nail-biter, I'd have no fingers left and would have to write with my feet.

Fortunately, of the remaining 6, I got 5 very good blurbs.  One will be on the book's front cover, the others on the back or inside or just on sales materials, I'm not sure yet.  I'm not going to start posting them here, but when the River Runs Red sub-site goes live, they'll definitely be on there.

Now the hard part is waiting for the book to come out, and then waiting to hear what people who've actually paid for it think...

Website update

As mentioned a few weeks ago, Cindy, who kept JeffMariotte.com updated and sparkling for these past several years, got too busy with work that actually pays her a living wage to continue.  There's a new sheriff in town now, Webmistress Dianne, who has just completed her first update.  Go check it out.  It's not a re-design, although I wouldn't rule that out at some point, but her first real design challenge will be coming up soon, when she works on the River Runs Red sub-site.

Thanks, Dianne, and it's good to have you on the team!

Trumped!

Okay, finding a 3 1/2 foot long snake in my house is not as dramatic as finding an alligator in the kitchen. 

On the other hand, she loses points for knowing how the 'gator got in, because she can fix it. I've had to throw two big snakes out of the house and still have no idea how they're getting in.  So she's unlikely to repeat her experience, whereas for me it's just a matter of time.

Oilmen in office

Next time you're putting $40 or $50 into filling your gas tank, remember that, as Hillary Clinton pointed out last night on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, when oilmen Bush and Cheney came into office (and before Cheney's secret meetings set our new "energy policy") oil was $20 a barrel.  Today it hit an all-tiime high of $118. Guess whose cronies are reaping the profits we're all paying out?

Cowntinuing Problems

So last night I was home alone, happily watching Al Gore's Vice Presidential Action Rangers on Futurama, when the dogs started barking furiously at the front door.  I went out to see what the fuss was all about, and discovered about nine cows wandering around the property.  I herded them back out the gate, shut it behind them...and then learned that I had missed one, a small black cow standing in thick brush.

I had to go open the gate again.  As I did , Maryelizabeth came home.  During the time it took to get the gate open and circle back behind the cow to herd it forward it had vanished.  The moon, one night past the full pink, rose late last night.  It turns out that finding a single smallish black cow on a big piece of property on a pitch black night is very hard to do, even for two people using bright flashlights.

Finally, we got it out the gate and gone.  At around 3:00 this morning, the dogs woke up, sniffing and growling at something outside.  We still don't know what, but a look around in daylight has convinced us that it's not yet another stray cow that somehow eluded us during the night...

Roses

As promised (or threatened), here are some pictures of our Tombstone rose tree.  There are still buds that haven't bloomed, so it may get fuller than this, but it's blooming well this year. Not much else going on in wildflowers yet--we have one globemallow, so far, and some other small, lesser known blooms, but it's still quiet on that front.  The low yesterday morning was below freezing again, which could have something to do with it.