Ray's House of Love Vol III

I'm not a fan of Anne Perry--and I've met her and didn't care for her personally, aside from her work--but she was quite open about handwriting first drafts as neatly as she could because it made her slow down and consider the words, the sentence structure, and the purpose of each sentence in a way the keyboard, or writing quickly, did not.

So there's that.

There's also that at a mystery and suspense convention, she was the only "name" author who would not talk to fans, only other names. Also the only one who brought her agent and had her running interference to make sure fans didn't approach.

Maryn, who could have taken out agent with ease

One day we will run into each other at some bar and you can tell me that story over drinks. I'm buying.

I miss the days when House of Love would meet up every couple of years, ten or twelve of us picking a place and a hotel or rental house.

I'd love to do it again. I'm in western NY state. Where you at? (No, I have no idea why I phrased it like that.) If you don't mind saying, that is. It's fine if you'd rather not.

In fact, my Evil Master Plan for when I rule the world is to have regional and national meet-and-greets for members, and anyone may attend whatever one suits their fancy, not limiting themselves to the one closest to home. Maybe a dozen or perhaps twenty in the US and Canada, all at the same time. Would that be awesome or what?

I'm still not that close to NYC. In recent years we go in once a year, but like you say, it's so expensive I consider it a major indulgence. My favorite story on that is eating lunch at an Applebee's near Times Square. Sandwiches, chips on the side, iced tea. With adequate tip, over fifty bucks. Yikes!

Any place else, it might have cost $20 to $25, tops, and in plenty of places, less.

We are, however, going in about a month, to see some Broadway before we move farther west. (Not a sure thing, but probable.)

It's also a handy place to meet up with the relatives we can abide only in small doses, retreating to our hotel room as needed.

Absolutely true. But there's a little thrill in seeing some big-name actor right up close.

What I'm not a fan of is the big musicals, which are far more popular than the dramas. There's so many cast members and so much scenery that the musicals might be more justified in the high ticket prices to cover their actual costs. But come on, a cast of four on a stage set any high school could duplicate, and it costs nearly as much? Puh-lease.

We're going to the theatre tonight--a local equity theater, usually as good at Broadway for dramas but half or a third the cost. I'm not familiar with the play we're seeing, but we have seats in the front row, so if I don't care for it, the actors will know.

My issue with musicals is that there's no reason for the villagers in their charming period costumes to suddenly burst into song and a coordinated dance. Or when the couple realizes they're in love, they start freakin' singing about it instead of smooching or talking. That's one of the reasons Cabaret is my favorite musical: all the singing makes sense within the plot.

I gather this sort of thing doesn't bother anybody else. For the record, I've seen Wicked twice, was not enthusiastic about it before the first time, and fully enjoyed it both times. Its premise is clever.

We have season tickets to two theatres, the equity one (no more than two musicals a year, often only one) and a touring company (all musicals), so I see a lot of them. It's funny how the older musicals I'd have guessed might be classics don't all age well. West Side Story was strange in an era with so much more powerful gangs and so much less stigma about Hispanic and white people blending. Really good music, though.

I has crushes on gang members from both sides! Bernardo's George Chakiris turned out to be gay, but for a celebrity crush, that did not matter. I just looked him up--he's 83 now, probably not quite as good looking. Baby John is no longer a baby but 75. He owns a dance company known for fusing ballet and modern dance, and is a working choreographer with 150+ ballets under his belt.

Maryn, with somewhat less to show for her years

Since I tended to "crush down," I had a similar crush on actors that age, one especially. He's still looking pretty good and doing all right, career-wise, for a guy with little talent.

My daughter has convinced me that when it's a crush on someone I am unlikely ever to see in person, age appropriateness is not a factor. So I occasionally have a brief crush on someone younger than my kids, which is creepy if I think about it too long.

Clearly there's a genetic component to this crush thing. My mom adored Peter O'Toole.

Maryn, who can see that even though he's not her type

It's the House of Love--of course we're open!

Bleary grey day here. Again. Our back yard is about half under water. I remain hopeful that Walter and Dolores--the family's name for any pair of mallards that takes up residence here, because who can tell them apart?--will arrive soon, paddling around in the shallow water and giving me something to look at.

If we make the move to Wisconsin, The Kid promises us that while it's colder there in winter, it's also sunnier there year round. I'd like that. This is the cloudiest place I've ever lived and it gets to you.

Trevor! Alive after all, everybody.

Lillian, meet Trevor. Trev, this is Lil. You two are going to get along just fine.

Mr. Maryn noticed with annoyance that even though we have snow in the forecast for this weekend, the NWS is no longer totaling seasonal snowfall. By what logic do they select an arbitrary date rather than look out the window or at their own forecast?

Oh, right, the same logic as my dorm in college, which turned on heat or AC based on the calendar rather than the weather.

In other news, Mr. Maryn's going to a colleague's funeral this afternoon. Be advised you're still living and take advantage, people. She was younger than me.

Maryn, still kickin'

That's why. I reclaimed my rights as my contract expired, just a few weeks before Loose Id tanked. I thought they were okay for my first novel, but pretty poor for the second. Zero promotion, poor communication, bad cover art, just ugh. I've been promising myself I will purchase new cover art for both my novels and self-publish them, but my technical expertise is such that it may not happen. At least not unless or until I get more highly motivated.

The issue seems to be that erotica publishers are too often not great publishers for authors without a following and who write slowly. (Maryn raises her hand. Two books a year, tops. Often only one.) Someone with my level of experience can't spot the early signs of failure as they start to swirl down the drain. And recently there are issues with authors of color being treated poorly, by multiple publishers, that just sicken me even though I'm pasty white. I'm just disgusted with this whole corner of the industry.

Since I'm at the point of my life where I don't want to start a writing career, I might just self-pub everything and collect whatever it nets me.

Did you self-publish? Honest answer: how hard was it? How financially rewarding? (Feel free to say none of my business.) Would you do it again?