Am I My Brother's Editor?

I should be working on my brother's book, but I haven't blogged in so long I was afraid people would give up on me. Many things have happened since my last post. Here is a list.

1. We started school. That's like getting on a runaway train that doesn't stop until the middle of May.

2. I stopped reading a book that I didn't like. I've forgotten the name of it and I don't want to get up to look. It was all about alternative medicine.

3. I started another book, "Free Food for Millionaires." It's a goodie soap opera epic. And I'm learning a lot about Korean Americans in New York. Fun read.

4. My brother, Tim, called. He has re-written the novel that he wrote last year and didn't get many nudges about. He wants me to read the new version and edit. Easier said than done. You have to read hard. And I've read this book 3 times. It was funny the first time. So that is what I am supposed to work on instead of this post. We really want to get this book published.

5. I fell in class Friday. Tripped over a student's backpack and messed up my knee, my nose, my forehead, and my right hand. Everything is feeling better now, but I spent the weekend covered in ice packs. I've still got bruises and carpet burns, but I can walk a lot better.

6. The Olympics have been on for two weeks and required my full attention. If I hadn't watched, the USA wouldn't have won so many gold medals.

Those are all the excuses I can think of right now. So I guess I better get back to Tim's book, but the Democratic National Convention is on! Didn't Michelle do a beautiful job last night? Tonight we see Hillary. I'm still disapointed that we didn't have the chance to nominate her for president. I've had the bumper sticker on my car for almost a year and it didn't work.

Greg Iles' kind of woman, (girl)

I just read Turning Angel. And I have figured something out. You know how some male authors seem to get stuck on one look for a woman and you can tell--this is wishful thinking, baby. Like Ken Follett. All his heroines are short, muscular and have hourglass-shaped figures with dark red hair. He always makes a point to say that they do not have thin, model-like, fashionable figures.

Well, Greg Iles likes them young, honey. Really young. Compare the women in this book. The women under 18 are yummy. They are tan, muscular, "ghetto-booties," gorgeous, long-hair, and so intellectual that they are reading Paul Bowles and Anais Nin while waiting for cheerleader practice. There are some differences, some have long blond hair, some have long red hair, some have long luxurious brunette hair, but they all love the same kind of men--old-- and the same kind of sex--lots of it, in all directions, with all kinds of people, in all combinations.

Now lets look at the female characters between the ages of 18 and 60. There is always something wrong. The most common problem with these women is that they don't want enough sex. But the other problems are--they want sex with the wrong people, they have artificial boob jobs, facelifts, sun-damaged skin, droopy body parts, they spend too much money and they don't drop their entire lives to defer to their man's choice of lifestyle.

The women over 60 are ok because they are grandmothers and can babysit.

If I were Greg Ile's wife, I would be checking to see who is on his facebook page.

I think this is my last Greg Iles.

I have been told to get off my booty and update my blog. Which, if you think about it, would be very hard to do at the same time. So I am sitting down and updating my blog.

Since I have talked to you, I have taken a little week in the Ozarks, but it was so hot, we didn't do much except sit in the air conditioning. The most interesting thing that happened was a visit with Luis Rojaz, a Cuban concert pianist. He lives in a beautifully decorated home on top of a mountain that looks down on Table Rock Lake.

My friend, Camille, who also lives on top of a mountain took us to see him and I don't think we really understood what a treat this would be until we got there. Luis is 72 now and has advanced arthritis, so he has retired from teaching at the College of the Ozarks, but still has a couple of very special private students. He still has his Cuban accent even though he hasn't lived in Cuba since he was 18. He came to the States to attend Julliard and got his degrees there. He has played solo recitals at Carnegie Hall and played with symphonies everywhere. One of his best friends is Alicia de Larrocha (sp?) and that impressed me. And he was impressed that I knew who she was.

Luis has 2 Steinway grands in his dining room that are magnificent, so I told him about my new Kawai, but it does not really compare. He played a Chopin waltz for us and we toodled around on the piano together, a little Mozart, a couple of old hymns. He plays for the Christian Scientists on Wed. nights and used to play the preshows for the Lawrence Welk theatre until his arthritis got him. Luis' favorite cussword is "summamabeech" As in "he's a summamabeech."

When we come back he has promised to cook arroz con pollo and black beans for us. I can't wait for the return trip. I'm going to bring him some gospel music.