Too Much Goin' On~

Whew! Friday, Lake Writers met & I read the 2nd half of my play. Suggestions were made, some of which I will take, others discard. That evening, hubby & I went to his annual veterans' dinner and had a nice time (and a meal I didn't have to cook...YAY!).

Saturday, off to Diamond Hill General Store in Moneta for their Sunflower Festival. We sat on their front porch, in the shade (I know it hit 100 degrees) drinking lovely mocha iced coffee & talking with many of the visitors as well as our fellow writers: Cup of Comfort for Writers' Becky Mushko AKA Ida B. Peevish, Jean Brobeck, poet from Bedford with her Musings, Jim Morrison, author of Bedford Goes to War, Sally Roseveare with her Smith Mountain Lake mystery, Secrets At Spawning Run. By the time we packed up and left, around 4:30, my cheeks looked like ripe tomatoes from the heat...Becky took this picture. Actually, I believe her alter ego, Ida B., clicked the shutter...

Lake Writers & Lunch

We had an excellent Lake Writers meeting today at the Moneta Library. Sixteen folks showed up, a record for one meeting. Lots of us read; I read the 2nd half of my play, Summer at the Lake, and everyone seemed to like it fine. There were a few suggestions, minor changes, that I may (or may not) incorporate.

Fortunately, Leslie was there; she runs the playreading group, which meets this Sunday and will read a Neil Simon play I'd suggested some time ago, called: I Ought to be in Pictures. I watched the movie one night, with Walter Matthau and two female actors. Walter hasn't seen his daughter in 20 years and had told her he'd gone off to Hollywood to be a famous screenwriter. He's not made a success of his life at all, and the daughter shows up to get him to help her get a job in movies. The dialogue is hilarious and Matthau was terrific in the part of the failed writer.

Leslie is very interested in my play (even hearing only the last half) so I'll have to clean it up & print out a copy for her and for my friend Peggy, who used to run the group. It's great to have a group all set up to read the play; we often have 50-75 folks to a reading.

The lake, BTW, is NOT Smith Mountain Lake. It's a small lake in northern Maine. But I figure everyone has the 'drop in' visitor who doesn't leave right away. (My Mom always said fish & company start to stink in 3 days.)

Maybe she said 'smell.'

Good Day at The General Store

Vickie, the boss-lady at The General Store, provided a lovely setting for Becky and me to sign our books. She'd put a table up before the fireplace covered with a linen tablecloth shot through with gold thread. Believe it or not, I'd worn a tunic top that practically matched. She had flowers and a beautiful small clock on the table, and our books neatly displayed.

As customers entered (and what a busy place that is on a Saturday) Vickie would bring them over and introduce us to her two "authors," raving about our books. It seemed everyone knew about Ida B. Peevish aka Becky, and some had come specifically to get her book(s). Others laughed at the title of my book, When Men Move to the Basement, asking me if I knew HOW to get them to do that!

Sales moved briskly, and we signed and signed. Bruce Rae, the artist who illustrated my book and one of Becky's books, also showed up to sign. When traffic was slow, we three had time to chat as well as walk around the store looking at their eclectic selection of gifts...fun jewelry, teddy bears, stained glass, paintings, even food products.

Speaking of food products, Vickie and her cheerful staff put out a nice spinach dip along with an amazing salsa, chips, ham biscuits, cheese and crackers, and lemonade, for customers as well as for us. I'd known we were to be there from 10-2, and had wondered how I'd make it through lunch time after my 6:30 am oatmeal breakfast, but we were invited to snack by 11 and lunch time just flew by. Needless to say, I purchased a jar of their corn salsa and another salsa, a black bean concoction.

We nearly ran out of their copies of our books; fortunately, we'd each brought some copies along to do some restocking. Now I'll have to call Infinity Publishing to get another shipment before August 10th and our Coffeehouse Readings at Edible Vibe in Rocky Mount. Gosh...

Thanks, Becky, for bringing me in on the signing. I mentioned it to Fred First, who is out of town at a week-long writers' conference. I know Vickie would love his book AND his beautiful photography on his notecards. They would fit perfectly at The General Store at Westlake, Smith Mountain Lake.