Dark and Stormy

 

My favorite time of year has arrived. The results of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. I do love a good pun (or is it a bad pun?). These opening lines never fail to make me laugh. My favorite this year got a dishonorable mention:

 

They called her The Cat, because she made love the way she fought, rolling rapidly across the floor in a big, blurry ball of shrieking hair, fury, and dander, which usually solicited a “Shut up!” and flung shoe from one of the neighbors, and left her exhilarated lover with serious patchy bald spots and the occasional nicked ear. 

That's a helluva opening line. To celebrate, I will probably make myself a Dark and Stormy, sit out on the patio and read something less overwrought than Bulwyer-Lytton's work. Join me? Here's the recipe for a Dark and Stormy.

Crushed ice and lots of it

Pour one shot of dark rum, the good stuff, over the ice

Add ginger beer to taste. 

Best enjoyed on a hot summer day with a view of the sea, but a lake, river, or pool will do in a pinch.

Enjoy!

 

...I want to be Laura Lippman

Yes, it's true. When I grow up, I want to be Laura Lippman. Or maybe Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Or Daniel Silva. Or whichever author whose book I recently read that left me with that wonderful feeling of having just been on an exciting adventure with entertaining friends.
That is what I want to be when I grow up.
Now, I already have a career. But writing is something I have done since I was a child. Even before I could write, I told fantastic stories, at least according to my mother. Sure, most of those were probably creative ways of blaming my sister and brothers for my misdeeds, but they were entertaining.
In the past year, I've revisited the idea of storytelling and have set a goal of finishing one of the many unfinished novels languishing on my hard drive. I started this blog because I got some good advice from writers who are far more successful than me.
I have no idea what I'll be writing about here. But I will take requests.