Tag: The Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

Rumor of Love

Monday morning, and the first infusion to treat the ulcerative colitis. I have no idea what this is going to be like or what it will do to me or how it will make me feel for the rest of the day, so who knows what is in store for me today? I did do some reading–interestingly enough, the treatment I am getting is also the treatment for plaque psoriasis, which I also have (it’s been under control since I got some steroid shots for it last year)–and there are some side effects to the treatment, which I hopefully won’t experience, either. The part I always forget is that I am immunocompromised now, and the medication will also negatively impact my immune system. I have to be very careful going forward about getting sick, need to have my liver monitored, and I also need to beware of tuberculosis. But after the infusion I am heading into the office for the rest of the day, so we’ll see how that goes.

I didn’t write much yesterday (like a bad boy) but I will tonight after work, depending on how I feel from the transfusion. I did get some things done around here and took a lot of notes so progress was made, but we basically spent the day watching the end of The Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, which was fun; Julianne Moore’s dark new movie on Apple Plus, Echo Valley, which was interesting; before moving onto a Spanish-language Mexican show on MAX, Coyotl: Man and Beast, starring our old Spanish-language crush, Alejandro Spiezer. I also finished Incident at Loring Groves (more on that later) and picked out Sing Me a Death Song by Jay Bennett (my favorite y/a writer of all time; definitely more on that forgotten crime master later) to be my next y/a read. I’m taking Summerhouse with me to read during the infusion; two to two and a half hours of being forced to lie down with an IV in my arm is a good time to read, don’t you think?

We also had some marvelous thunderstorms last night; there was a major one, with some of the longest thunder I can recall. It was one of those “lots and lots of rain in a very short period of time” storms we have here all the time, which is a kind of tropical rain, I suppose. I slept really deeply and well–didn’t want to get up this morning, frankly, which made Sparky the Hungry Alarm Cat very agitated. He was very cuddly last night, too, as I sat in my chair writing notes in my journal; he climbed up and gave me some head butts before wanting head scratches, collapsing his entire body into me and not letting me stop scratching his head for about half an hour before it was bedtime. I like that he is finally becoming more affectionate and cuddly as he gets older–although he can flip into demon cat who wants to play rough at any moment. Usually head scratches devolve into him playing with fangs and claws out within seconds, so I was a bit surprised at how long he put up with my affection last night.

LSU plays UCLA tonight in the College World Series at six tonight, so I’ll have to get home from work quickly tonight so I can get some things done around the house before the game starts.

I feel rested this morning, and this isn’t a very long week. I only have to go into the office or three days this week with the holiday falling on Thursday this year, which is kind of nice. I need to get some writing done–I probably won’t finish everything I want to send out for submission calls, because I won’t make the deadlines, but that’s nothing new. I was looking around yesterday, trying to remember all the stories I’ve not finished that might work for submission somewhere (picked one out for Ellery Queen), and remembered even more as I filed and put things away last night. It’s also weird how my short stories often veer into the occult and the macabre. I also, when going back to something I’ve not worked on for a while and thus have new eyes to bring to it, am amazed at how quickly I can see what is wrong with the story and why it doesn’t work–and often, it’s because of the tone and the voice.

Ah, well, time to get cleaned up and head out on the highway for today’s infusion. I doubt I’ll be back today, so will let you know how it went tomorrow morning. Have a great Monday, Constant Reader!

Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt, Grand Egyptian Museum

Beg, Steal or Borrow

Sunday morning in the Lost Apartment and I slept late yet again–Sparky tried, but I wasn’t having it until almost eight this morning. I feel very well-rested this morning, which is great, because I do want to get a lot done this morning/afternoon/today. I didn’t do a whole lot yesterday–I ran the errands, ordered groceries for delivery–and then watched the LSU game. I was going to cook out for it, but we had a thunderstorm so that was out; I’ll have to do that today so the fresh meat doesn’t go bad. I did work on my story yesterday but it was kind of like pulling teeth, so didn’t get much of that done…but I did read some yesterday. Incident at Loring Groves, after a slow start, has picked up some; I’ll probably finish it today because it’s short. I did check in with my other books, too–reading a chapter in each.

LSU did win its game against Arkansas 4-1 last night, which was fun to see (we’re also leading the Jello Shot Challenge again, quelle surprise), and plays UCLA on Monday night, and it’s an early start so I should be able to see most of it after work. I have my first infusion tomorrow morning, in Metairie (sigh), and I don’t know what all that will entail, or what I’ll be like afterwards, for that matter. I’ll stop for lunch on my way to the office after I am finished, and then we’ll see, I suppose. I have some trepidation about it, of course, so I should probably read up on it today. We’ll see. (My avoidance of unpleasant things I don’t want to deal with hasn’t, apparently, changed much.)

We also finished watching Caught yesterday, and started The Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, which is interesting and really grabbed our attention. It reminds me some of that Adnan Syed case up in Baltimore, and also is kind of a modern twist on the kids’ series and books I loved reading as a kid; Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, for example, never solved a murder case, which always kind of struck me as odd for literary detectives, you know? And yes, watching it made me think about my next attempt at y/a, if I should ever try another one. I may have to read the Good Girl novels by Holly Jackson.

I’ve been overflowing with ideas lately, which is fun, I just need to harness that creative energy and direct it into, you know, actually writing. I hope to get some done this morning while I do the chores and clean up this mess down here. It looks sunny and bright outside, which is also nice–but it’s probably hot and incredibly humid out there. According to Accuweather, today’s thunderstorm won’t arrive until five, so yes, will have to grill burgers in the early afternoon.

This is also a short work week; we have Thursday off, and of course, I work at home on Fridays so I don’t have to go in for four days, which is lovely. Next week I am leaving work after the morning to head to Alabama to meet Dad, so another short week, and I believe the week after that is the 4th? I really do need to get my shit together and start planning. I still need to make a to-do list and I need to update some things and above all else, I need to be writing and editing. Sparky will undoubtedly have some thoughts about that, as he loves to spend the afternoons and evenings in my desk chair, and will annoy me until I finally give up and let him have it. But I can edit and reread in my easy chair, after all; the problem is I always end up turning the television on, which then sucks me into something, usually on Youtube–which is where I check the news, really; I don’t trust many news sources anymore, and even on Youtube there’s a lot of slant to everything. I’ll never trust legacy media again, since the C in their acronyms seems to stand for “collaboration” now.

I really need to make a to-do list, and I need to make it overly ambitious to push myself harder to get things done, you know? I’m still resting, of course, and I need to always prioritize getting healthy again–and not overdoing it because I feel good one day and think oh I am healthy again let’s go only to relapse into exhaustion the following day. I mean, I do feel better for the most part–this morning I feel really good–but there’s a fine line between trying to rest and not overdo it vs. I don’t feel like doing anything today and I DO need rest…as we all know, I will always choose rest over work!

And on that note, I should get to work this morning. This kitchen is disgraceful, and I already have the stories I am working on–as well as my next newsletter essay–queued up, so I literally have no excuse for not getting things done today. I’ll do the dishes and then make a to-do list, as well as prepare some things for the week (making watermelon gazpacho, for one) and hopefully having a terrific and productive day. Have a lovely Father’s Day and/or Sunday, Constant Reader, and I may be back today or tomorrow morning before the infusion.