Things to do as a late bloomer

I’ve added to my list of things to do while being, shall we say, mature.  The list already had first and second books, with two more in the works, and learning to ski.

 Then there was that scene on Highway 280. . .

 Okay, I knew I was going too fast as I overtook some slow cars, but didn’t realize how fast until I saw the Highway Patrol car, half-hidden, ready to pounce. That’s when I looked at my speedometer. Eighty. I slowed down, of course, and thought I might get away with it, but no–that lovely display of flashing lights came looming up in my rear view mirror. 

I’m not proud of my speeding ticket, but it was kind of nice to hear the cop say–when I asked–that catching, shall we say, mature ladies in Priuses didn’t happen to him very often, if ever.

The Right to Bare Arms

I have a complaint about one aspect of television that is quite small in the scheme of things, but (in the view of mice) could set the wrong example when it comes to burning up heating fuel.

     It’s the fact that certain woman anchors and guests persist in wearing summer clothes, even in the middle of winter.

     What’s the message–that intelligent and successful women should dress for summer all year round, and to hell with the thermostat? 

All the Mice for Half the Price!

Next Tuesday  is a big day: “Mousenet” gets launched in paperback. Ask for it at your local bookstore.

And get ready for the sequel, “Mousemobile,” which appears on October 15^th.

Tommy

Here’s Tommy, in a triple role. As the firstborn of my youngest niece, he’s the newest member of my family. As a mouse aficionado, he has adopted my totem animal. And as a Tommy (even if he spells his full name Tomos, as befits a Welshman) he’s a model for Megan’s new half-brother. That Tommy appears in the book I’m working on now–Mouse Menace. And yes, mice show up in his crib too. 

One way to launch a book

Why spend an hour on what can be done in three minutes, give or take? My niece’s husband, the Reverend Canon Dr.

Stephen Cherry, found a great way to launch his third book, as you can see here:  http://t.co/U2lU3b8J? (Ecclesiastical note: the gentleman in purple is the Bishop of Durham, who will shortly become the new Archbishop of Canterbury.)

Heading for Walnut Creek

I’ll be speaking about Mousenet on a “debut author panel” sponsored by the Contra Costa and Alameda wing of SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Writers). It’s at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 1924 Trinity Avenue, Walnut Creek, from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 1st. As a bonus, there'll be holiday cookies: people are invited to bring a dozen to share. So if you like cookies, or if you want to know how writers get published (spoiler alert: it takes a while) come on by. Register at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=ztqkjicab&oeidk=a07e6n0ddt4339e2a2e, if you’re a member. If not, just turn up.

Rats

I am just back from Myanmar. There probably aren't too many readers of 'Mousenet' there but I did find out one fact that is gratifying to a writer of mouse books. I was born with a natural affinity for rodents.

The Burmese people follow astrological signs that depend on the day of the week you were born, and my sign (for a Thursday birth) is the rat. We visited several ceramic rats, including one at the massive Shwedagon pagoda complex in Yangon. This rat is being watered by a Thursday person who is giving him one cup of water for each year of her life (apparently–as with the candles on birthday cakes–people over a certain age are allowed to cheat, with one cup per decade, but I still didn’t indulge. The rat looked water-logged enough.)

Talking of rats, I recently made a guest appearance on a blog called ‘Ginny’s Friends.’ Ginny Rorby writes splendid Young Adult novels with a deep concern for animals, and I related the tale of Fido, the rat I rescued from a grocery store for my son Charlie. See the post at http://grorby.blogspot.com/2012/10/fido-rescue-rat-by-prudence-breitrose.html. 

Fido turned out to be one of the most successful pets we ever had.