Last week I was in a grumbly frame of mind. I’m happy to report that I’m feeling better now, especially since I had time to spend with my manuscript this morning. I think I get grumpy when I’m away from it for too long.
On the current round of edits, I’m adding layers to descriptions and fleshing out some of the characters. In order to make a character more three dimensional, the author has to know a lot about him or her. So today I went down a fun little rabbit hole, looking up pictures of oboe-related tee shirts.
Why? Because the character is an oboist. He once bought himself a tee shirt with an oboe joke on it (What’s the definition of an optimist? An oboe player with a mortage!), and the next thing he knew, friends and family were always giving him oboe-related tee shirts for birthdays and Christmases. So he now has quite a collection, which he wears to rehearsals.
Here are a few of the shirts I’m incorporating into the book.




So I’m curious — which one of these shirts would you wear, or encourage someone else to wear? I have a favorite. . .
What I’m Reading
The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritson
What happens when a small coastal town in Maine becomes a retirement haven for CIA agents? Maggie Bird finds life there to be peaceful, quiet, and fulfilling, after all those dangerous years in far-flung places of the world.
Until it’s not.
I really liked this book, a lot. It’s first in the Martini Club series, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next one.
A Village Theatre Murder by Katie Gayle
It’s a director’s worst nightmare — the prop gun turns out to be more of a gun and less of a prop, killing an actor on stage during a performance.
Of course, it wasn’t so great for the actor either, or for the other actor who fired the deadly shot. And I have to say, the solution actually surprised me, something that doesn’t happen all that often any more.
This is the seventh in the Julia Bird series, featuring a retired social worker who moves to a small English village. Well worth reading.
By the way, Maggie Bird and Julia Bird are not related. . .
Notable Quotes
It was actually satisfying, Beatrice thought furiously, to have a real reason to loathe Caroline. She had never been able to explain her dislike before, but now that the lady had stabbed her, Beatrice thought her hatred much more justified.
- A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales
You know that I love snark. It attracts and fascinates me and makes me laugh. So to have a character justifying to herself the reason why she dislikes another character after she’s been stabbed by aforesaid character, well, it’s about as snarky as snark can be.
I wasn’t the first one awake. I slipped into Lexie’s kitchen at seven in the morning, and there she was spreading cream cheese on a bagel, dressed in a razor-sharp Prada business suit, stiletto heels and marquis diamond earrings the size of small caliber bullets.
- How to Murder a Millionaire by Nancy Martin
This sentence appeals to me because of the surprise value of comparing Lexie’s business attire to weaponry. The business suit is razor sharp, the heels are knives, and the earrings are bullets. What a commentary on contemporary business norms!
And speaking of weaponry, here’s one more for you today.
‘I hope that I shall,’ replied Phryne with all the sweetness of a chocolate-coated razor-blade.
- Flying too High by Kerry Greenwood
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Wise Words
Once again my wise readers have demonstrated their knowledge. One hundred percent of those who played last week’s game selected the correct answer. The quote was:
And he had gotten scathingly close to being caught when he made his latest bust of a gang transporting and distributing a staggering amount of narcotics under the _____ of being a traveling art exhibition, complete with a troupe of interpretive dancers and gymnasts, and an abstract artist that had it in his head that he would slit Saul's throat clean open if he ever talked.
- The Emerald Heist by LB Dayton
Your word choices were gauze or guise, and the correct answer is guise. Gauze, as you know, is the thin fabric that gets made into bandages or flimsy summer dresses and scarves. Guise, however, deals with appearance and is related to disguise. According to Merriam-Webster, guise can mean a form or style of dress; a customary way of speaking or behaving; and external appearance.
It comes from the Old French word guise, meaning “manner, fashion, way,” and was incorporated into English in the late 13th century.
Come back next week for another Wise Words challenge!
I'm glad you're in a better mood! I think my favorite among those tees is the one with the cat playing an oboe.