Close to the finish line

I am getting very close to finishing my Impious book. Formatting is done and I will be rereading and rewriting whatever is necessary. I have to insert a few passages into a couple of sections as well, but I am getting more and more comfortable with the result. I look to finish it within three weeks and will submit it to some Beta readers.

Superior Hiking Trail

Just spent some more time on the North Shore doing some backpacking on the Superior Hiking Trail with our oldest grandson, Jeffrey. We hiked a total of about ten miles and enjoyed some beautiful scenery (see photo). I also resupplied the Lake Superior Trading Post with some more copies of The Devil's Kettle. It's such a natural location to sell that particular book.

All in all, it was a great few days along the North Shore. Oh, I also got a little editing in when we got back home.

Lake Superior Trading Post

It was a successful two-hour stint at the Lake Superior Trading Post in Grand Marais, MN. I had a great time talking to people and signing books. I ended up selling 24 books to Eric Humphrey, the owner of the family-run business. Who, in turn, sold most of those the same day.

Book Club

My wife and I spent a wonderful three hours in Rosemount, Minnesota at a local book club that had read my last novel, The Book Club Murders. First, we met five of the members at Ruby's Red Eye Grill for drinks and appetizers. After that, we met with the rest of the book club (about twelve members in all) for a give and take discussion of my background and then the book itself. I greatly enjoyed the book club members, their questions, comments, and discussion.

Events coming up.

Book club presentation in Rosemount on May 20, 2019, 4 pm.

Book signing at Lake Superior Trading Post on June 8, 2019, 1 pm.

Rosemount Book Festival and Fair

I made some great connections at the Rosemount Book Festival on March 23, 2019. I sold 22 books (with 10 of them going to a book club I'll be presenting at in May). The Book Club Murders and The Devil's Kettle were both on display with The Devil's Kettle providing about 15 of the 22 sales. I even got a chance to use my new Square to process charges. It worked great!
I"ll be checking into the Rain Taxi event in October. Hopefully, I'll have my atheist memoir ready in plenty of time.

I've decided on my beginning and title for latest in series of Gerald Hodges books.

The Life of Oliver

October, One month after arriving in Vancouver

After listening to the doctor’s explanation, Oliver Payne stared ahead and then said, “You mean, I’m going to die.”

Schlaenhagen’s head drooped slightly and he crossed his legs before sighing his answer. “Not for several years, but there are medications we can prescribe to make your life easier. For instance, we can begin a regime of …”

Payne cut him off.

“How long do I have?” Payne’s face was expressionless, taut.

The doctor shifted in his chair causing the cushions to squeak, introducing an air of ridiculousness to the moment. He said it slowly. “Longer than you would think, but your condition is unpredictable. Best case scenario, you may live twenty or twenty-five years, worst case, maybe five to seven.” He smiled and then added wryly, “I wouldn’t go out and order your casket yet. You have some living to do.”

Payne sat in silence for a minute. He thought about his plans, clicking them off in his mind like he was knocking off a grocery list. His schedule needn’t change…yet, at least. But thoughts of fleeting time passing him by before he had a chance to make up for the terrible crimes he had committed several years earlier gnawed at him. Not enough time. There will never be enough time.

His eyebrows tensed, his forehead furrowed, Schlaenhagen studied Payne. He saw a sixtyish man, a little portly with thinning wisps of hair struggling to cover the forefront of his head. He was nattily dressed in a stylish gray suit with vest, tie, lavender shirt, and handkerchief neatly folded and tucked in the breast pocket. He was intelligent, strong, and in good shape; indeed, his lab numbers for a man of his age were remarkable: cholesterol 142, blood pressure 123/65, and glucose under100. His impression was: this man will cope well! 

Parkinson’s, what a shame, he thought.

Payne stood and gazed out the window. Rain, again. It had been a wet October in Vancouver, B.C. It seemed appropriate for the doctor’s pronouncement on his health.