I usually title my posts. I like the way the titles break up entries when I’m viewing my friends’ posts. Without a title, sometimes it’s hard to tell where one ends and another begins.
This morning I did a solid edit of the first six pages of the story in progress, and I think I have it nearly right. Eight more pages to revise until I have a second draft. My challenge: don’t touch the first six pages any more until the draft is mostly finished. Otherwise I’ll just end up going over that part again and again, and not dedicating enough time to the rest of the story.
I’m enjoying The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke. It features an insider look at the colossal fuck-up that followed Katrina and how some people tried to make things better while others tried to make a buck. If I had one quibble about Burke’s novels, it’s the fact that every one of them lately has featured a blank-slate sociopath who gets a hard-on for Dave and/or Clete and/or Alafair. A monster, really, without a stitch of humanity. If it was the same guy showing up over and over again, that would be one thing, but it’s a steady parade of the same sort of guy. Sure, Dave and Clete are more likely to run across that kind of guy in their line of work than the average citizen, but still. I think Burke should give that trope a break. It’s less revealing of a character when he does battle with someone utterly devoid of morality. Makes it easier to turn them into punching bags or pistol targets without questioning the actions of the main characters.
I only watched The Closer with one eye and one ear last night as I was busy doing other things. I thought it was interesting to watch an anglo act as the translator for a Chinese suspect while a character of presumed Chinese origin sat across the table, oblivious to what was being said since he was fourth-generation and didn’t speak the language. Love Brenda’s parents, especially her Mom, the master of the back-handed compliment. “Why, Lt. Provenza, I was sure you’d be a captain by now,” delivered with a sweet, sweet smile.
