I am reading a pretty good mystery, Jar City by Arnaldur Indraidson. Not quite as good as Henning Mankell, but it’s the first time I’ve read a book by an Icelandic* author, which gives him extra points.

*Fun fact. I already knew how people in Iceland get their last names.

If there is such a condition, I’ve got it.

And broke my vow to stop reading a book a day. I should own stock in Politics and Prose (best independent bookstore in the world). The book is Love Maps and it has that all-too-rare  concept; 90% OF THE CHARACTERS ARE SCREWED UP. I will not reveal the ending, except to say I liked it, which proves nothing.

First, an observation. People do not read blogs Memorial Day weekend, at least not my blog.

My sequel to “In Search of the Perfect First Page” will be a collection of query attempts , also published posthumously.

Now to the meat* of today’s post. *or tofu, if you are vegan

One of the105 8th graders from Ohio we entertained last night suggested we perform an “Opera So New, it Hasn’t Been Written Yet” entitled Pajamas, or as you* say in Italian, Pigiama.

*I didn’t however. I only learned Italian art song translations. Therefore I know the word for ‘gypsy,’ but not pajamas. So much for a college education.

Performing for 105 8th graders tonight. 10th year in a row for this school. Yikes! Of course, it’s not the same kids (I sincerely hope).

Considering the number of ‘favorites’ and ‘retweets’ my posts on VeryRealisticYa have generated, perhaps I should stop writing YA and write about it instead.

After intense comma and talkectomies, I have launched into the “Cut it unless it moves the action forward,” stage in my manuscripts. If I had begun with that, the aforementioned surgeries would have been shorter. There is also the possibility the novels will be only 22 sentences long by the time I’m done.

I finished Perfect Fifths the fifth and last book in the Jessica Darling series. I am glad there aren’t any more because

1. The ending was perfect.

2. I read the last four books in one week and I cannot afford to read more.*

*No, seriously, I may end up in debtors prison because of my reading addiction.

‘I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.’  Oscar Wilde. Yup. Next installment, Quotes vs. Double quotes. Pass the Valium.