Some Studio Work and Reviews

I've been spending a lot of time in the studio playing with my Eccentrics.  More La Calavera Catrinas, gourds in progress, a sock doll and a witch in progress.  A burst of creative energy that has kept me occupied for hours on end.  I'm covered in dried clay, paint, and fabric threads most of the time now.

one of the La Calavera Catrinas I've been making

It is still warm here.  Today's high is predicted to be 96, but tomorrow!  Tomorrow will be in the 80's--Yea!  I've been thinking about global warming/climate change a lot, lately.  The effects on future generations are frightening, but there is still money to be made on some of the destructive practices to which we've become so accustomed.  I love the way some small countries, no larger than one of our states, have been able to implement changes.  It must be so much easier to make those changes on a smaller scale.  Fewer politicians with fewer agendas and fewer lobbyists make for more direct action.  I mean, 96 degrees in the middle of October is just wrong.  

When I feel like it, I try to catch up on reviews.  They are never-ending.

Briefly, I found this really slow, although the book was quite short.  Didn't care for the protagonist much--he did a lot of whining about the past.  A little would have set the stage adequately, but too much and it felt like filler.  Especially annoying - the protagonist finds out things, tells you he has found out, but doesn't tell you what he found out.  OK once, but not 2 0r 3 times.

NetGalley/Endeavor Press

Historic mystery.  Oct. 9, 2015.  Print length:  196 pages.

 There were some interesting parts of this "spy" novel, and I kind of liked the characters, but it didn't seem logical or believable.  I just discovered that it was originally published in 1987, which answered a couple of questions.

What bothered me even more than the strange premise (I'm still not sure I ever understood how Patrick Gillyard became a target), were the sentences and paragraphs that felt like non sequiturs.  I'd go back and reread, then decide it was a bit like not getting a joke.  You just accept it and read on.

And yet, I think the characters had promise , but the plot was so convoluted.  It was the first in a long series, and I would give it another try.

NetGalley/Endeavor Press

Spy/Mystery.  1987; Oct. 9, 2015.  Print length:  247 pages.

This one started out with an interesting premise.  Detective Harriet Marten's has been poisoned while sun bathing by a pool.  Someone slipped wolfsbane (nearly always fatal) into her drink as she lay dozing.  Her husband returns and recognizes the symptoms because he has been reading an Agatha Christie novel in which "twisted wolfsbane" was the murder weapon.

The first section has poor Harriet hospitalized having undergone numerous procedures.  The poison has had an effect on her memory and thinking processes, and she struggles to understand and to communicate.  That portion was interesting, but Harriet disregards advice to remain in the hospital and pays no attention when informed that it will take months for her to fully recover.  For me, the book began to be a little repetitious as Harriet repeated things and exerted effort to think clearly while neglecting common sense.

The poisoner has no specific target and as he or she continues to murder almost randomly by slipping poison into untended drinks, Harriet wants/needs to be part of the investigation.

NetGalley/Endeavor Press

Detective fiction/Mystery.  2005; 2015.  Print length:  272 pages.