Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers (even though this is getting posted when the day is almost over).
I feel obligated to add a new post to this blog...yet, I've got little to contribute.
My wife's health difficulties are still undetermined, but getting worse, mostly. Her stay in a care facility with at least fifty minutes of physical or occupational therapy six days a week produced almost nothing.
She's home now, but keeping me pretty busy doing what the CNAs in the facility did...except I can't be down the hall and ignore her light for a half hour or so.
On the reading front, I'm now reading The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. This is horror, and the macabre, and more fantasy featuring an alternate world. Except for the main character, Jack Sawyer, age twelve, the few heroes are understated and their influence is vital, but mostly brief...except for the werewolf.
But the villains are given much more coverage. And there are so many! And they are "twinners." They are bad people that exist in our world, and their "twins" that exist in the other world—The Territories. It seems almost all people have such a twin. But in some cases—Jack's, for instance, his twinner in The Territories died at a young age.
I first read The Talisman at least ten years ago, maybe many more. I could remember almost none of the story. Later, King and Straub co-wrote a sequel titled Black House. Most of the sequel is a new adventure for the now adult Jack Sawyer.
Black House takes place north of LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
It isn't often that a person can go to the real location that's the setting of a fantasy novel, so of course we did, as close as a map would get us. No black house, of course. But there was a yard sale.
I remember very little about Black House, so I suppose I'll take that up next. But I don't own a copy, so I'll have to depend on the library. Or, I suppose, I could buy a copy.
But The Talisman will be on hold for a week. I'm on vacation, mostly to take care of the boss, and the book is still at work. If I'd brought it home I'd be reading it now instead of writing this...which is why I leave it at work.
For a little change, allow me to recommend some reading that is not of this century, and not speculative fiction:
Dan Jenkins was a contributor to Sports Illustrated for many years. But he also wrote some excellent sports fiction. I highly recommend Semi-Tough. They made a movie from it starring Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, Kris Kristofferson, Robert Preston, and, with such a good cast, it was a piece of crap movie. It bore very little resemblance to the book, which is great.
Jenkins wrote a sequel to Semi-Tough titled Life Its Own Self, and that is also good, though not quite as good as the original, since the original was centered around the Super Bowl, and the sequel is about Billy Clyde's life after football and his romance with Barbara Jane Bookman.
Jenkins also wrote a golf novel titled Dead Solid Perfect. It has the same style that makes his two football books entertaining. If you like golf, either to watch or play, you'll like that one.
But, if none of those strike your fancy, I still urge you to read...my books, the ones mentioned here, or something else. But please read!
I feel obligated to add a new post to this blog...yet, I've got little to contribute.
My wife's health difficulties are still undetermined, but getting worse, mostly. Her stay in a care facility with at least fifty minutes of physical or occupational therapy six days a week produced almost nothing.
She's home now, but keeping me pretty busy doing what the CNAs in the facility did...except I can't be down the hall and ignore her light for a half hour or so.
On the reading front, I'm now reading The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. This is horror, and the macabre, and more fantasy featuring an alternate world. Except for the main character, Jack Sawyer, age twelve, the few heroes are understated and their influence is vital, but mostly brief...except for the werewolf.
But the villains are given much more coverage. And there are so many! And they are "twinners." They are bad people that exist in our world, and their "twins" that exist in the other world—The Territories. It seems almost all people have such a twin. But in some cases—Jack's, for instance, his twinner in The Territories died at a young age.
I first read The Talisman at least ten years ago, maybe many more. I could remember almost none of the story. Later, King and Straub co-wrote a sequel titled Black House. Most of the sequel is a new adventure for the now adult Jack Sawyer.
Black House takes place north of LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
It isn't often that a person can go to the real location that's the setting of a fantasy novel, so of course we did, as close as a map would get us. No black house, of course. But there was a yard sale.
I remember very little about Black House, so I suppose I'll take that up next. But I don't own a copy, so I'll have to depend on the library. Or, I suppose, I could buy a copy.
But The Talisman will be on hold for a week. I'm on vacation, mostly to take care of the boss, and the book is still at work. If I'd brought it home I'd be reading it now instead of writing this...which is why I leave it at work.
For a little change, allow me to recommend some reading that is not of this century, and not speculative fiction:
Dan Jenkins was a contributor to Sports Illustrated for many years. But he also wrote some excellent sports fiction. I highly recommend Semi-Tough. They made a movie from it starring Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, Kris Kristofferson, Robert Preston, and, with such a good cast, it was a piece of crap movie. It bore very little resemblance to the book, which is great.
Jenkins wrote a sequel to Semi-Tough titled Life Its Own Self, and that is also good, though not quite as good as the original, since the original was centered around the Super Bowl, and the sequel is about Billy Clyde's life after football and his romance with Barbara Jane Bookman.
Jenkins also wrote a golf novel titled Dead Solid Perfect. It has the same style that makes his two football books entertaining. If you like golf, either to watch or play, you'll like that one.
But, if none of those strike your fancy, I still urge you to read...my books, the ones mentioned here, or something else. But please read!
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