Was there a debate last night?

At the last minute, I passed on meeting Ian Rankin and went home to write. I clocked another 500 words on a new scene and a character that I'd written off as a not-very-bright necessity stood up and did something smart instead, making the scene that much more interesting and opening up opportunities I hadn't seen before.

This is one of the things I love about writing. I start a scene, knowing where it has to go and then the characters get behind the wheel and drive someplace unexpected.

But you don't care about that, do you? You want to hear about the knock down between Joey the Shark and Sarah Barracuda.

Here it is: Sarah didn't fall down or set herself on fire, which means her fans could breathe again. Joe didn't put Lincoln on the radio, so his people could relax.

But you have to admit, the bar was set pretty low for our gal from up north. She didn't, as Lenny Bruce used to say, step on her dick. She stuck to her notes, stayed on message, and did her folksy best to catapult the propaganda and win over J&J Sixpack. I admit I'm biased, but if you buy this kind of Chamber of Commerce charm, you probably shouldn't watch late night infomercials and have access to easy credit.

Again, I'm not an impartial observer, but if last night had been a prize fight and I was the referee, I would have called it about 9:55. Joe was waltzing Sarah around the ring, taking his shots, and Sarah looked like she was boxing way above her weight class. She did come back toward the end and landed a few, but again, our expectations had been set pretty low.

As for Mr. Rankin, I'm sure he did fine without me. And I got another 500 words in on my book.

As for my book, I can't tell you how moved I was by your encouraging comments and emails. Thank you all. I hope I don't disappoint you.

Have a good weekend.


The painting is by Eric Joyner. You can learn more about him and his Rock 'Em Sock 'Em paintings here.