The Writer's Life 7/6 - Blessed

Barbara Mertz earned a PhD in Egyptology from the University of Chicago. She has written three works of non-fiction under her real name, and scores of mysteries under two pseudonyms, Barbara Michaels and Elizabeth Peters. I just finished The Murders of Richard III, which she penned under the latter. It is the story of a group, Ricardians, who believe that the maligned king is innocent of the dastardly killing of his nephews, that he was framed by his enemies. The members, who come from varied walks of life and go so far as to don medieval garb, gather at the mansion of their leader, who has come into possession of a document that may vindicate their belief. Nastiness ensues. An outsider, a beautiful, middle age American professor, Jacqueline Kirby, protagonist of a series, solves the mystery. Except for occasional instances where I found the use of particular words bizarre, the novel is lively, amusing and well-written, although I believe its appeal is limited to those with a keen interest in British history and to those who enjoy Agatha Christie-like work. Although only 261 pages, I found it tedious at times, although I wouldn’t say the details were unnecessary. It does have a refreshing element, one I will not mention for the sake of anyone who may read it. The book was copyrighted in 1974 and has been re-issued several times. It is still selling modestly after all these years, ranked 380,646th at Amazon at last check, 175,000+ in Kindle. 44 customers have rated The Murders..., forging to a consensus of 3.8 of five. No fan of mysteries, I rate it three. Mertz died at 85 in 2013. She won numerous awards.

Last night Movies!, channel 113 on Cablevision in NYC, ran  Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), which I hadn’t seen since the early 80’s. It remains wondrous except for one aspect. I still hate the scene where Richard Dreyfuss’ character shovels dirt and plants through an open window into his home in order to build a mock up of the image of the mountain the aliens have planted in his subconscious. His obsessive nature would have been demonstrated just as accurately, more realistically, less annoyingly, if he’d simply built it in his backyard. I've always been bothered that this otherwise superb film was marred, although I'm sure many enjoy that scene.

Although the frustrations of the writer's life are sometimes acute, I realize, when thinking right, I've been blessed. I had great luck today in Park Slope. I did not find a parking spot along the strip that should be open now that school is out, and I was very fortunate, as a meter maid ticketed every vehicle parked there. I crossed the intersection of 7th Avenue and snared a place just as a woman was pulling out. I was less than 100 yards from the corner of 4th Street, so I was able to lug and deploy all my wares, and it paid immediate dividends, as a young woman purchased How to Fall Out of Love by Dr. Debora Phillips and Bob Judd. Moments later a middle age woman bought Jimmy Breslin's Damon Runyon, A Life. Then a gentleman came along, picked out five paperbacks and, when I mentioned that four of my books are available on Kindle for a buck, took a shot of the cover of Killing with his phone. That alone would have been sufficient. Livia made the session memorable. Since my hearing is no longer up to par, I wasn't sure if her accent was Italian. It was, and when I summarized Close to the Edge, she bit and also included A Hitch in Twilight. I inscribed the former with "Grazie asai" and the latter with "Cent'anni." Of course, I worry, as I always do about Edge, that she will hate it, although many have said how much they enjoyed it, which always surprises me, since it is so downbeat. My thanks to all those kind folks.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/