The Writer's Life 2/27 - Hello Birdie

From the Weird But True column in today's NY Post, edited by yours truly: California news anchor Nichelle Medina had an unexpected visitor during a recent broadcast. During a segment on the San Diego Zoo, a Scarlet Ibis landed on her head. She handed it well. Here's a pic:

And here's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdaElUyT1Zo

From Yahoo Sports, edited by yt: The MLB Players Association has filed a grievance against the Pirates, Rays, Marlins and Athletics for not spending enough. The Marlins and Pirates each receive $50 million in revenue sharing from the league pool, the Rays $45 million, and the A's $30 million. That money is supposed to be invested in making these small market teams better. What would be more wise - adding a couple of mid level free agents to a mediocre or weak roster, or using the funds to bolster their minor league systems? It seems the only way such franchises can contend is if their farm produces a bunch of players who gel at once. Isn't that what happened with the Royals and Astros?

I'm more than halfway through the first careful reading of next year's novel, Inside Out. The past 50 or so pages have been fun, as the rock 'em sock 'em sex has begun. I try to encapsulate the changing post sexual revolution social climate in the female lead. She is not, of course, representative of all women but those who value freedom more than a traditional relationship. The guy is pretty old fashion, which leads to verbal sparring. It's been more explicit than I expected, but less so than when I first wrote it way back in the early '80's. It was near porn then, heavily influenced by Henry Miller, whose boldness captivated me. His work is as funny as it is hot. While I inject some humor into the proceedings, I'm more interested in mining universal truths about humans. When I was shopping the book to agents, mailing out queries, I came up with what I thought was a great hook: "Can a novel be both sexually explicit and meaningful?" Since it's not nearly as explicit as it was, it might not be honest to use it in the cover blurb. I have months to decide. Along my journey as a writer, I came to believe that less is more when it comes to sex. I set the scene and hope the reader's imagination will fill in the blanks, read between the lines.

There wasn't much action at the floating book shop today, despite the gorgeous weather. My thanks to Mike, who bought a paperback on the Dr. Atkins diet, and to the gentleman who purchased a bio of Napoleon.

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