Lunacy and the Baltimore Book Fest

Rushing around as school begins contributes to the nuttiness of this time of year—I get it—I prepare for it every summer. Not enough evidently.

I am in charge of the ESWA tent on the first day of the Baltimore Book Festival.  We are using our cells to make and track book sales during the event.  I just caught myself thinking that I wasn't worried about my Smartphone battery lasting the whole day because I could just walk into Mount Vernon Books and charge it for a while. I had this whole scene in my head where I’d get a coffee and take a break in the little bistro area in the back and enjoy watching patrons come and go like I used to when I lived in Baltimore. I actually wondered if Jane Gibson would be working the shop. After all, I have been living on the Eastern Shore for nine years and time has not stood still.

There are two major problems with this scenario:  fact and fiction. The fact is that the festival has moved far away from Mount Vernon Place and the Washington Monument due to construction in the area. The  Inner Harbor locations will feel quite different. The fiction problem is alarming--Mount Vernon Books exists in two of my novels, not in actuality. There has never been a book store on Mount Vernon Place with a bow front window with two entrances like batting eyes. The closest bookstore which closed years ago was Louie’s, but it was closer to the Basilica. Jane Gibson and her bookstore have never existed except on the pages of my books. So I need a new plan in a real space with actual electrical outlets.  Such is the mania of the writer’s mind this time of year.

Celia's Audience with the King has gone through the first stages of revision. The first version insinuated a romance between Celia and Tregoning.  Celia's relationship with the foolish Dr. Tregoning hasn't developed that far in the short story. 

I'm happy with the proof copy of The Pirates of Genevieve's Reach from createspace. On to editing. I first thought of this story when Ted (who is now 31) was born. The character Daphne in the novel is one that my mind returns to often. She is complicated and damaged, sensitive yet daring. Matching wits with a computer and the computer-like man who tends the machine offers much conflict. 

Working on the novel with the working title His Favorite Rescue. One of the main characters is a sixteen-year-old boy who has nearly died using cocaine and is "rescued" by his aunt who he thinks has no experience dealing with drug abuse. The novel is based on the true experiences of a number of homeless or nearly homeless teen drug abusers I've known. They are often taken in by naive, well-meaning relatives and the parents of friends. I'm collecting experiences with treatment programs and the differences between recovery from different substances.