FULL MOON IN OXFORD

Gayle and I closed on our home in Oxford, MS this past Monday. The contractor started the renovation process the same day. Friday morning, Gayle and I were walking for exercise on University Avenue at about 7 a.m. We heard a short blast of a car horn and turned in time to see a massive, white, dimpled boohiney staring at us from a passing vehicle, no more than ten feet away. We burst out laughing. It was a full moon, filling the entire passenger side open window. I don't know if Welcome Wagon arranged this, but it sure made me feel at home. We went to Fourth of July barbecue party around our new neighbors' pool, saw fireworks at the Ole Miss baseball field, then were treated to a gigantic white behind, all in our first week.What a warm welcome to our new town. More later. Miguel

THANK YOU

William and I thank all of our readers and supporters for the great showing last week in the debut of our new novel, ATMOSPHERE OF VIOLENCE.  On Thursday, AOV zoomed to 67th on the Amazon.com best seller list for general fiction and thrillers and stayed in the top hundred for the remainder of the week.  So, out of the hundreds of thousands of novels on Amazon, AOV was the 67th most purchased. These numbers are very gratifying to us and we appreciate your support.  Our readership seems to be increasing every week.  Thanks again.   

Life Imitating Art

Novel number two, AT RANDOM, featured the antagonist "El Moro," a white-skinned drug smuggler born in Tampico to a Caucasian merchant marine father and a Mexican mother.  El Moro was invaluable to the cartel because his color and perfect English allowed him to deliver drugs in the U.S. without raising suspicions. Shortly after AT RANDOM was published, drug kingpin "La Barbie" was arrested near Mexico City.  "La Barbie" was a white U.S. citizen born in a Laredo suburb who moved to Mexico and used his white skin and bilingual skills to rocket to the top of one of the principal drug cartels.  Novel number three, THE RIDE ALONG, featured a violent, gun-smuggling Cuban named "Brujo" who used Santa Muerte hexes and rituals to control his ruthless gang in New Orleans.  Today the story broke that four dozen decapitated and dismembered bodies were dumped along a highway south of the Mexican border.  Many of the victims had Santa Muerte tatoos and talismans.  William and I just published novel number 5, ATMOSPHERE OF VIOLENCE, which involves a bloody confrontation between a white supremacist outlaw biker gang and a black Muslim militia trained in warfare at a commune in rural Mississippi.  Be sure to keep an eye on your favorite news sources to see if AOV foreshadows real-life.  Like David Dunne always says, "you never know." 

What Was Cooking In Junior Seau’s Pot?

When I was growing up and word of an unexpected personal tragedy involving relatives, friends, or acquaintances reached my mother, she would sometimes remark that “you never know what’s cooking in someone else’s pot.”  When I learned today of the sudden death of Junior Seau, I mumbled my mother’s saying.  Junior Seau was one of my favorite pro football players.  He was All-Pro every year, and one of the best defensive players of all time.  Junior seemed like a really good guy, too. Everyone seemed to like and respect him.  Now he’s gone, maybe by his own hand.  You’d think that he would have been on top of the world, basking in the respect and fame he earned on the field.  He wasn’t, however, and fell victim to his own personal demons.  Human beings are mysterious creatures.  The person whose success and position you envy may be struggling every day to just to put one foot in front of the other.  You never know.  So, be kind to the people you encounter today.  Each one of them is fighting a tough battle.

ADVICE FOR ADULTS ONLY: Always Talk To Strangers

When Gayle and I are out and about traveling in state, around the country, or abroad, we make it a point to strike up a conversation with strangers unless they appear dangerous or unhinged.  Invariably we meet engaging and interesting people who have more in common with us than we could have ever imagined.  Conversely, sometimes they are radically different from us in spite of their appearance and it's loads of fun to listen to their stories.  On a ski trip to Copper Mountain when our three sons were young, we shared a table with a couple our age and their two kids.  Since that day, we've stayed in touch and recently talked about getting together for a visit.  The nice thing about talking to strangers is that if they appear normal but after a minute of conversation we get weird or unwelcome vibes, it's easy to escape by turning on our heels and saying "we've got to join our friends" over our shoulders as we run away.  It rarely happens like that.  Most of the time, it's a very pleasant way to pass a few minutes and share experiences.  It reminds us that most everybody is fairly interesting and that we're all just trying to do the best we can. 

I LOVE LIVING IN A SMALL TOWN

Last night I wrote a note on the pad I keep on my nightstand reminding me to call my CPA first thing.  As I ran through downtown at the end of my jog this morning, I saw my CPA in front of his building.  I stopped and discussed with him the tax issue about which I had planned to call him.  Last week I discovered one of my tires flat in my carport.  I walked the two blocks to my office and called my friend who owns a tire business.  By nine a.m., his service crew had come to my house, replaced the tire and called to tell me my vehicle was road-ready again.  Yesterday I left the office at five p.m., peak traffic time, and was home in mere moments, surviving another "rush minute" on local streets.  Through the internet and satellite I see everything that's going on in the world.  I read online the best newspapers here and abroad.  There's no glitz and glamour, but living small town life sure is convenient.  Easy on the blood pressure, too.

Cherish Your Friends Now

Tom Murchison died last Saturday, January 7, 2012.  He was a mentor of mine, incredibly well-read, and a gentle soul.  He was a truly honest man; he exuded integrity.  When I first began to write novels and screenplays, he was encouraging and enthusiastic, urging me on.  When he finished reading my first published novel, he told me it was "riveting."  I remember that conversation like it was yesterday.  He was generous with his time--I wish I had shared more of it.  Too late, now. He did leave a poem for his friends.  I'm keeping it in a place that's handy.  It's a long piece, but simple and enduring.  Here's one stanza:
"Consider the lowly ant, which has in its vocabulary, no word for can't. 
Does it contemplate like us?  I doubt it.  It is too busy, I suppose, being an ant."
Spend times with your friends.  Do it now.