The first reviews are in and I am in a mixed state of humble joy and mild relief. Admittedly the number of reviews is not many and they are from somewhat biased sources, but in one case Dear Mom & Dad was read in 2 days and in another just 1 day which I’m told was from eagerness to know the whole story and not from a desire to get the misery overwith. The one most important review was from Mom, of course. Her comment was that she both cried and laughed. So, I await further reviews with at least a little less apprehension.

The task ahead of me now is to deal with the marketing issues and at the same time proceed with writing the follow-up book which has been started but placed on hold when Dear Mom & Dad went to the publisher.

A speaking engagement is in the works for the Los Angeles area and is tenatively scheduled for late October. More info will be forthcoming as that is available.

I’m finding that now the baby has been birthed I am frequently intellectually blank. At times the words to a song from the ’60’s (I think) “If that’s all there is my friend, then let’s keep dancing …” come to mind. But, then when I actually sit down and begin the process of sharing the thoughts on my mind that the sitting down and beginning part was the most difficult. Once the process is begun the words just seem to appear of their own volition and at times that results in prose that is entirely too wordy. That is what editing is all about I suppose. I can only recall one time when the editing process actually resulted in an expanded work. In the case of Dear Mom and Dad, the original text would have resulted in a 700 page monster and not the more manageable 270 page finished product. I am aiming to be more precise in the original manuscript of my next book and hopefully that will require far less editing. In the meantime I’m looking forward to more comments from you.