Bah!

This has been a hard post to write, mostly because I suddenly lost most of the post that had been saved. So, anyway, let me explain again that today I am being a scold, which I understand is the feminine version of curmudgeon. I checked out the NYTimes best sellers and saw the same old names. Some are good writers, some write the same old book over and over and... I'm not even sure the old standbys write. Maybe they just tell someone, "Let's do another about a terrorist with a nuclear briefcase." Don't get me wrong. I love Janet Evanovich and Steig Larssen. I have read Lee Child and think he's a very good writer, just not my taste. I've read a couple of Ken Follett's doorstops and liked them.
So that's one scold. Another is publishers who, in this tricky time, only want sure things. It's not only my own  problem with getting a novel published; it's seeing some of the really, really bad stuff that does get published. Dan Brown comes to mind.
Scold #3. Maybe it's me, but...First let me say I do read Literature (capital L) and, as every other kind of book, I like some, love some, throw some across the room. Recently I began to read The Wake of Forgiveness. Maybe some other time I would have liked it. That certainly happens. But I read over 100 pages and thought that was enough. The descriptions of East Texas are great, the horse races were great-the people not so much. I simply couldn't get involved. This is petty, but I have to tell you, I laughed at the part where the protagonist is examining a place where a heifer bites him and draws blood!  In my childhood I had a lot to do with ranch animals. I was bitten by horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, snakes, but never by anything bovine. Cows do not have upper front teeth. I've been thrown from them and stomped and kicked by them, but never bitten. I told you it was petty, but it's also a red flag to me as a writer. ALWAYS check your facts. Some smartass out there will catch you.
Now I'm going to do my NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writers Month) 2000 words  for the day.Then I'm going to start  reading Ape House.