Thursday, June 13, 2019

What’s Your Favorite Book Size?

When Pelican Book Group updated Daddy Wanted, the book was released in a different sized paper edition. The original was six inches by nine inches. The updated version is eight inches by five inches. I like the smaller size. It’s not as small as a typical mass market paperback, but it can still fit quite nicely in my handbag. Most important to me, the print size isn’t as small as that in a mass market paperback.

What size paperback do you like best?

Wednesday, June 05, 2019

The Best Beach Days


I've lived at or near the Jersey Shore most of my life. I love the beach. I enjoy walking along the edge of the water, picking up shells, and unusual pieces of driftwood. I like the beach in the fall, winter, and spring. In the summertime, it can be far too hot for me to feel comfortable sitting on a blanket on the sand.

The water is nice, but the temperature of the water is still rather chilly in June. It's better at the end of July--but then the jellyfish float in.

Once, I went to Maine where the water temperature was around fifty-five degrees, but it was a hot day in the lower nineties. I went into the water and came out numb, which wasn't bad since the air was close to unbearable.

On summer days, when it isn't too humid or too hot, I will sit on the beach for a while, though not for long. Sometimes, I bring my sketchbook along and try to capture the image of people at the beach. Invariably, whoever I am sketching will move. They rarely hold still, unless they're asleep, which is the best time to draw them. But I really enjoy the challenge of penciling in a rough outline of people in various poses. I reminds me of the contour drawings I used to do in Dr. Walker's class ages ago.

I often bring a book along to the beach--always a romance, of course.

The beach is a peaceful place to be, but it can be even more peaceful when the weather is cooler and only the locals folks are there.

How about you? What do you like about the beach? Do you like the beach when the weather is cooler?