HERE SHE COMES AGAIN

Hello. Yes, I'm back. It's been a very rough Summer. Too many

things happened, some mentally, some physically.

I think I might have mentioned in the Spring that I had another

Cancer scare. An initial biopsy came back negative, but the doctor

wanted to take multiple samples. That would mean a day surgery,

where I could be tranquilized and “made comfortable”. Scheduling

the procedure was a nightmare. After MONTHS of playing hospital

tag, I was finally set to go. My sugar readings were high but, since

the surgery would only take 15 minutes, I was approved.

I got there, got prepped, the anesthesiologist came into the room 

and bumbled around a bit. Then, he turned on the juice...and I 

waited. I  realized I couldn't speak. I realized I couldn’t move. I 

realized I wasn't asleep! The procedure began, and the pain was 

immerse.  However, I couldn't communicate that to the doctor. It 

was noted on  the hospital report that I was groaning and – perhaps 

– the anesthesia was too light.

Really? Groaning wasn't a clue that something was amiss?

The doctor dashed after I “recovered”, and I never had a chance to

speak with her. Thankfully, the samples were negative. I merely

had scarring from the Cancer that would tear a bit and bleed. No

big...unless you've been on the business end of a bunch of punch

biopsies.

It took a while for me to recover. Then, one day, I hopped on my

knee walker and ended up dumped on the bathroom floor. From

metal fatigue, the rear wheel had sheered off, and my left knee 

ended up on top of all the littler gears and bolts that use to hold it to the frame.

Thank the gods for older, available, brothers. Jim came, got me off

the floor and into a wheelchair, then set about getting parts that

worked on my old war horse. It took another while for my knee to

recover.

Then, the other shoe dropped. One evening, I rolled up to the front

of the sofa. I happened to let go of the walker handle, and it did

what knee walkers are made to do. It rolled. I tried to grab the

handle, but I was already slipping off the cushion. I said to myself,

“Well, the rug is only a foot below me. I'll just slid off, and use the

sofa to get to me feet again.” And so, I did. But I had no idea I was

in the middle of an injury “perfect storm”. As my left knee slid

downward, it came into contact with a flat, shiny, sharp wheel gear.

It acted like a pizza cutter, and dug into the flesh of my knee and

thigh to the bone.

I felt a lighting bolt of pain, but I got myself up and onto the sofa.

Watson was starring at the floor, then at me, then at the floor.

“What?” I asked him...then looked down. The rug was red. The sofa

cover was red. My tunic was red.

I called my friend Bob, who called 911, and I ended up in Princeton

Plainsboro getting 20 stitches. I'll spare you the gruesome photos.

It's healing, but for weeks I couldn't bend the knee. No car rides, no

chair sitting, no blogs.

Then, it was Watson's turn. Poor baby had to have three teeth

removed. He was almost happy (it must have been a relief) and he

really loved the “joy juice”!

Then, there was my upcoming presentation to my Baker Street

Irrergulars scion group, as well as organizing Behind The Veil.

Here's the notice for my lecture. Anyone is welcome. It usually

costs $30 for dinner, the meeting, and the lecture. If you're

interested, give Steve a call or e-mail them for a registration form!

Mark your calendars for the next meeting of The Red-

Headed League of New Jersey!

We will gather once again at Madeline's in  

Bound Brook, NJ, on Friday, October 14, from 6:30-9:30

p.m.

Member Kat Clark will discuss "Sherlock, Arthur and the

Supernatural" -- a fitting topic for the Halloween season.

New member Mike Parker will present a challenging quiz on

"A Scandal in Bohemia."

No need to send a check yet.. the official notice and

reservation form will be sent in late August.

A special note: This meeting will celebrate the 40th

anniversary of The Red-Headed League of Jersey. Our BSI

scion society was founded November 1, 1976.

We look forward to seeing you in October!

Steve & Linda Morris

Co-Secretaries

The Red-Headed League of Jersey

RHLeagueNJ@aol.com

732.356.9560

And here is the flyer for our New Age Expo “Behind The Veil”. I'll

be vending, signing my books, and reading Tarot. We will have 32

unique vendors, and entry fee is only $7.00!

So, as you can see, a full plate. I still have to start work on my new

book, and I owe Fate Magazine 2 articles. Hopefully, after

November 5^th, life can take on a semblance of normality. Sorry if

you felt abandoned. But, speaking of that, I have a bit of a writer's

rant to share.

Strangely enough, I would like to talk about abandonment issues.

No, not leaving children in toilets or dropping your kitty in a train

station and then high tailing it. I'm talking about creative process

abandonment.

We've all started projects and then crumpled and tossed. It part of

the envisioning and invention of a fiction. If the piece doesn't speak

to you any longer, you can let it rest for a while. You can also file it

in a dead end folder and walk away. Who knows? Maybe one day

you'll pick over its carcass for ideas or imagery for a new venture.

But what about when that creativity has a public aspect? You're 

doing a blog, a fan story, a continuing series. I've seen this happen

just recently with a blog that's near and dear to me. It was going

along smoothly for a few months, and then...crickets. A 

tumbleweed or two...the lonesome moan of a wind in empty places.  

It had a readership (at least, that's what I've been told), but 

suddenly the entries stopped. Simply stopped.

This has happened with some very cleaver fan stories on places like

Tumblr, Chapter by chapter, an excellent plot develops and

then...cricket...cricket.. Only once did I see a fan author post that

they were sorry, but the story was being abandoned due to lack of

ideas and time.

Bravo!

It's sad to have to turn your back on a lot of hard work, but very

mature to let readers know not to hold their breath. Professional

authors take note: No one can demand that you continue with a

story/website/blog but, if you put it out there to followers or a

readership, play fair. Don't get them involved and then discard them

along with your project. You'll turn a reader into a hostage; one 

who may never trust you again.

There were a few things I was able to do, once all my injuries

healed. With Ellen driving, I was able to go on three cemetery

crawls. The first was to Manalapan, NJ, and the Old Tennent

Church. This church and cemetery are said to be haunted. During

the Revolution, a soldier was sitting on a tombstone when a cannon

ball took off his leg and broke off the top of the stone. He was

brought inside the church and placed on a pew, where he died. It's

said you can still see the blood stain on the wood, Here is a picture

from Weird NJ of the stone and the pew.

It's also said to be haunted by “Cookie”, a gal who died while

waiting for her prom date. Humm. Haven't we all heard a bunch of

these stories? I think this one is prompted by the face that her

picture is on her stone. She's wearing a prom dress.

Here, then, are my photos of the cemetery – a beautiful spot not so

far away...

I'll be sharing our other cemetery crawl photos soon.

That's it. Good to be back. As they say on the Sherlock Season 4

teaser:

Did you miss me?



p.s. Sorry for the funky format. New computer.