I initially felt uncomfortable about driving the four hours from Chicago to Indianapolis but popped in an audio tape of Kill Me by Stephen White and was good to go. The idea was intriguing: if, while in good health, you could specify the physical and mental state of being that would make your life no longer worth living, plus you had all the money in the world, would you take out an “insurance policy” instructing a private company to kill you once you reached that stage? What would the implications be, not just for you but for your family and friends? The book definitely kept my interest on the way there and back. What do you think about this concept??

After several days of co-habitating with a low-intensity virus which left me tired and headachy, I got it together for my book signing at the Firefighters Swap Meet at Mundelein High School. I’ve been doing the Swap Meet for three years and I didn’t want to break my stride. I was worried on four accounts::

1) Had the majority of EMTs and firefighters who frequent the fire fighting equipment antiques fair already purchase autographed copies of my Chicago-based suspense novel Deadly Choices?

2) Would the other vendors be decked out in Halloween costumes or those shirts with the cute little pumpkins or scary black cats? I hadn’t had the time or energy to drum up a costume.

3) Should I make a touchy/feely bag with gross things to touch as folks walked by my table?

4) Was one bag of candy plus a tupperware container of homemade chocolate chip cookies enough to lay out on my table?

All that worrying took up the early part of Saturday morning. By the time I arrived at the High School, it was 10:00 a.m. — would have been there earlier but for a McDonalds sausage biscuit and pancakes attack –and the event was scheduled to close up at 1:30 p.m.

Sure enough, there were different people here from last year and the year before. Heard some great EMT stories for my next book. The Citizens’ Fire Academy polo shirt I sported produced more interest than if I’d worn a costume. None of the other vendors dressed in costume. My homemade chocolate chip cookies made a better hit than my individual chocolate bars — in fact a 7-year-old girl waved the chocolate away and told me she was “pacing” herself for trick-or-treating later that day! She then proceeded to rearrange my Halloweend doo-dads on the table, but that’s another story!

Due to lack of time, planning, and energy, I’d foregone the gross touchy/;feeling bag. Nobody was worse for wear on that one!  All in all, it just goes to show: We can’t orchestrate every moment in life. Sometimes we just have to sit back and let life unfold  How was your Halloween??

The Flash Fiction Offensive: Updates and Projects

Yesterday, I did a workshop at the Schaumburg Public Library entitled Interviewing Your Characters. Participants molded a protagonist — that person being me since nobody else wanted to sit in the role-playing chair — by brainstorming answers to my “characteristics of a protaganist” questionaire. My husband got to the event just in time to play antagonist. Since he’s not the most game-loving individual, he really leaped out of his comfort zone to sit in the role-playing chair.

The protagonist turns out to be a nursing home volunteer whose grandmother, a former arts & crafts volunteer at that same location, was knocked off by either an employee or a relative of a nursing home resident. Our volunteer asks too many questions of the residents, who wind up complaining that she’s being too intrusive. This results in a confrontation between the program supervisor and the volunteer.

The antagonist is a married man whom our volunteer is dating. The arrogant SOB has something to do with the deaths of the volunteer’s grandmother, as well as several other residents, but we couldn’t explore that relationship in a fifty-minute time frame.

It was lots of fun. Maybe you can attend one of my workshops next time!

Jennie Spallone,
author of
Deadly Choices
www.jenniespallone.com

Had such a great time for my birthday, which theoretically isn’t until tomorrow. My husband took me to Pheasant Run Resort, wehre we ushed for Married Alive! As I’ve mentioned a thousand times before, get hooked up with the Saints if you love seeing plays!

Anyway, we started off the evening by eating at a fabulous chinese restaurant on North Avenue just east of downtown St. Charles. It was right next to Dominicks. Sorry, I don’t recall the restaurant name, but if you really need to know, just contact me.

After dinner and the play, we went dancing at the bar next to the gift shop at the Resort. Okay, so I’m lousy at remembering names. The band was amazing; they played everything from R & B to old school rock.

Today we relaxed by the outside pool, then drove into downtown St. Charles and went for a long walk along the river. Beautiful big park there! Have a good labor Day weekend.

Tonight my whole family went to see Unglorious Bastards at the movies. I was scared it was going to be too scary. Instead it was violent. But the plot line was terrific and kept me guessing.
As a mystery author, I kept drawing up different scenarios while I was watching. Fortunately, the writer was so creative in his or her sub-plots, there was never a dull moment. Best of all, my guesses were all wrong. I call that Glorious, Bastards!!

Was I wrong about Cabaret! Drury Lane did an amazing job!! Nothing like the movie. Too bad I had two extra tickets that went unused, though! We and our friends started off at Maggianos where we ordered from the Light Fare family style menu. The Linguini with Clam Sauce was delicious.Brushetta (spelling?) was a little heavy for my taste buds. But the salads had just the right amount of spices. A wonderful time!!

I’m a Saint. Not religious or morality-wise, although I do try. We’re talking here about The Saints; people who usher for plays, concerts, operas, etc. I pay $45.00 a year to register. That entitles me to usher for as many or few gigs as I desire to see throughout the year. sometimes I get free tickets, which happened for today! Six free tickets to see Cabaret at the Drury Lane in Oak Brook. While Cabaret is not one of my favorite musicals, it will still be fun. Best of all, the price is right! So I’m getting a little group of folks together and heading on out for a good time!
If you’re interested in joining the Saints, let me know!