Hey There,

What a wonderful morning at the coffee shop here in Duluth. It's 7 degrees, not much wind (thank God) and the coffee shop is just about a half a block away. (Which is good in this weather) Grace had a white chocolate machioto. She gave me a taste and if I liked cinnamon and white chocolate I would have drenched myself in it. Boring old me just had dark roast regular coffee with of course cream and sugar.
We met a friend there for conversation and coffee. Both were good and the one thing that I can say for Duluth is that Minnesota Nice is alive and real up here. What a wonderful place to live and work. For that matter I better get back to work on my latest novel. The last in the series of Ross and Jena. Maybe the last for right now but who knows, I don't think either one of them die in this one, at least I don't think so right now but that can always change.
Jena is still in a wheelchair from the last outing and Ted lost his leg and Ross got shot in the ass again so we'll see what comes down the pike.

Talk soon,
Bob

Hey There,

Just wanted everyone to know that I did finish Elizabeth Peters book last night and I hadn't even remembered the good twist to her murder mystery. It was epic as a matter of fact in so far as I didn't remember it until I read it again. There was enough smoke and mirrors with her "little lists" that there was secondary surprise is that great big package. You've got to read it!

Talk soon,
Bob

Hey there,

Just all but finished "The Serpent on the Crown" for the second time by "Elizabeth Peters". She just makes me smile every time I read one of her books whether it's the first time or the second or the third. I don't come close to writing like her but I do hope that I spin a yarn as good. I hope my characters become a part of a persons mental disorders (ha ha) or at least someone that they might want to have a drink with. I don't think Emerson would have tea with me but maybe Amelia.

Talk soon,
Bob

Hey There,

Here's another author for those that like tongue in cheek, sarcasm at its best and a sense of humor that will crack up most people; Nelson DeMille should be on your list of must read authors. Besides his humor he can tell a good story. A story where if it was another author some people like me would get tired of the fluff and close the book never to pick up that author again. He's not like that at all. He can make the mundane set up sound good and make you want to turn the page just to see what kind of crap he's got his characters into next.
From the books of his that I've read I think the character I like the best is John Cory. He works kind of for the FBI but not really. He's a retired NYPD homicide detective that works in the Anti Terrorist Task Force with his FBI wife that he takes constantly out on that proverbial limb that just about breaks every time using his unique and somewhat strange skills.

Happy Reading,
Bob

Hey There,

Okay enough about politics and the world. I have just started another book by Elizabeth Peters. It's one that I've already read but to tell the truth as soon as I started it I knew I had to read it again. She's one of those writers I can't put down and the pleasure it gives me to read her words is beyond what I can put on paper. I am truly mesmerized and taken thousands of miles to the Vally of the Kings in Egypt. Her British style of writing makes everyone come alive from Amelia to Emerson, Ramses and Nefret and of course the twins.
My heart calms and my adrenaline settles to a mild roar and my eyes see the conversations and the mystical artifacts and hieroglyphics that Ramses so intelligently transcribes. If you ever get the chance to read her it is a must on every one's reading list. They are stories that astroproject you back in time along with a great cast of characters.

Talk soon,
Bob

Hey There,

I recently was posed a question by my dear wife. Why shouldn't we stop providing for the rest of the world and pull our ranks back to our shores and become a little more isolated and stop this funneling of every extra penny we have to everyone but ourselves?
It was a good question and one that I had to think about for a moment. I finally said; To me it's like knowing someone hated me for whatever reason and for lack of a better one let's say it's my religion. I'm not one of them so I should die. So what should I do. I have a gun and I'm in this little world of people that have nothing to do with the melee but will become collateral damage if I stay here to protect them. Should I go out and find this person that wants to kill me in his own little world or wait for him to come to me and kill him. I'm certainly on my own turf that I know better than his but still in the wind is that someone besides me will get hurt, maybe all of them. Who knows when a killer has killed me what he's going to do next.
Isolationism is good up to a point but since we know that we can be killed and will be killed by known assassins it's my thought that I should take the fight to their little world and be ever vigilant about collateral damage.
Protecting ourselves sometimes creates unsolvable problems that are best looked at in their basic forms then we can react accordingly.

Talk soon,
Bob

Lesson #2:

Hey There;

I hope everyone understands why I'm giving English Grammar lessons. First to teach myself and second with the advent of LOL and OMG I think it's about time we get our language back so that there are no misunderstandings of translation. It seems to me this causes great problems everywhere.
One of the supposed sentences that gives me chills is when someone says; "You want to go with."
How many things are wrong there! Do I want to go with who, where? Finish the damn sentence you lazy bums.
Lesson #2: This is taken from the Grammar book of Gary Lutz and Diane Stevenson.
Verbs and Tenses:
Verbs are complicated parts of speech. Their parts, forms, and attributes can be categorized and classified in many ways. At the most basic level, verb stems ( be in to be, run in to run) change -- or, are conjugated-- to match the subject in number (singular or plural) and to indicate the time (past, present, or future) when the action of the verb occurs.

Isn't that a mouthful but understandable. Thanks for taking the time to read and understand lesson #2.

Talk soon
Bob