The Writers

Wifey and I took the train and Metromover to the Book Fair yesterday, under gloriously sunny skies. We walked around and I ate an enormous sausage and peppers and onions sub. I thought it the literary thing to do.

We went to a tent and heard a lecture by 4 Miami writers. 2 were women whose names I didn't catch, and the other 2 were JAmes Grippando and Edna Buchanan.

Grippando talked about the need to truly research a site before writing about it, a lesson he learned after portraying Tallahassee, only to be taken to task by a reviewer from their local paper. He has a new book featuring a college baseball star, and he set that part of the book at U Texas, which has a great team. He admitted that the U would have worked, too, but as a Gator he couldn't bring himself to glorify UM. I admired his honesty!

Edna Buchanan talked about her career as a Herald crime reporter, which led to work as a murder novelist. She echoed my thoughts about Miami, which is probably the weirdest and most fascinating city in the US. She pointed out that it's ALWAYS been thus, not just in recent times. She told a great tale about a criminal who was tackled by Miami cops, only to leave them holding his artificial leg while he "out hopped them" to a getaway car. It's like Carl Hiassen observed --it's tough to write fiction in this city, because fact is typically stranger...

We needed to get to MIA to fetch D2, who was returning from her D.C. trip. I directed Wifey onto the Metromover, and it was the wrong loop. I got to see the parts of the system I never had --all the way north and west. It was actually pretty cool, and Wifey sat next to a young Black mother who used Ebonics most creatively. It's good to get Wifey out of the suburbs once in awhile.

We made an excellent Seinfeldian "pick" at the airport, and then stopped at "Sir Pizza" on the way home. D2 wasn't at all hungry, so she ate 1/2 of a large pie with me.

Last night I sat on my porch, fantasizing about being an actual paid writer --travelling to places like Grippando does, and conjuring stuff up. Then I called my partner to discuss today's professional agenda.

Today I have 2 boring depos in my office. My partner "would like to enlist (my) agreement that I will commit my full attention and effort to the task at hand." That's truly how he talks sometimes. He also said something about "Agreeing to commit to our responsibility to the professional representation of our clients, so we would not be seen as doing so in a way that would be seen as amateur hour."

I know, I know. I already have some great stories right in front of me.