Catching Up

This has been another of those weeks where I haven't done much except write. Been making a push to finish the current book, which I did late this afternoon. I love starting a book and I love finishing a book. All the stuff in between . . . well, that's why they call it work, I guess.

Got a nice little reward to start the day today, though. I have a book on the USA Today bestseller list for only the second time in my career. It's under another name and I'm contractually obligated not to reveal what it is, but it's there.

I also found a little time this week to watch a movie and saw WALK THE LINE. I'm not a big fan of biopics, but I liked this one a lot. Thought Joaquin Phoenix did an amazing job of sounding like Johnny Cash, in both his speaking and singing voices. And the physical resemblance is close enough to work. I haven't seen any of the other performances that were nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, but Philip Seymour Hoffman must have been really good in CAPOTE to beat out Phoenix. Reese Witherspoon doesn't look or sound like June Carter Cash to me, but she was still good. The music was great all the way through. I was reminded while watching the movie that the song "Walk the Line" was the first Johnny Cash song I ever heard when it was new.

As for reading, I'm almost finished with THE FEAR MERCHANTS, from the March 1936 issue of SECRET AGENT X. Published under the ridiculous house-name "Brant House", this novel is the work of Paul Chadwick. SECRET AGENT X was a minor-leaguer compared to pulp series like THE SHADOW and DOC SAVAGE, but there are quite a few decent stories in its relatively short run, and this is one of them, as the always-anonymous Secret Agent X battles a vicious arson/extortion ring.

Now that I've finished the book I was working on, I plan to spend a few days editing it and working on some outlines, proposals, and short stories, before starting another novel next week.