Show Me Missouri

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Springfield, Missouri. It's flat here. 

My question is how do you know which way you're going when there are no mountains to guide you.

Hmmmm.

I'm here for a friend's graduation from basic training. I'm traveling with his mother, Judy. They're my neighbors. 

I've decided after a day of ready Janet Evanovich that I need to write the western version of Stephanie Plum. Stephanie is of course Janet's bounty hunter heroine. I love this character because she's comfortable in her own skin. She makes no apologies for who she is -- and she's always in the middle of a disaster.

I haven't come up with a good name for my Stephanie yet. Stephanie lives in a suburb of Trenton, NJ. In Idaho terms, she is from Lewiston. 

Maybe I can create a western persona for her. Have to think about that...... hmmmm

So, not only do I get to see the neighbor kid graduate, I get to hang out with my friend Will. Will and I got hired at the Times News at the same time. At the time, our supervisors kept saying things like, "You two will either hate each other or be best friends, because you're just alike." 

I was a little nervous to meet him. When I first met him, he was pretty scruffy after having spent two days in a car with his two dogs. 

But sure enough, we are good friends -- and yes, we are a lot alike. He's the editor of a weekly newspaper in Sullivan, Missouri. He runs on adrenalin. He's always in movement. He's funny and kind. I enjoy chatting with him.

Well, damn. I've been looking forward to writing all day. Now I'm sitting here with the laptop on my legs and I can't remember anything I was going to say. The real tragedy here is that in my head waiting for the plane to land, I was very witty. Iwas crackin' myself up.

Those words apparently got lost in the middle of the gigantic Bass Pro shop mall a block away from the hotel.

I'm trying to not pick up Stephanie Plum number 9 as I have a book club book: The Book Thief  to read before the next meeting....

I'll give you a full update tomorrow...