My Favorites: Scene From a Favorite Movie

 credit: IMDB

I could never name my favorite movie. Too many are favorites. The closest I can come to that is a favorite scene from a favorite movie.

The other day my husband was watching a World War II flick with James Cagney. He played Admiral Halsey. I’m not into war movies, but that got me thinking about my favorite Cagney movie. Yankee Doodle Dandy, the story of George M. Cohan. Released in 1942, it was a patriotic movie. 

My favorite scene comes near the end of the movie. Cohan is getting on in years, gray-haired and slower in his walk. He’s been invited to the Oval Office, where he’s given the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Franklin Roosevelt. The President expounds on all Cohan has done for the country, the inspiring songs—"Over There” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy” to name just two. Although Cohan has done his duty for his country, Roosevelt asks for his help again. That so inspires Cohan, and invigorates him, as he leaves he dances down the curving staircase to the tune of “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”

Side note: After writing this post, I checked IMDB to make sure I had facts right. The top review lists this same scene as her/his favorite, even goes on about Cagney’s dancing talent. Glad I read that after writing this or you’d think I copied. 😊

James Cagney as George M. Cohan  (credit: IMDB)

James Cagney was known for gangster movies. Most people didn’t realize that he grew up in vaudeville, like George M. Cohan. And like Cohan, he was a song-and-dance man. Could that man dance! He won his only Oscar for Yankee Doodle Dandy, the first actor to win the Best Actor Award in a musical.

I’m going to start searching all the channels to find Yankee Doodle Dandy. Can’t wait to watch it again.

 

 

Monday Morning Musing: Grandchildren, Covid, UFOs, & Boba Fett

How was your week? I don't know how the days fly by so quickly. We're past the middle of January already. I wish I could say they've been productive days for me. Alas, my writing tanked momentarily.

Our four-year-old grandsons came over and helped with the Christmas decorations. They took down the small nutcrackers, Santas, and stackers that were in the bookcases. Standing on stools worked for two shelves, but the top shelf became a problem--unless we let them stand on a rolling walker. That's a big no-no. Daredevils that they are, they try to get away with that. They are pretty good thinkers and it's fun to watch them figure out how to do something. They  ended up taking Hubs' extension grabber and wielded it well enough to bring down the nutcrackers. 

There's a saying that goes if I'd known grandchildren were so much fun I would've had them first. A lot of truth to that. Or maybe they are our reward for surviving our children. 

Moving on: the covid virus is rampant here in Michigan. From what I've heard, the omicron variant is highly contagious, but the symptoms aren't as severe. Nevertheless, our hospitals are full of people who have been hit hard. Hubs and I mask up when we have to go anywhere. Most of the time, we stay home, even though we've been vaccinated and gotten our boosters as has the rest of the family except for the twins. Still, it's better for us not to take chances. Cabin fever time again. Thank goodness, there are new shows on TV, not just reruns.

Speaking of new shows, have you seen The Book of Boba Fett on Disney+? Fascinating. I'd forgotten that at the end of Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi, Han Holo knocked Boba Fett into the pit where a fearsome beast (sarlacc) would slowly consume him. But then he showed up in The Mandolorian last year. Apparently, all that happened to him had to be explained to us Star Wars fans (short for fanatics 😊).

Did you know the Pentagon has launched a new UFO office? Their job will be to investigate sightings of unidentified flying objects. Aren't they a little late? The first UFO sighting (we know about) was in 1947.

Are you watching Around the World in 80 Days with David Tenant (my favorite Doctor in the Doctor Who series)? It's on PBS Masterpiece. Another fascinating show.

Time to get back to The Case of the Wedding Wrecker, my work-in-progress, which I'm sharing on weekends with the Weekend Writing Warriors. See you next week. Stay safe!

  

#WeWriWa ~ The Case of the Wedding Wrecker: A Perfect Day

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, where writers share snippets from their work-in-progress or new release. Thanks to everyone who stopped by last week. I really appreciate your support.

I hope you're doing well and staying healthy. As if we don't have enough on our plates at this time of year with flu, we have a resurgence of covid cases filling up our hospitals. If you haven't gotten vaccinated and boosted, please do so right away. Don't become a statistic.

That was my public safety announcement for the week. 😊

 I'm sharing snippets from the 4th Alex O'Hara cozy mystery, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker. This follows immediately after last week's snippet.

Snippet: 

We trooped downstairs where a limo awaited us, a black vehicle with room for two in back. Dottie and Ellen drove off together while Maria and I rode to the church in the limo. “General” Maria had thought of everything. Thank God, she was so organized.

Several people waited outside St. Mark’s. They clapped and cheered as I exited the limo—gracefully, I might add, though I had to hike up the slim skirt. My two besties, who’d managed to beat us to the church, ran over to help me out. Considering the enthusiastic well-wishers waiting for me, I couldn’t help grinning. I even waved, no stilted “Queen” turning of the hand, but a genuine, enthusiastic wave. God, I felt great. What a perfect day.

A little more:  

Abby—self-appointed wedding planner—directed the bridesmaids into place. Dottie’s boys, ages five and a half and three, my ring bearers, wore tiny tuxes. Correction. They were ring masters, according to the five-year-old. Dottie’s toddler, my goddaughter, was the flower girl. Dottie and Ellie looked lovely in their sky-blue halter dresses. Even the color of baby Emmy’s dress matched her mother’s.

Everything was perfect.

Ellie led the procession with the boys behind her, holding their baby sister’s hands between them. At the halfway mark, Emmy dashed back to her mother who carried her the rest of the way. Then the music changed, and the fanfare announced . . . me.

Holy shit. It was my turn.

 

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay safe and have a great week.

Guest Blogging & a 99 cent #sale

Today, I'm delighted to participate in N.N. Light's Book Starter Series, featuring the first book in my Alex O'Hara PI mystery series, The Case of the Bygone Brother.

Hop on over to see why I enjoyed writing Alex's character.

 https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/the-case-of-the-bygone-brother-bss

The Case of the Bygone Brother is on for 99 cents until Sunday.

Monday Morning Musing: 2022 the First 10 Days

 

Good morning! Last Monday, I wrote about my plan to be more active on my blog. I'm doing pretty good with a post here on six out of seven days. 

I also planned to write more on my work-in-progress, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker (An Alex O'Hara PI mystery). I only missed one day so far this year. Since I started at the beginning of the story so I could ground myself, I haven't written that many words. I've tweaked, added descriptions, and deleted the first two chapters. That hurt. I didn't just delete, though. I saved the chapters in my "leftovers" file. It was good stuff, but it felt like it was dragging down the story. I needed to get to the wrecking part sooner.

Like revisions and edits, this is taking a lot longer than writing new. Oh, well. It needs to be done to get me back in the story. What's also helping is that I'm using it for my snippets each weekend with the Weekend Writing Warriors. 

On Fridays, I'll be writing about my favorite things. (Did the Sound of Music just zing through your mind, too?) Last Friday, I wrote about my favorite quote, one from Stephen King. If you know me, you know that scary things and horror are not my thing, so you're probably surprised I'd chose a Stephen King quote. Check it out.

I'm looking at my nutcrackers and Santa figures on top of the bookcases across from where I'm sitting. I hate taking down Christmas decorations. They are such a reminder of the holidays. Our tree is still up, too. I didn't do much decorating this year. My grandkids helped bring up the nutcrackers and Santas from the basement storeroom. I was hoping they would be back to help take them downstairs. 😊  Unfortunately, the boys were sick and the others went back to school and all their after school activities. I can wait a while longer.

Procrastination is my middle name.

Hope you have a great week.

#WeWriWa ~ Wedding Wrecker: Making It Official

 

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, where writers share snippets from their work-in-progress or new release. Thanks to everyone who stopped by last week. I really appreciate your support.

I'm snippets from the 4th Alex O'Hara cozy mystery, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker. This follows immediately after last week's snippet (from the beginning of Chapter 1.)

Snippet:

“Ladies, we need to leave.” Maria pointed to her wristwatch, as she’d done for the past three minutes when she wasn’t tweaking my veil, gown, or train.

Yes, my dress had a train. Since Ellen owned one of the finest dress shops in Grand Rapids, she had found the perfect gown. Never mind I told her no train. I would step on it and ruin everything. But when I saw the strapless heart-shaped bodice and sleek form-fitting satin gown, I knew she was right. Of course, that was before I saw the train.

“No need to worry,” she’d said then showed me how to loop the train, so it stayed out of the way. 

And a little more

Especially while dancing. I so looked forward to dancing with Nick. After all, I couldn’t waste those dance lessons. At my bachelorette party last night, the girls took me to a dance studio. The instructor—holy moley, what a hunk—taught me how to salsa and tango. I couldn’t wait to show off to my husband.

To everyone else, he was my soon-to-be new husband. Unbeknownst to everyone except Dottie and Maria, Nick and I had “married in a fever” on Christmas Eve. We were crazy. Crazy in love. We hadn’t waited for the folks to return from their once-in-lifetime Australian cruise. Something I deeply regretted. Afterward.

Now, we were making it official, with all our friends and family to witness.

“You are perfect.” Ellen gave me a hug that didn’t disturb my hair or veil.

“Ditto,” Dottie added as she pressed her cheek to mine.

“You guys are the best.” My eyes burned, and I wanted to bawl.

“Don’t you dare cry,” Dottie ordered while pressing my grandmother’s lacy handkerchief into my hand.

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay safe and have a great week.

My Favorites: Quote

 

credit: Goodreads

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.” ~ Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

On Monday, I wrote that I was resurrecting my blog. If you’re a follower, you’ve already seen that. I’m going to dedicate Fridays to my favorites—books, movies, quotes, food, whatever.

Today, I’m sharing a favorite quote. My son and son-in-law are huge fans of Stephen King. I don’t do horror or anything scary, but I admire Mr. King’s career. His book On Writing is excellent. Of all the advice he shares, the above quote is right on target.

I’ve heard people say “I don’t have time to read.” When those people are writers, I wonder how can you not read? Reading is filling the creative well. When we read in the genre we write, we learn the expectations readers have. We learn the language.

Just as writers say they can’t not write, I say I can’t not read. Every year, Goodreads offers a reading challenge. You indicate how many books you’ll read for the year and GR keeps track. I first signed up for the challenge because I wondered how many books I read each year. In the past two years, I’ve read over 100 books each year. To Goodreads it doesn’t matter if the book is 400 pages or 28. Either way it counts as 1 book.

I can’t say I’m surprised that I read so many. The past two years have been difficult, and reading helped me escape. I immerse myself in a story and forget (for a little while) the challenge Life throws my way. I read mostly fiction. My local book group makes sure I stretch my reading interest, so I’ve read poetry, historical true stories, biographies, as well as literature. Lately, I’ve been reading thrillers. You know, those edge-of-your-seat, stay-up-all-night-reading stories. I love a good cozy mystery and give me a science fiction romance to carry me out to the stars.

One of the reasons I read so many books over the past two years is that I haven’t been writing. My creative energies pretty much disappeared. I’m back now, trying to write each day. You could say I follow half of Stephen King’s advice. Now, I need to follow the rest.