Update on the latest Luke and Jenny book

We are making progress on book 3 in the Luke and Jenny series, Riding With the James Gang.

Wes Lowe, our wonderful illustrator for the first two Luke and Jenny novels, is busy working on the cover art, and I am waiting on blurbs from other authors for the back covers.

If all goes well this third installment should be out sometime this fall. And yes, I am planning a fourth Luke and Jenny book.

Be sure to check back later for more updates.

GM

Would You Like Some Cheese With That Whine?

Becoming a volunteer for a historical museum was a real life changing event for me. I ended up becoming an author and a living history speaker as a result. I've always loved museums, particularly historical museums. It's one thing to read about history in a dull textbook. It's quite another to go to a museum and see historic artifacts on display, up close and in person.

Most museums are in need of volunteers, so if you really like a particular museum you can become a volunteer. Since many museums are funded by state or local governments they just don't have the funds to hire all the staff they need and they depend on volunteers to fill in the gaps. There is usually a need for just about any skill you may have; administrative, carpentry, tour guide, working with collections or archives. It's also a great way to meet new people and make new friends.

But I've also found there can be a dark side of working with museums. Sometimes it's staff members who are pursuing their own agendas at the expense of other staff. Or they want to draw the volunteers into their internal squabbles. Or someone has an issue with their board of directors and whines about it to the volunteers. Regardless of what it is, in the end all they manage to do is succeed in creating such an unhappy or hostile work environment that the volunteers end up throwing in the towel. Now not all museums I've worked with have been guilty of this. There are some that really strive to create a professional work environment and that are genuinely appreciative of their volunteers, but I've certainly encountered my fair share of the former.

A couple years ago I wrote an article titled, "What Museum Volunteers Want." I hope those of you who are museum staff members, or a volunteer, regardless of what kind of museum you work for, for will take the time to read it.

I'll simply conclude this post by saying that one of the reasons I volunteer is so I can take a break from my own problems in life for a little while. The last thing I want to hear is constant whining from the staff. Life is too short.


My thought for the day.

GM

The Demise of the TV Sitcom

I attended a meeting for one of my writer's groups yesterday and one of the gentlemen seated at my table mentioned his son is a comedy writer in L.A. He said that TV sitcoms are on the way out. The networks don't want to produce them anymore because too many people TiVo them and skip through the commercials. (Like we never fast-forwarded them on our VCRs or got up to go the the john during a commercial. Gimme a break!) He also said reality shows are cheaper to produce, so from here on out that's all we're going to get.

Is it just me, or are the rest of you about ready to O.D. on reality TV?

Whatever happened to good dramas like Hawaii 5-0 or Columbo? Whatever happened to good westerns like Bonanza? Whatever happened to good sitcoms like Mash, Cheers or The Cosby Show? Can anyone here say DVD?

And the idiots running the networks can't figure why their ratings keep plummeting year after year after year. What people want is good, old-fashioned storytelling so they can take a break from the stress of their own lives for awhile. Good thing I write books. At least I can do what I can to help entertain people.

GM

Just Add Two Tablespoons of Fate

I had my new editor over yesterday to start working on the updated version of Anna's Kitchen.

Anna's Kitchen was my very first book, and I completely self-published it. I think there should be a requirement somewhere that every author must do this at least once in their lifetime. It is an incredible learning experience and it makes authors extremely aware of just how much hard work goes into publishing a book.

Since I had no one to edit or proof read my book I did it all myself. This meant I used my spell checker for a proof reader. Big mistake, I know, but that is one of the many reasons why I learned that every author, no matter how rich and famous, simply must have an editor.

My editor found all kinds of errors going back to the original manuscript. One of them he found particularly funny. It was a gravy recipe, and it said, "add two tablespoons of fate." He laughed and laughed. He asked me if that meant we were supposed to pray over the gravy as it was being prepared. Now mind you, that is actually not a bad idea. I pray over the little everyday things in life much more than the big things, but in this case it was actually a typo that the spell checker missed. "Fate" was spelled correctly. What it should have read was, "add two tablespoons of fat."

Yes, that would be a good recipe for gravy. But for everyday life yes, you should add two tablespoons of fate everyday. What will be will be.

My thought for the day.

GMl

Educating Young Skulls Full of Mush

I've been leading docent tours at the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum. One of the things I love about this is getting to educate a few young skulls full of mush, but sometimes it does gets depressing.

For those of you who are not familiar with southern Arizona, this museum and modern day railroad depot is built at the site of the old railroad depot where Wyatt Earp gunned down Frank Stillwell, and there is a statue of Wyatt and Doc behind the main building. Needless to say, that is my favorite spot for interpretation.

I always begin by asking if anyone has ever heard of Wyatt Earp. Most days virtually all of the hands go up, but the other day I actually had a few kids who had never heard of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Tombstone, or the Gunfight (near) the O.K. Corral. I then asked if anyone had seen the movie "Tombstone" and only a couple of hands went up. Everyone else, including a few of the adults, just gave me the Bambi in the headlights stare. Perhaps the weather was a factor. I can only describe today as being stinking hot. But then again, as someone I once knew often used to say, some mothers have them. So Auntie Gayle immediately got into her story telling mode and gave them just a bit of an education. Whether or not it meant anything is another thing entirely.

Well folks, I don't think it's just Hollywood that's dumbing down our society. At least when I'm dealing with folks who've seen the movie "Tombstone" I have a starting point and from there I can point out what was fact and what was fiction. But when I just get blank stares I do get a bit depressed. What can I say. The schools are doing a fantastic job of dumbing down our kids. But on the other hand maybe I shouldn't complain too much. As long as the schools keep producing graduates who are completely uninformed but supposedly have high self-esteem, we authors and living historians will have a job, right?

My thought for the day.

GM