Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Rob Thy Neighbor

If you are a reader, you know what I mean when I say I get excited about a new book series.  This one is by David Thurlo.

 

The premise is that two former special forces guys move to Albuquerque and buy a pawn shop.  They both have permits to carry guns, as I assume most pawn shop operators do.  Because of their training, you really shouldn't mess with them.  But it is nice that people ignore this warning, because that is when the fun starts!

Charlie Henry and his friend and business partner, Gordon, are enjoying a barbeque at the home of some friends.  They hear gunshots and see the bloody arm of a neighbor trying to get over the block wall between the homes.  Charlie helps her over and he heads back towards the shooter when she says they are attempting to kidnap her husband.  Gordon runs around to cut them off and they end up rescuing the couple and getting hired to protect them until the police can catch whoever is involved.  There is a lot of action in this book and unlike many mysteries, Charlie and Gordon cooperate and get along with the police.

 

Rob Thy Neighbor is the third book in the Charlie Henry Series.  It was good enough that I immediately ordered up the first in the series.  Then I ordered the second.  I can't wait. ( I should have ordered both at once.  Now the library staff have to go back in the mystery stacks twice.  Sorry.)

Charlie Henry is Navajo and I love the bits of insight into Navajo culture.  In this way, it reminds me of a Tony Hillerman Mystery.  The first two books were written by the writing team, and husband and wife, Aimee and David Thurlo.  Sadly Aimee died and now David Thurlo is continuing the series.

 

If you like a mystery book with action, set in the Southwest, then you should like this series.  And Tony Hillerman fans will be glad to find another strong Indian protagonist. 

  

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Disappointed

I was getting pretty excited about selling my baskets at Mountain Magic in Fall, a local festival here in Buchanan, VA.

Then the rain began  It rained off and on for about 5 days.  The last 24 hours or so dropped over 5 inches.  Many inches came poring out of the sky in just a few hours. 

 

The James River is up and the carnival grounds in Buchanan, where they hold the festival, are soaked.  So the Town Of Buchanan decided to push the festival back to next Saturday.  The Saturday when I will be in Texas.  That Saturday.

So now I have bins of baskets. Bunches of bins of baskets.  Scads of baskets.  Sixty-six baskets.

I will put them away and wait for the next Buchanan festival.  Or maybe I will start an Etsy site.

 

Either way, I will sell them somewhere.

But in the meantime, there are some other shapes and things I want to try with the baskets that I put off learning.  I wanted to make as many baskets as possible in as many styles as I was comfortable making, so I put off my experimentation.

So now I get to go play around and I don't have to worry about producing.  So, that will be fun.

But I REALLY wanted to try selling them and see if other people like my baskets as much as I do.