After a week-long visit with me, my mother is off to see my sister in Washington DC. My mother said she had a wonderful time. I don't really see how she could have--we hardly did anything and I insisted on doing my writing most mornings. But it was nice to have her with us. I have hopes that she'll be with us for a long time, but enough friends and family members have passed away that I do my best to treasure moments. I didn't used to do that--for years, I told my grandmother I would visit her in Sarasota some time--but she died before I actually managed the visit. I suspect if she'd lived ten more years, I would have found reasons not to visit for all of them. But when they're gone, it makes you realize how much you've missed--and often how unimportant the things you were busy with were in comparison.

We took Karen's car to the airport to drop off my mother. Karen dropped me off at the same time. After seeing my mother to security, I caught a shuttle to South Reduced Rate Parking where I caught another shuttle to the TRE train. Thirty-nine minutes later, (give or take) the train pulled in. I had my Jornada with me and got some writing done on the train ride--and more writing done on the light rail, but somehow only ended up two pages ahead when I got home. So, I was writing for most of the afternoon to catch up with my pages. Then I headed up to help out with the kids Tae Kwon Do class before my regular TKD class.

While waiting for the train, it was too bright to see the Jornada screen so I read more of TERRITORY by Emma Bull. Very compelling--hope she'll submit to me some time.

I'm going to make OUT OF TOWN A FEW DAYS by Ed Lynskey the www.BooksForABuck.com book of the day. This collection of Frank Johnson stories pits hardboiled private eye Johnson against a range of enemies. Lynskey writes with a spare style that grips you by the throat. Good stuff. Learn more, read one of the stories for FREE, or buy the entire eBook for only $2.99 here: www.booksforabuck.com/mystery/mys_04/out_town_days.html. (Available in HTML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Palm/eBook Reader, and Microsoft Reader formats). Here's the cover (cover design by Karen Leabo):

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