Whiskey and Writing

 As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed that some of the people we thought were heroes or role models lose something. They change, or don’t live up to the standards either we had, or they had for themselves.  I was again recently reminded of someone I really respected at one time, who decided to sort of cowardly take a stance that wasn’t either cold or hot, just sort of lukewarm.  Certainly I’m not perfect, and I don’t claim to be a hero, but I did make me think about heroes more.  We need to seriously consider the people we imitate, and look up to, and not just accept them as wonderful because they’re famous, or have made a name for themselves.

 Its been about a year since I managed to publish my first novel. I’ve been trying to work on a couple others, but one is taking a long time, and frankly I didn’t have much to go on.  I’ve been trying to research, and think about some of my own experiences to come up with something, and I think I finally got something good. Really good in fact.  It’s going to be another mystery type story, but I can’t say much now or its going to ruin the whole surprise. I’m finally excited again. 

 I’ve spent a lot of time working on books recently.  I’m doing two more and I think I might call it quits after that but we’ll see.  I did two already, and I’m not sure how much more I have in me.  But I do like to work on them when I’ve been drinking whiskey.  I dunno why that is.  I usually put on some jazz, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and I’ve been playing BB King quite a bit these days too.  BB King obviously isn’t jazz, but he’s probably my favorite musician, and I think a little booze and the right music will give you the right mood for a book.  I’m not talking about being so drunk you can’t see straight, but a couple of shots just seem to do the trick.  I’ve been drinking several different kinds Jack Daniels, Leadslingers, Jameson, and Johnnie Walker.  I know we all have different backgrounds, different things we want to do in life, but I think the right drink and the right music will give your whatever it is you’re working on...