READING AND WRITING – THE BASICS

I have been doing both.


It has always been a firm belief of mine that you can't write – or write well, anyway – if you don't read. And I'm not talking about magazines – c'mon, people, we all read magazines, if only while waiting at the checkout counter (although 2 of my regular supermarkets now have TV for the attention-impaired, 5 second snippets of shows and commercials.) I do not discount this type of reading; I publish in magazines and do not bite the hand that at least pats me on the head. But magazines are very thin picture books, meant to give your mind a jumpstart or a tweak, not to give you hours of transportation to a completely other world.

The difference between books and magazines (or newspapers or blogs or the Huffington Post) is not exactly the same as the difference between People Magazine and actual people, but it is nonetheless great.

So when I say I have been reading, I mean books. It sort of goes without saying that I read magazines, online posts, news, cereal boxes, tee shirts, bumper stickers, the mail, and just about anything with printed words.

I have my favorite genre fiction – it runs from James Lee Burke, Dean Koontz, and Louise Penney on one side to Earl Derr Biggers, Arthur Upfield and Ngaio Marsh on another and Sue Ann Jaffarian, Jeff Sharrat and Taffy Cannon on yet another - it's a multi-sided construct. But I love classic fiction as well. I learn from it, the easy way, while being entertained, enthralled, whisked away, and fed on rich things.

I have a dear friend who just discovered the joys of a Kindle and is reading Willa Cather. Now that's reading. This same friend just finished Faulkner (the hard, difficult, rip your eyes out Faulkner of Light in August) in hardcover, so she's no stranger to the type of reading that sometimes takes you to places you would never allow yourself to be taken otherwise. But she enjoys going to the good, kind places, too.

Which brings me to writing. If you don't take the trips to places through reading, I don't see where you can buy your ticket to take others to places through your writing. It is one of only two ways I know to learn how to write, and they are both connected. The other half of it is actually writing, the BIC (Butt In Chair) method.

This week I have been reading both fiction and non-fiction – and writing.

I have completed 145 pages – roughly 45,000 words – of that same novel I started writing in late 2007. I confess I let it sit for several years due to plot holes, but I have since learned how to knit up the raveled sleeve of a couple of good ideas strung together with engaging characters, an endearing puppy dog and a couple of gruesome murders. What's not to love? And working on it this time around is a pleasure, not a chore.

I also discovered – by reading through it and looking ahead to the satisfying conclusion which I have yet to write but now can see – that it is not the mystery I thought it would be, but is an animal I have not before tamed, namely Romantic Suspense.

So I have begun to read in that genre. And it's fun. I am enjoying and learning and reading it all with a delight I before had reserved only for mystery, science fiction and certain favorite classics.

So my question this week is:

Which romantic suspense authors do you like? Recommend a few books to me before I reach the end of my own.



THREE BEAUTIFUL THINGS

Eggs for breakfast this morning. It was especially nice to know exactly which chicken laid which egg for me. Thank you Spot and Big Red. (Nothing from Whitey right now - she's molting)

Hearing a wonderful story from a friend this week about a Gustav Klimt drawing and then receiving a postcard – from a different friend! – with a Klimt drawing on it!

Ramiro, our gardener, found two small, black statues of birds and gave them to me – I will put them at the edge of the bird feeder.

 

AN UPDATE AT LAST

It has been a very long time since I posted here – so much has happened, and when stuff starts to snowball, you just get overwhelmed. I loved seeing the book in print, and of course, that took up a lot of time and energy. But also I quit working my part time job, started volunteering one afternoon a week at the dA Center for the Arts and started working again on my cozy novel. I also have been thinking about painting again – well, more like obsessing over it, which, in my experience, is the only way to do it.

But it has been too hot to do more than obsess over things.

CHICKEN NEWS

We have chickens, and the heat is hard on them. Chickens can be resilient – they can stand in snow and not flinch, but the heat really sets them off into odd behaviors, illnesses and throws them off their laying. This is too bad, as they lay the best eggs ever. (Except for Big Karla, the French Copper Marrans, she hasn't laid a thing since March. Who knows why? Her age? Her temper? Chicken voodoo?)

Big Red, the Rhode Island Red, lays a brown egg nearly every day. Spot, the Barred Plymouth Rock, lays a very smooth brown egg, also nearly every day. Whitey, the White Leghorn, was doing fine there for a while, laying a small, torpedo-shaped snowy white egg almost daily, until the heat hit and she started – inexplicably – to molt out of season. Hens don't lay during a molt, so I'm just waiting for her to finish shedding feathers and get back to work.

And Flora and Dora – the Red Speckled Sussex Games – well, they usually lay great big beautiful cream-colored eggs every day, but Flora has become broody – they don't lay when broody, and I am using all the usual methods to get her to stop it. And Dora is on strike in sympathy, I guess. The usual methods include trying to bring down the temperature of the chicken's underside, which goes up alarmingly during broodiness – by dunking them in cold water and keeping them away from nesting materials. (No, they don't like it, but it helps them in this heat.)

So instead of 6 beautiful eggs every day, I'm getting about 2 per day…still enough to dine on, but not enough to share.

Here are pics of the chickens.

THREE BEAUTIFUL THINGS

The puppies are so sweet. Can't believe we have three rescues. Only one kitty left now, as Nero died last Christmas.

My brother, Bill. He moved to New Mexico with his wife and pets and lives up a rustic canyon outside of Truth or Consequences near Elephant Butte Lake. It is so beautiful there. I plan to visit him in October. Here he is with a bass he caught.

Reconnecting with old friends. Sometimes the best things about getting older include looking back on how many opportunities we have had to make friends. Finding the ones who have dropped off our radar can be especially sweet, like finding that last peach on the tree which has had all summer to ripen.

IT DOESN"T TAKE A GENIUS - No, really!

I started this blog years ago when my short story of the eponymous title was first published in the Sisters in Crime anthology, LAndmarked For Murder. I meant it to be for writers and writing and later for artists as I was painting also.


But mostly I meant it to be an entertaining romp. However, when I was putting together my book, I had to back-burner the blog. Then, when the book was released, I was inundated with all the stuff that goes with a new book, stuff I guess I didn't realize would be so pleasurably time consuming.




But It Doesn't Take a Genius was, and remains, one of my favorite stories. You all know I like revenge stories, empowered women stories and twist endings that leave you grinning. I love it that all those elements are in this story.


When my collection, INHUMAN CONDITION, came out last year, It Doesn't Take a Genius was meant to be the anchor story. But the publisher did not like the language (it's not for kids) or the subject matter (uh, it's not for kids) and kicked up such a fuss that I pulled the story from the collection.


I regretted it.  The book is a very good and representative collection of my work, but I wanted this story included. Oh, well.


All I needed to do was wait for Technology to catch up to my wishes.


IT DOESN'T TAKE A GENIUS - the short story - is now available through Amazon.com in Kindle format for only 99 cents. (You may also download it in readable form for your computer if you don't have a Kindle.) 


And I really like the cover - that graphic design genius, Jerry Lerma, designed it for me.


As for what now - well, I have gone back to working on The Novel (boy, it that slow going!) and a space opera that's a sort of continuation of my loose series from several years ago. I don't paint any more, because I don't have the time or space. 


I guess in a finite lifetime, we have to make choices about the best uses of our rationed time. Too bad you can't see this little truth when you are young. Sigh.


But it's beautiful here right now. Yesterday I was the reader at Sisters in Crime Los Angeles and even sold a few books. The featured speaker was a writer and story editor from Law & Order: SVU, Ken Storer. He was great! I love being tossed in with the Big Time folks, but that's what a great group like Sisters in Crime can do.


Drop me a line - I haven't heard from some of you in a very long time...

And be careful out there.

INHUMAN CONDITION by Kate Thornton

Human beings tend to fear the things they don't know, and that is often sensible, given the lurking dangers that confronted our distant ancestors. But sometimes we need to examine carefully the things we think we know: the pet shop owner in town, the teenage girl who lives next door, the people with whom we work, or the nice man who walks his dog each evening in our neighborhood.



The stories in this collection will drive that point home, and perhaps give you reason to re-define the word "inhuman."


"Kate Thornton's imagination is only exceeded by her talent as a storyteller. From the sci-fi fascinations of Mare Tranquillitatus to the darkly provocative Working in the Suburbs, Thornton takes us on an impish joy ride through a mind field of criminal intents. Inhuman Condition is a rare and evocative find among story collections."

-Darrell James, Award Winning Author of Body Count


"In Inhuman Condition, noted short story author Kate Thornton has compiled some of her finest tales into one fun and exciting read. Whether you are a fan of science fiction, crime fiction or just good fiction, you will enjoy this diverse collection that smacks of the same juicy eeriness as found in classic Twilight Zone episodes."

- Sue Ann Jaffarian, best-selling author of the Odelia Grey, Ghost of Granny Apples, and Fang-in-Cheek mysteries
 

 
Now available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Digital Bookshop.
The Kindle edition will be available mid-November.

INHUMAN CONDITION IS NOW AVAILABLE!

WRITING NEWS

Okay, I am officially thrilled - my new book, INHUMAN CONDITION Tales of Mystery and Imagination, published by Denouement Press, is out! It is available here at Amazon.com and at all the usual local retail outlets (if they don't have it on the shelf yet, you can order it - ISBN 9781603640336)

The KINDLE version will be available mid-November.

In time for Holiday gift-giving, I'll be delighted to sign trade paper copies for you. (There isn't any way to sign the Kindle editions, of course)

Here's a pic of the cover:

I'm hoping to schedule a  book signing or two before I leave for the Mystery on the High Seas cruise, but anyone who is interested in a signed copy, just leave me a comment here and I'll email you to arrange it.

INHUMAN CONDITION: Tales of Mystery and Imagination

NEWS FLASH! The book is going to be released on October 15th, but today I got my proof copy! And except for a few minor corrections (which is why we get proofs) it is exactly what I thought it would be. Let's be honest, it's a thrill to hold it in my hand and see my name on the cover.

Here's what it looks like casually tossed on the corner of my desk:

It's a collection of 21 previously-published short stories - my favorites, of course - including mystery, crime, speculative fiction and the just plain weird. A few of them were even nominated for prizes.  I can't wait to see it in bookstores - it will be in all the usual places, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders and independent bookstores will be able to carry it, too. There will also be an electronic edition available for Kindle, Nook and other electronic readers.

Published by Denouement Press, the trade paper retails for $14.00, a good deal for 300+ pages of edge-of-your-seat stories.

The cover art is one of my paintings, Learning the Numbers, 1-10 exhibited a while back in the Childhood Dreams show at the dA Art Center.

A big thank you to all the editors who originally published these stories. I could not have done it without you. And another big thank you to the folks at Denouement Press. I am very pleased and proud to be the first author in this new imprint from the folks at Wolfmont.

Can't wait to sign a copy for you!

I'M NOT PAINTING, I'M...

...working on my new book, INHUMAN CONDITION, Tales of Mystery and Imagination. (Here's the artwork that will appear on the cover:)

I just signed a contract with Wolfmont Press, and publication is expected by November of this year, in time for my participation in a Mystery Cruise, MYSTERY ON THE HIGH SEAS. 
 
                                                                        
With a total of 20 stories, 19 of them previously published, the book is a collection of favorites of mine. I have over 100 short stories in print, in various magazines, anthologies and other ezines, but this will be my first single-author collection.


The book will be a standard trade paperback, available at all the usual places, with e-book format also for all you Kindle, iPad and other digital readers.

A big thankyou to Tony Burton of Wolfmont Press, and to fellow writers Sue Ann Jaffarian and Darrell James, who have so generously offered cover notes for me.

So I'm busy, busy.

 

I'm still volunteering at the SCA Project Gallery Store and hope to see you there Wednesday afternoons (Brad is there on Wednesdays, too!)

 

But mostly you'll find me walking on air....

Be careful out there! (click on pic for a larger version)

SHORT STORIES AND NO PAINTING

Since the garage remodel took a left turn, the painting studio has temporarily disappeared. But not to worry - my back patio is a fabulous place to paint. The weather is gorgeous, the plants, umbrellas and pets are all beautiful and there is a refrigerator full of Coke Zero nearby.

I am committed to doing a work for the Ice Cream Show at Bunny Gunner Galleries - and I already know what it will look like, it's just a matter of hunkering down in the sunshine by the pool and making it so.

But the Big Project for me right now - now that I am back from Chicago and a memorable trip to the Chicago Art Institute (and the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art) - is The Book.

I am putting together a collection of twenty of my favorite short stories - a couple of them brand new - for publication. Titled THE INHUMAN CONDITION: TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION it is a big job and I'm running out of time if I want to have it ready for Mystery on the High Seas this November.

I am currently searching for a couple of the stories in my messy archives, editing them all, writing the bridge copy between the stories and carefully considering cover art. All while trying to complete my paintings outdoors and unpack from the trip. Oh, and work at the SCA Project Gallery Store, too.

Where did I get the idea that retirement would bring leisure?

It's a quick update I know, but I'm pretty busy. Be careful out there.

THREE BEAUTIFUL THINGS

Chicago. It's a gorgeous city and I think I ate some of the best food in the world at The Gage, The Frontera Grill and Joe's.

Jeeves. He's just a wee bag o' bones now, but the little critter is eating and drinking and purring and doesn't seem too much worse for his week at the vet's. He is so glad to be home, though. Here he is when he was younger and stronger.

The Back Patio. I love it. I am so lucky. That's Coco in the foreground.

THE LEFT TURNS

WRITING, PAINTING, FUN

I thought I was all set as a writer and painter. They sound like nice, quiet pursuits in the easy time of life, don't they.

Wrong.

My studio disappeared - actually it morphed into a beautiful office, the perfect place to write, but much too perfect to splash paint in. So the paints are all put away while the new studio is built. But studio-building is a big deal, a major project, not to mention a whopping expense, so that part of the picture is on hold until (a) all danger of rain is gone and, (b) there is money, time & the carpenter is available.

Now, the office is here - beautiful, serene, gorgeous. But I am busy - a volunteer at the SCA Project Gallery Store, and frankly that's the only place I can seem to get any writing done. When I'm at the workstation in the office, the lure of the computer game is way too strong for me and I succumb to the pleasures of difficult word games.  But at the store, with my trusty little AlphaSmart Neo, I have been able to totally screw up the initial plot line of the novel and knock out a hundred pages of I-don't-know-what except it's gone from a cosy puppy story to a Jessica Fletcher-Meets-Jack Reacher thriller romance. Okay, that's fun, too - I really like the characters and where they are going, and the puppy is still in the story.

So the creative front breaks out no matter what happens. It just won't sit down and behave.

OMG - speaking of Jack Reacher and not  behaving - I met LEE CHILD at Left Coast Crime and nearly wet my pants. Author and dear friend SueAnn Jaffarian introduced us. For those in the dark or the dark ages, he is the charming and prolific author of the Jack Reacher adventure series and I am a big fan. And did I mention he is tall, gorgeous, charming, and well, even for a writer words can fail.  I'm sure I mentioned charming...

I also met Michael Connelly - author of my favorite L.A. cop series, the Harry Bosch novels.  That was a treat beyond adequate description as well - and I got to be one of the first 3 people to ride the newly-redone Angel's Flight in L.A. - Now that was a spectacular experience. Mr. Connelly also treated us to a lovely lunch..

Okay, Left Coast Crime did what all mystery conferences are supposed to do - kicked me into overdrive with my writing. Woohoo!

But I just got a coveted invitation to exhibit a painting in July - so I guess I'd better get my behind in gear and figure out how to do one.

THREE BEAUTIFUL THINGS

Jerry retired from Cal Poly and is now home with me full time. It is fabulous. We celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary with long time friend (and Maid of Honor!) Nancy Hoskins at Campanile, a lovely restaurant built on the site of the wedding chapel where we were married. It was wondeful!

SueAnn Jaffarian. She is a gem.

Being able to work. Well, being able to do anything!
Be careful out there, friends.

The SCA Project Gallery Store Blog is Up!

News Flash! I just got the the SCA Project Gallery Store Blog up & running - please stop by for store info and upcoming special events. I hope to showcase a different artist each week - I know that's pretty ambitious since I haven't updated this blog since the passing of my precious Typpee girl. I'm there on Wednesdays and look forward to seeing you. Please stop by - the blog & the store - when you get a chance.

Pictured at left: Our logo tee shirts and works by Maddie Bean, Patricia Hagerman, Franz Keller and more!

Sale this month: Large Pashmina scarves/shawls in various colors

Only $20 each

Pictured below: Nina Jun's ceramic balloons

Pictured above: "Can Can" by Tomoko Suzuki

The SCA Project Gallery Store carries a full line of Tomoko Suzuki's charming  figures, only $30 - $50.

Click here for The SCA PROJECT GALLERY STORE BLOG

IN MEMORIUM

My Beloved Dog, Typpee

She was a Poodle-Something mix, blonde like me, and - also like me - with one gimpy leg.We sorta looked like the dog-human match that you see in cartoons, both of us limping along together.

I found her at The Pound - the Humane Society up the road from us.  I wanted a nice little doggie girl, a companion I could lavish affection on and maybe even dress up. Well, she was a sensible critter, too sensible to allow the baby-clothes-routine, but readily amenable to lavish affection, which she returned in spades. They told me she was 13 years old when I got her, her right back leg withered from a possible coyote attack in her youth.  But I think she was closer to 8 or 9...and that was 9 years ago. At any rate, she was pretty old, but as of last Sunday still dancing on 3 legs and with the sweetest disposition imaginable.

She had been asthmatic for the past few years, her familiar coughing and wheezing a comforting signal of her dear presence. Always the lady, she loved being groomed and would hold still for almost anything, including baths, clippers and baby kitties.

Yesterday she went to sleep as I petted her, and her labored breathing stopped. 

We put her in the flower courtyard under a delicate kumquat tree that bears heavily every year. It's a pretty spot, one that we pass several times daily, and a good place to remember her.

I will miss her terribly.

TAKING A SECOND LOOK

WRITING STUFF – LOOKING INTO THE TRUNK AGAIN

And ADVICE FOR NEWBIE WRITERS FROM A GUEST BLOGGER

A Second Look Into the Trunk


I pulled out a couple of "trunk novels" – you know, those things you wrote way-back-when that didn't go anywhere, usually because you didn't know how to write very well at that time – and took a second look at them. Yes, one is so painfully bad it cannot be salvaged, although I got a kick out of re-reading it. The other one has a nifty plot, but I think I'm going to let my Main Character continue to sleep in perpetuity in the trunk and switch her out for one I like a whole lot better. This might be the revision it needs to get going. Or it may just be more writing practice for me. Either way, I intend to have some fun with it.

The Effective Writer


Here is a piece written by BILL THORNTON. He sent this to me in a letter – as a letter, actually - and I got his permission to post it here for you. He calls it "The Effective Writer" but I want to call it "The Character Plays the Part."


The Effective Writer
In order to create a believable scene, one must take the reader to that specific place. The reader must sense the scene, its particular environment, its smells, flavors, sounds and colors, its season and atmosphere. Similarly, the reader must feel the raw emotions of the characters, the urgency of the moment, and the emotional or political climate of the particular scene. He must, in a very real sense, live in the scene if not as a player, at least as a present observing bystander.

Descriptions of the scene must be rich and vibrant, colorful and dramatic. The characters may even be a bit more than real in their ability to express their particular part in the story line. Given the need for realism, muted, subdued even melancholy effects are critical to tapping into the reader’s emotions. These are real sensations that real people feel and sense, and it’s that sensitivity and realism that make a scene believable.

A writer may express deeply committed love, raging anger, explosive happiness, or crushing emotional pain, any number of real human emotions complete with their character’s physical reactions and responses.

Anything less is not honest writing, and conveys less than the actual scene.

While the writer may have personally known these feelings and sensations, it’s his ability to convey accurately those very awareness’s to the believing reader that makes the scene work.

“Dry wiregrass rustled in the early afternoon breeze, buzzing cicadas and the rich scent of cinnamon and fresh peaches drifted over the well worn path to the creek just at the tree line.” Well, what color is the wiregrass? Describe “rustled”. Was it a light breeze, or a near wind? Were the cicadas bussing loudly, or were they a distant background effect? What kind of peaches were they? Was it a dirt path? Did it run through heady scent of lush green freshly mown lawn, or were they long creeping tentacles of aged and unkempt crabgrass? Was the creek silent and melancholy, rich with the pain of the widowed fly fisherman, or brightly babbling and filled with the memories of laughing children? Was that just a tree line, or was it a stand of rustling, quaking aspens, their brilliant trunks contrasting with deep, thick underbrush or heavy clumps of wayward field grasses?

Be in the scene to make it believable.

The writer need not actually be experiencing the emotions he conveys, though experience is the “real” of realism. It’s often said that the successful writer writes about things he knows. One cannot take the reader to rural Southern Georgia in the 1920’s unless he has been there and walked those well worn paths to the creeks, smelled that peach pie cooling on the window sill on a heavy, humid southern afternoon in the dog days of summer. He may not have actually been at the scene in those literal times, but that’s the stuff of research, and interviews, and imagination combined. Atmosphere is the stuff of creating realism. Raw emotion, drama and contrast are the stuff of the writer’s skills and talent.

When a scene is created that conveys these senses, does it leave the reader feeling angry, hurt, elated, melancholy, inspired? These are the meat of the writer’s fare. Listen to his footsteps echo, fading down a long, wet alley amongst towering brick walls rich with the sounds of unnamed apartment dwellers in the bowels of a rotting city, rife with tenements, screaming windows into the lives of those imprisoned in the confines of their own desperation. The stench of leaking sewer lines, greasy Chinese food, and diesel hangs heavy in the late afternoon stillness of a filthy, cracked and weathered doorway, its once bright and vibrant red now grease and dirt colored, thick with years of neglect and apathy.

Does the writer take you into his world to bring you into the scene and make you part of it, or are you just reading words on a printed page? The flatness of the print on the flat page is often the stuff of boredom. Living words and emotions are the stuff of writing.

Did I give you my anger, or the anger of the character? How different are they? It’s the character that plays the part. An angry scene does not reflect an angry writer. Nor does a happy holiday scene, filled with laughter, reflect a happy writer.

PAINTING STUFF – IN FRONT OF THE REAL THING

I'm continuing to work on my painting for the January exhibition jointly sponsored by the da Art Center and the Pomona College Museum of Art (pictured left), IN FRONT OF THE REAL THING. Here are a few pictures of the progress. I'm mixing up the reds now, and trying to get the balances right. I hope I'll be able to fill in the central pupate form by next week if the weather stays sunny and my oils dry properly.

The painting is based on a 14th Century Italian Madonna and a 1971 abstract by Sam Francis. A few of the titles suggested to me (yes, my friends are all comedians) are: "Franciscan Madonna" "Atomic Mother and Child" and my favorite "CSI: Madonna."

Needless to mention - it ain't done yet!

THREE BEAUTIFUL THINGS

My old kitty Jeeves. My sweet Jeebee is still hanging in there, although thin and elderly (13-16 years old) he is eating well and active. And he doesn't take any sass from the younger cats & the 2 doggies.



Having lunch with friend Leslie Cole and then looking at mid-mod property in Claremont. It's no coincidence that four of my friends are in real estate. But lunch with Leslie always includes more: this time we talked about crock-pot recipes, cat recues and travel. I swear, we sound like old ladies in print, but the conversation was not of the sweet, cozy type – more of the speculative, adventurous type.

My sister-in-law Pris's 70th Birthday Party – what a blowout bash! With my husband's whole entire extended family there (except brother Charlie & his wife Joyce who live in Australia) and everyone Pris knows, it was an exceptional dinner for about a hundred people at Kellogg West at Cal Poly. A slideshow of Pris during her early years (like in a baby carriage!) and other family members (like my DH as a sullen-looking but still very smokin' 15 year old) was the highlight of the party. The cake was a work of art from Some Crust in Claremont, but looked like Duff and the folks at Charm City had made it.

Pris had a good time – everybody had a good time! – and the DJ was great, too. Many thanks to Pris's sons, Derek and Kyre, for putting on this terrific bash.

(That's DH's brother Art & sister Sandra - Pris was married to Art)


Be careful out there

VETERANS DAY 2009

I first published this post in 2006 - but it holds up well.  And here also is a reprint of a story I wrote which was published in Every Day Fiction a few years ago, too.

"Step forward now, you soldier, you've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets, you've done your time in Hell."

Americans, remember all our veterans today - my Daddy was a naval officer, my brother Bill is a disabled Viet Nam vet, and that's a picture of me in my Army uniform during Desert Storm (I spent 22 years in the Army.) Make Veterans' Day the time you reflect on what so many gave - and continue to give - for you.

Put aside political and partisan differences and thank those folks who make your way of life possible. This day is not for blowhard politicians or policy makers or corporate profit-takers.

 

This day's BEAUTIFUL THING is that kid on front lines, the guy in the wheelchair, the homeless vet and the men and women who serve every day, in small and large ways, at home and in strange places.

And my Army buddies, pictured here:

VETERANS • by Kate Thornton

He looked across the breakfast table, knowing that soon he’d have to choose his words carefully. It was the same every year. First the flags popped out along their quiet suburban street. Then the television broadcasts of news, parades, observances and picnics, special sales on sheets and shoes and gardening implements. Finally, there were human interest stories, an interview or two, and then it would all be forgotten until Memorial Day.

Twice a year he had to watch his step, watch his mouth, not say anything he knew would upset her, not let the memories of war long past come between them.

Every year the war itself receded. It was someone else’s turn now, and young kids had their own war to think about, dread, and hope to return from.

Hardly anyone thought about the Gulf War, Desert Storm, with the horrors of the Iraq War on everyone’s mind. Gulf War vets were older now, most of them staring down their forties, although so many reservists had gone that there were plenty in their fifties and even sixties now. It had been a short war, so there weren’t that many disabled, not like the masses of disabled Iraq War vets. Not like the last of the disabled Viet Nam vets, either, with their hollow eyes, at the ragged ends of their ruined lives.

He looked at her with a mixture of affection, exasperation and pride. They had been separated during that short war, and both of them had done things they regretted, things they wished they could erase from their experience. He had been lonely and scared, looking for comfort and order, and some kind of reassurance. It had been his first real experience of war, as he’d been just a kid when Viet Nam was the nightly news.

Veterans Day and Memorial Day–they always brought back all the old pain and resentment.

He cleared his throat. “Want to visit the kids this weekend?” he asked with what he hoped was the right amount of casualness.

She looked up from her paper, over her steel-rimmed reading glasses and smiled. “Sure,” she said. “Let’s see if they want to go out to dinner or something.” Then her eyes clouded as she remembered it was Veterans Day. Everything came flooding back in a wave of pain.

He watched helplessly as her memories took her back to a bad place, to a desert road backed up for miles with trucks and family cars, the blades of her chopper whipping up children’s toys and the smell of burned bodies. The blinding heat and noise passed over her face and she was gone for a few minutes.

“Yes,” he replied. “Dinner. Let’s try that new sushi place, okay?”

She nodded. Okay.

_____________________
 

Be careful out there.