Halloween

 We live out in the country so never have trick or treaters, so don't need to think about that. Our church is having a Halloween party tonight and Rose and I will go.

We paid a handyman friend to replace our fence. It was forty plus years old and rotting and looks SO much better.

Kevin is bush hogging our back three acres today. He started yesterday. It is a big job. We have a tractor and bush hog, and two things broke yesterday, but he got them repaired. He has to do this every few years on the back three just becomes a jungle.

Isaac's car is still being repaired, but he is working with siblings to get to and from work. He is also planning to move back to Dayton when his lease ends next year. He will be commuting to his job in Cincinnati and it will be like 45 minutes, but the current plan is for him to move in with Joseph and Miriam. He spends a lot of time in Dayton going to church and associated activities, and his rent will be substantially diminished with roommates. 

I hate long commutes, but not everyone does. I have had coworkers and friends who think nothing of a 45 minute commute, and I guess Isaac is one of those people, and more power to him!

The trees are gorgeous. I do love autumn.  So lovely and crisp and cool.

I have been reading through a bunch of mysteries by an author named Donna Andrews. I told my mother about the books and she tried a few, and pointed out that they don't really work as mysteries (usually) in that there are no clues leading to the villain. And she is totally right! I have managed to work out who the murderer was more than once because some random person seems to have zero motive and is just drifting around and I think, hmmmm, probably the villain.

So yeah, really not well plotted from a mystery point of view, BUT the prose is fun, and there is a ton of humor, and there are always lots of birds and other animals involved. So I read them based on the joy of the writing and plot, not the mystery.

These books are super successful and it is actually interesting to me, as an author, that such poorly plotted mysteries are such a hit but then again, I adore them because they are funny and well written.

Maybe more to the point, there are lots of readers who aren't looking for tightly plotted anything? I think about my own books, which are generally well received, and I am a pantser. I start with an idea and just start writing, and the plot unspools. And in the end, there is a book with a beginning, a middle, and an end. I don't write mysteries so don't know if Donna Andrews plots the whole thing out or just lets it drift here and there before she decides hmmm, ok, I guess I need to pick out a villain. She might do just that.

Happy October, and tomorrow is November!