Libraries are wonderful places. I spent many hours in the town library when I was young. At first, the matronly librarian frowned at my selections (The Hardy Boys or Alfred Hitchcock Presents). Later she frowned again when I made most of my selections from the adult section rather than the juvenile section. It was a matter of pride for me when I was able to contribute a copy of The Road to the Dark Tower to that same library 35 years later.
Yesterday I received a nice check from the Canadian Public Lending Right Commission. It was on a par with the sort of income I’d get from a decent short story sale. The organization “distributes annual payments to Canadian authors for the presence of their books in Canadian public libraries.” That’s right, we make money from selling copies to libraries and for having them stay there. It’s a neat concept; I just wish I had found out about it a few years earlier! Last year was the first time I applied, so I missed out on about three years’ worth of distributions. If you are a Canadian author–whether you live in Canada or not–it’s definitely worth the time to fill out the application and keep it up to date year-to-year with new titles. Visit the link above for all the info.
NCIS was pretty great last night. The case itself was run-of-the-mill, though I kept expecting the original suspect to end up having been involved in the scam all along, but what was terrific was the role-reversal between Tony and Gibbs. One heartfelt scene between the two after Tony temporarily derailed. It was a little like getting to know Gibbs all over again because of the way everyone reacted to Tony the way they normally reacted to Gibbs.
I half-suspected the little boy was going to turn out to be the culprit on The Mentalist. Something relating to his world of make believe. The stuff between Rigsby and one of the “cougars’ was pretty funny, and his success at the end brings him back even with Cho from the previous episode. Jane’s experience enables him to relate on a very personal level with so many different people. The boy, the grieving mother. Lisbon is pretty useless, though. What has she contributed to a case recently?
I posted my book review of Spade & Archer on Onyx Reviews last night. It’s an authorized prequel to The Maltese Falcon.
I’m still not completely over whatever has been dogging me since the end of last week. Still having night sweats, still regularly recording temperatures as low as 97.5°. What’s worse, still having a hard time eating because of the discomfort. I’ve been surviving mostly on a liquid diet for the past few days. I have an appointment to see my GP tomorrow to see what he thinks about all this. It’s been a real pain. Literally.
