BACKSEAT PEAR

Page spread from next Good Deed Rain book (to be published next month)

LAUDROMAT ELEGY

She was already a ghost, with her long white hair and pale moon-colored clothes. Behind a counter, she sat on a stool and smoked a cigarette. If a machine wasn’t working right, she would move silently, open it and take a look. We spent a month or two going there before we bought our own washer and dryer. It was just easier to. We didn’t go there anymore and one day the laundromat was gone. The windows were boarded over. She weaved everything inside into water and soap and poured with that river to wherever it flowed.

constantly watching

CHAPLIN AIRLINES

That was the first thing everyone asked, and yes, it was true. He was Charlie Chaplin’s brother. If they wanted more, he would tell them his brother wanted to be in pictures, while he wanted to fly. These were the days you had to hold on to the pitching fuselage, riding on a bird made of cloth and wood. There’s no way to describe the feeling of being in the sky. Leaving the land, the ocean below, steering for the bright sun surrounding Catalina Island.

sneak preview

A preview of page spread from the next soon-to-be published book. Stay tuned...

Life in a Shoe

new Santoka Taneda

I've been enjoying this new book on one of my favorite poets, Santoka Taneda. Includes a lot of his journal entries I've never seen translations of before.

invisibility tea

Scene from "The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly" (1957 film from Japan) which is referenced in my next book.

The TIGER HUNTER

Every summer my grandparents had a garden that turned into a jungle. I helped do a little weeding and harvesting, but mostly I was responsible for locating tigers. I would look anywhere the milkweed crept in among the sweet-peas, corn and chard. They like to pounce from those tall green stalks. I had a jar stuffed with leaves and when I found a striped black and yellow caterpillar, I had to be quick to catch it before it leaped.

good deed rain update

This summer has been a great writing inspiration. I wrote 3 books! Hope to have those to you in next few months.

Giraffe tribute

I finished writing my Giraffe novel. I wish Quentin Blake could illustrate it, he'd love it!

The MOTH in the AIRPORT

The plane from Chicago was late. People stared at the unmoving carrousel. A man was reading a brochure. He didn’t notice the moth. It landed on his back for a moment. The man turned the page, there were more things to see in our town. The moth took off again and this time the man gave a jump and swung as it circled. It was okay, no harm done, just a little turbulence, as it descended to land.

Beatle Bard

Presenting the immortal Sir Peter Olivier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLjA331K4YI

giraffe progress

A good writing day for Good Day Rain, wrote 8 chapters for the new giraffe novel. Oooh, it's a good one! Having fun! You're going to enjoy it!

polo

Don't forget today is the 3rd Annual Polo Match between Good Deed Rain and Viking-Penguin Books. All are welcome.

Giraffe

Busy writing my new Giraffe novel and up to Chapter 17 so far. Having a great time with it! Filled with poetry of local landmarks. It's easy for me to imagine a giraffe on Mill Avenue. How about you? I also managed to work in a reference to the old magazine I used to make in Seattle. This is the cover of #72. Made well over 100 issues of Pie in the Sky. It was good practice for Good Deed Rain--I think I could fit my entire audience into a VW Beetle and drive around town. That would be fun actually. Here's a link to Pie in the Sky: http://pieintheskymagazine.blogspot.com/2010/02/pie-in-sky-72.html

juggling 3

With the recent publication of COSMONAUT, I'm back to juggling 3 new books on the way. (Don't worry, I'm a professional) First there's the 'Encyclopedia Brown' novel, which is done, just editing. Second is a book of short story poems, some of which I've shared with you. That one's done too, just needs editing. Third is a novel I started writing this month, about a giraffe. So as we say in the entertainment biz, stay tuned!

SUNDAY EVENING SUNRISE

The sun fell below the horizon then, pulling against all natural laws, returned for a moment just to see you again.

chocolate alphabet writing

Ordered a 1976 copy of Fantasy and Science Fiction so I could read Harlan Ellison's work: "From A to Z, in the Chocolate Alphabet." What a great title! Actually, my favorite part of it is his explanation of how it was written. He allowed himself to be walled into the front window of a bookshop where he wrote a different alphabet section every day, finally turning into a long nighttime session to the letter Z, while people wandered by the closed store and wondered at the maniac typing in the window.

COSMONAUT review

Larry Smith shared his great review of COSMONAUT, thank you: As the book cover declares, "Yuri Gagarin was taking his time exploring America. Some of the stories he heard were true, some of the things he saw confirmed what the Kremlin told them, but mostly he was amazed." You will be too as you follow this fallen comrade in his adventures. Frost's prose is excellent and his imagination sharp, even double edged. It's just fun to read and gather in the world that Frost paints with his words and drawings (always a feature of his work.) I recommend it as an antidote to the news and general malaise of the pandemic. Yuri is a bright star.

breaking away

Larry Smith got his copy of COSMONAUT. Did you? I only need to sell 15 copies to break even. Must I turn into a PBS corndog and beg you? You can get copies from Amazon or me. As well as the many more Good Deed Rain books. They're all just waiting for you to leap in. Jolly good.

The WIZARD of MENLO PARK

Thomas Edison would be baffled by this day and age. He would stand in the yard. He wouldn’t even be able to open the door.

FLOWERPOT

It was all too easy in spring to wear the flowerpot on her head. The leaves were verdant and the petals soaked her in perfume. But then the summer sun began to burn everything. She was chased by bees until she took shelter in a carwash where the fizzing soap bubbles never stopped.

author airplanes

Seeing some author airplanes in the sky: yesterday a B-25 flew over our house (hello Yossarian) and just this morning heard other old engines above and it was a P-38 heading south. The plane that Antoine de Saint-Exupery was in.

TWO GIANTS

There are two giants over on Mill Avenue. They tower above the trees. Their shadows fall across the roofs. Someone’s dog is barking, seagulls circle around them. When they’re done talking, they step over the telephone wires, not wanting to be a nuisance.

A Hundred Million Dreams

I put on a Sinatra album I like and rediscovered this song "A Million Dreams Ago." I wonder if that's where I got the title for my book, A Hundred Dreams Ago. Read by moonlight with Axel Stordahl's orchestra.

WHEN the EVERLY BROTHERS WERE YOUNG

The Everly brothers are still working, it’s late, they need one more sale to meet quota. They park their 1945 Chevrolet in the begonias and follow the brick pathway. A porch light is on. One of these days they’ll be on the radio and they can put this behind them.

ADVICE from a YAK

I went to the zoo in order to see a yak specifically. I found it standing in the shade of a wall. It was 81 degrees in the sun. The poor thing looked pretty miserable. And most disappointing of all, it wasn’t talking. I was turning to go when I read the graffiti on the rail, “For a good time, call Barbara.”

Presenting MR. TABLECLOTH

The BALSA WOOD ARMY

The balsa wood army has not lost the war. They want to assure us. Yesterday they sent 14,000 matchsticks to the front. Tomorrow the news will be printed on tissue. We should expect victory before too long.

heat spell

unflappable torpor

THRIFTSTORE ELVIS

In a crowd of porcelain and plastic and a tin cake pan, there he is. Or his name anyway. Written in gold on a chipped coffee cup. You can also find him in the records and paperbacks. Everything has a story, how it was used for a while, served its time, and ended up with Elvis. America took him over and spun him until he was dizzy and forgot. It’s a familiar song. Others arrive everyday in a paper bag or box. They don’t cost much. For 75 cents you can hold him and have coffee with the king.

Thanks Dolly!