Patricia Stoltey

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February 5, 2021 By: Patricia

The Quarantine Tapes

First, let me direct you to the Blood-Red Pencil blog where I’ve posted about The Quarantine Tapes, a series of podcasts of special interest for Black History Month and to inform about how some celebrated writers are dealing with the pandemic. Walter Mosley served as guest interviewer for a couple of the podcasts I listened to. You get snippets of history along with words of wisdom about life today in the U.S.

Jazz

I’ve been watching the PBS series on the history of Jazz and the amazing musicians who grew the music genre over the years. Once thing that caught my interest was the energetic dancers who frequented sites like Roseland and Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom. That led to thoughts of dance venues from big band swing to high school sock hops, discos in the 70s, line dancing in cowboy bars, and on and on.

My paternal grandmother even played piano (though she couldn’t read music) with a country group led by Tommy Knott (on the fiddle) while my grandfather was in demand on the dance floor. They were farmers, so I’m not sure how they had enough energy to get out there and party. But, you know, dancing.

Dancing is a socially accepted way to get crazy. When people can gather again in larger groups, even if it needs to be outside, dancing will return with a vengeance. Bring back the Charleston. The Lindy Hop. The Hustle. Yes!

Atomic Habits and Other Books

I just started reading Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. by James Clear. I want to build a couple of new work habits and break a couple of bad habits so I’m taking this read very seriously.

Also from the library, I have Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

And then I need to dig into the piles of fiction on my coffee table. I just finished Six Weeks to Live by Catherine McKenzie. I won the book in a Goodreads giveaway and will review it soon. For now, I’ll just say it has a bunch of satisfying twists and turns to the plot.

American Idol etc.

There are a few of those “reality” shows I love, and American Idol is one of them. It returns on Sunday, February 14th. Looks like the judges will be properly socially-distanced. I also like Big Brother, Survivor, and Alone.  It looks like Survivor is not happening for a while, however. That makes me sad. The people who put themselves out there on these shows are fascinating (and often acting as someone they really aren’t in real life).  Yes, I know those shows are highly edited.  I like them anyway.

And So…

Tell me what you’re reading this month. What are you doing for fun while the pandemic restrictions are still in place? Do you like to dance?

Tag: American Idol, Atomic Habits, Begin Again, Patricia Stoltey, The Quarantine Tapes, Walter Mosley

Progress on So Many Fronts

January 30, 2021 By: Patricia

I seem to have worked through my month of inertia and am now charging full speed ahead on book projects.   This includes getting the out-of-print thriller, Dead Wrong, back into circulation as an ebook. I made a few edits to this manuscript, mostly to clean up the language. I allowed my inner bad guy …Read More

Tag: book reviews, Brian Kaufman, Dead Wrong, Dread Tribunal of Last Resort, Patricia Stoltey

15th annual New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards

January 14, 2021 By: Patricia

There are many, many excellent writers from New Mexico and Arizona (or who write books about/set in those states) in the writerly organizations I’ve joined, so I want to pass on this announcement for those who might be interested:   The New Mexico Book Co-op is pleased to announce the 15th annual New Mexico-Arizona Book …Read More

Tag: 2021 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards

Here I Am, Eleven Months Later

January 1, 2021 By: Patricia

Someone asked me back in March if I was going to write about the pandemic. I said, “No.” And then I realized I couldn’t write about anything without it being tied to the pandemic. So I just skipped out on the blog for a few months and focused on other things. Not the puzzle, though. …Read More

Tag: #amreading, #amwriting, jigsaw puzzles, pandemic

Everyone Needs a Little Time Away from Writing

February 3, 2020 By: Patricia

My husband and I take a little time each day to work on this 4,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. It covers the whole dining room table. We should have put in the center leaf before starting, but I was confident we could manage without expanding the table and taking up even more room in the dining …Read More

Tag: jigsaw puzzles, leisure time, Pat Stoltey

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Meet Patricia

I read, I write, I blog, and sometimes I do the laundry and cook. My 2014 novel, Dead Wrong, was a finalist in the thriller category of the 2015 Colorado Book Awards. Wishing Caswell Dead (Five Star/Cengage, December 20, 2017) is a historical mystery set in 1830s Illinois in the fictitious Village of Sangamon. The novel was a finalist for the 2018 Colorado Book Awards for General Fiction. Read More…

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