TRUE STORY—I was absently perusing Twitter while composing a highly complementary post about the Court Street Coffee Shop in Seguin and how it’s maybe just as good as BIRD Bakery in San Antonio, and a Tweet from Armie Hammer popped up. He’s an actor. Recently nominated for an Academy Award.

Armie Hammer’s wife owns BIRD Bakery. I think he does, too.

I follow Armie Hammer on Twitter, he does not follow me back. I was surprised by the coincidence of me thinking about his business and having his Tweet pop up at the same time and tempted to send him a Tweet saying so.

Didn’t.

Should have.

He probably doesn’t read them.

But back to my original idea—the scones I ate at Court Street Coffee Shop in Seguin and the muffins (ditto) and the cucumber sandwich and the hummus and fruit and cucumber and bread tray…all just as good as BIRD Bakery. Court Street just doesn’t have the scrumptious cupcakes and cakes that BIRD does. Or the décor.

We often stop and eat at BIRD Bakery when we are in San Antonio. It is always a pleasant and tasty experience. Everyone’s nice. I guess the only drawback is sometimes there aren’t enough parking spots. But we’re going to make an effort to eat at Court Street too from now on. Some of the time. Maybe every other trip. Check it out. And while you’re at it, check out BIRD Bakery. There’s also one in Dallas.

Photo is from my recent book signing in Sequin at said Court Street Coffee Shop. Wonder if we could ever talk BIRD Bakery into hosting one. They’ve already got a special room set aside.

Totally will never happen.

Thank you, Court Street Coffee Shop. The book signing was actually fun. We made new friends and sold some copies of BROWN, a mystery novel by G.L. Rix (that’s my pseudonym for this sort of mystery). We will be back.

You can get my new mystery novel BROWN at Book People in Austin, or you can come down to Seguin next Thursday evening and meet us at the Court Street Coffee Shop (great menu) from 6 to 8 where we will be signing BROWN, a mystery novel for those who are interested. Answering questions. Posing for pictures (I sort of hope not), and making new friends. If you prefer children’s books, Judy Ann Lowe will be there too.

I’ve been on a reading jag for several months now. Often reading two books at once. Usually one on my Kindle and one physical book out of my personal library down a couple of rooms from my bedroom. Decided this week to get back on a TV series watching jag as well. Usually don’t do the two together, books and movies both. I’m starting back with the middle of season three of 24 which is where I stopped about a month or two ago. Today I watched Jaws and North By Northwest.

There are so many books to read and re-read, and so many fantastic series and movies to re-watch, I may not live long enough to experience them all again. But I’m going to do my best (And here I’m going to use a famous cliché–Or die trying, she says.)

Then there is plain old living to do. Washing the car, cleaning house, taking out the trash, eating, sleeping, taking care of the pets. All that.

But what about the writing? Why hasn’t she talked about the writing?

Well, we’ve been to two fantastic comic cons this month. The Greater Austin Comic Con in Cedar Park, and the Corpus Christi Comic Con in , you guessed it, Corpus Christi. While my books didn’t sell like hotcakes (and if we’d been selling hotcakes we’d have made a bundle), we sold enough to make us happy. But this still isn’t writing, it’s marketing.

I’m taking a short hiatus. To think about my books. I know what I’m going to do, but I’m pretending otherwise.

I have several series going that need a third book (and in one case a fourth), but only two of them have readers. If I was really smart I’d abandon the rest of them and concentrate on those two, but I’m not going to. I’m going to proceed as I originally planned and write book three in all the series (and book four in the one). The only one I’ll be leaving alone is Arroyo, and who knows, maybe I’ll continue that story by and by.

So, Browner is up first. I’ll get seriously to work on it next week. 

After I’ve watched a few more movies.

You can find my books here https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix

And for the month of July, ARROYO is on sale at LOGOS off the square in Lockhart. Book People in Austin has BROWN, a mystery novel by G. L. Rix (that’s me!)

I love all the covers of my books, but these are some of my favorites. All by Streetlight Graphics.

If you’re in Wimberley on June 8, why not drop by the Community Center and make a lot of writers happy. Roxanne and I will be there with the first copies of my newest book BROWN, a mystery novel. And more. Maybe you’ll find a new author you like.

WHAT I READ RECENTLY: Shattered by Dick Francis. Decider by Dick Francis. Maskerade by Terry Pratchett. Allie and Bea by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

BROWN, a mystery novel:

Name:        BROWN  (just Brown, ma’am)

Physical Appearance/Demeanor: BEAR (that’s grizzly – consider yourself warned)

Occupation: Private Dick

Clients:      San Antonio’s Finest

Area’s most notorious Gang Boss

Hitmen

World Renowned Artists

Olmos Elementary School entire third grade class

Cases:    Find Some Body and return them to their forever home

Find Wife-Beating Boyfriend before Contracted Hitman Does

Perform Background Checks on the Bad Guys

Find Lost Animals

Most admired: Columbo

BROWN:  PRIVATE EYE – At Your Service 

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK: Hearts of Tabat by Cat Rambo. The Hidden Blade by Sherry Thomas. My Beautiful Enemy by Sherry Thomas.

https://amzn.com/B07PLV725T

I just completed a five-day mystery writing workshop in Las Vegas, plus four days afterwards to decompress. It was great. I wrote more in those five days than I usually write in a month. Didn’t think I had it in me, but I did. And what I wrote was good. Really.

And If I ever sell one of the stories I did for this workshop, I’ll let everyone know. Will throw myself a party, too!

If you ever wanted a paperback of one of my books, THE CIMARRON BRIDE is on sale for the ridiculous price of $2.80. Amazon put it in one of their promotions. It’s an action-adventure  historical romance. I like it. You might, too. Or you can use it for decoration. The cover is lovely.

Comic-cons are coming up in June. We’re going to premiere the paperback of BROWN, a mystery novel by G. L. Rix. And in a couple of days I’m going to start writing its sequel. And sending out those stories.

The other four days in Las Vegas were interesting.

Our hotel, the Linq, was centrally located to the other hotels we wanted to see–for their lobbies and stores and eateries mostly–(Caesar’s Palace, the Venetian, the Bellagio, the Mirage, and the Flamingo.) The weather had turned unseasonably hot, unfortunately, because there was lots of walking involved. Jimmy Buffet’s Margarita Restaurant had the margarita I craved, the Bellagio had the air conditioning and the garden and the exhibits.

I passed a wax figure of Bruce Willis on the sidewalk out by the street between Madame Tussaud’s and our hotel without noticing it until my sister pointed it out. I was watching where I stepped. Lots and lots of people, mostly polite, some not so much. I was right to be watching my own feet.

My cat is busy chewing up a page of notes I left behind me. I was done with it, and it makes him happy tearing up stuff. He’s glad I’m back home.

Would I do another workshop like I just finished? Yes, I would. And if you’re a writer, consider taking craft workshops yourself. Writing is a profession where you never stop learning.

BOOKS I JUST READ: Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons. And Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.

https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix and https://amzn.com/B07PLV725T 

COVER REVEAL! 

By Streetlight Graphics.

I’ve finished a new book. It’s being proofread,

I’ve got the blurb, I know what the cover should look like. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to showcase the book at Aggiecon in March.

More later, when the formatter has finished with it.

One hint: it’s a mystery novel, and clearly on the comic side of the scale.

All my other books are at https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix and all but one at http://barnesandnoble.com/c/gretchen-rix 

Here are some of my covers. I’ve had a hand in designing all of them, but the credit and recognition should go to Streetlight Graphics. I found them years and years ago through fantasy writer Lindsay Buroker, and have never wanted to change artists.

You can find my books on Nook, through Smashwords for other devices, and through Amazon.com at https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix . I am almost finished writing my 14th.