Sunday Salon for 6 August 2023
Happy Sunday! Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at ReaderBuzz. Check out her post and the links to see what other bloggers have been up to in the last week.
How’s the weather?
I’m looking out at a very green landscape. Everything seems to be recovered from the hot days a couple of weeks ago, given plenty of rain for nourishment.
What are you reading?
Jane and the Year Without a Summer by Stephanie Barron. This is the 14th in a series of mysteries featuring Jane Austen as the amateur sleuth. I don’t usually dip into a series in the middle, but I’m currently fascinated by the Year Without a Summer.
In 1816, an eruption the previous year caused a volcanic winter in several parts of the world, including Europe. Most famously, it dampened the visit that Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (later Shelley) made to Lord Byron at Lake Geneva, Switzerland — a partial inspiration for Frankenstein.
I’m learning things about Jane Austen’s biography while also enjoying a romp in Cheltenham Spa, England, with a growing mystery to boot. This is fun enough to start the series at the beginning.
What are you watching?
Kate Humble’s Coastal Britain on PBS. I’m using the PBS Passport (a benefit of my membership to my local PBS station) to stream this walking travel documentary on my computer. Speaking of a green landscape…. Coastal Britain is filled with lovely spots of woods and grass overlooking stunning view of the sea.
What are you doing?
Recovering from COVID. After bragging last week that I had, thus far, escaped the disease, it showed up. I mistook it for allergies for a couple of days, even when Rick developed symptoms. When he developed a fever, though, we decided to test. It turned out, we were positive! Fortunately, we were diagnosed early enough in the course of the disease to benefit from antivirals.
With a 2 to 14-day incubation period, it’s pretty hard to know where I got it. Possibly the Barbie movie, even though I chose a quiet theater at a quiet time on a weekday. Possibly while dealing with a medical appointment.
Health-care researchers and practitioners around the world were honored with Barbie dolls in 2021
What are you writing?
I’m playing with titles and elevator pitch ideas for my novel. It feels a little backwards to write those before I write the novel, but lots of advice says to do it, anyway. Starting with an elevator pitch might give me a focus that I’d rather discover earlier in the process than later.
For British Isles Friday, I reviewed Beyond Paradise, the spin-off from Death in Paradise. Fun show!
How are you this fine Sunday?