There are no problems, all is well, just taking a break.  (All Trout, beware. ) While I’m gone, I’d like for you all to play nicely and be safe. See you again soon.  Best, Galen.

You can’t click to another site now, can you???? No, of course not.  This is an example of a “grab ‘em” opening. Yes, the writing connection is tenuous, but it’s there.  Besides, you know this blog is like one of those car accidents that you don’t want to look at, but when you get to the scene, you just can’t look away.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – A funeral home in Puerto Rico that made international headlines two years ago is at it again.

Marin Funeral Home has embalmed the body of a young man and put the corpse atop a motorcycle in a hunched-over racing position. The body wears a black cap, black sunglasses and a long-sleeved black T-shirt.

Local television station WAPA says the unidentified 22-year-old shooting victim will be buried Wednesday.

Calls to the funeral home were not returned Tuesday.

Two years ago, the funeral home embalmed a 24-year-old man and kept the body standing upright for during the three-day wake

All this raises the question, how would you liked to be posed once dead?  Hands on keyboard?  Reading a book? Selling books?

I’d like posed with my favorite fly rod during the middle of a great cast.  On the river is where I hope to be when I die, so, it should be easy for the funeral guys.  Yes, this is a new low—even for me.

This story was too good to pass up.  Yes, I have no life. I started to highlight in red the parts I found astounding, or hilarious, or both…but I darn near highlighted the whole article. (Credit, Komo News, Seattle.)

REXBURG, Idaho – A Rexburg woman says one of her cats recently attacked her and tried to kill her, sending her and her husband to the hospital.

The Ostermiller family says their cat was completely normal until three days after it gave birth to kittens. But it soon became defensive, and the family says it tried to kill them.

It began last week on Tuesday at about 5:30 a.m. The Ostermillers were sleeping when they heard a sound.

"All I heard was rrwwwrrrr hisss," Jackie Ostermiller said.

Jackie woke up and saw her cat, Renesmee, (named after the Twilight character) panicking. Jackie thinks a male cat had wandered by outside the home and Renesmee was protecting her kittens.

Jackie went to grab her cat to stop her from bolting out a hole in the screen door. That’s when the kitty made its move.

"I was being mauled literally for the kill. She had got a hold of my nose first, my face first, my arms – I was literally screaming," she said.

Jackie’s husband, Blaine, was able to pry the attacking feline off.

"I woke up hearing my wife scream, I didn’t know what was going on until I looked over there, until I looked over there seeing (the cat) viciously attacking her," Blaine said.

But the cat had already made its mark. Jackie was left with 35 bite marks and 15 bruises.

The cat wasn’t through. When Jackie was washing blood off her face, it came back and started attacking her leg a second time.

"She came at me with the deadliest eyes," Jackie said.

"I noticed she was looking at my wife with a weird look," Blaine said.

But even after this whole ordeal, the Ostermiller family hasn’t turned their back on cats. They even plan on getting a new kitten soon. But they do have a word of caution.

"I want people to know how dangerous cats can be, they can turn on you in a dime. Believe it or not – cats!" she said.

Jackie feels that none of this would have happened either, if they had just spayed their cat. The family ended up giving up Renesmee to the Rexburg shelter.

Those wacky Idahoans.

Okay, more can’t miss drama on Friday.  BTW, I spent some time on Tuesday visiting bookstores, trying to set up appearances, and have them carry my book.  Lots of interesting stories to tell–and maybe a few lessons learned I’ll share.

Hope to see you on Friday.  Thanks for stopping by, Galen.

Dear Galen,
Thank you for your query.  While I was intrigued by the concept of your story, ultimately I didn’t fall in love with the characters or the way the first chapter unfolded. Trevor stuck me as unnecessarily misogynist. I’m sorry this isn’t the right fit, but I wish you the best in your agency search.
Sincerely,
Emmanuelle Alspaugh

Now before I get to the part that annoys, let me give Emmanuelle credit….

1. Her note has a pleasant tone and is polite.
2. She answered the query! I don’t care so much that it’s a rejection, at least she answered.  Good show. Sorry, but all you agents that are, “too busy” to send even a pro-forma response…that’s just a bad way to do business.  You get a query, you answer a query.  Hey, it’s what your mom would say about good manners.  How long does it take to: 1. Press reply, 2. Paste in a canned rejection, and 3. Click on Send? Ten seconds? Nathan Bransford gets more queries than God, and like God responds to all prayer, Bransford responds to all queries.  So, to all you non-responding agents…poor from. Badly done.
3. Her answer was personalized, leading me to believe she at least read parts of the query.

Okay, now to the annoyance–and I’m sure you know what it is, “Trevor stuck me as unnecessarily misogynist.”

• Okay, I’m impressed with, “misogynist,” but wonder at it’s selection. To show off? Closet passive-aggressive? Whatever. 
• More to the point, her evaluation is based on one chapter…if she got all the way through it. Yes, Trevor has problems, as do the other major characters in the book. Of course they have problems.  You kidding me?? Correct me if I’m wrong, please, but in order to have a character arc, you need a starting point from which to grow, change, and improve.  Without such an arc, and without flaws, I would have been lambasted as incapable of creating interesting characters!  She would have said my folks were flat, cardboard stereotypes.
• Trevor’s view of women…at the outset…is a starting point, and serves as a springboard for the crispy interaction between he and the female lead.  Eventually, of course, he sees the light.  However, Ms Alspaugh apparently couldn’t wait for that to happen.  She just became annoyed that he had “women issues” and reached for the reject button. Apparently she likes her characters a little more on the bland and milksop side. Or, perhaps, with the kind of flaws of which she approves. Too bad.
• Lastly, “unnecessarily.”  This one really irks. How can she make that judgment in one chapter or less? Unnecessarily?  Come on. Please. Read more than 7 pages, then tell me about degrees of flaw and their place in a character’s nature.  No way “unnecessarily” is fair…or, in this case, correct.

But wait!!!   In the interest of balance, I should also acknowledge that she, “didn’t fall in love with the characters or the way the first chapter unfolded.” 

Fair enough.  Maybe that’s true. Maybe that sentence is more than just pro forma rejection language.  It’s possible my interpretation of her comments is too narrow and that Chapter One of Betrayal is just…well…crap.  Yes, that is absolutely possible. But I don’t think so.  Still, maybe it was for her. Maybe the rejection was less about being misogynist (God, I love that word.  If I use it 10 times in a sentence today, it’s officially mine!) and more about horrible writing.  Can’t discount that.

So, dear writers, here’s your take away…Galen scratches his head…not sure what to tell you.  It’s like that old Far Side cartoon you see to the right…

So, my advice? Give it your best shot, follow your instincts, and above all…query widely. Some responses will be more thoughtful and on-point than others.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope to see you again come Wednesday.

We were away over the weekend at my step-daughter’s wedding in Seattle.  It was very nicely done, and everyone seemed to have a good time.

While there, I got to visit with old friends for a couple of hours before the wedding.  How nice is it to see old friends again.  Very, very pleasant.  If you get the chance to renew old friendships, please consider doing it.  It feels great.

I’ll probably be back with some nonsensical, non-informative, unnecessary post on Friday. Hey, it’s what I do.  Hope to see you here nonetheless.  Galen.

P.S.  Your books are, in fact, in the mail—as of Friday AM.