(Buddy the dog with a Beach House Blep)
Friday waves to you all… and by “Friday waves” I mean “it’s time for a substack-level brain dump so LFG!”
As a person who lived in Michigan for over a decade, the month of February meant that you had:
lived through January and
had a lot more winter to endure.
Luckily, it’s a short month but it always felt much, much longer than the actual time spent. There, the weather norm was always grey-sky-as-cold-as-a-brass-toilet-seat-on-the-shady-side-of-an-iceberg. With a side of ubiquitous snow, old snow, dirty snow, salt stains on everything including the dog.
The winter I spent in Central Illinois after 16 winters in Ann Arbor was all of the above. Plus WINDY AF. Plus I had Covid and my sense of smell and taste has never fully recovered.
Now I’m in South Carolina. And in between obsessing over the ongoing reality show that is the Alex Murdaugh saga and not being able to get a Saturday night dinner reservation in downtown Greenville to save my life, I can’t stop marveling at the lack of cold. Especially now that we’ve arrived at the time of year that used be nothing more than a Shorter Month between One Super Long Cold Month and One Super Long Still Cold Month.
I liken February to that time of day between two and four p.m. Or that day of the week called Tuesday. Nothing good ever happens during those times and on those days and the only good thing about February is could be Valentine’s Day but if you think getting a dinner rez on an average Saturday night around here is tough…forget about it.
I will say this. It’s not cold here. I mean, not now anyway.
(The Christmas Rhino 2022)
It WAS cold. At Christmas. The Christmas I invited the Murder to a Holiday at the Beach. A Christmas boondoggle that was both Not Cheap and also RECORD BREAKING cold. So cold that since many/most people leave their sprinkler systems fired up year round, we were treated to a fair number of amazing and creative and unplanned yard ice sculpture gardens on our freezing cold walks down to said beach.
But now, in February, as my well-trained midwest self is preparing to hunker down for another 28 or so days of freezing cold nastiness, I’m looking at temps in the 50s and low 60s in the weeks ahead. Mind you, folks here will still bundle up in their puffy jackets, gloves, and winter hats until it gets and stays 65 for a stretch of days which is straight up funny since if it hits 55 in Michigan, those folks are coming outside in their shorts, sweatshirts, and beers.
Vive la difference, I guess.
My February shall be one of creation as I endeavor to fulfill my promise of "One book a month” for Liz Crowe readers and fans and whomever else wants to jump on board. RED CARD released a few days ago, as a starter to a fun series about a fictional pro soccer team in Detroit (where it was Very Snowy recently, I might add, and I have proof thanks to my good friend Val who sent me photos). SHUT OUT, book 2 comes out at the end of this month, then I’ve got a duology (that’s like a trilogy only it’s just 2 books) of real estate based novels, one of them with a bit of a suspenseful hook, both of them linked to my best selling Stewart Realty series, a set of stories about a slew of somewhat naughty but highly successful real estate and small business owning types in (yeah) Michigan.
Then I’m going to release my very first thriller. And I’m hella nervous about it because not only does it need a cover, it’s…well, it’s a thriller, which is one of my fav genres to read and I’m afraid it won’t measure up. But I’m going full throttle carpe diem - if not now, when - if not me, who with this indie author thing, so…yeah.
The last thing I’ll say about February is, as a lifelong fan of a certain college basketball team, April cannot come fast enough. As in, let’s get past this horror show dumpster fire and get going on the 2023-24 season, please and thank you very much. I will drop a Substack shoutout to one of my fav purveyors of news about Said College Team., Jeff Greer and his Floyd Street Tribune by way of a hint. Also, enjoy this little vid I took this past fall when someone in my ‘hood here in SC left me a fun gift in my mailbox… you know by way of a hint about Said College Bball team.
But enough about me. I’ve consumed some media recently, and can happily share that the start of the new series The Last of Us on HBO/Max is both fungal (gross) and enjoyable on many levels. I also recommend finding last week’s Saturday Night Live episode hosted by Pedro Pascal. Full Disclosure I had no idea it was based on a game as that is not a type of entertainment that I consume. But I guess having a built-in fan base is both great…and not so much.
I read a buzzy romance novel by one of my favorite authors Kennedy Ryan (who is a Carolina neighbor, of the North variety). Before I Let Go has plenty of glowing reviews by big name authors and influencers, so allow me to add my two cents, from one angst-loving author to another. This book is about the second chance a formerly married couple finds together in spite of a significant tragedy (trigger warning) and is has plenty of heat, but also a grounding in realism that I prefer to both read and write. I especially appreciated the way the daughter is depicted as honest-to-gosh pre-teen full of a normal level of sass and anger in the face of her parents’ situation. I adore books that are character driven and Ms. Ryan’s books never disappoint. This one reads like a well-constructed screenplay and I will not be surprised when a movie or streaming deal is announced for it (or for any of her books). 4 stars
I am also enjoying the heck out of Your Honor, on Showtime. It’s got so many anti-heroes you risk losing count. Brian Cranston is at is best when he’s doing “I only did this to protect/save/finance my family” and this is like a Walter White On the Bench in New Orleans Fights Two Mafias and Learns How to Cope With Tragedy. The talented cast includes Andrene Ward-Hammond, who plays Big Mo, the head of the Desire gang in the 9th Ward. I’ve decided that I would watch this show just to enjoy her range of tough, resilient, unafraid of the Scottish assholes with the hotel, yet vulnerable, in love, and eager to please. She is worth the time spent, as is the entire show. It plays out slowly or at least slower than many shows like it so you get to know the ins and outs of the storyline and characters, which include Senator Elizabeth Guthrie, “His honor’s” take-no-shit mother-in-law, played by the absolutely incomparable Margo Martindale. I’ll let you know once I finish it if it jumps a shark that I can see heading our way OR if it manages to end with the grace and absolute finality of The Walter White Story.
On my radar with reviews coming soon…
Now You See Us by Bali Kaur Jaswal (Releases March 7, 2023), We Are All the Same in the Dark (audio) by Julia Heaberlin, and This is How You Lose the Time War (audio) byAmal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
Until next week’s brain dump….Happy February!
Liz