Read A Book Ball --Frederick County Public Libraries Fundraiser

My good friend Tyler Chadwell is a librarian in Frederick County, Maryland. I am participating, with great excitement in the Read A Book Ball. I live in Prince George's County, Maryland--so I feel like a bit of a traitor--but for reading and a good cause--I'm all in.

Tonight and tomorrow I will be reading Highlander The Series: An Evening at Joe's. I should say--rereading. (It is not poetry, so it doesn't count as my Sealey challenge.) This book has changed my life, my idea of how to structure stories, how to envision characters and romance...in short it has helped me create my best writing.

Highlander fans? "There can be only one!" fans? Yeah, sword fights. Men usually think of other fans as just men. There are a lot of ladies out there too! Adrian Paul, Dr. Peter Wingfield (I'm in his fan club), Christopher Lambert, and Jim Byrnes have played and will continue to play crucially in my writing.

I will be re-reading the short story collection "Postcards from Alexa." The love story of Alexa dying of cancer and Methos (5,000+ years old) known as Adam Pierson. They struggle, love, travel, feel loss and betrayal, and represent the human experience. If I taught a writing class--this would be mandatory reading. There is such empathy between the characters and between the reader and the characters.

"Because the night is still young, and I'm an old man," he teased.

"Old man, my ass" she laughed, tracing the definition of his biceps with a finger."

That is the sad joke. He is old, cannot tell her, and she is dying--how would she react to loving an immortal? Check it out somewhere. Find it used. I have several copies because I'm obsessive.

Donate to the Fredrick County Public Libraries so that they can continue to serve during this pandemic.