This mystery novel update contains some good news and some bad news. Let’s start with the good news. This update comes only a little over a month after the last one. Since they previously came every two months, the pace has picked up considerably.
Too bad the same can’t be said for the progress of the novel itself.
Which is, as you may have guessed, the bad news. If only the lack of progress could be blamed on the June 19 EF–3 tornado that hit southeastern Montana, just a few miles west of the fictional setting of the novel. But since the novel is set in 1977 and the tornado hit just a few weeks ago, that excuse doesn’t quite work. In reality, the lack of progress is due to a great deal of summer fun: visits to and from family members, family weddings, class reunions, and the like. Activities of which Jane heartily approves.
You remember Jane?
She’s the elementary school teacher protagonist of our story. In the last update, she’d been too busy mastering the arts of cow milking, chicken feeding, aiding and abetting criminals across state lines, and outrunning bulls to complete report cards or prepare for parent–teacher conferences.
Since then, she’s straightened out her priorities.
The report cards are done, though the “deportment” section led to a great deal of head-scratching and the realization that her own marks in that department have been and continue to be less than stellar.
Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane.
The sad state of affairs between Jane and her fellow teacher, Liv, have been resolved. The sad state of Jane’s relationship with the grumpy school janitor have come to a head. And the sad state of Jane’s love life, due to the consequences of some choices she’s made and her inability to light the pilot light on her stove, lead to a couple realization. First, elementary safety scissors don’t lend themselves to self-defense.
Second, glitter can be a woman’s best friend.
Jane’s way too busy to explain the glitter thing. She and the whole town are gearing up for the Methodist Church Bazaar. The church’ll be filled to bursting with a huge crowd, good food, a country store, a big auction, and Jane working the fishing booth.
A perfect recipe for disaster.
And a recipe that may have to wait a few weeks to be tested. Because the priority for July and August is writing the rough draft of a contracted book about PTSD in Children. Unless I meet those weekly goals before noon on Fridays. In which case, Jane will become my Friday afternoon priority, and we will ride off together into a glittery western sunset.
With absolutely no tornadoes allowed.
