I’m binge-reading Molly MacRae’s Haunted Yarn Shop series and — obvs — loving it. I mean, if I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t do it, right? Nobody is holding a knitting needle to my jugular and forcing me to read. Such good books! Enough local color to make you feel firmly located in place, but not enough to get in the way. Town residents you get to know, so you’re with Kath (our Heroine) if she worries because somebody isn’t her/himself. Enough detail about the shop and its goods and activities to set the stage and move things along, but not so much you go, “Are you trying to trick me? Is this a knitting book?” (Yes, I’m looking at YOU, The Cat Who series. You are guilty as charged on all “too much” counts.) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Oh–P.S.– Molly MacRae’s on Pinterest, with as much detail as you want, like recipes, fabric stuff, fabric craft stuff, hand-dyeing, cats, and more.

Charlie bought a buncha videos through Edward R. Hamilton, Bookseller. We watched one, and it was one of the best movies ever! Trumbo. It’s about the Red Scare in America, specifically on the writer Dalton Trumbo, who was jailed and blacklisted as a Hollywood screenwriter for belonging to the Communist Party and for not cooperating with the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. Wonderful writing and wonderful acting here. Helen Mirren makes you want to invent time travel so you can go back and poke Hedda Hopper inna snoot. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Now, every so often, something happens that makes you just want to stand and look at it, a goofy expression of incredulous delight on your face. High on my list is this clip sent to me by friend and fellow writer Ginny Fleming. Yes, this really happened. It happened on The Lawrence Welk Show, the cleanest, straightest, 1950est show ever on television. Lawrence Welk made Father Knows Best look like Mom.

Behold:

A WRITING PROMPT BASED ON MY POST: A character is so innocent, they put themselves in danger or get in trouble or inadvertently outrage or undermine their own standards and values.

MA