Crazy Water!

Here's another novel excerpt -- still plugging away and will have some new exciting material on the Mel Gibson scandal Monday. Kidding . . . As always, thanks for reading!

“God, our sisters. Higgins' new victim is a youth minister at the Church of the Nazarene. I hope he has all his teeth.” Hank calls his sister Higgins for reasons no one knows. Fuck, the whole town has a series of names and nicknames and connections that would challenge the smartest linguists. For years we’ve toyed with the idea of writing a book on a fictional version of it titled Crazy Water! after the hospital in which Hank was born. Born blind during a freak spring snowstorm in Texas, let’s face it -- he kind of had to learn to play the blues. That’s one card I played while advocating for this visit -- let’s do some research for The Book. The time is right for a book on small towns, I said. Think Last Picture Show meets Blue Velvet.

Years before Hank was born, Crazy Water was a spa, the slogan Drink Yourself To Health. They sold Crazy Water for medicinal uses to tourists who stayed at the Baker, the mammoth hotel in the middle of town that had its heyday in the 30s when celebrities came to take the cure which turned out to be water loaded with lithium. Now every few years, some optimist buys The Baker in hopes of turning it into a thriving business. The Baker always turns out to be a white elephant that can’t be tamed no matter how many pictures the Mineral Wells Index printed of the hapless new owners cutting ribbons on its gothic steps. Now for nine dollars, you can take a sleeping bag and camp in the halls, the rooms being mostly condemned.

Michelle's Spell of the Day
The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground." G K Chesterton

Cocktail Hour
Series premiere of Mad Men tonight -- Don Draper returns!

Benedictions and Maledictions
Happy Sunday!