After the flood

It's been a crazy last few days in the ATL. It started raining last Tuesday and kept on raining until yesterday, when the soggy ground, storm drains and swollen rivers decided they'd had enough. Seven people died, thousands of homes were flooded and roads were closed. For a few hours the main interstate that runs through downtown was flooded and it looked eerily like New Orleans post-Katrina with submerged cars, people trapped and standing on overpasses (see the photo at left). The sun is out now, but all the schools are closed, many highways are still blocked and the city's main sewage plant was compromised and has been overflowing into the Chattahoochee River.

Sunday night -- while the rain was pouring -- I finished Chapter 18 of the next book in the Conquering Venus trilogy. I'm guessing I'll have a full first draft by Christmas, then it's on to rewriting, editing, etc. I'm excited about the sequel and where it's ultimately going to wind up before the story jumps ahead 10 years in the third book. Filling in nearly a decade could lead to a flashback fiesta, but I'm thinking about a narrative where the events between the second and third book are revealed in snippets of conversation, poems from Martin and other cleverness. We shall see.

As for Conquering Venus, I'm still trying to set up some additional readings and events both locally and out of town. Stay tuned. I'm also making the call again for those of you who have read the book to put a review on Amazon.com. If you know of a book club looking for a novel to read this Fall (which begins today...yay!), kindly direct them toward Conquering Venus. There are book club discussion questions and topics on the blog.

BFF Joy and I never made it to the movies (we were planning to see The September Issue), but I did see the Swedish vampire flick Let The Right One In. It was like Bergman does bloodsuckers -- winter landscapes, lots of meaningful looks and silences, characters with unclear motives. The young actors were exceptional, but I thought it went on about 20 minutes longer than it should have. 

Is it my imagination, or have more people abandoned blogging for Facebook? I've noticed on my blog -- and others I follow –– that there is less commenting and activity. Thoughts?