The Last Detective by Robet Crais

While in Arizona, I had a chance to catch up on some reading – something I don’t as much as I’d like since I’m in the middle of writing another book. However, with the laptop at home, I was able to spend an hour or two reading while the kids slept. Back in February, Marathon Girl and I bought his latest book, The Watchman, on a whim and both really enjoyed it so I was glad to have another one of his books to read. Crias is a good writer and one I recommend if you haven’t tried his books already.

So while the kids were sleeping I read The Last Detective by Robert Crais. The Last Detective is a fun, page turner that centers on private investigator Elvis Cole’s attempt to locate his girlfriend’s son who was kidnapped from Cole’s house. Cole, with the aid of his partner Joe Pike, goes on three days of a no-sleep fueled mission to find the boy and return him safely to his mother. With an intriguing set of characters and a well developed and fast-paced plot, it’s a read and one that actually makes you cringe whenever you think the boy’s going to be hurt. Though I thought the “twist” in the book was a little too obvious, Crias shows his skill as a writer by delivering an emotional but realistic ending and that gave the book a satisfying conclusion.

As far as the detective fiction goes, I like Michael Connelly better – but not by much. Crais’s books (the two I’ve read anyway) are more testosterone charged then Connelly’s novels which makes them faster paced and a little more exciting. Connelly, however, does a better job on character development. But, like Connelly, Crais is an excellent writer and manages to keep his the plot moving forward while telling an engaging and fun-filled story.

I’m looking forward to reading more of his books as soon as I’m done with my novel.

Death Becomes Her

While flipping through the most recent issue of The New Yorker last night, I had a good laugh over the above cartoon because 1) it is the exact opposite of the “Is the widower I’m dating ready to move on?” question I receive a lot of emails about and 2) I have a dark and twisted sense of humor.

Update: It's a coincidence that I posted this right before the Memorial Day weekend.

Boys and Baseball

While in Phoenix my friend Brent and I took his oldest boy and my two boys to a Diamondbacks/Tigers baseball game. Considering the ages of my boys (three and two) I was taking somewhat of a chance on whether or not they’d be able to sit through an entire game. A game typically lasts between two and a half and three hours and most of the actions takes place between the pitcher’s mound and the batter’s box – not exactly the most interesting thing to watch if you’re young, full of energy, and have a typical little boy attention span. Yet all three kids had fun time. And I really have to thank Brent who has done this enough times with his oldest boy that he knew exactly what to do to keep them occupied and entertained when they weren’t watching the game. Between learning how to shell peanuts, drinking root beer, watching the world’s largest HD television in center field, letting them take pictures with my digital camera (gulp!), looking at all the people in the stands, watching a few pitches each inning, and playing with each other they had a good time. Their favorite part of the game, however, was the 10 minute firework show at the end. (At least I know they’ll enjoy any fireworks shows I take them to this summer.)

As young as they are, a few years from now they probably won’t remember the game or the fact that Tigers lost a game they should have won. But seeing the smiles on their faces and how much fun they had, I’ll remember this day for the rest of my life.

I’m looking forward to taking them to more games in the future.

Things I Learned from Our Vacation

Before we left on our trip last week, I wasn’t sure how our first family vacation with three kids was going to turn out. We’ve taken kids on overnight trips before but they’ve usually been a three or four hour drive away and we’ve always stayed with a family. We’ve never taken them on a 1,300 mile round-trip, stayed in hotels, and had them meet people and kids they’ve never seen before. Thankfully, we couldn’t have asked for things to turn out any better.

Instead of making the drive to Phoenix in one day, we made it a two-day journey. We thought that the kids would do better with shorter drives. We were right. After about six hours in the car the kids were ready to run around. So it was nice to have a place to stop and let the kids expend all their energy. It was also nice to learn that the kids found the hotel an exciting, mysterious place with cool things like swimming pools, ice machines, and elevators – three things they couldn’t get enough of.

The second good decision we made was to buy a portable DVD player. Okay, the DVD player wasn’t just for the trip. Marathon Girl and I do like watching movies together on the weekends after the kids are asleep and my laptops a little too big to be comfortable in bed. But we thought that during long stretches of the drive the kids might like watching a movie and keep them out of mischief.

I should admit that until this trip I’ve been opposed to kids watching movies in the car. And there was no real reason for my opposition other than I just figured the kids would either sleep or find something to do themselves or enjoy whatever part of the country we were driving through. Of course that’s easy to say when you’re an adult and the one doing the driving. I remember talking long, family vacations when I was a kid and being bored out of my mind during the long drive. At the very least, this would give them something to do for a few hours.

The DVD player worked just liked we hoped. About two hours into a drive, the kids would become bored and restless so we’d start a movie. This would keep them focused on something for another two hours. After we turned the movie off they’d sleep or play until we reached our destination. And while we won’t use this DVD player on short, every day trips, it’s nice to know that when we have to take a trip longer than two hours, the kids have multiple entertainment options – including the occasional movie.

The third good decision we made was not to pack the days with lots of events but small things that the kids would enjoy. (This was helped by the fact that the friends we visited had kids roughly the same age as ours.) Whether it be trips to a “train” park, a baseball game (more on that later), or swimming at the hotel, or eating at a place the kids would enjoy, we tried to make the trip as kid friendly as possible. We must have done a decent job of it because, much to our surprise, our two oldest kids expressed disappointment when we told them we were finally heading home.

It’s nice to know they enjoyed the trip just as much as the adults.

We're Alive!

We arrived back from our 1,300 mile family vacation safe and sound. Everyone had a good time. Updates coming soon.

I'm in Arizona this Saturday

For those in Arizona, just a reminder as to where I’ll be this Saturday (May 17): Pioneer Books 2820 E University Dr # 102 Mesa, Arizona 85213 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Directions

Marathon Girl Knows What She's Talking About

Since I’m very busy at work, in the middle of writing a second book, and trying to be a good husband/father, the most convenient time for me to work out is during my lunch hour. This isn’t a big deal. There’s a gym close to my work and the exercise in the middle of the day keeps me sharp and focused for the remainder of the afternoon. The only downside to using the gym is, on days that I run, I’m forced to use a treadmill. I’d much rather be outside running – especially on days like today when the temperatures are in the high fifties and there’s nothing but blue skies and sunshine outside my office window. But since my office doesn’t have a shower handy, I go to the gym.

When I started running at the gym last summer, Marathon Girl informed me that running on a treadmill is a lot different than running outside. She said to best way mimic an outdoor run, I needed to make sure I was running on the treadmill with an incline of three percent. Running with no incline, she said, is like running downhill. As a result when you try to run outside again, you’ll struggle.

Of course, I ignored her advice. Sure, Marathon Girl’s a world-class runner, won two marathons, etc. but what could she possibly know about running on a treadmill? Not much, I thought.

So I had to learn my lesson the hard way. Back in February, Marathon Girl and I went on a run together. I had no expectations of keeping up with her but I was surprised at how hard the five mile run was for me. I had to stop three times and catch my breath.

During one of these breaks Marathon Girl asked if I was having a hard time with the course.

“Yeah,” I said. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me today.”

“Do you get winded when you run at the gym?”

“No.”

“Are you running with an incline on the treadmill?”

I looked away. I wanted to blame the twenty pounds of muscle I’ve added in the last year, the cold weather, or anything except for the fact I hadn’t listened to her.

“That’s what I thought,” Marathon Girl said as she turned and started running again.

The next time I ran at the gym, I added a slight incline, slowly raising it every week until I can now complete a four mile run in under thirty minutes with a three percent incline.

Thankfully, all that hard work paid off.

Last Monday I didn’t have a chance to work out during lunch. After I got home Marathon Girl suggested we put the kids in the stroller and go running together. Of course she kicked my butt, but I was able to keep up with her and complete the entire run in a decent time without stopping or getting winded – even while pushing a stroller with Aidan in it.

After the run, Marathon Girl put her arm around me and complemented me on being able to keep up with her.

“I take it you’ve been running with an incline on the treadmill.”

“Yeah,” I said. “How on earth did you know.”

Marathon Girl just smiled at me and walked into the house.

I’m never ignoring her running advice again.

LOST: Cabin Fever

Last week, I wrote that that the Island was rearing its head again, supplanting Ben as the main character? And last night episode was about the mysterious Island trying to save itself.

Throughout LOST, most of the survivors have a history of seeing people or things from their past. This episode really confirmed that these dreams and visions the survivors are the Island’s way of communicating with people. Horace appears in Locke’s dream telling him how to find the cabin – although it was really Hurley that saw it first – and then Jack’s father is the one speaking for Jacob. If only future Jack could find a way to talk to his father. Maybe then he wouldn’t turn into a drunken mess and find the island.

One of the themes of LOST from the beginning is that fate or destiny brought many of the survivors to the Island. This episode reinforced that idea. I felt that it should have been Locke, not Ben, the Island really wants running things. Despite Locke’s best efforts – messing up (intentionally?) the test Richard Alpert gave him as a young boy or refusing to go to science camp in Portland as a teen – he can’t escape the Island’s call. (Maybe that explains Ben’s almost timid and mousy behavior. I was so disappointed. He’s so fun to watch when he’s on the warpath.)

And Michael has a destiny too. He just can’t die – no matter who wants to kill him. His mission isn’t over – yet. I’m not sure if he’ll be alive at the end of the series. I’m guessing the Island has some important work he wants Michael to accomplish before the island’s magical protection is gone.

As for Locke saying they had to “move” the island, maybe that’s why the despondent, drunk Jack of the future is so frustrated: The Island’s moved and Jack’s unable to find its new location.

Exercise Rocks!

I love exercise. Nothing invigorates my mind or body like exercise. After feeling languid all morning, I went to the gym during lunch. I feel refreshed, revitalized, and ready to knock all my assignment at work out of the park and write another chapter in my book tonight! (After LOST, of course :-) .)

Orson Scott Card vs. J.K. Rowling

Orson Scott Card’s written some interesting commentary on J.K. Rowling and her frivolous lawsuit against Steven Vander Ark and his Harry Potter reference book Lexicon.

Card writes:

If Steven Vander Ark, the author of Lexicon, had written fiction that he claimed was original, when it was actually a rearrangement of ideas taken from the Harry Potter books, then she'd have a case.

But Lexicon is intended only as a reference book for people who have already paid for their copies of Rowling's books. Even though the book is not scholarly, it certainly falls within the realm of scholarly comment.

Rowling's hypocrisy is so thick I can hardly breathe: Prior to the publication of each novel, there were books about them that were no more intrusive than Lexicon. I contributed to one of them, and there was no complaint about it from Rowling or her publishers because they knew perfectly well that these fan/scholar ancillary publication were great publicity and actually boosted sales.

But now the Harry Potter series is over, and Rowling claims that her "creative work" is being "decimated."

Of course, she doesn't claim that it's the Lexicon that is harming her "creative work" (who's she borrowing from this time?); it's the lawsuit itself! And since she chose to bring the suit, whose fault is it? If she had left Vander Ark alone to publish his little book and make his little bit of money, she wouldn't be distracted from her next novel.

When I first heard about Rowling’s lawsuit, I thought she was overreacting. I sure didn't see any copyright infringement by Vander Ark – especially since Rowling herself has praised Vander Ark’s website and claimed to have used it at times when writing her books.

For the record, if I ever write a series of books that are even a tenth as popular as the Harry Potter series, I’d be thrilled if someone wanted to write a reference guide or a scholarly work to complement it. Rowling should have been flattered that there was someone out there that cared enough to actually compile such a guide. It sounds like her success has gone to her head.

I’m probably one of the few people that has never read a single Harry Potter book. Card’s article, along with Rowling’s despicable behavior, makes me never want to even read any of them. (OK. Who am I kidding? I’ll probably give in once my kids express interest in reading them or want me to read the books out lout to them. But I will wait until then.)

You can read Card’s entire article here.

The judge is expected to rule on the case Friday. Stay tuned for updates.