BRAINPAN LEAKAGE

In the 1986 Michael Mann film, Manhunter, based on Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon, there is a scene where a sting operation is being set up and one of the FBI agents says to Investigator Will Graham, “Let’s walk the route…” Basically, the idea was for them to walk the path Graham would be taking during the sting in order that he be familiar with it and hopefully not get himself killed.

Well, I walked the route last night… Not the route Will Graham (William Petersen) walked in the movie…No, I walked the route Special Agent Constance Mandalay walked in the last pages of The End Of Desire. I’ll try not to give away too much, as I know some readers of my blog have yet to get their hands on TEOD, and are hoping it will be in their Yule stocking (Good luck to you on that – I’m pulling for you!)… Suffice it to say, I “walked the route.”

The Saint Louis Zoo does in fact have a special light display every year at this time. It is called “Wild Lights”. And, each year as a family we go there, pay our modest admission, and wander around the zoo in the dark looking at all the wonderous displays. Hence, the reason (with some minor name changes) it was featured as part of the climax in The End Of Desire.

Anyway, last night was our annual pilgrimage, and it was the first time I had been back to the display since writing TEOD (naturally). So, I walked Mandalay’s route…There was a crowd of folks, as usual, enjoying hot chocolate and the various light displays…But, for me, it was like moving slowly through a dream. The fictional scene replayed in my head, projecting itself onto the canvas of reality before me. Non-existent players in this world were suddenly very tangible, if only to my eyes and no one else’s.

For a scant 30 minutes, fiction became reality in my own personal world.

It was, to say the least, an interesting experience… Of course, we know that my characters talk to me all the time, so I suppose I should have expected it.

Yeah, I’m pretty disturbed. But we already knew that, didn’t we? 

More to come…

Murv

Uh-huh…

And that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. At the moment I am parked at a table in the lounge area of a wonderful metaphysical store in Sanford, Maine, called the Universal Healing Center. Just like the last time I was in Maine, it is rather warm outside. Not quite as bad as the last go around, but warm nonetheless. Fortunately, this place actually has A/C.

But, as usual, I digress…

We have been on tour now since Thursday last, (5/17) and it has been a long road. The tour itself has been wonderful, filled with visits to great stores and with wonderful people. In many cases even old friends.

Since I am currently at a store, I am technically “working”, however I had a few minutes of down time so I thought I would check in as promised. This is actually the first unfettered access to the internet we have had during the tour. That, in and of itself, is a story.

Either way, the purpose of this blog is to let everyone know we are alive and well– basically that means I haven’t killed Morrison yet (GRIN) and she hasn’t killed me– seriously though, things are rocking along and we have been having a great tour. Of course, we HAVE had our obstacles…

Blog topics you can expect in the near future (once I have returned home and have time to type them in) will be such things as the following:

Pigs On The Wing

Kicked Out Of Wendy’s – An Indianapolis Odyssey

Low Batteries and Driving In Pittsburgh

Mister Patel’s No Tell Motel and Escape From New Jersey

Jane: The Bitch in the Box

Morrison and the Booze Run

Who Needs Sleep?

PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA!

And many more…

Some of these topics will be combined for blogs, but hopefully that list of titles will give you an idea of what we have been up to for the past 10 days.

BTW, Morrison is reading over my shoulder and she says hi.

Till later!

Murv