Lisa R. Howeler's Blog, page 63

Protected: Fiction Friday: Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage Chapter 6

This post is password protected. You must visit the website and enter the password to continue reading.

Comfy, Cozy Cinema: The African Queen

For the next three months, Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I will be watching cozy, mysterious, or comfy movies. Erin made these awesome graphics detailing what we are doing and what movies we will be watching.

This week we watched The African Queen, which I am not sure was really a comfy, cozy movie but I forgot some of the details when I suggested it. I’m not sure why I picked it for this feature, but it’s still a good movie and we did find some cozy(ish) moments in it as a romance began to blossom in the middle of a very stressful situation.

The movie, released in 1951, stars Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. It was directed by John Huston.

It is both an adventure movie and a romance.

Katherine plays Rose Sayer, a missionary in Africa, and Humphrey portrays Charlie Allnut (which Katherine pronounces as Ulna throughout the movie).

Rose had stationed been in African villages with her brother for a decade and meets Charlie when he travels up the river in his small, rickety steamboat to deliver mail and other supplies. The steamboat was dubbed The African Queen by Charlie.

On one visit Charlie tells Rose and her brother Sam that he probably won’t be there for two months because war has broken out. The movie starts in 1914 so this is the beginning of World War I.

He leaves and within a matter of hours or days, or I’m not sure which, the Germans march through with an army made up of Africans and begin to burn down the village. This leaves Rose’s brother in a state of shock and also affects his physical health and he passes away a couple months or so later.

Rose is now alone in the village but luckily not for long as Charlie finds her and she asks him to take her with him up the river.

Rose and Charlie are very different. She is very prim and proper and British and he is very “uncouth” one might say. My husband said that the movie is based on a 1935 novel and that the main characters in the novel are both British. Charlie has a cockney accent.  Humphrey refused to try to pull that accent off so he was made Canadian for the sake of this movie.

The chemistry between the two is great with them bouncing quips off each other throughout the film.

When Rose finds out they are upriver from a German ship that will be used to launch an offensive against the British, and that Charlie has potential weapons on The African Queen, she decides they will travel this very dangerous river with rapids, crocodiles, and a German fort, and blow up the German ship.

Charlie, for his part, thinks she’s nuts but agrees to help her – that is until things get more and more dangerous and he’s certain they are going to die in the rapids.

When he tells her in the beginning that it isn’t possible to take the steamboat down the river she says, “How would you know? You’ve never tried.”
He scoffs. “I’ve never tried shooting myself in the head either.”

In another scene, Charlie gets drunk on the gin that’s on the boat and Rose is not happy about it.

“Oh come on,” Charlie says. “It was just human nature.”

Rose raises her chin and says, “Human nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put on this world to rise above.”

There are several comments or lines like that throughout the film which turns romantic somewhat by accident when Charlie celebrates one of their accomplishments and kisses Rose on impulse.

Kissing and being romantic was most likely a huge challenge for Katherine because she, like most of the cast and staff, caught dysentery and malaria and was very sick for the time in Africa.

Huston wanted the film to be as realistic as possible so he shot on location in Uganda and the Congo for part of the film with the rest being shot in London, outside and on a sound stage. Scenes where the actors were in the water were deemed to be too dangerous in Africa.

It was so realistic that Katherine and others got sick, as I mentioned, and during one scene when she’s playing the piano, she actually had a puke bucket off-scene just in case and I guess there were a few “cases.” Poor woman.

Boggie later joked that he and Huston didn’t get sick because they drank whiskey instead of the local water.

As a bit of trivia, the only Oscar Boggie ever won was for this film. Katherine was nominated for best actress but did not win. Huston was also nominated for best director but didn’t win.

Katherine won four Oscars and was nominated 12 times over the years. She also won an Emmy and two Tony Awards.

This comment came from my husband who always has a cheery note about when or how one of the actors died as we watch a movie: “To think he (Boggie) would only have five more years after this.”

At one point, when Charlie apologizes for getting drunk Rose says that is not upset about that.

“You think it was your nasty drunkenness I minded? You promised me you’d go down the river.”

“Well, I’m taking my promise back,” Charlie says.

Little Miss looked at me and said, “Fun fact. You can’t take back a promise.”

So there you go. Some wisdom for your day.

When this movie came out, both Boggie and Hepburn were older and some critics said moviegoers wouldn’t want to see two old actors fall in love.

According to movie critic Roger Ebert, though, that wasn’t true. Many people wanted to see the movie and loved it despite it being released at the same time as A Streetcar Named Desire with Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh.

The novel was much darker but Huston credited Boggie and Hepburn with making the movie have some humor in it.

“They were just naturally funny when they worked together.” Miss Hepburn, on the other hand, gives the credit to Huston. “The humor didn’t just grow, it was planted. The picture wasn’t going well until Huston came up with the inspiration that Rosie, my role, should be played as Eleanor Roosevelt.”

Ebert said of Bogart’s role: “Whatever the case, the many scenes Bogie and Kate play together are superb. Bogart, as the gin-swilling proprietor of a banged-up riverboat, created a strange little laugh for his role. He was shy, amused and intimidated by this Bible-reading missionary lady who washed out her unmentionables each and every night. And the laugh, meant to conceal his unease, also serves to display the thoughts of a taciturn man. He does not often laugh at the things Rosie finds funny.”

There was one scene with leeches and I wanted to know if they were really on Boggie. A quick search online brought me to a site full of trivia which let me know that: “While filming the scene where Charlie finds his body covered with leeches, Humphrey Bogart insisted on using rubber leeches. John Huston refused, and brought a leech-breeder to the London studio with a tank full of them. It made Bogart queasy and nervous, qualities Huston wanted for his close-ups. Ultimately, rubber leeches were placed on Bogart, and a close-up of a real leech was shot on the breeder’s chest.”

It is an interesting site and I was going to leave a link here to it but it says the site is not secure so I won’t do that – just in case.

The bottom line was that I did like this film but it wasn’t necessarily comfy, cozy or creepy. I guess it was a mix of comfy and adventure.

To read about Erin’s take on the movie, hop on over to her blog: https://crackercrumblife.com/

If you would like to join in on our Comfy, Cozy Cinema you can print out our watch/post schedule here:

Arsenic and Old Lace (Sept. 28)

Oct. 5 (break for us or you to catch up!)

The Lady Vanishes (October 13)

Strangers on a Train (Oct. 19)

Rebecca (Oct. 26)

Little Women (November 2)

Tea with The Dames (November 9)

Sunday Bookends: Mystery books, a planned autumn reading list, and still writing book two in the Gladwynn Grant Mystery series

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with  Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer  and Kathyrn at  The Book Date.

What I/we’ve been Reading

I finished All That Really Matters by Nicole Deese Friday. Finally. No, the book is not bad. It is very good, in fact. I just kept putting it aside so I could finish books for other authors or library books.

I’m going to try to not add any more library books to my TBR list right now . . . other than the one I just added: A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales. Ahem.

I started it last night and we will see if I like it. So far I do. The last Regency cozy mystery I picked up from Libby I did NOT enjoy. Hopefully, this one will be better the whole way through this time.

I’ve also started another cozy mystery for a book tour: A New Leash on Life by Kathleen Y’Barbo. It comes out on October 1. I was going to read it slowly since I don’t have to review it until October 30th but I was hooked right away and have been enjoying it. I read another of her books in this series and I did enjoy it but I did not enjoy the ending. It sort of fell apart so I am hoping this one doesn’t. This book is different because it is somewhat like a romance with it being from two points of view – one from the woman and the other from the man – but it is also a mystery.

I am not a huge fan of those types of switches in books when it is first person but it’s not so bad in this book. After writing two or more POVs in all of my books in the Spencer Valley Chronicles, I have now decided I am not a huge fan of more than two of POVs and I really don’t like the back-and-forth POVs in romances as much anymore. I don’t know if I will ever write two POVs again or not, but I definitely don’t plan to write more than two POVs in one book.

Anyhow, back to the books I’m planning to read after the two I just mentioned.

For fall I have a stack of books I’d love to get through:

Trouble Shooter by Louise L’Amour The Cat Who Blew The Whistle by Lilian Jackson Braun
The Cat Who Talked Turkey by Lilian Jackson Braun
A Case of Bad Taste by Lori Copeland
Sydney Chambers and the Perils of the Night by Jamie Runcie
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I’d also like to add a Longmire book to that list because I don’t think I’ve read any Longmire this year so far.

The Boy and I are reading Red Badge of Courage for school so I’ll have to add that to my planned reading list too.

Little Miss and I are reading Gone Away Lake for school and sometimes we are reading it at night too. We are really enjoying it and I’m so glad that Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs sent it to us!

What’s Been Occurring

I wrote a bit about what’s been going on in my post yesterday. You can catch up there but the bottom line is: fleas, sick animals recovering, fall weather, and homeschool. There. You’re caught up. *wink*

Photos from Last Week

I didn’t take a ton of photos last week but here are a few and a few from my parents’ anniversary party last week.

What We watched/are Watching

Last week I watched two movies with Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs for our Comfy, Cozy Cinema: Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Secret World of Arrietty.

The Husband and I watched Song of the Thin Man yesterday after he cooked me dinner for my birthday. My birthday isn’t until Tuesday but he has to attend a meeting that night. It was the last movie in the Thin Man series with William Powell and Myrna Loy.

We also watched a few episodes of Newhart this week.

 By myself I watched part of a documentary about what the Victorian royals wore.

My brother also sent these hilarious videos of real letters being read by celebrities. I was warned that some of them are crude so to be careful.

What I’m Writing

I am working on Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage for a November release and, in case you don’t know, Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing, the first book, is out already on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. It will leave Kindle Unlimited on October 8 as I hope to be able to offer it on additional sites for sale. This a cozy mystery series and I really am having fun writing it, even though this week I was almost in tears trying to decide who my murderer is because I didn’t like who I had originally decided it to be.

Yes, I am writing other blog posts but, no, I haven’t finished them because I keep getting distracted by life. Sigh.

What I’m Listening To

This past week we took some time to turn off the TV (where cartoons are mainly played) and listen to some music, including Frank Sinatra and Tim McGraw. I know. What a mix right?!

Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Saturday Evening Chat: Autumn weather arrives, recovery time, and recovering pets

As I write this, I am sitting in bed under covers because the temps have hit autumn temps and I am chilly.

I spent most of this past week trying to recover from the week before when our family was sick and then we had my parents’ 60th-anniversary party. That’s something I still hope to blog about on here soon. I was so tired this past week and it didn’t help that I was still dealing with the cough from the previous week’s cold a little.

Yesterday Little Miss made a type of cozy fort at the bottom of our stairs and into our foyer. She made it last week as well but this week it worked out well because of the autumn weather. She filled the set up with pillows and blankets and an electric candle and stacked some of her books on the windowsill. It became a little reading corner for us while I read a book about Johnny Appleseed to her and she read a book called Saving Winslow on her own.

I also finished a book I’ve been reading for a few months (while getting interrupted by other books I agreed to read for authors, etc.). It was a very nice cozy day, made even cozier by Little Miss making us cups of hot cocoa sweetened with maple syrup throughout the day.

At the end of the day all three of our pets made themselves comfortable on a pillow or comforter, curled up, and fell asleep. The cat I call “fat cat” (real name Pixel), stole my seat after I got up to charge my phone and while I was a bit annoyed, it was nice to see her able to rest after she had been suffering with fleas most of the week thanks to an inferior flea medicine we picked up last month.

We applied the better medicine on Monday but it took a few days for all the fleas to get off the animals. I was still finding fleas on Zooma the Wonder Dog who not only had flea treatment, but also a flea bath, yesterday. We picked up a flea spray to spray in the house and hopefully we can kill them off before it gets too bad in the house.

Zooma the Wonder Dog took an emergency trip to the vet 45 minutes away last Sunday because of severe stomach issues. Her breathing was very fast and we found out that she was in severe pain due to a return of the colitis she had in April. She was also (TMI alert) constipated.

We are discovering that there are certain foods that set off her condition and I fed her a tiny bit of one of those foods and I guess, but am not sure, that’s what triggered things. She also gets into our trash from time to time so we now sit heavy things on top of it or will be putting the trash can in a place she can’t reach it.

We have food that is supposed to be for digestive issues and that’s all she will be eating from now on. She’s been on an antibiotic and a steroid all week to help bring the inflammation down and heal her colon. It looks like this will be a reoccurring issue for her and us from now on, unfortunately.

Our previous dog had colitis a lot as well. He was 14 when he passed away in 2017 and I am surprised he lived that long with all the weird things he ate – including aluminum foil and ear plugs. We seem to have the luck of having dogs that have sensitive stomachs and I don’t know if that is bad or good luck but right now it seems like bad luck.

Last week there was a lot of staying at home and doing homeschool work and keeping an eye on the dog.

Yesterday Dad and The Boy cut up wood from trees that Dad had to have cut down behind his house. They loaded it into the back of Dad’s truck and brought it to our house to fill up the woodpile behind the garage. We are hoping that this will be enough wood to get us through the winter and keep our heating oil costs down.

Heating oil is so expensive right now that we are filling our tank with off-road diesel fuel to push us closer to the winter months to reduce how often we have to get a delivery of actual heating oil during the coldest months. We do this because we can never afford to pay off the full delivery because of how high the cost is. We always make payments and we can’t receive another delivery until the first bill is paid off.

A lot of people I know are struggling financially right now. It’s very frustrating for me to watch politicians debate if inflation is bad enough to say we are in a recession or not. It’s even more frustrating when they go on news shows and say that Americans aren’t struggling to pay their bills or put food on their tables and that “the other side” is making it all up.

My family are among those struggling. We’ve asked for help and have been denied or given $19 a month to help. Meanwhile we have people who cross the border illegally and they are receiving the help they need in many (though not all) cases and it’s very aggravating. I am, however, glad that people can come here legally and find a better life so it’s a very conflicting issue for me.

There are days I feel like my husband working and us living in this country our whole lives means we are second class citizens. It feels like you have to have a sob story or an angle of some kind to get ahead of even get help. We’re drowning under bills and grocery prices and every week I feel like we are just fighting to keep our heads above water. Then to turn on a news show or visit a site and see an economist say it isn’t as bad as we think it is and we just need to go back to college and get a better degree then we’d be able to get a higher paying job and be fine. It makes me want to scream and throw things most days.

God has always provided for us even at the hardest moments so I do my best to remember that when things get very tough.

This upcoming week there will be more homeschool lessons, gymnastics, a church kid’s club, and maybe a visit to the library.

The Boy will go to the career center and probably work with his grandfather and I will work on finishing the second book in the Gladwynn Grant Mystery series.

I also hope to read a lot more because I am somewhat depressed with my book count for the year so far. I am not a fast reader but I could be reading a little more than I have been.

How about you? How was your week last week? Did you do anything exciting or read anything good? Let me know in the comments.

Fiction Friday: Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage Chapter 5

Welcome to the fifth chapter of Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage.

As always this is a work in progress and there could be (will be) typos, plot holes, and other errors but those will be fixed before the book is published a couple of months from now.

If you want to read the first book in the series, you can find it on Amazon HERE.

If you don’t want to read this story in chapters on a blog, you can pre-order it HERE.

If you want to learn more about my other books you can find links to them HERE.

Chapter 5

Gladwynn didn’t have a municipal meeting to cover Monday night so she found herself on her way to Willowbrook theater group’s meeting to discuss what to do about the play in light of Samantha’s death. Tanner had left her a message on her phone the day before during her and Lucinda’s Sunday afternoon nap after church, so now they were playing phone tag.

He caught up to her as she pulled into the parking lot of the community center, his voice stern when she answered with a cheerful ‘hello’. “Miss Grant, I’ve told you before that I’m not free to discuss the case.”

“Wow. That was a nice greeting.”

“I just know you.”

“I called you because I remembered something I forgot to tell you Saturday. Something that might be important to the case. You told me to call you if I remembered something.”

“In that case, go ahead.”

Gladwynn slid the car into park. “I saw Samantha at the lake on Saturday afternoon. She was talking on the phone to someone and definitely looked agitated.”

“Okay. I’ll write that down.”

“Do you think it’s important?”

“It might be. What time was it?”

“Around 11 a.m. She looked very angry and seemed to be yelling.”

“Did you see anything else?”

Yes, she’d seen Samantha talking to Luke in the parking lot, but doubted that was important. Still, she should probably say something. “I saw her talking to Pastor Luke in the parking lot of the swimming area a couple hours later.”

She could hear the scratch of a pen against paper. “Pastor Luke. Right. I’ll add him to my list of people to talk to. Anything else?”

“Not that I can think of. Do you have her cellphone? Maybe you could see who she was talking –”

“Are you a police officer, Miss Grant?”

“No, but I –”

“We will handle the investigation on our end. Patience is a virtue. Remember?”

Gladwynn flipped open a small makeup mirror and checked her foundation, smoothing down a bumpy area along her cheekbones. “It just seems so odd that a woman who seemed so healthy is dead. I mean, I guess it could be a medical reason but something about the way she was lying there tells me it wasn’t.”

The click of keys on a keyboard on the other end of the phone filled a brief silence. “Young people die for unclear medical reasons all the time. Many people seem healthy. It doesn’t mean they are.”

“Right, but she wasn’t very old really. What, like 29? Maybe 30? So, it just seems to me that –”

“Actually, she was 36, but you don’t need to be seeming anything, Gladwynn. What you need to do is go on with your life and let me handle this. Go to work or to your little coffee shop or shopping or whatever you do all day long. You are not part of this investigation.”

Gladwynn paused briefly, thinking how much younger Samantha had looked than 36. A few seconds later, though, it registered what Tanner had said. “My little coffee shop? Shopping?” Gladwynn raised her eyebrows. “Excuse me, but that was a bit of a sexist comment. As if women just go to coffee shops and shop all day long.”

Tanner cleared his throat. “I apologize. It was just a way of saying that you can return to whatever it was you were doing before I called you. I’m sure you were busy at work.”

Gladwynn smirked. “Actually, I just left Penny’s on Main Street looking for shoes, but that is beside the point. I don’t like the idea that you think all women do is shop and go to coffee shops.”

Tanner sighed and she could imagine him with his hand pressed against his forehead. “I suggested you go back to work, first, so calm yourself.”

Gladwynn laughed softly. “Okay. Fine. I’ll go. I have important things to do anyhow. If you find out who called her, you’ll tell me, though, right?”

The line went dead.

Inside the theater, the mood was considerably subdued compared to the gathering on Saturday evening. No one was trying on costumes or arguing about who was playing what parts. Everyone except Emerald was sitting in a seat at the front of the theater.

Emerald stood in front of the seats, wearing a flowing green dress covered in dark green leaves. Her hair was held back from her face with a pair of monarch butterfly barrettes. It was clear she planned to take the lead in the conversation, directing it until a decision was made about whether to continue with the play or not.

“Personally, I think the show must go on,” she declared, clasping her hand at chest level in front of her. The movement made the sheer fabric of her sleeves slide down and Gladwynn caught sight of the edge of an ace bandage around her wrist. “Samantha would have wanted it that way.”

There were a few nods of heads in the group.

“It might be better to postpone it,” Louise said softly. “I mean, is it disrespectful to carry on as if nothing happened?”

She looked at Lucinda. “What do you think, Lucinda?”

Lucinda frowned and rubbed her chin with her hand. “It will be hard for us to continue without Samantha. She was such an important part of this group and our driving force. I don’t find it disrespectful, though, to continue with the performance. Emerald is right. Samantha would have wanted us to carry on. If anything, we would be honoring her creative and encouraging spirit by continuing.”

Gladwynn knew her grandmother’s opinion carried a lot of weight in her own family but the way everyone looked at Lucinda with clear respect as she talked reminded Gladwynn that her opinion carried a lot of weight in the community as well.

“Lucinda is right,” Floyd said. “I say we carry on. I don’t know why she said anything about Samantha and a driving fort but I’m guessing it was metaphorical.”

Gladwynn stifled a giggle behind her hand. Clearly, Floyd’s hearing aid wasn’t working again. Guilt poked at her for feeling like laughing during such a serious conversation. Samantha, a friend of most of the people in this theater, had died possibly under suspicious circumstances. Wanting to laugh about anything right now simply felt wrong.

Emerald drew in a quick breath. “Okay, then. I think we’re all in agreement. The show will go on. Rehearsals start tomorrow night.”

A sharp-toned voice spoke up. “Do we have the extra scripts that Samantha had at her house, though? And her notes?”

Gladwynn glanced down her row and saw the question had come from Martha.

Emerald’s face fell. “No, we don’t actually. Thank you for reminding me. Samantha had all those.”

The group, which had seemed to have gathered new life and excitement a moment before returned to their downcast state.  Gladwynn couldn’t imagine that any of them wanted to go to Samantha’s to retrieve them and Eileen didn’t seem like the most pleasant person to deal with, but — .

“I’ll ask Eileen if she’s seen them or if I can go get them,” she said quickly.

The entire group looked at her, relief on many of their faces. Lucinda looked at her with a grateful expression, reached over and squeezed her hand.

Gladwynn didn’t relish the idea of returning to Samantha’s apartment but she also couldn’t imagine someone who had known her as well as most of the people in the group had having to go in there after what had happened. She’d go to the retirement community manager’s office the next day and see if Eileen could help her.

She wouldn’t mind getting another look at the place anyhow. There might be a clue that she, or the police, had missed. A clue that would prove that Samantha died either from an accident or from foul play.

The meeting lasted another fifteen minutes and then the members split apart to different parts of the theater — either to discuss the set, costumes, or the script itself. Gladwynn, still not ready to commit to playing a part, avoided the actors and followed Lucinda to the prop closet down behind the stage and down the hall.

The closet was a walk-in and larger than Gladwynn had expected. It also featured some old musical instruments, what looked like old marching band uniforms, various decorations, art supplies, and rolls of fabric.

Lucinda began unfurling fabric. “Floyd and his wife have offered again this year to help with the set. Their grandson owns a construction company and Martha — you remember that’s his wife’s name. So not the other Martha. Well, anyhow, his Martha was an art teacher for 25 years so she’s going to paint some beautiful scenery for us. You weren’t here last summer but she painted this gorgeous sunset we used for our performance of Oklahoma.” She unfurled a roll of fabric with pink roses all over it. “This one might work for Anne’s dress. The one with the puffed sleeves.” She reached out to touch a blue fabric with a silkier look to it. “Or maybe this one. I’m grateful for Doris’ sewing skills. I can sew, but not as well as I can knit.”

She hooked both rolls of fabric under each arm. “I’ll be right back. I want to show Doris these and see which one she thinks will work. Can you pull out some fake flowers for us? They are in those bins back there. We’re going to need them for the set. Look for some purple and white lilies if you see any.”

Gladwynn set to work pulling out the large, red bins on the bottom shelf in the back of the closet. She knelt and popped open the lid. A musty smell rushed at her and she made a face, leaning back from it.

No lilies in this one. Only some faded flowers that looked like they’d been pulled off a gravestone after six months of laying in the sun.

She closed the lid and slid out another bin.

“She must love finally being in control. She always wanted Samantha’s job and now she has it.”

Gladwynn recognized the voice outside the door as Martha’s.

Someone else, possibly Louise, sighed. “I suppose this means we will have to hear even more stories about all those years she supposedly worked on Broadway.”

Martha scoffed. “I’m sure we will. You know those stories are all garbage. There is no way she worked on Broadway. If she had we would have heard of her.”

“I don’t know,” the other woman said. “Depends on what she did but I don’t think she did anything.

“Didn’t she say she was an assistant to some famous director?” Martha asked.

There was a small laugh. “Yeah, more than once. Can’t remember which one, though.”

“She never said who.” Martha launched into a dramatic impression of Emerald. “’Sharing who would be bragging,’ she said. More like, sharing who would be proof that her stories are completely made up.”

“And she bragged enough even without the name dropping.”

The voices began to fade as the women started to walk back down the hallway. “If any of it is true then it must have drove her crazy that Samantha took over as director,” Martha said.

Gladwynn stood slowly and moved to the doorway, backing against the wall, and straining to hear the rest of the conversation.

“It probably also drove her crazy that Samantha’s personality was a hundred times more appealing,” responded the voice who she could clearly tell was Louise’s now. “That’s what mattered. She encouraged instead of bullied.” Louise sighed. “I hate that we are talking about her in the past tense.”

Martha’s voice fell to a whisper, losing its usual vibrato. “Me too, honey. Me too.”

Gladwynn returned to looking for flowers, deep in thought.

Had Emerald been jealous of Samantha? Jealous enough to hurt her in some way?

She opened another lid and shook her head. No, she wasn’t going to do this again. She wasn’t going to wrap herself up in a mystery that was not hers to solve.

There was no evidence at this point that anything criminal had happened to Samantha. She could have had a heart attack or a stroke or accidentally taken too many pills. Hadn’t there been a pill bottle on the bedside table? Gladwynn closed her eyes briefly and tried to remember. Yes, she thought she could remember one there. A small one that looked like a prescription bottle.

That very well could have been it. Maybe she’d been upset by Derek’s passing and had purposely taken too many pills. It was a horrible thought but suicide, sadly, happened more often than people wanted to admit. She spotted a strand of lilies that could be wrapped around a piece of the set to look like a row of them. Pulling it from the box she laid them aside and dug for more.

As she dug, the image of Samanth’s face in death swirled uninvited in her mind. To Gladwynn her expression had seemed to be one of shock. And the way her body was contorted, her hand reaching out toward the door? Had Samantha been reaching toward someone? Maybe that happened when the contents of too many pills hit a person’s system. Maybe Samantha had regretted what she’d done and was trying to get to a phone to call for help.

Then there was the knocked over lamp and the piece of paper crumpled on the floor. Could Samantha had knocked over the lamp when the drugs started to take effect and as she fell?

 Gladwynn wished now she had picked the paper up and looked at it closer. Had Samantha been writing something when she died? A suicide note? If it had been a note, wouldn’t she have written it before she took the pills?

She piled more flowers next to her as Lucinda walked back into the closet with the fabric.

“Doris says this blue one will work perfectly so I’m going to take this one home. Now we just need to find a pattern to use. I bet I can find one online. Etsy would be a great place to look. Or maybe Pinterest. I saw one on a cottage core account on Instagram the other day too.”

Gladwynn turned her head to hide her smile. She’d never met a 70-year-old woman so up on the internet and social media as her grandmother.

“Oh wonderful!” Lucinda clapped her hands together. “You found some beautiful lilies. They will look so lovely in front of the Green Gables set.” She paused for a moment. “Gladwynn dear, you have that look on your face again.”

Gladwynn glanced at her grandmother as she placed a lid back on one of the bins. “What look?”

“Your eyebrows are all squished down and your lips are pursed and there is a tightness to your jaw.”

Gladwynn had no idea her expressions were so dramatic.

“What are you thinking about? Is it your father’s visit?”

She’d completely forgotten about her father’s visit. Wonderful. Now she would be thinking about it. “No. It’s nothing. It must have just been my searching face. I had no idea you sat there and analyzed my expressions.” She stood and smoothed her shirt down over her slacks. “I have to be honest that I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

Lucinda stepped closer, her eyes boring into Gladwynn’s. “It’s about Samantha isn’t it? Are you still thinking about what you saw?” She set the scissors she’d been holding down and cradled Gladwynn’s face in her hands. “I’m sure it was traumatizing and I know we talked about it some already but if you need to talk more you know I’m here for you, right?”

Gladwynn nodded. “Yes, Grandma, I know. I’m okay, but, yes, I’ve been thinking about her death and what I saw. I’m just processing. That’s all.”

Lucinda kissed her forehead. “I hate that you and Doris had to be the ones to find her.” She tipped her head toward the door and took her hands off Gladwynn’s face “Come on. Let’s get out of here and go grab a sweet treat at Brewed Awakening. It’s just what we all need.”

“Have you seen my hips lately? I’m not really sure sweets are what I need, but I could get a coffee.”

Lucinda frowned. “Honey, I would absolutely love to have those hips. They’re fine. Believe me. But coffee? At this time of the night?”

Gladwynn shrugged her shoulder. “It doesn’t bother me.”

Lucinda sighed as she closed the closet door behind her. “Ah to be young and unafraid of coffee after six again.”

It was obvious that Lucinda hadn’t been the only one who’d thought a sweet treat at Brewed Awakening was a good idea. It was only an hour before closing but the café and bookshop were both packed.

Abbie wasn’t working that night, but Marylou, the owner, was and she had a friendly smile for them despite the apparent hectic appearance of her business.

Gladwynn looked over her shoulder at the crowd. “What’s the occasion? This place is packed tonight.”

Marylou tightened the scrunchie around her ponytail. Her dark brown hair was streaked with gray and Gladwynn also saw a few streaks of purple, which denoted Marylou’s young-at-heart attitude. “It’s a fundraiser for the library. Half of my proceeds are supporting the purchase of new books for the children’s section.”

“Oh, that’s right! I forgot that was tonight!” Lucinda said. “In that case we’ll take an extra pastry each!”

Doris shook her head. “Speak for yourself. I’ll take two extra.” She winked. “I can take one home to the mister.”

With their treats in hand, but the café seats all taken, they decided to find a bench outside. The town of Brookstone featured benches dedicated in the memory of former residents along its Main Street. They chose the one was dedicated in the memory of Gladwynn’s grandfather, Sidney, who had been a minister in town for almost 50 years. The black metal bench sat in front of Rose Buds, a local flower shop.

“It’s nice you had a night off work, Gladwynn,” Doris said opening the bag with her pastry.

Lucinda had already taken out her pastry – a strudel with raspberry — and unwrapped it. “It’s not a usual thing, that’s for sure. This poor girl works almost every night until 9 or 10 p.m. She has no time for a social life.”

Gladwynn sipped her coffee and leaned back on the bench, crossing one leg over the other. “And what kind of social life do you think I should have?”

“I don’t know. Didn’t you have friends you hung out with back in Carter?”

The strudel did look good. Gladwynn wished she had chosen one. “Yes, some, but most of them were getting married and having children so there wasn’t a lot of time to hang out anymore. Savanah is still single and we talk from time to time, but she’s also very busy at the library. After they laid me off, they put a lot more on her.”

“It would be nice if Gladwynn had more time to see Pastor Luke,” Doris said breaking off a piece of the pastry. She took a bite, oblivious to Gladwynn looking at her with a confused expression and Lucinda looking at her with a warning expression.

“Why would I want to spend more time with Luke?”

Doris continued to eat. “Because you two hit it off so well that one time he came over for lunch. Then there was the trip down to Sight & Sound and – ouch! Lucinda! You’re digging your elbow into my ribs.”

Gladwynn looked at her grandmother and watched a scowl quickly turn into an innocent smile.

Lucinda nodded at the cup of coffee in Gladwynn’s hand. “How’s your coffee, dear? Enough cream and sugar in there for you?”

“Grandma, I really –”

Lucinda raised her hand in a greeting. “Oh, Eileen! Hello! How nice to see you this evening.”

Eileen stopped walking abruptly, clearly startled. To Gladwynn she looked like a frightened rabbit as she pulled her jacket close around her neck. The night was cooler than some nights but not cool enough for a jacket in Gladwynn’s opinion. The woman’s appearance was a drastic change from the impatient and flustered property manager she’d met at Samantha’s two days before.

“I-I’m fine.” Eileen straightened her hunched shoulders and offered a brief smile. “Lovely to see you too, Lucinda.”

Lucinda seemed oblivious to what Gladwynn saw as Eileen’s discomfort and plowed forward. “Eileen, we noticed this evening that we don’t have some of the scripts and notes we need for the play. We believe Samantha had them. Is there any way we can get to them you think?”

Eileen visibly paled, lowered her gaze to the sidewalk, and coughed softly. “Um, yes. Of course. The police released the scene, um, the condo today. If you come over tomorrow, I’ll take you over there to see if we can find them.” She nodded quickly. “I’m heading home to feed my cats. You ladies have a nice evening.”

She walked quickly past them, avoiding making eye contact and shoving one hand in her jacket pocket while the other kept the top of the jacket closed.

Doris took another bite of her pastry, speaking with her mouth full. “She was a bit squirrely, don’t you think?”

Lucinda shrugged. “Eileen’s always been a bit – well, different.”

Doris snorted a laugh. “You’re always so good at sugar-coating things, Lucinda. She’s always been a bit uptight. Let’s be honest.”

“A bit, yes,” Lucinda conceded. “Anyhow, let’s finish up our treats. I need to get home to bed. I have spin class at 7 a.m., a hair appointment at 9, a library board meeting at 10, a drop off to the loan closet at 11, a trip to the supermarket after that and then lunch with Jacob at noon.”

Gladwynn paused, the coffee cup partway to her mouth, her eyes wide at the extensive list her grandmother had just rattled off. “Don’t you ever slow down?”

Lucinda made a face. “Why would I want to? At my age I’d better keep going or I’ll rust.”

Back in the car, Gladwynn couldn’t help thinking about Eileen’s strange behavior. Or at least it seemed strange to Gladwynn. She’d only met the woman once before. Still, even Doris thought Eileen had been acting a bit, well, squirrely, as Doris had put it. She’d certainly seemed on edge. What Gladwynn wanted to know was if she was on edge because someone she knew had just died or if she was on edge because she was somehow involved with that death.

 

Comfy, Cozy Cinema: The Secret World of Arrietty

For the next three months, Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I will be watching cozy, mysterious, or comfy movies. Erin made these awesome graphics detailing what we are doing and what movies we will be watching.

This week we had a double-feature. Erin chose Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Secret World of Arrietty. I had never watched either of them. I love how Erin pulls me out of my comfort zone and introduces me to knew things.

The Secret World of Arrietty is a Studio Ghibli film.

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio for those of you who are like me and have no idea.

I honestly didn’t understand what Studio Ghibli was until Erin talked about it and then my son wanted me to watch Howel’s Castle with him a couple of months ago. These are animated films made in Japan and later dubbed into English to watch in the United States. Or you can watch the Japanese version and read the subtitles. The movies have become very popular and big-name actors are now being used to voice the American versions.

The movies from Studio Ghibli are often quirky and fantastical, strange but also poignant. They aren’t everyone’s cup of tea and I honestly had no interest in watching one until The Boy suggested it and then Erin said she wanted to watch this one.

I ended up liking Arrietty more than I expected.

As my son said, “I can see why she likes this movie so much. It’s just really creative and cool.”

And it was.

Arrietty and her family members are very tiny people – like two inches high, not like the cast of TLCs Little People, Big World (who are actually called little people and who I am almost as short as).

It is similar to The Borrowers, the book and movie, and is actually the inspiration for the movie.

The movie has a very, cozy feel to it . . . until you realize the stinking ants are bigger than the people and can eat them. Ack!

This isn’t essential to the movie, but I love Arrietty’s outfits…she’s so cute. I want to be cute.

The Boy commented on how he likes how the studio pays such attention to details, including using the wood staples as the ladder.

The movie starts with a human family coming to a new house. We are clued in very quickly that the young boy is sick for some reason – something with his heart.

The young boy sees Arrietty in the bushes when he first arrives but she runs away.

Later that day her father agrees to let her come with him when he goes into the house of the beans (which is what they call humans) to borrow items, such as a sugar cube and a pin, that they can use. This is Arrietty’s first time helping her father borrow and she’s nervous but excited. She’s even more nervous when the boy spots her again and this time, he speaks to her and tells her not to be afraid.

She isn’t afraid but she and her dad quickly leave without speaking to the boy.

The next day the boy leaves the sugar cube Arrietty accidentally dropped in his room to try to get to know her.

Her parents, however, tell her to stay away from the boy, afraid traps will be set for them and that they will be killed.

Of course, Arrietty doesn’t listen to her parents because if she did then there wouldn’t be a movie.

She does go to meet the boy – whose name is Shawn – and is almost killed by a crow. Luckily, Shawn rescues her.

They don’t talk much but later Shawn’s aunt shows him a dollhouse that his mother made with her father for the Borrowers to use. The Borrowers never came, though, and this made the mom sad.  Shawn knows that the little family would love the kitchen so he takes it from the dollhouse, rips up the floor and practically gives them a heart attack by giving them the kitchen.

This traumatizes the family and Arrietty’s father says they have to leave so they won’t be chased out, trapped or killed.

Shawn likes to say uncomfortable and awkward things like the antagonist in any anime film, The Boy says.

He says things like, “There’s less and less of you every year, isn’t there?” and “We can’t all live forever.”

The Boy said, “Bro’s got that unsocial riz, doesn’t he?”

So while Shawn is not a threat to the Borrowers, the housekeeper, voiced by Carol Burnett, totally is. For some reason, she wants to find and destroy The Borrowers. I don’t get what her behavior is about at all but she’s creepy as anything.

This, yet again, isn’t related to the overall plot of the movie but the beds these characters have look so comfortable. There is a lot of cozy feelings to this movie overall.

I won’t give away what happens to the family or the boy but I was so nervous for them throughout the movie.

I will comment on one thing about these movies though – the voice actors don’t emote very well sometimes so the characters end up giving very weird and monotone effects to the line delivery. For example, there are times when they should be alarmed but instead, they respond in a very monotone way and it makes the kids and I giggle. Little Miss does an amazing imitation of those moments when the characters deliver bored sounding responses to otherwise alarming situations.

I am not complaining about the sometimes monotone delivery, but just commenting on how it is just a little odd quirk of the movies when they are dubbed. An odd quirk that makes us giggle.

You can read Erin’s impression here: https://crackercrumblife.com/2023/09/14/comfy-cozy-cinema-the-secret-world-of-arrietty/

Next up for our movie-watching feature is The African Queen.

Our schedule for the rest of the series (the dates are when we are writing about them):

Arsenic and Old Lace (Sept. 28)

Oct. 5 (break for us or you to catch up!)

The Lady Vanishes (October 13)

Strangers on a Train (Oct. 19)

Rebecca (Oct. 26)

Little Women (November 2)

Tea with The Dames (November 9)

The Fishermen’s Friends (November 16)

November 23 off for Thanksgiving

November 30th? Wildcard at this point because we shifted things around and are short a movie! Oops! We will update

Comfy, Cozy Cinema: Fantastic Mr. Fox

For the next three months, Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I will be watching cozy, mysterious, or comfy movies. Erin made these awesome graphics detailing what we are doing and what movies we will be watching.

This week we had a double-feature.

Today we are writing about Fantastic Mr. Fox and Thursday we are writing about The Secret World of Arrietty.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox, released in 2009, is a stop-motion animation movie directed by Wes Anderson.

I don’t know much about Wes Anderson but I’ve heard his movies are always a bit weird. This one is no exception, but it isn’t the weirdest movie I’ve ever seen. It’s weird but the animation and direction are amazing.

The movie is based on the Roald Dahl book of the same name. Anderson signed on for the project because he said Dahl was a hero of his. He even made the scenery look like Dahl’s hometown of Great Missenden.

The kids and I cuddled up in cool fall weather (even though today is supposed to be close to 80. Grrr) to watch it last night.

Mr. Fox is voiced by George Clooney.

He is a former bird thief whose wife has asked him to turn his life around so now he writes a column for a newspaper, which I know firsthand is not a lucrative job.

Despite that, he purchases a house above the ground in a tree. This tree is close to three very mean farmers – Boggis, Bunce, and Bean.  One farms chickens, the other geese, and the third turkeys.

Mr. Fox is feeling a bit antsy in his newspaper job (again – firsthand experience with this right here) and decides he needs some excitement. He concocts a plan to pull off a bird heist at each of the farms, despite being warned about how dangerous the farmers are.

He enlists the help of a new clueless opossum friend named Kylie, who isn’t the best sidekick for a dangerous heist, but was one of our favorite characters (“Apple juice. A flood of apple juice.”)

There are a ton of big name voices characters in this one: Clooney, Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox, Owen Wilson, Willem Defoe, Bill Murray, Michael Gabon, Jason Schwartzman, and Anderson himself.

In between Mr. Fox’s story of wanting to experience the thrill of the steal, if you will, is an underlying story of how his son feels left out and inferior to his cousin Kristoffersen.

Then it all comes to a heart-pounding climax when the farmers join together to take Mr. Fox and his family – and subsequently other animals underground – out.

According to Wikipedia: “Fantastic Mr. Fox premiered as the opening film of the 53rd edition of the London Film Festival on October 14, 2009, and was released in the United States on November 13, to critical acclaim, with praise for Anderson’s direction, humor, and stop-motion animation. However, it underperformed at the box office, grossing just $46.5 million against a $40 million budget. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score.”

Anderson did add some to the movie that was different from the book, with the second act being mainly from the book.

The movie for the music, which is fun and quirky, was composed by Alexandre Desplat.

The kids and I really liked the film, even if I was so nervous about what was going to happen in the end. It was quirky, funny, and very creative.

I’m glad Erin suggested this one.

If you want to read Erin’s take on the film you can visit her blog here:https://crackercrumblife.com/2023/09/12/comfy-cozy-cinema-fantastic-mr-fox/

Coming up next is the Studio Ghibli film The Secret World of Arrietty which we will write about Thursday.

The rest of our schedule:

The African Queen (Sept. 21)

Arsenic and Old Lace (Sept. 28)

Oct. 5 (break for us or you to catch up!)

The Lady Vanishes (October 13)

Strangers on a Train (Oct. 19)

Rebecca (Oct. 26)

Little Women (November 2)

Tea with The Dames (November 9)

The Fishermen’s Friends (November 16)

November 23 off for Thanksgiving

November 30th? Wildcard at this point because we shifted things around and are short a movie! Oops! We will update

Sunday Bookends: 60th anniversary party, getting over a cold, and a sick Zooma the Wonder Dog

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

What’s Been Occurring

Last weekend my entire family came down with some kind of virus and it kept me from writing my Sunday Bookends post on Sunday.

I had no interest in writing because I had the worst sinus headache for the first part of the cold and then it was like some kind of dam broke and my nose started running for a day and a half. Then the cold was gone but left behind some gunk.

The illness started with The Boy who started attending a career center the week before last.

I should have known that more illness would come now that he’s at a regular school part of the time.

In the end we were really only “sick” for two days but it felt so much longer and then the mucous and coughs lingered for another few days. All of this was going on while I was trying to plan for my parents’ anniversary party which was yesterday. I’ll write a little bit about it here and then I’ll do another blog post later this week, but I will share that it went well.

One of the highlights was when our local state representative presented them with a proclamation to honor them for being married for 60 years and to honor my dad for his service in the United States Air Force.

I also slapped together this video for them but wasn’t able to show it until afterward because I couldn’t figure out where to put the video up for everyone else to see it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXDNg0qWLZM

On Friday I made ham and bean soup and cut up fruit and veggies for the party, while trying to simply relax and not worry about our dog who seems to be suffering from colitis again.

Her symptoms started while we were all sick, of course.

She has these bouts of colitis every six months or so at this point. When it hit her in April, she was so bad she couldn’t even get herself off and on the back porch to use the bathroom and her little backside was bent over to try to deal with the pain.

This time it’s clear she’s not herself but she’s moving better than she could be.

We are hoping we can use all the natural treatment instead of taking her to the vet this time. Today I am home with her while the rest of the family goes to a family reunion.

Despite our illness, we managed to start school a little more earnestly this week than last.

We are starting easy with art, English, and music for Little Miss and history and English for the Boy.

Next week I start adding in the big one – math, which neither of them is a fan of – and science which both are sort of fans of.

The Boy will be learning about forensic science this year and Little Miss will start with ecosystems and then we will be doing some general science.

What I/we’ve been Reading

Last week I finished Crime and Poetry by Amanda Flower.

I liked it but I am always a little confused by her books because the mystery is always solved in like three days and it is back-to-back crisis and also a little formulaic. I still like her writing and books and how she creates characters I get attached to, however.

I didn’t have a lot of interest in reading while I was sick so I didn’t finish All That Really Matters by Nicole Deese yet. I have plans to finish it this week but I did start a comfort read – The Cat Who Blew The Whistle (Cat Who . . . Book 17) by Lilian Jackson Braun.

I just wanted a simple cozy mystery with my favorite cozy mystery sleuth, Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese Cats Koko and Yum-Yum.

Little Miss and I are reading Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright.

The Husband is reading Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane.

The Boy is reading The Red Badge of Courage for school.

What We watched/are Watching

Last week I watched Shop Around the Corner and we watched a lot of Newhart.

I also watched an episode of the new Around the World in 80 Days mini-series with David Tennant with The Boy.

This week I am watching Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Secret World of Arrietty for the cozy, comfy cinema series that Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I are doing this fall.

We will be watching movies and posting our impressions of them on Thursdays. This week only we will be posting on Tuesday and Thursday.

Today my family went to a family reunion without me, as I mentioned above, so I can stay home with Zooma the Wonder Dog and catch up on some rest that I lost last week while battling the aftermath of the cold. I may actually get to watch something on my own, which is a very rare occurrence. I think I’ll probably pick something light and relaxing along the lines of Anne of Green Gables (the 1985 one).

Update: I picked a movie called The Lightkeepers with Richard Dreyfuss and I’m liking it so far.

What I’m Writing

I am still working on Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing. I am also working on some blog posts for the upcoming weeks.

Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Fiction Friday: Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage Chapter 4

Welcome to the fourth chapter of Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage.

As always this is a work in progress and there could be (will be) typos, plot holes, and other errors but those will be fixed before the book publishes a couple of months from now.

If you want to read the first book in the series, you can find it on Amazon HERE.

If you don’t want to read this story in chapters on a blog, you can pre-order it HERE.

If you want to learn more about my other books you can find links to them HERE.

Chapter 4

“Grant. Where are you? A resident at Willowbrook just called and said there are cop cars all over the place.”

Once again Gladwynn was impressed how her boss, Managing Editor Liam Finley, seemed to know everything that was going on and also seemed to never leave his office at the newspaper.  She wondered if he handed his personal cellphone out to everyone he met so they could call him 24/7 with any breaking news.

“I’m at Willowbrook now and there are, yes.”

“You’re there?”

“I am, but I’m leaving right now.”

“So, fill me in. What are you seeing?”

“There are indeed police cars here. There’s been a death in one of the condos. Possibly suspicious.”

“Whoa. Who is it? Any ideas? One of the old folks?”

“No. A young folk, actually. Samantha Mors.”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone, followed up by a curse word. “No way. I did not expect that.”

“Did you know her?”

“Not exactly, no. I met her at a bar once. Saw her off and on around town after that. Gorgeous woman. Sweet too. Wanted nothing to do with me no matter how hard I tried.”

Gladwynn shook her head, and stifled a laugh, glad Liam couldn’t see her. The man was well-known countywide for his bar visits and his love of women. Lots of women.

“Were you there?” he asked. “I mean, at Willowbrook when the cops were there?”

She didn’t know how much she should share at this point, but Liam was going to find out eventually anyhow. “A friend of mine found her actually. I was the second person on scene.” She glanced at Doris as she started the car. “It’s been pretty upsetting for her and me. How about I give you a call after I get her home?”

“You saw the body?” Liam whistled. “Oh man, Grant. I’m sorry you had to see that. Yeah. Totally call me back later and let’s hammer out a plan of action for tomorrow’s paper. Sadly, you’re a bit too close to the case to cover it. We’d better have Laurel handle it from here.”

At that moment Gladwynn felt like a real reporter because under no circumstances did she want to give up this story. “Why are you giving it to Laurel? This is my story.”

“Hate to break it to you, kid, but it’s not your story. You’re part of the story. Conflict of interest. Call me later.”

The line disconnected. Gladwynn scowled at the phone briefly then flipped it into her middle console.

Doris let out a breath. “Oh, Gladwynn, honey, I’m glad you don’t have to cover this story. What a hard job reporting is.”

Gladwynn shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah, sometimes, but the hard stories are mixed in with a lot of happy stories. Like little kids at field days and church dinners. It all evens out in the end.”

The drive to Doris’ house was quiet after that with Doris looking out the window contemplatively.

After escorting Doris into her house, brewing her a cup of tea, and sitting with her for half an hour to be sure she was okay, Gladwynn headed back home to call Liam and connect with Lucinda.

Lucinda was in the kitchen brewing a pot of tea and loading chocolate chip cookies onto a plate when Gladwynn walked in with the phone to her ear.

She filled Liam in on the details she felt like she could fill him in on, mainly that Tanner was the lead investigator and that there was no conclusive evidence as of yet that there was any foul play in Samantha’s death. She chose not to offer any specific details about the condition or  position of Samantha’s body and, thankfully, he didn’t ask. A photo she’d taken on her cellphone of the police cars and ambulance parked outside of the condo would work for a photograph for the story, he told her.

Lucinda pulled her into a hug as soon as she slid her finger over the button to end the call. “He’s not going to make you write about this horrible thing, is he?”

“No. He’s giving it to Laurel. He said my covering it would be a conflict of interest.”

Lucinda leaned back and pushed a strand of dark hair back from Gladwynn’s face. “Good. You were involved enough as it was with that mess with Daryl Stabler. This would be even worse since you were right there to find her. I just can’t believe it. How are you holding up?”

Gladwynn sighed and sat at the kitchen table, pouring herself some tea. “Okay, I guess. I’m more worried about Doris. The poor woman. She was really shaken.” She winced as she spooned some honey out of the jar. “Rightly so. It was awful to see Samantha that way. I hadn’t met her officially yet, but I saw her earlier today at the lake. It was so weird to see someone you’d seen alive only a few hours earlier dead in her bedroom floor.” Gladwynn shuddered. “Weird and awful.”

Lucinda sat in the chair on the other side of her. “What does Tanner think? Does he really think she was murdered?”

“He doesn’t know yet. He said there are aspects of the scene that are suspicious but he wouldn’t elaborate on what.”

Lucinda pushed the plate of cookies toward her. “Well, it doesn’t matter. The police will release some information soon enough. I’m just so glad you don’t have to worry about it anymore. Laurel can fill you in later or you can read it in the newspaper like the rest of us.”

Gladwynn nodded absentmindedly. It still bothered her that Liam had given the story to Laurel, but she knew he was right. It wouldn’t look right for her to write about a situation she’d been directly involved with, even if she personally had no idea what had happened to Samantha nor had she known her.

Still, she couldn’t push away the uneasy feeling that Samantha’s death wasn’t an accident and she would love to find out if that feeling was accurate or not.

“What are they going to do about the play?” she asked, trying to forget the image of Samantha in that floor.

Lucinda stirred creamer in her tea. “They aren’t sure yet but I think we should continue it in Samantha’s honor. Incorporating the arts into the activities of the older population was very important to her. We’re all meeting Monday night to make the final decision.”

A tear slipped down Lucinda’s cheek. Gladwynn reached over and squeezed her hand. She wanted to tell her it was okay, but it wasn’t okay. It was horrible and heartbreaking that Samantha had passed away. It would be even more heartbreaking if she had passed away because of something someone else did.

Lucinda cleared her throat. “I just can’t believe that this happened right after Derek passed away. He and Samantha were so close. When I heard about what happened I just kept worrying that maybe  — no. I can’t think that. It’s just, she was so down about his death. What if she – ” Lucinda shook her head and dabbed a tissue to the corner of her eye.

Gladwynn rubbed her grandmother’s shoulder. Der. Those were the letters she’d seen on the piece of paper at Samantha’s. “Who was Derek?”

Lucinda looked up from her tea. “Oh right. I guess I ever told you about him. He moved here a couple of years ago. He was such a kind man. I wish you could have met him. He was the one who made sure the little library was stocked and we had all we needed for badminton and tennis. He purchased all that equipment. I’m guessing he had some money, but I don’t know.” She wiped her nose. “He just had such a kind heart. He died two weeks ago. None of us even knew he was sick, but, well, it is a retirement home so residents do die more often than other places. He and Samantha were very close. It’s like they connected right away when she started. They used to play cards together and he always helped her with her various recreation events. They had lunches together and we’d often see them reading books out in the courtyard.”

She took a sip of her tea. “Anyhow, I think we both need a little break from that topic. Jacob is going to come over for dinner after church tomorrow. I hope that’s okay.”

Gladwynn raised an eyebrow. “Grandma, this is your house.  You can invite whomever you want over. You don’t have to ask me permission to have your boyfriend over. Plus, Jacob still owes me a rematch at Chess.”

Gladwynn had slowly become accustomed to Jacob Evans being a regular site at the old Victorian home she and her grandmother lived in. He was often there for dinners or movie nights or simply to repair something around the home. Gladwynn had only learned about their relationship when she moved in so she wasn’t sure how long the pair had been dating.

Seeing her grandmother going out on dates with someone other than Gladwynn’s late grandfather Sidney Grant had been unsettling at first. Sidney had passed away six years ago, though, and he wouldn’t have wanted Lucinda to live the rest of her life without a companion.

Lucinda rolled her eyes. “Don’t call him my boyfriend. That sounds so  – I don’t know – teenagerish.”

Gladwynn snorted out a laugh. “But he is your boyfriend.”

Lucinda waved her hand briefly as she took a sip of tea. “Let’s be honest, you just want him over because you’re just desperate to figure out how he keeps beating you at chess. Admit it.”

“I completely am. It’s not fair. I was Chess champion three years in a row in my dorm at college. I don’t get how he’s so fast!”

Lucinda laughed and broke a cookie in half, handing one half to Gladwynn. “Years and years of practice, my dear, I’m sure. Remember he told you he used to play it in the barracks during Vietnam.”

Gladwynn finished her cookie and stood. “Liam wants me in the office so it looks like our movie night will have to be delayed. There isn’t much information I can provide him with since I’m being considered a witness, but I’ll head in and fill him on what I can so Laurel has a head start on the story.”

“That’s absolutely fine. We can always do it tomorrow after church.”

Gladwynn kissed Lucinda’s cheek. “You usually fall asleep after lunch so let’s do it in the evening instead.”

Lucinda looked up and quirked an eyebrow. “Let’s be honest, young lady. We both fall asleep after lunch.”

The woman was right, of course. Gladwynn had become accustomed to finishing her grandmother’s delicious meals and then curling up under a blanket in the living room and dozing off for a nap. She knew how spoiled she was and she didn’t feel guilty about it at all.

***

She called Tanner’s number at the barracks on the way to the office. He wasn’t there but she left him a message asking him to call her. Maybe the conversation Samantha had been having was unrelated. Maybe she was arguing with a bill collector. Still, she knew Tanner would want to know about it.

The Brookstone Beacon office was quiet with less staff there on a Saturday night than during the week. The buzz of the fluorescent lights was the loudest sound as Gladwynn made her way to Liam’s office. Liam’s appearance, and his office, was in its usual state — empty takeout containers scattered among loose papers on top of his desk and on the small table in the corner of the office; a black leather coat tossed across the couch against the wall to the right; Liam’s dress shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows; and his jawline unshaven.

He was typing fast when she stepped into the doorway. He didn’t look away from the computer screen, even when she sat in the chair across from his desk.

When he did turn to face her, he swiveled in his chair quickly and spoke in his usual clipped manner. “Grant. Hello. Tell me everything.”

She filled him in on what she hadn’t been able to talk about in front of Doris, without going into too many details. He listened with his hands propped behind his head, eyes narrowed, leaning slightly back in his chair.

When she was done, he kept his hands behind his head and nodded, looking wistfully at a spot on the wall above her head. “Sad thing. Sam was a good woman. I worked at a newspaper in Philly [lh1] for a few years and she said she’d grown up there. That’s about as far in the conversation as we got. She brushed me off pretty fast.” He shrugged and focused his gaze back on Gladwynn. “Anyhow, fill Benton in on this and then get out of here. I’m sure it wasn’t easy seeing all that. Good thinking on getting a shot for the front too.” He dropped his hands on the desk, then pointed at her. “Make sure Kinney knows we get first dibs on this story too. I better not see one of the TV stations up north or down south with this story tonight.”

She knew up north meant the small NBC affiliate over the border in New York state and down south meant a group of televisions stations in the central part of the state. They were more competition than the local shoppers and small publications called “penny savers” in the area. Those publications were more about ads than news and even though all newspapers needed ads, Liam only focused on who could compete with his paper on the news side of things.

Gladwynn was certain the man had been born with actual ink running in his veins.

She stood and smiled. “I can’t control what information the state police release and to whom, but I’ll pass on your desire to have the scoop.”

Liam winced. “Grant. No one says,” he formed quotes with his fingers “scoop anymore. Stop reading those 1940 crime novels. Capeesh?”

“Capeesh.”

The sound of one of the 90s style phones that the newspaper used for its landlines slamming back in place echoed up the hallways from Laurel Benton’s desk when Gladwynn walked back.

She had a feeling Laurel wasn’t having a good day – most likely due to a source who wouldn’t return her calls.

Laurel had a few rough edges but not so rough that she and Gladwynn weren’t able to form a type of friendship. Their personalities were very different, but somehow, they clicked enough that Laurel had gone from gossiping about Gladwynn when she first arrived to now inviting her to lunch from time to time.

Gladwynn peered around the wall of Laurel’s cubicle slowly. Laurel’s head was tipped down, her straight dark brown hair hanging down across her face, a few strands of gray streaked through the dark brown, a reminder to Gladwynn that the woman was 10 years her senior.

For a second Gladwynn thought Laurel might be crying, but she’d never seen her even close to crying so when Laurel looked up at her with cheeks flushed and eyes narrowed, she knew it was anger that had her head hanging down, not sadness.

“Are we sure it’s illegal to kill a man who merely lives to make your life a living hell?”

Gladwynn had a feeling Laurel was talking about her ex-husband Lance Brewster, fire chief of the Birchwood Fire Department. Their divorce had been finalized only a few months ago and Gladwynn hadn’t said it to either of them, but she had a feeling that deep down they were both still in love with each other. Of course, that may have merely been Gladwynn’s romantic side speaking, because at this moment Laurel wanted to murder Lance.

Laurel practically growled as she spoke. “He never signed the papers. Can you believe that?”

Gladwynn leaned her side against the cubicle. “Never signed the divorce papers you mean?”

“Yes. My lawyer called the other day and said part of the papers weren’t signed.” Laurel pushed her hands through her hair and held them there, at the top of her head, for several seconds. “I’ve been trying to reach him for three days and he will not pick up. I thought I’d try from here instead of my cellphone and maybe he’d actually answer, but I should have known he’d ignore a call from the paper.”

She really should have known since Lance had told Gladwynn that Laurel’s job at the newspaper was one of the biggest contentions in the marriage. Gladwynn briefly considered pointing that out, but thought better of it.

Instead, she said, “I don’t get it. I thought you said it was final. That’s why you go by Benton now instead of Brewster.”

Laurel tossed her hands up. “I was told it was final. I can’t even believe this! How did my lawyer not even check the paperwork? Or should I say my ex-lawyer since Lance is apparently not my ex-husband like he is supposed to be.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“Take those stupid papers to Lance and tell him to finish signing where he was supposed to.” She let out a long breath. “Sorry. I know you haven’t had the best of days yourself. Fill me in on what you can and I’ll call the state police for the rest.”

Gladwynn relayed what she had told Liam. When she was done Laurel let out a whistle. “Wow. So do they really think she was murdered? I mean, I wonder why someone would even do that to her.”

“Did you know her?”

“Met her a couple of times, but, no, I didn’t really know her well. She seemed like a super nice person so I really hope she wasn’t killed.”

“Liam says I’m out on this one, but I’d love to know what Tanner says the coroner tells him. Fill me in, will you?”

“Definitely will but it’s better you’re not covering it. You’re too close to it all. Trust me. There was a fatal fire a few years ago and it was someone my family had known for years. Our old editor told me he didn’t want to pay for my therapy so I wasn’t allowed to go and cover it. Who knows. Maybe this will all turn out to be an accident and we won’t have to worry about it anyhow.”

As she headed home later, Gladwynn hoped Laurel was right. She hoped that she’d get a call later that told her Samantha Mors hadn’t died under suspicious circumstances. It would still be hard for Doris, her grandmother, and others from the community to deal with her death, but at least they wouldn’t have the added sadness that she had been murdered.

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Shop Around the Corner

For the next three months, Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I will be watching cozy, mysterious, or comfy movies. I think maybe cozy and comfy is the same thing, but you know what I mean. Erin made these awesome graphics detailing what we are doing and what movies we will be watching.

If you want to join in and give us your impressions of the movies we watch you are more than welcome to do so!

This week we watched The Shop Around the Corner with Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan (yes, this spelling threw me off but that was her actual last name), and Frank Morgan.

If you watch this movie and think that Frank Morgan looks very familiar but you just can’t place him, just imagine him saying, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”

Yes. He was The Wizard in The Wizard of Oz.

In this movie, he is Mr. Matuschek, who owns a leather goods store in Budapest, Hungary and Matuschek and Company. His top salesman and most trusted employee is Stewart who plays Alfred Kralik. They pronounced Matuschek as “Matachek” in the movie.

The movie opens with all the employees gathering together and letting us all get to know a bit about them.

Besides Kralik there is Kralik’s coworkers include Karlik’s friend, Pirovitch (Felix Bressart), a kindly family man; Ferencz Vadas (Joseph Schildkraut), a two-faced womanizer; saleswoman Ilona Novotny (Inez Courtney); clerk Flora Kaczek (Sara Haden); and Pepi Katona (William Tracy), a sassy errand boy.

We also learn in the beginning that Stewart has been writing letters to a woman he connected with while searching for something else in the newspaper. He saw her ad in the newspaper.

They’ve been hitting it off and he’s getting ready to actually meet her.

On this same day, Mr. Matuschek comes into the store with a bunch of musical cigarette boxes that he has to figure out how to sell. Mr. Kralik disagrees that Mr. Matuschek can sell the cigarette boxes and they have a brief spat.

Enter Margaret Sullavan as Klara Novak. She’s looking for a job and proceeds to sell one of the boxes to a customer. Mr. Matuschek hires her on the spot, much to the disappointment of Mr. Kralik, who doesn’t like the threat to his position but also finds her a bit pushy.

Enter a very popular trope in romance movies – enemies to lovers.

This trope has a couple twists, though, and that makes the movie interesting and more than just a romance.

The funny thing about the movie is that it is supposed to take place in Hungary but almost everyone has a New York/American accent.

This was a bit of a goofy movie with a couple of serious themes mixed in. It features wonderful bantering between Stewart and Sullivan and some really great acting from Stewart especially. I don’t know that I would say Sullivan was a great actress in this but she was very good and held her own against Stewart’s strong personality.

According to TCM: “James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan had known each other a long time before making The Shop Around the Corner. Both were in a summer stock company called the University Players. It was there that Stewart realized his potential as an actor, so he followed Sullavan and fellow player Henry Fonda to New York to begin an acting career in earnest.

Even though Margaret Sullavan was infamous for her quick temper and disdainful attitude towards Hollywood, James Stewart counted working with her as one of the great joys of his professional career. And because he knew her personally, he was more equipped than most of the cast and crew members to deal with her frequent and volatile emotional outbursts.”

I also loved this tidbit that TCM shared: “Stewart said: “We were in this little restaurant and I had the line: ‘I will come out on the street and I will roll my trousers up to my knees.’ For some reason, I couldn’t say it. She was furious. She said, ‘This is absolutely ridiculous.’ There I was standing with my trousers rolled up to my knees, very conscious of my skinny legs, and I said, ‘I don’t want to act today; get a fellow with decent legs and just show them.’ Margaret said, ‘Then I absolutely refuse to do the picture.’ So we did more takes.”

You can read the full article here: https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/413/the-shop-around-the-corner/#articles-reviews?articleId=26807

Some people might know that this movie was later remade or revamped a bit many years later in You Got Mail which starred Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks and was released in 1998.

There are a few changes between the two movies, of course.

I don’t want to give too much of the movie away, but there is a falling out between Mr. Matuschek and Kralik and a firing but it is all over a misunderstanding involving Mrs. Matuschek. There are actually a lot of misunderstandings in this movie and some of them are quite funny and interesting.

There are some great lines in this movie including:

“There might be a lot we don’t know about each other. You know, people seldom go to the trouble of scratching the surface of things to find the inner truth.”

Alfred Kralik: There might be a lot we don’t know about each other. You know, people seldom go to the trouble of scratching the surface of things to find the inner truth.

Klara Novak (Miss Novak) : Well I really wouldn’t care to scratch your surface, Mr. Kralik, because I know exactly what I’d find. Instead of a heart, a handbag. Instead of a soul, a suitcase. And instead of an intellect, a cigarette lighter… which doesn’t work.

Klara: [In her letter to Alfred] : Oh, my Dear Friend, my heart was trembling as I walked into the post office, and there you were, lying in Box 237. I took you out of your envelope and read you, read you right there.

Klara : Mr. Kralik, it’s true we’re in the same room, but we’re not on the same planet.

Alfred: Why Miss Novak, although I’m the victim of your remark, I can’t help admiring the exquisite way you have of expressing yourself. You certainly know how to put a man in his planet.

And this one from Klara, I would love to put on a T-shirt for myself: “Psychologically, I’m very confused… But personally, I don’t feel bad at all.”

The movie was directed by Ernst Lubitsch who told a reporter from the New York Times: “It’s not a big picture, just a quiet little story that seemed to have some charm. It didn’t cost very much, for such a cast, under $500,000. It was made in twenty-eight days. I hope it has some charm.”

I would definitely say the movie has a lot of charm.

Next up for our movies is a double feature with Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Secret World of Arrietty (a Studio Ghibli film). Erin and I will share about them next week.

Erin’s impression of the movie is here: https://crackercrumblife.com/2023/09/07/comfy-cozy-cinema-the-shop-on-the-corner/

We plan to watch the following movies through the next three months (the dates are the dates that we will be writing about them on (unless we have to postpone for illness or some other mental breakdown that one of us has *wink*):

The Secret World of Arrietty and Fantastic Mr. Fox (September 14)

The African Queen (Sept. 21)

Arsenic and Old Lace (Sept. 28)

Oct. 5 (break for us or you to catch up!)

The Lady Vanishes (October 13)

Strangers on a Train (Oct. 19)

Rebecca (Oct. 26)

Little Women (November 2)

Tea with The Dames (November 9)

The Fishermen’s Friends (November 16)

November 23 off for Thanksgiving

November 30th? Wildcard at this point because we shifted things around and are short a movie! Oops! We will update