As much as we enjoyed the Robert Parker books, I refused to buy them after I realized that we were reading them in about 2 hours. They were great big books printed on the thickest paper with the largest margins and very few words per page. We used to joke about how fast we would read them. "Honey, could you flip the steak now?" "Sure, just let me read this Spenser book first." lol My irreverent husband wondered if his obituary would be written like that, too. All that aside, I'm sorry Robert Parker died, he wasn't very old and I'm sure his family will miss him terribly. We did enjoy his books and the TV show with Robert Urich, he was the perfect Spenser. I recommend reading his books in the order that they were written in, when possible. They do have a progression of characters and story lines that might be helpful. (And I have to agree about the Susan Silverman eating habits and Jesse Stone's tortured love life.... I got kind of tired of both of those.)

I have been going to a number of appearances and readings by authors, which we have in spades here in Maine, and they all say you need an agent. (How do I get published? is the most-asked question.) First, you have to find an agent that works in your area, like mysteries, travel guides, etc., then get one to take you on. Can be quite a lengthy process. They really like it when you have a "platform." For instance, if you wrote a thriller that involves medical things, it would be really helpful if you were a doctor, i.e. Tess Gerritsen. None of this is very helpful, but maybe a little bit interesting.

Maybe these self-styled authors compose on their phones as I sometimes do. I blame my often tortured syntax and misplaced punctuation on the size of the screen. I need to see the whole piece to ascertain whether I'm making any sense, but if I can see everything I need a magnifying glass to read it. However, if I enlarge it, I can read only about ten words at a time so l lose track of the antecedents, and I wind up writing a mess. If I try to edit, I make a bigger mess. Annpan, I've 'inhaled' some beautiful coastlines. I like that wording. :-) However: ...his broad shoulders that ran like a cylinder down to his hips. This fella had a strange anatomy! I'm entertained by the very thought.

Mollie, I don't think I can be of much use re.'coping' novels, although I'm sure that we could all write one ourselves! The type of books that deal with domestic matters, cooking, children, husbands etc are very unlikely to become 'literature' in the sense you mean. I read very few girlie novels, but have dipped into Judy Astley's work just as a light 'summer holiday' read. Her books are rather formulaic but entertaining and mostly centre around some middle-class woman, living in a pleasant London suburb . . . and then various themes. Straying husbands, bossy M-in-L's, difficult teenage children (and she really does modern English kids very well) holidays in Cornwall, hippy friends etc. She wisely write about what she knows and doesn't attempt for eg racial problems in Northern inner-cities slums . . .the sort of despressing work enjoyed by liberal-minded critics but not by the average 'punter'. Sheri, re your recommendation for Nancy Mitford and Mollie's 'domestic' theme. If you read Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford she mentions that the only housework the six daughters were ever expected to perform, under Nanny's watchful eye, was to fold up their nighties and put them under their pillows every morning.:-) Pat, I was 'introduced' to the works of Norah Lofts in the '60's when staying with friends in Suffolk. They knew her while she was living in Bury St Edmunds and her 'House at Old Vine' series was based on that town (to any US traveller to the UK a most attractive town with some beautiful houses and a Cathedral saved from the abbey ruins). Mollie, it is certainly true that many people over here don't cook 'proper' meals and rely on fast-food. Of course it must be said that supemarkets do offer 'short-cut- cookery' where veggies are ready washed/prepared, or chicken comes in legs/breast/wings etc rather than a whole bird and all this can be put together to form a meal. Perhaps this is just sanitised cookery, but at least it means, as cece says that my DD can come home from work and prepare a nourishing meal quickly. The first DS is now married to a Japanese girl so cookery has now become a Fine-Art in their home. Did anyone read an article about a cross US/UK medical survey which found that top white income earners in the US were less healthy than white bottom-income families in the UK, despite the $$$$'s spent on medical care by the 'privileged classes' in the US and the UK using the creaking National Health system. I was sent this info as a newspaper cutting by a US friend and had seen it in our English daily paper. Cindy I think Vera Brittan wrote on sad themes such as loss of her brother and men friends during WW1 and rather'heavy' Socialist stuff (her daughter became the well-known Labour MP, Shirley Williams). As to whether they went to Cornwall or not . . .! Here is a link that might be useful: Judy Astley