Whatever Happened to that Novel?

Everyone including the Pondit has great expectations (hey another book title idea).  But the gap between expectations and achievements is often significant.  Some of you have noticed that chapters one through ninety-eight which were posted on this blog have disappeared.  The Pondit got very spooked while driving up US41 in Naples to go golfing and listening to NPR.  The piece was about self published books on Amazon.  The topic was specifically erotic novels.  These novels are the top selling self-published books.  Many are written by the same author using different pen names.  As it turns out many of those works were plagiarized from other sources.  Since Amazon online novel royalties are never that great, it is very hard for the original author to fight this practice.  I decided that no more posting of The Briefcase.

I am once again writing on a regular schedule.  I start before the Florida sun rises in the east.  Today I finished chapter one hundred and nineteen.  My scratchy and flexible outline has me finishing the first draft with chapter one hundred and twenty-six.  I should be done in ten days or so depending on my golf and winter visitor schedules.

For those of you who were following the book's progress and are still alive, he is some information on what has happened.  Patty continues to go downhill.  He was demoted at work and is not in favor with the DEA brass.  He continues to be obsessed with the Rivera case.  He is in the middle of a divorce.  Chet, Anna, Harry, Cindy and Theresa have been to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.  So has Agent Finnegan!  Finnegan has been involved in another sting operation that went badly.  He was injured in a gunfight and his partner was killed.  That evening Patty made a career decision.  The Mary Immaculate Star of the Seas School had a very successful fundraiser event.  Patty  has been forced to resign from the DEA.  Chet is planning a laundering trip to the Belmont Stakes.  Theresa and Harry now are in a serious relationship.

Updates to follow.  Does anyone know an editor or publisher looking for a new, exciting book to review?

Holy Mackerel!

Yesterday Barbara and I joined four friends for a half day fishing charter out of Marco Island.  I have to say that getting up at 5:45 AM just a few days after the start of daylight savings time, gives you plenty of time before the old sun rises in the east.  We were almost to the Marco Island bridge before an pink-orange sun popped over the mangrove keys to the east of Fiddler's Creek.  We got to Rose Marina at 7:50 and after a quick bathroom stop, we were off on the Wild Thing under Captain Randy's command.  After ten minutes at no wake speed, the engine roared and we were off to somewhere out in the Gulf of Mexico.  We appeared to be about a mile off shore when the engines slowed and we had all just finished our first beer of the day.  Not bad for 8:30!

The boat was stocked with light spinning tackle each with a jig on the leader.  We were to add a piece of sliced live string to the hook and cast and jig to our heart's desire.  Within minutes the first Spanish Mackerel was hooked and in the boat.  These fish can hit the bait no matter what speed it is moving at.  I was slow to realize that you did not need to set the hook yourself.  If You just keep moving the jig after you notice a strike, eventually the mackerel or jack will hook itself.  Early on one of us hooked a larger fish.  Line streamed off the reel.  About ten minutes later Captain Randy pulled up the tired fish and it was on the deck.  It was a fifteen pound Bonita which we released.  They are not a good tasting fish.

This was Barbara's first experience fishing.  She was somewhat dismayed at hooking her first fish, but by here third one, she had the knack of fighting the fish and getting it to the boat.  In all we must have landed over thirty fish.  We released all but sixteen that we planned to have for lunch.  Captain Randy also used a few of the injured mackerels to be bait an a line he dripped over the back of the boat on heavier tackle.  Three times, it appeared that a large fish was on that line, but each time after a few minutes of fight, the line went limp.  The bait had been grabbed, but the head of the fish with the extremely large hook had not been swallowed.  I can only assume that when you fish with a bait fish that is twenty inches long, the fish you are going to catch will be large!

I lost four jigs completely when the mackerel bit through the monofilament leader.  I also hooked a Bonito but the damn fish ran outward then turn and swan toward the boat.  I tried to keep it down deep as it was near the boat, but it eventually swan under the boat and dragged the line into the rudder.  I should have moved to the rear of the boat to reel in that fish.

Captain Randy did a fine job filleting our fish after we docked.  Several pelicans were hoping he would drop more of the fish parts onto the dock, but the barely got enough mackerel to qualify for an appetizer.  We carried half of our fillets to a local restaurant, The Snook Inn, where the chef cooked the mackerel in three styles for us.  What a great meal.  I hope to see Captain Randy at least one more time before heading north.

Month Three In Naples

I realize not to many people are using a lot of their time following this blog.  The Dickerson Pondit has not been faithful to this publication.  I arrived in Naples on January 10th and have been enjoying the beautiful weather ever since.  A couple of weeks ago I got back to writing new chapters for my novel, The Briefcase.  I now have almost fifteen new chapters written.

You might also notice that older posts are disappearing from the site.  I am no longer going to post chapters on the blog.  I am pushing ahead to finish the novel and then I will make a decision on how you all will get a chance to read the final product.

My focus at this time is getting my golf shots from going either right or left and paying my income tax.  I will head back north at the end of April.  The Briefcase should be done in draft form by then.

January on the Beach

So…..Below is a quote from my last post.  It has come to my attention that this post was actually created and submitted by my recently formed “Super PAC” – OldFartinFlorida.com.  I believe it is my responsibility to check the facts in the quote.

I have to confess that I always thought escaping to Florida was for the weak of heart and that real New Yorkers enjoyed the challenges of winter weather.  Well I was living a delusion!  How did I equate ice fishing with surf casting, snowshoeing with winter golf, sidewalk dining with soup and hot chocolate aimed at warming my insides. Wearing silk underwear instead of Tommy Bahama shirts and flip flops?  What was I thinking!  I will attempt to maintain my dignity this winter.  I will avoid the temptation of the early bird special and refrain from joining a game of Florida “lob” tennis.  There will be no pink flamingos on the lanai.  I will drive at or over the speed limit and limit Kmart visits to no more than once a week.  I will not purchase and wear wrap around sun glasses and will continue doing the NYT daily crossword puzzle instead of the daily word search game in the local Naples paper. If available, I will support the Occupy Naples Movement when and if it ever comes to be.

·      equate ice fishing with surf casting – at the time this was written, I had never been ice fishing in my life.  Except for those of Norwegian heritage living in the frozen upper Midwest, no one goes ice fishing.  Can you think of a colder less active sport than ice fishing?  Now, I have tried a couple of days of surfcasting.  The muscles on my now longer right arm are killing me.  The closest I have come to catching a fish (mammal) was one cast that landed three feet from a porpoise leisurely fishing off shore.

·      snowshoeing with winter golf – I have tried snowshoeing.  This was done in northern Vermont at Smuggler’s Notch.  It was a great way to get four hours of walking exercise in a twenty-minute stretch.  If you need snowshoes to go out walking, stay at home.  Winter golf I have yet to try.  Since arriving in Florida on January 10^th, I have spent most every day baby sitting contractors and shopping for home furnishings.  We are already into Bed Bath and Beyond for over $1,000.  Is there a kitchen gadget I have not yet purchased?

·      sidewalk dining with soup and hot chocolate – Sidewalk dining is an activity we have tried quite a few times since getting to Florida.  This we like.  The temperature has been so fine; we usually sit in the sun.  Remind me to put on more sunscreen!  I have been eating soup for lunch, but prefer ceviche to hot chocolate while in Florida.

·      Wearing silk underwear instead of Tommy Bahama shirts and flip flop – The PAC got this right.  Silk underwear are a northern golfers last resort to try and end the season on a positive note.  That strategy never works.

·       I will avoid the temptation of the early bird special and refrain from joining a game of Florida “lob” tennis – Unfortunately in Florida there is a fine line between getting to a restaurant for the early bird special and arriving after seven o’clock in the evening to find the restaurant dark and the staff vacated.  We are still working on our dining timing.  As for “lob tennis” please refer to the bullet point about “winter golf”.

·      There will be no pink flamingos on the lanai – Once again the PAC is on the mark.  This is only due to the strong influence of my wife.

·      I will not purchase and wear wrap around sun glasses and will continue doing the NYT daily crossword puzzle instead of the daily word search game in the local Naples paper – Since we arrived in Florida about ten days into the winter season, every store we checked was out of the sunglasses.  I thought I could find a pair someone might leave in a restaurant (you know we of a certain age) but everyone seems to have them tied to their head.  I wonder if they sleep with them on?  I have been sticking with the NYT crossword puzzle but miss doing them on paper.  It is not the same using my iPad APP.

·      If available, I will support the Occupy Naples Movement when and if it ever comes to be – I hear it exists.  Rumor has it they congregate at the Walmart in north Naples.  There are no tents, but a plethora of webbed beach chairs.  The crowd breaks up around one in the afternoon and usually heads directly to Denny’s for the EBS (Early Bird Special).  Similar to Occupy Wall Street in NYC, it is hard to pin the group down on their demands.  I did hear talk about wider turning lanes and roadside signs to remind people which day of the week it is.

You gotta love Florida!

December on the Bench

Here is a lost posting, I found in my files.  It was written on December 19th.

December on the Bench

The Pondit is alive!  It is almost noon on a sunny but brisk December afternoon.  The breeze is coming in from the west –- unfortunately that means it is blowing into my face – and the keyboard of my MacBook Pro is more than a tad chilly.  The sound of The Doors singing “LA Woma”n is the only thing besides my fleece jacket that is keeping me warm.  Tomorrow the Christmas tree is purchased, erected and decorated with the help of family and friends. Although it might appear that The Pondit is hunkering down for a frigid New York winter; that is far from his reality.  On January 9^th The Pondit and his beautiful bride board the AutoTrain outside of our nation’s capitol and head on down to warm and sunny Naples, Florida to spend four months on the Gulf of Mexico making sand castles instead of snowmen.  Although I am a firm believer in global warming and even the controversial and yet to be proven theory of evolution, waiting for tropical winters in Westchester New York is out of my frame of reference.  I will finish The Briefcase drinking rum and cokes and gazing northward toward Sanibel Island on our lanai in Naples.  How appropriate, The Doors have morphed into Sailing sung by my brother, Russell, on my iPhone.

I have to confess that I always thought escaping to Florida was for the weak of heart and that real New Yorkers enjoyed the challenges of winter weather.  Well I was living a delusion!  How did I equate ice fishing with surf casting, snowshoeing with winter golf, sidewalk dining with soup and hot chocolate aimed at warming my insides. Wearing silk underwear instead of Tommy Bahama shirts and flip flops?  What was I thinking!  I will attempt to maintain my dignity this winter.  I will avoid the temptation of the early bird special and refrain from joining a game of Florida “lob” tennis.  There will be no pink flamingos on the lanai.  I will drive at or over the speed limit and limit Kmart visits to no more than once a week.  I will not purchase and wear wrap around sun glasses and will continue doing the NYT daily crossword puzzle instead of the daily word search game in the local Naples paper. If available, I will support the Occupy Naples Movement when and if it ever comes to be.

It is too cold to write more.