Monday, August 15, 2005

There's Nothing About Mary...

Quote of the Day: "I'm a count, not a saint."-- Edmond Dantes, Count of Monte Cristo

My search for information on Mary Newman (Francis Drake's first wife) has pretty much proven fruitless--except for David Coles (& Co). over at Saltash Heritage (Cornwall, England) they are putting together as much information on her as they can collect for me--thanks David and everyone!
Mary Newman was born in Saltash, Cornwall and so I wrote their historical society (and archivist) to see if they had anything other than dates of birth, marriage and death, which is about all I can find on her, here.
Mary Newman Drake has proven to be a bigger challenge than I thought. There's tons of info on Elizabeth Sydenham, Francis Drake's second wife, because she was a "rich society" wife.
Mary Newman came from humble beginnings, and apparently died shortly after Francis "got famous."
She is the whole plot line for my next novel, so I need to find out everything I can.

Hubby read the first part of my mystery novel (first draft) and after reading the first chapter he told me that one of my major plot lines was not plausible, even for teens. It really punctured my balloon for a while. But I am glad he was honest--I took a look at it and realized that he was absolutely right. So I have some rewriting and juggling to do, but it should only take a few days. Then I need to get some feedback on it, and revise again, and it will be off to the agent by the first week of September, hopefully.

*The Rude Lady Jogger*
I got up this morning at 5:15 to "wog," and to my dismay, it was DARK outside! But I threw on the workout clothes and went anyway. I was about halfway through my routine when I saw Rude Lady Jogger. I see her nearly every day I go. Actually, there are quite a few people I see on my route, this really, really tall guy (who is at least 6'8) and this guy who jogs with his dog, and this really overweight lady (good for her!) and an old couple.

Here is the difference between them and Rude Lady:

Really Tall Guy, Dog-Jogger Guy, Overweight Lady and Old Couple always smile and say hello, when I greet them. Rude Lady Jogger doesn't. In fact, she deliberately looks away when I pass her, which is kind of ridiculous. I always smile and greet everyone, even if I've just greeted them 15 minutes before (like I said, my route goes on a circle). But not Rude Lady Jogger. She has issues.
So, today, I didn't smile and say hi. I deliberately looked the other way and didn't even acknowledge her when we passed each other for the second time. I can take a hint.
I feel bad, but she's RUDE! She thinks she's "all that" with her hi-tech gear and Ipod and heart monitor, etc. (I think I might go out and buy an Ipod, they're less cumbersome) but even if I do I'll still going to say hi to everyone I jog by.
Maybe she has low self-esteem. Maybe she's SUPER concentrating on her workout. Maybe she's socially backwards. Who knows. All I know is she's rude.

I jogged around my little lake this morning. I will post pics tomorrow--I forgot to bring my camera today!

1 comment:

Michelle Miles said...

RLJ needs to GET OVER HERSELF. What a be-otch.

(Sorry, I'm in a mood today.)