Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Short stuff!

Welcome, I’m Mary Louisa Locke, the author of the USA Today best-selling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series and the Caelestis Science Fiction series. In this daily newsletter, I reflect on my life as an indie author trying to age gracefully. Occasionally, I will also publish some of my shorter fiction in this newsletter to read for free.

Daily Diary, Day 1749:

I am putting this out very early, because I am soon off to the dentist (3 crowns replaced) at the same time, so who knows when I will be back, or how I will be feeling!

Edgar and Friends: Sorry to report that as of yesterday morning, there were no visible Daddy Long Legs in the house. The teeny tiny one in the downstairs bathroom hung on for over five days (and actually became visibly larger over that time) but never caught anything. So it was probably time for her to leave and find a more productive place for web-building. But I was sad to see her go.

Pleased that I was able to do two short walks (so 40 minutes total) yesterday, plus yoga, plus 20 minutes of chair Pilates, plus an hour phone call. Not sure what I will feel like today after the dental appointment, and I also have a late afternoon phone call. Mainly, not setting up any unrealistic expectations for today after the dentist. Maybe find a rom-com to watch on tv!

Speaking of TV, a couple of nights ago we watched the last episode of The Good Place. We thought we had watched all 4 seasons when it came out, but we really didn’t remember any of the last two seasons, and we thoroughly enjoyed binging it this month. I love it when my husband and I find something we mutually like for watching togeterh, and The Good Place did that for us. We really developed affection for the characters, cared what happened to them. And at the same time, the story line was really inventive and not some old trope we’ve seen a million times, offering us both a good deal of laughter and occasional tears.

For most of my life, I would say that description of what I liked about The Good Place fits my preference in reading recreational fiction. But what a really well-done movie or TV series does, that a reading a book--an essentially solitary experience—does not, is let me experience that entertainment alongside my husband. And I treasure when we laugh out loud over the same passages, and when I look over to see him sniffling at the same time, it warms my heart.

The goal now is to find another half-hour show to watch together over dinner to take its place.

OK, got to go. Here is a gorgeous rose from my morning walk yesterday!

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