rlfj: Blog

A reader pointed out that the Investigations Captain has the last name Holden, with the obvious curiosity about whether he was related to the notorious Holden family of the first book. All I can say is that I had completely forgotten that when I picked the name. Holden is not that rare a name. (Unlike mine - every person in America with my last name is related to me. Nine generations ago our ancestor had four sons, who had seventeen grandsons; I guess there wasn't a lot to do on the farm at night in Colonial Maryland.) It's too late now to change it, too. People have bought the book and I can't retroactively change it.

Another couple of readers commented that Brooks Brothers declared bankruptcy and therefore Grim won't be able to buy his suits and uniforms there. That is not at all guaranteed. On filing bankruptcy, depending on the specific form, a company is given a chance to reorganize. During that period, they can continue to conduct business. Case in point, JC Penney has filed bankruptcy, but my local store is still in business. In the event a reorganization cannot be arranged, then the assets will be liquidated. The brand name, Brooks Brothers, is one such asset and can be sold to another company. Hostess Brands went bankrupt in 2012 and was liquidated; famous brands such as Dolly Madison, Wonder Bread, and Drake's were all sold to other companies.

Anyway, enjoy!

I've put another book up on Bookapy, Naughty Shorts. It's a collection of some of my existing short stories, including a new one that will be uploaded in August. Meanwhile, it's the start of Chief Reaper's new job. Let's hope he's up to the task! Enjoy!

Several of my readers took a hard look at the numbers I was using at the end of Chapter 32 to analyze the status of the Matucket Police Department. If anything, the situation is even more dire that Grim reported to the County Council. Being short 33 officers is the equivalent of being an entire shift short of officers. At the budget level being discussed, nobody has had a cost of living adjustment in years. That translates directly into high turnover, low retention, and difficult recruiting. Why did the Lieutenant Governor get involved? Probably because somebody at the Georgia State Patrol told him they were about to go in and clean house! I'm certainly no expert on police departments, but it looks like the way I wrote it was correct. Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while.

Anyway, let's see what happens next. Enjoy!

Everybody seemed to like the latest twist in the Grim Reaper's life. Lots of positive comments and interest (several dozen!) Quite a few readers mentioned that the story was getting a little boring, with Grim just doing consulting and writing. Sorry if you got bored. (No, not really!)

As for the readers who seemed to think this was a huge jump forward in time from Chapter 30, well, it really wasn't. Chapter 30 occurred on Labor Day 2027, September 6. Chapter 31 started on April 4, 2028. That's about seven months. What was he doing during that time? Just more of the same! He was consulting in southern Georgia and writing a book. I've already written a bunch of chapters about that and didn't see any need to write more. (See comment about boring.) As for the documentary project with Ken Burns, in Chapter 26 it was mentioned that the documentary probably wouldn't air until 2027 or 2028. (I researched how long these projects take. They typically have three or four working at the same time and can take three to four years to complete.) What better time than sweeps week in the fall of 2028?

What was Riley doing with the Coast Guard? Not much, for the simple reason that as a junior in high school there wasn't much to do. As mentioned in Chapter 30, most of the Coast Guard Academy programs are for high school seniors. Other than researching and talking to a CG admissions officer, the big thing she needs to do is take her SAT tests, which normally don't occur until the second semester of your junior year. Otherwise, she and her brother are just normal teenagers.

One of my readers commented on the storage unit that the Reapers rented to hold Granny's stuff after she moved into the assisted living facility. He remarked that often the storage units outlast their owners, that people can't get rid of anything. So true! I saw this in the case of my father-in-law, who had Superdomes full of crap to get rid of when he passed away! I also saw it in my old business of selling homes, where I would get older customers who wanted to downsize, but the new home needed to have room for all their old stuff plus some new! Not quite sure how we were supposed to do that. It was sort of like when my father decided he needed to add a second story onto the split-level they owned. This was after my sister and I had already moved out, and my mother and brother couldn't understand it at all. The plans ended when he came down with dementia, but we were scratching our heads for a bit.

Anyway, enjoy!

Everybody thought Riley wanting to join the Coast Guard was a nice surprise. I heard lots of stories about the CG; much appreciated. Anyway, get ready for more surprises! I'm not giving out any spoilers, but I can guarantee you weren't expecting the story to make this kind of change! We'll have to see how the readers react to this. Should be interesting! Enjoy!