Letter from Joy
February 13, 2025
Hi, everyone,
Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you're all well. I've been hearing all week that this latest flu bug making the rounds is a particularly bad one, and my son-in-law, Eric, is currently suffering from it. So, if you haven't had your flu shot, please get one. It's not too late, although even with the vaccine, which Eric had, it's not necessarily going to prevent you from a strain not covered by the vaccine. Still, it might keep you out of the hospital.
We're still in Florida and the weather has been absolutely stunning. Sunny and hot, just the way I like it. It's been a relatively quiet time this trip, since when we were back in Toronto last month, I had to have a Squamish cell carcinoma removed from my left leg. It's not a big deal, one step more serious than a basel cell, but has to be removed nonetheless. So they took it out and then told me I had to take it easy for the next three weeks to allow the incision time to heal properly. No golf, exercise or lifting anything heavy, etc. So, I just lazed around the house and did so many New York Times crossword puzzles that I thought my head was going to explode. I even started doing them in my sleep, which was when I knew it was time to stop! I read a bit - finally finished Cher's memoir, which I quite enjoyed, and have started a few other novels that haven't exactly grabbed me, but I'll keep trying because they're well-written, just not exactly page-turners. One book that I am enjoying, and which I bought purely based on its title, is A SERIAL KILLER'S GUIDE TO MARRIAGE. Who could resist? Anyway, I've only read thirty pages but so far I'm enjoying it. Of course, that could change. I'll let you know.
I've also been working on a new idea. I have a good one and am trying to figure out how to organize it, the best way for the story to unfold. So I'm starting with trying to figure out exactly who my main characters are. When I teach a class, which I'm doing again this summer at the University of Toronto as part of their continuing studies program, I tell my students that action always springs from character - in other words, who a character is determines how they will act and react to any given situation - and therefore a writer should know their main characters inside out - who their parents are, how they were raised, what their childhoods were like, if they were loved or abused or abandoned, whatever. They can't be born on the day the reader meets them. Their history determines their future. So, once I determine all this, I can start figuring out how they will react to the situations I put them in. Not always easy, but very rewarding when it all falls into place.
I did go see THE BRUTALIST, and I recommend it highly. Despite its length - over 3 1/2 hours - and somewhat off-putting title, it's smart, adult, and terrifically acted, especially by Adrian Brody, and it doesn't feel long at all, even with a fifteen-minute intermission. I tried watching YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED, the new Netflix movie starring Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell, but I lasted five minutes before turning it off. It was that horrible. As for TV, I'm still enjoying THE BACHELOR and THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS, which is having its juiciest season ever. I find it quite amusing that not one of the housewives is actually married anymore. I don't think the show does anyone's marriage any favours. I'm getting turned off THE VOICE, which I used to enjoy, but it's becoming more and more about the coaches, and I think they should concentrate on the singing. Despite what the coaches may think, they really aren't all that interesting or charming. And MATLOCK is starting to disapppoint. I think it's going in the wrong direction, concentrating more on Mattie's hidden quest to get justice for her deceased daughter than on her prowess in the courtroom. And they're turning several of the side characters into cartoons rather than real people. Likewise, HIGH POTENTIAL and ELSPETH. The former is simply too unbelievable - even really smart people don't know everything - and the latter is a blatant rip-off of COLUMBO. Elspeth is just too instinctively right to be believable, and the show is a little too heavy on the whimsy. Whimsy becomes very annoying when it's overdone. One show that never disappoints is CHICAGO P.D. It's been on forever, and has gone through numerous cast changes - I really miss Jay and Hayley and wish the writers had found a way to at least reunite them after their characters left the show - but its level of excellence remains. I also continue to enjoy both CHICAGO MED and CHICAGO FIRE. And I love DOC, at least so far. It's having a great first season, so I hope there will be more. And if you don't watch REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER on HBO, I urge you to do so. Even if you don't agree with everything he says, the show is never less than provocative and interesting.
And I finally went golfing yesterday for the first time in a month. Didn't score particularly well but I was hitting the ball a ton and getting more distance than I have in some time. We'll see how long that lasts.
My daughter, Annie, her husband and my gorgeous grandchildren are coming up from Miami to spend the weekend, which is great. I really miss them now that I don't get to see them as much as I used to when we all lived in Toronto, so having them for a whole weekend will be terrific. And my daughter Shannon and her husband Eric will be coming down to Florida in the latter half of March, which is wonderful because I've gotten used to having them around. But Eric is starting a new business with his brother which they hope to launch in June, so he hasn't been able to be down here as much. It's a very exciting venture, and as soon as I'm given the go-ahead to tell you about it, I will do so.
I'm very pleased to tell you that JENNY COOPER HAS A SECRET has had a couple of outstanding pre-reviews, and everyone is hoping for great things. It's already a bestseller in Germany and Switzerland and available for pre-order on Amazon in the U.S. and Canada. It's been very interesting to see the various covers each country has selected. Each one is so different. I've posted them on my site as well as on Instagram and wonder which one you all prefer. Please let me know.
And that's about it for now. Have a great rest of the month. Take care of yourselves and be kind to one another.
Warmly,
Joy