Day 2 of 4 in my jobless days. Today I slept late and got to drive my son to school. Then I went to the gym and read a book while I pedaled away. More on that later. Then I showered and took my book to my favorite breakfast place and had my favorite breakfast, except no coffee. Then I wandered down to an expensive Salon and made an appointment (with a Master Stylest) for later in the day. Back at home, I read my book until it was time to get my hair cut. Perhaps the best thing about an overpriced salon experience is that the shampoo comes with a head massage. Bliss. With the bonus that my hair also looks and smells great. Worth it. After my salon experience, I picked up my son from school and we went to get frozen yogurt. Then home, where I finished the first book and started a second.

That's right. I have not written today. And I'm glad for the break. Tomorrow, alas, I will have to miss my local RWA meeting because my son has a play date with a friend and since the sheep are being sheared tomorrow there's no one but me to take him, provided I remember to move my car in the morning before the road is blocked by the sheep shearer.

Book number 1 was a romantic suspense that hit, I believe, the NYT extended a while back. I'll be a bit vague about the details because, well, figure it out. This is a positive place for writers. It started out OK, but never got really good. I was skipping pages wildly about halfway through. I love RS, but do they ALL have to have a crazed serial killer? The heroine was a former government agent who seemed remarkably doormatty to me. And, if your hero is going to be special forces, he needs to do some actual special forces stuff. A Special Forces hero can and should make mincemeat out of a crazed serial killer any day of the week, especially a CSK who's been in the peneteniary most of his life. Honestly. I was disappointed. As soon as I read the back of the book, I knew it would start with a prologue from a CSK's point of view. Check. I knew the heroine would be incredibly beautiful. Check. Violence galore. Check. CSK dreams of torturing the heroine for no discernable motivation other than his serial killer nature. Check. This, of course, is the beauty of a CSK. Because he is crazed and a serial killer, his nature is only evil and nothing but evil with cunning behind it; he need not be complex, only crazed. I also knew the heroine would be in mortal danger (duh) and know it, and be someplace safe, but without the hero present and that she would nevertheless either 1) be found by the CSK anyway or 2) leave safety to deliberately put herself in danger because of her guilt feelings. In this case, it was Option 2. Then the obligatory scene were the CSK plays out the standard CSK fantasy. Saved in the end.

Book Number 2 is Linda Howard's To Die For and I'm really enjoying it. I'll probably finish later tonight.

Edited to add: I forgot, the only thing that prevented my day from being perfect was that when I arrived home, the gym elf was not waiting for me with some warm sweet-almond oil and some ice-cold sparking water. Broadsword optional. It's good to have dreams, right?