I’m back at it and I hope you’ll continue to follow and read my weekly blog posts. Thanksgiving and the upcoming Christmas holidays are meant to be shared with friends and family. Perhaps the closest person my main character Bill Valencourt would ever call a friend is Don Julio, aka Juan Carlos, aka “Top Shelf.” I mention his formal names once in my manuscript and call him “Top Shelf” the rest of the time. The migrant worker comes to Bayou Cove via bus to work at Boudreaux’s walnut farm on the other side of town from Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure. Top Shelf enjoys life and is a fun character to be around.
My former girlfriend created Top Shelf back when we enjoyed visiting Bayou Cove. Not only does top shelf mean high quality, the British used it when referring to material with adult content. Placing such items on the top shelf make them less visible and harder to reach. Top Shelf is a loyal worker at Boudreaux’s and a faithful patron of Bill’s. For a small guy, he can drink for hours before feeling the affect of alcohol and liquor. Even in his acts of questionable morals, he still respects the person he takes advantage of.
Top Shelf has an amazing skill of dexterity and ingenuity. I currently don’t have a backstory of how he developed these skills. Maybe one day I can write a compilation of my character’s backstories. Gathered together in that tome would be the intriguing, and maybe sad, stories of how all my characters end up in Bayou Cove. I believe following Top Shelf from his home in Mexico to the swamps of Louisiana would be a great adventure. He’s bound to have some pearls of wisdom to pass along. Whether they will help you or not, remains to be seen. History doesn’t write itself in situations like this.
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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I finished reading Forever Vacancy, an anthology. My review is on Goodreads and Amazon.com. I’m currently reading Lady Copy Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart. I encourage you to read a variety of topics.