22 West Express
Volume II, Edition 1
September 2007
Hello Readers,
In the last month, I attended three events: The Rochester Country Fair and two book group meetings in Wrentham. Thanks to all for making these events a resounding success. I sold more books at the Rochester Country Fair than at any other bookstore signing! Both book groups were incredibly kind and I really enjoyed talking with everyone.
There are now 40 pictures in the Taking Stock photo gallery if you're interested.
I went a little overboard with contest hints at a book group meeting last night. It seems that getting me drinking and saying nice things about my books really does help one get ahead on the contests. I thought it was always men doing the flattering...
Actually I'm looking forward to writing Joanne into one of my books, so I'm rooting for her! I promise to be better next time out (November 14th). I'll also be at Tatnuck Bookseller in Westborough on September 22nd. Feel free to come down and pry some clues out of me.
Myspace
This month I've created a page on Myspace. You can find me at www.myspace.com/author_cjwest. I started creating ciphers for friends to solve this week. If you're a code junkie, get on my friends list. Any codes that really help with the contests will be posted to the website or this newsletter, so don't fret about that.
Jimmy Fund Walk
I will be walking next weekend in the Jimmy Fund Walk on September 16th. If you'd like to walk, make a donation, or learn more about supporting cancer research, please visit: http://www.jimmyfundwalk.org/cjwest
And the winners are...
The winner of the July drawing was Elena B. from Cape Cod. She sent a copy of Taking Stock to Alaska! The August winner is Debra B. from Vermont. Let me know where you'd like the book sent Debra and I'll sign it and get it on its way.
There is a running list of winners on the contest page if you're ever curious to know who's winning all those books.
Thanks for reading,
CJ
Inside this Issue:
A True Story: That's Commitment
Contest Corner: A new kind of cipher
CJ's new writing partner
As you can see, Bella is getting older and smarter now. We had an invisible fence installed and it's the best thing we could have done for her. We were a bit leery of shocking our sweet puppy at first, but she's a quick study. Now she has free run of the property and she knows where she can and can't go. Amazing that she figured it all out in about two weeks! She loves being queen of the yard.
The following is a true story shared with me by author Randal Houle. He is currently working on his first novel.
Several years ago I started working in the cemetery
and funeral business. In the beginning I was given
fairly menial responsibilities. For example, on
Thursdays, every Thursday, a small bouquet of flowers
would arrive. When they did, we were instructed to
immediately place the flowers on Mrs. So and so's
Niche. For this story let's call her Ruth.
I was told and in the coming weeks discovered that the
flowers came like clockwork. Every Thursday the
flowers came and I put them up. The following day,
every Friday, an older gentleman, we'll call him
Arden, would come and visit, sometimes talk to the
Niche wall where his wife had been placed.
Every so often he would miss. But he usually came by
just as he always did for years. Every Friday since
his wife passed.
Typically I would place the small bouquet in the vase
fairly absent mindedly. I always got the right one.
It's just that I usually busied my mind appreciating
the beauty of the park or some mind puzzle that would
have to be 'walked out' as my Dad used to say.
One Thursday, I suppose I had been there for several
months, and I had witnessed Arden coming by and
visiting every Friday for all that time, I
wondered how long it was since Ruth's death.
This time, I looked at the bronze plaque bearing her
year of death as I placed the flowers. She passed away
the year I was born...1971!
Arden had visited his wife faithfully each and every
week all those years. By now, I'm sure they're
together, but it shows a level of commitment that life
sometimes demands.
...and they said it wouldn't last.
Newsletter Contest
If you're getting this forwarded from a friend, make sure you subscribe to the newsletter to be eligible for the free monthly drawing!!
Up until now, all of the codes I've given were embedded within text. The trick has always been finding the interval between the letters. Here's a twist: the letters are all here, but it doesn't read very well as is....
EOHCH VNOHI EDWOS RECSS WRJEU RSTRD NOHSE ALETI MVFCN EEIOS IVANU NENDW ANCYI NGEOL DEAUL KIDAT NTETO OIDIH WSIOE CACNR
hint: my puzzles usually supply the letters of the message as they appear. The easiest way to tell if a code uses a substitution alphabet is to examine the code for common (or uncommon) letters. A puzzle rife with Z's and X's is likely a substitution cipher of some kind. With all the E's, S's and T's, this one definitely isn't.
Good Luck!!!
© 22 West Books 2006.
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