What I've really been up to.

Okay, I probably should say hello to the world on Twitter. But I may be too chatty today to keep things short. And since few people read my blogs, I figured it would be fine to place my thoughts here. I have been busy. Busy finishing three books about the Great Depression and The Roaring Twenties. I have been busy formatting, working on footnotes, endnotes, and those final annoying things that need to be done to complete a book.

And a movie treatment, too, for a producer who seems interested. Well, why not? Certain recent movies tie into my books. Like the new Johnny Depp film PUBLIC ENEMIES, a riveting film about John Dillinger. Or THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE. Not to mention a laundry list of stories comparing today's economic crisis with the Great Depression. So perhaps my time travel novels back to the 1920s and 1930s are on the mark this time.

When writing them, I find myself immersed in another world. A world of glamorous clothes, radio shows, and musical films. I'm suddenly back in an era when a man wore a suit to pick up cigarettes or mow his lawn. A world where a woman had to slip on her girdle and stockings just to visit a grocery store. And poverty and disease crushed a quarter of the population after the stock market crashed.

Then it's back to my computer, my mobile phone, and blogging. And it feels like time travel. Some things are better now. Cheap communication, home entertainment in all its forms. But there are some things from the past which fascinate me. Like the music, the grand manners, a strong attempt to be a decent human being and care about others.

Back to work.