Thoughts from Lee Child...

I was reading an interview with Lee Child in The Globe and Mail:

Q: You’re English, which surprises a lot of people, but you’ve set all these novels in the U.S. The voice and setting feel decidedly American. How do you manage that?

A: A character like Reacher can only operate in dangerous, frontier places. This sort of character was born in Europe when it was an empty, dangerous continent, but would not work there now. He had to be represented in America; he wouldn’t have worked anywhere else. It was a choice of fitting the character to the environment. I suppose it could have been Australia.

Q: Or Canada? We’re vast and empty.

A: Possibly too empty and you might not find enough trouble.

O Canada. A country with the likes of Paul Bernardo, Clifford Olsen, and Robert Pickton, and people think we're all peace and politeness. How'd that happen? Ask any Canadian cop. We have plenty of trouble.

I was interested in this passage, too:

Q: Despite the novels’ considerable violence and male fantasy elements – many of us would like to be Reacher, perhaps a combination of Reacher and James Bond – they’re incredibly popular with women. Any idea why?/i>

A: I had no plan and just wrote from the gut. Initially, I felt men would like the novels but women wouldn’t be keen. I was very wrong. Women are fanatically keen on the series, and I’ve spent 15 years trying to find out why. And I think it may be that the lack of commitment, the walking away from relationships is just as much a female fantasy as a male one, perhaps more so. Reacher is the kind of man women might like to have walk up to their door and stay a couple of days, and then leave. Also, Reacher likes and respects women, and that comes through. He doesn’t patronize them. There’s no hint of sexism.

I think I'd like to read one of his novels and see for myself. I like his attitude there.

On Saturday, fairestcat and I went into the Silver Snail, the shop where I buy my comics. When I got there, fairestcat was browsing and there were two women shopping; one salesperson was female (Heather) and one male (Kin, the manager). I thought this was nicely contrary to the stereotype that women never go into comics shops.

Damp fall weather,,,

A cool, drizzly day, and I'm loving it. It isn't freezing cold they way it was on Saturday, and if it was, I'd be prepared for it now anyway. Instead of having no gloves and freezing hands, I had gloves I didn't need to wear. Wonderful!

I asked a Francophone colleague how you say "It's drizzling," in French, and she said she didn't remember. So I looked it up: "il tombait une pluie fin," but we also have the noun "bruine" for "drizzle".

After some soul-searching (or, more to the point, budget-searching), I bought myself an October bus pass. There's been too many times lately when I haven't bothered to do something I'd have otherwise wanted to do because it seemed not worth the while to take the bus. This way at least I won't be fussing over the expense of each bus ticket.

When I got off the bus I saw this fence:



Ahh, I said to myself: it's autumn for sure now.

I love October.