Rock Bottom Remainders

The first book on writing I ever remember reading was ON WRITING by Stephen King. It was a Christmas gift from my daughter, Gretchen and her husband Chris Bennett in 2000. The written inscription in the book went like this...."Your creativity endures through the years. It's no surprise you continue to enjoy writing. I'm looking forward to having you autograph your first book for me! Love, Gretchen and Chris." Well, my first published book hasn't happened yet.

This is the first time I learned about the Rock Bottom Remainders. In the first forward, Stephen King wrote that..."the group was intended to be a one-shot deal--we would play two shows at the American Booksellers Convention, get a few laughs, recapture our misspent youth for three or four hours, then go our separate ways. It didn't happen that way because the group never quite broke up. We found that we liked playing together too much to quit, and with a couple of 'ringer' musicians on sax and drums..., we sounded pretty good." So you can get the idea that the Rock Bottom Remainders is a band and it's composed of my favorites--Stephen King, Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Mitch Album, and Barbara Kingsolver plus others.

I just checked out three Barbara Kingsolver novels from the library. When I scanned a couple of her books, I realized that I need to study her books and linger over her words. I just found an article in MOTHER EARTH NEWS by Barbara Kingsolver on cheese making. It made me want to learn how to make cheese. It was such a well-written article that talked about making cheese on so many different levels, especially a human level and how it helps to bond family together.

The Rock Bottom Remainders have been on my mind this month. First I read DUMA KEY by Stephen King. Then I found the article by Amy Tan in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. Then I found the article by Barbara Kingsolver in MOTHER EARTH NEWS. So I also thought of Dave Barry in Florida and Mitch Album. I woke up thinking the other night that heaven must be playing with the Rock Bottom Remainders and sitting around with all these great writers as one of them who has earned the right to be there sipping tea and talking about writing in a beautiful lush garden or on the beach.

Sometimes I get sick of doing everything by myself and being alone. The only friend I have is Les, my husband and he doesn't like to do things. He loves to shop and then stay home to cut brush or watch FOX News. We play Canasta every day so that's our fun but I dream of the glorious time it must be to sit down to talk about ideas and writing with real friends. The people that I love spending time with are my children, especially Daniel and Benjamin, but they're grown and busy with their own lives. I can't expect my children to always be my best friend. It's not fair to them.

A real friend to me knows how to communicate, loves to discuss ideas, watches your back, and tells you the truth. They don't try to manipulate or play games. They don't expect you to read their mind. A real friend likes you the way you are unconditionally. They laugh and are fun. They want to see you at your best and encourage you to be your best. I don't have any friends like that in my life. Maybe only in heaven...................