Good morning from The Land of Enchantment. I hope everyone’s May and Memorial Day has been a good one. On the home front, Mr. E and I attended the New Mexico Wine Fest which is held at the Balloon Fiesta fields. It’s a great venue because it’s designed to handle crowds over 100K. After much sampling and debate, I can report the wine cabinet is filled once again.

I made the difficult decision not to attend GRL this fall. After following airline fares for months, and seeing no downward trend in pricing, I determined the trip was not financially feasible for me this time around. I’ve called Albuquerque home for more than sixty years, but I can say this from experience. You can’t get there from here! At least not easily or inexpensively. Hopefully next year, I can attend again. I’ll miss meeting up with old friends, sharing martinis and meeting new friends.

I had a new book come out yesterday– Malcolm’s Man. (Way to bury the lead. LOL) It’s the story of Malcolm, the klutzy accountant and Sam, the gorgeous barista. They meet when Malcolm applies for a job at the bookstore and coffee bar. Sam is instantly taken with the bespectacled man with the swishy walk, hoping he doesn’t notice Sam is different than most men. Sam’s insecurity over his diminished intelligence prevents him from making and keeping friends, let alone boyfriends.

Malcolm Meuli (pronounced Miley-like the singer) spilled coffee on Sam’s shoes the day they met. Drawn to his gregarious personality, blinding smile, and his impressive muscles, Malcolm has drooled over Sam for two years, unwilling to cultivate more than a working relationship because he plans on leaving the town of Durango when he graduates from college. Unable to say no when Sam invites him to a movie marathon, Malcolm learns that when Sam wants something he moves fast and Sam wants Malcolm to be his boyfriend.

I don’t want to take anything away from the story, so that’s all I’ll say about the plot. Years and years ago I read a lovely little book, Tim by the very talented Colleen McCollough. The title character has always stuck with me and though the two books are nothing alike, Tim was the inspiration for Malcolm’s Man. I recommend the book, but if you can’t find it, there is a movie of the same name starring a very young Mel Gibson. Of course, you can read Malcolm’s Man exclusive from Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.