Terry and me

My favorite sister has something on her mind:

"It's downright embarrassing, the way you use your blog to flirt with Terry Teachout. He must be getting really creeped out. Especially when you refer to him as The Great Pumpkin."

I don't see anything creepy about that. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown came out in 1966, when both Terry and I were ten-year-olds. He gets the cultural reference, trust me. Terry's big on culture. True, his tastes are way more sophisticated than mine (except for that part about his liking Taco Bell), but while I don't (can't) read Proust in the French, I do enjoy nibbling madelaines with my afternoon tea.

Bren, you get weirder every day. Has it never occurred to you that Mr. Teachout might not appreciate your brand of silliness?"

Hey, I'm linking to the man's blog. Even an A-lister like Terry appreciates linky love, wherever it comes from. His Technorati rating must be in the stratosphere, and that's thanks in part to my indefatigable efforts on his behalf. As for my weirdness, I'll have you know that I know a hawk from a handsaw no matter what direction the wind is coming from. But I maintain that when a middle-aged romance writer hides her eccentricities rather than displaying them like badges of honor, she'll end up with a spectacularly boring blog.

"I still say he must be getting sick of you."

Well, he hasn't yet peeled my name off the sidebar over at About Last Night.

"He's probably afraid you'll go bezerk if he removes your name from that list. But I bet he's been talking to his attorney about ways to discourage your interest."

Oh, he's in no danger from me. As you know, I'm still quite happily married to What's-his-name. I admire Terry's blogging, end of story. Stop trying to make a big deal out of this.

"Whatever. But I really don't appreciate your quoting me this way. I haven't said any of the stuff you're attributing to me. Why are you doing this?"

Because I'm a writer. Because I have an imagination. And because it's April Fool's Day.