In addition to my creative writing (fiction, novels, plays), for the last three years, I have been writing a political opinion column, Washington Whispers, for The Insider, theinsider1.com. However, next week will see the publication’s last issue. What to do next? Go back to my fiction and plays full speed and let my soapbox go? Or continue Washington Whispers on an independent political blog of my own creation? I am leaning toward continuing Washington Whispers. Stay tuned.

I’ve now watched the last four episodes of the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel twice. Although the entire series was well written and wonderfully acted, certain scenes in these last episodes were so touching that they made me cry. The first was Maisel’s video tribute to Susie Myerson at the end of the roast of Susie. What touched me was Alex Borstein’s acting–the subtleties of her facial expressions while her character watched the video.

The second was the scene in which Susie tells Maisel about her past history at school with Gordon’s wife–the pain of it, as well as the nod to class distinction and how it affects people and relationships.

The third was the scene in which Maisel’s father realizes her strength and that, in his male chauvinism, he only tried to cultivate his son, and should also have been cultivating his daughter.

And then, of course, there is the scene in which Maisel finally gets to appear on Gordon’s talk show–But no spoilers here.

It has been suggested that the Mrs. Maisel character is based upon Joan Rivers. But I never cared for Joan Rivers. Admittedly, I only saw the stand-up she did on shows like Johnny Carson’s. But part of her humor that I saw always seemed too self-denigrating for my taste. Maisel’s is written as satiric observations on society. I know she’s fictional, but I like Maisel’s work much better. Too bad Rivers didn’t have Maisel’s writers.

The play, Tinker’s Damn, adapted from my novel of the same name will get a full reading by professional actors in Rose Theatre’s First Draft Series on November 16 at the Arts Club of Washington!

Because of her name, I always thought Daphne du Maurier was a romance writer and dismissed her as such. But recently I came into possession of a paperback of several of her stories, including “Don’t Look Now,” an eerie story that I had first seen rather than read–a Donald Sutherland-Julie Christie film set in Venice. The stories of the book combine a sense of mystery, science fiction and horror. I’ve now read all five stories in the book and am terribly impressed with du Maurier as a writer. She has a subtle yet sharp insight into human relationships. How sad that I was put off for so long by her romantic name.