Revision in progress, revision needed, revision done! (Reacher, and Forgetting Tom Cruise)

I read a huge amount. It's always been my way of relaxing, escaping, finding another world. For a long time, favourite reading material is well-written, well-constructed thrilllers and detective stories: Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, Robert Crais, Tana French... and most of all, Lee Child and his main character, Jack Reacher.

So I was stupid enough to watch the supposed-Reacher movie "starring" Tom Cruise. Even though I knew Cruise was no-way Reacher. After all, Reacher is huge, imposing, physical, taciturn. He's everything that Tom Cruise is not. So much not, I'm not even going to honour it with a link. Blogger's equivalent of juvenile-sticking-out-of-tongue.

I only watched it on an airplane. So it doesn't count. Really, it doesn't. No, really, it doesn't.

But bloody Tom Cruise and his inane grin kept popping into my psyche this week, as I reread Worth Dying For , which is a really good example of a Lee-Child-Reacher book. And it was royally annoying... I wanted to get inside my own head and hit Tom Cruise down, like one of those fairground games where you go for gophers popping out of holes in the ground.

Other evening task this week: revise and prepare for the Sunrise at Night concert series. I'm going to be covering the shows, and I like to know who I'll be shooting. Figuratively-speaking. Tonight it's Dave Koz, so I started with him, but then curiosity took a hold. After seeing and really enjoying LeAnn Rimes' show a couple of weeks ago, what would Trace Adkins be like?

I bought his latest album, "Love Will..." and what a voice. It's down-deep-in-those-cowboy-boots. It's sensual too: try ""Come See Me", for example. So I'm thinking, Trace's show is going to be well worth seeing on August 29th.

Then I hop off to bed and read a few more pages of Worth Dying For, and bloody Tom Cruise is in my head again. I can't see Reacher any more. Luckily I fall asleep, book open, before he jumps over the sofa.

Next evening, I do more Trace Adkins research, watch a few live songs on YouTube. I watch an interview that Trace Adkins did. He is huge, imposing, physical, taciturn.

And I realise I have seen him before--even though my history with country music is just beginning.

Trace Adkins was the biggest, baddest, yet really-likeable biker in the movie of The Lincoln Lawyer (note: written by Michael Connelly, see first paragraph of this post--now that was a movie that actually brought a book to the screen, unlike that bloody Tom Cruise movie). Like Reacher; Trace Adkins stands out when in a crowd, but less so when alone with no size comparison. Like Reacher, Trace Adkins makes a point by just being there.

Last night, before falling asleep, I read more of Worth Dying For, and instead of Tom, it was Trace Adkins I saw wearing Reachers's shoes. Thank goodness for that!

(Now if I can figure this out in my head, why can't you movie moguls, casting agents, and/or owners of the movie rights to Lee Child's books figure it out too???)

Click here for info and tickets for Trace Adkins' show, and all the others in the Sunrise at Night concert series