“Summer Reading”
Ink and Photoshop
Do you read different kinds of books based on the season? Or is it basically, 'No, gimme vampire fiction 24/7/365"?

I loved the idea of incorporating the hint of a plot in an illustration about beach reading, so I went as far as crafting … something. Some details changed a bit when I got to the illustration, but here it is.

The last time anyone heard from her was July 4, 1963. Call it Independence Day, if you must, although Maude herself had never been one for fireworks, and always refused to attend what she called "that godforsaken parade" on the grounds that it reminded her they were living in a small town. She did, however, love a good party. Later, when the detectives and reporters and Reginald's private eye all conducted their interviews, witnesses could not agree on even the simplest matters. Maude had been wearing a white cap-sleeve dress. Or trousers and a scandalous blouse. She had worn platform shoes. Or white pumps. Someone had said her shoes had been red, white and blue sandals. Preposterous. Or she wasn't wearing any shoes whatsoever. Consensus gathered only around dessert — angel food cake — because everyone remembered her setting it down and announcing, "I call it Irony."