Out on a Limb

Nourishing Your Inner Artist

2012-05-27T22:27:00.000-04:00

It’s been several years since I read Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. If you’ve read the book you are familiar with The Artist Date: time that the author encourages you to set aside each week towards “nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist.” Some of my favorite artist dates I’ve spent at local art galleries letting myself get lost in the creativity of others. In each brush stroke or click of the shutter I find motivation, energy, and inspiration to fuel my own projects.

Reading is another way that I feed my inner artist and I am starting this week on yet another reading high. I finished Sara Zarr’s How to Save a Life (Amazing!) and Margarita Engle’s The Firefly Letters (Lovely!) I’ve also started Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler (too soon to tell, but I’ve heard great things and have high hopes.)

I’m also a big So You Think You Can Dance fan. I just get lost in the emotion and artistry of so many amazing dancers. And I’ve learned that the most powerful artists whether they be painters, photographers, writers or dancers, are the ones who put their whole heart and soul into their work – something that we can forget to do when we focus too heavily on the technicalities of our craft.

I missed the first half of this season’s premier episode of SYTYCD last Thursday because I was at writing group, but I made it home in time to see this guy, Hampton Williams, who bares his soul and in doing so, he reaches ours. We all want to be that kind of artist/dancer/writer, don’t we?

In what ways do you nourish your inner artist?

Kindle Free Download

2012-05-25T13:26:00.000-04:00

I don't usually post on Fridays but I want to let you all know that Saying Goodbye to the People, Places, and Things in Our Lives, A Dream of Things Anthology is available today and tomorrow (25th & 26th) as a Kindle free download from Amazon. It includes my essay, "The Evolution of Your Goodbyes." I hope you'll check it out!

From Amazon:

"Saying Goodbye is a collection of true stories about saying goodbye to the people, places, and things in our lives. The stories are universal. They are incredibly powerful and moving. And they are surprisingly uplifting and cathartic. "The stories are about love, really, not sadness," says one critic. "Despite all the sadness and grief that come with saying goodbye, there is love and joy and comedy on the Other Side." Says another: "If you have ever had to deal with loss, read this book. It will make you feel better."

These stories show that there is sadness in goodbyes, but there is also irony and humor. We cry about the sad stories, we laugh at the funny ones, and along the way, we learn valuable lessons about how we say goodbye -- sometimes under the most difficult of circumstances. We learn because the contributors are unflinchingly open and honest when it comes to sharing very personal stories about how they and their loved ones say goodbye. Taken together, these stories serve as amazing examples of how to say goodbye with grace, dignity, and good humor.

Saying Goodbye is the first anthology in a new series from Dream of Things intended to fill the gap between popular anthologies of stories that are "short and sweet" and the Best American Essays series, which are much longer. Dream of Things anthologies are collections of quality stories between 500 and 2,500 words. Instead of short and sweet, these stories are short and deep."

Stories That Make You Feel

2012-05-20T22:16:00.000-04:00

This has been a great week for stories. I started the week by watching Elizabeth Gaskell’s North & South (thank you Anne, for the recommendation.) Watching this made me realize how powerful a story’s ending can be. The morning after I finished the mini-series, I put the DVD back in the player and re-watched the last scene; it was just so perfect. I knew I would have to return the movie to the library soon, but I left it in the player anyway. Before dropping it off the next day, I re-watched the last two scenes. After it had been returned and a late fee had been avoided, it dawned on me what a wonderful thing YouTube is. I searched for “North and South ending” and re-watched (again, and yes, again.) As I reveled in the absolute perfection of that final scene, (next up, I must get the book) I naturally thought about the endings that I have written. If endings can be this powerful, surely mine need reworking!

North and South was not the only story I experienced this week. I also read The Summer I Learned to Fly by Dana Reinhardt. (Loved it!) And right now I’m completely enraptured by John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars. I am laughing, crying and totally in love with these characters. And it makes me wonder a little about why we want movies, books, and songs to take us on these roller-coaster rides of emotion.

After several months of listening to the latest Jack's Mannequin CD, I finally ejected it from my car player and turned on the radio. I heard a song called "Glad You Came" that immediately brought me to tears. I’m talking wracked with sobs, need to pull over to get myself together tears. I have no idea what the song is really about. I didn’t process any of the other lyrics. It was just that particular line, “I’m glad you came” that struck me. There was a time, when my dad was suffering with dementia, but still living at home. I went over each afternoon to visit and bring he and my mother their evening meal. Each time, as I went to leave, he would walk me back out to my car. One day he stood there at the drivers side door and I waited as he searched for words that eluded him. Finally, like it was the most important thing in the world, he said “I’m Glad You Came.”

Maybe it’s that connectedness to our own lives that stories, songs, and movies bring to mind that make them so memorable, so important. What story, song or movie has connected with you lately? I’d love to hear from you and thanks for stopping by. I’m glad you came.

Do you notice anything different. . .

2012-05-09T21:45:00.000-04:00

about my blog?

Hint:

Hint:

Check out the "About Me" section. I'm very excited! And it has nothing to do with the caffeine and chocolate. (Although those are good too.)

There are all kinds of changes here today. Also to the right, you may have noticed The Beautiful Blogger Award. Many thanks to Fiona Phillips from Fi's Magical Writing Haven for awarding it to me! By way of following the rules, I'm including 7 random things about myself. I'm talking obsessions this week (although this has nothing to do with the rules of the award.)

1. I have been completely obsessed with this song:

2. My television obsession has been The Voice. (I'm bummed that Tony Lucca didn't win.)

3. My reading obsession has been Sonya Sones' books. I read two this week, one the week before and I've got another one on hold at the library.

4. My writing obsession has been staying above the 25,000 word count. I've hit 25,000 words three times. Each time I get on a roll with new words, I end up deleting older sections and dropping below the count again.

5. My eating obsession is homemade blueberry-banana bread - soooo good.

6. My cleaning obsession has been trying to get our spare room ready for my 16-year-old nephew who is coming up from FL to stay with us.

7. My mental obsession has been trying to convince myself that I'm not dreaming. I really am represented by Kendra Marcus of BookStop Literary. Pinch me.

I'd like to pass The Beautiful Blogger Award on to:

Cynthia Chapman Willis

Katie Clark

Patricia Tilton

Jean @ Delightful Repast

Lynn Davidson

Marcia Hoehne

Have you been obsessed with anything this week?

Novels in Verse Reading Challenge Update

2012-04-29T21:38:00.000-04:00

This month I read two novels in verse as part of the Reading Challenge hosted by Amanda at Born Bookish: Stop Pretending by Sonya Sones and Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. Let me tell you a little bit about them. . .

Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister
Went Crazy

By Sonya Sones

This book is based on the true experience of the author and her own girlhood journals.

At the age of thirteen, Cookie witnesses the frightening changes in her older sister as she has a mental breakdown. From that point on, everything in her life changes. Not only does she lose her sister, best friend, and confidante to a lengthy hospitalization, but also her mother and father become unrecognizable to her under the pressure of their grief and their inability to comfort each other through the loss.

Cookie finds herself lonely and longing to talk to someone about what’s going on, yet she’s afraid of losing her friends if they find out.

I felt the honesty of Cookie’s emotions, from her own fear of being crazy, to her admission that she often didn’t want to visit her sister in the hospital. Although she desperately missed her, most times she found that she didn’t recognize the girl who looked back at her. It's heartbreaking to watch Cookie try to navigate through the changes alone. But there is also hope and deep joy as she finds a true friend, and her family begins putting their life back together.

I borrowed this book from the library, came home and thought I’d just pick it up and read the first page or two before starting lunch. But I couldn’t put it down. I read the first third of the book standing in the kitchen. Finally, I stopped long enough to fix lunch, then sat down, and read the rest of the book. I heartily recommend Stop Pretending. At just under 10,000 words, it’ll take you on a short but powerful journey.

Out of the Dust

By Karen Hesse

I had heard of this book before but never picked it up. I’m not sure why. Maybe I was put off by the cover, which I find quite drab. But after reading several wonderful reviews, I put the cover out of my mind and got the book.

This is the story of Billy Jo, a fourteen-year-old girl who grows up in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the great depression.

We watch her farming family struggle through drought and loss with a constant shroud of dust that covers everything from Billy Jo’s mother’s beloved piano to the very food they eat.

After a terrible accident takes her mother's life and leaves Billy Joe burned and scarred, she and her father drift through life on currents of their own quiet grief and Billy Jo dreams of the day she will leave.

When Billy Jo finally jumps a train that will take her out of the dust bowl, she is able to come to terms with the past and the present, trading in blame for hope, and discovering something about herself in the process.

This is a wonderful book and it rises right to the top of my list as one of my favorite novels in verse.

For a peek into the story, have a look at this 10-year-old actress performing one of the most dramatic scenes in the book. It gives me goosebumps!

If you haven't joined the Novels in Verse Reading Challenge yet, I encourage you to consider it. There's still time to join in, and at the least intimidating level you only need to read one book. I'm a big fan of the format and I've found that the challenge has pushed me to try more than just the authors I'm familiar with. And that's always a good thing.

Desperately Wanting

2012-04-22T21:42:00.000-04:00

“You can’t, in most things, get what you want if you want it too desperately: anyway, you can’t get the best out of it. ‘Now! Let’s have a real good talk’ reduces everyone to silence. ‘I must get a good sleep tonight’ ushers in hours of wakefulness. Delicious drinks are wasted on a really ravenous thirst.” Although in this passage from A Grief Observed C.S. Lewis is referring to his frantic need for God upon the death of his wife, I've seen this truth played out in many circumstances in my own life over the years.

Take writing for instance. I write because I love it - the exhilaration of putting words down on the page, of finding the precise words to build the particular sentences that create the exact story that’s been growing inside of me, and then releasing those stories out into the world where they are read. There’s no doubt about it, as writers, having our work published, attaining that connection with readers, is a desirable part of the process. It’s when we want publication too desperately that we can lose perspective and forget that publication is only a part of the process. If we fixate only on that one aspect, then we become “like the drowning man who can’t be helped because he clutches and grabs.” - C.S. Lewis

It's one of those perspective things that I have to relearn every so often: a can't see the forest through the trees thing that reminds me not to lose sight of the big picture.

And maybe, like so many other things in life, it’s in the letting go that we are finally able to find what we are looking for.

Do you ever let the goal overshadow the process?

Sunshine and a Song to make you Smile

2012-04-15T21:56:00.000-04:00

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

You can never have enough sunshine in you life. So I gratefully thank Mikki and Allyn for passing along the Sunshine Award to me. I’m happy to post it here this week to brighten my little corner of the blogosphere!

The rules of the award are:

Thank the person(s) who sent it to you.

Answer ten questions about yourself.

Write a post about it.

Pass the award on and let the recipients know.

Favorite color? Sea foam green

Favorite animal? To own: dogs. To admire from afar: Anything photographed by Nick Brandt.

Favorite number? 500 – the approximate number of candies in a bag of Starburst jellybeans.

Favorite drink? Coca~Cola

Facebook or Twitter? Facebook

My passion? Writing

Getting or Giving? Giving

Favorite Pattern? I’m more of a solids kind of girl. But if I have to pick, I’ll say stripes.

Favorite day of the week? Saturday

Favorite flower? Lilacs. I love the way the scent fills the entire house.

And because music holds such potential for brightening a day, I’m adding another question. Favorite happy song? I had a terrible time limiting it to just one but I finally settled on Owl City’s On the Wing. And I just love this fan-made video.

I'd like to pass The Sunshine Award on to:

What is your favorite happy song?

Slow Down, You're Moving to Fast

2012-04-08T22:08:00.000-04:00

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

A good friend reminded me recently of something a writing mentor said to us years ago: "Don’t rush your words."

In her book, The Wave in the Mind, Ursula K. Le Guin reinforces that message. She says, “Your mind is like a cat hunting; it’s not even sure yet what it’s hunting. It listens. Be patient like the cat. Very, very attentive, alert, but patient. Slow. Don’t push the story to take shape. Let it show itself. Let it gather impetus. Keep listening. Make notes or whatever if you’re afraid you’ll forget something, but don’t rush to the computer. Let the story drive you to it. When it’s ready to go, you’ll know it.”

I was struck with a new story idea last week, which at first I thought was very inconvenient, because I’m already deep into a project. But this new idea was so different from anything I normally write, that I couldn’t help but get excited about it. So right now, I’m like that hunting cat - attentive, alert, but patient. I'm taking notes and capturing the voice of the character that started telling me her story. I don’t know if I need to remind myself not to rush – I am naturally a slow writer. Still I find Le Guin’s words encouraging confirmation. And I’m enjoying the discovery process as the depth of the idea reveals itself to me.

Do you let new ideas reveal themselves to you slowly or are you more apt rush to the computer and pounce on them?

Lucky 7, Cute Dogs, and a Couple of Contests

2012-03-27T08:06:00.002-04:00

I’ve been tagged in the Lucky 7 meme. Thanks to Katrina Delallo, Karen Wojcik Berner, and Peaches Ledwidge. Over the past few weeks I’ve enjoyed getting glimpses into others’ stories. I hope you feel the same when I share mine. The rules are:

1. Go to page 77 of your current WIP.
2. Go to line 7.
3. Copy down the next 7 lines, sentences, or paragraphs, and post them as they're written.
4. Tag seven authors.
5. Let them know.

I haven’t reached page 77 yet with my current WIP, a lighthearted contemporary YA novel, so this is taken from page 7.

“When I slip into my seat and look to my right, instead of Granville seated behind a stack of computer books, I’m eyeball to eyeball with Tiffany and her unnaturally long lashes. I give her a confused look, expecting her to respond with some kind of explanation for the bizarre change in seating arrangement. But instead she shoots me an icy stare, colder than the winds over the arctic tundra. “What are you looking at?” she snaps.

Scanning the room, I see Granville cloistered away in the back corner where Tiffany usually sits texting her boyfriend-of the-week and touching up her two-inch talons. He looks different somehow.”

And I'm passing the Lucky 7 Challenge along to:

Celesta at CelestaRimington

Cynthia at Read is the New Black

Judy at Ya Just Gotta Laugh

Lynn at Random Acts of Writing

Karen at KarenCantwell

Courtney at CtnyRene
Rosalind at Rosalind Adam is Writing in the Rain

Speaking of lucky, Sarah C. Pilon was nice enough to invite me to guest post on her blog today for her Unlikely Teachers segment. I hope you’ll click over to read Three Things My Dogs Taught Me About Writing I had a lot of fun writing this post. I hope you have fun reading it.

Also, today's the last day to enter these two great contests. Are you feeling lucky?

Marcia Hoehne is hosting a critique giveaway here.

To celebrate the latest Gallagher Girl release, Amanda at Born Bookish is hosting a book giveaway here.

Good luck!

Being a Bad Mother

2012-03-18T21:36:00.000-04:00

“The wound is the place where the light enters you.” – Rumi

I came across this quote a few weeks ago and not only did it pierce my heart, personally, but it got me thinking about writing and opened my eyes to the value of letting my characters become wounded.

I tend to mother my characters a little too much, wanting to protect them from problems, mistakes, and bad decisions. While these tendencies are very natural and motherly, they don’t make for the best writing.

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

I placed the Rumi quote on my desk as a reminder, not to be afraid of the hard things in life (and in fiction.) If I can remember that ultimate good often comes from uncomfortable, even painful circumstances, I can stop pampering my characters, let them live on the page, give them problems that might trip them up, but will make them (and the story) better in the end. And if I want them to learn and grow and become real to readers, then I'll have to allow them to become wounded.

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

Do you over-mother your characters?

Two Lyrical Reads to Transport You

2012-03-11T21:15:00.000-04:00

This month, as part of the Novels In Verse reading challenge, hosted by Amanda at Born Bookish, I read Inside Out & Back Again by Thanha Lai and Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall. I didn’t realize it when I picked these two books out, but they had a lot in common. To start, look at the covers:

I must admit, it was the beautiful cover that first attracted me to Thanha Lai’s book. You know how I love trees ;) Then when I learned that it was written in verse, well, there was no question. I had to read it right away.

Although classified as fiction, both of these books are based on the real experiences of the authors.

Inside Out & Back Again

From Amazon:

"No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.

For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.

But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.

This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next."

Inside Out & Back Again is beautifully told in free verse. Through the seamless flow of poems, we experience the sights, sounds, and tastes of Ha's journey as she, her mother, and her three brothers travel from Vietnam to America. Ha's fears, her curiosity, her guilt, her temper and her bond with her family, all make for a compelling tale and we hope beyond reasonable hope, right along with Ha and her family, that in the end they will be reunited with her father, who has been missing in action for years.

Under the Mesquite

From Amazon:

"When Lupita learns Mami has cancer, she is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit family. Suddenly, being a high school student, starring in a play, and dealing with friends who don't always understand, become less important than doing whatever she can to save Mami's life.

While her father cares for Mami at an out-of-town clinic, Lupita takes charge of her seven younger siblings. As Lupita struggles to keep the family afloat, she takes refuge in the shade of a mesquite tree, where she escapes the chaos at home to write. Forced to face her limitations in the midst of overwhelming changes and losses, Lupita rediscovers her voice and finds healing in the power of words.

Told with honest emotion in evocative free verse, Lupita's journey toward hope is captured in moments that are alternately warm and poignant. Under the Mesquite is an empowering story about testing family bonds and the strength of a young woman navigating pain and hardship with surprising resilience."

In Under the Mesquite, Lupita's story is told in rich, picturesque language. The author carries us, along with Lupita and her family to homes on both sides of the United States-Mexican border. And she makes us feel at home there too, successfully incorporating Spanish words and glimpses of Latino experiences.

The Deeper Joy of Writing

2012-03-04T21:45:00.000-05:00

This week I read John Rember's MFA in a Box and it hooked me in the introduction with this paragraph:

“I hope that when you finish this book you’ll be able to balance the despair of writing with the deeper joy of writing. I hope you’ll find the courage to put truth into words. I hope you’ll find reasons for being kind and intelligent in the presence of your readers and characters. I hope you’ll understand that writing is a life-and-death endeavor, but nothing about a life-and-death endeavor keeps it from being laugh-out-loud funny.

“I hope you’ll finish this book with more reasons to write than not to write.”

I’d like to share a few of my favorite bits from the text with you here:

“If a part of your story doesn’t puncture or betray another part, you haven’t finished the story.

One crystal-clear vision is worth more to your reader than a dozen brilliant conclusions. Let your reader draw the brilliant conclusions from your vision.

If a story or poem isn’t ending well, go back to the point where you saw what you had to do next and decided it was too scary or too much work, and took the easy way out.

Every draft takes a layer off the surface of your consciousness. Rewriting is a form of personal archaeology, and the good stuff is never on the surface.

Don’t pride yourself on your empathy. You have less than you think you have. Most of the time what you think is empathy is projection, where you assume that someone else’s inside is just like your inside, warts and all. It’s not. People who have been married for twenty years sometimes look at each other and discover they have no idea who the other person is.

Keep a list of the images that have awakened your soul. It’s your personal iconography.”

For me, finding words like these that resonate with my writer’s soul, can be just what I need to keep me at a project, when it would be easier to cast it aside and start something new.

Do you have a favorite quote that keeps you writing through the rough spots?

The Value of Losing Our Leaves

2012-02-26T18:56:00.000-05:00

In my reading this week, I came across an excerpt from the poem "A Home in Dark Grass" by Robert Bly.

We did not come to remain whole.

We came to lose our leaves like the trees

The trees that are broken

And start again, drawing up from the great roots.

Photo courtesty of Free Artistic Photos

His words spoke to me on so many different levels. They illustrate the cycle of life, the fact that nothing remains the same. We all have journeys to take, changes to experience, growth to let shape us.

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

Then as it relates to writing. We did not come to remain whole, to keep our words and our stories within ourselves. We came to lose our leaves like the trees, bloom in brilliant colors, but then let go of our stories, send them fluttering on the wind to distant places, beyond ourselves. Each time we start anew we draw up from our roots, from the things within us that strengthen us, and start over. Thinking of it in this way, as a cycle that repeats itself like the seasons within the perfect timing of God’s universe, gives me hope for those days when I finish a story and it feels like I’ve just used up my last idea. Ever.

I don’t worry in autumn when the leaves turn brown and crisp, that the trees won’t bloom again in spring. The resting phase of winter is necessary. In that same way, I’m learning to trust the writing process and to enjoy every season.

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

Do you go through a "resting phase" with your writing, allowing ideas to strengthen and grow below the surface before you approach the page?

Getting Well, Joining the Campaign, and Sharing the Love

2012-02-18T12:02:00.001-05:00

I've signed on for another round of platform-building, blogger-friend-finding fun with Rachael Harrie's Platform Building Campaign. I had meant to post sooner to help spread the word before sign ups closed, but I was knocked out of commission for a few days with a nasty stomach virus. Thankfully, my daughter and my husband took good care of me, making sure I had plenty of saltines, ginger ale, and soup.

In any case, if you're a new visitor, thanks for stopping by and I look forward to getting to know you and your blog better throughout the campaign!

I'd also like to thank Patricia from Children's Books Heal for awarding me the Kreative Blogger award. She runs a wonderful book review blog and I'm so happy to have gotten to know her through the blogging experience.

The rules of the award are to thank the person who nominated you for the award and post a link to their blog. Then list 10 things about myself and award the blog to six other deserving bloggers.

However, I'm shortening things a bit, because being out of commission for the past four days has set me behind on EVERYTHING. I need to start catching up with life again!

Five things about me:

1. I am constantly fighting the battle against clutter, but rarely feel like I'm winning.

2. I made Ranger cookies last week and convinced myself that with all of the Rice Krispies and Oatmeal, they were a justifiable breakfast food.

3. Somehow I always end up watching American Idol, even though it drives me crazy.

4. One of my favorite things about February are the cherry pies at McDonalds. Mmmmm.

5. In junior high my teachers got together and presented me with a certificate naming me "Most Talkative." (It was a joke, because I was sooooo shy.)

And now, I'd like to pass the award on to:

Vijaya Bodach at Reading, Writing, Ruminating. She's a scientist turned children's writer who shares her thoughts on faith, family, and writing. And she's a lovely person.

Heather Ayris Burnell at Frolicking Through Cyberspace. She's a PB writer who also runs a cafe & gallery. That's a lot of creativity! Plus, you've gotta love a blog with "frolicking" in the title ;)

Ardith Goodwith at Ardith's Art Journal. I was introduced to Ardith, her blog, and her art through last year's platform building campaign.

The Muse at The Writer Shade of Pale. Not only do I love the title of her (recently discovered) blog, but I'm loving her thoughtful posts.

Leslie Rose at Yes, This Will be on the Test She's a fifth grade teacher and a YA writer.

They're all blogs worth visiting. I hope you'll click over and check them out.

Two Reviews for the Novels in Verse Reading Challenge

2012-02-05T12:35:00.000-05:00

Today I'm posting two reviews as part of the Novels in Verse Reading challenge hosted by Amanda at Born Bookish. In January, I read the first two books towards my goal of 9-12 novels written in verse for the year.

May B by Caroline Starr Rose
Middle Grade

Synopsis (from Amazon)

I've known it since last night:
It's been too long to expect them to return.
Something's happened.

May is helping out on a neighbor's Kansas prairie homestead—just until Christmas, says Pa. She wants to contribute, but it's hard to be separated from her family by 15 long, unfamiliar miles. Then the unthinkable happens: May is abandoned. Trapped in a tiny snow-covered sod house, isolated from family and neighbors, May must prepare for the oncoming winter. While fighting to survive, May's memories of her struggles with reading at school come back to haunt her. But she's determined to find her way home again. Caroline Starr Rose's fast-paced novel, written in beautiful and riveting verse, gives readers a strong new heroine to love.

My Review

I’m a big fan of novels written in verse, so I’d been waiting for this one to come out. When I finally got my hands on it, I read it in one sitting.

I felt for May right from the start, as she’s told that she has to quit school, leave her family, and go live with strangers to work on their homestead. Talk about drama!

The author does an amazing job of creating characters and emotions we can relate to, even though the circumstances of May’s family are quite different from anything I’ve ever experienced. I felt the weight of her parents’ decision to send her away, not only as it affected May, but also as it affected her whole family.

Another thing that May struggles with is reading. Although her schoolteacher and her classmates ridicule May, she is determined to do better. One of the few things she brings with her when she leaves home is her reader.

When May is dropped off at their neighbor’s homestead she’s full of doubt. But as May adapts to her new circumstances, firstly getting accustomed to the family she’s been sent to help, and finally, being left alone to survive the winter, she finds her strength and her voice.

This was a lovely, captivating story. I’m glad I purchased the book, because I know I’m going to want to read it again!

Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay
Young Adult

Synopsis (from Amazon)

My Wish

is to fall

cranium over Converse

in dizzy daydream-worthy love.
(If only it were that easy.)

Marcie has been dragged away from home for the summer--from Idaho to a family summerhouse in New Hampshire. She's left behind her friends, a group of freaks and geeks called the Leftovers, including her emo-rocker boyfriend, and her father.

By the time Labor Day rolls around, Marcie suspects this "summer vacation" has become permanent. She has to start at a new school, and there she leaves behind her Leftover status when a cute boy brings her breakfast and a new romance heats up. But understanding love, especially when you've watched your parents' affections end, is elusive. What does it feel like, really? Can you even know it until you've lost it?

Love & Leftovers is a beautifully written story of one girl's journey navigating family, friends, and love, and a compelling and sexy read that teens will gobble up whole.

My Review

Okay, I’ll say it again: I love books written in verse. And Love & Leftovers is no exception. It’s like getting all the good parts without any “filler” to slow things down. Which is probably why, even at 432 pages, I couldn’t put this down. I read it in one sitting.

When Marcie’s dad leaves her mother for another man, it affects not only her family, but her other relationships as well. Marcie begins to question everything in her life. Why didn’t her father love her enough to stay? When will she be able to go home to her friends? Why doesn’t her boyfriend show the extent of his feelings for her? What does being in love really feel like?

Far from home, her friends, and her musician boyfriend, Marcie is lonely. So when a boy at her new school starts showing interest, she rationalizes a new relationship even as she sees it crossing from friendship to something more. Will this be true love?

Although Marcie’s story is not as sweet & innocent as I like teen romances to be, the author creates characters you’ll really care about.

I'd also like to thank Amanda for posting my review of Gayle Forman's Where She Went. Look for it here.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Sequel to If I Stay
YA

What book are you currently reading and what do you like most about it?

Reader's Bliss

2012-01-29T13:08:00.002-05:00

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

In my last post, I mentioned the beautiful stack of new books on my desk. I'm quickly making my way through that pile and experiencing all kinds of reader's bliss in the process. Here's a look at what that means to me:

Bliss is finding a book that takes your mind off of your own writing for a while.
Bliss is finding a a book that is so beautifully written, that the minute you read the last word, you turn back to the front and begin reading it again.
Bliss is discovering a new (to you) author, getting hooked on her books, and not having to wait for her to write more.
Bliss is having a friend who reads the same books that you do so that you can discuss them when you finish.
Bliss is reading a book that not only inspires you to be your best, but makes you believe your best is truly possible.
Bliss is reading a book that makes you feel like someone understands you.
Bliss is reading a book that makes you feel like you've made new friends.
Bliss is reading a book that helps you understand more about human nature and how much we all have in common, no matter how great our differences.
Bliss is reading a book that makes you feel loved for who you are.
Bliss is reading a book that you think about for days after you finish reading it.

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

What does your reader's bliss look like and what was the last book that transported you there?

Time for a Little Fun

2012-01-14T09:16:00.002-05:00

Last week I received The Versatile Blogger Award from new blogging friend, Fiona J. Phillips over at Fi's Magical Writing Haven. Thanks, Fi. I'd also like to thank C. Lee McKenzie from The Write Game, for bestowing this honor on me several months back.

The rules insist that I tell you seven things you don't know about me, and pass the award on to five other bloggers, so here goes:

1. I'm keeping all of the chocolates I received for Christmas (coconut wreaths, cordial cherries, thin mints, assorted cremes, etc.) on my desk. I've been spending an inordinate amount of time in my office this month. Any connection? I'll let you decide ;)

2. I also received a gift card to our local independent book shop. Stacked in a very satisfying pile on the corner of my desk (next to the cache of chocolates) are North of Beautiful, by Justina Chen Headley, I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak, Second Sight by Cheryl B. KIein, and May B. by Caroline Starr Rose. I am in readers bliss.

3. I love to bake, but hate to cook. Give me Toll House cookie bars over pork chops any day!

4. I never learned to dress like an adult. I wear jeans, t-shirts and sneakers every day. (Although I recently went on a shopping spree in preparation for attending a writers conference later in the year.) I almost don't recognize myself all dressed up.

5. Figuring out what to make for dinner is my least favorite part of each day. Sometimes I just want to scream, "Really, I have to cook every day?"

6. Although I swore this would never happen to me, I sometimes forget how old I am.

7. I was once asked if my (older) sister was my daughter. This happened only once and I tell myself that the room was dimly lit, the woman who asked was elderly and surely she had some sort of vision impairment. It wasn't. And to my knowledge, she didn't. But I tell myself this anyway.

And now I'd like to pass this award on to five of my blogging friends. I hope you'll click on over and check them out.

1. Mirka Breen shares wonderfully honest posts on her own blog and is a faithful commenter on so many others. Thanks, Mirka!

2. Susanna Leonard Hill runs a truly versatile blog. She's always got something going on: challenges, contests, polls, prompts. There's never a dull moment.

3. Janet Sumner Johnson because she is awesome! See this post.

4. Sarah Pearson has an addicting blog feature called Musical Stories. If you haven't already, you're going to want to check them out.

5. Rosalind Adam because she's one of the nicest people I've met since I started blogging.

Now, to celebrate the fact that I'm going to be diving into the query process with my YA novel in verse this week, I'm joining a reading challenge. My daughter, Amanda, is hosting a Novels In Verse Reading Challenge over at Born Bookish.

I've signed on at the Sonnet Level to read 9-12 novels in verse before the end of the year. I hope you'll consider joining as well. And if you've never read a novel in verse, you may be surprised to find how many of them there are. She's got lists of both MG and YA titles here.

Infused words

2012-01-03T13:08:00.000-05:00

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

Last month, I was at the library one day looking for a book that might help my daughter with a paper she was writing for school. As I browsed the shelves, I found a book called The End of Suffering: Finding Purpose in Pain by Scott Cairns. After having watched my father decline into dementia for years, caring for him, and then finally moving him into a nursing home, I have done a good bit of thinking about suffering. I left the library that day with a tall stack of books for my daughter and a tiny 126-page treasure for myself.

Ironically, just a few weeks after I picked up that book, my father’s suffering came to an end. As I mentioned in my last post, he passed away mid-December. And I have to say, there is great peace in knowing that he is no longer suffering. But we seek solace in many different ways, and after receiving the comfort of friends and family, I was ready to pick up Scott Cairns’ book to hear and learn from another’s experience. Just a few paragraphs into the book, the author writes, “Like most people, I, too, have been blindsided by personal grief now and again over the years. And I have an increasingly keen sense that, wherever I am someone nearby is suffering now.” His words are infused with empathy and compassion and though the author and I are strangers, I read them as the words of a friend.

The day following Dad’s funeral, I was drawn back to my desk, eager to get back to the business of writing. Friends advised me to give myself time, not to rush back into things, but I had to wonder, if I was not writing, what I should be doing. Getting back to words on the page was what I longed for.

Likewise, Cairns’ speaks of art as a form of consolation. “Laboring over the wheel, the canvas, the written page, or the musical score can bring to the laborer a powerfully consoling sense of purpose.” He then quotes philosopher George Steiner for a helpful sense of why this is so: “Any coherent understanding of what language is and how language performs. . .any coherent account of the capacity of human speech to communicate meanings and feelings is, in the final analysis, underwritten by the assumption of God’s presence.”

For me this brought to mind the four different clergymen who stopped into my father’s hospital room during the week he was dying. Although we only personally knew one of them, their words and prayers were no less comforting for having come from strangers. Their words were infused with strength, joy, hope, love, beauty, and truth.

What are your words infused with?

Transitions

2011-12-26T18:56:00.000-05:00

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

As a writer, I think a lot about transitions. When I’m working on a story or article, I want things to flow smoothly from one scene or idea to the next, always trying to make the ride less bumpy for my readers. But transitions in life aren’t always so smooth.

Last week, my father passed away, just two days before his 77^th birthday. We had been planning a big party for him with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Instead, we laid him to rest four days later, on my birthday.

It’s hard to believe he’s really gone. Perhaps I’m still a bit numb. But I’m grateful that I’m surrounded by a loving family, and through us, his legacy will live on.

I am wishing you all a new year of smooth transitions, in writing and in life.

Freight

2011-12-04T18:56:00.000-05:00

Our life experiences influence us every day, as do the experiences of those close to us. Some call this baggage. In his new novel, author Mel Bosworth calls it Freight

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

As writers, it’s likely that some of our freight makes it onto the page. And it should. It’s meaningful stuff and readers can relate because they live these real lives too. French author Marcel Proust said: “We are healed of a suffering only by experiencing it to the full.” Perhaps part of that process is writing about it.

Mel Bosworth's novel is a small book about the big things we all carry around inside of us. “This unflinching, quirky novel follows a flawed yet lovable everyman as he searches for Home. We never learn his name. Nor do we learn her name – the woman whose freight is still too much for him to carry. But we know he likes soft things. We know he works through pain. We know his childhood still clings to him, despite his graying hair. And through knowing him and all his freight, ours is easier to bear.” (From the back cover.)

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

There is something freeing about finding the right words to carry our burdens onto the page. When we get the words right, they take some of the weight from our shoulders. Again, from the book: “At some point we become a bulging hose or a screaming faucet. We stand in the yard or we hunch at the sink and we have to turn the spigot. . .we become the water, spilling all over the place, and into ourselves. It’s the release we crave, the release we need so we can make more room inside ourselves. . .”

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

When I read a story where the characters go through something that I’ve been through, it helps me to feel less alone. There’s a Bible verse that sticks in my head, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galations 6:2) Perhaps God has given us the gift of writing as a means of sharing our burdens, and in the process, lightening the burdens of others. On a planet where more than seven billion people inhabit less than 2% of the Earth’s surface, there’s no reason why anyone should have to feel alone. Maybe we just need to open up more, and share our freight.

Do you put your freight onto the page?

Fictional Distraction

2011-11-25T12:44:00.000-05:00

Image courtesy of AarinFreePhoto.com

I hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving! I had intended to post yesterday, but the day got away from me. Today, if you're looking for a little fictional distraction from the sales and the crowds, I hope you'll visit Every Day Fiction and read my story "Dinner Plans" (And consider joining the lively discussion in the comments section.)

Also, if you'd like a chance to win two books by Holly Black, my daughter is hosting her first giveaway over at Born Bookish.

Until next time, I hope you find lots of great Black Friday bargains and enjoy plenty of delicious turkey leftovers!

Going Through the Motions

2011-11-20T19:54:00.000-05:00

Photo Courtesy of Studio7Designs

Do you ever feel the hours slipping away? Hear the days whooshing past you as one rushes into the next? Feel the years slipping through your fingers like water? Sometimes it’s hard to get a hold on things and it feels like I’m just going through the motions, meeting my obligations, checking off my responsibilities on some huge check list. In the quest to get things done, it’s easy to lose sight of the meaning behind the task or the joy that’s to be found in the journey.

This week our oldest daughter bought a house. I’m proud of her for being so focused, hard working and determined. And although the first thing friends and family say when I tell them her news is “Are you sad?” I feel like we’ve really made the most of our time together over the years. I know I’ll miss her terribly when she moves out, but right now I’m caught up in her excitement. And I’m thinking that’s just the way it should be.

Photo courtesy of Studio7Designs

It’s easy to get caught up in the big picture: dreams, goals, and wishes of “someday.” For writers it’s easy to focus on getting published, landing an agent, or finishing that book. The struggle is not to forget how much potential each day holds on its own, as we travel in the direction of those goals.

I just started reading Hope Will Find You, My Search for the Wisdom to Stop Waiting and Start Living by Naomi Levy. In it, the author addresses how common it is to get stuck in holding patterns as we wait for life to begin: when we get that house, that contract, that new car. “The reality is, every life just as it is right now has its own unique power and lesson to teach. Every day has its story. Every dream holds a lesson.”

Photo Courtesy of Studio7Designs

I know there are big changes ahead in the upcoming months, so my goal for right now is to enjoy every moment, to hold onto the days and to make sure I don’t just go through the motions. Today is exciting, rewarding, full of hope and opportunity. I’ll worry about tomorrow when it gets here.

Do you ever have to remind yourself to make the most of each day?

Measured Steps

2011-11-13T21:15:00.000-05:00

This week I thought a lot about measured steps, progress, forward motion. Most likely because it’s November and oodles of my online friends (and several real life friends) are NaNo-ing. (I am not.) With so many people focusing an entire month on meeting word counts each day, it got me thinking of production output. For some, the NaNoWriMo challenge sparks creativity. For me it does the opposite. I get to feeling like a machine – spitting out a set number of words in a day, a week, a month, but losing the enjoyment of it in the process.

I am a slow writer. Ideas need to simmer in my subconscious before I can work them out on the page. If we’re measuring, maybe that means less rewrites later on, or maybe not. Who knows? In any case, that’s the way my brain works.

I’m all for setting goals, but for me, what works are goals that exist in the background. They keep me motivated to stretch myself and see what I’m capable of, but they aren’t burdensome.

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos.

I spoke a few months ago about a book I was reading called The Art of Possibility, in which the authors propose that our focus doesn’t have to be on measured steps. It can be about embracing the fact that we are active participants – in life, in writing, in whatever.

I love this quote from the book: “The life force for humankind is, perhaps, nothing more or less than the passionate energy to connect, express, and communicate. Enrollment is that life force at work, lighting sparks from person to person, scattering light in all directions. Sometimes the sparks ignite a blaze; sometimes they pass quietly, magically, almost imperceptibly, from one to another to another.”

Whether you find that spark through NaNoWriMo this month, through the friends you connect with via blogging, or any of a million other possible ways, I hope you find that passionate energy that keeps you going.

What is the spark that motivates you?

Exceeding Your Limits

2011-10-31T09:03:00.000-04:00

This week I exceeded my limit for social outings that I can comfortably handle. By the time Thursday approached, I wanted nothing more than to hole up in my house until Monday and write, clean, read, cook – anything that wouldn’t involve making conversation with real live people. Then I got a phone call –a last minute invitation to dinner that I just couldn’t refuse. But something unexpected happened. I enjoyed myself. Socializing didn’t feel like work and by the time we left, I felt invigorated, and even went to my writing group after dropping my husband off at home. I inwardly acknowledged that I was making strides towards my goal of becoming more social.

But even so, by the time Friday afternoon came, I was feeling taxed by even my normal responsibilities. When I finally got home, I closed myself in the bathroom and cried, followed by a quick fix of chocolate and then – I sat down and visited some of my favorite blogs. I know, I know, this is a form of socializing. But it’s one that I actually enjoy, and it even soothed me to be around others who understand what it’s like to favor words on a page.

So, no, I haven’t given up on socializing, even the old-fashioned, face-to-face version. But I have learned that I need to take it slow. We all have our limits.

What limits have you done battle with lately?

Voices of a Love/Hate Relationship

2011-10-23T21:35:00.002-04:00

When my children were small, the only time we listened to the radio was when we rode in the car, so I always had command of the controls. My goal was to teach them to be discerning listeners, explaining why I flipped the station each time something inappropriate came over the airwaves. I was guiding them, providing a voice for them, until they began to hear and listen to their own inner voices.

As a writer, I often have a love/hate relationship with voices. I love when the muse whispers to me. I love when my characters seem to write themselves onto my heart, demanding that I put them down on the page. But then there are the voices that tell me I’m not good enough, I’m delusional to think I could ever really do this. That’s the hate part of the equation. But in the end, we all choose who we listen to, don’t we?

I’m thinking about voices a lot this week as I return to my WIP after an eight-week cooling period. In an article I read by Writer’s Digest’s Brian Klems, he shares The Geyser 5-Step Approach to Revision. Step Two he calls Invite the Flow to Return. This was a perfect reminder to me that revisions are not just about addressing the technical issues. It’s about recapturing the feeling you had when you were writing, and letting your characters talk to you again.

In honor of characters who speak to us, I’m sharing on of my favorite songs: Voices. Enjoy!

Do you have a love/hate relationship with voices? How do you decide which voice to listen to?

Speaking of voices, I’m trying out my reviewer’s voice this week. My daughter, Amanda, invited me to share a book review over on her blog, Born Bookish I hope you’ll check it out!