I'VE BEEN BUGGED


A Body Bugg, that is.

If you don't know what that is, well, neither did I. Not until one showed up in my Mother's Day gifts. My husband knows how hard I've been trying to lose weight. And how frustrating it's been between medication, a year of mono, being almost 40, and the stress of this year. (No, I am not one of those people who loses weight when stressed. Boo hoo.)

But now I have all the information I need. The Body Bugg is a device that I wear around my upper arm and it track how many calories I burn. Not just the ones from exercising, mind you, but all the normal energy expended walking from one room to the other, folding laundry, putting dishes away, writing at the computer, and, you know, breathing.

If it stopped there, it might just be a cool device. But it's part of an online program that provides help in setting goals, coaching support, daily menus, and a great template for keeping track of calories consumed. Check it out here: http://www.bodybugg.com/index.php

I've been a very good girl for several weeks now. And it's starting to show on the scale. You know the biggest surprise? How much work it takes to burn enough to lose even a pound a week. The best part for me of the Body Bugg is that it provides constant feedback so I know what I still have to do by the end of the day. And looking at the numbers (particularly if they're falling on the scale) is a great motivation. It's much easier to walk away from the 200 calorie brownie when I know exactly how long I'll have to be on the elliptical to make up for it. The Body Bugg is a sort of risk/benefit device--no wonder I got it from my accountant husband.

I have to confess, though--the temptations continue. What I wouldn't give right now to have a doughnut for breakfast, a bacon cheeseburger for lunch, lobster ravioli for dinner, and cheesecake for dessert.

But I won't.

Even though I really, really want to.

This morning was a first for me--The First Time I Sent My Child On An Airplane Alone.

Mind you, this child is nearly 15 and closing in on 6 feet tall. But still . . .

By the way, the "nearly" 15 part is important. Under the age of 15, Delta requires you to pay a 100 dollar fee for them to chaperone the child to and from the airplanes on both ends of the flight. When we reached the check-in desk this morning, the man asked my son, "How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

"Are you sure you're not fifteen?" the man asked. "No one else is going to ask and you look pretty capable of handling a non-stop flight by yourself. So how old are you?"

"Fifteen," my son said.

He was quite pleased with this turn of events, having no desire for a chaperone. And it's not like he hasn't flown plenty, including through several African airports. But he's never been on his own.

He wisely held his tongue while I showed him how to read everything on his boarding pass, told him how to find the gate once he was through security, pointed out all the things he needed to remove from his person or his carry-on bag so he could get through security, told him to ask an airline employee anything at any time, and generally acted like a nervous mother. My children aren't used to that--they're used to the mom who says, "Okay, whatever, have fun!"

He took it well, though. I asked him if he was all right. He assured me he was. I, on the other hand, felt like I was sending him to kindergarten all over again. What if he couldn't find the gate? What if he didn't make the plane? What if someone was mean to him?

I'm glad to report that all is well, he is safely in Boston in the hands of his father tonight.

Fortunately, they're flying home together on Tuesday so I don't have to go through this again.

APRIL BOOKS

Hmmm, not my best reading month ever. I don't think there are any A grades in what follows:

EVANS ABOVE/Rhys Bowen/B+
Evan Evans (known as Evans-the-law) is a police constable in a small town in Wales. When two men die on the local mountain on the same day, Evans suspects it's more than a climbing accident. A good enough mystery and I did like Evans--I don't know why this wasn't a better book for me. Maybe it was just too slender, and I don't mean in length. A good way to pass a couple of hours, but not compelling enough for me to rush out and find more Evans books.

DIRK GENTLY'S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY/Douglas Adams/B
I really wanted to love this one, being as I'm such a fan of HITCHIKER'S GUIDE. But for whatever reason, the off-beat humor didn't gel into a great book. It's got odd situations (a horse appearing in a bathroom in Cambridge, a ghost wondering why he was just killed, and an alien trying to destroy the world. Maybe that was it--too many disparate threads. At least in HITCHIKER'S GUIDE you could name the central problem--Earth is destroyed, Arthur is the only human survivor. Maybe I'll re-read that this month.

TELLING LIES FOR FUN AND PROFIT/Lawrence Block/A-
Block is a prolific (was? he might be dead now, that's bad that I don't know) author of mysteries and thrillers. This non-fiction book is a collection of essays grouped thematically for writers. Some I really enjoyed. The book ends with "A Prayer from a Writer" that I thought was particularly good.

A SPIDER'S THREAD/Laura Lippman/A-
Another one I really wanted to love and it came close. I've loved the two stand alone's of Lippman's that I've read--this is the first of her Tess Monaghan series that I've picked up. Tess is a private detective in Baltimore who's asked by an Orthodox Jew to find out why his wife has vanished with their 3 children. I liked the multiple viewpoints in the story, liked Tess herself (although not overwhelmingly), and thought the mystery was quite good. It didn't get an A because it became more of a thriller than a mystery and just didn't engage me as much when I knew what was going on before the end. But a good book.

A WALK IN THE WOODS/Bill Bryson/A
A ha! An A book. It was a re-read, me reading aloud to my husband as we drove to and from Oregon over spring break. Bill Bryson on the Appalachian trail, I reviewed it sometime last year. Still funny. Still engaging. Still Bryson.

CRITICAL CONDITIONS & MANNER OF DEATH/Stephen White/B
White was the guest of honor at Left Coast Crime and I got these two paperbacks free in my bag. I enjoyed them well enough, but doubt I'll look for more on my own. Both are part of the Alan Gregory series about a clinical psychologist in Boulder, Colorado with an attorney wife and a cop friend. They're thrillers, with Gregory in both books trying to balance his ethical requirement to keep patient confidentialiaty with his need to keep himself or others alive. Gregory himself didn't do much for me, probably the number one reason I won't bother with more books about him unless they fall into my lap. But I read both of them quickly and did want to know how the stories turned out, so take that for what it's worth.

THE GOLDEN COMPASS/Phillip Pullman/A-
This was my favorite of the new books I read this month. Actually, we started out listening to it on CD while we drove to Zion National Park last week. When we got home, I picked it up in my daughter's room to finish. Lyra lives in a world a good deal like ours, but with some signifcant differences --like the fact that every human has a daemon, a sort of soul embodied outside of them. Lyra and her daemon become caught up in the world of religion and politics and when a rare instrument falls into her hands, she must use it to help save abducted children and her imprisoned uncle. There are wonderful fantasy touches like armored bears and mechanical spy bugs, but Pullman's gift is in creating a world with people who are as real as anyone around you. I loved Lyra and can't wait to finish the series to see what happens to her.

IMAGINE THAT

A post about writing.

Even more amazing, a post about writing that isn't filled with moans and groans and whining. (Which is kind of hard to get away with, since every time I start to whine about how hard writing is, there's that annoying voice in my head going, "Well, it's not like anyone's forcing you to do this!")

Yesterday and today, I actually wrote. Fiction. More than a couple of sentences. In fact, I got chapter 6 and chapter 7 of Annest in fairly good shape. It's the first serious writing I've done since February and it feels wonderful. Last night I went to bed thinking, "So that's what I like about writing."

I've been at this too long to believe this will last forever. The trick is to celebrate when it comes. (The other trick being, of course, how to keep working even when it goes.)

I'm not going to make promises about what I'll finish when--life this year is teaching me too much about flexibility and chaos--but my goal is to have this wrapped up and ready to send out sometime this summer. How's that for a nice, loose, easygoing kind of goal?

SIXTEEN AND COUNTING

Years, that is. In honor of our wedding anniversary, I have a few words to say about my husband.


What is your husband’s name? Chris

How long have you been together? First date December 3, 1986 (both 17 years old). Engaged December 3, 1991. Married April 22, 1992.How long did you date? Not quite for the entire 5 years—for 3 years we weren’t even on the same continent (he went to Brazil, I went to Haiti, he went to Israel . . .)

Who eats more? Definitely me.

Who said “I love you” first? Chris. At the age of 18. (But I definitely thought it first!)

Who is taller? Chris, by more than 5 inches.

Who is smarter? Chris. I don’t even begin to understand his work.

Who is more sensitive? I suppose that would have to be me—if you consider crying over commercials, watching Jane Austen films, and occasionally talking about my feelings to be sensitive.

Who does the laundry? The kids. (Yeah, right, in my dreams.)

Who does the dishes? The automatic dishwasher.

Who sleeps on the right? It’s not a matter of right or left, it’s a matter of nearer the door and farther away. I have to be farther away from the door. (You know, so I have time to jump out the second-floor window while a crazed ax murderer kills Chris first. I'm old-fashioned that way.)

Who pays the bills? Chris makes the money, I write the checks.

Who mows the lawn? Our lawn service. Seriously. Don’t laugh.

Who cooks dinner? Since Jake got sick, our family and friends. And the take-out places. Even before, you couldn’t call what I did cooking.

Who drives when you are together? He likes it when I drive, so he can work. Unless we're going a long way (think Klamath Falls) and then he likes to drive so I can read aloud.

Who is more stubborn? With each other? Neither. With others? I’ll almost always give in to have peace.

Who kissed whom first? He kissed me, but only after I made a perfect fool of myself hinting around. (We were only in high school, remember?)

Who asked who out first? He asked me, but only because he felt sorry for me. (Long story about Academic Decathlon and my GPA. If you haven’t heard it, count yourself lucky.) We went to a BYU-Utah State basketall game. It was the first time in 10 years BYU beat Utah State. Talk about omens.

Who proposed? He did. In a parking lot. Another long story.

Who has more siblings? Chris wins by a landslide, with four brothers and two sisters. All older. I have one younger brother.


"If I could choose from every man who lives on this earth . . ."

Happy Anniversary.

Love you.

MARCH BOOKS



Only a little late this month :)



DARK FIRE/CJ Sansom/B
2nd in the Matthew Shardlake series set in Tudor England. Lawyer Shardlake is drawn back into the world of conspiracy when his old employer, Cromwell, needs help finding some missing Greek fire (also known as Dark fire). Able to burn ships on the water, it would be a formidable weapon for whomever ends up with it. Shardlake agrees to help, but in the midst of tracking down a killer trying to sell Greek fire to the highest bidder, he also has to find evidence to clear a young woman of murder. Good period atmosphere and an introduction of a new sidekick for Shardlake, but the whole was less than the sum of its parts. I don't know why.



A FATAL GRACE and THE CRUELEST MONTH/Louise Penny/A+
I read Penny's debut novel in January, introducing Armand Gamache of the Quebec Surete. The next two in the series see Gamache returning to the small town of Three Pines--the first time to connect the murder of a highly unpleasant woman and the overlooked death of a homeless woman shortly before; the second time to deal with a death during a seance. This is my favorite new author/series since discovering Reginald Hill and the Dalziel/Pascoe books. My only complaint is that I came into this series too early--there aren't any more books yet! The greatest strength is Gamache himself, a man of principle and great kindness who is paying for a choice he made against the wishes of his colleagues. That choice and its consequences run through all three books like a thread, culminating in a wonderful sub-plot in THE CRUELEST MONTH. If you like Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford or P.D. James' Adam Dalgliesh, treat yourself to Armand Gamache.



TUNNELS/Michelle Gagnon/B
I'm not much for serial killer novels, but I heard Michelle at LCC and picked up her first novel recently. In the old tunnels beneath a New England college, there's more going on than lovers' trysts. When the daughter of a mafia boss is murdered, FBI agent Kelly Jones returns to her alma mater to track down the killer. A great thriller that I raced through in two days--I would have graded it higher if there had been more about Kelly herself. Especially given that she was back on her own college campus, I wanted some connection there. But a good snowy day read.



ISABELLA MOON/Laura Benedict/A-
Okay, you all know I was anxious to read this even before I met Laura at LCC. I delayed beginning it until I knew I had a couple days in a row to devote to reading. And I needed them. Isabella Moon disappeared from her small Kentucky town two years ago. Now Kate Russell claims that she knows where Isabella's body is buried--because Isabella's ghost has shown her. The sheriff doesn't know what to make of Kate, and he's worried about the sudden death of a high school athlete and the murder of one of Kate's friends. And Kate has her own secrets--ones that won't stay hidden much longer. Benedict does a masterful job of plotting, no mean feat in a novel this complex. I loved the multiple POVs, the flashbacks into Kate's past, and the sheriff. My favorite parts of the novel were the appearances of Isabella and others to Kate. It's the one element that I wish had been, I don't know, explored more. In any case, Benedict weaves all the storylines into a strong conclusion and her pacing was dead on. And I absolutely loved the ending. For me, the last couple chapters put this book from a good one to a great one.

THE LOST CONTINENT/Bill Bryson/A
Travelling through small-town America.
Writing about it.
Bill Bryson.
Enough said :)

JANE-EMILY/Patricia Clapp/B
A reprint of a 1960s mid-grade ghost story. Set in early 20th-century New England, orphaned Emily spends the summer with her young aunt and her grandmother in a rambling house where her Aunt Jane died years before as a child. Soon Emily is being haunted by the ruthless Jane, and those who love her have to save her. I put it aside for my 9-year-old daughter to read--it's just the right level of scariness for her. Not quite enough for me.

JULIE AND JULIA/Julie Powell/A-
Nearly-30-year-old Julie Powell decides to cook every recipe in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". In one year. Her blog about the experience turned into newpaper, magazine, and television interviews, and then a book deal. I put the minus sign because of her too-often-for-me swearing, but this is a funny book about something that I will personally never do but loved reading about. Cooking eggs in gelatin? Using an axe to split open a cow's thigh bone and get out the marrow? Deboning a duck without losing the essential shape? The chapters on Julie's exploits are interspersed with peeks at Julia Child's life before she decided to take up cooking in France. Made me want to buy "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" even if I never cook anything from it.

SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN/Lisa See/B+
A book club selection; I liked it better than I expected to. And more than THE GOOD EARTH which was our last book set in China. In 19th-century China, Lily is bound to Snow Flower as lifelong friends at the age of 6. This relationship--more important in its rituals and meanings than anything except marriage--changes the course of both their lives. Using nu shu (a form of writing developed by women for private communication), Lily and Snow Flower stay connected even as their lives diverge. The descriptions of foot binding are both graphic and sad, and I'm awfully glad I never had to serve in my in-laws' home as a servant to prove my worth. The book didn't go as deeply as I would have liked into Lily's emotions, particularly when a misunderstanding leads to a rupture between her and Snow Flower. But still a book I would recommend.

FEBRUARY BOOKS

Yes, I'm late.

No, I'm not sorry.

(Okay, I really am, but I'm trying to play it cool here and pretend that February didn't just vanish into a black hole of weird cancer treatment alternate reality.)

DREAMS FROM MY FATHER/Barack Obama/A-: This was for book club. Written years before he thought of running for president, this is aan intriguing look at growing up in America and abroad with a white mother and an absent black African father. I was particularly interested in Obama's account of his first trip to Kenya to meet his father's family, having spent time there myself. I admire him as a man and a person and I'm glad I read this book. (But that's not inspiring me to pick up the political books--I'm just not into partisan politics of any variety.)

IN A DRY SEASON/Peter Robinson/B: I wanted to give this a higher grade. I might have, if I'd rated it earlier. But as time has passed, I've grown more so-so about the book as a whole. Being a fan of Reginald Hill, you'd think I'd be overjoyed at finding a different series about Yorkshire policemen. But Inspector Banks left me a little cold--too much drinking, too much feeling sorry for himself after his wife has left, not enough reason to like him. The story was a strong one--a body from WWII is discovered when a flooded town dries up--but I preferred the past chapters to the present which doesn't bode well for other Banks stories. I may read another one, but I won't go out of my way to do it.

THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN/Simon Winchester/A: This book, on the other hand, I loved. It's the true story of the making of the Oxford English dictionary and its most unusual contributor--an American Civil War surgeon held in a British institution for the criminally insane. It weaves the story of the doctor and his descent into insanity and murder with the complicated personalities that launched the most important dictionary in history. And I learned a new word that I adore: chance-medley (an accident or casualty not merely happenstance but indicating tragedy as a consequence.)

A PALE HORSE/Charles Todd/B: I love Inspector Ian Rutledge and I love the evocation of Britain just after WWI, but I'm beginning to tire of Todd's stories. This one was particularly hard to follow as Rutledge kept literally moving from one place to another and back again, following two different crimes. I wanted to yell: "Pick a place and stay there until you learn something!" This was atmospheric, but the story was forgettable and I'm starting to weary of Rutledge not moving forward. I think the problem is sticking only with Rutledge's POV--I feel like I know him pretty well by this point and I'm not getting a chance to know or care about the other people in the books.

THE CRAZED/Ha Jin/D: Sometimes I love literary books, sometimes not so much. This one was the latter. A Chinese graduate student in literature spend afternoons sitting by the bed of his professor who has had a stroke. The stroke leads the older man to share all sorts of stories and opinions that might be better left unsaid. Throw in the Tianmen Square protests, and it could have been more interesting than it was. But the language itself fell flat for me and I didn't care about a single person in the novel.

TOUCHSTONE/Laurie R. King/A+: After reading A PALE HORSE, I read this one and thought, "This is how it should be done." This stand-alone by the Mary Russell Holmes author, is also set in post-WWI Britain (1926) with an American FBI agent trying to track down an anarchist bomber among the British upper classes. Told from multiple viewpoints, I was invested in every character, whether I liked them or not. A satisfying main plot, as well as the fascinating subplot of a former British soldier who can feel far more than he wants to since an injury in France. Plus an ending that blew me away (pardon the pun). A heartbreakingly beautiful story.

WHY I LOVED LEFT COAST CRIME


1. The panels. Lots of interesting and informative discussions. And my own pet opinion was confirmed: There are two kinds of writers--those who outline and those who don't. And they will never understand one another.

2. The Tattered Cover Bookstore on Denver's 16th street pedestrian mall. A smaller version of Powell's in Portland (my favorite bookstore ever)--hardcovers, paperbacks, used books, books you don't find at the local Barnes and Noble. Two floors and two evenings of browsing fun. (And not all for myself--I bought books for my four kids and my husband. Okay, so I bought myself more. Sue me.)

3. The Book Room run by Tom and Enid Schantz of Rue Morgue. Almost every break between panels for three days I spent in the book room--buying books, eyeing handcuffs and t-shirts, and standing in line for author signings. Which brings me to . . .

4. The Authors. They're real, they're funny, and they're kind. At least all the ones I met were. Some of my favorites:

Stephanie Barron--writes the Jane Austen mysteries, of which I owned all but the most recent. So I bought the most recent and had her sign it. We had a good discussion about Lord Harold and hateful email. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, you'll have to read the series, which begins with JANE AND THE UNPLEASANTNESS AT SCARGRAVE MANOR).

Aileen Baron--wrote her first book at the age of 75. She's a Near Eastern archaeologist and her books are set in Palestine in the late 1930s and 1940s. She had the funniest line of the conference--when she said that American women of that period weren't allowed to run digs, but many British women did. Her explanation? "I think it has something to do with field hockey." I even got her to sign that line in my copy of her book.

Craig Johnson--he writes about a Wyoming sheriff. I've wanted to read his books for a long time. So after listening to him on a panel, I bought the first and had him sign it. We discussed living in the West (he's from Wyoming) and how Easterners don't quite get the idea of audiobooks the same way Westerners do.

Carl Brookins--I sat next to him at the banquet dinner. He is a true gentleman. And anyone who write about a character named Sean Sean who isn't Irish is someone whose books I want to read.

Laura Benedict--her first published novel came out last year, ISABELLA MOON. Another one I've had on my list to read, and I couldn't buy it fast enough after listening to her speak on a panel called Mindgames and Manhunts. She's everything I would like to be--polished, professional, self-deprecating, funny, and truly kind. She was the first author I've ever asked to sign a book and she talked to me as though she'd never been more delighted in her life than to meet me. I was so charmed, that I bid on and won a silent auction item that she offered, which I'll get to later.

And speaking of charming . . . MARCUS SAKEY--His second crime novel came out in January. I've heard his name (I suppose "seen" is a more accurate word) on DorothyL, but would never have approached him at LCC if not for the fact that he has wonderfully curly hair. Does that sound odd? I'm sure he thought so. But when I explained that my son has cancer and has lost his hair and that his biggest fear is that it will grow back in curly . . . well, he was graciousness itself. He signed a book for my son (admonishing him not to use any of the words in the book) and wrote him a note and let me take his picture. I have never in my life done anything like that, but he made me feel like I was only a mother, not a candidate for institutionalization.

5. The Silent Auction. There were gift baskets, signed books, character names and other wonderful things up for auction. (All the proceeds benefited the Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic in Colorado.) I bid on two critiques and won them both. (Well, okay, my friend Katie bid on one for me so I wouldn't look greedy.) For a total of 85.00 I won a 15 page critique from Chris Roerden, author of my favorite mystery writing book HOW NOT TO MURDER YOUR MYSTERY. And I won a 30 page critique from Laura Benedict. I can't begin to express how excited I am about both. (Hmmm, not being able to express myself doesn't bode well for my critique pages.)

6. The Volunteers. Christine Goff was absolutely splendid, both as an organizer and a person. Katie and I bought a book for a friend and wanted it signed, but it turned out the author had had to cancel at the last moment. Christine knows the author and she volunteered to get the book signed and mail it to us. Everything ran smoothly and efficiently from an attendee's point of view and I thank all of those who worked so hard to make it look effortless.

7. My friends. Katie and I knew we traveled well together. We've spent ten days in Dubai and Oman, we've driven to Portland to visit my dying birth mother, so four days in Denver was nothing but pleasure. We talked, we listened to Bill Bryson's NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND as we drove across Wyoming, we talked some more, and we met Becca. I've known Becca for almost five years now through our online class and critique group, but I've only met her briefly in person twice. I was a bit nervous about sharing four days and a hotel room with her, but I need not have worried. She is a kindred spirit, in all the wonderful Anne of Green Gables ways possible. We're planning to do our future book signings together. And we're figuring out what the other one can offer at future silent auctions.

I don't think there was anything I didn't like about LCC. (Okay, so I did learn that no one should ever follow me when I'm both walking and talking--I apparently can't talk and find my way out of a paper bag at the same time.) But when people ask what's the best thing I came away with, I have a simple answer . . .

I came away with inspiration, motivation, and the absolute assurance that this is the world I fit in. I am a writer. I will always be a writer. I am not odd, I am not crazy, and I am not stupid for wanting it. My writing may be slower this year as I spend time in hospitals and make sure Jacob gets well, but it's not going away.

Totally worth the time and money to rediscover that truth.

Thanks, Left Coast Crime.

I'M OFF


And none too soon for my sanity.

Although admittedly, some of my insanity is caused by getting ready to leave for four days.

Tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m., I'll be on the road to Denver with my friend, Katie. We're headed to Left Coast Crime which is not, as you might think, a gathering of mobsters. Nope, it's a good old-fashioned conference for lovers of mysteries. There are panels geared to both writers and readers, a banquet on Saturday night, and lots of people who will NOT ask "Where do you find time to read?" or "Are you sure you need that many books?"

My teenager was making fun of me when he heard about the trip.

"Denver? Denver? That sounds . . . exciting." (That last word positively dripped with sarcasm)

"Why yes," I answered. "Hotel, restaurant, books, and no kids. I may never come home."

But I suppose I have to. I get to spend next Monday night in the hospital with my second son for chemo.

I think I'd better enjoy Denver while I have the chance.

THE SIGURD JOURNAL


Allow me to introduce it to you: The Sigurd Journal is a new literary magazine, published quarterly. The first issue will be released shortly. Below is a link to its website, including submissions information.

Why do I care? Well, I know the publisher and the editorial staff. Each and every one of them. They're each talented writers in their own right and committed to publishing quality short fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. I expect good things from this journal. Check out the link and consider subscribing--it's only 5.00 for 4 issues. Can't beat that!

http://www.sigurdjournal.com/

I do have a vested interest. I'm the columnist, so each issue will have my take on writing, life, and other oddities. Pretty cool, huh?

So subscribe. Or I might hurl my battleaxe :)

I just had to share the fun new book I picked up yesterday. It was on the discount table at Barnes and Noble, titled BACK IN THE DAY: 101 Things Everyone Used to Know How to Do.

I ask you, how could I be expected to pass by a book that makes the following promise:

"In no time, you'll be able to fight with a rapier and dagger, thatch a roof, plow a field, wear a Roman toga, lay siege to a castle, pluck a chicken, hurl a battleax, make a fire without matches, and embalm a body."

Wow. How could I not buy it?

Excuse me for now. There are so many other things I could be doing: making mead, keeping wild bees, caring for a battle wound, making a Roman mosaic, forging a sword, or roasting a wild boar.

But I think I'll go hunt up my battleax first. I feel like hurling something.

TOTALLY RANDOM

Since my brain is now occupied with trivia like "What day is it today?", I'm finding I need prompts to help me post something new. Here are a few random questions I found floating around the blogosphere.


WHERE WERE YOU 10 YEARS AGO?

February 1998. Well, my one and only daughter was born in November 1998--count back 9 months--you get the idea. We lived in Seattle in our tiny but adorable first house. We had two sons, almost 5 and almost 2. My husband worked for Preston, Gates, and Ellis, a downtown law firm. And in the year ahead of us we would have our aforementioned daughter, change jobs, move states, live with my parents for 7 months, and build a new house. Whew. It's totally worth being 10 years older to not have to do any of that again.



WHAT ARE 5 THINGS ON YOUR TO DO LIST TODAY?

1. Take my son to radiation

2. Laundry (always and every day)

3. Finish chapter 4 (writing, not reading)

4. Catch up on emails (always and every day)

5. Breathe



WHAT ARE TWO BAD HABITS YOU HAVE?

1. Diet Coke

2. Sleeping in


WHAT ARE FIVE THINGS YOU WOULD DO IF YOU SUDDENLY BECAME A BILLIONAIRE?
1. Buy a house along the Yorkshire coast

2. Buy a flat in London

3. Travel

4. Travel

5. And travel some more


WHAT ARE 5 PLACES YOU'VE LIVED?

1. Hagerstown, Maryland

2. Fort Lauderdale, Florida

3. Seattle, Washington

4. Port-au-Prince, Haiti

5. Hong Kong


WHAT ARE 5 THINGS MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU?

1. I hate to cook (okay, that's something all my friends know about me--this is for those of you reading who I'm still trying to impress)

2. I love listening to film scores (THE MISSION is my most recent purchase)

3. I have old Halloween candy under my bed

4. I never dated the first boy who kissed me (16--family friend visiting from across the country--very cute--late night talk in the kitchen--flew home the next day)

5. I wanted to be the first female Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Or a US senator.

JANUARY BOOKS


TOUCH NOT THE CAT/Mary Stewart/B-: I finished this in the hospital that first week with Jacob. Pluses: it didn't require a great deal of mental attention. Minuses: definitely dated by its 1960s publication. Briony comes home to England after her father's death to deal with inheritance issues. She's also looking for the man she's been communicating with mentally since childhood. If a hospital stay is in your near future, this is an easy book to swallow.

ANIMALS IN TRANSLATION/Temple Grandin/B+: A fascinating book about animal brains, autistic human brains, and non-autistic human brains. Who knew a book about animals could teach me so much about how my own brain functions and why autistim produces the differences it does. It also has a chapter about rapist roosters that should be required reading for anyone who thinks genetic trait selection is a good idea for babies.

GIRL, INTERRUPTED/Susanna Kaysen/B+: I caught the tail end of this film (with Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie) on TV a few months ago. The book is the account of Kaysen's 18-month stay in an upscale Massachusetts asylum for the mentally ill. I didn't give it an A only because I would have liked more about her life after the asylum, thought that clearly wasn't the point of the story. The writing itself helps give us a sense of her fractured life at the time.

WILDWOOD DANCING/Juliet Marillier/A-: You all know I'm a huge fan of Marillier's historical fantasies. This is a YA book, set in Romania in roughly the Renaissance years. Five sisters have been crossing into the fairy kingdom once a month to dance. But now strangers have come to the kingdom, and trouble is threatening at home, and the sisters have to figure out how to save both worlds and stay together. I didnt' give it an A because, being written for a younger market, it's not as deep and layered as I like her books, but I still read it in just two days.

MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING/Victor Frankl/A-: The classic text about his years in concentration camps and how men and women choose to cope under such circumstances. I picked it up for obvious reasons (Jacob) and appreciated his stories about extraordinary people in extraordinary situations.

THE HARROWING/Alexandra Sokoloff/A-: A haunted house story, set on a college campus during Thanksgiving break. Five kids skip Thanksgiving and have the old dorm building to themselves. When they find and use an old ouija board, they release more than just a simple ghost. Her character development helps set this book apart from a normal horror story.

THE CHAMELEON'S SHADOW/Minette Walters/A: I don't think Walters has written a single book that I didn't love. This one isn't always easy, but it's gripping and real. When a British lieutenant is disfigured in Iraq, he shuts himself off from everyone around him, especially his former fiance. Then he's named a suspect in a string of killings in London and has to trust someone if he's going to save himself. Very powerful.

STILL LIFE/Louise Penny/A: Hooray! A first book in a series that I loved! Armand Gamache is an inspector in the Quebec police force. He's called to the small village of Three Pines to investigate the death of a local artist. It's a classic closed-circle mystery, where the reader gets to learn all about the villagers and their lives and secrets and try to figure out which secret led to her death. A fabulous traditional mystery that I adored.

NOTES ON A SCANDAL/Zoe Heller/A-: A book I picked up because I was intrigued by the movie trailers. Teacher Sheba Hart has been arrested for having an affair with one of her students. Fellow teacher and friend Barbara Covett tells the story from the beginning, revealing as much about herself as she does about Sheba. I don't think there was a single wholly likeable character in the book (except Sheba's Down Syndrome son), but Heller's writing and characterization are compelling. It's one of those stories that are messy and complicated and leave you with no black and white thoughts, just lots of questions.

I Need a New Challenge


Because my writing isn't going anywhere fast. It's meandering around in lots of interesting byways, but byways aren't going to sell me a manuscript :)

I know, I know, I have a sick child, I have other things on my mind. But here's the deal: I need to do this. What am I going to do until October, sit around and worry? That's a sure way to make me even older. There will be hours and days when Jacob will need me fully, but there are lots of hours and days where he's fine. I've never been the kind of mom to watch over every breath my children make, I'm not going to start now. Besides, he's at school right now. Watching his every breath is his teacher's job.

I'm crafting a challenge to get me through the second completed draft of Annest. Each weekday I will:

1. Write 750 new words

or

2. Revise 5 pages

I'll keep you posted once a week on how it's going.

IT'S OFFICIAL

I'm old.

Turning 39 last week was my first clue.

My second clue was much more traumatic.

My 14-year-old went to his first church dance. And he, remarkably, danced. Six times. And he, even more remarkably, asked some of those girls himself.

He's telling me this at 11:30 Saturday night, lulling me into thinking all is well, and then he hits me with the trauma: "The last girl who asked me to dance was 17."

Ack! I guess that's what happens when your 14-year-old son is 5' 10".

It also happens when you're old.

Sigh.

WHICH JANE AUSTEN CHARACTER ARE YOU?


A quiz for women, unless the men don't mind being identified with one of her women characters.


http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=6806N


Me?

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY's Elinor Dashwood



As Marianne's older sister, Elinor lives at the other end of the emotional spectrum. She rarely reveals her intense feelings and is more concerned with being honest and loyal than having what she deserves. Even though her intentions are pure, she sets herself up for loss by constantly placing other people before her own needs. Overall, Elinor is gentle and rational but is just as capable of radical emotions (despite her withholding them) as her sister.

Elinor Dashwood 75%

Jane Bennet 72%

Elizabeth Bennet 69%

Marianne Dashwood 66%

Emma Woodhouse 41%

Charlotte Lucas 28%

Lady Catherine 13%

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Doesn't every girl want to be Elizabeth Bennett? And it doesn't appear that all of her characters are possibilities, unless this quiz is honestly telling me that I have more of Lady Catherine de Burgh in me than Anne Elliott or Catherine Morland or Fanny Price. I'm not sure I like that implication.

And really? I'm more Jane Bennett than Lizzy? Sigh. I guess that means I'm hopelessly good.

I suppose there are worse things to be.

HOPEFUL WORDS FROM AN EDITOR


I've been meaning to post this for a while, but it came the day that I ended up taking Jacob to the emergency room and I've been a bit scattered since then :)

I sent the short story of Annest to the Black Gate magazine months and months ago, so I wasn't sure what the SASE in my mailbox was. Sure enough, a rejection, but a hopeful one. Beneath the form part, I got a written note from the editor, John O'Neill:

Laura,
First, I hope you can forgive me for holding this so long. Thanks for your extraordinary patience. [Me: not hard to be patient when you've completely forgotten!]
Almost. This is a magnificent tale--fast-pace, splendidly written, with terrific characters and a vivid setting. But it took just a bit longer to get underway than a handful of others we're considering.
We won't re-open to submissions until we fix our response times. But when we do, I really hope you'll try us again.
John

This was what I needed to give me confidence in Annest and to spur me forward to rewriting now that I've finished the first draft.

Also, I've got a story in mind to write for them. I'll probably enter it in Writers of the Future first, since I can't submit to Black Gate for at least a few months. But it's nice to go into a new story knowing that someone (who is neither my relation or my friend) wants to read it.

Right now, I'm taking all the good news I can get.

A NEW LINK

I have posted a new link at the top of my list. I wish I hadn't.

"Jacob's Journey" is my new blog, set up to tell the story of my 11-year-old son who was diagnosed 5 days ago with Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancerous tumor in his left cheek.

I'll try to keep this blog running as well, but I wanted to separate Jake's story from work.

If anyone deserves his own story, it's my son.

December Reads


THE LIFE AND DEATH OF LORD ERROL/Errol Trzebinski/B: Account of the "Happy Valley" murder of Joss Hay in Kenya during WWII. Joss was a longtime settler and a member of the infamous Happy Valley set whose morals didn't always square with the more conservative settlers. The husband of Joss's mistress at the time of his death was tried and acquitted for the murder, but committed suicide shortly after. The author speculates that the murder was actually carried out by the British Secret Service.

ANGLE OF REPOSE/Wallace Stegner/A: My immediate reaction upon finishing this Pulitzer Prize winning novel was, "I need someone to talk to about it!" It moves back and forth in time, as a crippled historian in the early 1970s writes about his grandmother's life on the western frontier in the late 1800s. I'd never have imagined I'd devour a novel set in mining camps and rustic cabins, but the characters are compelling as they move toward a devastating event that I didn't see coming.

THE INFERNO/Dante Aligheri/B: The one good thing I could say about THE DANTE CLUB from a couple months ago is that it inspired me to read my college copy of THE INFERNO. I enjoyed it, as much as one can enjoy a long poem set in the descending circles of hell and featuring men buried headfirst in the ground and men frozen up their necks in water. Still, now I can say I've read it. And I now understood many more allusions found in modern literature.

ARIEL/Sylvia Plath/A-: Plath's last collection of poems before her suicide. Some I loved, some I tolerated, and some I just plain didn't get. But I enjoyed stretching my mind--it's been a long time since I've read poetry.

ONE TATTERED ANGEL/Blaine Yorgason/B: Short non-fiction account of the LDS author's youngest daughter, adopted with multipled problems and diagnosed as having no brain, only a brain stem. They were told she would only live a few weeks and that she would never be capable of emotion. She lived for 8 years and showed many times over her capacity for feeling and her effect on the lives of others.

BECOMING JANE AUSTEN/John Spence/A-: I give it the minus only because I would have liked a final chapter telling me what happened to Jane's family members afer her death. But overall, a good biography of Jane that puts her in the context of her time and her upbringing. If you love her novels, this is a good biography.

PUCCINI'S GHOSTS/Morag Joss/A: A stand-alone that alternates chapters between the present-day, when Lila has come home to bury her father, and the summer more than thirty years before when everything fell apart. Using an unexpected windfall to mount a local production of Puccini's TURANDOT, Lila's mother, father, and uncle are set on a collision course with a disaster fueled by Lila's adolescent imagination. Very powerful.

LOST BOYS/Orson Scott Card/A+: It was a toss-up whether to give this an A+ or an F. The Fletcher family moves across country in the 1980s following a job for Step. But their oldest son, Stevie, doesn't adjust well. He begins playing with a group of imaginary friends who share the names of little boys who have disappeared in the area in the last two years. Meticulously plotted and incredibly woven, this book leads to an ending that shocked me to my core, had me sobbing in bed next to my husband . . . and that couldn't have been written any other way.

THE PALE BLUE EYE/Louis Bayard/A-: A cadet is found dead at West Point Academy in the early 1800s. Then his heart is carved out of his chest. The commandant calls in a retired NY police officer to investigate, hoping to keep the publicity to a minimum. But soon another cadet is murdered and the police officer finds himself working with West Point private Edgar Allan Poe. I thought I had it all figured out, and then come the final chapters. Though I normally despise characters who withhold information, in this case I didn't mind it so much, perhaps because of the powerful story.

MANIAC MAGEE/Jerry Spinelli/B+: Newbery award winner about an orphaned boy who runs away from his aunt and uncle and becomes a legend in a town divided by color. A quick but good read that I would recommend for kids.

THE MOONSPINNERS/Mary Stewart/B: I'm on a Steward kick at the moment. She wrote in the 60s and 70s, romantic suspense novels that don't overtax my brain. This one involves the island of Crete, a wounded man, a missing boy, and a woman who can't stay out of the drama she stumbled into.

2007 Books Read, Finished, and often Enjoyed


Number of books read in 2007: 131

Lowest number read in one month: 6 (February)

Highest number read in one month: 17 (June)

Number of mysteries read: 60

Number of YA books read: 19

Number of non-fiction books read: 31

I'm not quite sure what category the other 21 books were in. I know there were fantasy, and some short story collections, and a horror book or two. I'm just going to assume they fit my numbers.

Best books of the year for me?

The hands-down best single book that wasn't Harry Potter: THE WELL OF SHADES by Juliet Marillier. The third in the Bridei Chronicles, my husband got me this for Christmas last year, four months before it was released in the U.S. He has a work friend in Australia who bought it and shipped it to him for my gift. It was well worth the effort.

The hands-down best new series which I devoured in just a few weeks: The 6-book LYMOND CHRONICLES by Dorothy Dunnett. Set in the mid-16th century, before Elizabeth I came to the throne, these books ranged from England to France to Tripoli to Constantinople to Russia to Scotland. Francis Crawford of Lymond is an enigmatic, fascinating, frustrating character that I never got tired of reading about. A must read for fans of historical fiction.

Best new author: Stephenie Meyer and her TWILIGHT series. Though the later two books aren't quite as tightly written as the first, this is an author who grabbed me from page one and didn't let go until I was finished.

Best mystery: THE THIRTEENTH TALE by Diane Setterfield. A wonderfully gothic contemporary novel about a dying novelist and the young woman she chooses to write her biography.

Best literary fiction: THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini. Covers politics, revolution, love and marriage, friendship and betrayal, secrets and lies. Stunningly powerful story.

Best non-fiction: HONEYMOON IN PURDAH by Alison Wearing. A female journalist takes her gay roommate and a fake marriage certificate and tours Iran by bus for weeks. Funny and moving, it gives a voice to the people of Iran and reminds the reader how complicated history and politics are.

And, of course, the Hands Down Best Series-Ending Book Ever Written In The History Of The World: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS by JK Rowling. I'm aware that I never posted my reactions to this novel. Let this suffice: although I guessed correctly on the essentials, she surprised me a dozen times over. For the most-anticipated novel ever, I give her full credit for those surprises. It might not have been exactly the book I would have written, but I was fully and completely satisfied.


And I've just realized that I never posted my December reads. Guess I'll go do that now.

NOVEMBER READS

Hooray! My router must be working. So I'd better get these November books in before December is over.

SWITCHING TIME/Richard Baer/B+: Written by a psychiatrist, detailing the true story of a patient who suffered multiple personality disorder. I picked it up for personal reasons and I'm glad I read it for those same personal reasons. If you're interested in how fractured the human mind can become trying to protect itself, this is a fascinating book.

ONE GOOD TURN/Kate Atkinson/A-: A follow-up to CASE HISTORIES, this book features former private detective Jackson Brodie, now rich and retired. He's followed his girlfriend to Edinburgh for a theater festival and runs straight into criminal activity. Beautifully written and a whole host of fascinating characters and motivations, this book delivers a compelling story and a resolution I didn't see coming.

MOCKINGBIRD/Charles Shields/A: The biography of Nelle Harper Lee, highly recommended for anyone who loved TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Lee has become famously reclusive as she's aged, but this book pulls together her public statements and the private papers of others to give a fascinating portrait of the writer. It can't answer the question everyone has--Why did she not write another book?--but it gives enough clues and facts to provide an interesting theory.

MESSENGER OF TRUTH/Jacqueline Winspear/B+: I didn't like this 4th book in the Maisie Dobbs series nearly as well as the previous 3. Still a great period piece (Britain in the early 1930s) and with a good mystery at its core, but Winspear resorted to some tricks that I can't stand. Like having Maisie think that she knows what happened, but hiding it from the reader. In my book, that's false tension and it weakens any story.

A MONSTROUS REGIMENT OF WOMEN/Laurie R. King/A+: My re-reading of this book right after the previous Maisie Dobbs reinforced how much I love Mary Russell. This is my favorite of the Russell/Holmes series, in which Mary has to confront her feelings for Sherlock Holmes while also dealing with a charismatic female spiritualist and the possible murders that have occurred in her inner circle. King is a master at hinting and letting the reader feel the latent tension and attraction between Holmes and Russell. Love, love, love this book.

LIFE IN THE YEAR 1000/Danny Danziger/A: A wonderful book about life in England at the turn of the last millennium. It's structured around the Julian work calender, going month by month to give an overview of medieval life in English villages and towns just before the Norman invasion. Written for a general audience, I recommend it for anyone with an interest in history.

THE POE SHADOW/Matthew Pearl/A-: Surprisingly, I went ahead and read this after my disappointment with his first book, THE DANTE CLUB. Even more surprisingly, this book was far and away better than the first. Quentin Clark, a Baltimore attorney and admirer of Edgar Allan Poe, is shocked by the poet's death in his city. He's also convinced there's more to that death than meets the eye. He risks his career, his friends, and his engagement to find out the truth behind Poe's death as well as the truth behind Poe's creation of his most memorable character, Auguste Dupin.

AFRICAN WOMEN/Mark Mathabone/A-: Mathabone writes stirringly about the lives of his grandmother, mother, and sister in apartheid South Africa. From the indignities of being bought by husbands to the struggles of mothers to keep their children alive and safe, this is a wonderful book about the difficulties so many women in the world face today. Made me feel both blessed and guilty--and desirous of helping other women.

THE MAN EATERS OF TSAVO/J.H. Patterson/B: Written a hundred years ago by the colonel detailed to British East Africa (now Kenya) to oversee the completion of the Uganda railroad. During this time, dozens of Indian workers were killed by two lions in a short stretch of the railway near Tsavo. Patterson recounts the attempts to hunt down the lions, including the famous story of Charles Ryall's sitting up all night in a railway car only to be carried away and killed by one of the lions. The book also includes Patterson's memories of hunting other African animals, liberally sprinkled with photos. An interesting look at another time and different mores--and it was hard for me to accept the enthusiastic accounts of killing animals for no reason other than sport.

Man!

I've been shut out of blogger for a week. I could see my blog, but I couldn't get into the dashboard to post anything new. My husband fixed it last night when he returned from Boston. He says we need a new router. I'll take his word for it. I'm just glad to be back.

And yes, I finished. The month, the challenge, the first draft . . . history :)

Words written in November: 41,879

Average word count per day: 1396

Not quite my goal of 1500 per day, but not bad considering it took me 18 months to write the first 30,000 words of the novel and only 1 month to write 41,000. And, what makes me most proud, I wrote every single day. Sure, I had my 76 word days--but I still wrote something.

This doesn't mean I'm quite ready to start sending out the manuscript. There are quite a few scenes that need to be written in earlier spots, since I tend to change things as I write and the people and situations as I near the end aren't always what I started with in the beginning. But it's wonderful to have a structure to work with.

What did I learn from this experience?

1. That writer's block isn't always a case of writing something wrong and needing to rethink my direction. Sometimes, writer's block is just laziness (or inertia, as I prefer to think of it.) The hardest part of overcoming inertia is the initial effort. Then, with each day, momentum gathers and starts to take on a life of its own. That doesn't mean that day 30 was any easier than day 1, but that I had an energy on day 30 that I didn't have day 1.

2. That I am just not a serious outliner. I have friends that swear by their outlines. Not me. Not to leave the impression that I'm a complete freeform sort of writer. I always (almost always, I have one story now that's giving me fits) know my endings before I begin. I know where I'm headed and I know five or six high points along the way. But trying to fill in the blanks between those kills the joy for me. I've done it--I even did it for this book--but what I wrote bears only a passing resemblance to that outline. My mind is set free by the actual act of writing. Any amount of dreaming beforehand is not as powerful, for me, as what my mind does when I start to put my people in situations. That's when my imagination kicks in and I do my best thinking.

3. That sheer force of will can accomplish the same thing as inspiration. Don't wait for the muse--go out and wrestle her to the ground.

4. That I can do anything if I set my mind to it.

So now it's time to set my mind to the second draft. Wish me luck!

What was up with Blogger this last 24 hours? I couldn't get in to post. So here's yesterday's stats:

Yesterday's word count: 1781

Total word count: 40,149

Today's outline: finish :)

Today's word count: 1695

Total word count: 38,368

Tomorrow's outline: I'm saving the last chapter for the last day and using part of today's word count and tomorrow's to write important scenes that have come into it as I've been going along

Yes, I wrote yesterday--but the internet went down and I couldn't post my results. So here they are:

Yesterday's word count: 1625

Total word count: 36,673

Today's outline: return to Rooks End and beginning of wrap-up

I so want to reach at least 40,000 by Friday night. Let's see, that means I need to write 3327 words in three days. I'll pass that if I hit 1500 each day. All right, there's my goal for this final push--4500 words or bust!

Today's word count: 1518

Total word count: 35,048

Tomorrow's outline: end of confrontation with Hugh

Today's word count: 650

Total word count: 33,530

Tomorrow's outline: not even making a prediction anymore--it's sure to be thrown out the window by the time I wake up in the morning!

Today's word count: 76 (Yes, I typed them just so I wouldn't have to face the humiliation of putting up a big fat zero! I'm not going to feel guilty. I'm not. I had a good day with my family and that has to count for something--I'm hoping it counts for at least 1424 words.)

Total word count: 32,880

Tomorrow's outline: we'll see

Today's word count: 344

Total word count: 32,804

Tomorrow's outline: Annest returns to Haven for confrontation

Today's word count: 1107

Total word count: 32,460

Tomorrow's outline: Annest confronts Hugh

Today's word count: 1819

Total word count: 31,353

Tomorrow's outline: Annest says goodbye to Rhys, returns to Haven

Today's word count: 1787

Total word count: 29,534

Tomorrow's outline: turkey, ham, pies, rolls . . . Oh wait, wrong list :) Rescue, Rhys

Today's word count: 1772

Total word count: 27,747

Tomorrow's outline: Annest and Joanna fence, explanations and revelations

Today's word count: 914

Total word count: 25,975

Tomorrow's outline: trapping Einon, reading his mind

Today's word count: 872

Total word count: 25,061

Tomorrow's outline: meeting with all concerned

Today's word count: 1342

Total word count: 24,189

Tomorrow's outline: finish confrontation with Owain, meeting with all concerned (no more lies)

Today's word count: 1892

Total word count: 22,847

Tomorrow's outline: confronts Owain, begins to piece together the truth


Woo-hoo! Halfway through November and I'm right where I need to be to reach 45,000 words by the 30th. That is, if I don't finisht the story before then--I only have four chapters to go!

Today's word count: 1694

Total word count: 20,955

Tomorrow's outline: confrontation/reconciliation with Ivo, finding father's killer with Owain

Today's word count: 2247

Total word count: 19,261

Tomorrow's outline: Geoffrey and Ivo's arrival, Rhiannon's whereabouts, Geoffrey's decision

Today's word count: 397

Total word count: 17,014

Tomorrow's outline: Okay, here's the deal. My 397 words today were the general outline for my remaining chapters. As it stands at this (very tentative) moment, there will be 23 chapters. I'm just starting chapter 18. That's 6 chapters to write. In a nice twist, that's how many chapters I've written so far in November. So I stand a good shot of finishing this book by midnight November 30.

Given that I don't continue to write only a few hundred words a day. But I'm not going to feel guilty. I'm not. Or at least I'm going to use guilt as a motivator--believe me, I wouldn't have typed 100 words yesterday if I didn't know I had to post it in my room.

Stay tuned . . .

Today's word count: 100

Total word count: yesterday's total plus 100

Tomorrow's outline: don't know


I showed up. It's just been one of those days . . .

Today's word count: 2057

Total word count: 16, 517

Tomorrow's outline: haven't a clue yet . . .

Today's word count: 1608

Total word count: 14,460

Tomorrow's outline: private meeting with Owain Gwynedd, agreeing to aid him, meeting the court

Today's word count: 1510 (let's hear it for adverbs!)

Total word count: 12,852

Tomorrow's outline: meeting Owain Gwynedd

One Week In

So how am I doing one week into my November challenge?

Let's do the numbers.

According to my daily goal of 1500 words, I should be at 10,500 words after seven days. Check--and a little more :)

Although I'm not doing NaNoWriMo, I wanted to know how close I am to keeping up with their daily goal of 1657 words. At that rate, the total after seven days is 11,599. Awfully close.

Which means, as long as I keep it up, I'll have between 45,000 and 50,000 words by midnight on November 30.

Lots of those words are, frankly, rotten. But hey! I can't fix them until I actually write them. (A friend told me that was very profound, so I thought I'd share.) And at least I'm not stuck in the same place like I was for months.

Overall, there's one day in particular I'm proud of in this last week. Yesterday.

Why, you may ask? After all, it was my lowest word count day by far, less than 1200 words.

But yesterday was also my hardest day of the week, both physically and mentally. I only had 426 words written by 8:00 last night. I figured I wouldn't worry about it, but then I went ahead, sat down, and wrote a good 700 more words.

That's what I'm proud of--that I didn't quit when I wanted to. That I showed up.

On Sports Night, a great comedic show by Aaron Sorkin, Casey is in love with Dana, who has just broken off her engagement. All his friends want to know what Casey's plan is to win her.

"I show up," he says. "And then I see what happens."

That's it? they want to know. That's not a plan. But at the end of the episode, he'd gotten where he wanted. How?

"I showed up," he said.

So that's my plan.

I'll show up.

And I'll see what happens.

Today's word count: 1677

Total word count: 11,340

Tomorrow's outline: current political situation in Wales, Bronwyn's stories

Today's word count: 1162

Total word count: 9663

Tomorrow's outline: first meeting with Cynan, first meeting with Rhys (yes, I know I said that yesterday--it just took me longer to write her arrival in Wales)

Today's word count: 1926

Total word count: 8497

Tomorrow's outline: meeting Cynan again, and Rhys

Today's word count: 1402

Total word count: 6571

Tomorrow's outline: Hugh's plan, Annest leaves Dalmore and England

Today's word count: 1583

Total word count: 5162

Tomorrow's outline: write a different version of Rhiannon's escape ('cause I don't know which way I want to do it yet!)

Finished for the day, so I'll go ahead and post now.

Words today: 1542

Total word count: 3579

Tomorrow's outline: plans for Rhiannon's escape

Words yesterday: 1952

Total word count: 1952

Outline for today: Rhiannon's birth, Geoffrey's reaction to his half-sister, plans to get Rhiannon away from Hugh

OCTOBER READS

Trying something new, an easier way to indicate how I felt about a book. I'll give each book a letter grade. (Hey, I said it was new, I didn't claim it was original!)

DARK STAR SAFARI/Paul Theroux/B+: The writer, who taught in Africa during the 60s, makes a trip from Cairo to the South African Cape, almost entirely by land. He took buses and taxis and hitched rides in trucks. He was shot at by bandits in northern Kenya, went part of the way by river with a drug runner in Malawi, and visited the places he'd lived and worked. Only one thing kept this book from being an A for me--his superior attitude to the angels of mercy and charity groups that abound in Africa. I think he makes valid points about their usefulness or lack thereof, but he doesn't offer any alternatives so I tended to roll my eyes when he went off on that tangent.

THE BEEKEEPER'S APPRENTICE/Laurie R. King/A: A book club book that I recommended. The first in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series. 14-year-old Mary literally stumbles over the great (and retired) detective while walking the Sussex downs one day. She ends up Holmes' student, then assistant, then partner. There are several cases in the book that weave together into an overall story of revenge and trust. Obviously I love it or I'd never have suggested it to my friends.

HEART-SHAPED BOX/Joe Hill/B: Hill is actually the son of Stephen King and, in his father's footsteps, his first novel is supernatural horror (though the horror is mostly psychological in nature.) The book opens when an aging rock star buys a haunted suit on the internet. But it seems he was targeted for this particular ghost. It took me a good 50 or 60 pages to get into it, but then it moves right along and I was surprised and pleased by the character development. A good vacation read.

THE GOOD HUSBAND OF ZEBRA DRIVE/Andrew Taylor/B: Another Mma Ramotse book, about the traditionally-built African woman with her own detective agency in Botswana. I read these books for the pleasure of a quiet hour--not a lot happens, but it's always fun to spend a little time with the characters.

THE MEANING OF NIGHT/Michael Cox/C+: I wanted to like this book. It's set in Victorian England, it's got secret births and mistaken identities and true love and betrayal. Unfortunately, the structure and style made it hard to read. It opens with a murder, goes along chronologically for a few chapters, and then the bulk of the book is one long series of what happened in the past to bring this about. But I finished it, so that's something.

E=MC2/David Bodanis/A-: Our couples' book club book, "a biography of the world's most famous equation". The best review I can give this book is simple: it helped me understand what the equation means. That's no mean feat for a science idiot like me. Bodanis is a great writer of science for the masses--I especially liked the stories of people he included.

DARK ASSASSIN/Anne Perry/B: Although I once bought everything Anne Perry wrote, in recent years I've confined myself to borrowing them from the library. In this latest in the Monk series, William Monk is back in the police force as part of the River Police. His first serious case involves tunnels being dug for the new London sewers and a young woman who may or may not have jumped to her death. Perry is great at Victorian atmosphere, but her plots and characters have seemed to stagnate a little.

THE DANTE CLUB/Matthew Pearl/C-: Another book that had a great story buried somewhere beneath the layers of too many words and too much self-consciousness. The Dante Club is a group of Boston poets and publishers who are committed to the first American translation of Dante's The Inferno. But the publication is imperiled when a series of gruesome killings begin in Boston, mirroring the torments of Dante's Hell. The club rushes to discover the killer before Dante is completely corrupted. The author is a Dante scholar, and I think that ruined the book. Too much information, too little pacing, too slow moving.

NOCTURNES/John Connolly/A-: A book of short stories from a new-to-me author. I picked it up because it was October and the stories were spooky. I loved the variety of his settings and characters, from witches in an English village after WWI to a contemporary serial killer. I loved his style, I loved his subjects and the way he wrote about them, and I will definitely pick up his novels.

NOBODY DON'T LOVE NOBODY/Stacey Bess/B: Book club for tonight. Bess taught for 7 years at the School With No Name in Salt Lake City, a school for children in the Family Shelter. Her book talks about the children and their experiences. Moving, makes you think, didn't quite go all the way for me. Bess tended to repeat herself too often and I felt like saying, "I'll be more inclined to serve if you quit telling me that I should!"

Words Yesterday: It wasn't November yesterday, so I'm off the hook

Total word count: see above for Not November yet

Today's outline: Annest's confrontation with Hugh--doubts about Ivo--Hugh warns her of danger--does she want someone else to die in her place again--Hugh knows what she can do

NOVEMBER WRITING CHALLENGE

Novemeber, as you may or may not know, is National Novel Writing Month. It's a big deal in writerly circles, or at least it's been heard of. The object of NaNoWriMo is simple--to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. That breaks down to 1657 words per day.

I'm not participating in NaNoWriMo. For several reasons, none of which matter here. But I am taking the point of the challenge to heart. And what, you ask, is the point of the challenge?

To write.

I've been working on the same novel for more than a year. The short story that is sprang from was written two years ago. I have beautifully written and rewritten the first 100 pages dozens of times. But I've never gotten further.

And I have to get further. Because I have a whole trilogy I want to tell, and I'm ready to outline the next two books, and I can't write them until I write the first.

So here comes November.

My rules:

1. I will write 1500 words a day. (That will give me 45,000 words at the end of the month, enough to either finish or come very close to finishing the novel.)

2. I will only write new words and new scenes. I am not allowed to touch the first 100 pages. No matter how much still needs to be fixed or added or deleted. Those 100 pages will just have to wait until November is over.

3. I don't think there is a 3 . . . Wait a minute, I've got it. I will post here every day my word count from the day before and a simple outline for that day's writing.

How about it? Want to help keep me on track and see if I can finally finish off this book?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I attended another concert last weekend, with another child. As opposed to Blaqk Audio, this performer is one a few more people have heard of. In fact, so many people have heard of her that some tickets in some cities were selling for 2000 dollars apiece.

Hannah Montana.

Actually, Hannah Montana is the alter ego of Miley Cyrus, daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus of Achy-Breaky Heart fame. Disney Channel launched her to fame this last year in her own television series where Miley is a regular 14-year-old girl in school, and only a few people know that she's also world-famous pop star Hannah Montana. Now, of course, has come the album and tour.

First, the concert was in lieu of throwing my daughter a party for her 9th birthday next month. And in lieu of several presents.

Second, I am not telling you how much I paid for tickets. It's none of your business. (Although, to preserve my dignity, I will tell you I paid considerably--way considerably--less than top price.)

Third, I enjoyed myself. Does this mean I have no standards? Or, as I prefer to believe, does it mean that I'm capable of finding pleasure in almost any situation?

My oldest son asked me which concert I liked better--Blaqk Audio or Hannah Montana.

On the side of Hannah Montana--I got an actual seat to sit in. And I brought a book to read during intermisison.

On the side of Blaqk Audio--way more interesting people to watch. Everyone at Hannah Montaha looked pretty much like everyone else. Lots of moms of a certain age, lots of pre-teen girls who shrieked a lot, and an occasional father who was the very definition of longsuffering. There were no fishnets, no corsets, no persons-of-uncertain-gender.

Honestly, where is that Mother of the Year award?

CARMEN'S STICKY SCAB is available now!

And if you want to know more about the woman behind the book, click on the link below to read an interview with Ginger Churchill.

Love you, Ginger!



http://patesden.livejournal.com/

September Reads

THE EIGHT/Katherine Neville: a fun airplane sort of read, which worked out well as I was on more than my fair share of airplanes going to and from Kenya. It's one of those ancient secrets/conspiracy books that I assumed was inspired by Da Vinci Code. But I stood corrected after looking at the original publication date--1985. So now I assume it was reprinted and repackaged to take advantage of the Da Vinci Code furor. It traces the history of Charlemagne's magic chess set that apparently gives the holder of creation. Or something like that. I skipped the technical parts. It's told in two time periods: 1970s New York and Algeria and 1790s France. Other than that, I can't remember a lot of details. It passed the time pleasurably, which was its sole purpose.

THE RUINS/Scott Smith: also a fun trip book. I picked this one up because it's set in the Mayan jungles outside Cancun. Having just been there, I thought I'd enjoy it. I did. It's a horror book, but an understated kind of horror. Four American friends wind up on a day trip into the jungle to find a German tourist's brother who's gone missing from an archaelogical site. After encountering hostile local farmers, they stumble onto the site--only to find out the farmers are now armed and will not let them leave. There's no sign at first of the archaelogists, just a hillside covered with a strange vine that grows bloodred flowers and a big gaping hole that descends into the old mind. So what's the first thing they do? That's right, they go down into the big gaping hole. Creey and atmospheric, maybe don't read this right before going to Cancun.

AFRICAN DIARY/Bill Bryson: my favorite travel writer wrote a very short book about Kenya for CARE International. I can only hope he'll return to Africa at some point and write a longer book. His trademark wit and self-deprecating humor are leavened with touching accounts of Nairobi's Kibera slums and the Dadaab refugee camp near Mombasa. I loved it.

A SHORT HISTORY OF TRACTORS IN UKRANIAN/Marina Lewycka: From a professional review (because it says it better than I can): "In this comic first novel, two estranged sisters living in England discover that their addled elderly father, a Ukrainian war refugee and expert on tractors, is planning to marry a young, enormous-breasted woman who sees his modest pension as her ticket to capitalist comfort. The sisters put aside their differences, and embark on a spirited campaign to save him from boil-in-the-bag dinners, slovenly housekeeping, and such extravagant purchases as a broken-down Rolls-Royce. In the midst of these machinations—which include long-winded letters to solicitors, venomous gossip, and all-out spying—Lewycka stealthily reveals how the depredations of the past century dictate what a family can bear."
To which I can only add--this was a remarkably surprising and touching book, as well as laugh out loud funny.

THE ROTH TRILOGY/Andrew Taylor: Okay, I only read the first two of this trilogy in September, I finished the third this month. But I'm putting them together--deal with it. The unusual thing about this trilogy is that the books are in reverse chronological order, each one revealing more of the layers that underly what comes later. Each book can be read on its own, but there's a beauty and bittersweet harmony to reading them in the order intended. In THE FOUR LAST THINGS, set in 1990s London, a little girl is kidnapped. Her mother, a new Anglican priest, thinks the kidnapping is aimed at her and the controversy over ordaining women. But her husband has stories from his childhood he's never told her, and the truth is far more complicated. The second book, JUDGMENT OF STRANGERS, is set more than 20 years earlier, in a small village where the parish priest, David Byfield, remarries, setting in motion events he cannot predict and may not be able to live with. The third book, OFFICES OF THE DEAD, is set ten years before that and gives us a view of David Byfield's first marriage through the eyes of his first wife's best friend. Through each book there's a secondary thread about a late-Victorian priest who may or may not have been mad, who may or may not have been a religious and social radical, who may or may not have killed himself, and who definitely wrote very odd poetry. Highly recommended.

THE WHITE MAASAI/Corinne Hoffman: bought in Kenya, the true story of a Swiss-German woman who came to Kenya on holiday and ended up marrying a Maasai warrior and living in the bush for several years. Very intriguing, but my overwhelming thought through the whole book was: "Did you hit your head on something? Have you completely lost your mind?" But then, I'm not a big believer in destiny-changing, world-shattering love at first sight. I think it's always nice to back up attraction with, I don't know, speaking the same language.

A few others, mostly continuations of various serious I love:

TOOTH AND NAIL/Ian Rankin
GLASS HOUSES/Jane Haddam
JAR CITY/Arnaldur Indridason

I except to receive my Mother of the Year Award any day now. Or at least, Mother of a Teenager Award.

What did I do to earn this award you ask? I stepped way out of my comfort zone. I did something I never expected to do. I threw myself heart and soul (or at least bodily) into a teenage experience.

I took my 14-year-old to a Blaqk Audio concert.

And not just any concert. This wasn’t assigned seating, civilized ushers sort of concert. This was a downtown Salt Lake, dance club, cram onto the floor as close to the stage as humanly possible concert.

How did this happen? First, my son asked. Which might not mean anything, except he’s a great son. Fabulous grades, good attitude, easiest teenage boy in the world to get along with. Doesn’t break curfew, doesn’t lie, doesn’t sneak out. He makes it hard to say no to. Not that I haven’t said no before. But the second part of this I can only blame myself for—I didn’t check if my husband would be in town. I planned to send dad and son off to the concert.

But no such luck. Dad was in Boston. Which meant mom got to go. (And leave the 11-year-old babysitting—don’t call social services—my neighbors and friends were on high alert for any possible problems!)

So off Son 1 and I went. First, we drove for 45 minutes. Then we parked and walked a block and half to the club through streets that made me a little leery. Then we joined the line that snaked around outside and waited for 45 minutes until they opened the doors. It really is a decent club. It’s not like I let him drag me into a den of drugs and drinking. It’s a non-alcoholic dance club, you generally have to be 18 to get in but they make exceptions for their “all ages” shows, in which those under 18 can get in with a parent.

(But I must say that none of this meant they knew how to clean their bathrooms. We stood near the men’s room while waiting to buy him a sweatshirt, and the smell was enough to convince me that I could hold it until I got home.)

About 8:30, when we’d been inside 15 minutes, I realized that the 8:00 and 9:45 times printed on the tickets didn’t indicate the time during which the band would be playing. It indicated the time the doors would open, and what time they would take the stage. I had a bad moment or two when I realized I had another hour to stand around and wait before the music started, but I made the best of it. I found a convenient pillar on the side of the room, which gave me a good view of my son ten feet away in the crowd, and turned to contemplation. And there was a lot to contemplate.

Wardrobe, for one. I was extremely glad, standing in line outside, that I hadn’t decided to wear my denim mini-skirt, black leggings, and leopard print ballet flats. How embarrassing would it have been to show up in the same outfit the woman in front of me was wearing?

I have never seen so much black, so many pairs of fishnet stockings, and so many people that filled me with the great motherly urge to push their hair out of their face and say, “Let me see your eyes!” I also saw a girl wearing an actual corset. I know about corsets, having made two of them. Mine, however, are worn on Halloween, and always with something beneath them other than skin. This one, not so much.

I imagined Tim Gunn standing by me for a while. He hosts his own “Guide to Style” on Bravo and I could dream many the many comments he’d have made, along with the shrieks of purely visceral horror. The band was actually the best-dressed there—white shirts, ties, dress pants and vests. Wasn’t wild about their hair, but at least they weren’t wearing eyeliner.

The good news for me? I really like Blaqk Audio’s music. I’m listening to their album right now, in fact. It didn’t hurt that they’ve only released one album, which meant they were through playing in an hour. Although I’m not much of a crowd person (the reason I took the pillar against the wall was so that I wouldn’t embarrass my son by having a panic attack) but I really enjoy performance of almost any sort. There’s something vibrant about live performances, the energy and enthusiasm of both the performers and the crowd. I enjoyed myself much more than I expected to.

There was only thing that bothered me for the first half of the concert—I couldn’t figure out who the keyboard player reminded me of. You know how annoying that is, running over everyone you’ve ever met or seen in your head trying to make a match. And then, my blog to the rescue!

Victoria Beckham. Dye his haircut platinum blonde and put him in six-inch heels and he’d have been the spitting image.

All in all, I’m resting on my mothering laurels this week.

Feel free to send my award.

HIGHLIGHTS OF AFRICA

Wildebeest crossing in the Maasai Mara--those are hippos in the foreground. They seemed to enjoy the show--I swear they sounded like they were laughing.




Our Tsavo West leopard. I think he's aiming for a starring role on Animal Planet.

Yes, I've been completely delinquent about this.

Sorry.

Since I blogged about Kenya in-depth after my first trip last year, I thought I'd focus on new things I learned this time around.

1. Travelling with one 8-year-old girl is more expensive than travelling with both of her older brothers combined. And it involves looking at a whole lot more jewelery. And stuffed animals.

2. If you want good service while travelling, take a child. Not a baby or toddler (they strike fear into the heart of every other traveller in the vicinity) and not a teenager or near-teen (they mostly look monumentally bored), but an in-between, cute-as-a-bug chatty 3rd-grader. I've never seen so many smiling flight attendants and passport control officers and customs officers. It took us a while to get through immigration at JFK--not because of long lines--but because everyone wanted my daughter to tell them about Africa. (Little did they know that once started talking, she's almost impossible to stop.)

3. A closed window probably won't make a lot of difference against a leaping hippo. At Tsavo West (the oldest national park in Kenya), we drove very near a river and stopped to take photos of half a dozen hippos in the water. While engaged in this innocent pursuit, a hippo came seemingly out of nowhere and--I swear--leaped over an expanse of river to join his fellows. Startled does not begin to cover my feelings. Panicked is slightly nearer. We then drove to the other side of the river to get a different view and I rolled down the truck window to take a close-up of one hippo that was staring me down. It spooked me slightly. For all I knew, this was the same leaping hippo from fifteen minutes before. How did I know he wasn't calculating the distance between his position and mine? So I rolled up the window. Which is when I realized that if a 2-ton hippo decides to crash-land on my car, a window--closed or not--isn't going to make the slightest bit of difference.

4. Babies. Lots and lots of babies. Giraffes and zebras and wart hogs and various antelopes from impala to topi. Call me sentimental, but there's not much cuter than a baby giraffe peeking around a tree at you (and still, naturally, taller than the car we were in.)

5. Leopards. One of the Big 5 that I didn't see last year. I made up for it this year. In the Maasai Mara we tracked down a mother and her two cubs early one morning. We watched the cubs playing in a tree for ten minutes while mama patrolled the ground. The cubs were perfectly adorable (see Babies entry above), especially as they would swing down various branches and then scramble back up the main trunk.

6. And one more leopard. As we drove down the red-dirt road in Tsavo West one afternoon, we were looking for Marker 25 that would tell us how far to a particular spot. We found the marker all right. With a leopard lying on top of it. This is very rare. Leopards are nocturnal, you see, and generally prefer trees. But this leopard was just lying on the marker like some kind of exotic house cat. We stopped the truck not more than ten feet from him and he (or possibly she) posed for us. Really. We've got the leopard lying, sitting, looking at us, looking over its shoulder, stretching, playing with its tail. I've even got a photo of my daughter next to the window with the leopard just feet beyond. (A closed window--in this case, a big help.) When we finally started the truck and began driving slowly away, the leopard jumped down and walked next to us in the grass for five or ten minutes. A definite once-in-a-lifetime experience.

7. The wildebeest migration. Every year, between about September and November, more than a million wildebeest migrate in a big circle through the Serengeti plains. They cross from Tanzania in the south into the Maasai Mara, eat every blade of grass in their way, and then wander back home. (As a side note--apparently wildebeests can live between 15-20 years, so some of them having been doing this migration for a long time. You'd think they'd have it better organized by the fifteeneth or sixteenth time.)

You see, wildebeests are not incredibly smart. They're also not incredibly beautiful, but that's another topic. Wildebeests will congregate at one side of the river they plan to cross and then mill around. For hours. While more and more wildebeests arrive from behind until eventually I kept expecting that one would just shoved in. What usually happens is that a zebra goes first. I don't know why. But once the first set of hooves hits the water, it's like an electric shock to the rest. They just go crazy, streaming into and over the river as quicky as they can.

And quickly is a good idea. There are crocodiles in them there waters. It's a good bet that some of those wildebeests are going to get crocced (as I endearingly heard it called.) So what do the tourists do? We sit around in our cars for hours, watching the milling wildebeests, wishing we could get out of the safari vehicle and shove one into the river ourselves, and then we find ourselves cheering when a croc takes one down. There's something about sitting in the sun for two hours (especially when one requires a restroom) that makes one quite bloodthirsty.

Not that there was any blood to see. Mostly what we saw of the crocodiles were the enormous and sudden explosions of water that marked one snatching a wildebeest out of the line. We did see one dead wildebeest floating downstream (our driver said that crocs will kill a bunch and let them float away then track down their bodies to eat later--it's emergency preparedness is what it is.)

But the vast majority of wildebeests made it across. There were a couple small ones that got lost, coming up farther south on the shore than their comrades and not able to figure out a way to join the rest. And then there were a bunch who, once they reached the other side, jumped back into the river AND SWAM BACK THE WAY THEY CAME! Honestly, it's hard not to think of them as stupid when they do that. I mean, they just survived a dangerous crossing. Now they're tempting fate (and crocodiles) by doing it again?

It was an amazing sight. None more so than the moment when it just stopped. As suddenly as it had begun, the line broke and the remaining tens of thousands of wildebeests on our side of the river went back to milling around. Personally, I think they just forgot what they were doing. Who knows how long it took them to remember. For ourselves, we had seen our crossing.

And I really, really needed a restroom.

AUGUST READS





THE SPARROW/Mary Doria Russell: A re-read for book club. I've reviewed this here before, so will only say that, after re-reading, it's still one of my favorite books ever.



A WALK IN THE WOODS/Bill Bryson: More funny travel writing. In this book, Bryson decides to hike the Appalachian trail. From worrying about bears to the joys of finding a shower after days on the trail, this book almost--I stress, almost--made me want to hike the trail. But then I remembered that any exertion beyond yoga is not for me, not to mention camping anywhere except a luxury tent in the Masai Mara. So when the (temporary) urge hits me to experience the great outdoors, I'll just pick up this book again.



RUINS OF GORLAN/THE BURNING BRIDGE/THE ICE-BOUND LAND/John Flanagan: My oldest son got me into the Ranger's Apprentice series, of which these are the first three books. Will is a castle ward until he turns 15 and is apprenticed to a ranger named Holt. Rangers in this world remind me a lot of Rangers in Tolkien's world: just think of Aragorn's many skills when we first meet him as Strider. But the story is interesting in its own right, from the first book's evil warlord coming out of banishment to the second book's sacrificial stand that saves the kingdom at the expense of Will's freedom to the third book's search for Will and the king's daughter.



THE WATER'S LOVELY/Ruth Rendell: I love everything she writes, under this name or that of Barbara Vine. In this psychological suspense stand-alone, the Sealand family is at the heart of the twists and turns. Did Heather Sealand drown her stepfather, Guy, twenty years ago? Is it her sister's responsibility to let Heather's fiance know what might have happened? Beyond the main tension, there are wonderful subplots and secondary characters, full of their own wishes and plans and romantic entanglements. The surprises of this book continue to the very last page.

ECLIPSE/Stephenie Meyer: The third in the TWILIGHT series. Bella is finishing up her senior year, drawing closer to the deadline she's given herself for being changed into a vampire. Edward is still demanding she marry him before he'll change her. And Jacob Black, her werewolf friend, wants more than friendship. Throw in a psychotic vampire still on her trail and a supsicious father, and Bella's got all the trouble she can deal with. Lots of people didn't like this book. Me, I'm willing to overlook flaws for a writer/series that can pull me so thoroughly into another world and make me feel like I'm a teenager in love again.

THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING/Joan Didion: The title refers to the first year after the death of Didion's husband. She talks about grief and mourning (and the difference between the two), as well as the nature of marriage and the power of information and the limits of our control. I recommend this highly to anyone who's lost someone they love. Though Didion keeps her own experience veiled to a degree, she provides an opening for others to recognize the commonality of grief.

THE MEMORY-KEEPER'S DAUGHTER/Kim Edwards: This was a book that never quite got off the ground for me. The premise is intriguing (a doctor in the 1960s delivers his own twins on a stormy night and, when he realizes the girl has Down's Syndrome, sends her away and tells his wife she died.) The girl is raised by the nurse who took her and the story goes back and forth between the two families. I didn't really feel that anything happened, however, that it was just a very long character study that occurs over decades. Not my type of story.

GENTLEMEN AND PLAYERS/Joanne Harris: A wonderful British novel about St. Oswald's, a fictional boys' school, and the mysterious newcomer who wants to bring it down forever. Only Roy Straitley, a teacher of the old school and dedicated Classicist, can stop the destruction. This was my first novel by Harris, but it won't be my last. Told in alternating chapters by Straitley and the school's mysterious enemy, we learn as we go the motive behind the mischief. But is the enemy who you think it is? I'll admit that I was wrong--and happily so, since I love a writer who can surprise me.

THE YOUNG MASTER/Sheldon Novick: A biography of Henry James in his early years. Beginning with his family and ending with the publicaiton of PORTRAIT OF A LADY, this biography is easier to read than most of James's novels :) Not a book I'd have picked up for fun, but my birthmother did her doctoral thesis on THE GOLDEN BOWL and this book belonged to her.

I'm not an extrovert. Ever.

But I'm even less of one when in a strange city.

Two weeks ago today, I was in New York City with my 8-year-old daughter. We were on our way to Kenya to visit my parents and had a 12-hour layover. She wanted to see the Museum of Natural History. So off we went in a taxi.

The museum was great (except for our heavy carry-on baggage we had with us--I didn't see the bag check on the ground floor of the museum until we were leaving.) We even stepped across the street so we could say we had been in Central Park. I even took pictures, something I generally leave to my husband. (As I've discovered, though, taking the pictures means I don't have to be in the pictures.)

Then we took a taxi back to JFK airport. By this time, the allergies I'd left home with were in full swing, my shoulders were aching from carrying my bag around, and we still had two 8-hours flights in front of us before we made it to Nairobi. Long story short, I fell asleep in the back of the taxi.

The good news is that I woke up on my own shortly before reaching JFK. I mean, I can't think of too many things more humiliating than drooling all over a cab driver who's trying to wake me up. So I woke up, pulled myself together, and that's when I discovered that my cab driver liked to talk. Poor man, he'd been stuck with me and a child for the last hour. I'm sure there were many things he would have liked to say, but he had to confine himself to the essentials as we drove into the airport.

"Do you kmow the worst part of driving a cab in New York?"

"What?" (I'm not only introverted, I'm not terribly original in conversation.)

"No public bathrooms."

So there you have it. If you're like me, you're now pondering just what might be under the drivers' seats in those yellow cabs.