I Have Some Good News and Some Bad News . . .

Good News: Last May I attended a writers' conference where I had the opportunity of meeting with a publisher and pitching my mystery novel. She was intrigued with my ideas, told me my idea sounded original, and asked me to send her the finished manuscript when it was polished and ready!

Bad News: I wrote the book out in long hand. She was not as impressed by that information. Plus, I'd taken a class she taught at the conference and realized my book was not nearly polished enough to submit.

Good News: She said she liked the sound of the book and was willing to wait until it was ready. She gave me her business card, and invited me to send the manuscript directly to her, the managing editor, bypassing all the submissions editors.

Conclusion: I'm told by a friend who is a published author through this same house, that it’s rare for an editor to make such an offer! So, no guarantees my book will be published, but there is a chance.

I am currently working on Chapter Seventeen, I'm about a quarter of the way through polishing, etc...

Keep watching this blog for updates and news!

School's Out For Summer!

 
I would like to say this has been a busy week, I would like to but it would be a lie, so I won't. The kids finished school on Tuesday, and we have all enjoyed relaxing this week. Relaxing and planning a summer full of fun, fun, FUN!!

Here's one thing on our wish list:

The Tide Pools - One of my very favorite things to do with my kids, and something I always try to take visitors to experience.

--The tiny crabs with spirals on their shells are beautiful. I don't mean their shells are spiral in shape, I mean there are literally spiral patterns in light and dark colors on their snail like shells.
--Sea anemones always make me happy. Their little suction cups are so cool, though generally I advise my kids and friends not to make a habit of sticking your fingers against them. I'm just not sure how it affects the anemones. I know they contain a neurotoxin that stuns their prey. I seriously doubt it would do anything to a person.
--Chitons look to me a bit like unfurled pill bugs. They are little sea mollusks with overlapping plates.
--Pelicans, obviously these amazing birds are not inhabitants of the tide pools, but you can watch them by the hour winging in groups back and forth over the rocks, taking advantage of the air currents. I'm not sure if animals experience joy in the same way as humans, but pelicans and other birds obviously enjoy the experience of simply going with the currents.
--Sea Glass. I know technically, those smooth rounded bits of colored glass, are just litter someone threw onto the beach or into the ocean. But by the time we see them, they are no longer beer, water or soda bottles. They’re treasures from the sea.
--The Rocks of the tide pools hold a fascination all their own. Clambering over them to discover the isolated worlds of tiny creatures, it would be easy to ignore them as something to explore. But these rocks have lives all their own. Formed and reformed by the pounding surf, each is different and fascinating. Tiny crevices hide hermit crabs and other creatures. The rocks can be pitted with holes, or smoothed by the force of the water.

  I owe my appreciation of rocks to my Grandpa Buck, as my cousins called him. He was just Grandpa to me, an enduring influence in my life. Love and miss you Grandpa and Grandma.

In My Father's Words: In Honor of Father's Day

The Day I Got My Face Blown Off

By: Ray Comstock

 

  I remember when I was a young boy I lived with the Neilson family. Mr. Neilson worked with horses, he broke them for different types of races and horse shows. I had the opportunity to go to the rodeo with him a lot. I was able to be around the cowboys and to see different acts they would perform. There was one cowboy who would take a cigarette butt out of another man’s mouth with a bullwhip. This really excited my older foster brother, Ivan.

  When we got home he would put straws in the fence post and try to snap them in two with a bullwhip. After a few weeks he got really good at this. He would have us kids from around the neighborhood hold a piece of straw in our hands. When it came my turn to hold the straw, one of the kids dared me to hold it in my mouth. WELL YOU KNOW I wouldn’t take a dare because a dare is nothing. Then another kid double dared me. If you wanted to be called a coward, just turn down a double dare. However, you wouldn’t be disowned, and you could still be part of the group or gang. Then someone triple dared me. This was really getting bad, because if you turned down a triple dare you were not only called a coward but you were no longer a part of the gang. Then someone quadruple dared me. I couldn’t take this! If you didn’t take a quadruple dare you were called a coward, you were no longer a part of the gang, and if the kids at school ever found out that you turned down a quadruple dare, they would turn their back on you and wouldn’t talk to you.

  The thought of no one talking to me ever again was more than I could take. I told Ivan I would hold it in my mouth if he wouldn’t hit me with the whip. He promised me he wouldn’t so I put the straw in my mouth and put my head out and stood where he told me to stand.

  I heard the crack of the whip and all of a sudden it felt as if the right side of my face was torn from my head. I had a welt from my right temple to the bottom of my jaw bone. That welt stayed there for a whole year. I had to go to school with that welt on my face, but I had more kids talk to me than ever before.

I'm So Proud of My Son

My son, Ryan, posted this on Facebook about Father's Day

 

Father's day is coming up this sunday, and i feel it's a day that's kinda forgotten Mother's day is such a big thing, and don't get me wrong I feel it's an important day, but fathers day is just swept under the rug, and I think that's sad because my dad is a really important figure in my family and to me, he's the one that takes care of our finances. Without him we couldn't be where we are today, ...and without that I wouldn't have meet so many amazing people.

 

My dad is also one of my hero's, he is a very smart person and I feel now that I've gotten older and more mature that I've grown closer to him. I don't know how other's may feel about it, but I feel fathers aren't given as much credit and respect as they should in these days. so I just want to say to all the father's out there, happy fathers day, and to my dad that I love you.

A Favorite

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

Ooh, I Hate These Kinds of Books!

  I read a book today that made me so mad! It was about a 17 yr. old guy whose parents are killed. He goes to live with his grandmother and starts dating a Mormon girl. He pushes and pushes her to go farther in making out. The whole 'love isn't love unless you make love.' That's actually not the part that upsets me.

  I was a 17 yr. old once, even a 21 yr. old, believe it or not. I dated a guy who believed the same thing, who didn't understand why I was 'saving myself' for marriage. He also believed that sex was an integral part of being in love and not married. It's the way of the world. I don't agree with it, but I understand it.

  This kid gets all angry when his girlfriend won't go with him on a trip that's supposed to help him in the grieving process. She feels bad, let's him go farther than ever before with the making out, but can't, or won't, go all the way. He gets angry, breaks up with her because she's not what he NEEDS. And here's the worst part, she keeps saying she's sorry. Many teenage girls, and some adult women, tend to be this way. He's broken, she wants to fix him. He gets all depressed when she's not around, and she feels responsible for his mental health - and he lets her.

  The girl gets awarded, through tremendous hard work, a four year, and full tuition scholarship to the school of her dreams. Here's what makes me angry: When he gets hurt and mad at her for deserting him, and yells at her once again, she decides to give it all up. Oh, goody, everything's wonderful again. They can kiss and make up. This is not how I would want my daughter to react.

  Oh, but wait, now he decides he needs to make his own life, follow his own dreams, so she can take the scholarship. He has to practically push her into going to school. And it's the first part of a romantic series. Aaaarrrrgh!

  I'm not even going to say the name of the book. Maybe she grows throughout the series; maybe she realizes that their relationship is SO NOT healthy. Who knows? I won't be reading to find out.

Those Terrific Terrible Twos

 
  I dreamed the other night about my teenage son, Ryan. In my dream he was once again a chubby two year old, so cute and cuddly. When I awoke in the morning I was a little sad. I sometimes miss having very young children, and for a while wished I could change my tall skinny boy back into my rosy cheeked baby, just for an hour or two.

  Then, I remembered THAT DAY.

  That morning started off as most others. I made breakfast for my little family, saw my husband off to work and bathed my two and four year old sons. After their bath I brought them down to the main floor and left them with some toys while I cleaned up from breakfast. The living room was at the front of our longish narrow townhouse, the kitchen at the back. On one side of the short walkway between the two were the stairs going up to the bedrooms and down to the basement, and on the other side was a half bath.

  While I was still in the kitchen interesting noises began emanating from the small bathroom. Going to investigate I found Ryan standing next to the toilet, his hair and shirt wet and water forming a puddle at his feet.

  "Ryan? What are you doing Sweetie?"

  He answered by dunking his head into the toilet before I could stop him. When he came back up he was smiling, causing the dimples to show in his cheeks. "Ooooh, told mommy, told!" I caught him before he could dunk his head again and experience the 'told' water.

 He was just so cute! I dried him up with the hand towel hanging beside the sink, then held onto him while I used the same towel to mop up the puddle, threw the towel down the stairs to be picked up when I did the laundry, then carried my little angel upstairs for his second bath of the day.

 After he was clean, dry and dressed, again, I took him back to play with his older brother, who was still happily busy with his toys in the living room. I gathered all the dirty laundry and started down into the basement, which had only two finished rooms: the laundry and an office.

  I carried the basket of dirty clothes balanced against my hip, and grasped the railing with my other hand. Something greasy ran down the length of it. Confused, I used a towel in my basket to wipe it off, deciding to go back over it later with a hot cloth, and continued down the stairs. After starting a load, I was heading back upstairs to check on my boys when I heard something in the office. Opening the door I found Ryan happily banging away at the computer keys.

  "Ryan, how'd you get in here? C'mon sweet boy, let's go back upstairs." As I picked him up I noticed something glistening on the keyboard. "What's this?" I asked, swiping a finger across the substance.

   "My butter!" He announced proudly, showing me his hands, both of which he'd used to scoop up the butter I'd had softening on a plate in my kitchen. I cleaned him up, and the computer, and the railing, and the kitchen counter.

   It was time for a break, so we read some stories before lunch. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with chocolate milk followed. I no longer remember what pulled me from the kitchen before everything had been put away. What I do remember is returning to find that Ryan had pushed a chair up to the counter, climbed on top of it, and was laughing. Apparently he really enjoyed the sensation caused by plunging his little hand and arm down into the new jar of strawberry jam I'd opened for lunch.

   Another bath followed. To top it all off, I never could get that little stinker to take a nap. It's a wonder I'm not crazy. Or maybe I am. We did have two more kids after Ryan.

The Big Over Easy, by Jasper Fforde

   Clearly I'm on a Jasper Fforde kick at the moment. His books are so cleverly written you just don't want to put them down until you've finished! I love that he gives you just enough hints to keep you guessing.

   When I was younger I loved a certain revered author's books, and read them all. But as I got older I realized that Miss Marple, as well as certain of her other characters, all seemed to discover the murderer via a piece of information known only to them, and never shared with the reader until the last moment. Harrumph, I say.

   I much more enjoy a book where the clues are out there, delivered in a timely manner as the story progresses, so that I can try and guess the killer's identity. A red herring or two thrown in the batch are good, a good guy who's a bad guy, or a bad guy who's really a good guy are equally welcome, and a little bit of romance, as long as it doesn't take over the story, piques my interest. Just make it interesting, fun and suspenseful. Is that too much to ask?

   Apparently not for Fforde; thus far I've found his books witty and clever, intelligent and fun.

   The Big Over Easy stars detective Jack Spratt from the Police Nursery Crimes Division. Sound familiar? Jack Spratt could eat no fat; his wife could eat no lean...

   The shell of a large egg is found smashed at the bottom of a wall. When it's reconstructed the entry and exit wounds of a bullet are found. Thus begins the search for Humpty Dumpty's killer. What makes this book so fun is that Jack doesn't know he's a fictional character. The story reads like a well written crime/forensics drama, the murder victim just happens to be a large animated sentient egg.

   There are lots of things thrown in for fun. For instance, Jack is an amalgamation of several fairy tale Jacks, and has a propensity for giant killing as well as solving crime.

   Two big thumbs up, or 5 Stars, for THE BIG OVER EASY.

Author Jasper Fforde and an Excerpt From The Well of Lost Plots

  I sent an e-mail yesterday to Jasper Fforde, author of The Well of Lost Plots and several other Thursday Next novels, asking if I could quote from his book on my blog. I received an e-mail back from him this morning, kindly giving permission.

   I had a difficult time choosing from the many parts of the book I enjoyed, but finally settled on this conversation between Thursday Next and Wyatt, from the Character Exchange Program in Chapter Two: (The Character Exchange Program isn't in Chapter Two, Wyatt and Thursday are.)

...a knock at the door revealed an untidy man wearing a hat named Wyatt.
   "Sorry," he said sheepishly, apologizing for the misrelated grammatical construction almost immediately, "Wyatt is my name, not the hat's."
   "I kind of figured that," I replied.
   Wooden and worn with use, he was holding a clipboard.
   "Oh, bother!" he said in the manner of someone who had just referred to George Elliot  as "he" in a room full of English professors.
   "Really, I don't mind," I repeated. "What can I do for you?"
   Dog-eared and grubby, he handed me a note from his clipboard.
   "Don't worry," I said before he could apologize again, "I understand."
   His condition was almost certainly permanent, and since I didn't seem to care that much, he regained some confidence.

                                                          ************

   Hope you all found that as humorous as I did! Really, I'm still giggling.

  Coming soon, my review of Jasper Fforde's The Big Over Easy.

  
  

The Well of Lost Plots, by Jasper Fforde

   I've finished the novel, and thoroughly enjoyed it. There were moments while reading that I laughed out loud, times when I chuckled appreciatively, and even gave a knowing smile a time or two! I did shrug once in a while, trying to remember a book the author referred to, but it never interfered with the flow of the book.

   Fforde gives a nod or more to many of the classics, most especially those by Jane Austin, the Bronte sisters and Charles Dickens. And even to some classic TV or movie, such as a brief mention of the daleks from Doctor Who, and a tribute to the cantina scene in Star Wars.

     I find I've read something by Jasper Fforde before. It was The Big Over Easy, the first book in the Nursery Crimes series. I remember really enjoying it, though I'll have to tell you about it in another post.

   I definitely recommend The Well of Lost Plots. I'm going to read his first two books before continuing with the series.

   To learn more about Jasper Fforde and his books, go to www.jasperfforde.com

What I'm Reading

I started The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde, and published by Penguin.

It's the third in a series of Thursday Next novels, and thus far I've found it witty, humorous and entertaining. I must confess that I haven't read the first two, The Eyre Affair, and Lost in a Good Book, but I can still read this one because Mr. Fforde considerately includes, as a sort of prologue, Thursday Next: The Story So Far..., which quickly and concisely gets one up to date with all the pertinent facts regarding our heroine, Thursday.

The blurb on the inside cover calls it '...a genre-bending blend of crime fiction, fantasy and top-drawer literary entertainment.'

I love a good mystery, but I want to laugh while sitting on the edge of my seat, wondering what's going to happen. This book seems perfect. I'll let you know what I think of it after I finish reading.

In the meantime, let me know what you're reading!