Little Red Writing by Joan Holub, Pictures by Melissa Sweet

Little Red Writing by Joan Holub and pictures by Melissa Sweet

I have returned from a simply marvelous weekend at the Florida Writers Association's annual conference where I learned about the craft of writing, along with the business of writing.  I met so many wonderful people, all with a story in their heart.   I have found my motivation to write again and am gladly embracing the FWA's philosophy of, "It doesn't get done unless you put your butt in the chair and write!". 

Returning home I found a package on my desk amid the piles of mail waiting for me.  It was from my sister, Martha.  Inside was Little Red Writing along with a note that read,

Dear Linny, Thought this book would teach you everything you ever needed to know about writing.  Love, Martha

Little Red is a charming red pencil who attends pencil school with a birthday pencil, several sports pencils and a state pencil.  Her teacher, Mrs. 2, gives the class an assignment to write a story.  She sends Little Red off with a basket of 15 words to use in case she runs into trouble and the advice to stick to her basic story path so not to get lost.  Hmmm.  Good advice!

Of course, Little Red ran into trouble.  She used her words carefully and saved Principal Granny from the dreaded electric pencil sharpener.  Principal Granny was now much shorter but grateful that Little Red had saved her.  Little Red returned to class with a wonderfully crafted story to share.

Little Red would not have been so successful if not for the adorable pictures that shared in the telling of her story.  Melissa Sweet, who drew them lives in Rockport, Maine.  I spent my summer vacation in Rockport, Maine, a tiny, little, beautiful town on the coast.  I loved the town so much I already have plans to return again next summer.  So guess whose door I will be knocking on while I'm there?  Melissa Sweet's!  I'll be sure to call first but I can't wait for her inspiration and creativity to rub off on me. 

I'm a firm believer that people and things come into my life for a reason.  Little Red Writing broke the task of writing down into very simplistic terms at exactly the time I needed to hear it most.  I don't write children's books but now I know I must visualize my scenes more specifically while I'm writing them.  And I also learned my sister, Martha even though not a writer, wants me to succeed for the pure pleasure of entering a bookstore and purchasing a book written by her sister even though she's already read the autographed copy I sent her.  So that book is in the works and I vow not to stop until it's finished.  No excuses.  With the help of all my new friends at the Florida Writers Association, Little Red and all her pencil friends, and my sister, Martha, I will get it done!

A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving

A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving

A Prayer For Owen Meany is one of those books my husband used to "decorate" our dining room.  I don't know why he might have chosen it, other than it was thick, more than 500 pages and has a picture of a dressmaker's dummy on the front cover.  I have to admit even I was intrigued by the dressmaker's dummy.  It had been on my mind that I needed to read my way through the dining room books. Owen Meany was the one that called to me. 

Owen Meany is a small, odd looking boy with an irritating voice.  His father owns the granite quarry in the small New Hampshire town of Gravesend.  His best friend, John Wheelwright narrates the story. The boys come from different backgrounds yet their lives become intertwined in the most unusual ways. John's mother, Tabby is the owner of the dressmaker's dummy.  She keeps it next to her bed,at least until she doesn't need it anymore.  Then it becomes Owen's.

I never like to reveal much about the plot and A Prayer For Owen Meany is no different. As a reader I like to be surprised as I turn each page.  The joy of the story is lost if I know what to expect.  This story has alot of laugh out loud moments and those that will bring a tear to your eye.  All you need to know in advance is be prepared to watch the lives of two young boys, one thought to be odd and the other his friend, mature and grow under the watchful eye of God. But don't think this story is preachy or falls under the genre of Christian fiction.  It doesn't.

I adore John Irving novels but I have to be in the right frame of mind to read them.  His stories require a substantial investment of time and thought.  The time seemed right for me to immerse myself in a story of substance.  And I found exactly that.  To anyone who ventures into this book, the reward is great.  The book is now back in its place in the dining room waiting to spark some interesting dinner conversation. A Prayer For Owen Meany is a story I will always remember. 

My Favorite Pastime

My favorite time to read a good book is anytime, however I do most of my reading laying in bed at night before I go to sleep.  Ginger gets a couple biscuits and cuddles up by my side.  I arrange the pillows just so and settle in with my book.  When I can't hold the book or my Kindle up any longer, I know it's time to turn off the light.

You may have noticed that I haven't written a book review in a more than a week. My evenings have been taken over by my other favorite pastime. Baseball.  It's October and as Major League Baseball loves to say, "We live for October."  I am a loyal fan of the Tampa Bay Rays all season long.  But their season heated up quickly when they made it to October.  My boys kept me on the edge of my seat as I followed them from the final games in Toronto, to game 163 in Texas, and all the way to Cleveland where the Rays clinched the American League Wildcard spot.  I grew up in Cleveland so I have to admit I found it difficult to watch the Indian fans go from wildly electric to sadly depressed.  Watching my boys win that game however, made up for any childhood angst I might be harboring. 

Watching all these games meant late nights.  Staying up past midnight until the last out, meant I crawled into bed, turned off the light and went to sleep.  I haven't gotten any nighttime reading relaxation since the playoff started.  I also find myself in the middle of a very long and complex book by an author I love, but who requires my complete attention.  That is about to change. 

Last night the Rays lost to the Boston Red Sox in the final game of the ALCS.  I'm sad.  But my team put in a fantastic effort with some of the most exciting baseball I have ever seen.  It was nail biting, nerve wracking stuff and I loved every minute of it.  I'm proud to be a Rays fan no matter whether they win or lose.  When someone says to me a baseball game is like watching paint dry, I say "You haven't watched the Rays."  

Now the Tampa Bay Rays are headed home to rest up.  I'll watch the championship games and of course the World Series but I'll probably turn the game off when my bedtime approaches.  I've got alot of books to read between now and next April. 

Go Rays!

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

I am drawn to book lists in the newspaper, a magazine, on the Internet.  Any book list will do but not necessarily the New York Times Bestseller list, even though I peruse it often.  I'm fascinated books others consider worth reading.  That doesn't mean I read everything on a list but I pick and choose. My own personal preference is fairly broad and there are only a few topics I automatically bypass.   For example, even though Stephen King is a brilliant and popular author and appears on all sorts of book lists, his stories scare the bejesus out of me so I won't ever read them. 

Most of the titles currently on my Kindle have come from lists in O Magazine, USA Today, or book articles tucked into the final pages of Time.  I have to admit though that I have no idea who or what turned me on to The Silent Wife.  In fact after I started to read it I had to keep referring back to my Kindle home page because I couldn't remember the title. That I can't remember might be attributed to a variety of things but that I don't know where I found this book or even why I downloaded it, is a mystery.  It seems there are an awful lot of books right now with the word 'husband' or 'wife' in the title so maybe I got confused.  Menopause has a tendency to do that.

I couldn't put down The Silent Wife.  I stayed up way past my bedtime reading and woke up early to read some more.  Jodi is a psychologist who likes her life orderly and precise.  She been with Todd for twenty years and he too likes the routine that life with Jodi provides.  However, now middle aged, Todd has a wandering eye and when he becomes involved with a much younger Natasha, life as they know it falls apart.

That is all I am going to tell you about the plot.  The Silent Wife is full of twists and surprises.  The story is perfectly written first from Jodi's and then Todd's point of view.  The author paced the story with such care, I remained on the edge of my seat from start to finish.  It's rare that a book can make me drop everything else in my life until I find out what happens next.  The Silent Wife did exactly that up until the very end.  Even though I can't remember how I stumbled upon The Silent Wife, I'm certainly glad I did.  This book is a fabulous find no matter how it made its way onto my Kindle.

Blind Vision by Vivian Jeanette Kaplan

Blind Vision by Vivian Jeanette Kaplan

Mrs. Kaplan's husband asked me to read Blind Vision since I am such a fan of her first book, Ten Green Bottles.  When I first read Ten Green Bottles, I didn't know that Jews in Europe had been allowed into China to escape the Nazis during World War II. I was fascinated by this slice of history and fell in love with Mrs. Kaplan's family story. 

I consider myself knowledgeable about a variety of topics, however Blind Vision educated me on another historic period that I didn't know anything about.  The book tells the tale of Alfonso and his family during the Spanish Inquisition.  He and his siblings have all been baptized in the Catholic church.  On his 13th birthday, his parents take him to a secret room in their home to teach him of their true faith, Judaism.  The family are Crypto Jews who must conceal their traditions from the zealous leaders of the Catholic church if they are to continue to live and prosper in Spanish society.  King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain rule at the command of the church and decree to expel all Jews from Spain.

Alfonso's journal is discovered by Stefan, after the death of his aunt.  She has hidden it in an old chest and tells Stefan to read it.  On her deathbed, she asks to be buried as a Jew. He is surprised and shocked by her revelations.  He enters a synagogue for the first time to make arrangements for her burial.  His conversation with the rabbi sends Stefan's own life into a tailspin while he struggles to find his true identity. In a modern era, Stefan faces many of the same prejudices as his cousin Alfonso.

Fear of the unknown has driven the actions of humans throughout history.  Today we continue to wrestle with religious faiths that differ from our own.  Why?  History has proven to repeat itself. It does so because of ignorance and fear.  Mrs. Kaplan has done her research well.  And even though this is a fictional account, it is deeply layered in historical fact.  Once again she has educated me for which I'm grateful.  Blind Vision is not only a story about the persecutions of Jews in society, it is a reminder that we must never forget the past if we are going to move forward to a more peaceful and loving world.

Grateful For Today

About a year ago, a new cell phone tower was erected not too far from my home.  From it flies a very large American flag, that I can see each morning when Ginger and I go for a walk.  And every morning when I see it, I say thank you to God for bringing us to this wonderful town full of friendly  people and good fortune.  The flag is a welcome sight each morning against the always gorgeous sunrise.

This morning Ginger and I took a different route on our walk.  With nothing special on our agenda for today, I paid little attention to the landscape around me.  Frankly, I wasn't even aware of what day of the week it was.  Dates have become more difficult to remember as time passes on.  I still have trouble believing it's already September.  Where does the time go? After breakfast I got in my car to run an errand.  As I turned the corner, I could see the cell phone tower flag at half mast.  I gasped.  Today is 9/11. 

I will never forget that time in our country's history.  For me, I was 3000 miles away from home on a business trip.  Only expecting to be away for 3 days, the trip stretched out to 10.  I watched TV from my hotel room, tears streaming down my face.  Calls home were hard to make, the lines jammed more often than not.  I found myself stuck in a strange place, longing to wrap my arms around Richard so we could grieve together.  That was not to be. 

Even though I was far from home, I was not alone.  During that time no one was a stranger to me, nor I to them.  People I barely knew, welcomed me to their homes, invited me to dinner, took me to the movies.  Everyone sympathized with my desire to be home and without hesitation opened their hearts to me.  Their kindness lives on, to this day, inside me.

So after my errand,  I made a detour to the local firehouse.  Outside is a memorial which contains a steel beam from the World Trade Center.  I stopped there to say a prayer for the past, the present and the future.  May we never forget that we are all Americans, strong and steadfast in our beliefs and together we can fill the world with love and hope. I prayed for all the people whose path I crossed during those dark days and I thanked God for my many blessings.  On this solemn day, I can gladly say I'm grateful to be an American.

Georgia Bottoms by Mark Childress

Georgia Bottoms by Mark Childress

I've read a slew of mediocre novels lately.  When that happens I am usually very annoyed for devoting so much time to something I didn't enjoy.  I decided it was time for something out of the ordinary, something light, funny, likeable.  I'd been eyeing Georgia Bottoms at the bookstore for awhile.  The cover is so cute and besides I have a very dear friend named Georgia.  And much to my surprise, when I went to the clubhouse library in the community where I live, to donate all my uninteresting books that I didn't want taking up space on my shelves, I found a copy of Georgia Bottoms.  I snapped it up, because what's not to like about a free book?

I fell in love with Georgia  Bottoms from page one.  She's a southern gal, from Six Points, Alabama, who loves to cook, and I don't mean just dinner.  Long before she was born, her grandmother changed the family name from Butts to Bottoms.  That says just about all that needs to said about Georgia and her family.  Brother enjoys going out for a drink after his court ordered AA meeting each week.  Little Mama, her mother, is showing signs of dementia.  And Georgia never misses a Sunday in church even though she's not a believer.  In a small town like Six Points, it's crucial to keep her image squeaky clean.

Georgia Bottoms is delightful.  The characters are so expertly created, I wanted to visit Six Points to meet them.  Georgia is sassy and witty with a big dose of Southern charm.  I couldn't help but like her.  The author has a magic touch when it comes to humor.  The lines that made me laugh the hardest were slipped in when I least expected it. The story moved along seamlessly and Georgia Bottoms was exactly what I need to restore my faith.  Bottoms up for Georgia Bottoms!