XLVII - May 2011

At last I can share the cover of the next book -- no foolin'!  Except that it's not the final one -- the blurb will change -- that's just a place holder.

You can click over HERE to read an excerpt from Under the Skin, the next Elizabeth book.

April was a beautiful and busy month -- we began to ready the garden, potatoes were planted, the Easter party and all that entails occupied us for several weeks -- getting ready, family coming to visit, the preparty and the party -- and the cleanup. Yesterday I returned the last quilts, finished washing the guest room bedding, and put my notes and shopping list for next year's party in a safe place.  

A new batch of chicks arrived as well as a second milk cow. And the flowers kept delighting me -- one bright new face after another.

I was honored that Kathryn Stripling Byer, North Carolina's  past Poet Laureate, included Miss Birdie and me on her Poets of the Day blog series. Kay does a wonderful job of bringing contemporary poets to our attention . . . 

Reading List

I've been reading for research -- for the next book. Lots of Civil War in western North Carolina stuff. And, in other reading  (or re-reading in many cases) let me mention the following:

Tepper's Not Going Out by Calvin Trillin. I've always adored Trillin's food books. This is something different -- and endearing. I wouldn't have expected to enjoy a book about a New Yorker's quest for a parking place but I did, I did! Highly recommended.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. My goodness, this woman can write! A slender novel about an English village besieged by the Plague. Effortless historical detail and a female protagonist who comes to life on the page.

High Tide in Tucson --by Barbara Kingsolver. Probably my fourth or fifth time to reread this book of essays by a writer I feel as if I know. Witty, wise, and wonderful!

You all have been reading too. I'd love it if more of you shared your opinions and recommendations. I've been told of one librarian who uses your comments to get ideas for what to order. . .
 

One commenter said, re THE HELP:  I loved "The Help" and so did my daughter!. Since my Mom had TB, we had a maid whom we called Edgie. I loved her and her cooking. In the 60ty's, she got a job in a mill.This book helped my explain to my daughter why I am old fashion about some of the things that happen today. For many of us that is the world we were born into. And as the saying goes :When we knew better, we did better. 

Another liked it too: I read THE HELP.  I liked it and can see why it's such a book club hit.  It's Civil Rights Lite (and I mean that spelling).   Plenty to talk about and it's all so safe ---  doesn't raise many messy issues.  Of course, I did have trouble believing all those black women did all that housework and then came home and did more and never seemed to have a solitary ache or pain.  But it's an entertaining read nonetheless, and you get to feel good about yourself for being so liberal and understanding.

I just read an Irish thriller, WINTERLAND, by Alan Glynn, that I really liked.   The Irish have a nice way of writing this tightly focused, small scaled thriller I don't think Americans do as well.  But then the Irish, if their lives depended on it, couldn't write a big scale crazy-wild-out-there thriller like Josh Bazell's BEAT THE REAPER, which is pure nutsy and all out fabulous Americana.  If I told you the plot you'd say, no way can that work, but it does, man it does.

Liz G shared her reading list: Just finished - Just Kids by Patti Smith - I think that fact that I worked in radio and thus around lots of musicians added to my enjoyment of this National Book Award winner.

Started the new Maisie Dobbs book from Jacqueline Winspear - A Lesson in Secrets - I enjoy the simplicity of these books and all things British.

Finally bought Saving Ceecee Hunnicutt - but haven't started it yet.

I have been reading Master and Commander (in the john for the past six months!!) and am finally enjoying it - so many people - you included - have told me how much they love this series. But it took me a long time to get into it (and I am an avid sailor). I think I might enjoy it on tape as you have said.

I enjoyed a Dean Koontz book - Breathless - I haven't read much of his - except for his four Odd Thomas books - but I liked this strange little book.

 A very happy May to all of you!

XLVI -April 2011

As some of you know, Herself, my esteemed editor, and I have been going round and round about what book I should write next. Of course, I could write anything I felt like and then hope that Ann, my esteemed agent, could sell it. But I keep hoping to tantalize Herself into offering me another contract. 

I want to write a kind of multi-generational story, set in Marshall County and beginning around the time of the Civil War --which was especially uncivil in these parts. 

Think Gone With the Wind    meets Cold Mountain.

Lots of romance, lots of lush scenery and period dialog, lots of fascinating characters.... I think it could be really good.

But in today's skittish publishing climate, They want something more, something that would really get people's attention. So...

So we make  some of the main characters vampires . . .

Working title -Vanished with the Wind on Blood Mountain

What day is it? Oh, yes, April 1.

A happy Spring to everyone! It's been too wet to plow here and we haven't done a thing in the garden, not even planted potatoes.  John is painting gates and mending fences and getting ready to build a permanent chicken house for our broiler raising operation. Justin is making butter and cheese with all the milk Marigold is producing now -- there's even talk of a second milk cow.

I am trying to tackle some painting and cleanup in the house, as well as settling down to begin the next book -- with or without a contract.  There will not be vampires. Or zombies.

And I've been asked to be part of a fun collaborative mystery novel -- Twelve writers, each writing a longish chapter....but that's all I can tell you at the moment.

RECENT READS

One of my dearest friends writes: What is the matter with me...I HATED The Help, couldn't read past pg 50...all too obvious and certain to make the reader feel superior...UGH! But I'm the only one on the planet so I must be nuts...just read another book I think you will love: "The Year of the Hare", written in 1975 by a Scandinavian writer and has now been translated into over 20 languages...I GUARANTEE THIS ONE!

I haven't read THE HELP yet -- I know lots of you all loved it. Will have to take a look soon.

One Was A Soldier I really did love and carried on at length over on my daily blog. There's a drawing over there to win an advance reading copy so if you're interested, click on over.

I'm also very enthusiastic about a Young Adult book called The Blue Sword. 
I loved reading it and only wish I'd first encountered it when I was around ten.  A perfect gift for the young girls in your life.

NOTE OF CLARIFICATION

Under the Skin is available for preorder now, though it won't be out till October 25. It is subtitled "A Full Circle Farm Mystery" which has confused more than one of you all, looking for the next Elizabeth Goodweather.  

Yes, it IS the next Elizabeth book. 

This new tag is from Random House marketing, who obviously hoped it would sell more books. We'll see; no one listened when I said I thought it was confusing.

A slide show of March -- click to biggify and read captions.

XLV - March 2011

What I did in February...

I also watched turkeys courting and I read some good books and turned 68 and was given a Kindle by my sons along with some 'real' books from others. I've talked about them over on my daily blog... 


And I've had a lot of fun downloading free books to my Kindle from Project Gutenberg . . . Oz books, Edgar Rice Burroughs books, Wodehouse books. . .

A fun thing happened -- Roseanne Daryl Thomas, the author of Beeing, a book I mentioned here last month, as well as blogging about it on my other blog,  got in touch with me after reading my write up.  We've had a pleasant exchange of emails and discovered quite a lot of things that we have in common --including a love for P.G. Wodehouse.

Who's Reading What

Witch of Stitches said, "I just picked up a copy of India Black this afternoon - both you and someone else, can't remember who, mentioned it and I thought it looked interesting. Also picked up copies of Gaskell's Wives & Daughters and Cranford for my Gaskell challenge - all of this after picking up several books at the library! Of course, as always, there is a pile of books next to my chair waiting to be read."

Deana the Queena of the Hell or Highwater Book Club writes:  "This morning I finished "Dogs," by Abigail Dewitt, also a local writer, whose prose is like a polished gem. You can read about it on Amazon if you'd like a more complete explanation of the story. I'll just say that my tears continued to flow after I closed the last page, partly because it was sad, partly because the story was so easy to relate to, and partly because it was told so beautifully."

Deb A of Aliens and Alibis says, "I’ve gone back to the older authors lately.  A number of library books are looking at me with soulful eyes but somehow the old books are what comes to hand when I want a new book.  Right now I am reading Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley – this is one I’ve read before but I read it more for the characters now.  I’ve also got some Mary Stewart on the shelf.  I have a couple of Barbara Michaels to read also – Into the Darkness and Die for Love which is by Elizabeth Peters.  (Note: As you may already know: Barbara Michaels and Elizabeth Peters are the pen names of Barbara Mertz.)  Not really old books but very satisfying.  Maybe it’s a sign of aging but these writers have the power to keep me glued to the pages without a serial killer, tons of blood and inventive torturers. 

Back to the final pages of Shadowy Horses."

 Pat in East TN tells me: "I have finished reading a couple of Jo-Ann Mapson's earlier books.  I like her writing and had never gotten into the earlier books.  About a year ago I read HALF BROKE HORSES by Jeannette Walls and really enjoyed it, so now I am reading her book THE GLASS CASTLE.  It's an account of her growing up and believe me, she had quite a life! "

Eleanor W "just finished a book I really like, "Enough About Love" by Herve Le Tellier...different, French-style...ooolala!"

Time to begin to think about the garden . . .

XLIV - February 2011

I cut some unpromising looking forsythia branches just before our last January snow and brought them inside in hopes of coaxing them  into bloom.

The snow was beautiful, as it always is -- at first. 

 Those snowy days were great for reading though.  One favorite was Mountain Born by Jean Boone Benfield, the subject of a blog post a while back.  I couldn't resist sharing some of the great old sayings -- many of which I've heard my neighbors use.

Then Stephanie, one of my readers, sent me a wonderful list that the doctor who is her boss has collected over the years. I posted some of them here but here are a few more:

"Pin stroke" -- mini stroke.  "'Mama had been having these pin strokes right along and then the big one got her."'

"Belly washer" -- soft drink (soda, pop.)  "He bought him a big old belly washer and a Moon Pie."

"Biggety" -- stuck up or acting big.  "She's  acting awful biggety ever since she got that raise."


"Gommin' and piddlin'"-- loafing. "He hadn't done a lick of work -- just gommin' and piddlin' all the day long."


"Ill as a red-tailed wasp" -- extremely irritable.  "She's ill as a red-tailed wasp ever since her divorce."


"Swimmie-headed" -- dizzy.  "Law, that white liquor made me swimmie-headed!"


Do any of you have some good ones?

At last! My year of reading mysteries as a member of the committee to select the best mystery of the year is over!  It was fun but frustrating as I signed a pledge not to review or talk about any of the five hundred plus books I dipped into during the past year. I've packed up most of the books to give to our local library and now I have a bit of time to read whatever I like. And recommend it, if I liked it!

(The Edgar Nominees are here, if you're interested.  I am allowed to say that I thought they were all very, very good.)

 

Recent Reads -- Mine and Yours

Beeing by Roseann Daryl Thomas is a charming memoir of "Life, Motherhood, and 180,000 Honeybees." Beautiful writing that had me thinking about becoming a beekeeper.

Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman kept me turning pages, even as I found myself disliking many of the characters. I found the ending unsettling in spite of its inevitability.

Patchwork Planet by Ann Tyler.  What a good writer she is! This book isn't as good as some of her others, in my opinion, but it's still well worth reading.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson. I kind of feel like I may have been the last person in the known universe to have read these. Quite compelling reading, that's for sure.  I really liked the kick ass Salander.  And, yes, I read the third one but it's one of those books I can't discuss. And no, I haven't seen the movie.

India Black  by Carol K. Carr is a fun read that I talked about over on my daily blog.


The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal is a fascinating memoir about a wealthy Jewish family in Vienna before,WWII and the impact of the Nazi regime on the various member. Follow the link to my blog post.

Deana the Queena has just finished In the Wood, The God of Animals, and The Secret River.

Pat M. says " I'm reading Unbroken by Laura Hildebrand which I am enjoying for the WWII history & B-24’s giving me more insight about my dad."

Aleen S. writes: "Just started Vergehse's Cutting for Stone, (I was hooked after the first couple lines,) and find it helpful to read it with an Atlas by my side. So much about the geography of India-Africa I don't know, actually have never been challenged to think about it, other than mountains here and rivers there, savannas and desserts in the middle and the coast line run around." 

I'm watching the amaryllis in  our bedroom stretching taller in the morning sun.

And I'm keeping an eye on the  lone domestic goose amongst the flock of Canada geese down by the river. Previously it seemed to be paired up with one of the wild ones but on this day I wasn't so sure.

At the end of January, we had several balmy days, warm enough to melt most of the snow and to entice me out to do a little winter cleanup in the flower beds.  What bliss!

And after a few sunny days, the forsythia on the dining table bloomed.

 

XLIII - January 2011

 

 A new year dawns and with it once again a chance to do better -- to love our neighbors, to care for our planet, to slow down and pay attention, to be thankful for our blessings . . .


Do you make resolutions? I don't -- not formal one. But if I did, it might be this:

Practice random acts of kindness

And senseless acts of beauty.

Reading appears to be alive and well, whether with paper and ink books or one of the various electronic alternative.  I did recent posts on the books I got for Christmas and heard back from many of the readers of my daily blog about their reading.

Martin in England is downloading classics– free from the Gutenberg Project -- to his new Kindle.

Pat in east TN has a new Kindle too and is reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and is looking forward to reading Heartbroke Bay and Mountain Born (which I talked about HERE.) 

Crafty Green Poet in Scotland is currently reading Ian McEwan's Atonement; The End of Oil by Paul Roberts and Staying Alive, a brilliant poetry anthology edited by Neil Astley.

Brian Miller is reading Never Let Me Go which is fascinating...and rereading some poetry...by Saul Williams and the New York cafe poets . . .

Louise in NY state said... I've got some old L.M. Montgomery books, that I missed growing up, on my Kindle that I'm making my way through. They're good, but Anne Shirley is definitely her greatest heroine. 

 Star in England is reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett and is loving it.
 

Helen T in SC said... On my Nook I'm reading C.J. Sansom's Dissolution. At a Barnes and Noble after-Christmas sale I bought "Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter" by Tom Franklin. Last night I went to an Inklings exhibit at Greenville Library. I was thrilled to be in the same room with Dorothy L. Sayers autograph, hence her fingerprints. 

Tipper in NC said...  During my snowy days-I've put away a few books: Cataloochee by Wayne Caldwell, U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton, Made in the USA and Shoot The Moon both by Billie Letts. 

Darla said... I've added Red Lily to my wish list. I'm finally reading The Secret Life of Plants (been meaning to for literally years), as well as The Home and The World by Rabindranath Tagore, and Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda.
 

Vagabonde said... Books and more books – they make the best presents. You received some nice ones and I did too. I pictured several of them (not all) on my new post. If you click on the picture you will see that I received Art’s Blood from a favorite writer given to me by my daughter from California.. I have started Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese It is no.1 on the Independent Booksellers fiction

Bouncin' Barb said... I'm in the middle of The Girl Who Played With Fire. 

Hélène GLEHEN in France said.. I am reading: Walden ou la vie dans les bois by Henry David Thoreau, haïkus by Basho and my best "whodunit" 

jennyfreckles in England said... I'm reading....The Day of Small Things - about five chapters in and I'm seriously hooked..

Donna D. reports reading THE HELP, SOMEONE KNOWS MY NAME,THE MAGICIAN'S ELEPHANT [juvenile] and says they're all well worth reading.

Donna also says  --PACKING FOR MARS took a back seat to A DAY OF SMALL THINGS and I need to get back to it, although I've just begun THE PIG DID IT, which seems to have promise.

 

Many thanks to all of you for your support and friendship in the past year. I am buckling down to a new book and hope to be able to tell you more soon. 

The happiest of New Years to all of you!

 

A Holiday Greeting!

XLII - December 2010

November seemed to zoom past -- one day I was admiring the leaf color and hoping that the Halloween pumpkin would still be good for a Thanksgiving decoration . . . the next thing I knew I was washing dishes after the feast and making turkey sandwiches with the leftovers. 

They say that as one ages, time seems to speed up. The explanation for this is elegantly simple:when one is young, say six years old, (and assuming one doesn't have much memory of the first few years of life) a year is maybe a third or fourth of all one's experience.

Whereas at the age of -- oh, say sixty-seven -- a year is just a small fraction of one's personal history and therefore seems to pass all the more quickly.

Makes sense to me.

And then there's the dichotomy between real time and fictional time. I spend much of my real time immersed in fictional time -- whether in the book I'm proofreading (UNDER THE SKIN set in May and June of 2007 and  May of 1887 ) or the book I'm planning (many different times) or the various books I'm reading (also many different times.)

It's a wonder I even know what year it is.

Last month we said goodbye to Molly -- our old girl. It seems odd to be reduced to three dogs after many years of five or six but I have to admit the house is staying slightly cleaner (Molly was a champion shedder) and it's a bit easier to maneuver around without tripping over a dog or two.

I'm passing along this nice idea -- remembering my childhood visits to the book department of Maas  Department store in Tampa to buy the latest Nancy Drew.  I don't have a handy child but may just treat my inner child to one of the lovely children's books that are out there. 

And of course, books are great holiday gifts. I always look forward to spending Christmas afternoon with a wonderful new book.

Speaking of books

Deana said - Books I've recently read and loved: Eliot Pattison has a series going of a Chinese official banished and imprisoned in Tibet. I've read the first two of the three he's written, "The Skull Mantra" and "Water Touching Stone." Probably even more interesting than the mysteries Inspector Shan Tao Yun solves is all the stuff I learned about modern-day Tibet's tragic occupation by China and also many interesting insights into Tibetan Buddhism.

 I've been asked by the coordinators of this event to share the above press release with you. Unfortunately, if I make it large enough to read, it won't fit on the page. But I'm happy to say I've been asked to be the guest speaker at The Friends of the Mountains Branch Library’s first Books & Bites Series event on Thursday, January 27 at noon. 

It will be at the historic Esmeralda Inn on Route 74 just outside the village of Chimney Rock. A generous portion of the twenty five dollar cost for the luncheon is being contributed to the library.

Tickets ($25) are available by phone (828-625-0456), in person at The Mountains Branch Library on Bills Creek Road in Lake Lure, or by check made out to: The Friends of the Mountains Branch Library, and mailed to: Mountains Branch Library, 150 Bills Creek Rd., Lake Lure, NC 28746.

 Though I realize not many of you are in the area, especially in January, if you are, I'd love to see you there!

AND in other news, I've been invited to be on the faculty at a week long writing retreat in July at Wildacres.   The website is being renovated and faculty for 2011 isn't up yet but you can get an idea of the offerings and the beautiful facility HERE.  I know some of you have said you'd like to take one of my classes if only you lived in the area. Well, here's a chance for a lovely vacation and a class...

And now to get ready for Christmas. . .