Road Trip Wednesday

It’s Road Trip Wednesday! This week, the folks over at YA Highway are asking In honor of the end of the Olympics, share your favorite sports book.

I’m going to have to cheat a bit here because I really couldn’t think of a “sports book” that I’ve read. Ever.

However! Since the topic is in honor of the Olympics and the Olympics do have horse-related events… I’m going to go with THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater for my answer. I think a re-read of this one might be in my future, in fact. Just thinking about it makes me want to go back and read it again. The language is beautiful and rich. The action is brutal. The love story angle is subtle and beautiful – there is no whiny, helpless female character who needs a man to make her succeed. The setting is beautiful and harsh at the same time. All in all, a wonderful read.

Road Trip Wednesday: Best Book of July

It’s Road Trip Wednesday! This week, the folks over at YA Highway are asking What was the best book you read in July?

Well, I’m cheating a bit with my answer because I’m still reading this book. So, if the last third of this book really, really stinks, I’m going to have to retract this entire post. I don’t see that happening, though.

The book I’m currently sucked into (I mean like – “kids, get your own dinner and I’m not doing any laundry this week” sucked into) is the first book in the Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness – THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO.

It is a dystopian YA set on “New World” where settlers have come to start over but there was a war with the natives and things went terribly wrong. You can check this link on Goodreads for the full description. During the war, the natives (called “the spackle”) set loose a germ that made it possible for everyone to hear each other’s thoughts – or “noise” as he calls it.

The thing that I really love about this book is the main character’s voice – Todd. It’s in the first person. There are misspellings and colloquialisms and the first few pages I had to really focus a bit to get into the “world.” But once I did …. I was really all the way in.

Because of this germ that was unleashed on New World, the people can even hear the animals “noise” and vice versa. Because of this his faithful dog, Manchee, becomes a major character in the book. (For those of you who may have read this book… if something bad happens to Manchee, please don’t tell me!)

What’s the best book you read in July? Or are reading?

Road Trip Wednesday: Seeking Inspiration

It’s Road Trip Wednesday! This week, the folks over at YA Highway are asking When you need creative inspiration, where do you go?

In a word: out. The funny thing is, I do it subconsciously and never realized it. But in a pinch, I’ll go out on my deck with my laptop. And if I’m really looking for a change of scenery, and therefore a jostle of my creative juices, I’ll head to the grassy paths and quiet of the woods.

There is a state park just at the edge of town that works perfectly for this. Both pictures in this post were taken there. There are miles of trails where a person can take a hike, stop to look out over the river, or sit on a bench and listen to the wind weaving through the trees.

It’s the perfect place to completely unplug and put my head in a much more quiet place than it’s used to. I don’t necessarily take along a notebook or laptop. It’s just a good thinkin’ place. I unscramble all my thoughts and then dash back home to write down whatever nuggets of wisdom I may have been able to dig up.

Admittedly, I don’t get there as often as I’d like. Especially this summer, when it’s been a hundred-and-billionty-degrees for days on end, it feels like I’ve barely stepped foot outside at all. Here’s looking forward to fall!

Where do you go when you need to find creative inspiration?

Road Trip Wednesday: What Book Brings Back Memories?

It’s Road Trip Wednesday! This week, the folks over at YA Highway are asking What Book Brings Back Memories?

What a great topic! And there are so many possible answers. But here’s the one I’m settling on: BRIDGE TO TEREBITHIA. How many folks read that in one night and then cried and cried and cried? Besides me?

Okay, my memory is not just about crying over this book (because that would be sad). Whenever I think of that book, I remember my favorite English teacher, Mr. Finnegan. He was my teacher in one of the junior high grades (I want to say sixth but my memory’s not that great). He was the one who gave me that book and told me I’d love it (he was right). It wasn’t even part of the class curriculum. He just saw that I had a passion for reading and wanted to encourage it.

Everybody loved Mr. Finnegan. He was the kind of teacher who really knew his subject and had a passion for it. And he made class fun. Which isn’t always easy with a bunch of tweens!

I have no idea where Mr. Finnegan is these days but I surely hope that he knows what a great impact he had on dozens or hundreds of kids throughout his career. Hats off to fantastic English teachers everywhere!!

Happy Birthday to my YA buddy

Last week’s Road Trip Wednesday on YA Highway asked who you share your love of YA with in real life – as opposed to all the wonderful YA bloggers who form a fantastic network of supportive friends. I didn’t participate in that RTW simply due to time but I always like to see what the prompt is and I always give it at least a little thought whether I participate or not. My first thought at this prompt was the few close friends who I have talked into reading things like The Hunger Games or Harry Potter and who, despite themselves, really liked them.

Then it occurred to me that I was looking right past my best YA compadre: my oldest daughter – who is officially a teenager today. (Lord help me.)

She has been my bookworm since… forever. When she was little, we read and read and read books every night. As soon as she could read for herself, she just took off. Her nose is in a book a good part of every day.

And now that she’s getting older, we share much the same taste in books. Some of my favorite moments of motherhood are when she says, “Mom, you have GOT to read this book I just finished.” Then she rattles off an entire summary and list of characters.

And you know what? She’s got great taste in books. Case in point: she just finished Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake. She ripped through that in about two days and then insisted that I read it. I started it last night and, though it was creeping me out, I could NOT tear myself away.

She enjoys writing, too. And, I know I’m biased, but I think she’s pretty good at it.

So, Happy Birthday to my best YA buddy!

Road Trip Wednesday: Prom!

 It’s Road Trip Wednesday! This week, the folks over at YA Highway have come up with this painful topic: It’s almost prom season, and since we love to read and write about teenagers, we want to hear your prom stories! 

I think my stomach actually clenched a little when I read that topic. Really? Prom. Ugh! Okay… here goes.

The year was 1987. This was my junior year, and it went so poorly that I refused to go to prom senior year even when a friend asked me to go just as friends! How stupid was I? It would’ve been way more fun to go with someone as “just friends.”

I’m sorry to report my prom dress included an unfortunate abundance of pink. And lace. There will be NO PICTURES with this post but trust me, it happened. Mary Mac if you are reading and would like to corroborate, feel free.

I suspect there was an enormous argument with my mother about this dress and she must’ve won because how else would I have ended up in pink and lace? Or maybe I was past my Janet Jackson “nothing-but-black” phase by this point. I don’t remember. I think this is one of those things where my brain has blocked an unpleasant memory. My brain has blocked out large chunks of the high school years.

My date was my boyfriend at the time.* And we promptly broke up afterward. Funny, I seem to remember a lot of couples breaking up after prom. The band that played was actually a band of some notoriety at the time and we all wondered how the prom committee had gotten them to play at a high school prom. After watching their obviously alcohol- and/or drug-induced performance, though, I think it’s safe to say they were wondering the same thing. They might have broken up with their manager after that.

The boyfriend attended a different school. We had met at camp the summer before. (Queue “Summer Nights” music from Grease.**) His school’s prom happened to be scheduled on the very same night as my school’s prom. I distinctly recall him saying we could go to my school’s prom – no big deal. So why he acted like a complete douche canoe about it the entire night, I have no idea. And what a waste! The post-prom party was a paddle boat ride down the Mississippi River. Many a couple took advantage of that exceptionally romantic setting and we were probably the only couple not engaged in permanent lip-lock that night.

Thus, the break up. Oh well, every prom has its story, right? What is yours?

* Name has been omitted to protect what I’m sure has turned out to be a fine, fine man. I’m guessing.

** Sorry for getting that song stuck in your brain. Really.

Road Trip Wednesday: The Eyes Have It!

It’s Road Trip Wednesday! This week, the folks over at YA Highway are asking: What images inspire/represent your WIP or favorite book?

My WIP “Mosaic: Tessera” (don’t get too attached to that name, I think it will change) takes place on three different planets but on all three, a common factor is the characters are out in the woods often. So lush, green trees (much like the ones in my blog header), streams, and undergrowth are all what put me in the right frame of mind to be “there.”

My main character – Tess – has a “Mosaic” eye (at least that’s what I’m calling it). It is a pupil that is split into two colors. At left is an example – this is a picture of my daughter’s eye. Guess where I got the idea? I LOVE this funky eye. I just knew that I would work it into a story somehow, some day. For purposes of this story, it is one of the ways that my other main character, Trevin, knows that he has found the right person when he locates her.

Trevin’s major feature – and one that is called upon as a descriptor of his mood often throughout the book – is his astonishing green eyes. (Hm, I’m noticing a pattern here!) I love playing around with the description of Trevin’s green eyes. They can melt into emeralds, become forest green, hold the sunlight and become light green… the possiblities are endless. And gorgeous!

Play along! What images inspire your WIP or a favorite novel?

UPDATE! Success! I found the color picture of my daughter’s “mosaic eye.” A couple people wondered what the colors looked like. The difference is pretty subtle unless you are looking closely.

My memoir – hm, better make this a free e-book

It’s Road Trip Wednesday! This week, the folks over at YA Highway are asking: NAME THIS LIFE: What would your memoir be called?

The very first thing that popped into my was: My Life as a Late Bloomer.

When I was in college, I had a French professor who pointed out to me that on every test, I would ace all the parts of the test that covered the old material but I did not do well on the newer material. Every. Single. Time. So, the next test would roll around and I would ace all the stuff I had done badly on the test before – but that new material? Not so much. She told me she even named this method of learning after me. Gee, was I ever proud.

I have realized that in many parts of my life, this is how I react to things. It takes a while for stuff to sink in. To make sense. To put to practical use. To become comfortable with. You get the idea.

This is definitely how I could describe my writing “career” (such as it is). As it says on my “About” page, I’ve wanted to be a writer since I first cracked the spine on A Wrinkle In Time back in elementary school.

I am now 42 and finally getting serious about writing.

Late to the party much, Kitty? Yah. Well. Better late than never? I’m going to go with “yes.”

How about you? What would your memoir be called? Hop around to all the other YA Highway participant’s entries for some interesting reading!

A love/hate post about words

Today is Road Trip Wednesday - if you’re into that kinda thing! The creative minds over at YA Highway come up with a new prompt every Wednesday and, voila – a bunch of blog posts are born! Today’s question is: What words do you absolutely hate? Which ones do you adore?

I had an easier time coming up with words that the people around me hate and therefore I am banned from using. I used to have a friend who hated the word “clematis” because apparently it’s too close to “clamydia.” I currently have a friend for whom any mention of certain kinds of body parts or issues will throw her into convulsions: “pus” and “toenails” comes to mind. Although, I’m with her on “pus.” Personally, I can’t think of many words that I really hate (I’m sure they’ll all come to me after I hit the publish button).

Among words that I love, they all seem to be a little on the snobbish side – like “moniker” and “garner” and “stalwart.” And ever since seeing the Doctor Who episode “The Doctor’s Wife” (written by Neil Gaiman), I am still trying to figure out a way to fit “petrichor” into casual conversation!

What are some of your favorites? And least favorites? If you want to read more great posts on this subject, visit YA Highway and see the links posted in their comments section.