If You Were Here – Jen Lancaster

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It was the book that I wanted to love.

Like Duckie dreamed of Andie (in Pretty in Pink) or Keith idolized Amanda Jones (in Some Kind of Wonderful) I yearned to fall in love with Jen Lancaster’s fiction debut, If You Were Here. Having read my way through Lancaster’s catalog of memoirs, I anxiously awaited this title. And then anxiously awaited again while Kindle figured out how to streamline those pesky (and much loved) footnotes that define Lancaster’s style. And I finally sat down to read it.

And I did not fall in love (which is why I name-checked Duckie and not Blaine, Amanda and not Watts). There are so many points that should make me fall in love with it, but it just didn’t happen. The book features multiple John Hughes movie references (including a house that plays a pivotal role in a movie that also featured the song that is the same name of the book. Too obtuse? Sigh; Sixteen Candles! It’s Jake Ryan’s house!), an almost gang war with a gang of bumbling idiots and a self-important heiress with a name out of a reality show and ripped-from-the-tabloid antics. And then she threw in two obscure, awesome references from my childhood — Mr. Yuk stickers & Gamera the Japanese monster movie turtle for whom my pet turtle is named.

But it didn’t mesh like I wanted it to. And it might be just because Lancaster’s other books are so damn well-written, this one just doesn’t reach the bar that she’s set.

Secrets, Lies and Finding Fictional Truth

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How do you tell your secrets? Your stories? Your secret stories?

I’m reading Writers And Their Notebooks, the subject of which has always fascinated me. Today’s post is less about one book, and more about your books, your notebooks, to be exact. What is the difference in your mind between a diary and a journal? Is there one? Going forward, I am going to assume that most of you reading this use one for some part of your life. For writers, it has long been the studio of creation, the birthplace of thought and creativity. To me, a diary is who you tell your secrets to. A journal is who you tell your lies to. It could be a workbook for your stories, characters, dialogue. Where you take your loose fanciful ideas and try and put some support under them. It is a record of travels, real or imagined.

What kind of a notebook do you use? A nice leather bound one? Spiral notebook? Moleskin? Or those old trusty marbled composition notebooks? Perhaps another? Several years ago I found a company here in Austin that made the most beautiful handmade leather journals. Even the paper was handmade. I used them to record a couple of trips I made throughout New England. But for good old fashioned brainstorming? I haven’t quite found my home yet. The spirals are nice because they are highly disposable. Writing something, don’t like it, tear it out!  For me this is a bit of a negative. It’s TOO easy to rip out. The composition books seem more suited for the keeping of ideas. Although the pages can still be torn out, it’s a little harder. A little messier. It kind of forces you to sit with the page a little. I do love my Moleskins though. I am never without one in my pocket. I just noticed on their website they now have regular sized purple ones. This is trouble for me.

So what about you, you note takers of notoriety? What kind of tools do you use? And how do you use them? I’m truly curious.  What about you Techie Types? I will admit to using apps on my iPhone more and more for the convenience of continuing to work on it later. But for me, there is still nothing like the hand moving across a page leaving its purple (in my case) artifacts of thought and possibility.

Mari Farthing – Five In The Hive

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Joining us today for a Five In The Hive chat is our own beloved Book End Babe, Mari (Hestekin) Farthing. *applause*

Mari is stopping by today as a guest so we can chit-chat about her upcoming debut in the YA anthology, SOMETHING WICKED from Buzz Books, USA. The five authors from PROM DATES TO DIE FOR have returned to SOMETHING WICKED for more ghoulish fun and this time, much like a zombie apocalypse, they’ve invited Mari to be, “one of them. . . one of them.” *insert appropriate zombie noises here*

In SOMETHING WICKED, Mari tells a tale of TROLLS. And these aren’t persnickety cranky trolls that hide under bridges and make you answer random trivia questions to pass. Nope, these hairy beasts are out for blood, and vengeance. The girl with the recurring dream, the boy with the notebook of secrets and the “hunters” must come together to defeat the trolls. But who are the trolls, really, and what do they want? Find out when the book is released, October 1, 2012.

Okay, Mari, time to play along and answer the Five In The Hive questions:

Book you can’t get out of your head: A Simple Plan. A couple finds a large sum of money and chaos ensues in such a way that I could totally picture myself falling into that downward spiral. Brilliant read. It was later made into a movie starring Bridget Fonda, Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton, but the book far eclipsed the movie.

Book character crush: Ooh, good question. I love Eric Northman from the Sookie Stackhouse books (yeah, that’s not a very literary answer!)

Most unusual place you’ve written: On a receipt is the weirdest thing I’ve written on. In the way-way back of my parent’s van on the way to the airport in High School is the weirdest place I ever wrote. It was a very Jim Morrison-esque poem about the highway. I still remember it.

Lipstick or lip gloss: Copious amounts of both.

In a battle between Frankenstein and Dracula, who wins: Dracula, of course. Frankenstein is adorable, but rather slow. Dracula could run circles ’round him. Then there’s the whole turning into a bat and flying away thing. Unless it’s a daytime battle, Dracula wins.

Mari (Hestekin) Farthing

Mari is a military wife, mom of two, a technical writer, a magazine editor, and Senior Editor at Buzz Books. In her free time (all 15 minutes of it), she likes to cook, discover new music, read, watch movies, run and share drinks with friends … not necessarily in that order. Mari firmly believes that life is best lived with a wicked sense of humor, a willingness to listen, a stash of cute accessories, an open heart for others, and a very dirty martini. Follow her on Twitter @marifarthing.

 

 

GOLD by Chris Cleave: The Olympics Like You Never Expected

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Guest post by Lucie Smoker – Author of Distortion, available from Buzz Books, November 2012

The Olympic Closing Ceremonies have faded, the athletes have flown home, but you don’t have to give up the thrill of intense competition.  One of the greatest writers of our time, Chris Cleave, has penned the perfect follow-up novel, Gold. 

From the opening scene where your heart pounds in time with a potential gold-medal cyclist, Zoe, to the heartache of her best friend, Kate, who chose her sick child over her chance for glory, Gold drives you forward with simple, human caring. You will love/hate these people and want them to win—and even to lose.  Problem is, they’re so often competing with each other and with real life.

The hard fight is back home where Zoe’s best friend, Kate, gave up her own aspirations when her baby arrived.  Kate had been the more natural cyclist, in direct competition with Zoe.  Now she’s trying to watch her friend on tv but her cheap apartment’s faulty wiring causes her to miss the race.  Her husband Jack races tomorrow.  Will she even see him, half a world away, hurtling himself toward her dream?

You see, Gold may take place as backstory to Olympics, but it’s truly a novel of friendship and pain:  the pain of a child suffering from leukemia who needs a selfless mom; and the pain of a battered friendship after nasty betrayals. Can love and forgiveness overcome pain? Do Kate and Zoe ever win gold medals?  Does that matter when they’re crashing together fake light sabers to get a child’s mind off leukemia?

Don’t worry, I’m not giving away the plot.  We’re still at the beginning of Chapter 3.  What happens next isn’t what you expect.  Honest, hard, and frail, Cleave’s Gold leads you much farther behind those gold medals than a prime-time sponsor’s commercial about “mom,” much deeper into the psyche of a champion than an NBC interview in some athlete’s living room. Consider it a tour through the basement bedroom, then up into the velodrome   Gold isn’t the truth, it’s Truth.

Like me, some of you will miss Cleave’s controversial earlier themes and lightning style, with no quotation marks and double sentences separated by neither period, extra space, or capital letters. He’s written Gold traditionally. Do I think it’s his best novel? No, but that’s sort of like saying that Hemingway’s weakest novel is The Old Man and the Sea—honestly, may I someday write something as weak.

To many readers, Gold will feel more accessible than Incendiary or Little Bee..  The reader doesn’t have to face down the pure evil of Osama bin Laden or the political horror of a Third World girl in a First World country.  Instead, through brilliant prose, you only get to experience a blessing/terror much closer to home, a friendship.

Make new friends,

But keep the old,

One is silver

And the other is Gold.

 (Adapted from an old Girl Scout chant)

 

Lucie Smoker – Author of DISTORTION

Lucie Smoker: ”I’m a mystery writer who battled my inner critic and prevailed–except I shouldn’t have taken her prisoner.  She eats too much chocolate.”

Tweet: @luciesmoker

 

Summer Reading Sunset

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by Malena Lott

Gone are the long wistful days of summer reading. Soon – some say Labor Day – we’ll all be officially back in the throes of school schedules and a vigorous fall work schedule. It also dawned on me that since I last posted a review, there’s A DOG ON MARS. What’s that? Not a dog? Okay, just Rover? Gotcha.

Anyhoo, speaking of gone, how about GONE GIRL, which we’ve reviewed here, yes, read it, liked it, shall read Gillian Flynn’s other two books. And back to school? I’ve got the remedy for that: BLACKLISTED FROM THE PTA by Lela Davidson. Speaking personal truths and being funny – what’s not to love?

How about a crime novel in the carpool line (you know you want to!). I rec Lou Berney’s WHIPLASH RIVER, which is whip-smart and stylishly written.

I also gobbled up BLACK MILK: On Writing, Motherhood, and the Harem Within by novelist Elif Shafek about her postpartum depression and struggle to fit writing and motherhood into her life. It’s a good one for writing mommies to take a look at if you’ve wondered about how women artists succeed – with or without children. Her “case studies” were interesting.

A quick bath read? THE GAP YEAR by Sarah Bird - another one moms of teens can relate to.

I think ebook shorts are the perfect thing for the carpool lane. A couple of new shorts are out by the Stinger line at Buzz Books: Jammie Kern’s Mythology High series: “Ryann in the Sky,” based on the Orion myth and her newest, “Taylor on Lockdown,” coming Labor Day; and Peggy Chamber’s “Bra Wars,” in The Apocalypse Sucks series. And if you’re looking for a fun and steamy women’s fiction read, I’m referring you to THE POOL BOY: A Short Story for FREE this Friday and Saturday. The Pool Boy is my take on the (sub)urban fantasy. Summer’s end, indeed. Buzz Books is has the summer gift of poolside recipes for free, so download a free pdf at the bottom of the Pool Boy page (looks scrumptious on the iPad) and get to that last summer soiree.

I have no idea what reads are up next for me, but I try to post pics of my TBR pile on Instagram as I get them in the mail and fed to Facebook and Twitter.