And congratulations to Governor General’s Award winner, Iain Lawrence, for his young adult book GEMINI SUMMER. It’s in my pile to read.

Didn’t just read ‘em, I devoured them - 3 in 3 days. And the good news is there’s a new one coming out this month! For those of you who care, #s 3& 4 have a little bit more gruesomeness than I usually like, but are very exciting nonetheless…Best for fourteen and up, maybe? Just a thought…since some of you asked me to note stuff like that…

Just about the time I moved to the South to live with my husband (boyfriend at the time), he got new next door neighbors. We rarely saw the woman who lived there, but the man was out in his yard from daybreak to sunset. His lawn was meticulous (although later he would tell us it was full of moss and eventually he killed it and replanted it), every leaf was mulched within minutes of hitting the ground, and the flower beds were weed-free. Ours was not. In fact, weeds didn’t just grow, they flourished in our yard. Only you couldn’t see them for the fallen leaves. Under there somewhere was a lawn, but we only saw it after a big storm had blown our leaves into the neighbor’s yard (which he’d quickly run out and mulch to smithereens). This neighbor was the strong silent type and I’d said hello or smiled when I went out to get the mail, but he’d mostly just nod back and we never had any small talk at all. Because I make friend easily, we figured he hated us (turns out he’s shy). But even dislike from a neighbor we didn’t know really wasn’t motivation enough to get us out of the house and raking the leaves.

Fast forward almost a year later. We were getting married and the ceremony and reception was in our back yard. Believe it or not, this WAS motivation to clean it up and make it look nice. The neighbor probably saw us out there working and thought we were putting the house up for sale or something. We knew all our other neighbors and had invited them all to the wedding, but these two on our right were strangers. Still…as the day approached, it seemed mean to have everyone from our street at our wedding and exclude the ones who could look out their back window and see the festivities, so mere days before the wedding, I stuck an invitation into their mailbox, mentioning that I hadn’t invited them earlier because I wasn’t sure if they’d want to go to a stranger’s wedding. They showed up with bells on. Okay…not bells, but bearing food for the potluck and a smile for everyone.

Herb and Lucille, our neighbors who we thought couldn’t stand us because of our yard, have become two of our closest friends. We miss them dearly, but call them often now that we’ve moved. And because we still own our other house and have closed it for the winter, Herb’s dream has finally come true…he’s mulching our leaves every day.

Save your mistaken first impressions for your writing. Life is too short to live them.

I think a running theme in books is often mistaken first impressions. Especially in romance or chick lit or…well, anything. I mean, what was PRIDE AND PREJUDICE about if not mistaken impressions?

continued…

The only bad thing about this book is I’m done reading it and I wish I had three hundred more pages to read. This is an amazing book, full of hilarious but very authentic characters, vivid detail and amazing writing. I finished it earlier today and while I was putting the groceries away I kept finding myself thinking, “I have to get this done so I can go read my book.” and then I would realize that I already finished it. Get it. Read it. Love it. It is Canadian YA, but is available in the US, so get going!

It’s funny how when you decide to write something, people, incidents, news stories, and things you hear all seem to have to do with whatever you are planning to write. Maybe you just notice them or something…I don’t know. As you know, I just finished my latest YA (for the most part) and I’ve been contemplating my next move. I’ve been toying with Middle Grade fiction. I think one reason I’ve never thought seriously about MG is because I’ve successfully blocked most of middle school from my memory. I loved high school, but middle school? Please don’t go there.

continued…

Except, someone is going there! Just last week I got an email from someone I was friends with from fifth to ninth grade, primarily in seventh and eighth grade. Her emails have been full of “Remember the time…?” and now suddenly the floodgates have broken open and I am inundated with middle school memories!

In her last email, she wrote, “Remember the time you got your hair cut at Supercuts and they they totally trashed it? And then we were waiting for the bus and it was raining and someone drove their car right through a mud puddle and soaked us on purpose?” Ahhh…no, I don’t remember that! At least I didn’t.

So then that got me thinking about bad haircuts. I’ve had many more than my fair share in my lifetime. When I was an adult, I was lucky enough to find someone who could give me a fantastic haircut every time, but ever since I left Portland, I’ve been out of luck again. My hair is baby-fine and straight except where it sticks straight out when it’s cut badly. So yesterday, I went to the barber with my husband so he could get his $7 haircut. We are traveling which means this was just some random barber, but as he says, “It’s hair. It’ll grow back.” Guys have it so easy. I was sitting in the lobby waiting for him and one of the stylists finished with her customer and looked at me and yelled, “Next!” Before I even knew what I was doing, I had my coat off and was in her chair. The whole time, I was thinking about, “Remember when you had your hair cut at Supercuts…” but it turned out okay. I’ve had a lot worse haircuts than this one that cost a lot more and when my husband told me it looked good, he didn’t have that shifty, I hate to lie but I don’t want to sleep on the couch look in his eyes. Maybe I am ready to face middle school again after all.

  I believe this is Lawrence’s first book, but he has had many published since it came out, including two sequels. He was recently nominated for The Governor General’s Award in Canada for his latest offering, Gemini Summer. Because Lawrence and I live in the same neck of the woods, and my new librarian pal told me she’d introduce us, I thought I better get reading! This one was available off the shelf, so I started with it. It’s a very exciting book and while I guess you could call it a boy book, anyone with a sense of adventure will like it. So get reading! What are you waiting for?

Before we met, my husband bought an enormous blue velvet chair. His idea was to put it in a room with a lamp and some books and then he would spend many nights luxuriously reading in it by the fire. Unlike other people who buy furniture…okay women because they think of things in pairs…it never occurred to him to buy two of these chairs. He was single at the time and that’s as far as his reading-in-comfort plans went. Well, wasn’t he in for a surprise when he fell in love, I moved in, and he hasn’t had a chance to sit in the chair since. Between me and the cats, he needs a reservation. This is where I spent my weekend.

Where do you read?

The one time Victor got to sit in the blue chair…in the back of the moving van with a couple of thugs standing by to protect him. Okay, they’re not really thugs…they’re actors pretending to be thugs. Once the chair got to our new house though it was mine, mine, mine bwaaahaaaahaaaa!

I really enjoyed this book, but I did want to comment on the fact that I bought it as a remainder. One time, in the early days, I bought a book at a library book sale and the writer was on one of my list serves. I mentioned it on the list and was admonished by her that “writers don’t like to hear that their books are being sold used”. I always thought that was a bit strange. I mean, I sell/give away loads and loads of books I LOVE. Just because it’s used doesn’t mean anything negative. In fact, more people are reading your book that way and you may get more readers in the future. Besides, with children’s books, most of them probably get passed on because the child outgrew them.I think that’s true of remainders too. I mean, sure, no one wants to be remaindered, but it means you have been published, which is a good start. And it also means that someone like me who doesn’t have a big book budget might pick up your book, love it, and then splurge on something else of yours. I will definitely look for this author’s work again. So is it such a terrible thing that I got her book for $1.99? I don’t think so because not only did I enjoy it, but I’ll pass it on to a friend, and I wrote about it here.

Oh, and just for the record, the author never once mentioned that Hannah is a palindrome.