An important announcement about candy is here on Need To Read.

Imagine that you had plenty of candy growing up. You had it when you wanted it, but because of its availability, you enjoyed it but didn’t think about it much. Then imagine that you were an adult and you moved to a small town. While you could still have some candy, the choices were very limited. When you went to the candy store, all you saw was the same old candy you’d been eating for a long time and you wanted something different but they only rotated the stock once or twice a year, so you were stuck with what they had to offer. Sure there were other ways to get variety, but you really had to try to get it then and even though it had been free before, now you were having to pay for it.

And then…YOU MOVED! And in the new town, there was candy everywhere. Just for the taking. New candy, old candy, familiar candy, candy that people sent you in the mail, candy that friends told you you had to try. CANDY! CANDY! CANDY! You had more candy at your disposal than you ever had imagined having again! You were so excited by all this candy that you devoured it every waking minute of the day, you wrote articles about it. You started blogging about candy. People asked you for recommendations about what candy they should try and they listened when you told them, because if there was one thing you knew about, it was candy! You’d tried so many kinds of candy and yet the supply seemed endless! And not only that, but you still had stacks and stacks of candy you’d never tried, and more candy on the way! What joy!

Until…The Day.

The day you discovered that you were completely saturated by candy. You were stuffed. You’d had your fill and then some. There was a chance that you might not ever want candy again. Not a big chance, but the possibility was there because just the sight of candy made your stomach queasy and your eyes kind of bug out. Instead of enjoying this candy, you began to realize you didn’t have time for anything else because you had to stay after that ever-growing pile or else you’d fall behind and pretty soon it would topple over and trap you underneath.

Now…substitute the word “book” for candy.

Need To Read is on indefinite hiatus.

Although I will continue to blog on my homepage and when I resume reading, y’all be the first to know. And if you haven’t had enough candy, there’s always the archives and the book lists.

Yes, I see the irony here. I hope to have a book out someday that lots of people buy, but I rarely buy books myself. Here’s why:

Clutter - I really don’t like having stuff around me. I have one bookshelf with the books that would be hard to get if I didn’t own them and that’s really all I want. It’s true that I could give away or sell the books after I read them, and that’s generally what I do if I do break down and buy one, but that brings me to…

My book budget – or lack there of. I live a comfortable, happy, secure life, but I don’t have a job besides writing. I can reasonably squeeze maybe $150-$200 a year out of the budget for books, and I probably do, but that’s not very many purchases these days.

Obligation - The real reason I don’t like to buy books is because then I feel obligated to read them. I decided a long time ago that if a book didn’t hook me, then I’d just return it to the library un-read. Big deal. But when I buy a book, I really feel like I have to read it. I bought a stack of books the other day on a whim and I am now plodding through one that definitely would’ve gone back to the library without being read, but I paid $16 for it!

Expectations - I think that if I do break down and buy a book that someone recommends then my expectations are disproportionately raised. I want it to be everything they said it would be and more, because I shelled out the dough. I feel that books I would’ve happily read from the library get extra scrutiny if I paid for them. That’s not really fair to the author!

Because I rarely buy books, I make it up to the writing world by pushing the books I do read and love. That’s right. I ask you to buy them! The thing is, if I promote a book I love, and you check it out at your library, and there are a lot of holds, the library will buy more copies, and in MG and YA, libraries and schools are the major purchasers of our books anyway. Do you buy books?

I generally don’t stray too far from the writing path on this blog. If I want to write about something my cat did, I try to turn it into a humorous essay so it’s a writing exercise. However, I’m going to have to stretch a bit to connect today’s topic with writing, so humor me because I think it’s important.

As my readers probably know, I am a vegetarian. I’m generally not one of those obnoxious ones who tries to convert the rest of the world though because my reasons are spiritual and I think that’s personal. I mean, I don’t want you trying to convince me your spiritual values should be mine, so I’m not going to do that to you. However, I do have themes regarding vegetarianism throughout some of my writing…ha! That’s my lame attempt at making a connection to writing here today. Okay, good. Now I can just say what I have to say.

If you’re concerned about the environment, you might want to read this for an easy way to help reduce your carbon footprint. And don’t worry, it’s not going to ask you to become a vegetarian.

Also, in other news, I’ve started a blog about my Sunday Soup here. Stop by and let me know what you think of it!

For no reason that I have been able to come up with, other than I just don’t feel like it, I have not read a book in five days! This might be the longest I’ve gone in years without reading. I have a stack of both library books and books I bought…and yet, there they sit. I guess even those of us blessed with The Need To Read, need a break sometimes. What are you reading?

Generally when I’m writing, I think about my book a lot. You know, what happens next, who does my character crush on, what kind of shoes does she wear and how can I get a pair…those kinds of things. But as many of you know, I finished my manuscript five weeks ago and sent it to my agent and now I’m waiting to hear what he has to say.

It’s true that I’ve started toying with a new project, but mostly I’ve just been puttering and enjoying the nice spring weather. That brings me to what I think about when I’m not pondering a book I’m writing. Do you remember that scene in The Commitments when the main character is fantasizing that the band has become an international success and he’s interviewing himself with a hairbrush? Well, I haven’t gone so far as to practice with the hairbrush but I have to think about something, don’t I?

So last night, I was thinking about Oprah and what she might ask, you know, just so I’m ready, and she said something like, “You have such a fabulous website! What’s the greatest thing about it?”

And my answer just rolled right off my tongue. The greatest thing about having a website is how it has brought a whole community of writers right into my small, rural, Canadian house.

I have made so many friends from this website. So today is My Blog Reader Appreciation Day. These flowers are for you, my dear readers. All six of you!

Click here for the post One True Love.

Recently on agent, Kristin Nelson’s blog, there has been a discussion about what you, as a writer, can learn from best selling books, regardless of what one might call “the quality of the writing”. Now I think Ms. Nelson makes some interesting points, and while I don’t agree with everything she has to say, I did ponder it a bit over the last few days.

I’ve always been a Meg Cabot fan, but lately I’ve been on a Cabot book spree of sorts. The Mediator series is my favorite and I’ve been listening to them on audio. When I went to the library website to reserve more of them, I saw there were a few other Cabot books that I had never read, so I got those too. So anyway, I have been thinking about Cabot’s books.

I’ve always thought she is an excellent writer. In fact, I was even surprised by that because often popular books aren’t that good past the first one or two in a series and when I started reading her (The Princess Diaries), I was truly impressed. One thing I’ve noticed in particular is that every character, no matter how small, is always rich and thoroughly created and just done very well. But if I were to set the writing aside, and ask Ms. Nelson’s question, “What do Cabot’s books offer to the many, many readers out there who may or may not care about the quality of the writing, but love the books?” This is what I came up with.

One True Love.

In a Meg Cabot book, you are guaranteed that the main character will find her One True Love. It doesn’t matter if it takes six books to get there, or one. It doesn’t matter if it’s a fifteen year old or a thirty year old. The character will eventually find her One True Love and you can put money on that. So why is this so appealing, aside from the obvious (I mean, don’t we all want to find our One True Love?)? I think it is because, especially in her teen books, there is never any sign or hint that the main character is finding their dream boyfriend for the next couple of years or so until they go off to college where they’ll find the next love who will last for a while…No. Even the teens, or especially the teens, are allowed to find their One True Love right there in high school. And it’s real. So don’t even think otherwise.

Now, it’s been a long time since I was a teen, but I sort of remember it and the truth is that when you’re young and in love, you believe it’s forever. I mean, maybe in your twenties or thirties you start analyzing it and thinking, “Okay, do I want to have kids with this guy? Is he going to be there when I’m old? Or fat? Or wrinkled?” But in high school, you truly believe that it’s forever and those people who say it is puppy love or whatever don’t have a clue. Meg Cabot says, “Yes. This can happen. Believe.”

That, in my opinion, is why people love her. We all want to believe.

P.S. I was thirty-four when I found my One True Love. Meg Cabot appears to have hers too and I don’t know if she found him in high school or as an adult, but regardless, we are here to tell you that we believe (if I can be so bold as to speak for Ms. Cabot, that is!), so go ahead, make a cup of hot chocolate and a tub of popcorn and grab a Meg Cabot book. If you’re lucky enough to have your OTL, you’ll appreciate him that much more, and if you’re still looking, well, Cabot’s written some male characters to rival Mr. Darcy (I know…sacrilege!)

1. I’m not really sure what a Friday Five is, but from all the blogs I’m reading these days, I’m starting to see a pattern. Lots of writers do lists of five random things on Fridays and share with the world. I guess I missed the memo. Better late to the party than never, I guess!2. Can I just say how extremely happy and thrilled I am to be living in a spot on the planet that is not overrun with pollen? I loved the South, but I was literally out for a minimum of six weeks, usually more like eight, every spring with allergies. When I say out, I mean I slept 10 hours a night and usually 2 hours in the afternoon. The rest of the time, even with drugs, I only operated at about 50%. I LOVE IT HERE in Evergreen Central!

3. I just talked to my mum on the phone for 77 minutes. I love my mum.

4. My husband went for a bike ride and brought me back a doughnut and a book from the village. Who loves me, baby?

5. It occurred to me the other day that now that I have a fabulous agent, I really can probably stop reading all the blogs about how to write a hook. Especially since I’ve actually written articles on it myself, and have been known to help others, like Jen and Wanda with their queries. So this week, I dropped a bunch of those blogs from my to read list and have added Sarah Dessen, Susan Juby, Rachel Vail, Cynthia Lord, and Meg Cabot to my blog roll. I figure it’s now time to see what happens after you get a book published (knock on wood) and why not learn from the best?

Any of you who have hung out here for a while, or perused the rest of my site, know that my all time favorite books are from the Betsy-Tacy series. Starting when Betsy is in high school, they have a thing called Sunday Lunch. Every Sunday evening (I know? Lunch in the evening?) they open their house to friends and family. Mr. Ray makes sandwiches out of leftover Sunday pot roast or chicken, and if there isn’t anything left, then he makes sandwiches out of Bermuda onions, salt, & pepper. There is strong coffee and sometimes a cake made by Anna or Mrs. Ray (but not always). Julia plays the piano and everyone gathers around and sings, or they just chat (and flirt…the girls are in high school so the place is overrun with boys) and visit.All my life, I have dreamed of having both a house and friends so I could have Sunday Lunch at my house. Now I have both (very lucky me) and so yesterday, we had our very first one. We’ve taken some liberties. First of all, it’s called Sunday Soup because being vegetarian Buddhists, there really isn’t any after-church pot roast for sandwiches (And onion? Ooooh! Ick!), so I’m making a different soup and fresh bread each week. And secondly, we dropped the “lunch” phrasing because we didn’t want anyone coming at noon, which is what lunch means to us west coasters. Lastly, we don’t have a piano, but there were guitars yesterday and other friends sing, play the upright bass, dobro, and trombone, so you never know what will happen of a Sunday evening around here at Casa Bon Chance!

I’m one step closer to my lifelong dream of being Betsy Ray! Haha!

1. Yesterday, while out walking, my new character told me her story…well, the beginning anyway. I am in a quandary now though because I don’t want to start messing with a new book if my agent is going to get back to me next week and ask for more revisions…

2. On The Shrinking Violet Promotions site today there is a very useful post about book signings, whether you’re signing now or it’s way off in the future. I also told a cool story in the comments section. Go check it out!

3. After writing about The OPPOSITE OF LOVE here, the author, Julie Buxbaum, contacted me and offered to let me give away a signed copy of her book! Stay tuned for further details. I hope to interview her next week!

4. The knitting of my first sweater is “on hold” until I can get some help, and I’m trying not to think about the mess I’ve made of it because I don’t want to cry!

5. It is sunny, sunny, sunny (and probably cold, but who cares?) so I think I will walk down to the beach today. Maybe I’ll learn more about my new book.

I know…as a hotblooded female, I’m supposed to think that Mr. Darcy is the all-time winner in the literary dreamboat, perfect-man category, but I’m here to say, I’ve fallen for another. In Meg Cabot’s THE MEDIATOR series, our fair heroine (okay, butt-kicking heroine), Suze Simon, is in love with the ghost that haunts her room, Jesse de Silva. And I have to say she couldn’t have made a better choice. He is a hottie!

When I read this series about two years ago, I just ploughed through it, unable to put it down. Recently, I’ve started listening to it on audio, and this is truly a fabulous medium for these books. It’s so exciting. And the narrator does an excellent job of reading (not always the case). I have always thought that Meg Cabot is a very good writer, but I think the actual writing in this particular series outweighs any of her others. She’s always created great at characters, but the settings in this series are really done well. I can’t say that I have any real desire to ever go to California, but her descriptions of Carmel actually make me consider it.

Interestingly enough, while I’m waiting for the last two audio books in the series to arrive at my library, I picked up HOW TO BE POPULAR, also by Meg Cabot. I had tried listening to this book on audio last year and couldn’t get past the first half hour. However, reading it is great. It just goes to show that not all books are right for reading aloud.

Missing Miss Snark!  and her little dog too…

It’s been one year since the scintillating Miss Snark hung up her stilettos and got back to the real work at hand…gin and reading thrillers. Thank you Miss Snark for all you taught me (and everyone else). While I know you’d say “it’s the writing”, I also know that a big part of my luck with finding a fabulous agent comes from all your great advice! Cheers!

P.S. Check out where the idea of a tribute to Her Snarkiness all began here.

If you want a literary agent, or if you have a literary agent, and you’ve ever thought to yourself, “Sheesh…why does it take so friggin’ long?” ** Well, then this is something you should not miss. Agent, Janet Reid, lays her weekend out for you in one succinct post. To be honest, I have to admit (a bit sheepishly) that I think I always thought that publishing just sort of shut down on the weekends and that the agents got a couple of free days to catch up on queries, partials, fulls, and clients’ manuscripts (oh, and perhaps an hour or two for their personal life like laundry or finding a solution for world peace). Turns out…not so much. Mea Culpa.

**Not that I have ever said that. My middle name is Patience. Truly. And I highly recommend it ’cause you can’t do nothin’ about it so you might as well enjoy your life.

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing ten years ago?
I’d just started taking acting classes again after reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I’d given up acting after college (BA in Theatre!) and was allowing myself to play around with the idea once again. Eventually, I ended up acting professionally for a while.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

1. Listen to the Cubbies game while I work on my sweater that I’m knitting.

2. Finish writing an article I’m doing on how listening to audio books can help your writing.

3. Rewrite my author interview questions so I can interview Julie Buxbaum.*

4. Go for a walk because I’ve been pretty sedentary this week.

5. Okay…I know all you busy people out there are going to hate me for this, but I don’t have a to-do list and I had to make up 1-4 just to answer this question, and I can’t think of anything for #5. *This one I really have to do!

What are some snacks you enjoy?

Smoked apple wood cheddar cheese from England

Avocados/guacamole

Artichoke parmesan dip with water crackers

Doughnuts (cake)

Cadbury Orange Milk Chocolate

Tortilla chips with pepperjack cheese melted over them in the microwave and topped with Frank’s Red Hot sauce

All of these snacks, yes, even the chips and cheese, should be paired with a pot of English Breakfast tea with milk. Weird…I know…

What would you do if you were a billionaire?

Buy up a whole bunch of land for the Nature Conservancy

Create many small grants ($500-1000 each) for writers just to throw into their living expenses pot

Buy lots of Smoked apple wood cheddar cheese

Get regular massages

Travel

Live on the water again

Get my husband a banjo-uke because he wants one

What are three of your bad habits?

Not finishing projects or clean-up (my report cards as a kid always said, “Does not complete assignments”)

Forgetting that the cat is just a cat and yelling at him for jumping on the table

Meaning to go for a walk and then just making a pot of tea and grabbing a book instead

What are five places where you have lived?

Portland, Oregon

Watermillock, Cumbria, England

Forest Park, Illinois

Crossville, Tennessee

British Columbia, Canada

What are five jobs you have had?

Actress in Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding – by far the most fun I’ve ever had working

Souvenir seller in the baseball stadium – climbed 50-60 flights of stairs a night, carrying 20lbs! Made a fortune and was in great shape

Concierge at a country club – kind of fun, but I knew I only had to work there for four months before I moved to Chicago, so it was easy to enjoy it

The Easter Bunny on an Easter Dinner cruise – totally SUCKED

Bridesmaid in the movie What the Bleep Do We Know? – very fun, made some money, and ended up with my husband because of it

Like Kerry, I’m not going to actually tag anyone, but offer it up to any of you who would like to be tagged. I know y’all have lives of your own and I don’t want to be a pain. Oh, shoot, I just admitted right here that Kerry didn’t technically tag me, but that I volunteered…oh, well! Have a great day.

Really, really funny. And touching and all the good stuff. Quirky too. And while I think I now know more about seventeen year old boys’ personal habits than maybe I need to know, it was definitely a great read!

Kim Antieau posted the best writing video I’ve seen, so today, I’m taking the day off and sending you to her site. Don’t miss it! And check out the rest of her site and her books too. She’s a star!

I’ve been tagged by Kerry Madden who writes that wonderful series set in the Smoky Mountains (Gentle’s Holler, Louisanna’s Song, Jessie’s Mountain). Visit her here at Kerry Madden.

Read my very exciting answers here!

OMG! I love, love, love this book! Read why here.

The author had me at the dedication. Seriously. And I didn’t look back.

I never would’ve found this if someone hadn’t recommended it to me, so I am so grateful. I just wish I could remember who told me to read it! I have narrowed it down to two…either Kim or Jen. So thank you! OMG this book is sooooooo goooooood! Every time I surfaced for another cup of tea, my husband would say, “I can hear you laughing in there.” Last night, he fell asleep on the couch while I read. Finally at midnight I decided that while I had another hour of reading in me, if I let myself, then I’d be too close to the end to stop and be up until 2am, so I gave in. This morning I woke up to the wonderful sound of rain on the roof, so I stayed snuggled in the bed, my husband brought me tea, and I read, giggled, and read until I was done. As usual, I’m not going to tell you what it’s about. But I will say that if you’re not a big Jane Austen fan, or if you just aren’t that familiar with Austen, you will probably like it but not really get it. So brush up on your Austen books and/or films before settling in with this one. I haven’t seen a movie since last summer (which, yes, is a bit weird as I used to see at least one new movie a week), but if this book becomes a movie, I will definitely be there on opening day.

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, and Lauren Abramo, over at my agency, Dystel and Goderich, just did a terrific post on the topic (scroll down when you get there). I think that it’s impossible not to pick books by their covers, at least initially, and can I just say this book has a fantastic one? Even if I didn’t “know” Siobhan Vivian (virtually), I would’ve been way interested in this book just from its cover and its title. This is one of my recent purchases, yes…I bought a new, hardback book! That makes it the first one this year. I’m so happy that I did too because it’s a great book and you all should run right out to your indie book store and get a copy. It’s funny, and touching, and a bit mysterious, and you root for the character, and well…it’s just worth your $16.99 ($20.99 here in Canada! Don’t get me started on that though since the USD and CAD are even now and those of us up north are a bit irate about the books being so much more expensive!) Anyway, do get it and do stop by Siobhan’s website to read more about her and her wonderful book! Ooh, I just went over there and you can win a copy! Hurry!!!

P.S. I also listened to the first Mediator book on audio. I loved this series when I read it and audio is really fun!

I like this Friday Five thing…it’s like five mini-posts for the price of one. Click here to read all about it!

I almost didn’t read this for two reasons. The first is that it is due at the library tomorrow and reading on a deadline is too much like college. The second is because I have a pile of new books that came in the mail that I’m anxious to dig into. The reasons I did read it after all are because the fabulous and funny, Eileen Cook, recommended it, and because I’d requested it from the library and I think it’s safe to assume there was some expense in getting from another branch to mine, so as a responsible library patron, I should fulfill my part of the deal.

Boy am I glad I read it! This is a wonderful book.  It’s got all the stuff that makes novels great: interesting characters, strong conflicts, moral dilemmas, poignancy, and a rousing heroine. But it has something else…some really beautiful writing. Writing that just makes you go, “Wow! I wish I’d thought to say it that way.” When Eileen wrote about it on her blog, she quoted the first line, but the one that made me stop and think was when Emily, the main character, was contemplating her own funeral and thought: I wonder if people would cry, and if there is anyone in the world who would hold the tears back for fear of never stopping.

Been there, right? I mean, haven’t you? But have you thought of it that way? The book is chock full of little bits and pieces like this that make this book just a little better than most good books. Oh, yeah, and to top it off, what a great title!

I have reached my hand into the hat and I am gently pulling it back out. Instead of a rabbit, I have possibly found a new idea for a book . Slowly, slowly, oh-so-slowly, it is revealing itself to me. I have a character, she told me her name as I drifted off to sleep last night. I know who her parents are and where they all live. I know what the inciting incident is, if not exactly where to start. What is yet to be revealed is the need. The desire. The want. The conflict. Right now the whole thing is just a murmur, something that if hunted down could just fade away. So I will wait, and ponder, and hope that if this character needs her story told, she will let me be the one to tell it.

Read about Sunday Lunch here.