Good read:

I've just finished reading The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold (another gift from my daughter for Christmas...). It was an interesting read. A good read. What stops me from declaring this a GREAT read is the somewhat unconventional way in which the story unfolds. Not that I'm against unconventional. No. It's that I found myself, in the early chapters, wishing it would "get on with it."

The story begins with a killer (no pun intended) opening first line (*warning: spoiler alert*): "When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily." I stopped, read the sentence out loud to my husband (we were on a plane), and read it (silently, to myself) again. The opening chapter continues from there, building, rolling, until Helen, the narrator, kills her mother. It's shocking, riveting. The kind of jolt that makes you sit up and take notice.

The next several chapters are about the past. Indeed, the bulk of the story is about the past; we surface for a moment or two of real-time story and then slip back into the past for long stretches of time. But it was in these initial few chapters, back in the past, where I found my interest beginning to wane. And while I realize this recounting of the past is so necessary -- the layers, the foundation, the building and unfolding is needed, crucial; it informs the narrator and the story -- I wished for a smidge more dwelling in the real-time now of the story.

It picked up for me midway through chapter 5 (69 pages in). My daughter's motto is you have to give a book 50 pages. So if you subtract 12 pages from chapter 1 (which don't count for my purposes here because they were terrifically engaging), you're left with 57. Right on target.

The rest of the novel is fast-paced, intense, engaging. The past swirls with the present, grabs the narrator (and the reader) by the throat, and doesn't let go. There's a deepness, a complexity in the narrator's relationship with her mother and father that I found intriguing, sickly fascinating and, ultimately, very moving.

The prose is wonderful: sophisticated, crisp, honest. Worth the read.

Great read:

My daughter gave me Kelly Corrigan's The Middle Place for Christmas and boy-oh-boy did I ever enjoy it. So good, so good! It's fresh, witty, smart, engaging, honest... did I mention fresh?

I've found that, as a writer, it's hard to read for pleasure, I mean really let go and simply lose myself in the story because there's always a part of my brain on the lookout: analyzing, editing, acknowledging. My brain sent up flares right from the get-go: pay attention, there's some really great stuff going on here!

The format is one chapter in the now, dealing with breast cancer, and one chapter in the past, showing us high school dances, going off to college, getting married. Back and forth we go and, at first, as a reader, I inwardly groaned when the "now" chapter ended because that's where I wanted to stay -- I wanted to keep going with that thread, wanted to see the details of cancer, see the nitty-gritty of it. But my groaning wasn't a full-on groan, more like a sigh, and even then, by the third switch I'd started to welcome the unfolding of the past. The past is important, of course, as it informs the present. And the two are interwoven masterfully here.

If this book isn't already on your to-read list, add it!

Never Let Them Think You Don't

I'm thrilled to share the news that my short-short Never Let Them Think You Don't is live at Prime Number Magazine. I'm honored to be included among such talented folks.

Record snowfall

It's been crazy around here... the epic storm that's been trudging its way across the country dumped 24 inches of snow here. HERE, where the average annual snowfall is a measly 50 inches. And, during the process, we set 2 records: the 24 hour snowfall (24 inches) and the 48 hour snowfall (26 inches). I don't think I've ever seen that much snow fall at one time. It's really pretty amazing to see. Not so amazing to have to shovel, and now, of course, I'm sore in places I didn't know existed.

Here's the view from inside our garage:



Outside one of the bedrooms, the snow nearly reaches the eaves:

Great read:

I've just finished Aryn Kyle's collection Boys and Girls Like You and Me and, wow, it was fantastic.... and sublime and wondrous. I loved it. I took my time, savoring each story, delighting in how each made me feel: inspired, alive, connected to something larger than myself. I thoroughly enjoyed each one and the collection as a whole. My favorites: Economics, Take Care, Allegiance, Boys and Girls Like You and Me.

If you haven't read this yet, do. Rent, borrow or buy it: you'll love it.

(Chap)Book Heaven

I received a fantastic collection of (chap)books in yesterday's mail. Many thanks to Ethel Rohan. She hosted a giveaway over at her blog, and I won! I'm super excited to read these:

Ethel Rohan, Cut Through the Bone
William Walsh, Pathologies
Claudia Smith, Put Your Head In My Lap
Matthew Salesses, Our Island of Epidemics
Sean Lovelace, How Some People Like Their Eggs
Rusty Barnes, Breaking it Down
xTx, He Is Talking to the Fat Lady
Molly Gaudry, We Take Me Apart
Peter Schwartz, Old Men, Girls, and Monsters
Issue 2 of Sententia

I don't expect I'll get much writing done in the next little while as I'll have my nose buried in these books. But that's okay. Curling up with a great read (or 10!) is a soul-satisfying way to wile away the snowy days.

Ethel: thank you, thank you.

Star Trails

Here's my 1st attempt at star trails. I realize some folks look at these with a yawn, but I'm simply fascinated with the idea of capturing stars (and the movement of them!) with a camera. There is so much to learn and the conditions have to be just right... I tried on 3 different nights during a recent trip to Florida. I thought: Florida? Warm! Not so. The 1st night it was 32 degrees... my ankle-length pants and sweatshirt weren't nearly warm enough. By the 3rd night of staying up late (airplane traffic dies down considerably after 11 p.m.), I was practicing sleeping while standing up. I know there are lots of things to be improved for my next try, but I'm pleased nonetheless.