Books I've Loved: White Oleander

This has been one of my favourite books ever since I first read it many years ago.  It's one of those books I lend to people all the time and never seem to get back.  So when I found a copy at the second-hand book stand recently, I decided to buy it to replace the three or four other copies I've owned and lost.  And then of course I had to re-read it to remind myself why it's one of my favourite books.

On a basic level the book is about a tense relationship between a mother and a daughter across a number of years.  Toward the beginning of the book, when the daughter, Astrid, is around twelve, her mother falls in love with a man who rejects her.  Enraged, she murders him.

Astrid then finds herself in the foster system, moving from placement to placement, bending herself to fit into each new family.  But she never fully escapes from her mother whose voice remains embedded in her soul and whose letters find her everywhere she goes.  

The book follows Astrid as she navigates her way through these different homes, each providing her with a different example of womanhood that she carries with her into young adulthood.

i think what I love the most about this book is the beauty of the writing.  I can only dream of being able to write such gorgeous prose.  But unlike a lot of beautifully written books, there's a compelling story with strongly realised characters that leap from the page.  Too often beautifully written books get so lost in the language, they forget to be great stories at the same time.

So I recommend this book wholeheartedly.  I would also recommend the author's duology about the Russian Revolution (I can't remember the titles off the top of my head, just the way I tore through both volumes in less than a week while on vacation one year).

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

Everywhere hailed as a novel of rare beauty and power, White Oleander tells the unforgettable story of Ingrid, a brilliant poet imprisoned for murder, and her daughter, Astrid, whose odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes--each its own universe, with its own laws, its own dangers, its own hard lessons to be learned--becomes a redeeming and surprising journey of self-discovery.

Weekly Goals 18-11-24

 I had quite a good writing weekend, but I feel like maybe the scenes I've been working on the last couple of weeks aren't right.  I'm not quite sure what I was trying to do with them, but now that I'm two chapters into this section, I'm wondering if it's the right thing for this part of the book.  I'll keep going though, even if I feel like I may end up rewriting this part later.  Or cutting it entirely and changing what happens completely.

But the goal this week is to keep writing.  I'm very close to finishing this now, even if I do think I'll be doing a bunch of editing.

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 15-11-24

 

It's the end of the week, so it's time to Celebrate the Small Things...What am I celebrating this week?

It's the weekend!  Writing time!

I have been useless about taking the Fridays off I said I was going to.  I just keep ending up having stuff on on Fridays...  Maybe in two weeks I'll manage it.

On the plus side, I have nothing much planned over the weekend, so I intend to spend a good amount of time writing. I'm hoping I can finish up the section I'm working on and figure out a way to join it up to the ending part I already wrote.  Then I can polish up that ending, making it a little longer and more grueling for poor Harley to get there, write the epilogue (which I'm no longer entirely sure I need, but I'm going to write anyway because I feel like I need to check back in on this kid).

Then the first draft will be done.  I know there are places I need to go back to and clarify things, and there are a couple of chapters that are kind of sketchy and jump around a lot that might need some fleshing out, but it should be done before Christmas.  Which is my goal so I can leave it for a month or so while I enjoy my summer vacation, then come back with fresh eyes at the end of January.

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've Loved: The Getaway List

 

I've enjoyed all of Emma Lord's books, so it was a no-brainer to pick this one up when I was at the library.  And it did not disappoint!

The book follows eighteen-year-old Riley who escapes her hometown and her overprotective mother for a summer in New York with her childhood bestie who  moved there before high school when his mother's moviemaking career took off.  In the intervening years, Riley and Tom have remained in contact and have planned numerous adventures together, most of which have been cancelled by Riley's mom.  Which has led to them crating The Getaway List - a list of all the things they've wanted to do over the years.  And this summer in New York, Riley and Tom resolve to actually do them all.

Riley is determined to try and find the adventurous person she used to be again.  And she's certain Tom is the key.  He was always the outgoing one, the one who drew people together.  

Things grow more complicated when Riley arrives at Tom's apartment and discovers that not only has he grown up, but he's grown hot too.  They fall easily into their old pattern of friendship, but things aren't quite the same.  Tom isn't quite the same and Riley's feelings for Tom seem to have shifted from just being friends to wanting something more.

As they embark on completing the Getaway List, Tom and Riley meet new friends who they bring along on their journey, ticking off all the things they've wanted to do, and discovering a few more they never expected.

This was a sweet, fun read.  Riley is a delightfully chaotic character whose spirit has been squashed for several years and watching her grow into herself as an adult, rediscovering all the things she loved about her childhood, was a treat. And who couldn't fall in love with Tom?  He's funny and sweet and a little sad and you get the sense that he actually lost more of his spark than Riley did when the pair of them were separated.  This is a pair that are just made to be together and it takes far too long for either of them to actually come to that conclusion themselves.

Add in the delightfully madcap group of friends they make as they make the city their own, and this book is a terrific read.  I enjoyed it very much.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb: 

The day of her high school graduation, Riley realizes two things: One, that she has spent the last four years trying so hard to be a Good Kid for her mom that she has no idea who she really is anymore, and two, she has no idea what she wants because of it. The solution? Pack her bags and move to New York for the summer, where her childhood best friend Tom and co-creator of The Getaway List ― a list of all the adventures they’ve wanted to do together since he moved away ― will hopefully help her get in touch with her old adventurous self, and pave the road to a new future.

Riley isn’t sure what to expect from Tom, who has been distant since his famous mom’s scriptwriting career pulled him away. But when Riley arrives in the city, their reconnection is as effortless as it was when they were young―except with one, unexpected complication that will pull Riley’s feelings in a direction she didn’t know they could take. As she, Tom, and their newfound friends work their way through the delightfully chaotic items on The Getaway List, Riley learns that sometimes the biggest adventure is not one you take, but one you feel in your heart.

Inescapably romantic and brimming with Emma Lord’s signature cheer, The Getaway List is an uplifting and romantic read that will settle into your heart and never leave.

Weekly goals: 11-11-24

I actually got a little more writing time over the weekend than I expected to get, which was good. I still have a bunch of stuff left to write, but I'm getting closer to finishing. I even wrote the first draft of my query. Let me know what you think...

Dear Agent,

After a childhood spent bouncing between 13 foster homes, 15-year-old Harley’s just spent nine months in juvie and is on his last chance when he’s placed with a brother he never knew existed. Wolfe, who has managed to build a successful life despite his own turbulent past in the foster system, offers Harley a chance at stability—something Harley never thought he’d get. But as Harley steps into Wolfe’s home, he’s a nervous, broken shell of a boy, too afraid to unpack his bags, convinced he won’t be there long enough to make it worthwhile.

As Harley struggles to find his place in this new world, he fights the overwhelming fear that if Wolfe learns the truth about his past—about who he really is—it will destroy any hope of a secure future. Then, in a new school, he meets Meg, a tough yet kind drummer in a punk band, who sees through his walls and offers him a rare sense of belonging. But when Meg warns him about the bad crowd that’s already starting to pull him in, Harley ignores her advice, hoping these friendships will finally give him the connection he’s always craved.

When his choices lead to violence, Harley’s relationship with Wolfe is pushed to the breaking point. Now, Harley must face the consequences of his actions and summon the courage to speak up for himself, even if it means revealing the long-held secrets he’s sure will ruin everything.

A Stranger to Kindness is an X-word contemporary YA novel that explores trauma, family, and identity through the eyes of a boy struggling to find his place in a world that has never given him a home. It will appeal to fans of Andrew Smith and Laurie Halse Anderson.

After moving to a new country every two or three years throughout my childhood, I now live (and write) in New Zealand. My short stories have appeared in Halfway Down the Stairs, Residential Aliens, The Barrier Review, A Fly in Amber, Everyday Fiction and numerous anthologies including recent Voyage YA anthology Just Above Water. I have published five YA novels with a small press and am a contributor to writing blog Operation Awesome, offering weekly advice to writers as agony aunt, O’Abby.

Per your guidelines, you will find the first X chapters and a synopsis below.

Thank you for considering my work. I look forward to the possibility of working together.

Warm regards,

Kate

Would you want to read this book?

My goal this week is to keep going, keep writing. I figure I have about three chapters to write in the middle to connect things up to where I skipped forward. Then I need to re-work the ending to make things a little tougher for my characters and write the epilogue. And I think that's all there is left to do.

I'm sure there will be more that will come up as I edit and as my crib group keep reading, but I'm getting there...

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 8-11-24

It's the end of the week, so it's time to Celebrate the Small Things...

What am I celebrating this week?

It's the weekend!  It's the first full work week I've had in a couple of weeks, so I feel like I need the weekend!  Although I do I have a bit of gym work I have to do over the weekend.  Every three months or so they release new material across all the fitness programmes and as an instructor, I need to go to a team training on Sunday to go through the material for the classes I'll be teaching from the 19th.  It's going to be hard because I'll be doing a 50 minute class and a 30 minute class back to back.  Not something I do normally!

My critique group continue to like  A Stranger to Kindness which makes me feel so much more confident to keep writing.  I do love this book and these characters.  Even the shitty ones...

I suspect I won't get a whole lot of writing done over the weekend, but I am planning to take the next couple of Fridays off to really dig in and get this book finished.  I feel like I need to make things worse  at the end of the book - what I've already written is good, but the situation gets tied up too quickly.  I think Harley and Wolfe need to suffer a bit longer.  

But on the plus side, I think I've come up with a good plot point for the middle of the book where I was stuck for a while.  So I'm hoping to get to that part of the book over the weekend if I get any time to write.  Why are weekends so damn short?

What are you celebrating this week?

IWSG - November

It's the first Wednesday of the month, so it's time for the Insecure Writers Support Group.

The awesome co-hosts for the  November 6 posting of the IWSG are Diedre Knight, Lisa Buie Collard,  Kim Lajevardi, and JQ Rose!

This month's question is a goodie!

What creative activity do you engage in when you're not writing?

I have a bunch of things I do when I'm not writing. I'm a creative person and writing isn't my only creative pursuit, although it is probably the one I consider my main creative outlet.

I enjoy cooking and find that very creative when I have a decent amount of time to put into it. Day-to-day cooking for the family isn't really creative - it's more of a grind, especially when one of more family embers is likely to turn their nose up at whatever is put in front of them. But experimenting with flavours and textures and throwing different combinations of ingredients together to see what works and what doesn't can be very creative.

I like making bread too, and again, playing with the flavours and hte shapes and the textures. Cakes can also be fun and creative, especially if you ice them and take your time with the decorations. I love a cake that is both beautiful and delicious.

I also paint. A few years back I discovered pouring as a painting technique and have had a lot of fun playing with different techinques to get designs I like. I'm still not that great with the blow-dryer - I see people in videos making beautiful painting using the blow dryer, but I have never been that successful with this one. I think I may not thin my paints enough to get them to move smoothly. Something to work on over the summer, maybe!

I do other crafty things too sometimes. Usually around Christmas when I try to always make presents rather than buying things. I also often make my own wrapping paper to wrap the gifts.

I also love clothes, especially second-hand or vintage clothes. Some people would call my dress sense eccentric, but I prefer to call it creative...

I'm fascinated to hear what other people do to keep themselves creatively charged when they're not writing, so let me know in the comments.