Celebrate the Small Things 29-5-26

 

It's the end of the week, so what am I celebrating?

It's the weekend!  And even better, it's a long weekend!

It's been a busy week, one of those weeks where I feel like I'm constantly rushing from one place to the next.  And unfortunately, the weekend feels like it's going to be a bit crammed with stuff to do too, so I don't foresee much time to rest.

I need to write a couple of stories for the anthology this weekend.  I have 4 weeks left and 6 stories to write, so I need to tray and knock a couple off this weekend.  I'm hoping to get one written on Saturday nd one on Sunday because I've got plans with my old team on Monday.

I got a rejection on one of the fulls I had out this week, which was disappointing.  I had such hopes that A Stranger to Kindness would be the book that broke out for me, but there just doesn't seem to be a market for that kind of book right now.  I'll keep trying for a little while longer though.  I love those characters too much to give up on them.  

Plus, I know the new book will be an even harder one to sell.

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've Read: The Ballad of Darcy and Russell

I've read all Morgan Matson's other books and really enjoyed them, so it was a no-brainer to pick this one up at the library.  And I was not disappointed.

It's a romance that initially is set up to be like the Before Sunrise movies, where the whole story plays out in one night.  That's actually what the main character, Darcy, wants it to be. She's a romantic who adores movies like this and has been hanging out for her own moment of magic.  

Of course though, things never quite work out the way they do in the movies...

The weekend before leaving to go to college on the East Coast, Darcy throws caution to the wind and goes with an acquaintance to a music festival.  Her dad's favourite band, the one she grew up listening to, is playing and she's excited to experience it firsthand.  All this happens before the book actually starts, and we catch up with Darcy after the festival, after her "friend" ditched her and left her to take the bus back to LA.  The bus breaks down, leaving her stranded at a remote bus station in Nevada.  Her phone's almost out of charge and her friend accidentally took her charger, so she has no way to top it up.  Her flight to college is the next night, so the clock starts ticking the moment the bus breaks down and she's told a replacement won't be able to get there until the next morning.

Russell is also stranded at the bus station.  He and Darcy cross paths because news travels that she's looking for a charger.  He doesn't have one either, and his phone is dead too, but suggests they go for a walk into town to see if they can find one.  She agrees and they set out together.  As they walk and talk, they start getting to know each other and there's a clear attraction between them.  By the time they discover this is a town that basically closes on a Sunday afternoon, things are going really well.  Sparks are flying and Darcy starts to think this is the romance she's been dreaming of.

Then they get caught swimming in a motel pool and everything changes.  It turns out Russell's phone isn't dead after all when he has to make call to his dad to keep them from being arrested for trespassing.  And then the truth about who Russell really is comes out and Darcy finds herself flung into an entirely different adventure.

I won't reveal any more of the plot because what's so enjoyable about this book is how far away from the expected it takes you.  After setting up to be the meet-cute-one-night-romance, it becomes something very different, but no less enjoyable.

Darcy and Russell are delightful protagonists with real flaws and charms, and backstories that inform their current situations in the best possible way.  The people they come across along their adventure are also very engaging and interesting and even Darcy's best friends who we never meet, but hear from through the voices in her head, are very well drawn.

So, I'd recommend this one.  It's fun and light and romantic, even though it isn't the romance it promises to be in the first few chapters.

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

Darcy believes in love at first sight. Even though it’s never happened to her, she’s spent her whole life waiting for that magical moment, hoping that when she meets the right guy, everything will fall into place perfectly.

But right now, her life is anything but perfect. Heading home from a music festival, engine trouble means she’s stranded at a Nevada bus station until morning. Even worse, it’s the day before she leaves for college, her phone is dead, and she has no cash. Darcy’s convinced nothing good can come of this night…but then she meets Russell. Cute, nice, funny, and kind, this is the guy—and the moment—she’s been waiting for. As they walk and talk, the two connect, and Darcy is able to put aside all her fears and doubts about the future to focus on this perfect guy.

Over the course of one fateful night, Darcy and Russell discover things they never imagined about each other and themselves. But can you really know someone after only a handful of hours? Is it possible to fall in love in less than day? Before they part, both their lives will be changed, and Darcy and Russell will have to decide if it’s worth saying hello when you know you’re destined for a goodbye.

Weekly Goals 25-5-26

 I didn't end up writing a story this weekend.  Life somehow got in the way and I ran out of time for it.  So, next weekend I'll need to try and write two.  Luckily, it's a long weekend, so I get an extra day in there to write.

I have six more stories to write to get to the end of the album, and about a month to do it in.  I think I'm going to be pushing it a little to get done, especially since I'm going on tour with the orchestra in the second week of June.  But, I'll try.  I'll have a lot of hours owing to me when I get back from tour, so I may be able to take a day or two off to write and get back on track.

My son is graduating this week, so I get to go and watch him get his degree.  It's going to be long and hot and boring, but it's one of those important things you have to do.  A real milestone in his life.

And that's about it for goals this week.  I suspect it's going to be another busy one at work, so I don't want to overwhelm myself.

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 23-5-26

 

It's the end of the week, so what am I celebrating?

It's the weekend!

It's been a busy week with a Board meeting, a concert tour and a lot of other stuff going on.  I haven't had much chance to write, partly because I've been too busy and partly because I'm tired.  I only taught three classes this week, but that was enough!

I got a rejection for Guide Us which made me laugh because I stopped querying that book more than 18 months ago.  I know agents are snowed under, but if it's taking two years to respond to a query, maybe it's time to close for a while and get things to a more manageable place?

I'm going to try and write another story for my anthology this weekend.  I'm up to the song I think is the most challenging on the album, and I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to write.  I might try writing a dialogue only story for this one, where the main character speaks only in riddles.  Sounds like it might be hard, but I think if the other character - who will probably be the therapist trying to get through - can tell most of the story through the questions and comments they make, it could work.

The whole point of writing this anthology is to experiment, so this will definitely fit the bill!

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've Read: Under the Same Stars

 

I've loved all of Libba Bray's books, so when I saw this one in the library, I knew it was a must read for me.  And I wasn't disappointed.

The book is set in three different time periods - Nazi Germany during the early part of the war, 1980s Berlin and 2020 New York during the pandemic.  Very different times, very different characters, but somehow, all the people in these three eras are connected.

The story centers on a tree known as the Bridegroom's Oak.  Legend has it, if you write a letter and post it in the tree, your true love will write back.  In 1940s small town Germany, Sophie is still young enough to believe in fairy tales even as her best friend Hanna urges her to grow up and think about other things.  But Sophie continues to write to the tree, the letters she receives back the only bright thing in an increasingly dark world as war sets in.  

When she and Hanna join the Resistance, the oak and its legendary powers become critical to their mission to get innocent people out of the country before they are put to death.

In 1980s Berlin, Jenny has just arrived with her family to spend the summer.  She's suffocating under the weight of their expectations and unsure if the life she wants is the one she sees her mother living.  When she meets Lena, a punk determined to tear down the wall splitting the city in two, everything changes.  And then there's the old lady in her apartment building whose secrets are too intriguing to ignore.

And in 2020, the pandemic has everyone shut into their homes.  Miles, just finishing his final year of high school, is alone in his apartment, on of his mothers trapped overseas, the other staying away because she works as a nurse at a local hospital.  When his friend Chloe receives a strange package from her Swedish grandmother, they embark on a mission to discover the truth behind a mystery from 80 years ago - how two girls went missing near the Bridegroom Oak.

When I started this book, I had no idea how these three very disparate stories might relate to one another and how they might come together.  I was fascinated by the portrait of Berlin in that 1980s period - I lived in Berlin later, in the early 2000s, and by that time so much of the division between East and West had already been erased.

When, at about the halfway point, I started to figure out how each time period related to each other, I was compelled to keep reading, desperately wanting to know how everything played out.

The details of each time period were vividly drawn .  There must have been a lot of research done to get each time and place feeling this authentic and lived in.  And even though the wartime story was the the central one, neither of the other ones felt like they were in service of it or existed solely to push through ideas and information that would help resolve that one.  Every set of characters had their own lives, loves and things that concerned them, outside of the other story.

So, I'd recommend this one.  It's well written, well researched, and more importantly, a compelling story that will keep you turning the pages as each new revelation comes to light.

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

It was said that if you write to the Bridegroom’s Oak, the love of your life will answer back. Now, the tree is giving up its secrets at last.

In 1940s Germany, Sophie is excited to discover a message waiting for her in the Bridegroom's Oak from a mysterious suitor. Meanwhile, her best friend, Hanna, is sending messages too—but not to find love. As World War II unfolds in their small town of Kleinwald, the oak may hold the key to resistance against the Nazis.

In 1980s West Germany, American teen transplant Jenny feels suffocated by her strict parents and is struggling to fit in. Until she finds herself falling for Lena, a punk-rock girl hell-bent on tearing down the wall separating West Germany from East Germany, and meeting Frau Hermann, a kind old lady with secrets of her own.

In Spring 2020, New York City, best friends Miles and Chloe are slogging through the last few months of senior year when an unexpected package from Chloe’s grandmother leads them to investigate a cold case about two unidentified teenagers who went missing under the Bridegroom’s Oak eighty years ago.

Weekly Goals 18-5-26

 It's going to be another busy week, although a little less busy than last week.  I'm only teaching three classes instead of six this week.  But my day job will be busy because we have concerts this week.

I managed to write another story for the anthology yesterday.  A really nasty story that I'm not sure I'll keep, but for now it works.  I really don't know where my imagination comes from sometimes.  This week I plan to write another story and hopefully get a few flash fiction pieces written too.  I didn't get much flash done last week because I was too busy.

I haven't been to the movies in a few weeks either, and there are a few things on I'd like to see, so I'm going to try to do that too.  It's tough to find time for everything I need to do at the moment.  Weekends just aren't long enough!

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 15-5-26

 

It's the end of the week, so what am I celebrating?

It's my birthday!

But, I'm not really celebrating as such.  I have to go to work today because we have a concert out of town I need to get some things ready for and I'm teaching a class at lunchtime.  I am going to take the afternoon off, but I have to learn the class I'm teaching the next two days during that time.

Because I knew I wasn't going to have time to do anything much today, I went to a show last night and got my nails done beforehand.  Nice little treat for me.  And on Sunday a friend is cooking dinner for me, which will be lovely.  I haven't seen much of her recently, so I'm looking forward to that.

Otherwise, not a whole lot to celebrate this week.  Had a work win and have managed to push a big new project over the line.  It's going to mean a lot of work for me between now and September, but in the long run, I think it will make everything much easier.

What are you celebrating this week?