Books I've read: We Are Your Parents

 

I don't think it's any secret that I'm a huge fan of Hannah Moskowitz and a new book from her is an insta-buy for me!  So it was a pleasant surprise last week when this book I pre-ordered a while ago showed up in my Kindle.

There are a lot of complicated relationships in this book and protagonist, Sav, is not really mature enough or experienced enough to competently navigate them despite being far more mature than I ever was at her age.  Having a baby does that to a person...

Sav is luckier than many teen mothers in that the father of her baby is still around.  They're best friends and while they don't live together, both their families are supportive and helpful when it comes to childcare.  Especially both grandmothers.

So Sav hasn't been forced to give up on going to school or even her speech competitions or the band she and Malcom are in together.  In fact, for a single mother of a baby, she manages to live her life pretty easily.

It hasn't always been easy though.  Following the baby's birth she had terrible post-partum depression and landed in a psych ward. And if that wasn't bad enough, while she was there, her girlfriend dumped her.  So it's not ideal for her to discover that baby-daddy Malcom has started dating Rose, the girl who broke her heart.

And then there's new girl, Kat, who Sav gets paired with for this year's speech competition.  Brash, uncompromising and an outspoken lesbian, Kat refuses to settle for anything conventional for the contest and pushes Sav to write her own play, based on her experiences.  She's certain it will wow the judges.

As she works through the events of the past year, Sav discovers that when it comes to relationships, there's no such thing as black and white, and while she might see herself as the victim in this particular drama, this might not actually be the truth.

I really liked all the characters in this book.  They all felt very real and flawed, from Sav's mother to the other members of Malcom and Sav's band.  And Sav's growth as a character also felt very real and organic and the book's conclusion was satisfying, even if it was somewhat bittersweet.

So I'd recommend this one wholeheartedly. 

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

Sav Bergman has a lot on her plate. She's just getting her life together after having a baby, falling into a postpartum depression after having that baby, and then getting dramatically dumped by her girlfriend, while in the psych ward, following that postpartum depression. Now that she's back at school, it's time to dive back into Speech and Debate, a kind of competitive acting Sav takes more seriously than just about anything besides her daughter. And let's not forget Malcolm: best friend, bandmate, and father of her baby, who she has...very complicated feelings for.

So what she really didn't need was for Malcom to break the news that he's now dating the very same girl who broke Sav's heart in the hospital three months ago. Sav spills that little fact to her new Speech partner--who's unapologetically straightforward, argumentative, and gay, and so far hasn't liked a single play Sav's suggested--who immediately has an idea: Sav should write her own play explaining what the hell happened over the past year, and they'll re-enact that for a panel of judges expecting some nice Vonnegut. But what starts out as a play about flaky girlfriends, disloyal boyfriends, and Sav's role as the innocent victim starts to unravel the more she writes. And as the competition draws closer, Sav is forced to question everything she'd assumed about the people she thought she knew and the future she'd always imagined.

From the author of Stonewall Honor book GONE, GONE, GONE and Sydney Taylor Honor book SICK KIDS IN LOVE, WE ARE YOUR PARENTS is a queer snarl of a story about the messy ways that families are made and the even messier people who make them.

Weekly Goals 13-6-22

 I haven't done any work on my new book since before the long weekend when I had my writing day at the library, so this week's goal is to actually write some more words.  Even just a couple of thousand would do.

I also want to go back to the gym this week.  I feel like a week at home has dropped my fitness level considerably and I need to get that back.

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the small things 10-6-22

 

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

What am I celebrating this week?

Freedom!

After being stuck at home isolating with COVID for a week, tomorrow I can go out again.  Very much looking forward to just going to the supermarket, if nowhere else.  I'm dying to go to the gym too, but feel like maybe I should leave that until next week in case there are still some rogue germs floating around.

After a week of working at home on my laptop, going back into the office on Monday is going to be amazing.  I can't wait to get back to my two big screens!

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've read: Motherless Brooklyn

 

I picked this one up at the library because I was intrigued by how anachronistic the idea of a detective with Tourettes seemed to me.  I mean, how much more unsuitable for the job could you be?  That kind of thing really tickles me. I once wrote a short story called The Agoraphobic Farmer.  But I digress...

Told in first person, this book is a unique insight into a Tourtettic mind.  Lionel's thoughts are clear for the most part, but he gets caught on things regularly and can only move on by shouting these oddly connected thoughts out loud.  Obviously not ideal on a stakeout which is where we first meet him. Other tics include the need to compulsively touch people, again not ideal when the people you're dealing with are often armed and dangerous.

The mystery Lionel is trying to unravel isn't that unusual in its self, but viewed through his eyes and fractured thought processes, it's a wild ride and one I enjoyed very much.  I also liked the relationships between the boss, Frank, and the four orphans he picked out when they were young teens and kept together into adulthood.  These people might not like each other a whole lot, but somehow they are a family, albeit one that scraps and scrambles over each other for power.

In a mystery that takes you from the mean streets of Brooklyn, through a Zen Buddhist commune and into one of Manhattan's most exclusive buildings, Lionel's first person narrative takes the reader on a wild journey through a completely different way of thinking and reacting to outside stimulus.

I really enjoyed this book and know that Lionel is a character who will stick with me for a long time to come.  I would recommend it even if mysteries and gangsters aren't really your thing, just because it is so unique.

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

Lionel Essrog is Brooklyn’s very own self-appointed Human Freakshow, an orphan whose Tourettic impulses drive him to bark, count, and rip apart our language in the most startling and original ways. Together with three veterans of the St. Vincent’s Home for Boys, he works for small-time mobster Frank Minna’s limo service cum detective agency. Life without Frank Minna, the charismatic King of Brooklyn, would be unimaginable, so who cares if the tasks he sets them are, well, not exactly legal. But when Frank is fatally stabbed, one of Lionel’s colleagues lands in jail, the other two vie for his position, and the victim’s widow skips town. Lionel’s world is suddenly topsy-turvy, and this outcast who has trouble even conversing attempts to untangle the threads of the case while trying to keep the words straight in his head. Motherless Brooklyn is a brilliantly original homage to the classic detective novel by one of the most acclaimed writers of his generation.

Weekly Goals 6-6-22

 Well, it finally happened.  I have COVID.  Which has put a real damper on my weekend plans.

Thankfully, so far it doesn't seem too bad.  I have a slightly sore throat and my sinuses are really sore, but otherwise, it's really not that different to a cold.  And not a terrible cold either.  But it does mean the whole family has to isolate for a week which means working and schooling from home for us.

My partner and my older son are both sick too, but my younger one seems to have avoided it so far.  Fingers crossed this continues.

So this week's goals are to get better.  And to do my best to support my team-mate at work remotely.  We're the only two there at the moment and she's new to the job so I feel terrible about leaving her alone this week.  But nothing I can do about it, I'm afraid.

I haven't felt like writing over the weekend, so after my big 5,000 word blitz on Friday, I haven't added anything more.  I may have to do another day like that in a couple of weeks when we have the Matariki holiday.

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 3-6-22

   

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

What am I celebrating this week?

Long weekend! 

Yes, it's the Queen's Birthday holiday on Monday so I have taken Friday off as well to give myself a four-day weekend.  And Friday is a writing day.  I hope to be able to get back into my story and write a good chunk and then keep the momentum going over the weekend.

I also have several plans with friends as well as the usual weekend stuff that needs to be done.

What are you celebrating this week?

IWSG - June 2022

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

The awesome co-hosts for the June 1 posting of the IWSG are SE White, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguire, Joylene Nowell Butler, and Jacqui Murray!

This month's question is a goody!

When the going gets tough writing the story, how do you keep yourself writing to the end? If have not started the writing yet, why do you think that is and what do you think could help you find your groove and start?

In both cases my answer would be the same - write a scene you know you want to write.  I'm not someone who always writes in a linear fashion.  Very rarely do I start writing a book from the beginning.  I usually start with a single scene and build in both directions from there.  

So if I get stuck somewhere along the way, I just drop a wee note in the text, highlight it, and move on to the next scene I know and want to write.  Usually by the time I've written all the scenes I think I'll need, I can figure out ways to join them up (or have already done it along the way) so it reads like a complete story.

Of course there's always editing to do, and sometimes I end up cutting out scenes I thought were crucial and important at the time and turn out not to be that relevant in the long run.  But it means I don't stagnate when things get tough, or if I don't know exactly where the story starts.

When I try to write in a linear way, I almost always end up writing about 10K more than I need to because it takes me about that long to find my way into the story.  By starting somewhere toward the middle, usually with a scene that's full of action or emotion, I can get myself into the story world much quicker.  And if I get stuck somewhere along the way, there's nothing like a good kissing scene to jump into to get the words flowing again!

How do you keep going when things get tough?