One year ago, the world was introduced to Alien Hunter Daniel X in The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. Daniel’s adventures now continue in Daniel X: Watch the Skies by James Patterson and Ned Rust.
Daniel may look like any other teenage boy, but do not be deceived: he can create his friends and family out of thin air, control minds, leap tall buildings in a single bound, the whole shebang-a-bang. He uses his powers to hunt alien outlaws, who are known to him via a perpetually updating list called The List of Alien Outlaws on Terra Firma.
In the first book, Daniel took on Bad Alien Number Six. In this book, he tackles Number Five, an entertainment mogul alien described as “Kind of an alien version of Aaron Spelling, if Aaron Spelling were a few degrees more bloodthirsty than Attila the Hun.” In the next Daniel X book, it looks like he’ll be fighting Bad Alien Number Three. Someday, Daniel will face Bad Alien Number One, AKA The Prayer, AKA The Alien Who Killed His Parents.
Like its predecessor, Daniel X: Watch the Skies is fast-paced, filled with smart mouth teenagers, rock ‘em sock ‘em action sequences, and grosser than gross aliens. The emphasis in these books is definitely on the gross factor: alien stench, appearance, and appetite range from gross to grosser to Paris Hilton. Which brings me to an important point about these books: never forget that they are written with the purpose of interesting boys in reading. Boys think gross is funny and/or cool, so a book full of gross aliens ought to appeal to them.
Boy readers will also respond well to the protagonist: though Daniel is an alien himself, he is still full of raging teen boy hormones, from his thoughts on his pseudo-girlfriend, Dana, to his reaction to the pretty blue-eyed girl at the diner, Judy Blue Eyes. When Judy tells him her last name is McGillicutty, his immediate reaction is “I was tempted to tell her name sounded just like a substance, magillakedi, that’s excreted by a three-hundred-pound centipede-like creature from Frizia Nine and is one of the three worst-smelling compounds ever discovered… but then I thought better of it.”
Offhand, I think a boy will find that funny.
While I don’t recommend the Daniel X series to adults or teenage girls doodling Mrs. Edward Cullen all over their notebooks, I feel safe suggesting it to boys ages 8-15, especially ones into alien stories. I also applaud Patterson and co for targeting this demographic, because it’s a hard one to tap into what with competition in the form of video games, skateboard parks, and BMX stunts.
On a final note, I’m just going to share my favorite passage from Daniel X Watch the Skies, without ruining one little bit of the book’s plot:
“You guys own both Jackass movies, don’t you?”
“Dude. And T-shirts,” he said, lifting up his buddy’s sweatshirt to show an “I (heart) Jackass” decal.
I like humans; I truly do. But, sometimes it amazes me their civilization ever got off the ground.
***
This book review is part of a MotherTalk blog tour.
You can also read my review of the first Daniel X book here and my review of Maximum Ride 3 (from Patterson’s other YA series) here.
Good grief, can you believe I’ve been without the Internet since my last post???? How did people live before the Internet??? Or phones, for that matter. I was without a phone for about a week.
My move is slow going, but coming along. More later. Gotta clean out my inboxes. In the meantime, enjoy this book review I wrote of the absolutely beautiful Mrs. Somebody Somebody by Tracy Winn.
Before You Were Here, Mi Amor by Samantha R. Vamos and illustrated by Santiago Cohen
A mother and father tell their third child about how they prepared for the child’s arrival. Very cute illustrations, not to mention some skilled people (the father carved the rocking chair himself). Lots of Spanish words thrown in and a glossary at the end in case you weren’t able to determine the definition from the context. The kids liked hearing me read it aloud with my gringo (gringa?) accent, especially the word barriguita (tummy).
The Day Leo Said I HATE YOU! By Robie H. Harris and illustrated by Molly Bang
Mommy keeps saying no, drives son to scream “I hate you!” They talk it out and realize they have a shared hate for broccoli instead. More jokes ensue. I’m not really sure why we need help spreading the hate of broccoli, but an otherwise fun book for the kids. Really fun illustrations with lots of bright colors and this absolutely hilarious line: “No yelling MOMMY SALAMI while I’m on the phone!”
The Girl Who Wanted to Dance by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Rebecca Walsh
Motherless girl with a silent Father loves her Granny. Granny dies. Father becomes more silent. Girl observes travelling dancers and tries to join them. Dances the tarantella. Learns a surprise about her mother. This story may be too advanced for my kids – too many words and not enough pictures. Their attention wandered, and pretty much after the death of Granny (on the fourth page of text), The Boy just kept asking “Why did Granny die?” Also, when it’s about dancing and involves a girl named Clara, I just find myself expecting to hear the Waltz of the Flowers.
Mr. Mosquito Put on His Tuxedo by Barbara Olenyik Morrow and illustrated by Ponder Goembel
Mosquito attends insect ball. Bear threatens to ruin the fun. Mosquito calls upon his kin to annoy bear to the point that he runs away. The ball is saved. Huzzah!
Um.
Hmmm…
Fun rhymes. Although my kids don’t know what incognito means and Mr. Mosquito in a Tuxedo’s request for a chilled glass of blood is a tad unnerving.
I don’t know about you, but I love a good challenge. The Double Daring Book for Girls recently came out and it is chock full of truths, dares, double dares, triple dares, and even the dreaded triple dog dares. What does that even mean? While the obvious audience of young girls attending slumber parties is a no brainer for this book, it should also be known that there’s a lot of fun here for adult women too.
Case in point, I attended a mom’s night out at a friend’s house not too long ago. I had just gotten the book and had been flipping through it, randomly exclaiming “Oh my gosh! I can do that!” or “Hey! I did that once!” (or in the case of surfing, “Dude, it is just not that easy”). I decided to bring the book with me to the moms night, and it turns out, I am not the only gal out there who likes a challenge.
Nine women spent the evening drinking wine and eating hors d’ouerves and flipping through that whole book. We discussed the things that used to keep us awake at night when we slept over our friends’ houses in high school, and found that most of us still have a keen interest in these same subjects. And thanks to my friend’s well-stocked toy closet, we found ourselves attempting things we haven’t done in a while:
Hula Hooping: I failed miserably at hula hooping anyone under the table, and instead chose to brag that my sister in law would have smoked all of them if she’d been at the girls night. No lie – she could easily hoop for 15 minutes straight.
Tying a sarong: I rocked this one. Oh yeah. I can not only tie faster than anyone, I knew ways to wear a sarong that weren’t even in the book. Call me straight off the islands, baby!
Dreams and their meanings: I learned that one of my friends thinks she is above it all (I can still hear her arguing “That’s not what it means!” while the rest of us laughed) and we all learned that nightmares have nothing to do with horses.
Moon and Moon Lore: We quizzed one another on lunar fact and fiction and found out not a single one of us know anything about the moon. In other news, none of us are astronomers (though a couple follow astrology).
Playing the harmonica: following raiding the toy closet for the hula hoop, we attacked it again for a lime green, sort of transparent harmonica. Everyone kept insisting on wiping it down with an antibacterial wipe after using it, which really left a bad taste on my lips (I don’t recall being nervous about germs like that when I was a kid). Anyways, it turns out one of my friends can actually play the refrain from Piano Man – it’s the only thing she knows how to play and it took her a while to remember it, but still pretty impressive seeing as the rest of us just know how to make noise.
Charades: The evening ended with a massive game of charades during which every single one of us told a charades memory from our childhood (mine being the time my brother answered Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde within seconds of my other brother performing the answer).
As for the next girls night? We all agreed that the book should come back. In some ways, it’s more fun than Bunco. On the other hand, you can win money from Bunco. So take your pick: money or fun. Because if I have to bet on who has better calligraphy, I’m not betting on myself…
For more information:
Visit the Double Daring Book for Girls website here.
enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle-Pointer is a funny memoir about weight loss, yoga, and asserting the parallel between living a happy and satisfied lifestyle with living a healthy lifestyle. enLIGHTened is Jessica Berger Gross’ personal journey to find happiness and content in her life. And for her part, that journey includes yoga. Gross begins every chapter with a yoga position and a Yoga Sutra (per the preface to the book, the Yoga Sutras are “the key text of yoga philosophy”). Truthfulness, Moderation, and Introspection are among the sutras described in this book and applied to Gross’ personal struggle for self-confidence and its impact on her weight.
So how does her book live up to these sutras?
Truthfulness. Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Having gone from size 18 to 6 in the past five years, I know all too well about weight struggles. I understand the self-confidence struggles, and the parallel between the two as well. I enjoyed how Gross addressed “The Myth of the Feminist French Fry,” a section about how wanting to be a healthy weight is not an indication of whether or not one was a real feminist because while big can certainly be beautiful, it is by no means healthy. Wanting and working at maintaining the right weight is not pandering to a man-deemed image of what a woman should look like — it’s wanting to be healthy, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Moderation. Everything in moderation. This book is no exception to that rule. Gross has written meaningfully about achieving content with her life, yet the book maintains an air of “It worked for me, and it’s great. If it works for you, that’s great too. If it doesn’t work for you, though, something else will. You just gotta keep looking.” I don’t know anything at all about yoga except that I tried it once, yet my lack of yoga knowledge does not detract from enjoying the book because Gross doesn’t overdo it on blending the yoga principles with her personal journey. Gross also talks of why she chooses to be vegetarian without accusing meat eaters of being crazed carnivores (a hard line to walk). She’s also honest about her experiences (LOL line: “I’m not going to lie. At first, the juice fast sucked.”) She demands nothing of her readers except an open mind to hear what she has to say about her personal struggles, and the philosophies that helped her through them. On another note, I immediately embraced her “How to Eat Like a Yogi” description, which suggests that at the end of a meal your stomach should be “1/2 full with food, 1/4 full with water, and 1/4 empty with room for air.” Sound easy? Just you try.
Self-study and Introspection. I’m just going to quote Gross, since she summed it up so concisely: “You can work out on a treadmill for as long as you like, eat apples and cauliflower heads for dinner, and lose all the weight you want, but until you take the time to do some serious internal work, you probably won’t be able to bring about the kind of lasting life changes you’re craving.” enLIGHTened is about the introspective journey everyone is on, the “why do we do what we do?” journey. Gross goes from her childhood with her sometimes-abusive father to her life-changing trip to Nepal to her confronting her parents about her childhood to her struggle with infertility and back to her as she is today. At the end of this book, when you close the cover, you might think to yourself, “Wow, what a journey.” But that wow comes from the realization that she’s only in the middle of hers. As am I. As are you all (or all y’all, as we say in the South). The question is, who among us know what journey we’re on and why we’re on it? Gross appears to have gotten a handle on that. Care to take a peek? You won’t be disappointed.
I remember hearing about 10-10-10 when it first came out as an article in O magazine. The concept is great. Before every action you take, what are the consequences 10 minutes from now, 10 months from now, and 10 years from now. In other words, what are the immediate consequences, the consequences of the foreseeable future, and long term effects.
Apparently, the idea was such a smash that Suzy Welch started receiving fan mail aplenty from people successfully applying 10-10-10 to their lives, and lo and behold: we have 10-10-10 The Book.
But the book isn’t just a reiteration of the idea along with testimonies. It’s a complete analysis of WHY 10-10-10 made such an impact. In her book, Welch breaks down 10-10-10 into different components to show that it is “a life-transforming idea” because it’s no longer just some approach to making good decisions, but in fact, a way of life. A philosophy, if you will (she doesn’t use that word). Apply it to life, love, the pursuit of happiness, your job, your sex life, you name it, 10-10-10 can handle it.
I admit, I’m not generally one of the first people on the bandwagon with these kinds of books or ideas, but I have kept 10-10-10 in my mind ever since my friends first read the O column. Why? Well, for one thing, it’s simple to remember. Two, it’s easy to understand and explain to others. Three, it just plain makes sense. Even my kids comprehend it. I don’t make them examine things from the 10 minutes/10 months/10 years perspective because that’s a little too big for them, but 10 minutes/10 hours/10 days works.
Welch writes in the intro that “learning how to live from experience is part of the human condition.” Well said. If you’re in a rut (and let’s face it, who isn’t these days?), then check out 10-10-10. It’s a quick read (seriously – a couple hours) and you might feel good from all the heartwarming tales of people who overcame their struggles or you might feel inspired by Suzy Welch’s constant encouragement and faith in our individual abilities to triumph, or you might just think to yourself, hey, not a bad idea. Let’s give it a shot. In any case, it’s a win-win.
So now, the only question I’m asking myself is – what are the consequences of me bingeing on the whole tub of Dreyer’s Tagalong ice cream?
As you may or may not know, April is National Poetry Month. At the library, they’re showcasing collections of poetry and giving out Poetry-in-a-Pocket cards for people to carry around little poems. To celebrate National Poetry Month, I’ve got a wonderful interview for you with Ginny Kaczmarek, Assistant Editor in Poetry for Literary Mama and fellow New Orleans lover. She also blogs at Ginny’s Tonic and Broadsided.
1. Are you doing anything locally to celebrate National Poetry Month?
I’m embarrassed to say not much. As the stay-at-home mom of a young child, I don’t get out much. I do try to participate in local readings–there are several weekly and monthly poetry series — and to stay abreast of what’s going on around town, but now the decision is whether it’s worth getting my husband or a sitter to put our kid to bed (not to mention wanting to be in bed scarily early myself).
So I content myself with Poets.org’s Poem-A-Day and doing what I can through Literary Mama to keep the poetry flowing.
2. What first turned you on to writing poetry (a certain poem or poet, a moment or inspiration, an object, or…)?
Even when I was a little kid, I wanted to be a writer, and I read and wrote poetry along with fiction and nonfiction all through school. But it was as an undergrad at San Francisco State University that I had that moment of Ah-ha! We were studying some really difficult Language poetry and I realized that there really wasn’t any big secret to “getting” this — it was all about my interpretation of the words on the page and how they made me feel. The rest — the craft, the theory, the history — was just tools of the trade, like the mechanics of photography or music. That opened up the possibilities of poetry to me, as if I discovered that the big mystery of poetry was that there wasn’t any mystery at all. To me, poetry is not that different than sculpture or knitting or painting. Once you learn a bit about the basics, you can create whatever you want — and likewise, read it with more pleasure.
3. Knowing nothing about poetry, I wonder: how much editing goes into a poem? I always had this notion that they just come out as they are, but given that fiction is 10 % first draft and 90 % revision (at least for me) I’m wondering what it’s like for poetry.
I think it’s the same as for fiction or any other art form: you have an idea (or a word or a phrase), you write it down, then you play and work the language until it’s in a shape that pleases (or surprises) you. Maybe occasionally a poem comes out “whole,” but I think that’s rare. I think traditionally, poets have been responsible for perpetuating that myth of the poem that springs forth from the poet’s brow. The Romantics (Wordsworth, Keats, etc) were particularly fond of writing about themselves and their art like that, and then the Beats took up the mantle of “first thought best thought.” But Ginsberg, Kerouac, all those guys revised like mad! The trick is to make the poem feel spontaneous, but it takes a helluva lot of work to get it there. I console myself by remembering that Walt Whitman, the master of spontaneous-sounding poetry, only wrote one book, which he revised over and over for his entire adult life. Makes my year-old unfinished poems seem a bit less pathetic by comparison.
I was also surprised by how much editing happens once a poem is accepted by a publication; the editors often ask to tweak this or that or chop lines here or there to improve the poem. It’s not like in a workshop, but I find it comforting to know there’s room for improvement even after I’ve submitted something, that it doesn’t necessarily have to be Norton anthology-worthy from the get-go.
4. Who are your favorite poets?
I like so many different poets for different reasons, and I’m always discovering new ones (or old ones I never read deeply before). I go through phases, too. Lately I’m really into formalist poetry, sonnets, villanelles, rhymes and meter, so I’ve been reading Gwendolyn Brooks, Claude McKay, for their takes on old forms. I love Thom Gunn, who wrote formal, British-proper poetry about biker gangs and his gay lovers and the plague of AIDS in the ’80s. Annie Finch inspires me with her feminist formalist experiments. I love Beth Ann Fennelly’s work, which is funny and true and elegant, and Wendy Cope for sheer hilarity. X.J. Kennedy, Billy Collins, and Kay Ryan remind me that poetry can be both fun and meaningful. I recently re-discovered Walt Whitman, whose longer works take my breath away, but the shorter ones tend to leave me thinking, eh? Then I feel better that even a genius has off moments. And shout-outs to Adrienne Rich for her complexity and Elizabeth Bishop for precision.
5. You recently recommended Blood Dazzler on the Literary Mama Essential Reading list, which is a collection of poetry inspired by Hurricane Katrina. What are your thoughts on literature that incorporates current, life-altering events such as Hurricane Katrina or 9/11?
Ooh, good question. I just heard Billy Collins read, and his opinion was, “Poetry’s not about history, it’s about time,” meaning that poetry shouldn’t take on current events as much as universal themes. But I’d have to agree with my professor, John Gery, who taught that the poet has importance and value in society because of her ability to offer deeper, personal–and yet universal–commentary on the events of our day. I think immediate, event-based poetry can be an extremely valuable tool to help us understand the world around us. The challenge is to create poems that are still relevant 5, 10, 50 years from now, to discover how the personal or immediate translates into a universal, timeless expression of the human condition. Blood Dazzler did that impressively, transforming the personal stories of a collection of characters living through the hurricane and its aftermath into a mythological tale of heroes and villians in beautiful, powerful language.
6. How long have you lived in New Orleans?
I’ve lived here almost eight years. My husband and I first visited on our honeymoon in 1998 and didn’t want to leave. In a way, we didn’t.
7. I enjoyed reading your post on the violence that besets New Orleans. In consideration of that, what is it that makes you love New Orleans? Actually, that would probably be too long and complicated an answer, so why don’t you tell me three things you love about New Orleans instead?
Glad you liked the post. Living here is all about contradiction, the beauty and the violence, the third-world qualities despite our American address. I guess I love those contradictions, how this is a city unlike any other. The physical beauty of the place–the architecture, the flowers (now in glorious bloom; the streets smell like jasmine), the majestic oaks–overwhelms me sometimes. I also love the decay, the sense of history, the mish-mash of cultures and customs. We’ve got world-class music, art, and literature, and at the same time, lots of local, street-level performances that feel like anyone can join in, that we are all part of the ongoing project that is New Orleans. I feel like I could spend my life uncovering all of the facets of this city and always find some new way to participate in its culture, its community. I never felt that sense of belonging anywhere else I lived.
8. Besides Literary Mama, what other publications have you worked with?
I worked as a copyeditor for about 7 or 8 years, at CNet.com and then freelance for a variety of tech and computer book publishers. I went to grad school to focus on my first love, poetry, and was a reader for Bayou magazine and a copyeditor for Ellipses through the University of New Orleans. I am just beginning to develop relationships with Women’s Review of Books, Umbrella Journal, and Rattle, which I am hoping will continue, and am always looking for others.
9. What advice do you have to newbie and longtime poets who seek getting their work published?
Gosh, I’m still figuring it out myself! I guess first, just start sending your work out there–it doesn’t do any good sitting in your desk (or on your computer). You’ll get rejections–everybody does–but it’s the only way to get acceptances. To better your chances, seek out journals, contests, and magazines that have a niche you might fit into: for my work, I look for journals that focus on formalism, feminism, motherhood, New Orleans, and the South. A good way to begin developing relationships with editors is to submit book reviews, interviews, and essays about poets or poetry; they get to know your name and might look at your consequent submissions more closely. Definitely follow up with any that reject your offering but invite you to submit in the future–don’t let your bruised ego get in the way! I am also learning to take more risks: to submit to what might seem like a long shot, to offer my meager expertise when I see an opportunity (that’s how I got my gig at Literary Mama). Once you develop a reasonably thick skin, “No thanks” no longer seems like the worst thing to hear, and you begin to get more yeses. Start a blog–it’s a fun way to have a place to publish your stuff, get some feedback, and offer examples of your writing to potential editors.
10. How does one go about getting their work reviewed in Literary Mama?
Book authors and publishers send their books (or informational queries) to the reviews editors, who then contact me or other reviewers to see whether we’re interested or able to do reviews. I think authors who have had poems published on Literary Mama might contact Sharon Kraus, the poetry editor, about their forthcoming books, and she’d pass the info along to the reviews editors. Sometimes I find something on my own, by reading another review of a book or seeing a poem I like in a journal or online and looking into the author, and then I pitch it to an editor.
11. So I know you didn’t make it to the Tennessee Williams Festival this past year, but you’ve attended in the past. Tell me about seeing Yusef Komunyakaa. Did you hear him read his work aloud and/or speak on the subject of writing poetry? How did he inspire you?
I do usually go to the festival, but missed it this year. Seeing Yusef Komunyakaa a year or so ago was amazing. It was just him and an interviewer in an intimate conversation (well, as intimate as it can be with an audience). I was impressed with Komunyakaa’s ease and grace, his humor and his intensity. I’ve long admired his work, so hearing him speak about writing and living as a Louisianian was inspiring. Seeing someone like him makes poetry feel necessary, important–as if what poets have to say (and the ways in which we say it) are valuable resources for greater communal understanding. At the same time, I felt like he made poetry seem accessible, like any other vocation, one that requires hard work and gives personal satisfaction in equal measure. As much as I regard his work with awe, I felt like I got a glimpse into the worker at his bench, hammering it out. It gave me and my hammer hope.
12. To end with a lighthearted question, what is your favorite Mardi Gras parade and why? (I’m partial to Krewe d’Etat, on account of a wonderful memory associated with my first attendance of it.)
Krewe d’Etat is wonderful–I love the political satire and the emphasis on skull and skeleton imagery (the wannabe goth in me!). This year I caught a blinky gargoyle! But my favorite has got to be Muses, the all-women krewe that also has clever satirical themes (this year’s was Muses 009: License to Swill) and the best floats. Who doesn’t love a giant, sparkly shoe or an enormous bubble bath complete with blowing bubbles? Not to mention how generous and creative the women are with the throws: hand-decorated shoes, high-heeled shoe beads, shoe bracelets, (see a theme developing?) drink coozies, martini-glass-shaped beads…it’s just such a great time. Oh, I almost forgot the walking krewes in between the floats: the New Orleans Rollergirls on skates, the Rolling Elvii (dudes dressed as Elvis on mini-scooters handing out silk scarves), the Pussyfooters and the Camel Toe Steppers (grown women in costume dancing en masse). One of these years, I’m gonna get myself in there: I think being a Camel Toe Stepper would be a blast! That’s the parade that I’ll stand in the rain for. You get the best throws that way.
13. Anything else you’d like to say?
I think I’ve said enough! Thank you so much for your interest!
So are you ready to celebrate National Poetry Month? Check out Literary Mama’s poetry. Some really great selections in there!
Here we have a new round of author Q&A, with Carmen Shirkey who wrote the delightful romantic comedy, The List: Can Perfect be Put on Paper?, about Candance, who creates a list of the 50 qualities she wants in her ideal spouse. She soon finds herself attracted to two men. One meets the list’s standards. The other does not. Drama and laughter ensues.
1. How’d you come up with the premise?
I tell a lot of people that I “dream” the creative ideas I have, and they don’t believe me. However, my mind is most thoughtful around 2 or 3 a.m., so often ideas will come to me when I’m half asleep, so I call them my dream ideas!
2. This looks like it was a fun book to write. How long did it take you?
I tried to get a few of my other writer friends to write it first, because I just didn’t think I’d have the discipline to write it myself. I really wanted my screenplay-writer friend to do it, because I saw it as a movie before I saw it as a novel. However, once everyone told me to “write it myself!” I said “okay then!” I wrote it, start to finish, in one month. I participated in National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.com) and that gave me the kick in the pants I needed. Now, that was just the writing. I spent 4 more years thinking about it and editing and adding and cutting . . .
3. Which character did you have the most fun writing about?
Easy peasy. That would be the character of Candace’s best friend, Monica. You see, Monica is about as real as a character can get, because she’s one of MY best friends. The character is based on her, and I didn’t even change her name, because I couldn’t think of anything else that would suit her personality. Now, she IS fiction, in that names have been changed to protect the innocent and situations have been swapped, but she is almost exactly like the character.
4. Do you think any of these characters will make an appearance in a future book?
It’s hard to tell. I have no control of the ideas that come to me. However, I have started another book, this one a travel comedy instead of a romantic comedy, based on the real-life travels Monica and I have been on together. So it would likely be in the same tone, but not likely the same characters.
5. Was the list always 50 qualities, or did it start off longer or shorter?
I thought 50 was a good, round number, and ridiculous enough to catch your attention but not so ridiculous that I had to come up with 100 things. The book never really “lists” the list, but if you kept notes, you could probably figure it out. The only one that knows the whole list is Candace.
6. Do you have your own personal list of preferable qualities in a man? Care to name a few of them?
I did have a list, and I met my Mr. Right-for-Me a few years ago. My list was never 50 like Candace’s, but it started out much longer in my early 20’s, and got shortened as I got to be more realistic and more comfortable with my own skin. My list, which I still have tucked in my Bible, is a list of 12. Mr. Right meets every one of them. Has to love me with all his heart, has to like (or tolerate) cats (cuz the cat was here first), has to have a similar religion (because I dated outside my faith, and it was really too hard). I’ll keep the others to myself.
7. I saw you have a degree in rhetoric and communications. Did that education influence the way you view the sometimes problematic communication that occurs between men and women?
As if! My degree was more about how to communicate in a marketing sense. The communication between men and women would take a lifetime of study, and even then I’m pretty sure we’d still be scratching our heads.
8. Do you think male readers would enjoy this book?
If you had asked me before I published it, I would’ve said probably not. Now, however, I have heard from quite a few dashing, intelligent fellows that they have read - and enjoyed - the book.
9. Fill in the blank: People who enjoyed reading ______ will love The List.
Can I have some wishful thinking and say Janet Evanovich? One Amazon reviewer thought so. Another professional book reviewer compared me to Sophie Kinsella. I’ll take what I can get!
10. I like that you’re an avid traveler. Where do you want to visit next, so that future buyers of your book know what they’re funding?
Now THAT’s a long list! I’m heading to Amsterdam in the spring to see the tulips and windmills, then to Boston and Connecticut for a book fair (Connecticut Fiction Fest - come on out May 2) and then who knows? Unfortunately, the economy hit Mr. Right, so we’re being a little more money-conscious, but you can’t keep us down for long! I’d like to go to Moscow, Rio, Galapagos, Spain, London for the 2012 Olympics - I could go on and on!
11. Ever thought of penning some nonfiction on your travels?
See my answer to number 4. Even if I wrote a story of my travels that was nonfiction, no one would believe it wasn’t fiction. I can’t make this stuff up, but it does seem pretty out there. I’ll leave the travel anthologies to Bill Bryson, and stick with fiction (based on reality!)
12. Any new writing projects?
Honestly, I have been so busy pushing THE LIST that I haven’t had time to do much of anything else. I do have a day-job, and this is my moonlighting. However, I’ve had a few people start pestering me about another book, so I’ll have to start working on the travel comedy again soon. I also write journals about my travels on the side, so as you can see, I’ve got at least 3 jobs going!
13. Anything else you’d like to say?
I want to say thanks to you, Jessica, for giving me this forum. I’d also like to thank anyone who has - or will - take a chance on a book written by “some girl” who had a passion for the story. And if anyone would like to buy it, they can go here. It’s available in the Kindle 2.0 version as well (you’ll have to search by my name on Amazon to see it, though. The print version doesn’t link to the Kindle version *hint, hint, Amazon!).
Happy Swallows Day! Today is the day we celebrate the return of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano. Parading and festivities to continue on through the weekend. Since not all of you will be able to join me for them, here’s a little online celebration.
Please meet Kathryn Fitzmaurice, a local author whose debut novel, The Year Swallows Came Early, is a work of middle grade fiction featuring Eleanor “Groovy” Robinson. Groovy is an 11-year-old girl with dreams of cooking school and a life full of (sometimes unhappy) surprises. Join her and her best friend Frankie as they take tentative steps into the world of parents’ mistakes, betrayed feelings, and the power of forgiveness. (There’s a more detailed story description on Kathryn’s site).
1. You were first inspired to write by your grandmother, a science fiction author. Have you ever penned any science fiction?
Kathryn Fitmaurice: I have never written any science fiction or fantasy. I always think that those science fiction/fantasy authors must be very talented in order to create an entire world. Just think of all the details they make up!
2. Your main character in The Year The Swallows Came Early, 11-year-old Eleanor “Groovy” Robinson, is named after your grandmother. Are there any personality quirks that your fictional Eleanor and the real Eleanor share?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: The only thing they share is their name. But Groovy’s great grandmother, Eleanor Robinson, whom she is named after; her character is almost exactly how my own grandmother was. My own grandmother (the real Eleanor Robinson) had a porcelain owl collection, she wrote very late at night, and was interested in paranormal happenings. I tried to make the character in the book very much like my own grandmother. I did this to honor everything she had done to encourage me in becoming a writer. Of course she never got to read my book, but it still feels really special to me.
3. I love the article in the OC Register about your journey from inspiration to published book and your grandmother’s inscription in the Emily Dickinson book. Have you ever shown your grandmother’s box of unpublished writings to anyone else?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: My family has seen them, and then I showed them to the photographer at the OC Register. My mother and I go through them sometimes, but no one else has seen them. Here is a photograph of a few of them in a pile: These were from her short story collection. I really love reading them along with the detailed notes she wrote to herself about her characters and their personalities, etc.
4. How long did it take you to write The Year the Swallows Came Early?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: It took me three years to write the story. Of course, a lot of it was done (revised) the last year, after I got an agent.
5. Your second book is about Groovy’s friends. Do you intend to write more books about these characters or are you going to stop at two?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: The second book is about Frankie. It’s written from his point of view. I’m still revising it right now. He is more difficult to write about than Eleanor because he’s much more complicated. I’m not sure if I’ll write one about any of the other characters. I think it would be fun to write one about Marisol, though. She’s so bossy and talented at the same time!
6. You’ve woven a lot of food into your tale. Does food play a large role in the second book as well?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: No, food does not play a big part in the second book because food is not really a part of Frankie’s day to day life. In fact, the only thing he really likes is cheese sandwiches!
7. Did you ever attend or want to attend cooking school yourself?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Well, here is where I admit that I completely can’t stand to not only make out a grocery list, but go to the market! I cook because I have to. I have two teenage boys who are always starving, but really, I don’t enjoy cooking that much.
8. How did you come to choose writing Middle Grade instead adult fiction?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Yes, it is considered middle grade fiction, for readers ages 9-12. I enjoy writing for this age because kids these ages are still so hopeful about their world and all the possibilities that may happen. And also, when I first started the book, my own boys were about this age, so I was reading (with them) a lot of middle grade novels.
9. What are some of your favorite Middle Grade (or YA) books?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: I enjoy anything written by Kate DiCamillo, Debra Wiles, Sharon Creech, Susan Patron, Ann Martin, and Katherine Hannigan….I could go on for awhile here. There’s so many amazing writers today.
10. What is your writing schedule like, ie do you have a set time every day during which you write?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Usually, I write every weekday between the hours of 9am and 3pm. But that doesn’t always happen. I drink very strong green tea while I write and try not to answer the phone (unless it’s my mother!). My dog, Holly, sits with me in my home office. She is a very big help!
11. Do you find you spend more writing time with the computer keyboard or pen and paper? Pros or cons of either?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: I always write the first draft on the computer, then print it and make revisions in pencil. I need to see it on the floor all layed out so I can cut and paste sections together. Then I retype it back on the computer, print it again, make more revisions, etc., until it is done. This usually takes SEVERAL times before it is ready to be read by my agent, who usually (luckily!) sends it back again for another draft. Then, once the publisher, Molly O’Neill at HarperCollins, sees it, she will also have suggestions to make it better. There is the copy editor, who looks at it after the editor and helps me find the discrepancies I may have overlooked. On one page of the manuscript, there could be up to ten sticky notes from the copy editor suggesting changes.
12. Though you grew up in Arizona, you now live in California and set your story in a California town. Do you find the California landscape/environment inspires your writing?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: I have always loved living in California. I’ve lived in three houses since I’ve been here, all within a couple of miles from each other. But Arizona is really beautiful, too. I love the desert almost as much as I love the beach.
13. Anything else you’d like to say?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Thank you very much for interviewing me!
Kathryn has graciously offered to give away one signed copy of The Year the Swallows Came Early. To enter the giveaway, please check out Kathryn’s site and leave a comment here by midnight Pacific time Wednesday March 25 (which happens to be my birthday) telling me why you want to read this book or what you enjoyed learning about Kathryn. The more entertaining the comment, the more appreciative I am…
However, my mind is most thoughtful around 2 or 3 a.m., so often ideas will come to me when I’m half asleep, so I call them my dream ideas! 
