Category: LHA

We worked on the house and yard pretty late, ate dinner at 9:30, then we sat outside on our new patio. (I love that word. It feel so retro-50s. Patio. Patio. Patio.) We have a cool table with a firepit in it, so my BH made me a fire, and we lit citronella torches that kept the mosquitoes away. And then, because he is the most patient man I know, BH listened to me rant about various and sundry things until 1:30 in the morning. He is probably praying he grows up into one of those old guys who is deaf and needs hearing aids so that when I shift into Full Rant Mode he can turn the hearing aids off. That sure would have helped him last night.

I am trying not to rant today.

Except I have to. Must Rant About Star Wars. (warning – movie spoilers ahead)

We saw it last week with our son and a friend of his. As a social outing, it was a blast. As a movie….. meh.

Here is what I liked: the tying up of loose ends, even when it was not done in a fully convincing manner. It was oddly satisfying in that respect. Scenes in which the future Leah and Luke are born, when they are delivered to foster parents, etc., felt like putting down the last pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. This “episode” had loads of scene changes, and more diverse backgrounds than any of the others. I’m looking forward to watching the DVD just so I can freeze and study the different planets and cities. And from the story structure POV, being able to experience foreshadowing when you already know what’s coming is a nifty trick. And a couple of the fight scenes were engaging enough to have held even the attention of my former nemesis, Mr. Octopus Hands.

Here is what I didn’t like: hokey, crappy scenes, like the whole making the Frankenstein monster/Darth Vader thing. I almost walked out when he screamed that fake “No!” I felt force-marched through the “emotional development” of Vader. I wanted to slap that silly Padua or Pad Thai or Knick Knack Paddy Whack, whatever her name is, every time she showed up. Are we really expected to believe that a society that has perfected hyperdrives, space travel, and pod racers still hasn’t come up with reliable birth control?? Oh wait – I know why. Because females exist only for breeding in LucasWorld. I’m also disappointed that the plot wasn’t richer. In fact, all that jumping around to different locales is in part a cover-up for the thin story line. I wish Lucas has shown more and not told so much. (Sound familiar fellow writers?)

Summary: it was good enough, but not as great as I had hoped.

However, as soon as they offer the entire series on DVD, I will watch them back to back to back in order during a blizzard. That might change my mind.

No more ranting today. I really promise.

I’m driving back up to NY today. Sunday is a very special day for Beloved Husband and I. We’ve been commuting 300 miles to see each other for 3 years. That will come to an end in 56 days. This is our theme song.

My writer’s group seemed to like the chapters I brought yesterday which was just the boost I needed. I am dying to show it to my editor, but I know I should actually finish writing it before I do. Writers are a lot like puppies: eager to please, in need of constant praise, and capable of making messes on the living room carpet. We need to nap a lot, too, and are cute when we’re sleeping.

Today is Mer’s last day of high school classes. (She has one final on Monday.) On her first day of kindergarten, she was awake before the sun and ready to go. She didn’t get up quite as quickly today, but I hope the day is as much fun as that last one was. Congratulations to Mer and all her friends at H-H!!!!! Go Hatters!!!

Shout-outs and jealous pouting in the direction of New York City for all the lucky ducks who are at BEA. Have fun, youse guys. Come home and blog about everything.

Oh, and I did see Star Wars last week. I’ll post about it tomorrow.

Writer’s Group today. I am taking the opening chapters of my Work in Progress and am nervous about how it will be received. I’ve lost momentum with the story this past week because of traveling, etc. I need to shut the world out and dive back in if I have any hopes of making my deadline. I have to leave again tomorrow for the weekend. Nose will be reapplied to the grindstone on Monday.

Happy PROM news! PROM has been nominated for the 2006 Kentucky Bluegrass Award! It is also a Booksense Top Ten Pick, and has popped up on the New York Times Bestseller list for five weeks. A wave of the tiara and many, many thanks to all the readers and booksellers who are making these wonderful things happen!

Jessica from Sheepshead Bay writes: my english 2 teacher {she teaches the honors class} is making us read speak again i read it for that same teacher in english 1 anyway having to reread some parts of it it made me miss melinda i hope that doesn’t sound crazy to you but being a major bookworm i tend to get attached to some of the characters anyway i was wondering if you ever miss Melinda? i mean she was so funny and i’m so glad she finally found the courage to speak but have you ever thought to bring Melinda back? besides her short appearence in catalyst which by the way i loved and cried over when mikey died. i realize i’ve written you a whole story i’m really sorry Honestly! bye! thanks for the shout out.

Great question! Yes, I do miss her. I think about several of my characters: Melinda, Kate, Teri, Mattie, Nathanial, Eliza, and Ashley – a lot. They feel like friends to me. I really don’t think I’ll be writing a sequel to Speak, though. (I know, I know – never say never.) The Most Incredible Plot Idea In The World would have to hit me upside the head before I’d even consider it.

Will from Rancho Cucamonga writes: I am a high school English teacher. I have been teaching speak to my freshman students, and I noticed something I would like to ask the author about regarding the book…. My question is, on the cover of the Puffin Books 1999 edition of speak, there is a quote from The Horn Book reviewer, stating “An uncannily funny book even as it plumbs the darkness, Speak will hold readers from its first word to its last.” I checked, and the very first word of the novel is “it,” as well as the very last word. Since the Andy Evans character is referred to as “IT” in the story, were those words intentionally the same?

See, this is what cracks me up about English teachers. They ask questions like this. You got to love ’em. I wish I could say “Oh, yeah, I totally planned that. I’m so smart.” But I can’t. It just happened. (It. Ha.) However, I am a firm believer in allowing readers to take away whatever meaning they can validate in a text . If that theory works for you, Will, then I say run with it. (It again. Ha.)

Many thanks to Alexia from Waverly – Shellrock Jr. High, and to Swati, for a very touching note. Good luck, Swati, on your trilogy!

In 8th grade I somehow wound up with a scholarship and the chance to attend Manlius Pebble Hill, a very nice private school outside Syracuse, NY. It was a great year – not at all the typical, tortured 8th grade hell most people have to live through. Anyway, our class put on The King and I. (There were maybe 30 people in our class.) My role was Tall Girl Who Stands In The Back and Says Nothing. Wendy and Philip had the lead roles, which meant, of course, that we viewed them as a couple, when nothing could have been further than the truth. Philip used to call Wendy a “Battle Axe”. I was never sure exactly what he meant by that, but it didn’t sound good. Anyway, anyway, the song in today’s subject line is in that musical and I can’t get the thing out of my head.

Another random thought: cigarettes killed Yul Brenner (who was the lead in the original King and I and a very sexy bald guy) and lots of other people. Don’t smoke. Quit.

I am rambling this morning because I had a dream in which I gave birth to a baby boy. I half-woke up and said “That’s silly. I’m not pregnant. Besides, if I just had a baby, my boobs would feel funny.” So I started to fall asleep again. And then my boobs felt funny. I leapt out of bed. Totally freaked me out.

Here is our dog, Kezzie, being afraid of Lake Ontario. (The sexy bald guy wearing the hat is Beloved Husband Scot.)

I’m back in PA for a couple days. Mer’s last, last, last band concert is tonight. (More sobbing ahead.) I stopped in Bethlehem on my way south last night and got to see where Stephanie will be living next year. She’ll be the Resident Director on South Campus at Moravian College. She has an apartment in the dorm built in 1865. Her living room looks out onto a tree that was standing when the Constitution was signed. How cool is that?

Deep Throat, the whistleblower who blew open Watergate, has identified himself. This is amazing.

Thank you, Daddy.

We miss you, Ryan. See you in October.