Blatherskite

Enjoyment is always greatest when you have enough contrast to measure it by. - M. Wylie Blanchet (The Curve of Time)

I’ve been meaning to blog more about some of the great books I’ve read this year. Some of them are kind of obscure and I feel the need to share them.

One of those fabulous books is The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet. This was a book club selection for the Women’s book club at the library. I had never heard of it before. I’m so glad I was introduced to it. It’s a beautiful book.

It is considered a memoir but I think travelogue is a more accurate description.  It is written by M. Wylie Blanchet, whose husband died unexpectedly  leaving her with five  young children.   Not a lot of detail is given about the death of her husband. The “About the Author” section states that he was “presumed dead when he never returned from a day trip on the Caprice.” The boat was found and then became the scene for the stories in this book.

The stories take place in the 1920s an 1930s. I find that remarkable. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because she was a single mom during that time period. Maybe it’s because she wasn’t afraid to go out and have adventures on a boat with her kids. Wasn’t afraid to even get into some perilous situations. I like that she didn’t depend on the help of a man to fix the boat if it needed fixing. She was self sufficient and was able to handle the work herself. Was this rare for the 20s and 30s? I have this idea that it was. Regardless, she was a remarkable woman, even by today’s standards. I wouldn’t know the first thing about fixing a boat. And going on adventures where I could potentially be attacked by a bear? Forget about it.

As I was reading this book I searched for a map of the islands around Vancouver Island so I could see where all of the islands and inlets were that she was talking about.  I felt pulled into the stories and I found myself wanting to visit the area to see the places she writes about. But it’s not just the places that make the book so wonderful. It is the characters she meets, as well.  People and animals.

As I was reading this I couldn’t help but think of my great-grandmother, Laura Boucher. It was probably around the same time period, maybe a decade earlier that she went through something sort of similar. My great grandfather, Will Boucher moved her and their five (or six?) children up to Vancouver, B.C. so he could find work (doing what I can’t remember).  My great -grandfather died on one of those small islands up there while hunting. He was shot accidentally by his hunting partner. He was only in his thirties when he died and he left my great-grandmother with their five young children, a widowed and a  single parent.  I always imagined mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of my great-grandfather. Was it really an accident? Maybe it was a murder? But that is all speculation. The result of reading too many murder mysteries.  My great-great grandfather, Laura Boucher’s dad (Ben Boucher) went up to Vancouver to help her move back down to Couer d’Alene, Idaho, where the family was originally from. And that is where she lived until she died. She never remarried.

Anyway, back to the book. It was one of my favorites so far this year. I highly recommend it. I wish I could be a bit more descriptive but I’m afraid I would spoil the wonderful stories if I did. However, if you are in the mood for a well-written memoir from a phenomenal woman, as well as a travelogue that will allow your mind to drift away to an amazingly beautiful place,  you should get your hands on it.

Stay by Allie Larkin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Van is devastated when her best friend marries the man she is in love with. When she comes home from the wedding she drowns her sorrows in kool-aide and vodka and accidentally orders a German Shepherd off of the internet. A German Shepherd from Slovakia. That only answers to Slovakian.   Hilarity ensues. And so does romance.

I LOVED this book. I absolutely loved it. I looked forward to reading it and enjoyed every minute of it. I didn’t devour it. I just enjoyed it. The characters are wonderful. Somebody mentioned in another review on Goodreads that they are not good or bad characters. They just are. They are themselves and they are living life and getting through the issues that they have to get through. I love that. People are people. We all have our things that we have to deal with. There was a line that Van  says that I loved and I don’t have the book in front of me to quote exactly but it was something like “Life is complicated. Relationships are complicated. They aren’t easy. You have to work at them. And some people are worth the work.” I probably butchered that quote but the idea is there.

Allie really does a good job of pulling the reader into the story. I really felt like I was there with Van, experiencing what she was experiencing. I love a story that I can get lost in like this.

Highly recommended reading for people who just want to read a good book about life. Great characters and a good, solid story.

View all my reviews >>

Allie Larkin and her German Shepherd, Argo

I mentioned last week that Allie, one of my friends from the blogging  world was stopping by little ‘ole Blatherskite to let me interview her.  But before we get to the interview I should tell you that her book Stay was released two days ago on June 10th. You seriously should go out and buy it. Like I said, it has gotten great reviews and it was even featured in People Magazine!  Allie is a fantastic writer (just read her query letter if you don’t believe me. That is one damn good query letter). I know you won’t be disappointed.

So. Without further adieu. I present my interview with Allie Larkin:

1. Being a children’s librarian, I have to ask, what was your favorite book as a child? What did you like about it?

I have the hardest time picking one favorite anything.  Little Women, Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, Pippi Longstocking, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Island of the Blue Dolphins, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, The Ordinary Princess – if it had a strong, smart, impulsive, and possibly impetuous girl in it, I loved reading it.

2. What advice can you give someone who is thinking about following your path and becoming a novelist?

Get comfortable with the idea of rejection.  And I’m not saying that in a negative way.  It’s just a fact.  I don’t think it’s true of just writing.  Any time you put yourself out there creatively, your work is probably going to get rejected in one way or another.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  Rejection isn’t an end point.  It is, absolutely, a growth opportunity.  Rejection is a chance to say, ‘How can I improve?’ or a chance to seriously consider the criticism and then say, ‘I don’t agree.’ And when you don’t agree, and you stand up for your work, it builds strength.  I grew so much as a writer and as a person through the process of getting rejected.  I’m not going to pretend it always felt good, and there is a time and a place for moping (and ice cream, and sappy movies), but there’s no shame or greater proclamation about your personhood in someone considering your work and saying, “Hey, sorry! This isn’t for me.”  It’s good to realize that.  And it’s important to pick up the pieces and keep going.

It’s also very important to learn how to submit work.  Understand the submission process, learn the basics of publishing, and put your best foot forward when you do send your work out.  AgentQuery.com is a great resource.  As are the archives on Ms. Snark’s blog (http://misssnark.blogspot.com/).

3. On your blog, you talk about being ADD. What advice could you give to a young person struggling with the same issues you dealt with in school (i.e. a Mrs. X)?

Don’t let other people, even if they are adults and teachers, define who you are or how you feel about yourself.  Being a grown-up doesn’t necessarily make someone right. It’s hard, at that age, to realize that for good or bad, teachers are people too.  I think, when I was younger and had teachers who treated me like I was not so smart, there was a very tiny glimmering part of me that suspected they were wrong, but I didn’t have confidence yet to go with that feeling.

I also had some teachers who were amazing and encouraging.  Looking back, I realize that if I had talked with them about how I’d been treated in other classes, they would have been more than willing to help.  I would encourage any young person who is feeling discouraged the way I was to find an adult to talk with about it.  I hid those feelings, because I was ashamed by the idea that maybe there was something wrong with me, or I was somehow less than the people around me.  But, there is no shame in feeling lost or struggling.  Everyone struggles in one way or another, and there’s no need to pretend like you don’t.  People like Mrs. X lose their power if you don’t hold their comments and actions inside as a secret.

I think it’s also important to note that at this point in my life, ADD is absolutely a gift. Yes, I still struggle with some organizational tasks.  I’d rather pull my teeth out one by one than do my taxes or balance my checkbook.  But the creative process, and my ability to multi-task and deal with a lot of different directions of work at once are, I think, a part of the gift of ADD.  And I do think that struggling with it when I was younger helped me to develop a sensitivity that is very useful in writing.

Allie's dog, Argo is featured on the cover!

4. “Stay” is your first book, and it is getting really good reception. I can only imagine what it must be like to be in your shoes right now. So I will ask. How does it feel to be in Allie Larkin’s shoes right now?

It’s a little surreal, but I’m not going to lie, it feels pretty darn good.  I love Van, the main character in STAY, so much, and it’s wonderful to know that other people are connecting with her.  I feel such a connection to the people reading STAY, and I love that.  Book blogs, twitter, Facebook, etc. are amazing ways to connect readers and writers, (which is something I appreciate as both a reader and a writer), and I think there’s a fantastic sense of community out there.  Reading used to be so much more of a solitary act, and now there are great opportunities to connect more through reading. I love being able to communicate with authors of books I love, and I’m looking forward to connecting with people who enjoy STAY.  I am very excited!

Allie, thank you for visiting Blatherskite and allowing me to interview you! Congrats on your success! I am so incredibly happy for you. It makes me very happy to see good things happen to truly good people.

I’ve been feeling a little bit uncreative lately and decided to read through the book, “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. One of the things that she prescribes is Morning Pages, which I have been doing, via 750words.com. If you want to get in the habit of writing everyday this is an excellent site, by the way. Another thing that is prescribed in the book are “Artist Dates.” This is when you do something creative each week. It can be anything you want, but it just has to nurture your right brain. So a couple of weeks ago, while Raf and I were at Michael’s, I found a kit for Artist Trading Cards. I thought, “Aha! That’s it! This is my artist date.” This would be perfect because collage is something completely new and different for me so I thought I could have fun with it. And I did! I came home and just dived in. I let my right brain take over and, without thinking about it too much, I just created these little cards. They are kind of awful, but I don’t care. They came from my creative self and I had fun doing it.

So then I got this idea to try a needle felted ATC. I read up a little bit on ATCs and found that there are really not many rules, except they are supposed to be baseball-card sized, and they are not to be sold, only traded. But other than that, it’s all an open playing field! Since my favorite medium is fiber, and since I had some lying around, I thought, “why not?” Again, I didn’t go into this with any plan, I just found some fiber and, based on the limited colors on had, decided to felt a scene of the sun setting over the ocean. Ocean sunsets are my favorite thing and I needed some cheering up that day. I actually kind of like the way this turned out and I really had fun making it. It actually revived my interest in needle felting and I’ve been working on some little sculptures. I’ll show them to you when I am finished with them. I want to play more with this medium so I’m sure you’ll see more of this type of thing in the future.

I wanted to give you a little taste of what I have coming up in a week from today. Allie Larkin has written a book and it’s release date is June 10th! It is called Stay and it looks fabulous. It’s gotten lots of buzz and some good reviews from major journals. I have a copy of it and I am really looking forward to diving in! I just have to finish American Gods first, which I will do this weekend (hopefully. Slowest reader ever over here).

So anyway, next week Allie is stopping by the blog for an interview! So stay tuned for some Q&A with the author herself. In the meantime, take a look at the book trailer for Stay. It’s a lot of fun!