Author: the outside lane

Happy. That about covers it.
holiday guest blog

Days of Christmas: Holiday Have to Read–Second Death, by Emily Reese

the outside lane

You wouldn’t normally associate fangs with Douglas firs and fireplaces draped with Christmas stockings, but I am going to suggest that you get Emily Reese’s debut novel, Second Death, for all your vampire loving friends.  Emily has a great knack for writing a story so that you feel you are sitting in the same room, walking down the same street, driving the same car through South Texas as the characters, and boy does the story have a bite!

Today, Emily is sharing her favorite books so you can add those to your shopping list, too.  But before we get into her guest blog, here is how to find and order Second Death:

Emily’s Smashwords Profile
Sample or purchase Second Death
Also available for download direct to your Kindle or Nook
Read Emily’s blog: http://writerreese.wordpress.com/

When Lane asked me to chose my three favorite books, I had no clue that my criteria would be. There are some books, (usually series,) that I can read many times, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I would count them as my favorite. As an author, I also recognize how much effort goes in to putting a full-length story together, so counting anything out felt like a betrayal. Therefore, what I decided to do was this: these are three books I love that I am going to make sure my daughter reads. I can’t think of a better recommendation than that.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This is one of the few books that made me really angry. Like pacing and ranting before bed to a bewildered husband. The Help also had me wanting to go up to every African American I saw and give them a hug and an apology. Further deliberation made me realize those actions might be seen as condescending, so I decided against it, but still. It is a rare thing for a book to spur me (or almost spur me,) into action. It just blows my mind that my mother and my grandmother were around, in the south during this period. Were they as bad as some of Kathryn Stockett’s characters? I don’t think so. I mean, they raised me to be a tolerant individual. Yet I know that if my mother had brought home a darker skinned gentleman… it would have been Guess-who’s-coming-to-dinner-esque. In all truth, she wouldn’t have brought him home at all. I don’t think it would have occurred to her. This book reminds us that the civil rights movement is still right behind us.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

I love all the Harry Potter books. I mean, LURVE them. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve turned on to this series, and I thank my lucky stars for Derek who worked at the mall bookstore. He bought me the first four books and refused to talk to me again until I had finished them all. I sobbed during this book. I talked to the author like an imaginary friend. I’ve taken (many) days off work for Harry Potter release days and stayed up until 6 am to finish. Here’s the best thing about these books, and why I’m so caught up in them: depth. These books are hella deep, though not necessarily in the metaphysical sense. The characters are deep. You are with them for undoubtedly the seven most important years of their life. You see them grow, and it’s a joy to discover who they’re going to be before they do. It was my first taste of parenthood. The story too is deep. I’ve reread this series over and over because I’m still finding things Rowling hid in book one that I didn’t understand until number seven. I’ve chosen The Deathly Hallows as my favorite book because it was the culmination of ten years of love and I was not disappointed.

The Lamb by Christopher Moore

The Lamb is one of my favorite books because it approaches religion the way I do. It accepts that what we know is from the perspective of the author, and encourages us to learn what we can from it. It implies that Jesus does actually have a sense of humor and found joy in everyday things. It reminds me that he was a person before he had to be the Son of God, something I find sermons to be lacking these days. There is nothing in this book about the “wrong” religion or the “wrong” type of people. Everyone is part of God’s people, and that’s something I can get behind.

That’s my list. This is what Autumn is going to roll her eyes at me about in ten years or so… but she’s still going to read them. Of course, there are many, many more I’d like to include. I also think it’s funny that there are no paranormal romances in my top three, since A) it’s by far my favorite genre and B) its my book’s genre as well. I also want to give a nod to authors who write sequels. I wrote my first book Second Death, before my daughter turned two. I wasn’t as hard as one might think; I’ve always been a night person, and I could write during naps (ah, blessed quiet!) In addition, I’d been rolling this idea around in my head for years. Now, she’s almost three. A few people have read my book and liked it enough to ask me for part two. Um… yeah, about that. My little monkey doesn’t nap so much, and demands much more interaction. Therefore, in closing, I’d like to ask you not to curse authors, (as I did) for not getting their sequels out in a year or less. To me that’s damned impressive.

 

Remember that every comment leave on The Outside Lane between now and December 30 is an entry to win a month long Premium Membership to JulieAnneRhodes.com!  Like us on Facebook for another chance to win.

holiday guest blog

Days of Christmas: Holiday Have to Have–Tutus from Too Too Fabulous

the outside lane

Cameron Stutzman is the gal behind the glitz of Too Too Fabulous fashions.  If you like to keep your girly-girl in ruffles and bows, Cameron’s online shop is THE place to get your petti-rompers, tutus, and just about the cutest leg warmers I’ve ever seen–and I was a kid in the 80s.  I know my legwarmers!

Holiday Legwarmers--I want some!

She custom creates whole outfits like this Minnie Mouse number that would look adorable under any tree.

And her bows, beanies, and baby-fascinators are just too, too, too sweet to pass up.

For thrilling frills, check out Too Too Fabulous!

holiday guest blog

Days of Christmas: Holiday Have to Reads–Bookmark These!

the outside lane

Unless you’re in retail, or one of Santa’s elves, business tends to slow down over the holidays, leaving you more time to spend reading.  Throughout the rest of the month, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite downtime reading sites, starting with:

Arwen Bicknell: Wordsmith, hack, scribbler

Why read Arwen’s blog?  First, because she’s hella entertaining (I know, I am an embarrassment to still be using “hella”.  Arwen never would.  That’s reason 1.a that you should read her.)  Second, because she is working on publishing a novel and is sharing the ins and outs of that arduous task.  There are really hundreds of reasons to visit her site, but I’ll let you find them in your freetime.  Here’s a tiny sample:

Today I read an agent’s wish list on Facebook. And I started wondering about what I’m writing.

Part of the hard thing about writing fiction is that there are so many different avenues you can take with a story.  I set out with a plot, a goal, a voice and an audience in mind.

And then I think, “But this story would be so much cooler if I could write it with some older, sexier, darker subtext. That guy should really WANT that girl, and not get her. Can I write that into middle-grade fiction? Pretty sure my kid doesn’t get the whole unrequited love concept. Nope, take it out.  Or should I just start writing the other version? Can I write the same book twice, from two different perspectives?”

And then I think, “Bah. I can’t even get one book published. Why would I write two of the same thing?”

And then I think, “You know, this story would be so much more saleable if I say they are all vampires.”

And then I think, “Perhaps I should stop writing and go eat some cake. Like, forever.”

A Dash of Domestic

I am quite fortunate to be a personal friend of Jamie’s, the writer of A Dash of Domestic, which means I get to sample many of the delectable wares posted–you will only get drool over them, unless you use her recipes and make your own.  From diet wrecking cake balls (falling off the wagon never tasted so good!) to homemade soap, Jamie recounts her successes and not-so-successful tries at all kinds of DIY home making.  Plus, she’ll make you laugh while you’re reading.

Check out this recipe for Cake-in-a-Jar Christmas Gifts.

And you have to check out author and television writer, Pamela Ribon’s site, Pamie

I started reading Pamie when she was writing for Television Without Pity, found her blog, and have been following faithfully ever since.  She posts sporadically, so don’t expect daily updates, but with the treasure trove of archives, you can stay busy for a couple of weeks.  Definitely worth wasting your time there!

Remember that you can be entered to win a month-long Premium Membership to JulieAnneRhodes.com by leaving a comment on any blog entry at The Outside Lane between now and December 30.  Go like us on Facebook and get entered again!

economy, parenting, Politics, Thor

Civics and the Six-Year-Old

the outside lane

Thor loves NPR and the Classical music station, and has since he was old enough to express a preference by screaming his lungs out when I tried to change to the pop channel.  Because he listens to NPR (and I swear to you, he ASKS to listen to NPR–believe me there are days I’d rather be letting the Top 40 fill my work-vacant brain) he hears a lot of talk of politics, and he asks some pretty good questions for a 1st Grader.

Last week, on our 5 minute drive, after a recap of his understanding of the 2-Party System, he asked me, “So what’s the difference between Democrats and Republicans?”

Uh…in a nutshell?  And impartially?  Geez.

I tried to explain that the Ds were usually more liberal socially, preferred for the Government to be very involved in daily life, and were more likely to spend money on people, and that Rs were more conservative socially, preferred small government, and were more likely to spend money on industry and business.  He then asked what was liberal, and what was conservative, and I said liberal socially meant fewer rules about how people should live their private lives (which was ironic, since many liberals like the Government to make more rules) and conservative meant more rules about how people should live their private lives (with the reciprocal irony.)

And then Thor asked, “So what about the money?”

I said, “It’s kind of like this.  Say you have no money.  The Democrats would ask the Government to give you $2 a week forever.”

He interrupted, “I don’t have any money!  They would give me money?!”

“But…  The Republicans would give $5 a week to a business, hoping that business would give you a job.  The job would pay you $3 a week, but the idea is that you can work hard and get a promotion, then make $5 a week, then get another promotion and make $15 a week.  So you would have a shot at improving your life and be more upwardly mobile.”

“Three is more than two,” he calculated.  “But then I have to get a job.”

“Dude, you are going to have to get a job anyway.  No deadbeats.  So, do you understand?”

“Yep.  Which one is better?”

“Neither.  Both sides want the same thing–a strong country where people are happy.  They just have different ideas about how to get there.”

“What are you?”

“Libertarian.”

“And what are they?”

“Ask Daddy.”

“Cool.  Can I have a treat after dinner tonight?”

 

I’m sure I over-simplified or screwed that up majorly somehow, but B is the political mind in the family.  I keep hoping one day Thor will ask me a question that is easy to answer.  Like, “Mama, what kind of corsage should I get my prom date?”

parenting, Religion, Thor

There Goes Santa Claus

the outside lane

 

B and I are pretty honest and open with Thor, and even though we keep things light and on level with his maturity, we don’t really mince words.  So, it’s kind of funny that we’ve played Santa.  And Easter Bunny.  And Birthday Fairy.  Okay, that last one is me entirely.  All that changed tonight, though.

Thor came home from school very excited about a project his class is doing, collecting items for the needy, and very excited about us having chosen a little boy his age from an Angel tree.  He was chirping away in the back seat and said, “Our kid [the Angel tree boy]…I guess he’s the only kid Santa doesn’t care about?”  I asked him what he meant, thinking about the movie trailer we’d seen prior to the Muppet Movie (which is greatness!  go see it now!)  He said, “You know, Santa doesn’t care about him because he’s poor, so he can’t have presents.”

It was one of those moments I couldn’t have prepared for–who would expect that?!

I assured him that poverty had nothing to do with how much Santa cared for children, and he hummed his understanding.  “So Santa won’t bring him any presents because he’s a bad kid.  Is he a bad kid because he’s poor?”

All the logic of the Christmas mythology was suddenly cumbersome.

“No, no, no,” I promised.  “He’s not a bad boy.  No, no, no.”

“Then why isn’t Santa giving him anything?  You said he was on the Angel tree because he might not get any presents?”

And since he’s six, and since we’re honest, and since I didn’t want him thinking that Santa was a 1%’er (remind me to tell you about the talk we had about the difference between Democrats and Republicans the other day), I took a deep breath and said, “Thor, I’m going to tell you a big secret…”

I did, too.  I told my child that Santa is a wonderful character like Finn McMissile or Lightning McQueen, and that we like to tell stories about him to teach people about gift giving, and good cheer, but that he wasn’t a real person, and the reason children ended up on Angel trees was because their parents might be having a hard time finding a job, and the Spirit of Christmas is about sharing what we have with people who are doing without.

We ran into B in the parking lot, right about that time, and B agreed.  Thor said, “Great!  I’ll beat you to the front door!”  And took off.

Tomorrow, we’re going to go see Santa.

Why not?  We can all still pretend and enjoy.