I had a wonderful week in New York last month for Book Expo America (BEA)! For those of you who are not familiar, it’s the book industries version of a birthday party, New Years Eve, and Oscar Night all rolled up into one. And for all that I managed to pack only one suitcase—my mom would’ve been proud! I met some wonderful people there, too. First was my idol, Nancy Pearl—the originator of the One City, One Book program. And there was my favorite stylist, Clinton Kelly—of TLC’s What Not to Wear. And then there was breakfast—where I ate with Jon Stewart, Condoleezza Rice and John Grisham. Well…they were actually up on a stage while I was eating some overpriced muffins about a half-city-block away—but we were sitting in the same room. But one of the huge highlights of my week was meeting Helen Simonson, the author of the wonderful break-out novel, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand.

      Just the day before, I had missed—by one person—getting Nancy Pearl’s new book, Book Lust to Go, personally autographed. The woman in front of me in line snatched her very last book. A similar story happened with Scott Turow. So I was determined for that not to happen with Helen Simonson. In fact, I came so early for Helen’s signing that not only was I the first in her line—but I was also the first in line for the guy who was signing in the Random House booth before her! So I began chatting with some of the marketing folks in the booth, and pretty soon I guess they were all talking about this Simonson-stalker woman. So when Helen arrived for her signing, I was introduced to her as one of her major fans. Rather kind of them not to use the S-word…Helen chatted with me and my friends, and even agreed to pose with us.

      Back home on the ranch, while writing follow-up notes to all the people I’d met, I sent one to Helen—along with the picture she so graciously posed for. Helen wrote a nice reply and indicated that we would be seeing each other again in January—at The Pulpwood Queens Girlfriends Weekend.

      But then, the very next day I got another email from Helen asking if she could use the picture I’d sent for a series of blogs she’s writing for Kepler’s books. They wanted a ‘casual’ photo of her (versus the typical formal author shot) to run with her piece.

       So, today my story ends with our smiling faces—my friends’, Helen’s and mine—grinning at the world from atop Helen’s guest blog! And how kind! They even managed to use our given names—instead of calling us The Stalker Sisters.

Cheers!

BCC

Woodland Reads Brings Jacqueline Winspear to Town (April , 2010)

I love my hometown of Woodland! It isn’t just a town—it’s a community. And not just any community—it’s a community of readers!

 

Woodland, as Community:  This fact has never been more apparent than when Woodland Reads, our One City, One Book initiative, recently asked for donations to help bring New York Times best-selling author, Jacqueline Winspear, to town to discuss her award-winning book, Maisie Dobbs. Local businesses, community organizations and individuals immediately responded with generous donations, demonstrating their strong commitment to supporting literacy in Yolo County. Community sponsors include The Book Club Cheerleader, Friends of the Woodland Public Library, Holiday Inn Express, Omega Nu, Soroptimist International of Woodland, Yocha Dehe Community Fund, Woodland Sunrise Rotary, Sandra Briggs, Wayne and Mary Ginsburg, Kathy and John Harryman, Councilman Bill Marble, Supervisor Matt Rexroad, Bob and Virginia Salley, and Meg and Tom Stallard.

 

The Events: Woodland Reads invites the public to attend a community luncheon with Jacqueline Winspear at The Heidrick Ag History Center, 1962 Hays Lane in Woodland on May 6, 2010, at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are available from The Gifted Penguin at 716 Main Street (530-668-8215), Terry’s Hallmark at 375 W Main St (530-666-4431), and  The Avid Reader at 617 Second Street in Davis (530-758-4040) for $20. Books are also available from these same retailers for $13. That afternoon, Jacqueline will speak with local high schools at 1:30 pm in the Woodland High School library. Woodland Reads will conclude with a Meet the Author Talk and Book Signing in The Woodland Public Library Leake Center, at 250 1st Street in Woodland at 7:00 pm.  This event is free to the public.

 

The Book: Maisie Dobbs: Jacqueline's first novel was a National Bestseller and received an array of accolades, including New York Times Notable Book 2003, a Publishers Weekly Top Ten Mystery 2003, and a BookSense Top Ten selection. In addition, the novel was nominated for 7 awards, including the Edgar for Best Novel. She subsequently won the prestigious Agatha Award for Best First novel, the Macavity Award for Best First Novel; and the Alex Award. Maisie Dobbs spent almost four months on the Independent Mystery Booksellers Bestseller list in 2004.

 

The Author: Jacqueline Winspear: Born and raised in the county of Kent, England, Jacqueline immigrated to the United States in 1990. A regular contributor to journals covering international education, Jacqueline has published articles in women's magazines and has also recorded her essays for KQED radio in San Francisco. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a regular visitor to the United Kingdom and Europe.

 

Jacqueline's novels thus far—Maisie Dobbs, Birds of a Feather, Pardonable Lies, Messenger of Truth, An Incomplete Revenge, Among the Mad—as well as the newly-released The Mapping of Love and Death are set in the late 1920's and early 1930's, with the roots of each story set in the Great War, 1914-1918. Jacqueline's grandfather was severely wounded and shell-shocked at The Battle of the Somme in 1916, and it was because of his suffering that Jacqueline became deeply interested in the "war to end all wars" and its aftereffects. Though she did not set out to write a `war’ novel, it came as no surprise that this part of history formed the backdrop of Maisie Dobbs and other books in the series. Readers may find some ironic parallels between the war themes of a century ago, and today’s troop deployments.  Also, adults as well as young adult readers will relate to the unique and engaging character of Maisie Dobbs—who is very much a woman of her generation. She has come of age at a time when women took on the toil of men and claimed independence that was difficult to relinquish. It was a time when many women remained unmarried, simply because a generation of men had gone to war and not come home. (We wrote about Jacqueline last year when Among the Mad came out—please refer to that article in our Book Buzz column)

 

The High School Connection: Students from three of our area high schools—Woodland, Pioneer, and Esparto—will be reading Maisie Dobbs along with the community. And wherever folks are discussing books, you know the Book Club Cheerleader has got them playing games! So check out our Fun and Games column for games and activities we specifically developed for the high schools. Of course, any of these can be adapted for use by your own book club when you discuss Maisie Dobbs—so download a couple and have yourself some fun while learning more about Maisie Dobbs and her world!

 

One City, One Book Background: The first One City, One Book program was "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book" in 1998, started by Nancy Pearl at Seattle Public Library's Washington Center for the Book. Many communities have piggy-backed on Nancy’s idea, and have adopted this community practice from big towns like San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City—and small towns like Sonoma (CA), Clarendon Hills (IL) and New Rochelle (NY.) Ms. Pearl warns that the goals of the program should be literary and not political, "Keep in mind that this is a library program, it's not an exercise in civics, it's not intended to have literature cure the racial divide. This is about a work of literature."

 

Woodland Reads Background: Woodland Reads is a Woodland Community-wide Reading Event based on Nancy Pearl’s model. Each year the selected book is read by local high schools, book clubs and the community as a whole. Like many similar events in American cities and on college campuses, Woodland Reads is designed to foster literacy, acceptance and respect. Beginning in 2002, the Woodland community began reading together with The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez. Subsequent selections have included Mas Masumoto’s Epitaph for a Peach, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Jennifer Traig’s Devil in the Details, Mabel McKay: Weaving the Dream by Greg Sarris, and Sue Bigelow and Janice Goldberg’s Rose Colored Glass. (We wrote about Sue and Janice last year in our Author’s Angle column.) Meg Stallard, member of the Woodland Reads team says, “We’ve been pleased with the community support we have received over the years for this important literary program. Each year participation seems to grow—and community organizations are so generous—we couldn’t bring in all these great authors without their support.”

 

For Further Information: Have questions about Woodland Reads? Please check out their website or email me!

 

Cheers!

 

BCC

Faking It—In an Important Way   (February,  2010)

 
“That waiter sure looks familiar,” I think to myself.

I’m sitting with my book club, Readers in the Hood, at the Pulpwood Queens Author’s Dinner, and I turn to another Hoodie and ask, “Did you read that guy’s name tag?” She hadn’t.

He pours a glass of water for my sister-in-law. “Hey Anne, did you catch his name?” I ask in a stage whisper.

“Nope. His badge was at the wrong angle.”

Finally he pours water for my sister, and I can read his name. “You’re Jamie Ford!” I practically shout.

He grins modestly, “Yes. I believe I am.”

“You wrote Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet!”

Again, the shy smile. “Guilty as charged...”

“You were voted one of the top three book clubs books of 2009 by BookBrowse.com!” I gush.

He regards me patiently as one would humor a small child—or an adult with an IQ under 70. “That was a nice honor.” He fills the last glass at our table and makes his exit—most likely rather relieved to escape the woman with possible Tourette’s syndrome…

I look at my fellow Hoodies. “That was Jamie Ford…”

“Yeah, Marsha. Jamie. Hotel. BookBrowse. We got it.” Another Hoodie says.

Thus went my first encounter with Jamie Ford, famous author. If Will Smith’s character in the comedy Hitch advised his clients to use “shock and awe” tactics to get someone’s attention, I believe I had just used “shockingly awful” ones. But not one to under-achieve, it would not be my last chance that weekend to do so…

The next night, after our Barbie party, as we are enjoying a little nightcap at Skinners—the local biker bar—who should happen to walk in, but Mr. Jamie Ford himself. Since he appears to be alone, there’s room at our table, and I’m a highly inclusive person, I wave and invite him over. He slides in the booth next to Blonde Bimbo Barbie and she begins to regale him with stories of how much she enjoyed his book. She actually just finished it and is enraptured! Her plastic blonde wig bounces around rather unnaturally—but charmingly—as she extols the book’s praises.

Ski Bunny Barbie slips off her fur hat, clutches it to her chest and leans across the table. “Oh, I just haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet, but I hear it’s wonderful! So don’t mention any spoilers.”

Jamie looks at Cheerleader Barbie as if to question what my thoughts might be on the subject.

I desperately want to participate in this conversation. But I am also agonizingly aware that—although this book has sat on my Kindle for the past six months—and two of my book clubs have chosen it as their future reads—I, myself, have yet to peruse a single page. So, I am faced with a dilemma: Just how much do I want to jump into this little chat? If I were to admit that I hadn’t quite gotten to it yet, the discussion would be dead—at least as far as I was concerned. Besides, I am “The Book Club Cheerleader.” To confess that I hadn’t read this book, would be tantamount to self-declaring job negligence! But on the other hand, I couldn’t just out-and-out lie about it—could I?

It was clearly time for an “Onie-lie.” Onie-lies have gotten my family out of pickles for generations. Onie was my maternal grandmother and we credited her with perfecting this scheme for weaseling out of things without technically lying—just a little misdirection. Yep—that was going to be the ticket. I’ve read enough reviews, interviews, and even reading group guides to think of something intelligent to say…

Leaning thoughtfully toward Jamie, in an oh-so-serious and sincere tone of voice, I blurt, “Oh, it’s a very important book!”

Very Important Book? Who said that? Bridget Jones Barbie, infamous public speaker?

Thankfully, not completely stunned by my own stupidity, I quickly follow up that one with “What inspired you set your book in Seattle?” and “Does the hotel in the book actually exist—or is it fictional?” And thus goes our discussion until Ski Bunny Barbie, turns the conversation to Jamie’s heritage. We ask about his wife and kids, share a few wallet photos, and after a while we’re just having a friendly conversation instead of a book interview. A few other authors join us and we move over to the karaoke portion of the bar. Some of our group actually performs on stage, and we ultimately stay out way too late—especially for someone who’s still on doctor’s orders to take daily naps.

Jamie is the keynote speaker the next day, and I take copious mental notes about this great-book-I-have-yet-to-read—you know, in case I might have an occasion to fake it again before the weekend is over. Jamie is signing books after his talk, and realizing that he can’t very well sign my Kindle, I purchase a hard copy specifically for this purpose. One of my girlfriends and I get our picture taken with Jamie when it’s our turn in line. We dance with him at the ball that evening. Well, sort of. We are on the same dance floor. We go to church with him on Sunday. Well, sort of. We are in the same church. But another Onie-lie moment, mercifully, does not present itself.

Eventually, it’s time to fly home and we all say our goodbyes. Finally, relaxing in my plane seat, I open my paperback copy of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and realize I have yet to read Jamie’s inscription. I turn to the title page and read, “…Hope you enjoy this important book.” So he knew all along. I guess the granddaughter couldn’t pull off the old Onie-lies quite like the original…

My flight touches down at the Sacramento airport as I turn the last page of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. And, oddly enough, I think to myself, “This IS a very important book.” With universal themes including father-son relationships, prejudice, and first love—it is captivating and compelling. Overlay that with period-specific gems such the 40’s Jazz scene, relocation camps, and WWII patriotism—in all its disparate faces—and you are transported back to the Seattle of the hero’s childhood.

“Hotel” is sweet, charming, and innocent—which is just as we all found Jamie to be. Oh, yeah—and don’t forget—Very Important.

Rah, Rah, Reading!

BCC

One Fine Weekend in the Emerald City   (January, 2010)

“Sounds like a Convention on Crack…Count me in!” That was the reaction of Sheila, one of my fellow Readers in the Hood members, when I first introduced the idea of going to the Pulpwood Queens Girlfriends Weekend (PWQ GFWE) almost a year ago. After actually attending our first GFWE, I must say her interpretation pretty much nailed it! Even with my 'Shappy Mew Dear’-talk and daily catnaps (Handsome Hubby ensured my sister, Sheri, went along as my nurse) it was one of the ‘funnest’ parties I’ve ever attended—and trust me—I’ve been to some fun parties!

             I tried to narrow it down, but it was hard to leave anything out, so here are my Top 10 Most Memorable Moments (assuming I have a memory…):

10 ) Jefferson Convicts and PWQ Burlesque: The Hoodies spent all afternoon on Thursday practicing for a “skit” we were to perform at the “Great Big Ball of Hair Ball.” It was really just sophomoric hand gestures acted out while singing the lyrics to a made-up song, Somewhere Over the Pulpwood Rainbow—written by fellow Book Club Cheerleader, Kay Hodges. The only space large enough to practice our moves was in the back alley behind the Historic Jefferson Hotel—where right next door just happened to sit the local Sheriff’s department. So there we were, out in the alley, sporting turquoise beaded shawls and boas, while our “audience” was lurking around the Sheriff’s yard in bright orange jumpsuits giving us peculiar looks. Not only was turquoise and orange an atrocious color combination—but I’m not sure these poor guys could’ve done anything egregious enough to deserve such cruel and unusual punishment. Fortunately for them, the rain eventually drove us inside. Unfortunately for those who had to watch our little routine on Saturday night, there was no evidence that any practice had ever taken place. But we were proud to have made Kathy Patrick cry! (I’m just not sure if those were tears of joy or pain…)

 

9)  Pat and Melissa Conroy: Pat may be the legend of the family, but they were both absolutely adorable! Pat received an award for Best Book of the Year for South of Broad, while Melissa took home the award for Best Children’s Book, Poppy's Pants. Pat served us dinner on Thursday night and was friendlier than a cocker spaniel—just as cute—and he never piddled on my shoes! Many of the other authors were overhead exclaiming throughout the weekend, “Pat Conroy bought my book!” He is truly a gracious man.

8)  Auntie Skinners: Part biker bar, part karaoke showcase, Skinners was the hangout for authors and readers alike. Tracy Carnes’s (Excess Baggage) outrageous rendition of Bad Girl made us believe she really was. Well, almost. And Hoodie Sheila and Kathi Kamen Goldmark’s duet of Higher and Higher made us feel as though we were. An Elvis impersonator was also thrown into the mix somehow—but how he ever got to Jefferson from Vegas, I’ll never know…But the highlight of my evening was Jamie Ford (Winner of the PWQ Bonus Book of the Year for Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet—and the ultimate “nice guy”)—buying me drinks. (OK—he really picked up the tab for the whole table, but I never let the truth stand in the way of a good story…)

7)  PWQ of Katy, Texas: Blonde (mostly) beautiful (all), and charming (to a person), these gals have won “best girl group” two years in a row. And with good reason—they are creative, fun and talented. This year they carried their costume theme of ‘hot pink and zebra’ consistently through the entire weekend—including their bags, jackets, Barbie costumes, and Oz regalia. Since they’re about 20 years younger than most of The Hoodies—we’ve decided we have no other choice than to adopt these darling women. We will definitely be partying with them again in the future!

6)  The Lollipop Kids: Actually a mother/daughter PWQ group, these gals not only donned killer costumes, but they have some bump and grind moves that R&B artists would kill to be able to duplicate. Wish we’d snagged that performance on video! Go Munchkins! Go Munchkins!

5)  The Rock Bottom Remainders: Now those of you who know me, know that the only man Handsome Hubby has the right to be jealous of is Dave Barry. Dave is truly the funniest man alive and I’ve had a major crush on him for years! So of course, I’ve been following his all-author band, The Rock Bottom Remainders just about as long. Imagine my delight in meeting the founder of that band, Kathi Kamen Goldmark (And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You), and her newly-wed hubby, Sam Barry (How To Play the Harmonica: and Other Life Lessons.) And imagine my further delight in discovering that Sam is Dave’s brother! Throughout the weekend Sam and Kathi treated us to several numbers including, Somewhere over the Rainbow and The Pulpwood Ball. They also joined our table one night at Skinners, where I confessed to Sam that I was in love with his brother. He looked at me rather quizzically, “You do know he’s married, right?” Some people just don’t understand!