Lori Handeland's Journal - by the light of the moon

We've been having a tough time at my house. The thought of Brett Favre in a Jets jersey . . . Well, it's just too much. Whenever anyone mentions the name Farve these days we put our fingers in our ears and sing, "I can't hear you. Na, na, na, na, na."

" 'When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.'"
~Tuco, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

We had a family wedding recently. My flower girl got married! Boy that made me feel old. I went and pulled out my own wedding photos. Here's one of us from twenty-two years ago and one from that weekend. It was very cool to be there.

" 'How does one become a butterfly?' she asked pensively. 'You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar'"
~Trina Paulus

Journal Entry
June 15, 2008

Yes, we are under water. If you've been watching the flooding in the Midwest on the news you might have seen my town. Nothing as dramatic as the Lake Delton draining and the houses collapsing, but my little village has been closed off from the world all week. Our Main Street is flooded, some people are using canoes to get to their homes. Here are some photos where the water in the Milwaukee River rose higher than the dam.

My kids are out of school—actually one's been out since mid-May, college you know—so I've begun my summer writing schedule, which means I get into my office around 5:30 a.m. and get as much writing done as I can before everyone's awake. I may luck out this summer since they're both old enough to work and need to. That pesky money thing!

My summer will be spent watching baseball—the Brewers!—and softball—both my husband and my oldest son have a team. This year I also plan to hit the local festivals. There are a lot in southern Wisconsin. Last weekend my husband and I attended Port Pirate Festival, which was a riot until a huge thunderstorm complete with 60 mph winds and the threat of a tornado showed up. (Which led to the flooding mentioned above.)

People were really into the costumes. Lots of buxom wenches and Johnny Depp clones. And speaking of Johnny, he's been making a John Dillinger movie in Wisconsin. Johnny sightings are rampant. Unfortunately I haven't seen him.

Milwaukee is the City of Festivals. Beginning this weekend there is a festival every weekend on the lakefront until September. The biggest festival is Summerfest, which is a huge music (and beer) fest. Then there are festivals for most of the ethnic groups that settled here. My favorites are Festa Italiana (even though I'm not Italian, my husband is) and Indian Summer. If you ever come to Milwaukee in the summer, make sure you hit Festival Park.

The ARC (advance reading copy) of ANY GIVEN DOOMSDAY was the featured giveaway at BEA (Book Expo America) in Los Angeles last month. This is a huge convention for booksellers. I've only gone to it once, when it was in Chicago, but it was amazing to see all the booths of the publishers, the poster-sized covers and the authors who come to sign books. People like President Clinton and Jon Stewart, or Stephen King and Stephanie Meyer. For a reader, BEA is like a rock star convention.

I have written a young adult urban fantasy proposal. At present it is being considered for publication at several publishing houses. Hopefully by next month, I'll have news on that as well as any other upcoming books.

This month's recommended read is The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. I love this writer! I also recommended her first single title Garden Spells. These books are women's fiction with a twist--just a little bit of the paranormal, combined with quirky characters and an amusing small town. Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter in her North Carolina hometown is her favorite season, she's a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her hidden closet. Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother's house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night . . . Until she finds it harboring none other than local waitress Della Lee Baker, a tough-talking, tenderhearted woman who is one part nemesis—and two parts fairy godmother.

Quote for June:

" Try again. Fail better."
~Samuel Beckett

Until next month ... happy reading!

Lori Handeland