The Devon Horse Show grounds are empty, but the gates are open. No, not empty, we discover; there is a single contractor working within. With his permission we walk, in and out of the stables, the new buildings, the old ones. I find a ladder and Bill climbs it into a secret place. I think an abandoned sink is lovely. Also a discarded, woven hat. Also emptiness as countered by the milk of contained light.
In the sun it is hot. In the shade it is perfect.
What are we searching for on this Labor Day?
I have been reading Olivia Laing. I have been reading (I seem to endlessly circle her) about Virginia Woolf. Her ecstasy. Her mourning. Her river and her pocketful of stones. I have been reading, too, about artists, jealousies, rivalries. Bacon and Freud. Manet and Degas. I have been thinking of the panel I was on, just yesterday afternoon, at the exquisite AJC Decatur Book Festival, and all the things I didn't say, and the friends who came to see me, and the ease of our stupendously fine moderator, Terra Elan McVoy, who brilliantly coined perfumes for us and wove a silk thread between stories for us and wondered about our books as films and decided
This Is the Story of You isn't really a film, not yet a film, though perhaps it is an Indie. Yes. Always. I am, will be, the Indie. Slightly out of step and over to the side and stewing inside the next act of making something, my preference, always, for the thing that is not yet made, as opposed to the thing that is.
Do we read our books after they are published (beyond when authorial responsibility calls us to), we were asked. No, I said. No, emphatic. For there is no fixing the book then, no new chance, and I always wish that my books were better than they were, and I am always trying, until they are printed (ask any editor of mine) to make them better than they are, than they will be, but yesterday, when I was feeling, I'm not entirely sure why, sad, there was a girl in the line after the panel who asked me to sign her books. "You are my favorite author," she said, and I was stunned by it, set back, this gesture of hers, this kindness extended. Words that pinned me to the present time, for that present time, in that moment. With me on one side of the table and this beautiful girl on the other, for just that moment or two, I was me, with the books I have made, in the present, in the moment. I was not looking past them.
Not yet, anyway.
Three years ago, I was there, at the AJC Decatur Book Festival, one of the happiest book events there ever could be. I arrived alone. I stepped into the hotel lobby and I wasn't anymore. Suddenly I was in the company of Jessica Shoffel and Doni Kay, who walked me to the Little Shop of Stories (the epicenter of this event), sat with me over tea, invited me to meet Tomie dePaolo (
images of all that here), to have dinner with him later. The next day I took an early morning walk and discovered the tour de force that is Diane Capriola out and about, so we talked. I needed some shoes, so I bought a pair that remain my favorite to this day. A few hours later, I sat beside the very brilliant
Stacey D'Erasmo (a writing heroine, truly) and, before a packed house, we talked about memoir and intimacy as if no one else was in sight. I found Nancy Krulick on the stage after that. A long conversation with the smart DJ MacHale was had in the ride back to the airport.
Two days I'll never forget.
Next weekend I return to Decatur, this time to sit on a Terra Elan McVoy moderated panel with writers Ami Allen-Vath and Alexandra Sirowy. The topic this time will be young-adult books. I'll be talking, specifically, about
This Is the Story of You.Word is that my dear former neighbor, Shirley, will be there in the audience mix. That, perhaps, one of my favorite rediscovered friends of high school, will be there with his literary daughter. I'm looking forward to you, Decatur, and I thank Chronicle Books and Lara Starr for making it possible for me to be there.
My event is here, should you happen to be in town.
Sunday September 4
2:00 PM
Teen Stage
Aftermath
Ami Allen-Vath, Alexandra Sirowy, Terra Elan McVoy
AJC Decatur Book Festival
Terra Elan McVoy has been here before to share her adorable covers for
Pure and
After the Kiss (
read those Cover Stories), and now she's here to talk about
Being Friends With Boys. How great is that title? Here's more about the cover, from Terra:
"I never have any idea about my covers; I’m so lucky to have been assigned to such smart, clever, amazing people at Simon Pulse to work on them. This team does such an incredible job, and I figure it’s best to leave that work in their capable hands!
"Admittedly, my very first thought when I saw the cover was, 'But there aren’t any coffeehouses in the book! They never drink coffee!' Very quickly though, I realized that was a pretty lame and limiting response.
"My editor was incredibly patient with me and let me just sit on my first reaction until I came to my senses and realized this was perfect.
"The cover did change, in one important way..."
Read Terra's full Cover Story at melissacwalker.com.
Criminal by Terra Elan McVoy
ISBN: 1442421622 | 9781442421622
Nikki’s life is far from perfect, but at least she has Dee. Her friends tell her that Dee is no good, but Nikki can’t imagine herself without him. He’s hot, he’s dangerous, he has her initials tattooed over his heart, and she loves him more than anything. There’s nothing Nikki wouldn’t do for Dee. Absolutely nothing.
So when Dee pulls Nikki into a crime—a crime that ends in murder—Nikki tells herself that it’s all for true love. Nothing can break them apart. Not the police. Not the arrest that lands Nikki in jail. Not even the investigators who want her to testify against him.
But what if Dee had motives that Nikki knew nothing about? Nikki’s love for Dee is supposed to be unconditional…but even true love has a limit. And Nikki just might have reached hers.
You can enter to win Criminal by Terra Elan McVoy! Just use the Rafflecopter widget below.
Check out the rest of the blogs on the tour schedule, too. Good luck!
Terra Elan McVoy is the author of three outstanding books: Pure, After the Kiss, and her new release, The Summer of Firsts and Lasts.
Not only is her writing so flavorful, but her covers are totally delicious.
Today, she stops by to share some marketing lessons she has learned after publishing three books.
Terra Elan McVoy has some of the best covers I've seen, and I had to ask her to stop by and share some stories. Here goes:
"Honestly, I had no idea about my covers. I am a writer, not a graphic designer or marketing specialist. So I decided to worry about what was going in between the covers, and to let the amazing geniuses at Simon Pulse do their magic. It seems to have worked out pretty well so far!
"When I saw the mock-up of the hardcover for Pure (left), the first thing I thought was,'Gah!' and then 'Gorgeous!' Really, I couldn't believe how smart and pretty and amazing it was, and I loved that Cara Petrus (the designer) put in the details of the five rings along the spine. Everything was just so deliciously perfect--almost TOO perfect. I laughed, too, because I lead a book group for middle school girls, and anytime they see a book with a pink cover, they're like 'Ooooh I want to read that,' no matter what it is. So, mainly, I just thought how incredibly lucky I was. It was the same for the cover of After the Kiss. I hadn't really thought about the cover at all, and then I saw it and I was like, 'Yes, absolutely. Beautiful.'
"I'm sure my editor would have taken suggestions, but basically all I could do was drool on myself in every case..."
Read the rest of Terra's Cover Story, and see Pure's paperback cover, as well as the cover of After the Kiss, at melissacwalker.com.
If you've been following the Cybils at all, you know that those of us on the first judging panel have our hands completely full with books, until the end of December. My mini-review feature this month is focusing on some of the 168 books I have on the reading list. Just some quick thoughts on each one for you. Enjoy!
The Other Side of Blue, written by Valerie O. Patterson was true to its name and was filled with lots of blue. Blue oceans, blue names, blue paint, and "blue" emotions. This was a pretty depressing one, I will admit, and if you're looking for a book to cheer you up, I wouldn't go for it.
The emotion in it is pretty raw and well done, though at times, the characterization fell a bit flat for me. Cyan was a little too dark in all the pretty blueness and the other characters were just a little too one dimensional. Overall, a quick read that will fill your sadness quota for awhile, though the brilliant location of the book will make the winter months seem a bit warmer.
The Other Side of Blue
Valerie O. Patterson
240 pages
Young Adult
Clarion Books
9780547244365
October 2009
Review copy received from publisher
Pure, written by Terra Elan McVoy, was on a subject I had been waiting and waiting for in a YA book (no pun intended), and was finally put into my hands. Purity is the main theme, though friendship, love, and loss all play major roles as well.
I felt Tabitha, the main character, was written very realistically, with true feelings and concerns, though a few of her friends were over-the-top and not quite believable. I also felt the overall book was too long and dragged a little in parts, so I think a good 50 pages or so could have been lost without harming the integrity of the story.
Written on a subject that doesn't get nearly enough attention, I would definitely hand this to teens looking for a good story, as well as for some info on purity rings and their meaning.
Pure
Terra Elan McVoy
336 pages
Young Adult
Simon Pulse
9781416978725
April 2009
Copy borrowed from local library
The Homeschool
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sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks for the giveaway - sounds interesting.
Sounds great!
This book sounds so, so, so interesting. And the cover is brilliant :)
I like the short synopsis. it leaves a lot to the imagination. It sounds like a book that contains a lot of tension, I think I'd enjoy that, thanks for the giveaway.
Oh the bad boys. First they ask you to drive them to the store, then they ask you to not talk about the dead body in the trunk.
You crack me up, David XD
It sounds like an exciting and entertaining read! Thanks for the feature.
This book sounds so great!
This book is different than the books I have been reading lately. I look forward to it.