California Readin'

I promised a switch from Bull Rider info and since it's snowing outside, I've decided to give you a sneak preview of two books I've read recently that are set in sunny and floral Southern California. Both are gentle middle grade books with lovely writing. Both confront their girl characters with difficult family situations

Jane in Bloom by Debby Lytton reads like the bright flower on it's cover. Jane is the second child, the one who lives in her perfect older sister's shadow. But Jane knows what that perfection is costing the sister she loves. When tragedy changes her family forever, Jane finds some unexpected allies and begins to create a space where she can bloom. I love the color imagery in this book and the clear prose creates white space for the splashes of yellow, purple, and orange to shine. Jane's relationship with her sister is haunting and the book will leave you thinking about family interconnections and personal resilience.

.The Year the Swallows Came Early by Katherine Fitzmaurice is set on the Central California coast. Between the fog, the ocean, the sun, and flowers, you can almost smell the setting as you read. In the first chapter Groovy Robinson's father is taken away to jail - in the kindest way by a policeman they both know. Groovy is confused and then angry as she discovers the reason her father was arrested. I was routing for Groovy from beginning to end, first as she has to rethink her dreams and then as she comes to accept her parents as they are, not as she'd believed them to be. The book makes me long to stare at the ocean and put my thoughts in order.


Information: From the website Mirrormirror:
Anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents.
40 – 60% of high school girls diet.
50% of girls between the ages of 13 and 15 believe they are overweight.
80% of 13 year old girls have dieted.
40% of 9 year old girls dieted.

Since both books are full of roses - try browsing for one at http://www.everyrose.com/everyrose/roses/browse.lasso

A Quick Note

It's been a quiet day - Easter Sunday - and our trees are still thinking about budding. Daffodils are blooming. I found four fish in our pond that made it through the winter. (That's good, only one more to spot and they are all there.) It's a good day to think about simple things that make each day so special. I heard this on TV this morning - "This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." I hope to remember that every morning.

OK, I wish I'd been blogging for the last few days. So much has happened. I've been in the Pacific Northwest signing books, visiting schools, and visiting friends and relatives. I traveled with my husband and with Terri Farley - author of the Phantom Stallion Series and the Wild Island Series. Since we are both Reno authors who write about the West, we were presenting and signing together. Rosanne Parry, author of Heart of a Shepherd set up a terrific signing for the three of us at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Washington. That's us signing books at "Ranch Sunday!" It was so fun.




So I wish every author could have been there when we dropped in at Barnes and Noble in Clackamas Town Center to see the magic that happens between readers and authors. Terri had offered to sign books for the store and we had just found them on a top shelf when a girl came up and was trying to reach them. "Do you like those books?" I asked her.
"Oh, she reads them all," her mom said.
Then Terri said, "I wrote those books."
I thought that girl was going to pass out from excitement. She bought three books, Terri signed them, and she went home a very happy camper.

A week later Terri and I were signing at Barnes and Noble in Vancouver, Washington and a boy came in to buy Bull Rider. He was on chapter four (of a book he'd checked out from the library) and was anxious to get his own copy and finish. "He doesn't like to read much," his mom said. "But he can't wait to read this." Music to my ears. More tomorrow.

Life is good

It's been a busy week. Our grandson was here - lots of shrieking and giggling and animated cartoons around the house. Our daughter was here for a few days too. So good to catch up. I visited two schools on three days and there was an SCBWI event. Today is my husband's and my anniversary. Some highlights - kids lining up to buy Bull Rider. Aspiring writer who attended her first ever workshop and wrote "I'm framing my M.O. for $35 - it's my first investment in me." A writer friend in Canada whose husband is a TBI survivor saying about me "Suzy has done her research on TBI." Watching our daughter lug two suitcases, a carseat, and our grandson into the airport without a complaint or a misstep - all in a normal day for her. Seeing the snow fall. Nothing else earth shaking. This week I will be writing more, doing less of everything else. Life is good.

The Buzz Team at Sundance

I had my first bookstore signing and if you are reading my blog and came by, thanks. It was so fun for me and I know a lot of you met up with friends there too. And thanks to Christine and Dan and the Sundance crew for making it such a lovely day for me. They still have some signed copies, so if you missed it you can pick one up there.

In that obsessive authorly way, I was surfing the Border's website and they are carrying Bull Rider in a lot of their stores in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Southern California. I didn't find it in Northern California or Washington, Oregon, Montana. Those are big rodeo states, so if you know anyone there, suggest they ask for the book at their local Borders. Maybe we'll get them to expand it beyond the Southwest and Plains states. You are my "buzz team."

I promise to get off of Bull Rider soon enough and back to some other GREAT books I've read lately, but I had to take this detour into self-promotion and self fulfillment. I've been waiting a long time for this month and I'm happy to share a little of it here. Catch the latest interview on Debby Lytton's blog deborahlytton - http://deborahlytton.livejournal.com/ and look up my FIRST review from California Cowgirl http://vaquerogirl.blogspot.com/search?q=Bull+Rider Happy Day!

Book Signing and Junior Library Guild

Wanted to invite any of you in the Reno area to my first, official book signing, Saturday, March 14, Sundance Bookstore near Fifth Street and Keystone in Reno, NV. Would love to have a great turnout. And, I got a pretty, shiny gold (tone) pin from the Junior Library Guild today because they selected Bull Rider for their Spring collection. They keep sending me notes that say they are a bell weather in choosing books that go on to more awards and accolades. From their lips to God's ears. For now, I have the pin :). Come by on Saturday if you can.

Amazing Sunny Day

Sunny Day keeping the clouds away - it is sunny and the two year old is enjoying the wonders of watching the bubbles in the washer. Yesterday a stick and pond water occupied him for half an hour. The world is indeed wonderful from two feet off the ground and we are blessed to share that.

Yesterday, Cory Farley interviewed me on his radio show here in Reno, and it was tons of fun. He really liked Bull Rider and that, of course, felt very, very, good. Thanks Cory and I hope you like the ending as well as the first half of the book.

And we had a three way skype conversation on three continents and three time zones. I am constantly amazed. Guess it runs in the family.