10 Year Blog Anniversary & Sabbatical in England

Radcliffe Camera, Oxford University

Ten years ago I started this blog before moving to England for a year long sabbatical. My kids' adventures at British schools inspired me to write a young adult novel, which I'm now revising on location. My husband has returned to Oxford University for a second research fellowship. Henry is writing an academic book on media & politics in Japan, the UK, and the USA. Given the political situation in the USA, we're almost wishing our four month sabbatical could be four years!

With blog buddy Beth@TRAC 9 years ago in Oxford

So much has changed in a decade online. Back in 2007 few people had heard of blogs or social media. I expected my blog to be an efficient way to update family and friends while abroad, but my followers soon grew beyond people I knew and spread across national borders.

We connected via our passions for reading, art, travel, and nature. Some of you became art clients too. Although our political views have sometimes differed, I appreciated getting to know people who were different from me.

The internet can be a hostile place, but I love how our community is respectful and open-minded. I have learned so much from my fellow bloggers. You kept me company in England, followed me back home to Maine, and more recently, to Japan. Thank you for posting and for commenting!

University Parks: a twenty minute walk from our sabbatical home.

My back-to-back sabbaticals abroad (including Japanese lessons!) left little time for blogging. Now that I'm settled in our temporary home with reliable wifi, I'll be updating more regularly. If you need a soothing distraction from the worries of the world, I'll be writing about books and life in Oxford. I'll post more about Japan when I return to writing that new novel. I'm looking forward to catching up with you too. Cheers!

Recovering from jet lag at the Catherine Wheel, my British husband's village pub.

Wading Into Revision

High tide at Simpson's Point, photo by my husband

Midway through a Maine summer, the water is finally "warm" enough to swim without a wetsuit. I wade in slowly, giving my body time to acclimate.

Above me, an osprey is circling. Without any hesitation, she dives toward the sea with a big splash. Flapping in her claws is an enormous fish. She wings off to her nest before a bald eagle can steal her catch.

As greenhead flies buzz toward me, I plunge into the water. The islands are too far away, but the point across the estuary is close enough. I rest on the rocks, admiring the view, before swimming back to shore.

At home there's an email from my agent with editorial notes on my manuscript. She has reread my YA novel and is bubbling with enthusiasm. There are no major changes but a myriad of tweaks. Although her critique is excellent, I'm overwhelmed by the number of notes, listed chapter by chapter. Then I remember that rocky point within my reach. I wade into the first chapter.

I'm taking a blog break to finish my manuscript revisions. You may find me in the ocean or tweeting at day's end. I'll be back to blogging regularly in September. Enjoy your summer!

Bookstore Watch: Main Point Books is moving from Bryn Mawr to Wayne, Pennsylvania. I'll be helping my friend reopen her bookstore on Saturday July 30th for the midnight release of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. If you live nearby, stop in to say hello. I'll be wearing a witch's hat with a little black dress just because.

Blogging Tip: Recently an artist's lifework was erased when Google deleted his blog. To back up your Google content, including your blog archive, follow this link. It took me only a few minutes to create and to download a zip file of nearly a decade of blog posts. You may need to download an app to unzip it.

Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales

Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales could be a Millennial epilogue to Ibsen's A Doll's House. As much as I empathized with Nora's domestic frustrations and her desire for personal fulfillment, I always wondered how her departure affected her children. In a nod to Ibsen's 1879 play, the protagonist daughter of Sales's young adult novel had a line of dolls created in her image. Arden fears that "the most exciting moment in her life was already past."

In Tonight the Streets Are Ours, a devoted stay-at-home mom has left her family without warning or explanation to move to New York City from the Maryland suburbs. Her workaholic husband retreats to his office and into fantasy football, leaving the housekeeping to their seventeen-year-old daughter. Arden mothers her little brother, supports her egocentric boyfriend and takes the blame when her best friend stashes weed in her locker. "Recklessly loyal" Arden could have starred in an Ibsen play herself, but she prefers stage crew and life out of the spotlight.

As an escape from her problems, Arden becomes obsessed with a blog, Tonight the Streets Are Ours. The arts school blogger lives big in New York City; Peter shares her frustrations with loved ones and a hope for an ideal romance. The proverbial gun is placed center stage and the reader waits for Arden to pull the trigger. However, what happens when Arden drives off to New York City defies expectations.

The cast features diverse characters with realistic flaws who make mistakes. My only criticism would be that the pace was a bit slow in the first half, but it accelerates on the road trip with reckless glee. This edgy book explores the meaning of love with both humor and philosophical depth. Risky behavior has life altering consequences. Tonight the Streets Are Ours is delightfully whimsical, emotionally poignant and true to Millennial teens.

The sassy narrative voice was spot on:

"They both watched as Dillon Rammstein lit up a joint and Matt Washington shouted at him to 'Take that shit outside, man.' Dillon shoved past the girls' couch to go onto the patio. It was reassuring to know that Matt was such a conscientious host." 

"Nobody seemed particularly interested in playing charades, or any game that didn't involve killing computer generated prostitutes."

From Peter's blog:

"I do not understand Vitaminwater, by the way. Drink some water. Eat some vitamins. Are you so busy that you need those two tasks combined into one? I mean, I know New Yorkers have a lot going on, but chill the hell out."

Bloggers will be interested in the gap between the real world and the life portrayed online. An unreliable blogger makes for good satire of social media and of the New York publishing world. The author is also an editor of young adult fiction. Sales clearly knows her Ibsen and the Brooklyn club scene. Could there be a better juxtaposition?

I discovered the author's previous novel, This Song Will Save Your Life, while browsing in Longfellow Books in Portland, Maine. After two brilliantly original books with awesome soundtracks, Leila Sales has joined my favorite author list. Her young adult novels would appeal to fans of Jennifer E. Smith's and of Stephanie Perkins's YA romances. However, Tonight the Streets Are Ours is more than a teen romance; it's also a cautionary tale for high achieving girls and their over-extended super moms.

Reviewer's Disclosure: I requested a free digital galley from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Tonight will be released in hardcover and in ebook on September 15th, 2015.

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Painting on the Coast of Maine

Watercolor Painting of Sagahadoc Bay, Georgetown, Maine

At this time of year, I swap my writer's cap for an artist's cap. In late summer and early autumn, the light sharpens, making the colors more intense. It's warm but not too hot to sit outside painting for hours. With my eyes trained on a distant horizon, instead of a computer screen, my vision improves (confusing my optometrist). I hoard sunshine to get through the long winter. Can you believe it's already the end of July?

This year my painting time will double count as book research: my next young adult novel will be set in coastal Maine. Once my kids are back in school, I'll head to Monhegan Island with my art bag and a notebook for a few days. I love my jobs!

The above watercolor of Sagahadoc Bay will be flying to a new home in London. The client is an ex-pat American with a summer house near my home, but we didn't meet in person. She found my blog through my book reviews. Her family wants to bring a part of Maine back to England with them. I'm pleased to see my painting go to a loving new home.

Even after six years of blogging, it still amazes me that two women with similar life stories (my family has lived in England too) can meet almost randomly in cyberspace. Blogging makes the world seem both smaller and bigger. We are part of a community that stretches beyond national boarders. And what a beautiful world it is!

Maine Artists: note that this year state tax returns must be filed twice. General sales tax in Maine is rising from 5% to 5.5% in October. One return is due October 15th and the other (October-December sales) is due January 15th. Sigh. At least this doesn't affect out of state sales.

6 Year Blog Anniversary

It's hard to believe that I've been blogging for six years. When I started in 2007, my aim was only to update friends and family about our adventures in England. My husband was taking a sabbatical at Oxford University, and I was gathering material for a novel about an American on her junior year abroad. Every week, I blogged about new and beautiful places. Many of you found me online back then and followed me home to Maine. I followed you all over the globe. 

The best part of blogging is the diverse community. Last week's post on the Drinking Age in the UK vs the USA received comments about the laws in Hungary, Canada, Japan and Chile. Others shared their experiences of raising teens in the USA and in the UK. I'm grateful for all your comments and your fascinating posts. I have learned so much from you.

Another example of our community being helpfully informative was when I posted Advice to New Bloggers to guide a friend new to blogging. Over three years that post has gathered 72 comments with more helpful tips than I could have thought of on my own. I love how our words continue to live online and gather new responses. 

Through blogging, I've connected with other writers who share my passion for books. On the first Wednesday of every month for nearly four years, author Barrie Summy has been hosting a book review club. In addition to that group, many of you recommend good books to me as well. Being online encourages me to read more offline too. 

Your words and images inspire me. What I see, I want to share with you. I do not walk alone in the snowy fields thanks to your company.

So let me raise a virtual glass to say thank you. 

Your lovely blogs, thoughtful comments and friendship have improved my life. 

Cheers!

Life online: can you be over-connected?

Offline painting on Bailey Island earlier this autumn.

Although I can be quite social and outgoing, by nature I'm a hermit. When I write fiction, I disconnect from the internet and only answer phone calls from my children. The places where I paint my watercolors often lack cellphone reception, but that is a plus. Solitude allows me to slip into a meditative state of creative concentration. Still, as much as I need isolation to work, I crave social connection too. Face time is best, but the internet is useful for one who lives in a remote location.

Five years of blogging have lead me to new friends, who share my passion for books, nature and art. The view from my small town in Maine has broadened to foreign horizons. I've been introduced to new authors and toured beautiful gardens. A blog post is long enough to delve into a topic in depth and also allows interactive comments. Blogging is not the soapbox I feared it would be but an enlightened conversation. By meeting new people, whose paths wouldn't usually cross ours, we are forced to think outside the box and to consider different perspectives.

For years, blogging and email sufficed to maintain distant connections, but after Sandy struck, I lost contact even without losing power myself. I worried about friends and family in NYC and others in neighboring states. When emails remained unanswered, I joined Facebook and twitter to track down loved ones and blog buddies. Borrowed internet provided time for only a quick tweet or Facebook update, but it was enough to let me know they were okay. Technology is a marvel, a virtual campfire, as others have said. It warms our souls.

In the process of checking in with Sandy victims, I also reconnected with old friends, who had scattered all over the world. Many were now married with adorable children. As much as I dislike the needlessly complicated interface of Facebook and all the advertising, I now understand why people find it so addictive and forgo reading books. Limits will be key.

In some ways, I prefer the simplicity of twitter, but due to the public nature of tweets, it's better suited for work connections like my Linkedin account.


So now this Maine hermit is:

blogging,
tweeting,
updating on Facebook
and linking on Linkedin.
It's a 5-ring circus if you add
my website as a virtual art gallery.


Some have managed online multiplicity by posting simultaneously to all forums, but I don't think that approach usually works. Disconnect and redundancy happens. It looks unprofessional to whine about your kid's fever to business associates.

I'm concerned by how much personal information is out there for all to read. My guiding principle is to assume the last person I'd want to read my update will share it with a thousand clients. Think before posting.

Question: how do you manage this online cacophony and still find time for life offline?

Scout at Popham Beach last year.

Note: I'll be on blog vacation next week. Happy Thanksgiving! Next post on November 28th.

How to add blog pages with automatic forwarding or redirecting

 George J. Mitchell Field, formerly a US Navy Fuel Depot and now a public/dog park in Harpswell, Maine.

About once a year I give my blog a makeover.  My aim this time was to integrate my stand alone website (for my artwork and writing) with my blog.  I also wanted to reduce the clutter in my sidebar. On google blogger you can add up to 20 stand alone pages with tabs appearing under the banner (like mine) or in the sidebar. Thanks, Carol, for nudging me to add a homepage.

To add stand alone pages on Google Blogs:

Under the "Posting" tab click "Edit Pages"and then "New Pages." You create a new page like writing a blog post and then publish.

To create the automatic jump from the new page to my website, I added new code to my "Edit HTML" screen of the new page:

angelfire.com's instructions on adding automatic redirecting

This code would also work if you changed blog addresses and wanted to forward visitor to your new site. I changed the lag time from 1 to 5 seconds to accomodate search engines, but it jumps instantly due to the javascript. Don't worry, this is all much easier than it sounds.

More Posting Tips:

To improve your blog, read The Story Siren's Ten Things I Dislike About Your Blog. This is a must read post for all bloggers. The only point I disagreed with was word verification. I get bombarded with spam without it.

Here's my Advice for New Bloggers with your helpful comments.

Bookstore Watch: one of my favorite authors, Ann Patchett has opened a bookstore.

Shakespeare Watch: from the latest New Yorker, "Who Wrote Shakespeare," by Eric Idle. Hilarious!

Advice for New Bloggers 101

Skiing at the Brunswick Naval Air Station

My third anniversary seems the right time to share my experience of blogging, especially since my friend Maria Padian asked for advice as a newbie blogger. Do comment with more tips. As I said to Maria, the best part of blogging is the community.

My blog started as a place to gather material for my novels and to stay in touch with friends and family while living abroad. In 2007 my family was moving to England for a year. At lunch with my literary agent in NYC, she encouraged me to start blogging right away. She thought I’d enjoy it. I did, but it took months to build a following.

Back in 2007 the blogging community was barely connected. People were always asking, “What’s a blog?” This was in a time before “followers” and hyperlinked Blogger profiles. RSS feeds were brand new. Dial-up modems were common. Photos slow to load. WiFi rare. System crashes common. I typed in a shoebox in the middle of the road….

Nonetheless, my blog proved to be an invaluable writing tool and a storefront for my artwork. In England I was still working on my American novel S.A.D., and the Maine posts provided inspiration and material, like my lobstering jaunt. Now I revisit the Oxford posts to work on my English novel A MATCH FOR EVE (working title). I’ve sold paintings and photos as well, but the commercial side of blogging is secondary. I don’t sponsor advertisements, and I avoid commercial sites.

Most of all, it’s the community that makes blogging worthwhile. Writing and art are solitary occupations; you are my connection to the world. I look forward all week to my Wednesday blog days. There are true friendships in cyberspace. If you don’t believe that, then you aren’t a seasoned blogger.

 Now that I've broken the ice, let me share some blogging tips:

READ other blogs before you start to get ideas. Start commenting.

BLOGGER PROFILE: anyone can create a profile for free, even if your blog is hosted outside Google Blogger or you haven’t started. List all your interests; these are hyperlinks. Use them to find other bloggers who share your interests. Be sure to include an email so people can contact you. Enable share profile; it defaults to hide it.

BE YOURSELF: blogs are personal so get ready to share. Pick suitable content. Assume the last person you want to read it will. Be honest but don’t be snarky or mean. People may still identify you under a fake name.

DON’T SELL: a sales pitch is a big turn off. Many author blogs are boring because all they post are signings, fan mail, sales figures and reviews of their books. If you post good content, people will be interested in your books.

LENGTH: too short is better than too long. People read lots of blogs. Long paragraphs are hard to read, so are colorful fonts and backgrounds. Don’t post every photo from your vacation. Occasional longer posts, like an author interview, are fine. Revise and condense. I know; I’m guilty of long posts like this one!

FREQUENCY: post regularly or you’ll lose your following. An occasional vacation is fine, but let us know when you’ll be back. You can program your blog to publish while you are away in EDIT POSTS under POST OPTIONS. Pick a rhythm that works with your lifestyle, be it weekly or daily. The social side of blogging is time consuming (but rewarding.)

COMMENTING: respond to comments promptly either on your blog or on the commenter’s. Delete ads and abusive comments; don’t respond to them. Visit other blogs and leave comments about that post, but don’t push your blog. If you write thoughtful comments, they’ll come visit you too via your profile. Don't post the same comment every time and everywhere.  This is NOT a good comment: I love your blog, come visit mine - link.

FOLLOW: click on “follow this blog” in the sidebar, which will create an RSS feed in your blogger dashboard. Add a follow widget to your blog from LAYOUT. You can also add “blogs I follow” to your sidebar or reveal it on your profile. Don't wait for followers to find you; go find them.

LINK LOVE: to create a community, link to other blogs in your posts and sidebar. If you read a cool post, share it. Personally, I find awards that require the recipient to post and to pass them as irritating as chain letters. I have my own feature, “blog watch,” where I link to posts of interest with no strings attached. Feel free to use that meme but credit me. If you borrow a meme, always credit the source with a link.

ROUND UPS: to broaden your circle, join a regular blog round up. Visit and comment on all posts. I’m a regular contributor to the monthly Book Review Club hosted by Barrie Summy. You can even host your own.

PROTECT MINORS: do not post photos of children with their names and location. There are sick people out there. Also your kids, as they get older, will value privacy. If you swear or post unsuitable content, Google Blogger will ban you.

RESPECT COPYRIGHT: quote and cite written material.  Add a link if it came from another blog.  Get permission to repost from another blog.  Do not reproduce artwork or photos without permission from the artist or at very least cite the source with a link. Better yet, post your own photos. Add a watermark to discourage copyright infringement.

BOOK BLOGGERS: explain your review criteria and post it in your sidebar along with your contact email. FTC rules in the USA require that you state if you received a free product, like an ARC. Reveal personal connections. Don’t expect publishers to send you ARCs until you have a large following and stats to prove it. Visit your library or join online book swaps if you are short on cash.  Everyone knows that Jane Austen is good; review new authors, who need help getting their name out there. You don't need permission to post book jackets, short quotations (but check with publisher if an ARC), book trailers or links to authors. Story Siren posts helpful blogging advice and excellent YA reviews. She has become a hub of the YA blogging community by facilitating connections. Dovegreyreader scribbles blends personal life (Devon, England) with quality reading; I love her blog.

TRACKING STATISTICS: anyone with a Google account can use Google Analytics for free. There is a link to "Analytics" on your "My Account" page. Follow instructions to install the html code on your blog. Don't worry about low stats. It can take 6 months for search engines to find a new site.

HAVE FUN: blogging should not feel like a chore. If it does, take a vacation or stop. Forced posts or whiny ones are not fun to read. If you have nothing to say, you are spending too much time online. Get out there. Enjoy!

If you have more blogging tips, please add a comment.  So ends Blogger 101.

Note: shoebox line adapted from Monty Python.  I shot the photos at the Brunswick Naval Air Station last weekend.  My son took the photos of me and Stella in the fields.  Dogs aren't allowed on the groomed ski trails.  Maria Padian is a young adult author; check out her new blog, Teens, Writing and Randomness, and say hello.

as u like it

Ready for a revelation? I just finished writing my first young adult novel. In “as u like it” the themes of a Shakespeare play echo in the teen actors’ lives. The plot and characters are original, and the story is set now in NYC. The tone is light and entertaining.

For “as u like it” I drew on my experience growing up in Manhattan. My twelve-year-old daughter helped me make the characters sound up to date. I have tons of material with a tween girl and a teenaged boy living in my house. It was so much fun being able to work on a book with my daughter.

My children introduced me to the fabulous world of young adult literature that has blossomed since Harry Potter. Even though my kids have outgrown bedtime stories, I still like to read along with them occasionally. I’ve learned more about young adult fiction from book bloggers, like The Story Siren. The quality of the writing was a pleasant surprise. Fabulous authors, such as Laurie Halse Anderson, inspired me to try my hand at this genre.

Like any big production, there is a stage crew in the wings. My friend Marika Josephson (pictured at right), an assistant editor of KidSpirit Magazine, offered to be my first reader after my husband. Her experience working with 11-15 year olds was a big help as was her keen editorial eye. 

Two of my friends in Maine are young adult authors who encouraged me. Charlotte Agell (pictured at left) was a reader for “as u like it.” I was a reader of her latest novel, Shift. On dog walks Maria Padian and I discuss our works in progress. Her teenaged daughter was interested in my story and had experience at reading manuscripts critically.  Maria’s daughter and my daughter are fans of Shakespeare.

The manuscript needed several test drives. I purposely tried the story on a neighbor’s daughter who didn’t like Shakespeare. I wanted yet another reader who didn’t know me personally so Adrian (pictured below with me), who was a high school sophomore like the protagonist, was a great addition to my critique team. My young readers were really helpful, honestly critical and enthusiastic.

Writing for young adults is different than writing for older readers. Tweens and teens look for an emotional connection with the characters and demand a fast pace. YA books tend to be a bit shorter, 60K words instead of the 90K words norm for adult fiction. The author should avoid too much descriptive detail that can make the book drag. The story must be easy to follow.

Part of the reason I chose As You Like It was because it is one of the easiest of Shakespeare’s plays to read. It is written more in prose than in verse, and the main characters are teenagers in love. A central theme is the fickleness of reputation, one that resonates with teens today too. Shakespeare’s protagonist, Rosalind, kicks back when treated unfairly. She pulls the strings of love like a puppeteer. As You Like It was the first Shakespeare play I read for fun; I was 14 and taking acting at camp.

My aim is to make Shakespeare fun and understandable to anyone. A Bowdoin College professor of Renaissance Literature, Aaron Kitch (pictured at right) checked my Shakespeare and loved how it worked in the story.  My cousin Gabrielle Savoldelli checked the acting scenes and showed me teenaged hangouts in Manhattan, where she lives and teaches school.


Blog buddies helped too: Mama Shujaa (pictured at left) filled in Kenyan expat details, and Cynthia@Oasis Writing Link and her family proofed my Spanish. My book is fiction, but I wanted it to ring true.

While my literary agent has “as u like it,” I will get back to work on my next book. Like any mom, I’m used to multi-tasking. Looking back through my blog archives, I can trace the birth of this latest novel.

Some of you may remember that I got struck by a new book idea last December during an ice storm. I tried to ignore it so I could finish another work in progress first, but the new book wouldn’t leave me alone.

Remember that beach walk in February when I pondered the new book idea? By the end of that month, I had turned my full attention to writing “as u like it.” Now, while I wait to hear feedback from my agent, I’ll get back to work on the next book. I try to have several projects going on at once to avoid downtime. Book publishing is a slow industry.

You shouldn’t see a change in my blog since I’ve always posted content suitable for all ages. My kids read my blog. I’ll continue to read and to review both fiction and young adult fiction. But maybe I won’t post another cocktail recipe!

You can click on the “as u like it” label below to follow the blog string. Photo of Aaron by Bowdoin College, of Mama Shujaa by Corey McGriff, of Marika by Wayne Kao, and photo of Adrian and me by Charlotte Agell. All other photos taken by me.

Visit my website for an as u like it jacket blurb.

Julie & Julia Movie Review

Recipe for a delightful movie:
Ingredients:
1 blogger
Meryl Streep as Julia Child
2 good marriages
gourmet food
humor

Mix ingredients in Paris and NYC. Spice with a pinch of rejection. Then add 2 book deals. Serve to an audience of bloggers, cooks, gourmands and people old enough to have watched Julia Child on TV.

Julie & Julia is a movie about an ordinary woman, Julie Powell, who cooked her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child (1961.) Julie cooked all 524 recipes in 365 days while working full time(!) She blogged about the experience. The other half of the movie follows Julia Child to Paris with her diplomat husband in the 1950s. Julia falls in love with French food, learns to cook at the Cordon Bleu and decides to bring classic French cooking to Americans by writing a cook book.



My mother used to watch Julia Child on TV, and Mastering the Art of French Cooking was on our kitchen bookshelf. After college, I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For special occasions my husband Henry and I shopped at Savenor’s, Julia’s butcher. We hoped to run into her near the ostrich steaks but never did.

Even though I can’t eat classic French cooking (I’m lactose intolerant,) Julia was my introduction to the love of fine food. There was the promise that gourmet food can be made by anyone. Well, anyone with a block of butter, a butcher knife and six hours spare time!

Reviews in The New Yorker and the NYT stated that the Julie/blogger part couldn’t match the Julia/chef part of the movie. The reviewers claimed that Meryl Streep doesn’t do a fine impersonation of Julia Child; she IS Julia. This was true. The screen lit up with Julia/Meryl in Paris. Julie's attempt to cook Julia’s recipes in just one year was a fun premise for a blog but didn’t work as well as a movie plot. Especially because the character in the movie was whiny and self-involved.

As a blogger, I was hoping to see more about the blogging community. Hollywood portrays Julie as an isolated journalist counting her comments and tracking her stats. My personal experience is that blogging is all about the interactive community of commenters AND other bloggers. True, Julie was blogging back in 2002, when most people didn’t even know what a blog was. There weren’t hyperlinks on the profiles to connect bloggers back then. But didn’t Julie have a few blog buddies?

I checked out a bunch of blogs before I started mine in January 2007; one was Julie Powell. Her blog was an inspiration to me, especially her fairytale story of going from “secretary” to “author,” thanks to her popular blog. Then Julie got a movie deal. In reality this doesn’t happen often, but this was a rare, true Hollywood moment.

One part of blogging that the movie captured well was the supportive/exasperated husband. They have an argument in which he shouts something like: “Are you going to put this fight on your blog?!” My husband thought this scene was hilarious. Henry, a master chef in our kitchen, loved all the cooking scenes too.

Bon appetit!

Good Books and Country Pubs in England

I’m back! I was in England these past two weeks researching NOT CRICKET and another novel in the works. After living in Oxford last year, it felt like coming home. We stayed with my husband’s family in Oxfordshire. I hear it rained for days on end in the USA, but the skies were mostly blue in England. That must be a first.

I met fellow blogger and friend, Bee, for lunch at the King William IV Pub in Hailey.

It couldn’t have been more scenic: a sunny hilltop overlooking a sheep farm at the end of a dirt road. This is actually the view from a picnic bench:

Sundays are barbecue days. Bee, a native Texan who now lives in England, was happy to tuck into tasty ribs and potato salad. I had Coronation Chicken and assorted salads. It was reasonably priced, and the setting was picture perfect. A kid friendly place too, although we left our kids and English husbands at home.

On a cooler day, it would have been cozy inside. After lunch, Bee and I walked along country lanes and through woods and fields, where we lost the path. We were so caught up in conversation, it hardly mattered. Bee posted her pub photos with a poem.

After our walk, we drove to The Swan at Streatley for cream tea. I didn't even have to ask Bee to pull over so we could photograph the Wizard of Oz like field of poppies (opening shot.)

The Swan's outdoor seating on the Thames was ideal, but the scones were overpriced and stale. A better choice would have been a pint of bitter (beer) or a Pimm’s on tap (a traditional English cocktail of fresh mint, fruits and liquor mixed with fizzy lemonade.) True to its name, swans swam by for a visit.

Like me, Bee is obsessed with books and bookstores. She recommended the Albion Beatnik in Jericho, just down the road from Oxford University Press. Although this quirky shop only just opened in November 2008, it felt like it had been in Oxford for decades. I went to visit it and 4 other bookstores in Oxford.

My favorite bookstore is still the library-sized Blackwell Bookshop.

I stepped into Waterstone’s to check out Girl Friday, the UK version of Jane Green’s latest novel. There was a huge poster on the shop window, advertising its release. I’m not quite sure why there are little white dogs on the cover since none feature in the story.

I prefer the American cover of Jane’s novel. They even have different titles. I’ll show a bunch more of UK versus American covers for the fun of it.

When it started raining, we jumped into Borders, and I laughed over the UK cover of Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It shows the back of a slim, young woman in a ball gown even though the novel is set in coastal Maine and the protagonist is a large, elderly woman with no fashion sense.

The American cover of Olive Kitteridge fits the content better, although it looks dull. Don’t let the lame covers fool you. The interlocking stories in this novel are perfect, except for one dud, “Criminal.” The style is understated but evocative, chock full of perfect sentences and images. Here’s one gem from “Pharmacy:”

“A block of winter sun was splayed across the glass of the cosmetics shelf; a strip of wooden floor shone like honey.”

This novel by stories revolves around one central character who is as offensive as she is appealing. Olive is prejudiced towards Jews and daughter-in-laws, but she was also a special teacher who made the difference for many students. Love her or hate her, you’ll still adore this 2008 Pulitzer Prize winning book.

Even though I was traveling with a heavy suitcase full of books, I couldn’t resist buying Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie, highly recommended by dovegreyreader scribbles. I fell in love with the gorgeous UK cover and the story was captivating and original. Shamsie covers the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in Japan and partition in India before moving the narrative to Pakistan and then to Afghanistan. The writing is beautiful, but the transitions between eras are choppy. It might have worked better as a series of historical novels as opposed to one globe trotting book.

I loved the protagonist Hiroko, a gutsy Japanese woman who wears linen trousers instead of kimonos. She completely defies all western stereotypes of Japanese women (even if the American cover on the right does not.)

Unfortunately I could not finish the book. On page 215 Burnt Shadows skipped back to page 140, missing 50 pages. I was on an airplane home and couldn’t exchange it at Blackwell’s. My worst nightmare. Honestly, running out of reading material worries me more than crashing or hijacking.

Luckily I was traveling with a backup novel, Testimony by Anita Shreve (American cover left is similar to UK cover below right.) This highly readable novel was perfect plane fare. It opens with a disturbing scene: a 14-year-old girl at a prep school is caught on tape having sexual relations with three boy students who are 4-5 years older than her. In the state of Vermont this is legally considered sexual assault. The story, however, is morally ambiguous.

Shreve’s Testimony is told in multiple voices like a Jodi Picoult novel. The child in crisis theme also felt more Jodi Picoult than Anita Shreve. At the back was an interesting interview of Shreve in which she called teenaged drinking and alcoholism “an epidemic.” Testimony is a warning, one worth listening to. Shreve avoids sounding preachy in her page turner novel.

On the plane ride to England, I read a much lighter but equally engrossing novel. I had bought The Truth About Forever for my daughter to read, but she was still engrossed in Harry Potter. Many of her friends had recommended the author Sarah Dessen, and I can see why. Dessen writes very well and is true to the teenaged experience of self-discovery (American cover left, cool UK cover below right.)

The Truth About Forever is about a 17-year-old girl who tries to be the perfect daughter after her father died. All comes unhinged when Macy takes a summer job catering and meets a flawed young man. Wes is a talented artist and former juvenile delinquent. Through chaos and passion, Macy learns how to live again. I’d recommend this young adult novel for girls aged 11-17, and their moms too.

Speaking of mothers, my mother sent me the perfect book to read on my English vacation. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows currently #1 on the NYT bestseller list for paperback trade fiction. It deserves it. Both my mother and my mother-in-law loved this 1940s era novel.

I don’t usually like books written in letters, and I’ve read too many World War II books already. Still, I fell in love with the Potato book (the title is too long to remember.) It made me laugh and cry. The writing, characters and story were all top notch. Plus it was lightweight and easy to read in bits. The covers are the same in both countries, but the quality of the paper is better in the American version.

Yes, I'm a compulsive bookaholic. On my journey I bought 5 more books.

Like the lupins, your comments on my last post were a warm welcome home to Maine. Thank you! I have a bunch of work things I have to do today, but I'll be back online tomorrow to respond to comments and to visit blogs. I'm looking forward to catching up with you.