Author Archives: Amy Jane

Books I Read (Finished) in 2008

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I stopped writing reviews pretty early, and I don’t know if I’ll remember everything, but this is what I can think of now. In the order I pulled them off the shelves– not necessarily the order in which I read them.

At least some are re-reads: (R), and I refrained from listing the (probably numerable, but only with too much work) children’s picture books I read.

  • A Mom Just Like You
  • Homeschooling: Take a Deep Breath— You Can Do This!
  • Home by Choice
  • Fire-Hunter (R)
  • Coraline (Gaiman)
  • Sport (Fitzhugh) (R)
  • Perilous Gard (Pope) (R)
  • On Writing (Stephen King)
  • Stein on Writing (Sol Stein)
  • Becoming a Writer (Brande)
  • The Bridge (Massi) (R)
  • Swan Sister (ed. Datlow/Windling)
  • The Princess and the Hound (Harrison)
  • East (Pattou)
  • A Well-Timed Enchantment (Velde)
  • Russian Tales of Fabulous Beasts and Marvels (Wyndham)
  • Cinderellis and the Glass Hill (Levine)
  • Dream or Destiny (Ammann)
  • The Book of Dragons (Hague)
  • The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (R) to the kids
  • The Horse and His Boy (R) to the kids
    • I started a number of other chapter books, and while the kids will sit and listen, they never really got into any of these.  I’ve mostly stopped attempts for now, realizing I could run out of good reads too early if I start them too young.  There are too many *excellent* picture books (requiring more of their readers) to urge them quickly into chapter books.

I was going to do a short series on reading, but ended up making a 2009 Books page instead.  With my decision to stop buying (which I hope to better on this year than last) I descided to try my first reading challenge and am looking at my un-read collection with anticipation.

7 Quick Takes for the New Year

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~ ~ 1 ~ ~

Looks like it’s going to be another chilly entry into the new year: -30° and colder since two days after Christmas, and a bunch of highs near -40° through at least next Monday.

Anybody whose been complaining about your winter weather can be reminded now: It could be worse.

I’ve lived here most of my life, am very content indoors and we rarely have much wind on these cold days– So “it could be worse” even for me.

For example, this could (and has!) happen(ed) during a week when Jay had to drive to work each morning.  Thankfully he has this week off and we can hibernate if we so choose.

And the best part is a week of this and I’ll have no qualms about bringing in all the bedbuggy stuff still outside.  (Jay says he does, though, so I’m not sure what will happen.)

~ ~ 2 ~ ~

My “big” resolution, or goal, or… whatever you want to call it:

Nothing new this year.  Not even books– used or new.

This means not starting any new projects in 2009.

By contrast, in 2008, with an already-full life, I

The natural result of “nothing new” is no recreational buying.  No buying “on spec” (my gift shelf is well-stocked, my kids’ grow-into boxes ready, my homeschool books boxed and waiting.), and maybe even no buying without a list.

That last detail’s going to take more thought.

It means finishing the projects and books I’ve started (and bought to start), and training my mind to think first of what I have– even before the Library or other borrowing– because this isn’t first about saving money.  It’s about re-training my thinking.   The purpose of the exercise is to shift my thinking from “outward” and “exploring” to being more home- and contentment-centered.  Satisfied.

I have told myself I can buy books this year once/if I finish what I’ve already bought, but considering I’ve glutted myself a bit in the last two weeks, leading up to this challenge, that is even less likely to happen than is was last year when I tried the first time.

It is sobering to re-read that post and know my goal is exactly the same a year later.  But I also know that I made choices that led to discarding the effort, so (Lord willing) I’ll make a more purposed attempt this time around.

The first thing is to not go into a bookstore– because I *will* find something I’d like to buy (Yesterday I made sure to empty my B&N gift card and buy the one book left to complete the last of 2008’s series’ collecting).  The rest I guess I’ll figure out as I go along.

~ ~ 3 ~ ~

I just introduced the idea of “chore charts” to the kids yesterday, and made one for myself as well.

Since I felt it would be either overwhelming or depressing to actually list everything I must do, I just made a 3-point chart for me:

  • Read Bible
  • Exercise
  • Brush dog

I like having such a short list to look at; especially since I sometimes make serious to-do lists on the side.  My three little stickers at the end of the day feel so fulfilling I have no questions about why this works for children.

~ ~ 4 ~ ~

Starting the book Opening Your Child’s Spiritual Windows tonight raised a lot of questions in my mind.  Most about the nature of my relationship with my children.

Slantwise about the legitimacy of my writing and my desire to read so much YA fiction this year.  I (mentally) compared Fire Arrow with OYCSW and can see the value so much clearer in the second.

But unless I feel the call to write being withdrawn (which I haven’t) I have to assume they both are important.  Not because I expect FA to change my life (as OYCSW might) but because I need to be faithful to develop the skills God has called me to build.

~ ~ 5 ~ ~

I forget now where, but recently I read someone who insisted the way you become a better writer is 50% by writing and 50%  by reading.

Thinking on the implications of this I determined to keep it “before my eyes” (hence my massive reading goals).  I want to keep this in mind, because if I let my approach to the craft slip too much into writing alone (however important I know that practice to be) I fear I’ll fall into an underlying arrogance; that I might imagine I can improve simply from within, without external input.

And that goes against everything I say I believe.

~ ~ 6 ~ ~

My reading list– all books (though not all the books) that I have waiting on my shelves– is in my new right-hand column.

I have a new page listing what I’ve finished, what I’m reading, and a few thoughts on each as I go along

No reviews here, and no spoiler-warnings either: just the notes I want to keep for myself, and they won’t be spoilers for me.  Consider yourself duly (dully?) warned.

~ ~ 7 ~ ~

I *love* my new blog template.  It’s set up with all the changeable options (fonts, colors, widths) in an actual menu, so I don’t have to go digging though the style sheet to find them.

Anyone who’s tried to wiggle their own template details will understand when I say:

Absolute *delight* to work with.

More 7 Quick Takes at Jen’s place.

More Than a Victim of Circumstance

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My favorite show this year of is Chuck.

Disclaimer: While the violence (people are shot, occasionally) is incongruously “clean,” the producers haven’t tried to shift away from the standard draw of the sexy female spy, so if that’s gonna bug you, know yourself.  Nevertheless, I appreciate that the male MCs are remarkably appropriate in their spectrum of reactions to her.

This show is a delight both comedicly and for the storytelling.  Our sweet, bumbling, ah shucks title character is smart enough to think on his feet, even when the computer in his brain (roll with me here) doesn’t give him any practical answers for getting out of the trouble “knowing too much” gets one into.

Latest great line: “Wow.  Those 7 years of MacGyver finally paid off.”

Every episode this season (and I do mean every episode– I checked) has had me embarrassingly on the edge of my seat and has resolved (however implausibly) from elements solidly presented beforehand and belonging in that world.

The interesting thing to me is how Chuck (the character) has grown from the first season.  At the very beginning he was little more than a victim of (highly improbable) circumstance.  Anything he did well was basically stopgap (“It’s never. safe. in the car!”) or a fluke.

Now the writers have matured him into a mostly pro-active component of the team, allowing his actions to be both effective and detrimental to the case of the week.

~ ~ ~

I am thinking of this just now because I’ve been mentally compiling a collection of information that highlights my novel’s biggest weakness just now.

Linnea (my MC) is in this folktale where stuff happens to her: throwing her world wildly upside down anytime she starts to get comfortable.  I would despair at how ever to reconcile this to the “proactive” model of MC if I didn’t have the example of Chuck.

Trust me, the stuff he’s yanked into is improbable– but his reactions and what he precipitates as he talks his way out of them most definately is his own.

So as cheezey as it sounds (to the TV snobs), I have been using the examples of planting and set-up from Chuck to remind myself I can have both improbability and cohesive “self-determination” in the same story.  It’s becoming a fun combination.

Note to self re: Pens

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I know I am not the only writer with this issue, but every now and again I get an itch to buy a pen.

Doubtless this is our version of geek-/nerdness (take your pick.  I know the distiction is more important to some).

I have spent tooooo much time at Office Max, taking advantage of some patient clerk allowing me to try out any number of pens.

For future attacks– if I ever run out of what I bought today– I need to remember that the way to deal with this is to go down to Value Village and buy one of their 99-cent bags of pens.

I bought two today and have 17 new implements (not counting what I gave to my kids and DH) with 4 or 5 tips, and I am looking forward to my hand-work today.  Plan to finish the sequencing on the fanale I began here.

Busy Christmas

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Jay was sick, and slept most of the afternoon, but he got the bed put together yesterday so I was able to do the rest.

We are finished with our new arrangement, and tomorrow I hope to have my writing area set up.  And actually in use, too.

I’m excited, and trying not to get psyched out.

In the process of moving all my furniture (and emptying shelves before I could) I was reminded about the projects and books I have collected over the years.  Reminded once again that I could probably entertain myself with any collection of activities I delight in– without spending any money for at least a year.

Then I’m reminded that it is also the process and finding of the “treasure hunt” that I find so engaging.  I wonder how to reprogram myself to think first of what I have…

(I’ll take suggestions here.)

Of Roundabouts and Red lights

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The number of roundabouts in the United States is growing, despite, apparently, a vehement dislike of them by many Americans.

The arguments in their favor explain their increased use: primarily safety and efficiency of movement as compared to a traditional four-way intersection.

A segment on NPR last month described the main objections as a feeling of being less-safe, this primarily because the *when* to go is dependent on each driver, and varying levels of insecurity will make some drivers more hesitant to enter the circle.

The author in this segment discussing traffic argued that this hesitancy was exactly what made roundabouts more safe than traditional intersections, as everyone has to pay more attention.

A traffic light is nice because we can just go when we’re told.  If we get creamed we know it was the other guy’s fault and everybody agrees with us.  If we get creamed on a roundabout (fairly rare as speeds and angles all inhibit the possibility) it’s invariably our own fault.  And that’s harder to live with.

~

The topics of vaccinations and antibiotics (among others) have become hot topics of debate among modern mothers.  Some decry these artificial interventions as unnecessary and setting their children up for greater problems down the road.

Other mothers cling to them as “life-savers” in both the literal and hyperbolic meanings of the phrase.

Regardless of their leanings, most parents bemoan the sometimes arbitrary guidelines and murky information swirling about these topics, and regret together the lack of consensus.

I suggest that here is a classic application of the roundabout versus stop-light mentality.

Life would be so much simpler if we could just feel safe to trust the green light, but that view of reality assumes that the rest of life will flow according to best-case-scenario.

I do use both debatable examples given here, but I try to use them thoughtfully: antibotics under advisement after waiting, and some vaccinations later than scheduled because my children were under the curve for weight.

I’m one of those “life-saver” moms who has seen too many benefits outweighing the risks, but I have met moms from the other side, and their experiences are no less valid.  This is why we all need to learn to think for ourselves.

I believe some things– maybe most things, though we get tired of the work– are better when they require individual weighing of each situation.  Bad choices (in my experience) are regretted less if they were well-reasoned and seemed sensible ahead of time.  There is at least a small consolation that I didn’t stumble stupid into something.  I earned it.

And where I seek the rest of my consolation is in looking to learn enough from each latest mistake that I won’t repeat it.

More about light

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In honor of Winter Solstice today.  Life only gets brighter from here!

I have realized that that I am truly an adapted Alaskan.  While sunlight affects me artificial light is at least as important to me, if not more so, because I expect more of it.

~

When I was in Bermuda I watched the light fade each evening, marveling at the unusual experience of warm darkness.  I was in an alternate reality that didn’t feel much different from exploring under the ocean.

I walked along the beach without my flashlight.  I had the way-cool experience of swimming after dark with only the pool lights from under the water to illuminate things.

And, btw, chlorinated saltwater is just about the worst thing I’ve ever tasted.

I was not the least bit fazed or unnerved by the darkness outside.  What disturbed me was returning to my hotel room, and feeling I was in a perpetual twilight.

Attempting to work late one night I tried turning on both lamps beside my work table.  Their light barely escaped the lampshades and did little for my keyboard.  I could hardly stand it; a feeling like claustrophobia fingered its way up my back.

And it was this way every night.

Add discovering bedbugs to that experience

~

Jay has more than once said, “I wonder what I’d be doing if I lived 1,000 years ago…”  And I feel the same way.  I could still be a mother and a storyteller, but I wonder if I’d be as stable as I am now with the (God-be-Praised) blessing of artificial light.

When we moved into our home six years ago, the kitchen was the only room we felt was sufficiently lit: two fixtures with two florescent tubes each.  Jay added another pair in the living room and replaced the 60-watt incandescents in the bedrooms and hallway with much brighter florescent bulbs.

Jay’s ideal alarm is a slider increasing the light.  My ideal morning is lit by both the kitchen and joining living room.  Darkness– a light simply left off and the drapes closed– was enough to keep any of my babies out of a room, no gate required.  We are a family of light lovers. Praise God he provided for us to live in this age.  With all its confusions we know he has equipped us for it, and the simple comfort of light is a reminder of His provision.

I am thankful beyond words for all the kinds of  light God provides, and today I rejoice at the turning of this corner and the returning of the sun.

Happy Solstice everyone!

Seven Quick Takes (Vol. 3)

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Again, from Jen’s idea.

~ ~ 1 ~ ~

Jay’s talking about wanting a pellet-burning stove.  I’m asking where it will go.

I’m asking for a double bed with drawers.  It will take up less room (in our little room) than the queen-sized bed (we never use all that space anyway), and let us get rid of at least one dresser.

Both changes will make more room for book cases ;)  Eventually.

~ ~ 2 ~ ~

The cast list was sent out last week, and my name was by “doting mother,” which comes just before a list of “my” seven children (a boy, three girls and my own three kids).  This might have seemed really cool, except just a couple days before Jay had fielded a call while I was out, inviting me to play “the matron.”

Leaving aside the self-image rearrangement that I looked more like a “matron” than a lady (hmmm?) the description of the role he was given created some questions that have yet to be cleared up.

  • The role was described as comic relief
    • I’ve never actually done “comic relief” before.  My humor is more about situational stuff and wordplay.  It would be a new thing to learn.
  • Am I the “doting mother” or the “matron” who’s constantly dumping her seven kids on Cinderella (highlighting her helpless plight)?
    • The compatibility of the two alludes me
  • What is the behavior of these 7 children?
    • I have yet to see a comedy where the children behave properly
    • I e-mailed the director and said I would be willing to herd 7 children, but not 7 brats (I suppose that was horrid, but it’s true.)
    • I’ve often thought that more intimidating than unruliness (and less-frequently explored, perhaps because it’s more complex) is the “perfectly behaved” children who are positively devious and make their digs by cunning rather than brute-brattyness.
      • This possibility actually creeps me out more than spiders.  Or at least as much.

~ ~ 3 ~ ~

I have my latest project (with Christmas for the deadline): dollhouse dolls.

I was so excited to see Barbara Curtis‘s post about the hugely discounted M&D dollhouse that I bought it the same day (it’s still going for under-retail now, but then it was $47.99, I think).  Local retailers ended up being out of the little dolls, so now I am in the process of making little flexible family members to live in said house.

It may even turn into an “entrepreneurial opportunity” as one owner of a sold-out shop emphatically affirmed her store would be very happy to offer locally made dolls.

(We’ll see how interested I am after I finish our own bundle)

~ ~ 4 ~ ~

I was at Barnes and Noble yesterday, considering all the delicious ways to spend a gift card, and the oddest thing happened as I cruised the section of the children’s department where I read the most.

I felt a claustrophobic tightening in my chest.  Just standing and looking at books was making me dizzy, and not in a good way.

This I’ve noticed only once before: when perusing the Lloyd Alexander section in my local library.  Dude’s got a gobzillion books out!

I can only suppose the feeling is a goulash of emotions: anticipation (someday I’ll be there), anxiety (when will that be?  When will I be done?), overwhelmed-ness (at the prolific-ness of other writers), and maybe even jealousy (at the freedom they seem to have in order to be prolific…)

I had to make myself be still and pray, waiting for God settle my mind and emotions before I could finish looking for the book I wanted that day.

Unreal, but making me again thankful I have a God who’s bigger than my emotions.

~ ~ 5 ~ ~

Once that was over I propped myself in one of the cushy chairs by their circular fireplace and worked some more on the timeline of my novel.  I had two distinct packages emerge in the process, and solved a squished-time dilemma (I’ve needed an extra day and just found where it belonged).

So, I have to give Jay’s fireplace idea some credence.  There’s a lot to be said for watching the flames.  It’s like a shower for your brain.  At least for me, having something visual and real, but inconcrete, was very useful.

~ ~ 6 ~ ~

I’ve decided I like to eat too much for weights or Pilates to be enough exercise.

Not that I eat a lot (I imagine I’ve got that under control) I just like, a lot, to eat.  And the stuff I want to eat, that I’ve been eating, has maintained me 13-lbs above my target weight (trust me when I say my target is not unrealistic, or even low, for my height).

The trick, as with all exercise, is finding something sustainable.

Free weights and Pilates are doable because I can take from books and do them in my living room.  The walking with my dog has been put on-hold because sub-zero walks are far from the motivating delight “normal” walks are.

I’ve considered a step, as I like the space requirements and exercising to music, but I’ve not taken the plunge yet.

We did see one in the same place Jay noticed a pull-up bar he wanted, so we may end up getting both together.  Maybe for a new-year’s project.

~ ~ 7 ~ ~

After looking yesterday at all three furniture stores in-town, Jay decided he wants to build the bed frame himself.

His goal is to get the main support and frame built this weekend (so we can buy a mattress and get our bed off the floor) and to design it so that a later-constructed set of drawers may be slid under it whenever they are completed.

This was the design we liked best out of what we saw, only most of these drawers were simple “friction” drawers, where you needed to drag a wooden box out of a wooden hole.

Jay knows he can do better than that, though he/we might not even have bothered, truly, if it weren’t for the exorbitant cost of new furniture.  If I’m paying over a thousand dollars for an item (we’re pushing a house-payment here!) I expect to get *exactly* what I need.

I suppose we could be considered unreasonable consumers.  But there you are: Jay will take on a project, same as me, when he knows he can do it as well, or better, then what is otherwise available.

So the bed will come before the fireplace– but I expect the next time we’ve saved some house money the fireplace will be next.

My “Ultimate” Wish-list

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(From Becky’s idea a bit ago)

I didn’t reply right away, because I was still smothering under the simple “what would you like this year” questions (not that I dislike them, it’s more that I hate finding a question I both don’t know the answer to, and don’t know how to look up the answer to).

When I was in high school I had a friend who, his girlfriend observed, was impossible to buy for: “If it’s affordable he’s already bought it.  If it isn’t, who can?”

Now I see I’ve become this person, so any “wishes” would fall into the “who can?” catigory.

But having thought on it a while, have a few ideas.  The first three are on my “when I sell my first book” list.

  1. Laptop with illuminated keyboard
  2. a CA Cargo (travel-sized guitar)  *not* in the green pictured.
  3. Placeholder (just because I”m certain there are 3, and I can’t remember it just now)
  4. new dishwasher (mine is starting to smell like burning rubber whenever I use it)
  5. Custom bookcases for the remaining wall-space in my home
  6. A lever/Celtic harp– either full-size or lap (or both…) in Cherry or some other light-colored wood.
  7. A self-cleaning house (or someone to hand the responsibility to)
  8. Finished novel and interested publisher(s)
  9. The goody-*squee!* moment of realizing my book is good enough– selling enough– that not only can I finish paying off my house, but also I get the dizzy delight of financing Becky’s Chinese adoption. ;)

In which I admit

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to being a book glutton.

Mostly this confession is to preface a rambling (?) extensive (!) list of my favorite finds this year.

I find myself buying in bulk (I’m nearly always buying from used-book stores, so at least this isn’t financial suicide) and who knows if that intriguing title will still be there the next time I come back….

Whenever I bring home books I write the month/year on the title page, so I always know the context and timing of the purchases.  This is meaningful to me for some reason.

I considered going to Amazon and linking all of these, but as this is one of those mostly for my own benefit posts, I figured I’d just have the list up for me, and if anything intrigues you enough, let me know and I”ll add the link for it.

And I suppose this could be a sort of bragging– about what my book-buying experience is like– but by the same token it could be to my shame as well; proving beyond doubt that there’s no way I can keep up with the number of books I’m buying.  Proving I should stop for a while. Even if I don’t.

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