Go the F**k to Sleep

Uh, you know how I’m always telling everyone that picture books are for adults too? Well, my friend Joseph just told me about a book that’s coming out next month for all of you who didn’t believe me.


I looked through the online pages of Go the F**k to Sleep and laughed out loud.

I bet you will too.

No matter how much you love your children, nieces, and nephews, you’ve thought this too. Even if you censored yourself with heck or flippin’, as I often do.

(Now that Z is a teen, he puts me to sleep. But that’s a story for another blog.)

Shadow Dancer by Louise Meriwether

I found Shadow Dancer by Louise Meriwether on my bookshelf. I must have bought it when I lived in Ohio because there is a sticker on it that says Half Price Books. I read the cover and decided to open it up. This quote from Lucille Clifton made it clear that I needed to read this book:


“Come celebrate with me

That everyday something has tried

To kill me and has failed.”

Then, as if Meriwether hadn’t already trapped me, the protagonist, Glenda, is in the hospital and doesn’t know how she got there. Well, of course I have to find out why her partner Mark tells her she was in an accident and it was his fault.

For the first time in a long time I read a book and enjoyed it while also really paying attention to the choices the author made. For example, the flashbacks to how Glenda and Mark started dating, the flashbacks to Glenda’s childhood that suggested why she was so insecure, and the decision to have Glenda and Mark get close and then throw a monkey wrench in it every time I thought I could breathe a sigh of relief and watch Glenda and Mark sail into the sunset helped me think about tension. If only I would add that kind of tension to my own writing. I just read an article in Writer’s Digest about parenting your characters. I have to stop doing that if I ever hope to write a story someone will find interesting.

Book Announcement

Miller Coffel, Cynthia. (2011). Thinking Themselves Free: Research on the Literacy of Teen Mothers. Peter Lang.




This book is definitely on my reading list.

Disclosure: I have been an admirer of Cynthia’s work since I read one of her pieces, "Strong Portaits and Stereotypes," in the ALAN Review.

Getting to Happy by Terry McMillan: The August Excerpt

“Sometimes you luck up and sometimes your luck runs out,” says Savannah in the excerpt of the Waiting to Exhale sequel, Getting to Happy, published in Essence (Aug., p. 62). To Savannah I say, tell me about it.

It turns out that Savannah is married to a fine church-going man, but it seems like the bubbles have fizzled out. That’s too bad.

Bernadine’s up next, if you’re wondering.

Guess What?

Yesterday, I was so excited when I saw a postcard for Renee’s new book. I hope I get to read it soon.




A Few Spells by Renee Olander

Is available at http://www.finishinglinepress.com/.

I heard her read a few poems at a Women's Club luncheon a few months ago and I like the one she shared with us today titled "Grace Sherwood, Witch of Pungo, Advanced in Age". I wish Renee would have read her poems when she came to the summer institute.

Getting to Happy by Terry McMillan

It’s probably no surprise to people who know me, but my favorite character in Waiting to Exhale is Gloria. The July issue of Essence has an excerpt from the Waiting to Exhale sequel, Getting to Happy, and it’s all about Gloria. I guess no one is surprised that Gloria married her neighbor, Marvin. But what about the grandchildren and Tarik being a lieutenant? I think I’m going to like this book. I guess I’ll find out when it’s published on September 7th.




Are you all following Getting to Happy in  Essence?

We find out about Savannah in the August issue.

Has anyone read excerpts from Terry McMillan’s New Book?

On Sunday, I noticed that The Virginian-Pilot reported that we can read excerpts of Terry McMillan’s sequel to Waiting to Exhale—Getting to Happy— in Essence magazine. According to http://www.essence.com/, the excerpts will appear in four issues beginning with June. Waiting to Exhale (the book and the movie) tickled me, so I hope to enjoy the sequel. Sometimes McMillan’s style reminds me of J. California Cooper and I love me some J. California Cooper.

Do you think reading literary novels is important?

This is not a rhetorical question. I really need help with this. I was asked this question on HearSay with Cathy Lewis, and I explained why I felt it is important for me to read literature, but because of my job and deep personal connection to literary works, my response did not cover people in general. I do not argue that there is a hierarchy, with literary novels ranked number one. I, too, enjoy reading nonfiction.


My best friend has a Ph.D. in reading and teaches reading in an elementary school in Georgia, so I asked him. He thought reading literature during adulthood is important because it exercises the imagination and visualization. He also felt that literary novels offer the opportunity to use the right brain in a way that nonfiction might not. Does anyone read literary novels anymore? Does reading literary novels matter at all?

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

I am so glad I read Sarah’s Key.


I learned stuff I did not know.

I did not know about the round up and deportation of Jewish families from Paris to Auschwitz.

I did not know about the children who were separated from their parents and killed.





The initial chapters alternate between Julia Jarmond (an expatriate journalist living in Paris) and Sarah Starzynski’s (a Vel d’Hiv survivor) stories. There were times when Sarah’s storyline was so intense I wanted to skip Julia’s chapters and go directly to Sarah’s. I was not happy when the alternating chapters ended and Julia’s contemporary life became the full focus. Yet, I had to keep reading because the book is suspenseful and well written.

The author's web site mentions a movie in the works.