December 2015 – Writer of Sweet Small Town Stories of Love and Family

Woe! It’s Wednesday: Waiting and waiting and wait…

Published on December 23, 2015December 20, 2015 by Live Vi-Carrie-ously

This year’s holiday season is full of firsts.

We have a grandson due any minute as I write this (Sunday). He’ll likely make his appearance today, so by the time you read this, he’ll already be three days old. But yesterday was going to be his birthday, and we thought Friday might be it, and we thought … well, you get the idea.

So we have our first grandson, our first December grandchild, our first Christmas while Dave’s been working again, so we have a Christmas break like teachers and students. He’s also been remodeling our bathroom. But each day, each week, other urgent things take his attention. He’s looking forward to this break to finish that project.

Being on baby alert means making all plans with a big question mark. It means my gifts should be wrapped by now (they aren’t) and all my baking should be done (it isn’t).

But who cares?? There’s a new baby coming to town!

Book Talk Tuesday: The Girl On The Train

Published on December 22, 2015December 20, 2015 by Live Vi-Carrie-ously

This one has been on best-seller lists for a while now and people have raved about it. I’m always behind on my TBR stacks so when it comes to bestsellers, I make a mental note but rarely seek them out.

The_Girl_On_The_Train_(US_cover_2015) A writer friend and I were recently discussing books and she recommended this one, so I reserved it at the library. Our discussion centered on how to make a basically unlikeable protagonist into a sympathetic character, someone the reader will root for. LoraLee mentioned THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN.

It’s told through the points of view of three women. We meet two of them through the point of view of the main protagonist, so we feel like we know them a little before we’re inside their heads. This worked really well for me. I liked the reminder that what we observe from the outside and what we think we know about someone, can all be false.

It’s part suspense, part murder mystery, part noir. There’s an alcoholic, blackouts, vomit, murder, blood, lies, and deception.

The other factor LoraLee and I discussed was books that keep you guessing. Books that the author has done an outstanding job giving clues but still the reader (or viewer–remember The Sixth Sense?) ends up surprised.

I had an inkling of the solution of this one, but I wasn’t certain at all until about the time the protagonist realized the truth.

It’s tough to review something like this book without giving away too much, so I’ve stayed vague.

I will say I liked this one a lot and I highly recommend it!

Media Monday: Christmas movies

Published on December 21, 2015December 20, 2015 by Live Vi-Carrie-ously2 Comments

I have two movies I must watch every Christmas season.

For several years now, while I’m wrapping, I watch Love Actually.

This is a 2003 movie, and IMHO, one of Richard Curtis’s best. There are several story threads that come together in the end. Which is one of my favorite plot devices and is probably why I love Liane Moriarty’s books so much.

It’s definitely not appropriate for family viewing, but I “get” it, and its themes of love and family and Christmas move me every year. I particularly love the ending song and montage. Because truly, God only knows what (and who), I’d be without my loved ones.

My other annual visit is to The Holiday with Kate Winslett and Jack Black in Los Angeles and Cameron Diaz and Jude Law in England. I’m not a huge Jude Law fan, but even I have to admit I see his appeal in this movie.

I watch this one late at night or on a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon with the house all dark and only candles and the lights on the tree for illumination.

I love the contrasting views of the holiday from the two different locales. I love the message (hmmm, strangely similar to Love Actually’s…) about family and love and commitment.

And it’s now the 21st and I’ve watched neither one yet this year. I guess you could say I’m behind, but I prefer to think of it as unrushed. I’ll get these two watched in the next few weeks and if it’s after New Year’s, that’s okay.

What are some of your holiday must-watches?

Woe! It’s Wednesday

Published on December 16, 2015December 12, 2015 by Live Vi-Carrie-ously2 Comments

This post is about why I’ve been not blogging for the last month.

I think both of my blog readers are also Facebook friends, so this won’t be news to anyone, I don’t think.

But we’ve had an awful November. In fact, with one or two exceptions, the whole last two years have been awful. We’ve gone through an arrest, the judicial process, and health issues.

Just when you think things may be looking up, you’re hit again.

I read a quote from St. Theresa of Avila recently: “Dear Lord, if this is how You treat Your friends, it is no wonder You have so few!”

Preach it, Sister Theresa. I’m right there with you.

For the most part I haven’t really questioned God or railed at him. Until this last blow.

Laura Our beautiful, funny, fun, witty, amazing niece Laura Padgett Brickey lost her fight with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on November 10th.

She was sick for just over a year, diagnosed just under a year before she died.

I’m usually more like Job who came to realize that if we accept God’s blessings, we must also accept it when things not-so-good happen.

But this time He went too far. I’m still angry. I know I’ll eventually get over it (and myself) but for now I’m letting myself be angry, sad, in denial, or whatever I need to feel to get through this time.

Laura was two months younger than my oldest and they were the best of friends all their lives. We saw Laura in the hospital the day she was born and she was the most beautiful baby I’d ever seen (next to my own, of course), and I fell completely in love with her and that never changed.

“She lights up the room whenever she walks in,” is a cliche’ but it’s true about Laura. She always had a joke or an observation to share. She was tall, blonde, and hysterically funny, an unbeatable combination.

Laura was married to DJ for ten years and they have a three-year-old. She left devastated friends and family and broken hearts when she left us. I’ve shared a lot of memories on Facebook so I’ll only add one more here. Her dad reminded me of this one at her memorial service. When she was a year old, her family moved from Madera to Clovis, at the time a suburb of Fresno. It’s now more like an extension of the bigger city with brown street signs instead of green. A freeway was built to connect the two cities and to help commuters from Clovis to downtown Fresno. It was an expansion of a rural route. Laura decided her little hometown could never have a freeway and refused to even acknowledge it, much less drive on it. To my knowledge, she never did drive on it and never willingly rode in a car on it. The freeway opened when she was a young adult and when she was a passenger going on the overpass over the freeway, she would avert her gaze so she didn’t have to see it.

Laura was a peacemaker. She couldn’t stand to see people she loved at odds with each other. She didn’t always make things better, but she tried and her heart was in the right place. I think now that God gave her that gift so He could take her and she’d know she’d done everything humanly possible to bring reconciliation to all her relationships.

I miss her as much today as I did the day she died. I pray often for her husband, daughter, parents and siblings. And when I join her, I’m going to have a serious talk with God about why He thought this was a “good” idea. I’ve come to the realization that Romans 8:28 isn’t really about what I think is “good.” What is good for me is what makes me more into the image of Christ. So yes, all things work together for “good,” in that even the bad stuff makes me more patient, kind, humble, generous, faithful, i.e. more like Christ. But so far, this loss has just made me angry, hurt, and hurting.

I do trust that someday I might know why. I definitely trust that I will see Laura again and get to spend eternity with her and Jesus. In fact, she better be there to welcome me or I’ll be highly upset.

In the meantime, Laura’s family and mine appreciate so the prayers and encouragement we’ve received.

Book Talk Tuesday: AS YOU WISH

Published on December 15, 2015December 12, 2015 by Live Vi-Carrie-ously5 Comments

AS YOU WISH: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride is wonderful and a must read/listen for any Princess Bride fan.

This was a recommendation from Darling Oldest Daughter and she said it must be listened to, not read. She was right (as usual, I’m sure she would say).

AYW The book is written by Cary Elwes (Westley) and Joe Layden. The foreward is by Rob Reiner. Several cast and crew members also contributed to the book. What makes the audio version so special is that Cary Elwes reads it and many of the other actors, producers, and others involved in the making of the movie read their contributions also.

The book starts a little slowly with lots of background info that is a necessary foundation to the rest of the book.

I loved hearing about the sword training Cary and Mandy Patinkin did all for a three minute scene. But it’s so worth it. They really do come across on screen as true swordplay masters.

There’s lots of stories about Andre’ the Giant and his life. His size was the result of a medical condition and he knew it would shorten life. There’s a great story about how the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett drove Andre’ to school.

This book is written for the fans. Cary’s affection for the movie and the experience he had making it is quite clear. We had to watch the movie again after listening to the book.

As much as I love the movie, I can’t call myself a true Princessophile because I haven’t read the novel the book is based on. That small detail will be taken care of soon though. I just one-clicked and bought the book. It’ll be here soon. I usually read books before seeing the movie adaptation. I’ll be interested to see how the opposite process works for me this time.

If you enjoy The Princess Bride, you have to read/listen to this book. You can thank me later (and you will.)