Jamie Patterson's Blog, page 16
October 24, 2011
Book Club!
Had my first book club last night with some lovely ladies in St. Louis Park. These ladies really knew how to do a book club; we walked in and the place smelled of delicious food and we found the ladies around a big table with plates of food and big glasses of wine.
They had terrific questions and were so supportive. They had some really interesting comments and I was glad to hear they pretty much all agreed that the ending seemed hopeful to them. I think a quote is: "I mean, I didn't worry about you when I finished the book." Which is good. I didn't know if the ending would be happy enough for some readers. It's a really subtle life-is-good-in-its-simplicity kind of message but it's not quite riding off into the sunset.
Thank you so much, St. Louis Park ladies, for letting me join your discussion!
They had terrific questions and were so supportive. They had some really interesting comments and I was glad to hear they pretty much all agreed that the ending seemed hopeful to them. I think a quote is: "I mean, I didn't worry about you when I finished the book." Which is good. I didn't know if the ending would be happy enough for some readers. It's a really subtle life-is-good-in-its-simplicity kind of message but it's not quite riding off into the sunset.
Thank you so much, St. Louis Park ladies, for letting me join your discussion!
October 22, 2011
Crooked Lines
The very best part, by far, of having written something is having people write back. I've had a day of receiving wonderful text messages and emails and notes from people who have read the book and this response has been overwhelming.
If you read the book and it brought you here, thanks so much for reading. If you have questions, don't hesitate to write. Even just two months in to the publishing of the story I guarantee you that you won't be the first to ask whatever question you have in mind.
Two thoughts after spending the evening reading lovely notes from people who have read Lost Edens: first, if you want to know how many lives you touch just by existing you'll need to win the lottery, die, or write a book. I'm glad I get a chance to discover this by the latter (the lottery wouldn't be bad, though, eh?).
Second, is a line from an email I read that I just love: "The Lord writes straight with crooked lines."
If you read the book and it brought you here, thanks so much for reading. If you have questions, don't hesitate to write. Even just two months in to the publishing of the story I guarantee you that you won't be the first to ask whatever question you have in mind.
Two thoughts after spending the evening reading lovely notes from people who have read Lost Edens: first, if you want to know how many lives you touch just by existing you'll need to win the lottery, die, or write a book. I'm glad I get a chance to discover this by the latter (the lottery wouldn't be bad, though, eh?).
Second, is a line from an email I read that I just love: "The Lord writes straight with crooked lines."
Lip Balm!
I'm down to five tubes of lip balm. Not counting all of the lip balm still nestled into the business class care packs from international flights. I just can't count those...perhaps I will start giving them as gifts (friends and family, you have been forewarned).
I got a really fun email from the Lip Balm Company after they saw my original post on my Great Lip Balm project and sent along a link to their catalog. I have never been so tempted to get something that I don't need. But then there's the catch, right? The Lip Balm Company could very well make the one lip balm I'll need and use for the rest of my life. No more buying random tubes. The testimonials on their site kind of indicate that this could be the holy grail of lip balms. So maybe, just maybe, I really, really need a sixth tube?
I got a really fun email from the Lip Balm Company after they saw my original post on my Great Lip Balm project and sent along a link to their catalog. I have never been so tempted to get something that I don't need. But then there's the catch, right? The Lip Balm Company could very well make the one lip balm I'll need and use for the rest of my life. No more buying random tubes. The testimonials on their site kind of indicate that this could be the holy grail of lip balms. So maybe, just maybe, I really, really need a sixth tube?
October 21, 2011
Leave it to Jamie
An early reviewer pointed out that she would have thought the events in Lost Edens came about because I had a very Leave it to Beaver idea of life--but then, as she pointed out, I don't cook. My first thought when I read the review: holy heck! You can tell in a short, 200 page book that I can't cook? Yowzers.
At lunch this week with a friend she said, "I'm sorry, I have to ask. If you don't cook, then what do you eat?" I've gotten that question a few times the last few months so I stopped to really think about it. Every meal is pretty much scavenging for food. The day before I had a banana chocolate chip muffin and a large carmel machiatto for breakfast (thank you Starbucks), fresh bread and a big coke (thank you Great Harvest), dinner was sweet basil fried rice (thank you Naviya's Thai) and a pumpkin beer. Oh yeah. Pretty awesome.
So I decided to maybe pay attention to what I eat and thought cutting sugar and gluten would be a way to start. I bought a pot and a pan, went to the grocery store, learned how to make an egg (there are youtube videos for this!), and have spent a lot of time wondering what the heck people eat if they aren't eating sugar and gluten.
It's funny, I started paying attention to all of the shopping I was doing and cut that out (NSFY). I feel great. But then that awareness is just seeping into my life in all kinds of ways and if I'm not shopping, not drinking delicious McDonald's coke, or eating thanks to other people's cooking (or "cooking" as it were), then I'm pretty sure that soon I'll be unrecognizable. Which is good, maybe the follow-up to Lost Edens will be quite explicit in my ability to cook an egg (a big step!).
At lunch this week with a friend she said, "I'm sorry, I have to ask. If you don't cook, then what do you eat?" I've gotten that question a few times the last few months so I stopped to really think about it. Every meal is pretty much scavenging for food. The day before I had a banana chocolate chip muffin and a large carmel machiatto for breakfast (thank you Starbucks), fresh bread and a big coke (thank you Great Harvest), dinner was sweet basil fried rice (thank you Naviya's Thai) and a pumpkin beer. Oh yeah. Pretty awesome.
So I decided to maybe pay attention to what I eat and thought cutting sugar and gluten would be a way to start. I bought a pot and a pan, went to the grocery store, learned how to make an egg (there are youtube videos for this!), and have spent a lot of time wondering what the heck people eat if they aren't eating sugar and gluten.
It's funny, I started paying attention to all of the shopping I was doing and cut that out (NSFY). I feel great. But then that awareness is just seeping into my life in all kinds of ways and if I'm not shopping, not drinking delicious McDonald's coke, or eating thanks to other people's cooking (or "cooking" as it were), then I'm pretty sure that soon I'll be unrecognizable. Which is good, maybe the follow-up to Lost Edens will be quite explicit in my ability to cook an egg (a big step!).
October 20, 2011
Fall in Minnesota
It's still beautiful here--about the exact same weather as London right now. A month from now, though... All the boats are out of the lake but the docks are still in! Here's Huey on Harriet. Again.
Speaking of not Traveling
This is what I saw when I opened my front door this morning. How great is that?
Not Traveling
I had a friend tell me that he makes it a point now not to travel. His idea is that if you can't be happy at home you won't be happy anywhere else. I like that idea, I think it's the approach I've taken the last year or so. One of my many discarded manuscripts is from a year ago, cleverly titled Making Minnesota Mine. And it was like an Eat, Pray, Love but at home. The challenge of finding yourself and starting over in familiar settings instead of exotic ones (a problem I always had with Gilbert's book).
The one thing I love about travel is knowing that there are so many different ways to live your life. Right now, someone is seeing this very view from the platform at Central Hounslow. If I had hopped on the London flight last night, this could have been my view at this very moment, too. Sometimes I forget that I have that kind of freedom but it sure is nice to think of now and then. Surely it's easier to be happy wherever you are if you can remember that simply by being there you're exercising a choice?
The one thing I love about travel is knowing that there are so many different ways to live your life. Right now, someone is seeing this very view from the platform at Central Hounslow. If I had hopped on the London flight last night, this could have been my view at this very moment, too. Sometimes I forget that I have that kind of freedom but it sure is nice to think of now and then. Surely it's easier to be happy wherever you are if you can remember that simply by being there you're exercising a choice?
October 19, 2011
The Fast Track
I had a friend ask when I might be able to work in a happy hour and my honest-to-God first thought was February 20. The day after the next semester ends. I called my academic advisor to see if there's anything I can do to speed up the time to Dr. Jamie and the solution was to double-up classes for the next semester. Might be smart, might not, but that means a year from now I'll be ABD instead of two years from now. That can't be a bad thing, right?
I had another friend tell me I needed to hurry up and write the follow-up to Lost Edens so I can promote a happy book along with the sad one. She had a super good point but I have no idea when I'm going to crank out a sequel anyone would want to read. A bunch of us formed a writing group--first meeting November 3. Maybe that will motivate me to write?
One thing I've learned, though, next time I try publishing a book I'll try not to be a full-time student, have a full-time job, and a part-time job. If I can just hurry up and finish school...
I had another friend tell me I needed to hurry up and write the follow-up to Lost Edens so I can promote a happy book along with the sad one. She had a super good point but I have no idea when I'm going to crank out a sequel anyone would want to read. A bunch of us formed a writing group--first meeting November 3. Maybe that will motivate me to write?
One thing I've learned, though, next time I try publishing a book I'll try not to be a full-time student, have a full-time job, and a part-time job. If I can just hurry up and finish school...
October 18, 2011
Inconceivable!
I'm constantly referring to movies when I teach, mostly because I want to keep the students awake and partly because I really do think that the more I can tie boring topics like grammar and APA style to something that is familiar the more relevant it will be.
I always reference the Princess Bride when I talk about using the most exact words possible and using a dictionary along with the thesaurus (I also show a clip from Friends about Joey using a thesaurus). More and more, it seems my students aren't familiar with the movie. Seriously? That's inconceivable! It's only the best movie ever produced.
I always reference the Princess Bride when I talk about using the most exact words possible and using a dictionary along with the thesaurus (I also show a clip from Friends about Joey using a thesaurus). More and more, it seems my students aren't familiar with the movie. Seriously? That's inconceivable! It's only the best movie ever produced.
Win a Copy!
I know most people reading the blog already own a copy but, hey, it's too much fun not to share. There's a giveaway on GoodReads from now until October 31. Check it out!
