Julia Kelly's Blog, page 29

“Rory’s Dance” & “Forgiveness and Stuff”

This week is crazy. I’ve got NaNoWriMo going at full tilt, Election Day madness at the day job, a friend coming into town with whom I want to spend as much time as possible, and a beta reading pile as tall as I am. Plus my doctor tells me that, although I’m in excellent health, I should be working out at least five days a week because of “preventative health care” and stuff. I’m struggling for time here, so when Tuesday morning rolled around and I had a delayed start at the day job, I thought, “I’ll pop in some Gilmore Girls because that will be fun. Oh god, guys. The writers of episodes 9 and 10 are not interested in a fun, pleasant romp in Stars Hollow like the last couple of weeks. They want to pull my heart out and force me to confront all of the messy, teenage worries about disappointing my parents.

Shit got real on the Gilmore Girls.

 “Rory’s Dance”

Air Date:  December 20, 2000

Written By: Amy Sherman-Palladino

Directed By: Lesli Linka Glatter

This episode starts out innocently enough. Chilton’s having a winter formal, and Rory want to go but doesn’t want to go. I knew this struggle well in high school. You don’t want the bother of the dress and shoes and date but you kind of really do.

At first, minor problems are presented and solved quickly. Rory needs a dress; Lorelai will make one. Rory is uncomfortable about asking Dean to the dance; Dean agrees although it is clear he’d really rather be doing anything else. Rory goes to the dance and gets bothered by both Tristan and Paris; Dean stands up for Tristan but won’t stoop to fighting him because, “it would be like fighting an accountant,” while Rory puts that annoying pest Paris in her place.

Okay, I’m thinking. This is all lovely and predictable teen TV.

And it all comes crashing down!

Rory and Dean fall asleep in Miss Patty’s dance studio. They’re woken up at 5:30 AM by Miss Patty’s yoga class. Nothing has happened but clearly Rory’s going to be in deep trouble because…teen mother and all that.

Sure enough, Emily wakes Lorelai up (she’s been at the house taking care of Lorelai who threw out her back) and the two panic. They get into a massive fight after Miss Patty calls to tell them that Rory is okay. Insults are hurled, and for the first time we hear them air the real grievances in their decades-long fight. Lorelai is an unfit mother because she’s letting her daughter run wild the same way she did. Emily smothered Lorelai, and if she doesn’t trust Rory she can get out of the house.

Of course, Rory hears her mother defending her. When Emily leaves, she goes to thank her mother. Only problem is, Lorelai turns on Rory. Finally, Rory (who we are learning is not the sweet spot at one might assume) stops her mother and tells her that she’s not going to take the blame for Lorelai feeling rotten that’s she’s been caught doing something characteristically “bad mom” in front of Emily. The issue with Rory staying out past her curfew isn’t so much about her staying out past her curfew. It’s about making her mother look bad in front of Emily.

A few episodes ago I talked about the poorly written outburst Lorelai has about a sweater. This fight is so different. It feels claustrophobic and it gets under your skin because it’s a universal fight. It’s about parental disappointment and expectations. Knowing my parents are disappointed in me is of the worst feelings. It’s rooted in guilt and expectations. It’s knowing that you didn’t live up to the ideal someone set out for you even when you know that those ideals aren’t right for you and your life. In transferring that over to Rory, Lorelai is essentially doing the same thing to her daughter that her mother did to her. It’s gut-wrenching to watch, and that is a sign that it is one of the best pieces of writing and character development we’ve see so far.

Book Nerd Moments

I’m going to take a moment here to nerd out over the fact that Rory is reading The Portable Dorothy Parker in this episode. She even takes it to the formal with her in her purse (you’re my girl, Rory). Parker is worth looking up if you haven’t read any of her, but for quick reference you might know this famous quip:

I like to have a martini,

Two at the very most.

After three I’m under the table,

after four I’m under my host.

Pop Culture References

98 Degrees, Tom Waits, Blanche from Golden Girls, VIP, Barbara Stanwyck, the Lambada, Emily Post

Julia Feels Old Moment

Favorite Quote

“All I ever said to her about dances is that you go, you dance, you have punch, you eat, you take a picture, and then you’re auctioned off to a biker gang from Sausalito.” –Lorelai

“Oh, hey…” Moment

Sookie is maybe kind of a hypochondriac pill popper before prescription drug about became a major point of discussion in this country. Watching her pull Vicodin and Valium and Percocet out of her purse in a casual manner that was supposed to be funny was an odd experience looking at it through 2014 eyes.

Reasons Luke is Bound to Break Julia’s Heart

This episode was sadly Lukeless

Random Thoughts

Barbara Stanwyck

-One of the things that underscores how upsetting the fight at the end of this episode was is the fact that it happens right after Lorelai and Emily actually bonding for the first time. The smart writer Amy Sherman-Palladino gets us invested in the growing relationship between mother and daughter by showing Emily take care of Lorelai. They bond over Barbara Stanwyck movies and a disgusting looking type of toast thing that Emily made Lorelai when she was sick as a little girl. Then it all comes crashing down.

-This is a bad episode for Tristan. First Rory turns him down when he asks her to the dance saying that it would be stupid for him to ask her when he knows that she would say no and, “You are not stupid. Slimy and weasly, but not stupid.” Then, later in the episode, Tristan and Dean get into it at the high school formal. When Tristan demands they, “Take this outside,” in perhaps the lamest throwdown ever, Dean tells him, “I’m not fighting you. It would be like fighting an accountant.” Go home, Tristan.

-The only person who might be having a worse night at the high school dance is Paris who inadvertently tells then entire high school that she couldn’t get a date and had to bring her cousin. The cousin, by the way, tries to pick up Rory in the scuzziest display of douchebaggery ever displayed by a preppy teenage boy. One day he will sidle up to unsuspecting women in bars across Manhattan, order a Jagerbomb, and then tell them he’s in I-Banking. He will likely be wearing a Brooks Brothers suit his mother chose for him. More often than not, he will go home alone.

-Rory and Dean cutely/awkwardly have the, “Are you my boyfriend?” talk. It doesn’t get anymore enjoyable as you get older, kids. Let me tell you that right now.

“Forgiveness and Stuff”

Air Date: December 21, 2000

Written By: John Stephens

Directed By: Bethany Rooney

This episode aired right after “Rory’s Dance” and right before Christmas, presumably to keep those who celebrate from being profoundly depressed over the holidays (not a verified fact).

We pick up with Rory and Lorelai not really speaking. Lorelai and Emily are definitely not speaking except that Emily still manages to uninvite Lorelai from the family Christmas dinner. During that dinner, Richard collapses. Lorelai finds out while she’s eating at Luke’s, panics, and Luke drives her to the hospital. Despite obviously being concerned for her father, Lorelai can’t bring herself to go into his hospital room. After the family finds out that Richard is actually okay, Luke calls Lorelai on her fear of seeing her father in a hospital bed. She goes into the room, and the two of them nearly have a moment before everyone bustles in and the opportunity is lost. Lorelai asks Luke to drive Rory back home, and she stays at the hospital with her mother. For now at least it seems that the two Gilmores have a truce.

This whole episode centers around forgiveness (clearly, it’s in the name). In it we see Lorelai accept Dean’s apology for keeping Rory out until all hours. There’s the understood forgiveness between Rory and Lorelai when they realize that Richard is in danger. And then there’s the moment of forgiveness that doesn’t quite happen when Lorelai is about to say something to her father before being cut off. It’s a nice, Christmasy message but it’s not really the heart of the episode. That comes during a brief scene between Richard and Emily.

Emily is doing her typical Emily thing of being demanding and high maintenance. When she swaps out the pillows for Richard, however, we get the sense that something else is going on. She’s upset and being Type A is her way of coping with her husband being in the hospital. At some point he stops her from what she’s doing and insists on telling her where the key to the family safe and his will are. She tells him he is not allowed to die.

Emily: I did not sign on to your dying. That is not going to happen. Not tonight. Not for a very long time. In fact, I demand to go first. Do I make myself clear?

Richard: Yes, Emily. You may go first.

The look of understanding and indulgence he gives her is both tender and heartbreaking. You understand that while we may not like everything about Emily, Richard, and the choices they’ve made about their family, they are partners. Their love runs very deep, and they need each other in their lives. 

Book Nerd Moments

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Pop Culture References

Jimmy Hoffa, every Christmas song ever

Julia Feels Old Moment

Rory rocks a red, velvet dress for the Christmas dinner. I too once had a red, velvet dress like that. I’m not entirely sure it was advisable.

“Oh, hey…” Moment

Jane Lynch plays the nurse that goes head-to-head with Emily at the hospital.

Reasons Luke is Bound to Break Julia’s Heart

When this episode is not ripping my heart out, it’s mostly constructed around Luke and Lorelai flirting like 16-year olds. They are so adorable, I want to shout, “Come on, guys!” Apparently Emily agrees with me because once Richard is out of danger at the hospital, she corners Luke for this little exchange:

Emily: So what exactly is going on between the two of you?

Luke: Nothing. Really. We’re friends. That’s it.

Emily: You two are idiots.

I mean, the guy makes her a Santa burger, guys!

Random Thoughts

-Rory reads The Financial Times to Richard in the hospital, confirming that he is the mos ridiculous TV grandfather and I do love him.

-Lorelai gives Luke a new hat at the end of the episode. We shall see whether he actually wear it or not.

Tagged: fight, forgiveness, formal, high school dance

First Draught Takes On NaNoWriMo

Hi all! I will not be there for tonight’s First Draught, but Mary Chris Escobar and Alexis Anne have brought in a ringer to take my place. Lindsay Emory will be joining us for this month’s discussion on NaNoWriMo (that’s National Novel Writing Month).

You can RSVP by clicking on this link, and be sure to be watching at 8:30 PM EST tonight for a great NaNoWriMo break or a little inspiration to start writing fearlessly!

Tagged: Alexis Anne, Lindsay Emory, Mary Chris Escobar, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month

Researchers Row: Death Becomes Her

Death Becomes Her, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (on until Feb. 1, 2015)

This Sunday was Marathon Day here in NYC. I, like many New Yorkers, live right near the route. While I love the marathon, sometimes the crowds can get a little rough. This year I cheered on some of the runners earlier in the day and then left the neighborhood to do something I never do. Dear Reader, I went to the Met on a Sunday and took a boatload of photographs.

Normally the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a mess on the weekends (even more so when it’s raining). I try to avoid it as much as possible, but I was determined to see the museum’s new exhibit Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire. Victorian fashion? Death? Mourning? This is pretty much right in my wheelhouse, so off I went to a delightfully empty Met thanks to all of the crowds being diverted to the marathon.

Arriving so early, I had the gallery mostly to myself which was an incredible experience. The exhibit is small but incredibly details and representative of several trends in mourning attire. The curator’s notes addressed some major themes:

Women bore the brunt of the responsibility when it came to mourning. Rules for men were much more flexible, but women were strictly regulated in what they could wear and when as well as the social activities they could partake in while in mourning.
The stages of mourning and the way that fabrics mirrored the gradual coming out of mourning. The exhibit discusses the use of crepe as well as the incorporation of more lustrous fabrics like silk moire and taffeta in the later stages. Color also comes into play.
The tension between fashion and grief. Especially in the later examples of the dresses, the curator’s notes emphasizes that the wearer, despite being in a deep state of mourning, was still at the cutting edge of fashion when it came to silhouette.

And speaking of silhouette, I was delighted to see that the exhibit shows the progression of the Grecian-inspired dresses of the 1810s-1820s through the bell-shaped crinolines of the 1850s all the way to the princess cut dresses of the lat 1870s to early 1880s and then into the very late Victorian period (there’s even an Edwardian dress or two in there). Oh! And one of Queen Victoria’s dresses is on display (which I sadly did not photograph because I was overwhelmed by seeing one of Her Majesty’s dresses in the flesh)!

 

 

If you have the chance to see this wonderful exhibit, definitely do. Sadly there is no museum catalog for Death Becomes Her, and photographs do not do these works of art justice (all of the detailing gets lost on black fabric, and these are rich with details).

Death Becomes Her is on until February 1, 2015.

 

Tagged: clothes, death, Death Becomes Her, dresses, exhibit, fashion, history, Metropolitan Museum of Art, mourning, New York, research, Victorian, Victorian fashion

Research Corner: Death Becomes Her

Death Becomes Her, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (on until Feb. 1, 2015)

This Sunday was Marathon Day here in NYC. I, like many New Yorkers, live right near the route. While I love the marathon, sometimes the crowds can get a little rough. This year I cheered on some of the runners earlier in the day and then left the neighborhood to do something I never do. Dear Reader, I went to the Met on a Sunday and took a boatload of photographs.

Normally the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a mess on the weekends (even more so when it’s raining). I try to avoid it as much as possible, but I was determined to see the museum’s new exhibit Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire. Victorian fashion? Death? Mourning? This is pretty much right in my wheelhouse, so off I went to a delightfully empty Met thanks to all of the crowds being diverted to the marathon.

Arriving so early, I had the gallery mostly to myself which was an incredible experience. The exhibit is small but incredibly details and representative of several trends in mourning attire. The curator’s notes addressed some major themes:

Women bore the brunt of the responsibility when it came to mourning. Rules for men were much more flexible, but women were strictly regulated in what they could wear and when as well as the social activities they could partake in while in mourning.
The stages of mourning and the way that fabrics mirrored the gradual coming out of mourning. The exhibit discusses the use of crepe as well as the incorporation of more lustrous fabrics like silk moire and taffeta in the later stages. Color also comes into play.
The tension between fashion and grief. Especially in the later examples of the dresses, the curator’s notes emphasizes that the wearer, despite being in a deep state of mourning, was still at the cutting edge of fashion when it came to silhouette.

And speaking of silhouette, I was delighted to see that the exhibit shows the progression of the Grecian-inspired dresses of the 1810s-1820s through the bell-shaped crinolines of the 1850s all the way to the princess cut dresses of the lat 1870s to early 1880s and then into the very late Victorian period (there’s even an Edwardian dress or two in there). Oh! And one of Queen Victoria’s dresses is on display (which I sadly did not photograph because I was overwhelmed by seeing one of Her Majesty’s dresses in the flesh)!

 

 

If you have the chance to see this wonderful exhibit, definitely do. Sadly there is no museum catalog for Death Becomes Her, and photographs do not do these works of art justice (all of the detailing gets lost on black fabric, and these are rich with details).

Death Becomes Her is on until February 1, 2015.

 

Tagged: clothes, death, Death Becomes Her, dresses, exhibit, fashion, history, Metropolitan Museum of Art, mourning, New York, research, Victorian, Victorian fashion

How I Got My Agent

The question I get most frequently other than, “When is your next book coming out?” is, “How did you get your agent?” I think it’s about time to share my highly unglamorous story.

At some point a few years ago I decided it was time for me to start taking my writing seriously as a career. That meant finishing the historical romance I had been writing off and on for years and then revising and polishing it. It took me months. When I finally couldn’t look at that manuscript any longer, it was time to try to find an agent.

I knew straight off that I wanted to try to develop a traditional publishing career, and for me that meant querying agents rather than going it alone. My primary reason was that agents know the book business a lot better than I do. I work full-time in a demanding industry, and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to develop the contacts I would need to get out of the slush pile with any efficiency. I wanted someone who was going to advocate for me in sales and negotiations.

I didn’t know anyone in publishing except my sister who interned for a big, fancy literary agent. He didn’t rep romance at the time, so that wasn’t going to help me get ahead. Left without any connections, I went to Barnes & Noble and bought The Writer’s Digest Guide to Literary Agents. Then I went home and tagged every single agent who represented romance. My book had many, many pink Post-Its sticking out of it.

I put every romance-friendly agency’s name into a Word document and started seriously researching and narrowing my list. Here’s who I struck from my list:

-Any agency that did not have a website and social media presence*

-Anyone who did not represent historical romance

-Anyone who was not accepting submissions

-Anyone who popped up on the Writer Beware website or whose submissions guidelines had red flags that popped up on that list. It’s a great resource that you should familiarize yourself with before submitting to anyone

After those cuts, I went through and read the bios of every agent for every agency and ranked my top five, top 10, top 15, etc. choices. I made up my query packet and customized it to every agent based on their submission guidelines.** I then emailed my top five and waited to hear back.

What surprised me about the query process was how fast the rejections started rolling in. Agents in general are efficient. They know what their client list looks like. They know what is selling at that moment. If you are not a fit for them, they will reject you fast. This isn’t a reflection of you as a person. They aren’t hateful people who aren’t willing to give you a chance. Something about your manuscript doesn’t work for them. Take a breath. Move on. Do not send a nasty response or vent all over social media. Save that for your critique group, your mother, your dog, whomever you vent to.

As the rejections started rolling in, I would take a breath and move on. I started to send off queries to the rest of my top 10. I got a lot of rejections. I kept sending material out and waited on the two agents who were right up at the top of my list that I hadn’t heard from yet.

Finally one of the agents I was really excited about emailed me back. She requested the first 100 pages of my manuscript. I sent it off to her, and shortly after that my other top agent pick asked me for a full manuscript. I waited some more (notice a trend here?).

I got a rejection from the agent who asked for the first 100 pages of my book. That was the hardest rejection to deal with because I liked this woman’s attitude about the publishing industry, and I thought we would be a good fit working together. I also had gotten my hopes up. I let myself feel sad about it for a day, and then I forced myself to get over it. It wasn’t worth derailing productive writing because I’d been rejected by a professional I didn’t know.

By this time, the rejections started to slow. I stopped getting excited every single time an email dinged through to my phone. Ironically, that was exactly when good news landed in my inbox. Emily Sylvan Kim, the president of Prospect Agency and the agent who requested the full manuscript from me a couple months earlier, wanted to know if I could speak over the phone. I had a brief lull at work, so I emailed her back immediately. She called me on my cell phone, introduced herself, and told me she loved my book and she wanted to represent me. Then she wanted to talk to me about my long-term goals as a writer. That was the moment I knew I’d likely found the right person. After speaking, she emailed me contracts and we met in Murray Hill for brunch a couple weeks later to sign.

A lot of authors have different stories. Some find their agents through connections. Some meet them at conferences. Others write for years before deciding to get an agent. Some never do. My two biggest pieces of advice would be to go into the querying process knowing what you want, and remember that you’re looking for a business relationship. You want someone who is excited about your work representing you. Do your research, get ready to take your hits, and keep your faith in your own writing.

—

*It seems inconceivable to me, but they are out there.

**Don’t cut corners on this. Do your research. Submitting incorrectly to an agent who has clearly stated guidelines on their website about genre or submissions materials is disrespectful and unprofessional.

Tagged: agent, Emily Sylvan Kim, literary agent, Prospect Agency, query, romance, submitting

October Reading Wrap Up

Sometimes you just need a good binge read. This month has been full of historical romances for me, and I’ve got a couple to recommend as well as a book that touches the paranormal, fantasy, literary, and romance genres.

The Duke and I

by Julia Quinn

Amazon | B&N | iBooks

I bow down to the mistress of Regency romance dialogue. That is all.

The Wicked Wallflower

by Maya Rodale

Amazon | B&N | iBooks

Around mid-October I was looking for something fun to read. I picked up The Wicked Wallflower and subsequently binge read six of Maya Rodale’s books in a row. I loved The Wicked Wallflower because it’s fun, light, and features a pretty fantastic rake of a hero. There’s also a Hunger Games-based house party which amused me to no end.

A Discovery of Witches

by Deborah Harkness

 

Amazon | B&N | iBooks

When a friend pops up on your gchat and demands that you read a book because she loved it so much and wants someone to gush about it to, you do. My friend Caitlin got lost in A Discovery of Witches, so I decided to give it a shot too. It follows a historian named Diana who is on a research trip to Oxford who calls up an enchanted manuscript. Diana is a witch and not happy about it, so she tries to ignore the manuscript but it sets a series of supernatural events into motion that she can’t stop. Throw in an erudite, attractive, alpha vampire love interest and even I — not known for being a huge vampire fan — was sucked in. I bought the second volume in the trilogy on Tuesday and plan to use it as my post-NaNoWriMo reward.

Tagged: A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness, Julia Quinn, Maya Rodale, paranormal, reading, recommendations, Regency, romance, romance novel, The Duke and I, The Wicked Wallflower

Guest Post: A.L. Parks

Today I’m happy to welcome my good friend A.L. Parks to the blog. Her new book Returning Home released this week. A synopsis and a link to buy are at the bottom of this post, but first I wanted to give her the chance to tell the story of how writing changed her life.

I have always wanted to write. I started young, as so many authors have, with little shorts about things that seemed important in youth. I continued that love through college, getting an undergraduate degree in English. Then I had to get a job. It never occurred to me that I could write for a living. Back then, before this whole Indie Author Revolution, it took years to find an agent, a publisher, and get a book deal.

There was not a lot of support for that at home. So, I did the next best thing – I went to law school. I always loved the law, loved the idea of going into the courtroom, fighting for justice. Becoming the next (albeit, female) Perry Mason. If you don’t know who that is…well, Google it, Young One! I loved being in the courtroom. I worked in criminal law and family law. Not all that different, and believe it or not, practicing family law is a lot more dangerous than criminal law. People get cranky when you mess with their money and their kids.

So, after a failed marriage, finding a new love and marrying him and the Navy, I started moving around. The practice of law was just not in the cards for me anymore (the Bar exam is not something you want to take every two years…long explanation that deals with state reciprocity. If you really want to know, message me, but I am warning you, it is boring). That’s when I decided to write.

I remember it like it was yesterday. There are moments and events that happen during a lifetime, and are so profound that every part of it is clear many years later. For our parents, it was Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon, and the assassination of President Kennedy. For me, and many in my generation, it is the Challenger explosion, and 9-11. The day I decided to write, though, is that type of moment in my life.

I love watching ID, the Investigation Discovery channel. While I was unsuccessfully trying to find a job after another change of station for my husband that landed us in the DC area, I was a stay-at-home Mom. And while I did the cleaning and laundry and cooking, I had this ID on the TV. All the time. From the moment the kids and hubby were out the door until they came home. It was intriguing to me; the stories of people – usually good people – put in situations were they mentally broke and made horrible, life-altering decisions. And not just for themselves, for others that were affected by their actions. I was fascinated by the stories. And then one day, one of them jogged a memory, and that memory turned into an idea.

And that idea reawakened the writer in me.

So, let me backtrack just a bit, because this is a pretty interesting story. While I was living in San Diego, an attorney with a small, family law practice hired me. The idea was for me to come on board, take over the family law business and allow him to move into a new area – surrogates and adoptions. Noble cause, helping couples have a family. And I was fine with taking over the part of the business that dealt with the break-up of families. It’s what I did.

Things, however, are not always as they seem. The old adage that something is “too good to be true” – well, it is an old adage for a reason. It didn’t take me long to realize that this attorney was not who he claimed to be. After some discussions with other people in the business, I learned that this man had been suspended from practicing law three times during his career, and was finishing up his fourth. My first visit to his office had me seriously considering turning him into the State Bar for even more sanctions – maybe even disbarment. There were papers and files and confidential material out in the open, phone calls that were not to be answered, and angry clients trying to get into the office (that was kept locked during business hours). I’m not kidding. Files were stacked on the floor. Papers with personal, confidential information were lying around in the open for anyone to see. And people came to the door, demanding to speak with him. His receptionist and paralegal had walked out the previous week, and never returned. He claimed to have no idea why.

I turned down the offer.

A few months later, I was watching the news and nearly fell out of my chair. A man had been arrested for conspiracy to have his wife murdered. The man – no other than my almost partner. It was odd seeing him being taken to jail in handcuffs. The former paralegal was interviewed, and stated that it was no surprise to him that the attorney was involved (allegedly) in that activity.

I didn’t know that attorney that well, but I wasn’t surprised either.

And that was the memory that was sparked while watching TV years later. I jumped up from the chair, ran to my computer, and started writing a story about an attorney whose partner is arrested. She agrees to represent him, but along the way begins to question his innocence – and whether or not other deaths can be attributed to him.

I have not finished that story. I may never finish it. Its function may have been solely to be the catalyst that got me moving, inspired me to follow my dreams. It also was unable to compete with the characters in my head that finally woke up and started screaming their story at me. That one is done…and will be published next fall.

So what is the moral of this story? This cliché: Follow your dreams. I will add this, however: Listen to that voice in your head. And never, ever let someone else decide your life’s path.

- RETURNING HOME -

Available now on Amazon

Clarissa wants nothing to do with her father – even in his death. But she can’t escape returning to Newport to settle her father’s estate. The safe world she has established starts to crumble and secrets she has locked away threaten to be exposed. Meeting Griff, her father’s partner, provides the only peace and happiness in the darkness that suddenly surrounds her.

Griff has built his custom bike shop from nothing into a thriving success. After the sudden death of his silent partner, Griff finds himself in a fight to save his business from the grieving widow. But falling for his partner’s headstrong daughter may cost Griff everything.

Brandi has become accustomed to certain amenities in her life – money and men. She refuses to allow the death of her philandering husband to inconvenience her comfortable lifestyle. Setting her sights set on her husband’s very young, very sexy partner, nothing will get in the way of what she wants – even if it means destroying Clarissa to get it.

ABOUT A.L. PARKS

Born and raised in the Rocky Mountains, A.L. Parks has spent the last 25 years moving all over the United States. Married to the Navy – well a man in the Navy – Parks has lived in various places throughout the United States. She currently resides in the Washington D.C area, with her husband, four children, and one spoiled German Shepard.

2013 marked her debut in publishing. Her first novel, Strangers, released on her 45th birthday. She was amazed at how many people fell in love with a story about two people dealing with grief, and finding love again. Abby and Bryce were the perfect couple to introduce Parks as an up-and-coming author.

She released the first of the Return To Me series (an anticipated 4.5 book series) in December 2013. A wonderful Christmas romance, The Return introduced readers into the whirlwind romance of Eve and Jake, and proved that second chance romance can be even better than first love. Book two, Return To Newport, followed the struggles that come while on a journey to happily ever after.

Parks unique style of writing, along with her depth of characters and emotions, is carving out a niche in romance for those who crave love and romance a second time around. While many current novels focus on first love, Parks’ novels seek to find happily ever after when first love has failed. They are a testament to second chances at true love that lasts forever.

Tagged: A.L. Parks, guest post, Return to Me, Returning Home, writing, writing life

A Love Letter to Libraries

Liverpool is close to my heart. It’s where my mother is from. It’s where most of the British side of my family still lives. It’s a place I spent quite a lot of time in my early 20s.

This morning I ran across an article on The Edge talking about the Save Liverpool Libraries campaign. 11 of Liverpool’s 18 libraries are under threat from budget cuts. That means fewer opportunities for people living in the Liverpool metro area to check out books, get jobs services, and take computer courses.

Losing more than half of a city’s branch libraries would be devastating anywhere, and it’s particularly hard to think about in a city that means so much to my family and me. My mother has fond memories of the Walton Library on Evered Avenue. Going several times a week as a child helped solidified her life-long love of reading. The mass closure of libraries like these 11 in jeopardy makes our cities culturally, intellectually, and economically poorer.

Here in New York City, I’ve watched the City Council threaten to slash the New York Public Library’s budget multiple times. In 2013, the preliminary city budget looked to cut funding to the NYPL, Queens Public Library, and Brooklyn Public Library by $106.7 million. That would have meant the end of Saturday service at branches across the city, one of the only days that many people (myself included) can get to the library. Happily that did not happen, but it was too close for comfort for patrons.

I’ve watched politicians praise NYC’s branch libraries for making books available to kids, resume and job training to the unemployed, and technological education to seniors. Then some of those same people have turned around and tried to pass budgets that would dramatically slash those same library services. This has prompted me to do two things: vote for City Councilmembers who campaign on supporting the NYPL and have the voting record to prove it and open my checkbook each year to make a contribution (albeit small) to the library.

So what can you and I do for Liverpool’s libraries? There is a campaign asking us to write love letters to the libraries to keep branches open. Supporters of library accessibility can contact the Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson by clicking here. Authors David Nicholls, Caitlin Moran, Malorie Blackman and Carol Ann Duffy have already written their letters.

With campaigns like this, there is always a question of whether outside advocacy will make a difference. I strongly believe that if you care about library accessibility worldwide you have to do something. Even if your contribution to the effort to keep Liverpool’s libraries safe from budget cuts is small, it matters.

If you would like to read more about the love letters to the Liverpool libraries, The Guardian recently write about it. I hope you’ll join me in spreading the word because even a little nudge from each individual who cares about libraries can help.

Tagged: books, budget cuts, city council, education, Joe Anderson, library, library accessibility, library closures, Liverpool, New York Public Library, NYPL, Save Liverpool Libraries, save Liverpool's libraires, training programs

“Kiss and Tell” & “Love and War and Snow”

 

“Kiss and Tell”

Rory’s first kiss, guys! (Everyone take a moment for collective warm fuzzy sighs of happiness).

No big surprise that “Kiss and Tell” is all about relationships and growing up. Dean, ever a romantic, kisses Rory near the soda fridges in the local supermarket where he is a bagger. Naturally, Rory’s reaction is supremely awkward. She doesn’t say anything, just runs out clinging to a box of cornstarch and goes to find Lane. Lane’s mother overhears Rory’s story, and Mrs. Kim tells Lorelai that her daughter’s been kissing boys where people buy their food (the horror!). Lorelai is upset that Rory didn’t tell her about the kiss so she goes off to stalk him in the grocery store. We get our first extended Lorelai and Luke scene, after which Lorelai confronts Rory about Dean. Lorelai thinks she’s being helpful by inviting Dean to a movie night, but Rory fears being seen as lame for having her mother around. Finally Lorelai and Dean have the required, “Don’t hurt my little girl,” conversation, and she gives him her motherly blessing. Sort of.

This episode shows us that both Rory and Lorelai are growing up and changing. Rory hits a bunch of teenage firsts in this episode (first kiss, first date) while Lorelai struggles with the idea of her little girl getting older. The thing that seems to bother Lorelai the most isn’t that Rory is dating. It’s that Rory has secrets of her own now. Luke pinpoints exactly what Lorleai’s problem is — she’s freaking out because she’s not ready for this yet.

Lorelai seems to often walk the line between mother and best friend on this show. At times she’s intensely maternal, slaying dragons for her daughter whether they be in the form of stodgy headmasters or her own mother’s Junior League ambitions. During other moments she seems to be playing the child (see the horrible, ridiculous fight from “Kill Me Now”). She hates being left out and sometimes comes off as hating that her daughter might have an inner life of her own. And yet there are lovely moments like the one at the end of this episode with the two Gilmore girls gossiping about Dean after he leaves movie night. It’s simple, sweet, and shows the strength of the mother/daughter bond. My hope for the show is that we’re going to simultaneously see the growth of both characters throughout the series run.

Pop Culture References

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1971), The Way We Were, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Elsa Klensch, James Dean, General Hospital, Liz Phair, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, “Pink Moon” by Nick Drake

Favorite Quotes

“I got kissed… and I shoplifted.” –Rory

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Luke: You’re not going to kill the bag boy.

Lorelai: Why not?

Luke: It’s double coupon day. You’ll bring down the town.

Reasons Luke is Bound to Break Julia’s Heart a new feature moving forward because, let’s be totally honest here…

Lorelai runs into Luke when she’s stalking Dean in the grocery story. Immediately he pinpoints why Dean bothers her so much: having a boyfriend and keeping secrets from her mother means that Rory is growing up. You are absolutely right, Luke. You know her so well! Oh god, this show is going to torment me with the “Will they? Won’t they? Why did they screw it up?” tension for seasons, isn’t it?

Random Thoughts

-I had no idea that Dean was also Sam Winchester on Supernatural. Mind. Blown.

-I want a Sookie in my life who just shows up with random desserts. Now that I think about it, I probably shouldn’t complain because one of my coworkers brought in whipped pumpkin dip and cinnamon graham crackers on Wednesday…

-The Lorelai/Dean conversation when Rory steps out during movie night was one of the best Lorelai moments we’ve seen so far. It would be really easy to write Lorelai as the scary mother who just threatens Dean with bodily harm if he hurts her daughter. Instead, she tells Dean that the whole town of Stars Hollow loves Rory, and lets him figure out on his own how much trouble he’ll be in if he’s a jerk to her. Even better, Dean earns Lorelai’s respect by standing up to her and promising not to hurt her daughter.

“Love and War and Snow”

“Love and War and Snow” hits so many of the right buttons for me. So much so that I’m not even doing a recap. Let’s jump in:

1) The episode opens up with a town meeting whether no one can get along or get a word in. Randomly Luke starts picking a fight with the mayor about a reenactment of a seemingly non-significant (?) battle or something or another that happened in Stars Hollow during the Revolutionary War? Just go with it.

I do journalistic things in my day job, and this reminded me so much of Community Board meetings here in New York City. I mean, the last one I went to was about whether to allow a methadone clinic in one neighborhood so maybe not quite that intense…

Just watch this clip from Parks & Rec while I regain my train of thought.

2) Snow! It’s nearly November, and a sick little part of me is excited for the first snowfall of the year. I feel you Lorelai. I love the first snow of the year.* I love the cleanness of the snow and the possibility it brings. I love the crisp air and my intense desire to wrap myself up in a blanket with a book and stare out the window. And you’re right, Lorelai. The clothes are better.

Snow is also the background for one of my favorite romantic TV moments. I tried to find a YouTube clip of the Matthew and Mary moment from Season 2 of Downton Abbey (you know what I’m talking about, fans) but everything has a spoilery title to it. As I’ve mentioned before, we’re keeping The Gilmore Girls Project as spoiler free as possible even when it comes to other shows.

3) My writer friends will tell you that snowed in romances are some of my favorites — so much so that they’ve told me to just write the damn things myself and stop asking for books written to order.** How convenient is it that Max shows up in Stars Hollow right before a snow storm so he kind of has to maybe stay with Lorelai who happens to be solo that night because Rory went ahead to her grandparents’ house and is snowed in up in Hartford? It’s super convenient, except for the tiny complication of Lane also being at the Gilmore house. Speaking of which…

4) I feel for Lane in this episode, guys. She is all of the teenage angst rolled into one. She touches the hair of the boy she likes and is so embarrassed she runs (there are a lot of teen girls running away from boys in Gilmore Girls). Then she feels like she’s losing touch with Rory who seems to be wrapped up in her own happiness with Dean. Even Lorelai’s got a man in the house during this snow storm. All of this angst leads to a really lovely moment between Lorelai and Lane late in the episode.

5) Oh Max (formerly known as Mr. Good Hair). He’s kind of a gamma isn’t he? He’s alphaish to let Lorelai know what he wants, but he’s beta enough that he’s willing to sit back and let her take the lead, especially in her own house. And he’s fairly adorable sprawled out on the couch with a book on his chest the next morning. But obviously Lorelai needs to end up with Luke. Obviously.

So this episode wraps with Lorelai dating Max, Rory still dating Dean, and Rory promising to be a better friend to Lane. Hooray!

Literary References

Jane Austen, Hunter S. Thompson, Charlotte Bronte

Reasons Luke is Bound to Break Julia’s Heart

Oh god, guys. This show is setting me up to break me. Luke hands out coffees to the reenactment soldiers even though he finds them morally reprehensible. Then he spots Lorelai kissing Max on the street (because of course), and he just looks so crushed. After they had such a good moment in the last episode! Ugh.

Random Thoughts

-Lorelai listens back to a voicemail from Max over and over again in the beginning of this episode prompting the question: has texting ruined that part of dating? The part where you save and relistened to messages because the relationship was still new and you were excited to hear their voice. I love the immediacy of texting, but there’s something about that voicemail scene that makes me a little nostalgic.

-Lane reminds me of a couple people I knew in high school who seemed completely out of sync with the people around them. They wanted more. The knew that the world was bigger than what they were being shown (in Lane’s case Korean Bibles and boys her parents set her up with). I hope that she winds up being that type of character who heads off to college and only comes home for holidays.

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*Or at least I did until I became a journalist. Sadly, there are no snow days in news. Instead, those are the days you often work the hardest. There’s a strange, sick sense of satisfaction in that which makes me begrudgingly enjoy them (albeit in a very different way).

**Obviously that defeats the purpose of having friends to write books for you.

There is now a special tab section on my website for The Gilmore Girls Project. That’s the place to go if you want to catch up and watch along with me. If you want to leave me a comment, you can do that here, on Facebook, or by tweeting at me using #GilmoreGirlsProject

Tagged: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, date, Dean, first kiss, Gilmore Girls, Lane Kim, Lorelai, Max, Rory, snow, teenage angst

Go Forth & NaNoWriMo

For my little band of writer friends, the end of October isn’t a time to ask, “What are you and/or your kids going to be for Halloween,” but rather, “Are you going to do NaNoWriMo?”

I’ve done National Novel Writing Month three times and “won” it once. Each time I’ve gotten something valuable out of the experience.

Sure, it’s meant putting aside some basic human necessities like laundry and food that takes more than 10 minutes to prepare.* Hitting a 50,000 word count in the space of a month that also has holidays like Thanksgiving rolled into it is tough. But here’s the thing. You’re going to have 50,000 words of editable work if you win. Even if you don’t, you’re going to have something on a page and that’s a lot easier to craft and edit than a blank Word document. .

After winning NaNoWriMo for the first time last year, I also noticed an unexpected side benefit: I write more. Rather than the 1K I was cranking out a night after my day job, my numbers started ticking up. If you break NaNoWriMo’s word count down into equal parts, you wind up with 1,667 words a day.** Now I routinely write between 2,000 and 3,000 words a day, five days a week. That’s a whole lot of words that I can directly attribute to NaNoWriMo ratcheting up my productivity.

So, to all of you who are on the fence about NaNoWriMo or anyone who has always wanted to write a novel but didn’t know how to go about it, I’m challenging you to write along with me. The words you get out on the page don’t have to be good. They just have to be words, and I want you to write them fearlessly.

Now go forth and NaNoWriMo!

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*I basically live off of pesto and grilled chicken during the month of November.

**Once you write to that 1,667 words a day goal for a month, you will never be able to forget that magic number.

Tagged: daily word count, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, writing, writing challenge