My Two Sons

Last week I attended TLA in Dallas and had a really great time with my lovely editor, my terrific friends, some wonderful librarians, and many talented authors. After that I went to visit my son Dan (handsome but slightly ticked off looking dude on the right), who's a music major at UNT. It was a beautiful day, so we walked around town, went to a very cool used bookstore where Dan promptly handed me two of his favorite classics - Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse, and A Portrait of the Artist, by James Joyce, and told me, "You MUST read these!" So, okay, I will. For dinner we ordered some really good take out Indian food and shared a bottle of organic red wine. What a great day.

Both Dan and Jonny (Jonny's the handsome and patient looking dude on the left), inspired me to write Dylan Fontaine. It's not a story about them, but it's about two brothers who love each other very much, but sometimes have trouble showing it. Anyway, what's cool is Jonny just got the MVP award for varsity basketball this year, and his number is 34. When the cover was being designed for Dylan, my editor asked what number I would like on Dylan's jersey, so ... guess what I chose? Yep. 34. She's a sweetheart.

Oh yeah, Readingjunky posted a really nice review for Dylan on teensreadtoo.com. It should show up on amazon soon. Thank you Readingjunky!!

The Road

I recently finished Cormac McCarthy's stunning post-apocalyptic novel, The Road. Wow. Basically it's about a father and son who walk through burned and ravaged America. Dark? Definitely. Depressing? Maybe. Hopeful? Absolutely. The love shared between father and son is so strong and so moving, it lifts the reader above the death and destruction they encounter. I loved it. This is the last sentence of the book, which really stayed with me: "In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery."

After The Road, I needed something a little lighter, so now I'm reading Luncheon of the Boating Party, by Susan Vreeland. As I've mentioned before, I love the Impressionists, and this book is about Renoir and how he came to paint Luncheon. Above is a closeup of my favorite part of the painting.

As for writing, my WIP is coming along nicely, and I should make my June 30th deadline. Yay. Also, I've been biting my nails, waiting for the review from Kirkus on Dylan Fontaine. I'm happy to report that Kirkus was much kinder this time around. (They annihilated Brothers.) So, here is a quote - it's not much, but hey, I'll take it: "Lurie has created a well-paced story about a teen guy who shoulders responsibility while becoming his own person."

I'm also happy to report that Dylan has been nominated for BBYA, and Brothers is a KLIATT's Editor's Choice!

So Cool

Last night I found this awesome video on you tube. A girl named Melissa did a project for her English class on my novel, Dancing in the Streets of Brooklyn. Thank you, Melissa. I'm totally honored. Click on the link below to see it.

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/dancing-in-the-streets-of-brooklyn/4201261432