International Peace Day

 

 

September 21, 2013

In the Garden

 

 

 

Do I love Pat Conroy? Why, yes - yes I do

He has posted my reading from his extraordinary BEACH MUSIC on his Facebook page -

https://www.facebook.com/PatConroyAuthor

If you're not on Facebook (why not??), here it is here -

Pat Conroy's THE DEATH OF SANTINI

I  was lucky enough to score an ARC of  THE DEATH OF SANTINI by Pat Conroy. 

Wow.

Just.
Wow.

Nobody, but NO BODY, writes like Conroy.

I have sung his praises over the years here at Meanderings and Muses.  You can find several posts I've written about him - each one more expansive than the last.

I don't care if he's writing fiction, narrative non-fiction, essays or recipes - he is the best.

And THE DEATH OF SANTINI is the book many of us have been waiting for.

I don't know how he survives opening himself up the way he does as he writes with such brutal honesty.  And through the unimaginable hurt comes that outrageously irreverent sense of humor that will make you laugh out loud even as you're wiping away the tears.

Pure.  Honest.  Perfectly written.

Conroy at his best -

AND -

If I didn't already love him, I would after reading this passage  - ". . . Yes, it was that fruitful winter that I made the decision to never write a critical dismissal of the works of another brother or sister writer, and I've lived up to that promise to myself. No writer has suffered over morning coffee because of the savagery of my review of his or her latest book, and no one ever will."


That, my friends, equals class backed up, I believe, by a huge capacity for kindness.

Hank's Post

My apologies to those who have been unable to read Hank's entire post due to the photo blocking some of the text.

I've deleted the picture from that post - maybe that will help. 

It looked fine on my screen, so I am at a loss.

Here's the photo on its own -

TRUSTING THE UNIVERSE by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Trusting the Universe

  By Hank Phillippi Ryan

 

I have an abiding philosophy that sometimes the universe provides.

 

 Like every author I’ve ever known, coming up with that beautiful gem of the idea, the core of the book, is the hardest part of all. You know it when you have it and when you have, it you can write it! But when you don’t have it, it’s miserable. And I writhe on the couch, haunted by the question,  trying to think—what’ll be the unique interesting original plot of next book? And when it’s time—every time!—something presents itself. (Which should teach me not to worry, although that hasn’t quite happened yet.)

 

It happened with THE WRONG GIRL. And I must confess, when I was about ready to say to the universe: “Hey, sister, all good, but sure would love to hear from you!”

 

Anyway. In this  case, I got a phone call at my TV station from a woman who said she had a story for me. Now, I get a million of those calls a day—well, not that many, but many—and I try to listen to them all as much as I can. Who knows when it may be the story of the century.   It could happen.

 

So this woman tells me a friend of hers had spent the past ten years searching, unsuccessfully, for her birth mother. And finally, it seemed she’d found her. The adoption agency had called to say the birth mother had decided to let herself be known, and as a result, the agency called the daughter and set up a reunion.

 

But then, the caller said, everything began to fall apart. The “mother” and “daughter” met—they liked each other fine, and had a cup of tea. But as they chatted, things just didn’t add up.  Dates, times, cities, birthdays.

 

And finally, the caller said, they realized the agency had sent the mother the wrong girl.

 

I still remember the goose bumps I got when she said that.

 

Now, in reality ,the story of what happened is –surprisingly—not that interesting! It was a clerical error, and a name mixup, and they were indeed relatives, and nothing that would have happened to anyone else.  (An incredible series of coincidences, which in fiction, you would never believe, right?)

 

 But I was instantly transported to the world of adoption and foster care and the love of mothers and daughters—and the heartbreaking decisions that sometimes have to be made.

 

And, I thought: What if an adoption agency was reuniting birth parents with the wrong children? On purpose?  Could that happen? Whoa. And in that instant—I had THE WRONG GIRL.

 

All of us crave family—it’s our identity and our history and our story. For a person searching for her birth parent—do they really want to know? What if they don’t like them? What if the answers they find are unsettling? What if you were happier—before?

 

Or—and I’m smiling now—what if you get linked up with the wrong person? And what if someone deliberately lied about it?  Would you know? How? And what would you do?

 

What if you didn’t know the truth about your own family?

 

 Again, did I know the answers when I started writing THE WRONG GIRL? Who, what, when ,where why?  Nope, not  at all. But it was terrific fun and a constant surprise to find out. It was a lot of research, and a lot of thought, and  a lot of listening. I learned about worlds I could never have understood before. And I am very grateful.

 

Do readers have “searching” stories? I’ve been so honored to hear so many of them on my book tour, the joyous, and the disappointing, and the as-yet-unfinished. And I’d love to hear more!  Send me an email via my website—or find me on Facebook at Hank Phillippi Ryan Author Page.)

 

And what about you, Friends of the Fabulous Kaye? Have you faced the complications and conflicts and complications of searching for a birth parent or child?

 

I would love to hear...and leave a comment of any kind  to be entered to win THE OTHER WOMAN, the Mary Higgins Clark award wining first Jane Ryland book!

 

 

 

 

 HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s NBC affiliate. She’s won 30 EMMYs, 12 Edward R. Murrow awards and dozens of other honors for her ground-breaking journalism. A bestselling author of six mystery novels, Ryan has won multiple prestigious awards for her crime fiction: the Agatha, Anthony, Macavity, and most recently, for THE OTHER WOMAN, the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. National reviews call her a "master at crafting suspenseful mysteries" and "a superb and gifted storyteller." Her newest thriller, THE WRONG GIRL, is dubbed "Another winner" in the Booklist starred review.   She’s on the national board of directors of Mystery Writers of America and currently president of national Sisters in Crime.

 

http://www.HankPhillippiRyan.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hank-Phillippi-Ryan-Author-Page/250706175034817 

On Twitter at  @hank_phillippi

 

 

THE WRONG GIRL

 

Does a respected adoption agency have a frightening secret? Tipped off by a determined ex-colleague on a desperate quest to find her birth mother, Boston newspaper reporter Jane Ryland begins to suspect that the agency is engaging in the ultimate betrayal--are they reuniting birth parents with the wrong children?

For detective Jake Brogan, a young woman’s brutal murder seems a sadly predictable case of domestic violence, one that results in two toddlers being shuttled into the foster care system. Then Jake finds an empty cradle at the murder scene. Where is the baby who should have been sleeping there?

Jane and Jake are soon on a trail full of twists and turns that takes them deep into the heart of a foster care system in crisis and threatens to blow the lid off an adoption agency scandal. When the threatening phone calls start, Jane knows she is on the right track...but with both a killer at large and an infant missing, time is running out....

THE WRONG GIRL is a riveting novel of family connections—both known and unknown—vile greed, senseless murder, and the ultimate in deception. What if you didn’t know the truth about your own family?

September 13, 2013 - Quarter Moon Books, Topsail Island, NC

 

 

 

Wheeeeee!!!!!

Here's the WHIMSEY display

at

Quarter Moon Books,

Topsail Island, NC

 

I hope some of you will be able to be there tomorrow evening, September 13, from 5-7 for our wine & cheese signing party.

This Month - A signing at Quarter Moon Books

Quarter Moon Books is one of the coolest bookstores on God's green earth and I'm tickled pink to be doing an event there this month.

Check it out -

http://quartermoonbooks.com

 

They were one of the first bookstores to take on chance on WHIMSEY and add it to their inventory.

 

 

If you're near Topsail Island, NC, join us for a wine and cheese party on Friday, September 13 from 5:00 to 7:00 where I'll be signing copies of Whimsey.

Some Summertime Memories

Today's my day to play "Oh, Kaye!" at Jungle Red.

In honor of Labor Day and the end of summer, I thought this might be the perfect time for some summertime memories.  For some of you, like me, those memories would have to include Ocean City, MD.

I hope you'll drop by Jungle Red - http://www.jungleredwriters.com/  -  and say "Hey!" and share your own memories.

Where I am today - --

I'm visiting with my friend, author and editor Terrie Farley Moran at Women of Mystery - I hope you'll drop by!

http://www.womenofmystery.net/2013/08/26/whimsey-a-novel-by-kaye-wilkinson-barley/

From Shi##y First Draft to Real Book: Words of Wisdom for Newbie Authors by Diane Chamberlain

 

     

       "I want to write a book, but I can't get started."

            I hear that over and over again, so I'd like to give wannabe writers some encouragement. I think a big part of their problem is that they expect the first words they put on paper to glow with perfection. I'm a big believer in what Anne Lamott calls "the Shitty First Draft", so I thought I'd share my first draft attempt at a few paragraphs from my September 3^rd release, Necessary Lies.

 

 

 

 

 

            Necessary Lies is my 22^nd novel, and I've been using the Shitty First Draft method a very long time.  The book is set in 1960 rural North Carolina and is the story of a young, green social worker named Jane and her fifteen-year-old client, Ivy. As Jane discovers the secrets in Ivy's life, she's thrown into a moral dilemma that jeopardizes both her job and her marriage. Ivy is one of my all-time favorite characters and it was immense fun writing from her point of view.

            I keep all the drafts of my novels as I write. Below I'm going to show you a paragraph and the road it traveled from Shitty First Draft to the final form you'll find in the book. I hope it encourages those of you who think you need perfection right off the bat.

            In this scene, Nurse Ann, the public health nurse, is visiting Ivy. Ann is concerned that Ivy might be having sex (she is) and she wants to give her contraception. Ivy's seventeen-year-old sister Mary Ella already has a child. The scene is written from Ivy's first person point of view.

***

First Draft

            Nurse Ann showed up with contraceptives. "Open this bag."

            I opened it up and pulled out a box of spermicidal jelly.

            "This kills sperm. Sperm comes from the boy and makes babies."

            "I know that."

            "And this is what you use to get it inside you." She pulled a long tube from the bag.

            "I need to sweep the yard," I said.

            "You need to stay right here," she said.

            She opened the bag again and brought out Trojans. "These are rubbers," she said. "The boy wears these. They're even more protective than the jelly."

            "You mean protection from having a baby?"

            "That's right."

            "I don't need these things. You should talk to Mary Ella. She's gonna get pregnant again any day."

            "Mary Ella's not your business. These things are for you and you can have more if you need them."

            Why was she giving me this stuff instead of Mary Ella. I'd told Mary Ella the boy should pull out to have no babies, but she ignored me as usual.

 

Pretty shitty, huh?

Okay, here's a draft about halfway to the final.

Middle Draft

            Nurse Ann opened her bag in her lap. "I have some things here for you," she said, handing me a paper bag.

            I opened it up and pulled out a box that said spermicidal jelly on the side.

            "You don't eat this kind of jelly," she said. "It kills sperm. Sperm comes from the boy and that's what makes babies."

            "I know that."

            "Now here"—she opened the box and pulled out a long tube—"you use this to put the jelly inside you." She said how to do that and I knew my cheeks was red.

            She reached in the bag one more time and brought out little packages that said Trojan on them. "These are rubbers," she said. "The boy puts these on. They're more protective than the jelly."

            "You mean protection from having a baby?"

            "That's right."

            I handed the bag back to her. "I don't need none of this. Mary Ella's the one you should be talkin' to."

            "I'm not worried about Mary Ella right now. I'm worried about you."

            "I ain't doing nothing.

            "Well, just in case, I want you to have these things and I can bring you more if you ever need more."

            I didn't know why she wasn't giving these things to Mary Ella. I'd give them to her myself. I'd told Mary Ella about pulling out to have no more babies, but she ignored me as usual.

 

And the final draft, where I show more of Ivy's emotions.

Final Draft

            Nurse Ann opened the medical bag in her lap. "I have some things here for you," she said, handing me a paper bag. "Look inside and I'll explain how you use them."

            I opened it up and pulled out a box that said spermicidal jelly on the side.

            "This is not the kind of jelly you eat," she said. "It kills sperm. Sperm comes from the boy and that's what makes babies."

            "I know that." I wished I was someplace else.

            "Now here"—she opened the box and pulled out a long tube—"is the applicator you use to insert the jelly in your vagina." She went into a long description of how to do that and I knew my cheeks was red, listening to her. This talk was turning out worse than I expected.

            She reached in the bag one more time and brought out little packages that said Trojan on them. "These are rubbers," she said. "The boy puts these on. They're more protective than the jelly. And the best protection is using both of them together."

            "You mean protection from having a baby?" I wished she'd speak plain.

            "That's right."

            I handed the bag back to her. "I don't need none of this. Mary Ella's the one you should be talkin' to. She already got herself a baby and any day she's gonna end up with another for sure."

            "I'm not worried about Mary Ella right now. I'm worried about you."

            "No need to be. I ain't doing nothing."

            "Well, just in case, I want you to have these things and I can bring you more if you ever need more."

            I didn't know why she wasn't giving these things to Mary Ella. I'd give them to her myself. I'd told Mary Ella about the pulling out to be a way to have no more babies, and she just looked off into the blue yonder the way she always did, like she didn't hear a word I said.

 

So, there you have it, from first draft to actual book. I hope it encourages you to put your story on paper. And I hope you'll pick up a copy of Necessary Lies. Author Dorothea Benton Frank calls it "the most important book Diane Chamberlain has ever written". I look forward to hearing your thoughts about it as well.

 

 

Murder in the Magic City

Murder in the Magic City is a mystery conference for fans of all sub-genres of mystery novels.  The conference consists of panel discussions and presentations. Lunch, coffee and doughnuts, sodas, and a “goody bag” are included in the registration fee. In addition, they have a basket auction each year for charity. Baskets consist of at least one book and items related to that book/theme.

Why the “Magic City”? When Birmingham was founded around 1871, it grew so fast that people said it happened “just like magic”. Currently, Birmingham is Alabama’s largest city. There are lots of fun things to do there, including a fantastic Museum of Art, and the Civil Rights Institute is a great visit. Of course, no trip to Birmingham would be complete without seeing Vulcan, the naked statue, made even more famous by the late mystery writer, Anne George.

AND - I'll be there, along with a whole bunch of great writers (including some very good buddies of mine - Yay!).

Registration for the event will open December 1, 2013.

Keep your eye on this page as more authors are added - http://www.murderinthemagiccity2014.com/what-authors-will-be-there/

From the kindness of strangers . . .

Back in 2011, I wrote a blog here about an author I had recently discovered - Sarah Addison Allen.  I was blown away by her writing, and became a fan and devoted follower of her work. 

As it happens, serendipity was about to come into play.  I was over the moon about being interviewed by Marlisa Mills, for Western North Carolina Magazine.  I couldn't wait to have the March, 2011 edition in my hands to read the final version when I was stopped in my tracks to see that my interview followed a wonderful interview of Ms. Allen written by Erin Campbell.  It was a very big deal to me to be invited for an interview by Marlisa, an exceptionally gracious woman, and terrific writer, who I greatly admire.  Sometimes life hands over the sweetest of gifts, and being included in the same edition of a magazine I love along with New York Times bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen was the oh so sweet icing on the cake. 

A lot of things have happened since I wrote that post.  In my life - I've published WHIMSEY: A NOVEL.

In Sarah Addison Allen's life - she has a new book coming out in February - LOST LAKE.  Her first book in three years.  Her first, to quote her from her Facebook page "post cancer book."

In addition to being a hugely talented writer, she's also a fighter who has successfully fought a battle against breast cancer.  A fight many of us have followed through her posts at FB in an amazingly honest and inimitable fashion.  The woman rocks.  She. just. rocks.

She's one of my heroes, although she has no way of knowing this.  Our only relationship is through Facebook where I'm one of her many readers and fans.  And she has MANY.  They're loyal, they love her for not only her work, but for her daily graciousness in their lives.  She's fun and funny and kind.

Jumping forward to yesterday. 

She posted a very short little something on her Facebook wall - "check out my FB friend Kaye Wilkinson Barley's WHIMSEY: A NOVEL."

This morning I work up to find my Whimsey picked up quite a few friends during the night.  People who most likely would never have discovered it without the kindness of a stranger.  Words are powerful.  We sometimes forget just how powerful. 

My thanks to the incredible Sarah Addison Allen and her friends who have decided to give WHIMSEY a chance just because of a few short words she was thoughtful enough to take the time to post at Facebook.

Life is good and today it feels pretty grand.

Meeting Elizabeth Peters

Life is full of memories.

 

I feel so blessed to have so many good ones.

 

Here's one

 

 

Going to Malice in 2011

 

 

 Riding the train up with  Margaret and Joe Maron, and Bren Bonner.

Bren Bonner Witchger and Margaret Maron

Kaye Barley and Joe Maron

We started running into folks almost the second we walked in the door of the hotel.  Including Dorothy Cannell and Malice Guest of Honor, Jan Burke.

Dorothy Cannell, Jan Burke, Margaret Maron and Bren Bonner Witchger

And I couldn't wait to hit the dealer's room!

Kaye Barley and Margaret Maron

In case you don't recognize the fella behind Margaret, that's Don Longmuir who owns the wonderful Scene of the Crime Books.  It was at his booth I was lucky enough to find a hard back, first edition of Barbara Michaels' "Ammie,Come Home."  Was I excited?!  Pfft!  I guess!  I had brought my much loved, many times read, beat up, rag tag paperback copy with me for her to sign.  I was thrilled to have this copy instead. 


A couple days later, we gathered together to pay homage to the incredible Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels

Julian Cannell, Margaret Maron and Joe Maron

It was, without a shadow of a doubt, one of THE funniest skits I have ever witnessed.  Ms. Peters was joined by Joan Hess, Dorothy Cannell, Parnell Hall and Daniel Stashower (with a special appearance by Ammie from "Ammie, Come Home")

Elizabeth Peters aka Barbara Michaels aka Barbara Mertz

Joan Hess and Elizabeth Peters

Dorothy Cannell, Joan Hess and Elizabeth Peters

Joan Hess, Elizabeth Peters and Parnell Hall

Ammie from "Ammie, Come Home," Dorothy Cannell, Parnell Hall, Joan Hess, Elizabeth Peters and Daniel Stashower

Joan Hess and Elizabeth Peters

AND, I got to meet her.  Margaret Maron made the introduction,  and I proceeded to cry all over the gracious Ms. Peters (I wanted to die)

My thanks to Karen Kiley for this picture.   Margaret also took one.  The one Margaret took is a wonderful picture of Ms. Peters.  I, however, look like a lunatic.  Certainly not Margaret's fault - I just couldn't quit crying!!

Ms. Peters also agreed to sign books.

What a perfect day this was,

one I will never forget.

 

 

Barbara Mertz/Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels

 (1927-2013)

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/mystery-writer-barbara-mertz-author-of-more-than-60-books-under-pen-names-dies-at-85/2013/08/08/f8218304-0047-11e3-8294-0ee5075b840d_story.html