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Why I Bought the Bumblebee Tights
If you’ve seen Me Before You or read the novel by Jojo Moyes, you know what the bumblebee tights are all about, right? In the book and film, the bumblebee tights symbolize Louisa’s independence—and her vivacious spirit—that which Will encourages her to fully embrace and to, in his words, “live boldly.” After I read the third installment of the Me Before You trilogy, and after having faith in the third book titled Still Me to not disappoint me as the second book, After You, did, I was moved entirely by the character’s development. I was relieved to laugh along with her and learn more about her integrity, passions, and capacity…
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Fashion & Fiction: Why I NEED Some Bumble Bee Tights. Now.
I open my closet. It’s a sea of black clothing. Black pants. Black tops. Black skirts. Black dresses. Even black jeans. I wonder what in the hell I’m doing wearing black all the time. I know I’m a writer, and writers love to wear black, but this is getting absurd. I have to fight to believe that my personality is not reflected in the drab colors and style of the clothes I wear. But it’s always black. Gloom. Doom. Snape-like. Johnny Cash-ish. Elphaba without the green face. I’m drowning in a vortex of black. And then a fictional character enters my world and I no longer want to wear black.…
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A Sneak Peak at What’s Coming Next Week…The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry
If you’ve read Jojo Moyes’s book, Paris for One and Other Short Stories, or Rosamunde Pilcher’s The Blue Bedroom, then you’ll have an idea of what’s coming in my new book The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry. Heavily influenced by Rosamunde Pilcher as a young woman, and loving every story she wrote for The Blue Bedroom, I think I fell head-over-heals in love with writing—and wanting to tell stories—after reading her work. Her novels that followed such as The Shell Seekers, Coming Home, and September all inspired me to write stories where relationships and setting are the main drivers of the work. Likewise, Jojo Moyes has been a…
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The Friday Random Thoughts Roundup
I haven’t been blogging much lately, and I’m feeling badly about it. I’ve been incredibly busy with two kids in high school, teaching at the university, volunteering for things, and serving on committees, in addition to actually trying to fit my new mentality of health and fitness into my daily regime. I wish I could write an insightful, meaningful post right now, but all I have time for is a quick roundup of random thoughts and things I want to share with you. So here it goes… I finally got around to watching the movie Me Before You last weekend which was based on the book by JoJo Moyes. I…
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Books That Make You Cry
About two months ago, on a nice day in March, I sat on my back porch and cried my eyes out as I finished Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. My friend, Shawna, and I were talking about both the novel and the upcoming movie on Saturday at the pool. She hated feeling so sad at the end of the story, and I didn’t mind it; she also doesn’t want to see the movie, and I get that. It is terribly tragic, but it’s also so touching. I’m ready to face it in the theatre with a box of Kleenex. I’ve been waiting a couple of months to see how…
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Some Quick Book Recommendations
I may not be writing and working on my next novel and collection of short stories as much as I should be, but I sure have read some pretty good books lately. It’s been nice to read other people’s works as opposed to worrying about my own stories right now. Books are piling up on my nightstand, and I’m hoping to read a lot of them this summer as I sit by the pool. It’s one of the great perks of being a professor–summers are made for catching up on writing and reading. Of late, I can recommend three books that I have thoroughly enjoyed. The Dress Shop of Dreams…
