You Call This A Blog?

I know. It's like I can't get a grip for anything, eh?

Still not writing.

Still reading.

The Couch to 5K thing is still a go.

Mari is here.

That's what I'm up to.

But I guess under the SHARE category...

FREE WRITING MINI-WORKSHOP Saturday In ANN ARBOR

Here is the scoop shared by Robin Agnew, owner of Aunt Agatha's: Barbara Gregorich will speak on Thinking Like a Mystery Reader Writer at Aunt Agatha’s Bookstore, 213 S. Fourth Avenue, Ann Arbor, on Saturday, March 28, at 2:00. She will answer questions and engage in discussions afterwards, and will autograph copies of her most recent title, Guide to Writing the Mystery Novel: Lots of Examples, Plus Dead Bodies. With Guide to Writing the Mystery Novel, Gregorich combines her love of mystery, her love of writing, and her love of teaching. Much of what she has to say in Guide to Writing the Mystery Novel: Lots of Examples, Plus Dead Bodies comes from her experience with people who want to write a mystery but aren’t aware of the various decisions they must make as they create the story. Gregorich hopes that her book will help them . . . and result in her having more mystery novels to read. For those contemplating writing a mystery novel and those who have written one or more but are looking for fresh and invigorating insights into the approach, Guide to Writing the Mystery Novel provides an overall view of how to think like a writer in general and a mystery writer in particular.

A WEE REVIEW: The Marbury Lens

I've read a couple great YA books this winter in my quest to figure out what I'm doing. A few of them have humbled me but I just finished one that blew me away. I know I'm late to the party, but here is my review for The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith

I sometimes feel guilty about how stingy I am with five-star reviews. I give them, but a story really needs to be fairly flawless AND suck me in—so both well executed AND my thing… But once in a while a book like this will come along that makes me feel like I need to go back and downgrade 90% of my fives because it is just head and shoulders above sublime.

This book is not for the faint hearted. There is swearing, a bit of sexual violence and a lot of teen deviance. But harder than that, this is very dark emotionally so it is probably not the thing for some people. But for others, it is EXACTLY the thing.

The story set-up reminded me a lot of The Talisman, one of my favorites from two of my favorite scary authors—Stephen King and Peter Straub. In both books there are parallel worlds in which people can exist in both and the MC is pushed into a position of going back and forth, but I felt while The Talisman is a brilliant show to watch externally, The Marbury Lens actually pulls us inside so we feel it. And the REAL world in Marbury Lens is more real and the OTHER world is darker… I just really feel like Smith upped the ante on the type of tale.


And last, A week from tomorrow is the start of Blogging A to Z

If you want to be a NEW blogger, or, like me, want to rejuvenate an OLD blog... this is a great opportunity. Go check it out: http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/a-to-z-challenge-sign-uplist-2015.html

Great Event and Giveaway Announcement

So Aunt Agatha's Anniversary event Wednesday went really well! People were SO NICE. I got to meet a bunch of established authors and they were WONDERFUL. This pic is of the 4-5 slot authors:

Sarah Zettel (far left) writes paranormal cozies (though appears to wear a few other faces, too, including sci-fi, fantasy and romance), which is just hot. It is a culinary vampire theme she was sharing at the anniversary, as that is her mystery line. Loren Estleman was the rock star of our quartet. He had abour 15 books FEATURED. I guess he has about four mystery series, plus some other crime fiction, and he writes westerns on top of it. He was such a nice man. You recognize me, probably... a little thicker than I like to be, but there you have it. Note that I chose the less flattering picture of me because the one that was good of my cut Sarah in half, so hopefully I've earned some karma there... And then to my left (your right) is Sharon Fiffer who I had a GREAT time talking to. She has an antique dealer cozy series—all the titles end in 'stuff'--she was featuring #7 and 8 in the series and they are hard cover, so she seems to be doing well with them.

I also met Libby Fischer Hellmann and Julia Spencer-Fleming, though that only covers about half of the authors there. There was REALLY a good turnout and I signed a bunch of books... erm... by a bunch, I mean a bunch for me--maybe 10--FOR people, plus a couple left at the store for stock.  Everyone was SO gracious--authors and readers alike. There really wasn't a reason for me to be so intimidated.


Giveaway

Then I also want to give a big shoutout and thank you to Kathy Matthews who is doing a giveaway of The Azalea Assault and Elizabeth Spann Craig's Quilt or Innocence—go over to Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy and leave a comment for a chance to win! She has a great blog, too. She lives in central Oregon, which is beautiful country, and posts a lot of gorgeous shots of her adventures. (Plus she's super nice—you'll love her)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Obama in the Big House

I know Saturday is my fitness blog, and I will get there, but we are having a little local excitement, and I feel compelled to share a few stories. For the record... Obama IS in the Big House. Oh no, he hasn't been arrested. You see The Big House is what Michigan Stadium (for whatever reason) has been nicknamed. I'd like to hope it isn't an attribution of thuggishness...

I rather hope it is just because the largest college stadium IN THE WORLD is three blocks from my house. (this was taken before the renovations, which are STILL in progress)  Capacity during football season is 107,005 (or some such silly number) but that is because on the field they only allow players, coaches, and cheerleaders. For an event like this, where all the graduates will be seated on the floor (read: football field), I think capacity goes to 120,000. And you know what? When Barrack Obama speaks at a college graduation, THE BIG HOUSE IS FULL.  It's only the third time a sitting president has spoken for one here.

The drama started Thursday. I came home from work and my husband said, 'did you hear the helicopters?'

“Why no,” said his wife who works in a cave across town (you think I'm kidding. Sadly, I'm not—no window for me... door closed so I can listen to obnoxiousness and not disturb my coworker. We could be bombed and I would not know.)

Big FREAKING double rotor helicopters—like eight of them, circling MY YARD! Okay, so maybe my yard was just on the flight path around the stadium but Holy CRAP!

(This show the renovation stuff--big BOXES up the sides)  Now I don't know how much y'all know about Ann Arbor, but normally REALITY never makes an appearance... not that.. you know... the president visiting... is a very REAL experience. But we usually are all educated and civil and polite and shit. Like... academics. We are NOT snipers on roofs, FREAKING helicopters the size of tour bus prepared. Heck, it makes the paper when somebody EXPOSES THEMSELVES (though they never got my name, so I guess that's all right). The Ann Arbor Observer posts a map of all crime in the last month every month and there are like 30 crimes, mostly electronic thefts. Now and again there is something awful like a rape, but it's RARE.

AND NOW WE HAVE FREAKING SNIPERS ON ROOVES!!!!

So my neighbor... I'll call him Joe... works at a building near Michigan Stadium. His supervisor said, “if anyone needs to work this weekend, you'll need to get FBI clearance.” I'm DEAD FREAKING SERIOUS.

Then there was the morning thunderstorm that passed ON TOP OF our house... Thunder and lightning at EXACTLY the same time, but it has seemed to mellow a lot—the news says scattered showers the rest of the morning—I don't think I'd want to sit for 3 hours in it, but there you have it...

So if I am a little scatterbrained, you'll have to excuse me. I go back and forth between being giddy ObamaFanGirl and AnnoyedThisIsMyTown, YouPeopleGoHome. Because the town is PACKED. Granted, it is always busy graduation weekend, but BARRACK FREAKING OBAMA... HERE. AT MY HOUSE! Okay, not QUITE my house. But if he were a bomb I'd explode. He's pretty darned close!


And now... back to your regularly scheduled blog...

Here is the speech, if anyone is interested:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcNXFz_QCVU


Downsizing

There are few things quite as sweet in the course of a PLAN... The pounds going down on the scale is nice. The tape measure having more length at the end (like ANY experience of more length on the end) is pretty sweet... but when I put on a pair of pants expecting one fit (snuggish) and even though the scale hasn't done much—for a whole month it's moved VERY little-- but the pants sort of... HANG... THAT feels GREAT. (WHOEVER thought pants would make me happy?)

That is where I was this week. I am actually up a pound, but my dark grey slacks that I was WEARING, but weren't quite FLATTERING, HUNG Thursday. And yesterday I braved the capris I've mentioned—they aren't as 'hangy' across the butt as I'd like, but they cling NOWHERE, which means they FIT. I am back in my size 14s—officially! (not just the fat 14s) WAHOO!


I don't know what the mechanism is, that you shrink at a different time than you lose the pounds... I am STILL sticking with a tissue memory theory (“oh, I might need this space again soon, so I'm not yielding just yet”), but this has not been that unusual an experience in my life of dieting, and I think it is one of my favorite things because it is just so unexpected. It is also FINALLY that reinforcement you need when you stick with it in spite of no reward for several more weeks.