Bridget Hoida's "So L.A." is so cool!

Okay, here's a late summer read you won't want to miss: Bridget Hoida's So L.A.  This hard-to-put-down book proves my oft-stated point that intelligent, witty writing doesn't have to be a drag...Nor must said writing be pretentious, dull, or just plain depress the poor reader to death.
Hoida has told her tale with great attention to detail in place and setting--and I know, since I was born/raised in L.A. and spent many years there as an adult. She's used super smart pacing, written believable characters, and included plenty of devastatingly witty insights into the current state of American culture. AND she's done all this while striking an enviable balance between lively humor and realistic, heart-felt human tragedy.
On a purely practical note, I loved the way So L.A. was broken into short bite-sized chunks and how the  ironic "chapter headers" were employed. Like I said, it was hard to put down, and I don't recommend starting the book as before-sleep reading...Unless you feel like getting to sleep early the next morning!
Check out an excerpt from the book here. 
You can meet Hoida at the Newport Beach meeting of the Southern California Writer's Conference in September. She's gonna be speaking there, and I can't wait to hear what she's got to say about publishing right now. I'll be there doing the ever-popular "Pitch Witches" workshop with my friend and colleague Marla Miller among other things.
You can also meet me at my "How to Craft a Query Letter" class for San Diego Writers Ink, at the downtown San Diego Ink Spot. It's from 1-4 on Sat Sept 8th...More info on that class can be found right here. We'll talk pitches and queries and proposals and get you writing (or rewriting yours) in the class-- to make it a better tool to sell your work.

"Ocotillo Dreams", an Appreciation

I recently read Melinda Palacio's wonderful "Ocotillo Dreams" and have been thinking about it quite a bit. If you don't know the versatile and talented Ms Palacio, check out her site here. She's probably best known as a poet, but she's also a blogger, speaker, and now, a novelist to be reckoned with.
Like Isola, the heroine of "Ocotillo Dreams," I grew up in a family that sometimes embraced and sometimes barely balanced between two cultures; I have found myself fascinated more and more by my own blended culture--and drawn to others' hybrid identities--as each year passes.
I also grew up with a mother who challenged stereotypes, and created her own persona--part hippy, part activist, part "earth mother", and always her own woman--so I could relate to Isola's mixture of embarrassment and pride in her own mom.
The novel's story is deceptively simple--Isola comes to Arizona to settle her late mom's "estate" and finds herself involved with some undocumented workers that have crossed and are crossing the border. But the story is not the whole story--the deeper tale is one of identity, self-awareness, and belonging. Isola must learn about herself in order to learn about her mother--and in order to find her life's deeper purpose.
For those of us who live on the border, and confront these challenges daily, the book's characters and locations will feel specific and familiar, but no less intriguing for all that. For those unfamiliar with the Southwest U.S. and our border issues, this book is a great way to explore the territory and the culture--but more than all that, readers will be drawn into the novel and soon care deeply about the people they meet in its pages.
This week I've switched literary gears a few times--I finished the Hunger Games series, am currently reading "Black and White" Wes Albers debut police novel, set in San Diego. And of course, I'm preparing for the YA fiction class I'm teaching on March 31st at San Diego Writer's Ink.
Meanwhile, the wind is gusting hard under a bright blue sky--blowing my little boat about at its mooring, reminding me who is boss. Nature, that is.
hasta pronto!

New York, New York

Another virtual trip to New York--in the pages of Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland. (Check out her site here, though quite out-of-date, it is still chock-full of info, excerpts and artwork). The character of Clara is a wonder--smart, caring, and independent...Especially for the 1900s. I loved Vreelands attention to detail, from the intricately described mosaic patterns and glass-blowing techniques to the clothes Clara and the "Tiffany girls" wore. Though I will say that I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as Luncheon of the Boating Party or The Forest Lover, and my friends have echoed that sentiment.
Diane, a voracious reader friend, told me she "tried to read" the book but lost interest and never finished it. I almost gave up in the first fifty pages too, which I think was the fault of editing, rather than writing. (I also spotted more than a few glaring editorial errors, such as using the word "careening" for "careering" three times!) It never fails that if an author has gained some prominence (been on bestseller lists, won awards) she stops being well edited. Editors begin to fear the author, I guess, which is not good for the author at all...but the one who really suffers is the reader.
However, I'm being picky--big surprise--and I still recommend the book. How many books nowadays deal with a woman finding herself in a man's world, without turning into some sort of tough moll or cop or killer. This character, Clara, is an artists, down to her bones, but she is also a "modern" woman of her time--forced to make hard choices in life and love. And what a character LC Tiffany was; you'll definitely never look at a Tiffany lamp (or window) in the same way again.
Last but not least, I so enjoy New York novels--I loved strolling the familiar streets again, especially with the added attraction of the Gilded Age setting. It was a perfect follow up to Edward Rutherford's New York, The Novel which I enjoyed so much recently.
Here onboard the "Watchfire" (currently moored in beautiful Coronado, California) the latest news is the addition of a canine crew member named "Ready." It has been fun re-learning how to be a dog "owner" not just a dog lover. I'll try to find some dog books for an upcoming post.
Hasta pronto!

Depressing novels, new and old, and "singing fish"

Depressing sells books.
Nothing new here, but it never ceases to amaze me. My latest case in point is The Gathering from 2007...by Anne Enright, winner of the Man Booker Prize. The poverty and ignorance that pervades all modern Irish tales is one thing--sometimes those themes can be written in such a way as to be uplifting, even...but why does every post-modern novel (or is it post-post now?) published have to revolve around the lingering effects (depression, drugs, alcoholism, suicide) of some sort of childhood abuse?
I am also reading Crime and Punishment (click here for a public domain ebook), which isn't helping. Dostoevsky didn't just blame everyone's parents and teachers--and policemen and priests--he blamed society itself for the evils of society.
Both of these novels are gorgeously written, at times, but they are a sure cure for insomnia if taken in large doses. This is quite helpful when a loud hum goes through the hull of one's boat from about 2 am to 4 am, leading you to speculate on everything from illegal underwater generators to mysterious undersea divers and what they might be up to. Some local Catalina Harbor fishermen suggested it was the sound of local fish, "Midshipmen" by name--but we pooh-poohed that answer...Finally Googled "midshipmen fish" and "hum" and got this from wikipedia:
"Mating in midshipman fishes depends on auditory communication; males during the breeding season broadcast a sound usually described as a hum, generated by rapid contractions of the muscles in the swim bladder. The sound can be kept up for up to an hour, and is loud enough to be heard by (and to puzzle) people on nearby land and houseboats; the hulls of the boats tend to amplify the sound to sleep-disrupting levels. Reproductive females develop a selective sensitivity to this sound, and respond by laying eggs in the rock nest of a singing male."
Solves that mystery, and just goes to show what you can learn while out and about in a boat...The whole article, complete with illustration of the ugly devil is here.
hasta pronto!