MamaManagement

There is this sensation that is one of my most favorite things to feel. I call it the weight of love. It is the feeling of the weight of someone's body pressed gently against yours. Not the suffocating kind of full body weight on your lungs. Not a stranger bumping into you in a crowded space. But the gentle pressure of someone you love's body touching yours. It is your dog asleep against your side. It is your baby asleep on your chest. It is your spouse's hand on your shoulder or back or hand. It is the extended hug of a dear, dear friend--the kind where you lean into one another and hold each other up. It is your child's embrace, their head on your shoulder, their body leaned into your's. It is your spouse's leg or arm touching your's in bed at night. It is the weight of love. And sometimes I feel it simply as the lovely, warm contact that it is on the surface. But other times I feel it as the deeper connections of life. For it is as simple ...

As many of you know, I participated in my 4th National Novel Writing Month this November, and made it for the 50,000 word win for the 3rd time in a row. First, let me explain something to you about NaNoWriMo that you don't likely understand if you are a) not a writer, and b) have never participated in NaNo yourself. It is all encompassing. When you participate in NaNo for the win, you live and breathe NaNo. To write 50,000 words in 30 days, you have to average 1667 words per day. (And, remember, you're not just putting any old words on a page here, you're creating a whole other world...and you're hoping at least most of the words aren't total crap.) That's a fair amount of work, especially if you have a job or a life or young children who aren't in school all day. You have to work writing time into your regular life schedule, and you have to immerse yourself in what you're writing. Which means you become obsessed with the whole thing. It also m...

If you ever read my book reviews on this blog, then you know I have a particular soft spot for character-driven YA novels. (See: Eleanor & Park, Aristotle & Dante Discover the Universe, Mosquitoland, etc.) There's just something about the capturing of that time of life. It's so hard, so pivotal...the stories so relatable. Even if I've never really been through what the character's going through, there's just something universal about the trials of adolescence and early adulthood. So, after basically taking the entire month of November off from reading (aside from a parenting book and a memoir for book club) I thought I'd jump back in with a good character-driven YA read. And, my oh my, did I find another beauty. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven is the story of Violet and Finn, two broken teenagers who meet under most unusual circumstances and at exactly the right moment in their lives. It is a story of love and courage and a fight worth f...

A metaphor for my month to come... Tortoise Battle: Real Tortoise vs Pretend Tortoise (not unlike Real Life vs. Fictional World) Note: Pretend Tortoise appears to be winning I've been pretty absent here on the blog of late. I've been writing and revising a lot. And I really haven't had much to say here. I have a few books and recipes I could share...and I will, eventually. But I've pulled out of most social media of late. I can't handle the negativity right now. So instead of talking about any of that, I'll share a little about what I'm gearing up for (besides trick-or-treating). We are one week from the kick-off of National Novel Writing Month 2016.  That's seven days to prepare myself and my world for 50,000 words in 30 days.   Technically, I started prep last week. I got my current "novel under revision" (a middle grade book titled The Smart Girl and the Magic Boy ) to a comfortable pause-place, and readied both my November a...

I've been on a bit of a reading binge lately. According to my husband, I've been ignoring him. Book-widow. So sad. Anywho...here are a few of the books I've had in my hands lately... Notes From The Dog by Gary Paulson ...It's a super short read. Something like 150 pages. I read it in two days. It is super sweet and funny and touching and definitely worth the read. Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead ...The most recent book from a favorite author of mine. Her book When You Reach Me is one of my favorites of all time and I adored her book First Light (and enjoyed Liar and Spy ). They're all middle grade novels, but worth the read for adults too. And this one was good as well. A touching story that expertly captures some of the perils of early adolescence with main characters you'll root for. Landline by Rainbow Rowell ...It's no secret that Rainbow Rowell has written one of my all time favorite books, Eleanor and Park , plus another fave,...

I love this book so much that I want to eat it so that I can keep its words forever with me. (Is that weird?) I love this book so much I oscillate between it making me want to be a better writer and it making me want to admit defeat, for I will never write characters that come alive on the page the way Noah and Jude do. I love this book so much that I want to share it with you. So, here we go... I put I'll Give You The Sun on my list of absolute favorite character-driven YA & MG books. It's right up there with Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park and David Arnold's Mosquitoland , and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz, Counting By 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Wonder by RJ Palacio. (All amazing books...if you haven't read them yet, go do it now!) These are books that sucked me in from page one, with characters that captured my heart, and held me until the sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet, end. These are ...

On the dark days I want to buzz cut my hair and look nothing like myself. I want to unzip this suit of skin and face and hair and rid myself of the weight of it. It has become so heavy like a wet, wool coat beneath one of those lead vests they drape you in for dental x-rays. I want to feel light like waves on the ocean, skimming frothy on wet sand, like birds on the air, clouds on the sky. But the iron-cast belly of babies and middle age drags me down. I just want to wipe away the heat, to lay on the cool tile floor, feel the staccatoed breeze of an oscillating fan, hear nothing but it's gentle, caressing whir, stare blankly into the space just inches from the tip of my nose. An hour later I'll notice the comforting weight of my tiny dog's body against my leg and it will be enough to release the tears. Silent drops. Because, well, silence. My reflection, forever emblazoned on the back of my eyelids, will heave my ches...