"I don't like him, Mickey. Not in the way you mean." Susanna set down the dirty dishes and reached into the jar, fishing out quarters. "Even if I did--which I don't--he lives four bazillion miles away. Across the Atlantic and halfway into the North Sea."
"So you know where he lives?"
Susanna banged into the kitchen, leaving Mickey and his amusing chuckle on the deck. What did he know? Old Irish-singing coot. He wasn't even really Irish, for crying out loud."
"I'm left with George. He sucks on his Popsicle meditatively for a few minutes, then asks, "Did you know that in space it's very, very cold? And there's no oxygen? And if an astronaut fell out of a shuttle without his suit he'd die right away?"
I'm a fast learner. "But that would never happen. Because astronauts are really, really careful."
George gives me a smile, the same dazzling sweet smile as his big brother, although, at this point, with green teeth. "I might marry you," he allows. "Do you want a big family?"
"My advice is don't take yourself too seriously. Laugh a lot. Enjoy your time with family and appreciate the unique talents of others. Trust in God, love your neighbor, say your sorry, forgive, and work hard. Sit down to a good meal, turn off your cell phone, respect your elders, and of course, get out in the woods and enjoy some good old frog legs. That's the Robertson way."
I had to go dig out my copy of Sanditon by Jane Austen and Another Lady (yes, that's how the author is named) to do a little research. It's been a while since I've read the story, so I needed to remind myself who the characters were and what they were like. (On a side note, if you haven't read this uncompleted manuscript by Austen, I'd really recommend this particular book. The second author completes the story and does it in a way that, I feel, makes it hard to tell where Austen's work ends and hers begins. I've read a couple of versions of the story, and so far this one is my favorite.)
"Kyra's left hand cramped as she reached for the next shingle. What she wouldn't give for a sturdy length of rope to climb. She cursed quietly. What was she doing wishing for rope? If she was going to wish for something, it should be something really important.
Like pie.
Kyra closed her eyes. This wasn't going very well. She hadn't gotten the potion, and she was trapped in a hermitless hermit home. Plus she'd just discovered that she looked old."
"No longer able to sit, Amelia jumped from her seat and stepped toward him. "Captain, I have raised Lucy these nine months. I could not love her more if she were my own. She is more important to me than a hundred Mr. Littletons and a thousand Winterwoods. Believe me when I say I will do whatever necessary to see her well cared for."
The Captain stood to his full height. "You said you had a plan, Miss Barrett."
Amelia's hands shook. It was useless to even try to prevent her lips from quivering as she spoke. "In order to continue raising Lucy when you return to your duties, and in order to inherit Winterwood and have the resources to provide Lucy with what she needs, I would need to marry someone besides Mr. Littleton in the next few weeks."
His eyes narrowed. "What exactly are you suggesting?"
"You, Captain Sterling. you and I should marry. Immediately."
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My first example is, of course, the Across the Universe trilogy by Beth Revis. As I said in my review, Ms. Revis' writing is amazing! She definitely had a way of hooking me in and keeping me engaged enough to want to find out what happened. Even though I wasn't all that thrilled about the actual story.
An opposite example is the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. Yes, I've read that series and yes, I'm going to talk about it. The biggest thing I remember thinking while I was reading them, was that the writing was really mediocre. It felt pretty simple to me, if that makes any sense at all. Yet the story itself (while far from perfect and I do acknowledge that it has plenty of problems) was engaging enough to keep me hooked through four really thick books! (Seriously, have you looked at the size of those books recently? They're huge! Very difficult to hold in my hand while trying to read them. In fact, I had to prop them on something while reading because my hands hurt from trying to hold them up.) So Ms. Meyer certainly has a way of imagining a story that will grab people. (As millions of women can attest to.)Obviously the goal of most writers (I assume) is to be great at both writing and story. And I'm sure it's not easy trying to mesh those two things. But it's definitely possible! There's plenty of those examples out there too.
Take My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay. I was blown away by this book! The writing was wonderful and the story swept me up and didn't let go until days and days after I was finished with the book.That's probably the kind of writing that every writer dreams of. To make their readers unable to forget the story days or even months or years later.
The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner is another awesome example of great writing and a terrific story. I didn't think I'd enjoy these books nearly as much as I did. But she was able to make me fall in love with the characters and care about a war between three separate countries.Of course then there are the books where both writing and story are incompatible with the reader. Books that I couldn't finish and couldn't get into the story at all.
For example, Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson. I had read so many excellent reviews of that book and I thought for sure I'd like it. Alas, the story fell flat for me. I simply had no desire to finish it.Perhaps there really isn't any rhyme or reason as to why we fall in love with one book and not with another. While I may love one book by an author, I may not like any of his/her other books. It could just depend on the moment in time. Maybe what you're going through in your life helps your mind decipher what it will enjoy and what it won't. Possibly our moods affect it or other external things as well.
