Recommended mystery

A few days ago I finished The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard. It was a Christmas gift (yeah I know) that I finally got around to reading—my glossy magazine habit has seriously eaten into my literature time—and absolutely loved it. It’s a mystery that takes place present-day in a small town in Kansas. It has a lot of elements I love: an old, unexplained murder; well-drawn cast of small-town characters; romance; suspense; weather-related disasters (two!); generational sins-of-the-fathers-type secrets; an elegantly drawn, utterly engrossing atmosphere.

In a nutshell, here’s the story: the bloody body of an unidentified young woman is found in the snow during a blizzard 17 years before the novel’s events take place. The small town rallied and buried her, but her death marked the beginning of a web of secrets and lies that quietly ripped apart three of the town’s most prominent families. The years pass, and a legend grows around the woman’s grave. Visitors and townspeople claim “the virgin” can heal and provide miracles to those who visit her. With the return of Mitch Newquist, who left town mysteriously the night the girl died and hasn’t been seen since, main character Abby begins investigating what exactly happed so long ago on a night that ruined her hopes and dreams for the future.

The atmosphere and the people reminded me a bit of Margaret Maron’s mysteries. You feel like you know everyone by the end of the book and the small-town values and mores are both a blessing and a curse for the residents living there. The story’s suspense will keep you turning pages and guessing as Pickard reveals what really happened bit by bit. There are a couple of sideline plots that seem extraneous at times, placed there to up the danger. Usually, I’m all for adding danger to a mystery, particularly in the final scenes, but these felt out of place.

All the same, I couldn’t put the book down and finished it in just a few days. It’s solid and it’s memorable and completely entertaining.

A teensy bit obsessed

In a way, I wish I were one of those people who doesn't like reality shows. It seems more sophisticated to talk about the commedic timing of 30 Rock than to park yourself in front of the TV for American Idol every Tuesday and Wednesday night. Alas, the latter is me.

Idol has been on for seven seasons. I've never watched it before this year. I didn't get what the big deal was. But then the writer's strike happened, there weren't any more episodes of Pushing Daisies or Grey's Anatomy and so I tuned in. And got hooked.

And now I'm...well, I'm kind of obsessed. I've seen nearly every episode of American Idol this season. I love music anyway, and there's something so engaging (and addictive) about seeing "live" performances and rooting for average joes and janes to become stars. Even if the judges do constantly use non-musical critiques by adding "-y" on the end of everything: "pitchy," "shouty". Yes, I'm talking to you, Simon Cowell.

There's been talk in the news about it losing some of its viewership this year. It's still the biggest show on TV and hasn't lost as many viewers as other shows like CSI. But I do think it could use more relevant mentors. Last week was Neil Diamond. Yeah. I don't know about you, but the first two things I think of when I hear his name are "Las Vegas" and "Bedazzled Leisure Suits." And I ADORE Dolly Parton (she was mentor a few weeks ago)--literally think she's practically a genius singer-songwriter--but even I'll admit most of her music isn't quite as relevant today for the masses. Andrew Lloyd Webber was fantastic a couple of weeks ago, but I get the limited appeal of Broadway. My inner theater geek absolutely jumped for joy when I heard he'd be on, and he was probably the most helpful mentor they've had this year. He'd actually be a good replacement for Simon if he ever left the show. But enough already of my Idol analysis. I could go on for pages.

So here's what you need to know, those of you who are smirking/eyerolling behind my back. The best two are David Cook and recently-booted Brooke White. You'll want to pay attention now because they'll be famous one day.

I've been a fan of David Cook since he did a rock-emo version of Lionel Richie's "Hello" several weeks ago. It was amazing. Check him out on iTunes and download "Bille Jean" and "You'll Always Be My Baby." That's right. He covered a super girly Mariah Carey song and made it awesome. Gotta love that kind of risky choice. Basically all of his songs are good, but try those two first--definitely worth $2. This time next year he'll be crazy famous.

My other favorite, Brooke White, got booted off last week--aaarghh. I understand why, but it doesn't make it better. She's a fabulous musician but not totally comfortable on stage yet. She's got a whole Carly Simon-Sheryl Crow thing going on and looks like the kind of girl you'd want to be best friends with. Get Brooke's "Let it Be" and "You're So Vain."

My favorite places on the Web for all the latest Idol info are Entertainment Weekly, MTV and People.

On a side note, I lost 5 lbs last week. Yeah. 5 POUNDS!! I used to think Weight Watchers was for little old ladies, but now I'm a believer.

Novel Update

Word Count: 59,667
Internet searches on the Confederate Flag: 1. I actually forgot whether the X was red or blue. It's blue. I'm not a Yankee, I swear.
Mathmatical calculations: 5 or 6...at least. (Ex.: if two people are descending a gently sloping tunnel at the rate of approximately 1 mile per fifteen minutes, how deep underground would they be after three mintues? How many feet would someone fall who is trapped in a dumbwaiter on the second floor of an old building that also has a basement--if the rope broke?)
Confusion level (my own), on a scale of 10: 11. I am having major difficulty remembering what the main characters know and what they don't at each part of the plot.
# of times I've gotten distracted by creepy-weird Russian sci-fi movie JB is watching: 22
# of unnattractive Russian people in movie: at least 13

Addendum:
I just have to boast. I'll do it quickly. I've joined Weight Watchers (which is actually not full of little old ladies like I previously thought) and have lost 6.6 lbs in three weeks! Won't tell you my actual weight right now but suffice to say that I haven't seen this number on the scale in a while--a great feeling!

Can you see my excitement?? This is me with Coach Tommy Tuberville, head football coach of the World's Greatest Football Team in the History of Everything, the AUBURN TIGERS. The Auburn Tigers athletically represent the World's Greatest University in the History of Everything (and my alma mater), AUBURN UNIVERSITY.

Tommy T. was visiting the office to speak at the retirement party for our longtime sports editor. He couldn't have been nicer.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I've been an Auburn Fan since birth. Auburn is one of the greatest places in the world and I had a fantastic four years there. A list of some family members who are also alums: JB, Mom, Dad, sister Katie, aunt, uncle, assorted cousins, JB's sister, the list goes on...I can tell you truthfully that I wasn't pressured to go there (Mom and Dad encouraged me to look at other schools, too) but when you're exposed to greatness at an early age, how can you seriously consider going elsewhere?

On the day of the photo, my friend from the cube across from mine (who is an Alabama fan, although a nice one) walked over, saying, "You know Tommy Tuberville is in the hallway outside, right?" Later I would be mercilessly teased by coworkers for the rapidity with which I leaped from my chair and dashed through the entire office to the hallway. Let them laugh. I got to meet Tubby for the first time, and though he probably thought I was a crazy person for the breathless way I told him how excited I was to meet him, and that I was an Auburn grad, and so was my mom, dad, sister, aunt, uncle, cousins, and did I mention I was so excited to meet him...he was super nice and posed for a photo--and even put his arm around my shoulders!

In addition to being a great public speaker, a great coach, placing a high importance on academics (the Tigers have a super-high graduation rate among his players) and being apparently a perfect gentleman, he has led Auburn to beat our archnemesis Alabama SIX TIMES IN A ROW. While the other qualities I mentioned are undoubtedly more important than this, I have to say that the bragging rights are priceless.

And may I just say, that if Alabama head coach Nick Saban were to walk into my office building, the staff's Alabama fans (they are legion) would almost certainly kiss his pinky finger and bow down in worship. Don't deny it, Bama fans. We all know you would.

This is the literary quote of the day on my Google homepage, which seemed appropriate considering my most recent post:

"The research is the easiest. The outline is the most fun. The first draft is the hardest, because every word of the outline has to be fleshed out. The rewrite is very satisfying."
--Ken Follett, British novelist

I've been wanting to read Follett's newest book, World Without End. But its ginormous size is daunting at the moment. I've got books I received for Christmas I still haven't finished. Add that to my magazine junkie habit, and there is just way too much reading material in my house. Too many choices. Literature or People StyleWatch...ermm....

Novel Update--Breaking & Entering Edition

I was reading Deanna Raybourn's blog today, and one of her posts was about her writing methods. It inspired me to get off my lazy butt and work on my novel tonight. I just cranked out about four pages (wahoo!) so it's time for another Novel Update:


Word Count: 58,958
Major plot devices borrowed from Nancy Drew: at least 3 (hiding in dumbwaiter, discovering secret underground lair, nearly getting killed by unknown sinister vehicle)
Instances of breaking and entering: 4
Internet searches on lockpicking kits: 2
Number of years I've secretly wanted a lockpicking kit: 15


My biggest problem--the reason I'm so slow at writing--is that it's nearly impossible for me to shut off my internal editor. I've suspected for a while now that I'm a better editor than writer; taking something raw and shaping it into something cohesive, coherent and elegant is thrilling. Pulling words out of my brain from scratch usually feels like pulling taffy--slow and tedious. And when I write two or three sentences, I immediately go back over them and change a comma here, a word choice there, until I'm satisfied and move on. It's no wonder I'm an excruciatingly slow writer. Even writing articles for my newspaper job is easier, because I already have the raw material to work with--the interviews, the research. I get to piece it all together like a puzzle and polish it until it shines.

I have a notebook full of everything I need for my novel: character lists, maps, plot points, motivations, research, etc. I was looking through my original plot point list a few days ago and realized my novel now only bears a basic resemblence to the one I originally envisioned. I rediscovered ideas that I'd forgotten--good ideas that I'm not sure I'll be able to use now.

I'm in the middle of adding a scene I'd forgotten to include: my heroine and her guyfriend/future-love-interest are breaking into the secret underground HQ of the sinister secret society. Thus the need for a lockpicking kit. I did find out that kits aren't actually that expensive (future Christmas present, anyone?). I'm planning to check YouTube for lockpicking how-to videos. I want my writing to be realistic, after all. And there's the added benefit of indulging my inner 10-year-old Nancy Drew wannabe.

Monday Monday

The way to make Mondays brighter--cute shoes! These Mia pumps were my choice today. I got them last summer and I've been itching to pull them out again. Hope your Monday is stripey and bright!