She Knits By The Seashore

Sarah Dessen

Authors are my rock stars.

Thankfully, tickets to their readings are much less expensive than, say, Sting's concerts.

Last Thursday evening, I went to the book shop where I'm taking writing classes, to hear Sarah Dessen read from her newest book, Along for the Ride. Sarah started writing about the time I started working in libraries as a young adult librarian. I knew from her first book, That Summer, that her work was something special. The roomful of over fifty teenage girls and assorted adults from at least four states who came to hear her speak, as well as her presence on the best-seller lists, only confirms that!

Sarah graciously agreed to a photo with me.

 

Then she signed my book:

Along for the Ride is the story of Auden, a recent high school graduate, who has acted like an adult her entire life. With divorced parents who are college professors, and a bohemian older brother, she's never had the opportunity to be a kid, to experience the things that normal kids and teenagers do. Having attended a small private high school filled with independent study classes, she's never formed close friendships or had a date to her prom. While she convinces herself that she's above it all, a tiny part of her wonders what she's missed.

When her brother Hollis sends her a photo of himself backpacking in Greece, Auden makes up her mind to take up her dad and his new wife on their offer to spend the summer with them, and her new baby sister, at the beach. At first, she seems determined not to get too involved with anyone she meets besides her father. But having an infant in the house has put a strain on the family, and Auden hesitantly volunteers to help out at her step-mother Heidi's beach boutique. From there, she is drawn into friendships with Maggie, Esther, and Leah at the boutique, and Adam and Eli, two of the guys who work at the bike shop next door. Eli, sharing Auden's insomniac lifestyle, joins her on a fun quest to experience some of the things she missed from her childhood, like bowling and food fights and delivering newspapers. She cannot admit, however, that she does not know how to ride a bike. How she meets that challenge changes her friendships, and ultimately, her future.

One of the primary themes in this book is that people can change, a theme that I believe adults can appreciate as much as teen readers. At the beginning of the novel, we hear Auden's mother say repeatedly that people never change, in particular, her ex-husband, Auden's father. She has become stuck in her ways, and is unconsciously trying to drag Auden down with her. But as Auden begins to change her mind about the people she meets, and the activities they participate in, the people around her begin to change too. By the end of the novel, we see that the adage is true: people do live up to your expectations of them. The main characters are complex, intelligent, and compassionate towards one another, giving each other the space to heal and grow.

Another theme is that people are often not what they seem. While this may be obvious, it is worth reminding us again not to stereotype. Maggie seems like a frou-frou sort of girl, yet she's been accepted into the same university as Auden, and can jump a bike as well as the guys. Heidi, with her girly clothes and bright pink painted store (I would love to shop there!), is a shrewd business woman who turns a profit on a year-round business that in normal circumstances would be summer only.

This book encouraged me to remember that no matter what our past held for us, we can always decide to change the course of our future. It also made me grateful that I learned to ride a bike when I was young! I've been sharing it with adult friends who seem to be enjoying it as much as I did. If you've never given young adult literature a try, this would be a great place to start.

Creative Writing Class, Part 3

I am very behind in my posts, so I hope to post a lot more this week and catch up!

The first installment of my creative writing class ended the Wednesday before last. For our last session's first exercise, we had to pick a letter from a page in the book, and write a story using the letter as much as possible within five minutes. I picked B, and wrote about the beach. It was pretty nonsensical; some people had fun with it, but it's not the type of exercise I find helpful.

Most of the session was spent on another exercise from our pasts. First we had to make a list of our five most life-changing events, and second, pick one of those and write about it for five. Lastly, we had to pick a character from a list in the book (for example, an FBI agent, a six year old, a traveler..) and then write what their reaction might be to our life-changing event, for another five minutes. I wrote about not pursuing art in college, and chose the traveler who observed me in Italy, longing to paint what I saw on my trip. All of these little exercises produce "scraps" of writing that some of us may someday use in a story, or we may not. Mostly, they are designed to get us to overcome the blank page. I'm not a fan of using timers, but I can see how they help other writers, the idea being that you can do anything for five or ten minutes, and if you like it, you can keep writing.

The next sessions start July 1st, and will address things like plot, characters, and setting, which is what I really want to study. I've already signed up. I did speak to someone at the company where I had an interview. She told me they are behind schedule due to unforeseen circumstances, but at least the position is still open. So I'm thinking I might as well take the classes I really want while I still have the chance! I struggle with enjoying my time off from work. I haven't had a summer off since I was maybe fifteen years old, am so happy for the break, but it doesn't stop me from feeling guilty.

I finally finished The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. It is a twelve-week self-guided course, with weekly reading, exercises, an artist's date, and daily journaling. I took longer with some of the weeks, but it was a tremendously helpful study. I highly recommend it to anyone who is longing to be more creative, but feels a block of some kind. Sometimes you may know the art or craft you want to pursue, and other times not, but either way, this book works.

When I started the study in January, I felt empty because I wasn't doing much of anything creative, other than my knitting. But through the months, I did a little drawing, started to learn scrapbooking, and am now writing again. Slowly I realized how important it was for me to do things I used to do in high school and college, that I'd dropped when my life became too busy with work and taking care of a house and all that other necessary, but not necessarily fulfilling, stuff. Julia made it safe to start again, knowing my first efforts were going to be so rusty, and that it would be easy to just give up. But having finished the program, I feel much happier making creative pursuits a priority every day, even if it is writing or knitting for only ten minutes. Visiting museums last summer and fall was a part of this, and when I do find another job someday, I'm going to take art classes and more knitting classes. My friend L who taught the knitted ornament class last fall at my LYS is teaching a course on the Elizabeth Zimmerman method. That would really stretch my creative wings! The math terrifies me.

There are several sequels to The Artist's Way, including Finding Water and The Vein of Gold, and a separate book called The Right to Write. I want to read them all. But for the rest of the summer, I want to concentrate on the writing class and get into the habit of doing a little each day, maybe send some articles out and see if I can't get something published. And if it *ever* stops raining in New England, I really want to go to the beach!!

...And then one day, two people walked in to the shelter, and I just knew they were meant to be my people. So I walked right up and introduced myself: "Hi, I'm Rainy." I knew they wanted a chatty kitty. They could not stop thinking about me, so before they knew it, I had a new home! And we all live happily ever after. [Once they all stopped fighting! -- ed.]

THE END

Breton Girl Update, and a Fun Weekend

Still knitting away on the front and back of the Breton Girl sweater! It is taking a long time to knit it this way, but once I'm done, I'll only have the sleeves left! I'm still working on Paloma too, but I'm in the knit one row, rip out two stage.

 

The yarn falls off the ball unless I keep it in a plastic bag. I'm carrying the colors up the sides so I can avoid weaving in a million ends!

Despite the neverending gray skies and rain, Chris and I had a great weekend. On Saturday, he raced in Rhode Island, and Sarah and Jeff joined me in watching and photographing the race. The first photo is one I took of Chris rounding a corner (he's second from left), and the second is a photo of me that Sarah took, while I was taking pictures of Chris.

 

I'd really love to upgrade our camera. I don't take a lot of photos, but jumped into the deep end of the photography pool when Chris started racing. Nothing like capturing one person out of the pack of racers, all of whom are going by at an avg. of 25 mph! I'm beginning to think an SLR might be in my future.

After the race, we had lunch and visited a bookstore. Other than two magazines, I did not for once buy any books. Not that I am running out of reading material!

 

Indiscretions were committed over the last few weeks as follows: the top four came from Book Mooch, the next four came from Book Barn, where friends enabled me, the next three came from the bookstore where I have been taking the writing classes. Second to last, Becoming a Woman of Freedom, was given out at my church as the summer study book, and the book at the bottom of the pile, Face the Music, was written by Chris' colleague. She autographed my copy. What can I say?

 

Rosie says, "I think you had better start reading them!"