Author Reply: Pamela Klaffke

I'm actually pleasantly surprised at the recent promptness of author replies. I have another one to share as well, though I'll probably leave that for tomorrow. For today, I'll just post this reply and the interview with Haywood Smith later. Tomorrow I'll probably post a review of How I Paid For College and the other author reply.

Anyway, Pamela Klaffke sent me a very interesting reply. She said that she agrees that Mason is difficult to deal with, but that she is more interested in writing interesting characters, not characters that are necessarily always likable. She said she's most interested in inner dialogue and that she doesn't think there's a woman out there whose thoughts aren't occasionally nasty. She also said that her relationship with her own mother is very good, and that she thinks her mother was a bit horrified when she read Every Little Thing, because Britt is very different than her mother.

What a wonderfully thorough reply! I definitely think you should write to her if you've read something by her. I'm sure she'd love to hear from you! If you want to learn more about her, check out her website.

Author Reply: Haywood Smith

I got a lovely reply from Haywood Smith, author of Wedding Belles (among other things). She informed me that Wedding Belles is part of a trilogy, called the Red Hat Club trilogy. She also told me that so far all of her other books are standalone, and that soon she'll be releasing revised versions of her historical novels as e-books for younger readers. She said that these offer "accurate history, adventure, romance, strong heroines, and upbeat endings."

For anyone who's curious, her website can be found here. As I mentioned earlier, she agreed to be interviewed, and the interview will be posted either tomorrow or later in the week, depending on what I get done.

Other notes: The next book up for review is How I Paid For College by Marc Acito, and I updated my What I've Read So Far page. If anyone has any suggestions for books, please let me know in a comment. Thanks!

Pamela Klaffke: "They think they invented irony."

When I first picked up Every Little Thing (Amazon) by Pamela Klaffke, I was expecting a Gossip Girl-esque novel. I'm pretty sure this is because I didn't read the back cover carefully enough. Every Little Thing is the story of a woman named Mason, who has serious mommy issues. Her mother, Britt, was a columnist in San Francisco who loved to write painfully detail accounts of embarrassing moments in Mason's life. The story opens after Britt's death, and is the tale of Mason dealing with her strange new situation.

I have very mixed feelings about this novel. It has some shining moments, such as when Mason realizes that her mother truly cared for her. Unfortunately, Mason seems to suffer some sort of short term amnesia, as only a few scenes later, she is once again whining about how awful her mother was. That's really what killed the book for me. There's no way around it-Mason is a whiny woman. She does exhibit some character growth throughout the novel, eventually participating in various public-spotlight activities to empower herself, similar to her mother. However, Mason stubbornly insists the whole time that she is not anything like her mother, and even gets into huge fights with her friends when they dare to compare the two.

Overall, I thought that the concept was good, and there were definitely moments when I was on Mason's side. However, by the end of the book, she did start to get on my nerves. However, other readers may find the character more relatable and sympathetic, so my description should not dissuade any interested readers. If you've read the book, please feel free to comment and let me know what you think!

I wasn't entirely sure if I should write to this author or not, but in the end I decided to.

"I just finished reading Every Little Thing. I found this book to be a very interesting dissection of a mother-daughter relationship. Unfortunately, I was unable to sympathize very much with Mason, but that could perhaps be because I have a very different, and healthier, relationship with my mother. However, the book definitely kept me reading, wondering what would happen in Mason's life next."

Later today, I'll post the author reply from Haywood Smith, who also graciously agreed to do an interview. Tomorrow either the interview or another book will be posted. Have a great day!

Thomas Kaufman: "Why would I ask you to find a daughter I don't have?"

Drink The Tea (Amazon) is the tale of private investigator Willis Gidney, a man who spent most of his childhood in the foster care system. This has given him a set of unique skills and a keen sense of street smarts. One day, a friend of his asks him to find a daughter. A daughter whose existence is only a rumor. Little does Gidney know, his search for her will lead him into troubles he could never have predicted.

Drink The Tea won the PWA Best First Private Eye Novel Competition, and I can see why. This is a fascinating tale with numerous twists and turns. I would almost say too many twists and turns-2occasionally it was hard to keep up. However, the characters were believable and interesting, and there was never a dull moment to be found. This is definitely a must read for anyone who is a fan of the genre.

In searching for the author's contact information, I discovered that there is a sequel called Steal the Show. I'll have to pick that up too! Anyway, here is the note I wrote to the author:

"i just read Drink the Tea, and I must say, it was excellent. I didn't have any strong expectations going into it, but as I read, I found myself not wanting to put the book down. I plan to pick up Steal the Show, and I hope that there are more WIllis Gidney books to come!"

I actually received a reply from Haywood Smith, so I'll probably post that tomorrow, because I don't think I'll have my next book (Every Little Thing by Pamela Klaffke) finished by then. Until then, have a great day!

Haywood Smith: "Other people's secrets, I could keep, but not my own."

I have to admit, I am a complete sucker for books about groups of women getting together and talking, a la Divine Secrets of The Ya Ya Sisterhood and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Wedding Belles (Amazon), by Haywood Smith is another delightful addition to this genre.

The basic plot is this: Georgia, Linda, Diane, Teeny and Pru are southern women in their fifties who have been friends since high school. They meet once a month at a local restaurant wearing red and purple to discuss their lives and provide one another support. This time, Georgia, the narrator, is the one with a problem. Her 27 year old daughter, Callie, is engaged to Georgia's husband's best friend, a man that the group went to high school with. He was known as Wild Man Wade, and has a history of alcoholism, among other things. Together the group sticks together and helps Georgia through this unforeseen situation.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. It is definitely a comfort food/guilty pleasure sort of novel, which is exactly what I needed when I read it. Occasionally, the religious references got a bit heavy handed-but hey, it's the South, right? Religious references seem to come with any book set there. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a comforting story about mothers, daughters, or weddings.

I wrote a quick note to the author:

"I recently read Wedding Belles, and I just have to say, I found it absolutely delightful. I absolutely love books about mother-daughter relationships and the friendships of women. I was having a rather bad day when I picked up your novel, and it was just what I needed to perk me up. Thank you so much for writing it!"

That's all for today. I'm hoping to start posting to this blog much more regularly again. I have a lot more time to read right now. Hope to see you soon!

"Some Cities Are Born Under a Dark Cloud": Gates Of Gotham

Okay! Here we go, finally, another post. As I mentioned before, I've been reading a lot of graphic novels lately. I decided to write about the recently released trade paperback Gates of Gotham (Amazon). This book was written by Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins and illustrated by Trevor McCarthy.

Gates of Gotham is the tale of how Gotham became the city it is today. This book is mostly set in the time period where Dick Grayson is Batman, and heavily features other members of The Bat Family, such as Damian and Cassandra. However, most of the story is told in flashbacks to the time when Gotham was developing. It is really wonderfully done-an intriguing mystery combined with stunning visuals. I definitely recommend Gates Of Gotham to anyone who is interested in the entire Batman/DC Universe as opposed to just Batman & co.


Speaking of visuals, the only contact information I could find was for Trevor McCarthy, the illustrator, so I decided to drop him a quick note. This is what I said:

"I recently read Batman: Gates of Gotham and I just wanted to let you know that I thought the art was gorgeous. It really helped me get immersed in the story. I've never before read anything that you illustrated, but I will certainly keep an eye out for your future work."

Well, that's it for today! Hopefully I'll have another post soon!

In Which I Explain My Absense

Yes, I've been missing for quite awhile. And the reason is this: I don't have a lot of time for novels. Actually, that's not entirely true. I just don't currently have the attention span for them. I've been reading graphic novels, mostly. They fit a lot better into my currently-hectic life. I really would like to get back into reading novels & blogging about them. Hopefully I will soon!