Milestone and Megan!

Okay, here's my latest excuse for being a bad blogger: my daughter is now TWO. And not at all terrible. In fact, she's cuter than ever, if I do say so. . .

Of course, we had a party for her, with decorate-your-own cupcakes. . .

. . . and then, because I guess I didn't think the children were chocolate-smeared and sugar coma'd ENOUGH, we had another cake (this one was actually for the grown-ups who, you'll not be surprised to learn, found the kid-decorated cupcakes to be a bit repulsive). . .

LaLa was surrounded by friends and all four of her grandparents and of course, her sentimental parents who cannot believe what an amazing kid she's turning out to be. Well, I can believe it, actually, because she's been pretty amazing from the get-go. But now she's an amazing kid who sleeps through the night, and eats with utensils without (usually) ending up with more oatmeal in her hair than in her mouth. Over dinner last night, she and I discussed literature (lately we talk a lot about Carmen Deedy's Martina, the beautiful, Cuban cockroach who spills coffee on her suitors' shoes to see if they'll be understanding husbands), babies (apparently her doll came out of her tummy in a labor so easy, we never heard a peep!), cuisine (in the battle of yogurt vs. pizza, yogurt somehow won), the news of the day (the news from Sesame Street, anyway) and the tooth fairy. I mean, she's interesting.

To me, anyway. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have this girl in my life, but of course, that's how every parent feels, so I won't linger on that too long.

Also because I'm long overdue to tell you about GCCer Megan Crane's latest novel, "Names my Sisters Call Me".

I loved Megan's "Everyone Else's Girl" and have an ongoing three-sisters fascination so I know I'm going to eat up this Chick litty morsel. . .

Courtney, Norah, and Raine Cassel are about as different as three sisters can get. Norah, the oldest, is a typical Type A obsessive who believes there is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. Six years later she has not forgiven Raine, the middle sister, for ruining her wedding day. Raine is Norah's opposite - a wild, follow-your-bliss hippie chick who flees to California after the wedding fiasco. The only thing the two sisters have in common is their ability to drive Courtney, their youngest sister, crazy.

When Courtney's longtime boyfriend proposes, she decides it's finally time to call a family truce and bring the three sisters together. After all, they're all grown-ups now, right? But it turns out that family ghosts aren't easily vanquished, and neither are first loves. Reconnecting the sisters also means reexamining every choice Courtney has made in the past six years, right down to the man she's about to marry.

Whether you have suffered the angst of sibling rivalry or been one of the lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) few who just watched from afar, NAMES MY SISTERS CALL ME is a book that anyone with a sister, a sibling, or even a friend can appreciate.

Can't you just see it as a fabulous flick? I love books like this. Megan's charming e-interview with me makes it all the better. . .

Elizabeth: You walk into a bookstore and make a beeline to. . .
a) chick lit
b) YA lit
c) lit-lit
d) biographies
e) a big stack of gossip mags and a cappuccino
f) the _romance_______ (please fill in) section
. . . and why?

Megan: I make a beeline for the new release area because I like to know what's out there. Then I head straight to the romance section because I am a fanatical reader of romance novels, and there are always new ones I need to pick up. Then I collect the chick lit, say hello my own books, wander through YA, or wherever else I'm wanting to go that day. I love bookstores. I wish I was in one right now!

Elizabeth: Tell me about your childhood, part 1: When you were a teenager, what young adult novel a) saved b) changed c) okay, made a big wallop on your life?

Megan: "Dragonsong," by Anne McCaffrey. It was seventh grade and I was misery walking, and then I found that book and imagined myself worlds away, with dragons and a voice of my own. I think it really did save me.

Elizabeth: Tell me about your childhood, part 2: If there was no such novel, what kind of book do you WISH you'd had to change/save/wallop your life?

Megan: I wish there had been the kind of YA boom back then that there is now. The YA books available these days just astound me-- they're SO good and I wish I could have read them then, when I needed them so badly!

Elizabeth: Tell me about your childhood, part 3: Where did you grow up and what kind of role does that setting play in the books you write?

Megan: I grew up just outside New York City in a New Jersey suburb. Though I have since happily relocated across the country to California, the East Coast is definitely in my blood, and I've so far either set my books there or had my characters come from there.

Elizabeth: What do you love about Courtney, the star of "Names My Sisters Call Me?"

Megan: Courtney can play the cello, which makes me incredibly jealous. I wish I could create music. That's one of my great regrets in life: that I never learned how to play a musical instrument. I love that Courtney can, and that it's so much a part of her that she doesn't even realize how amazing she is.

Elizabeth: Finally, which Chick with Sticks are you? If you haven't read my book, please refer to this handy quiz.

Megan: According to your quiz, I am SCOTTIE, but since I've never knit a stitch in my life, I just winged those questions and I think the quiz may not be quite so accurate as a result. I had this problem last time, too. Obviously, the solution is to take up knitting!

But of course! Thanks, Megan. I also have a cello fascination (even took lessons once) so I really have to read this book!

You guys do the same!

More GCCers next week. Meanwhile, I'm off to spend a weekend on Lake Michigan with my real Chicks with Sticks, the buddies from my former life in Chicago. There will be two babies along for the ride, so I think we'll be short on debauchery, unless you consider endless snacking and poring over gossip mags to be debauchery. I can't wait!

xoxo

Elizabeth

Comments

[Kitten]

LaLa is TWO? Ohmygosh, now I feel old, 'cause I remember reading your blog back when you were pregnant with her!