Books for kids, teens, & those who are young at heart

Category: Anecdote (Page 21 of 31)

Transformative Power of the Senses

I’m always amazed at how a  small detail—a sight glimpsed out of the corner of my eye; the whiff of an familiar, but forgotten, smell; a tickle of sound in my ear—can transform me to a different place. And not always a physical place, sometimes a place in time.

Honeysuckle, with its far-reaching sweet scent and sticky nectar, brings me back to early summer during my childhood. When there was always a tree to climb or a brook to explore or a patch of asphalt to skin my knees on. When the sun stayed up late and my parents allowed me to play outside until a late bedtime.

The album Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos transports me to a white mini-van packed to the gills with my family and our luggage. Cruising down the highway toward Florida, scenery rushing by as we drove south to Florida. My siblings and I singing “The Name Game” song: “Chuck, Chuck, bo-buck, banana-fana fo-“. My sisters and I cutting off and then cracking up when my brother—the youngest, who was only three—shouted out the swearword.

IMAG0721

The view in Connecticut.

Today as The Boy and I walked to the beach, a puff of white in the space between two houses made me suck in a surprised breath as my mind traveled 6,300 miles to the island of Moorea in French Polynesia. Once we arrived at the beach, I stopped for a better look. Puff up those clouds a little more, change the gray waters of Long Island Sound to a see-through turquoise, substitute Long Island for an island in the South Pacific, and turn the rest of the slightly overcast sky to a pale blue…and I was in paradise.

012

The view in Moorea, French Polynesia.

Okay, I realize looking at the two pictures, the views aren’t even close to each other, but something about that quick glance set the gears in my mind turning and brought me to another place. Both sights are beautiful in their own ways, don’t you think?

What senses bring you to a memory?

April Showers

Fellow Muser Suzanne de Montigny, author of the wonderful tween novel The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy, was gracious enough to interview me on her blog today. Stop by and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Elixir Bound.

April started off with an afternoon rain shower. Do you think that bodes well for May flowers or it was an April Fools’ joke and just means a rainy spring? Either way, the crocus are blooming, a bluejay has been spotted in the backyard, and the peas have been planted. It’s definitely spring in New England.

While I was out gardening yesterday, I realized I’ve been planting and harvesting crops since, well, since I can remember. My parents have always had a garden and I can remember going to Joseph’s house to pick strawberries. My dad had somehow befriended Joseph–who used a walker and seemed like he was the oldest man I’d ever seen, but was really not nearly as old as I thought.

006He had a big strawberry patch in his yard and we’d go every summer to pick them. My older sisters would run around the yard and I’d chase after them, keeping up as best as I could. Seems I spent a good part of my childhood trying to keep up with my older sisters. Joseph always kept flying saucer ice cream sandwiches in the freezer for us. What a treat!

Funny how a little digging in the dirt can drudge up old memories I didn’t even know I had. I hope The Boy ends up with fond memories of gardening. He’s already been strawberry and apple picking, and I think he’s old enough to start working in our garden.

The mercury may only be in the 30’s this morning, but the sun is shining and the birds are chirping. Yup, it’s definitely spring!

Haunted at 17

Hauntedat17banner

Nova Ren Suma’s new novel 17 & Gone released yesterday and she’s been running a blog special featuring what other YA authors were haunted by at age 17. I loved, loved, loved her novel Imaginary Girls and am super excited to be attending one of her workshops at the upcoming New England SCBWI writing conference in May. So without further ado, here’s what haunted me at 17:

The Best Years Of My Life?

I’d always heard people say the high-school years were the best of their lives. I never believed it. Not until I was 17 and heading into my senior of high school…and my life was, well, pretty perfect.

If I’d learned anything from books and TV, the teenage years were supposed to be filled with angst and rebellion. Sure, I’d had my moments of getting in trouble for staying out late at parties and the drama of ex-boyfriends hooking up with (soon-to-be-ex) friends. Moments that were all-consuming when they were happening, but in my bliss of seniordom, they were dark blips on the otherwise bright radar of my future.

kt_class_pic_sept.99On the precipice of senior year, I was a standout athlete, poised to graduate with a perfect 12 varsity letters (one each year in soccer, basketball, and track). An honor student, and on track to graduate in the top 5% of my class. A member of the student council, a volunteer at the hospital (right down to the horrible candy-striped outfit and white Keds), and a senior editor on the school newspaper. My resume would make any stereotypical world-hating teenager throw up stolen vodka all over her Doc Martens.

Oh, and I had just starting dating a guy I’d had been crushing on for the last several months. We worked together at the local hardware store. He was a long-lashed, quiet, super-smart college guy. Not my usual jock fare. We engaged in long, intellectual conversations about movies, science documentaries on the Discovery Channel, music, and life. And the only anxiety I had when kissing him was worrying about whether my lips felt too rough on his delectably soft ones. (Seriously, why don’t all guys use Chapstick? Soft lips are in no way reserved for women.) We were still at the tingly new relationship phase, where every touch zinged with energy and excitement.

Yeah. Life was pretty perfect…maybe a little too perfect.

IMAG0685

My senior night during basketball season. On the left is my sister Kylene during her freshman year of high school. Lucky #13 is me at 17.

As winter and basketball season approached, I struggled to keep my mini panic attacks from becoming noticeable. What if my one poor grade in pre-calculus junior year tarnished my transcripts? What if I didn’t get into my top college? Or any college? What if my relationship was too good to be true and he dumped me out of the blue?

Looming bigger than all that trepidation, though, the worst fear of all haunted me: What if high school truly was the peak of my life? What if 17 & Perfect turned into 18 & Past My Prime? What if when I was 40 and married (divorced?), I’d spend all my time reminiscing with the other sad, middle-aged women over “the good old days” and vicariously living through my own high-school aged kids? What if the next 60+ years merely consisted of a slow, steady decline into bitterness? Were these really the best years of my life?

Seems even then, when things were going well, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. The biggest shoe of all didn’t drop until I was 19 and my sister died, but it’s been a steady uphill (with a few bumps along the way) since then. At least at the ripe age of 30 (what an old lady my 17-year old self is saying), I can say each year brings in new highs and lows, as does each decade. I don’t think I’ll ever be over the fear of the good times running out, but I can definitely say while the high-school years brought me some wonderful memories, they certainly weren’t the best of my life.

What haunted you at 17?

Make Me Laugh and Giveaway Winner

First things first, I have a winner for the giveaway in honor of announcing that Elixir Bound is out in paperback. And the winner is…*drum roll*…Megan! She got to choose either a signed copy of Elixir Bound + Swag or a 3 chapter critique. Thanks to everyone who entered.

I’ll probably be running another giveaway when Elixir Bound releases in paperback later this year. And don’t forget that it’s already available as an ebook from the MuseItUp bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other ebook retailers.

In other news, last night I attended a humor-writing video chat with Robin Mellom, author of the humorous YA Ditched and the MG The Classroom series. She shared her secrets of writing funny.

We talked potty humor, slapstick, reading and watching funny shows and films for inspiration, age appropriate humor, and the importance of adding heartfelt  moments into humor writing. One interesting thing Robin mentioned was how she likes to immerse herself in all things funny while working on a humorous story.

That got me thinking about the funny moments in my life. And just this morning, The Boy provided me with a little humor. I was eating a grapefruit and he indicated he wanted to try some, so I gave him a piece. He played with it for a minute and then shoved it in his mouth. His face puckered up in the classic lemon-face pose, but then he asked for more! Despite continuing to make the face, he gobbled up piece after piece.

This reminded me of when my nephew (who is now six, but at the time was maybe two) ate a lemon at a diner. He sucked on it and his face puckered up. All the adults at the table laughed hysterically. So you know what he did? He started sucking on the lemon again!

Humor is everywhere! What made you laugh recently?

First Kisses (or Kissees)

I’m generally not an outwardly sentimental person, but I recently came across a blog post about first loves and it reminded me of my first kiss. And well, it seemed an appropriate topic for today.

I was in second grade and had a crush on a boy. I was pretty sure he liked me. Ever the bold girl, I wrote him a note (back when you still passed notes in class, not text messages). The note read, “Will you kissee me?” And there was a yes option and no option, each with a box for him to check. (I think I still have that note stashed away in a shoebox somewhere.)

He checked yes! The kiss happened during recess, I think in the middle of a game of tag. A brief touching of lips, only a peck really, that lasted maybe a few seconds. But everyone saw it. The first of *ahem* many memorable kisses I’ve experienced. I wonder who else remembers that kiss…

Another first kiss, quite a bit more steamy than my second-grade peck, is one I wrote between Katora and Hirsten in Elixir Bound. I just happen to have an excerpt of it on an old post over at the Muse blog. What are some of your memorable kissees?

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 Katie L. Carroll

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑