America on Spring Break

The other day I was watching TV with Catherine and The Man from Snowy River was on. I was telling her how Uncle Gregg and I used to watch that movie a lot when we were little. (After it made it to cable, that is.)

Then the part came where the horses all go over the cliff and we talked about that. How amazing that was and the riding skillz involved.

She's been on a horse once, I think. I grew up with country relatives, so I occasionally rode horses as a child. When I was her age, I was scared of them. But after a few summers at Kueta (camp), they had me scraping hooves and combing tails and brushing horses down enough that... well, I was still a little scared of them, but at least I knew what I was doing.

Watching TMFSR made me think back, though. It seems like that was when Australia was really breaking onto the world stage. It was 1982. I don't remember when Mad Max came out, so I could be wrong, but up until then, it seems like Australia was just sort of wild and unknown.

I remember David Letterman once said to an Australian guest that Australia was like America on Spring Break. I thought that was So. Funny. Because that's pretty much how I'd always thought of it.

Now we think of Australia and we think Nicole Kidman, L O S T, Sydney Opera House, Finding Nemo...  They actually do get dressed and go to work Down Under. What a let-down.

Speaking of Letterman, I had an Indy friend shoot me a msg that he's sick of reading about how great south Alabama is and to write something about how cool Indianapolis is.

Have I mentioned how much I love you guys? That email made me LOL!!!

OK, A.E., I really liked living in Indianapolis.

Before I moved there, Richard lived in Indy but I was still in Louisiana. We had several discussions about how to get ourselves a little closer together and tossed out possible ideas for where we'd like to live, set up shop, raise kids, etc.

Richard went to law school at Vanderbilt, so he had many friends and contacts in Nashville. That was one possibility. I'd worked in my field in Baton Rouge for almost 10 years at the time, so that was another. Louisiana law threw a bit of a wrench in that plan, but Richard wasn't entirely averse to the idea.

Ultimately, I moved to Indy, and we were there for three more years. But my most lasting memory of those discussions was an email I sent that said "I just never imagined I'd end up in Indianapolis. Not in all my imagining..."

Richard of course, replied, "Well, I'd like to think we haven't ended..."

After moving there, I joined Richard in having a great, hilarious, fun-loving, supportive group of friends. We had three golden years in the Midwest that left me with memories as strong and dear as anywhere I've lived.

Almost half of the gang we ran with there have moved on as well to places like San Diego, Atlanta, Chicago... all great places to live.

So I might not've imagined living in Indianapolis, but I do miss it. It wasn't on the list, but it wouldn't have been such a bad place to end up.

(Not a) Blog Blog

A little over a month ago--right after the Oscars, whenever that was--I rented Julie & Julia (despite Richard's protests). I really enjoyed it.

I feel like I learned a little bit about who Julia Childs was as a person, and of course the publishing struggles were extremely relatable. It was shortly after I started this blog, so that part where Julie talks about blogs being vain and self-indulgent and narcissictic... (sp?) I totally got that. I felt that way. I still do... sort of.

So why am I doing this? Well, I read an agent's (Janet Reid's) blog post on "How to know when you're ready to start sending query letters." Her advice included the following: 1-Your book's finished, 2-You've done your research on agents, and then (cringe) 3-You've established a web presence, and I don't mean Facebook.

OK. I'm a smart person (stop giggling!) and I know. It does make you more appealing to publishers if they see that there are people out there (other than your mom/husband) who actually like reading what you write. (I also finished J&J, so I saw the end with the phone ringing off the hook because of her blog. A.k.a., "the dream sequence.")

So that's it. The answer to "Leigh, why did you start a blog?"

In its defense, since starting my blog, I've revised my initial judgment on them. I've really gotten to know a lot of you better through it--through your emails and comments--and I suppose you'd say the same of me.

I like it when you send me suggestions of things you'd like to see (Anthony! Next post~), and I especially like reading your comments. It's cool because I can see how once an author's books are out there, s/he really doesn't know how people respond to them. Unless s/he trolls the Internet to find chats or whatever. Here I can actually post the occasional literary musing and hear back from you guys almost instantly. I love that.

Update, I got a reply from an agent I queried back in January yesterday. She asked for a sample of the book. And there you have it. The speed of this game. Otherwise, still in "no news is no news" purg. I feel myself growing... and not just from the stress eating.

In music, I managed to get Richard's original "(Not a) Train Song" up on YouTube! I had to make it into a video, so if  you want to turn off your monitor and just listen, that's better. Otherwise, you'll be treated to family photos. (I tried to find ones of Richard playing music, but we actually don't have a lot of those. JRM asked why there were no train pix. LTM: It's not a song about a train.)

Musical guests include "Na$hville" Dave Harper on guitar (and production) and Margrette "Marge" Lane on mandolin and backup vocals. Here's the link.  Enjoy!

Madonna Earth

So Happy Earth Day! The girls and I'll be at the Rave at 4:45 p.m. watching Oceans, and I cannot wait! I know, Nerds Unite (again). But it's really not like that. OK, it is, but it's more a tradition that started last year.

I love love love movies, right? And I would live in the movie theater if I could, but that's ridiculous. Still, I'm always looking for something good the girls and I can see. In that spirit, I don't know if anyone remembers last year Disney made a big deal about their movie Earth. If you went to see it on Earth Day, they'd plant a tree for every ticket sold.

So naturally we went. It was gorgeous and beautiful, and ... there was a circle of life moment that took us a few hours to get over. Wah wah waaahh... I felt bad about that.

When I was a kid, grown ups were always showing us movies like Bambi and Old Yeller and Dumbo and Where the Red Fern Grows, and I swore that I would never, NEVER! watch another movie that starred an animal again as long as I lived...

Well, we got over Earth, and before the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie, they had a trailer for Oceans. Now I gotta tell you guys, I like the earth, but I LOVE the ocean. So I'm totally psyched.

I'm also hoping it'll be harder to get emotionally attached to a squid than say, a bear. (Of course, they'll probably make it Flipper or something. I'll let you know.)

Bonus: For every ticket sold today, Disney's donating a dollar to save the coral reefs. So... looking for something fun to do?

As for Madonna, well, you might've caught this week's Glee, which was devoted to her legacy. Richard said some of his secretaries were surprised that they were uncomfortable letting their kids watch it because it was too provocative.

At first I was empathetic and wondered if maybe there should've been more warning. But then I thought some more, and c'mon, people. This is Madonna we're talking about. Remember her? The one who got kicked out of the Catholic church by His Holiness himself? The name should've been warning enough.

Richard wondered how much she got paid for allowing them to use her songs. I wondered how much she paid them for making it look like there was actually a method to all her exhibitionism.

I was in middle school when Madonna was really getting big, and my parents were super strict. I mean, they worked hard to shelter us, bless their hearts.

I love my parents. And I knew every word to every Madonna song ever released. Even some that weren't released. And of course, I saw all the videos.

I try to remind myself of this as my little ladies creep closer and closer to their tweens. You can only protect them so far. And then they leave you and go to school/dance/art/friends'/etc.

Sigh.

When you think about it, parenthood is just one long journey into never sleeping again. Seriously. They're born, up all night. They move to "big girl beds," up all night. Even now.

Richard and I were having this big discussion last night about whether it's fair to attribute positive social change to Madge and all her silly antics when in walks Catherine--who'd been tucked in an hour before, mind you. She saw a UFO from her window.

I had to let Richard take that one. He's the SciFi nerd.

Then they'll start dating and driving, holy cow, no sleep. Then college... 

And that's how it goes, teenage girls. If that isn't an abstinence lesson in and of itself, I don't know what is.

OK, I'm just kidding. I don't know the magic formula. Is it right to shelter kids from sexual messages? Or should they be viewed as conversation starters. Of course, it all depends on maturity level, I know. Ultimately, while that Glee episode did push the envelope (much like its subject), the overall message was positive.

There's a lot of talk that kids are exposed to too much sexuality today. I grew up with Prince and Madonna and Duran Duran... My parents had the Rolling Stones and the Doors, Woodstock and Studio 54... my grandparents had Marilyn Monroe and Rosalind Russell...

So I'm not sure it's fair to say that.

I wasn't a sexually active teen, but some of my friends were. And we all knew what each other was doing and talked about it. (Ugh! Did I mention parenthood equals no sleep?)

Get me outta here. On a more positive note, I finished the new book!

Now before you spray coffee on your computer, it's not completely finished. The story's there all the way to the end, but I really pushed through it fast. Now I'm going back and filling in details at certain spots. And I really like it!

I'm also super excited that I actually came up with a completely new, standalone work that isn't part of the previous series. It's very encouraging. I just might be a novelist after all. Now if I could just get somebody in the publishing world to agree...

Still waiting on that front. Have a great weekend, guys. Next post, Monday~

I'll keep the ole back 40...

Just in case you missed it, I'm having to cut back my blogging to Mondays & Thursdays while I work on other writing projects. I know. And I call myself a writer...

That is, of course, unless there is breaking news on Debut Novel--in which case that screaming sound you hear is me. (Yes, that includes you, Overseas Readers.) But I will also post it here. And everywhere.

So those of you sweethearts who have been asking, I'm still in what's known as the purgatory of no news is no news.

But I was thinking I haven't said anything about music in a while. I thought about it today as I was jogging and songs were coming on that I liked. The one mentioned in the title of this blog, for instance. (Robert Earl Keen, fyi.)

The girls have entered a Taylor Swift phase. I blame Lori Quimby, their GA teacher, but Catherine came up to me the other day and timidly asked if we could download a few of her songs. (She has her daddy's old iPod shuffle.)

I'm a sucker for the timid request for music, so we jumped on the iTunes immediately and started scrolling through Miss Swift's offerings. I hadn't listened to any of her songs, but now that I have, they're sweet.

They're like the musical Cliff's Notes for a lot of these YA novels I've been reading lately. Update, Something, Maybe was a bit of a let-down. Hmm... Elizabeth Scott is still great at the buildup to the kiss, but wow... it took fuh-evah to get there.

Starting I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter next. And I admit, I only bought it because Ms. Carter's agent is Kristin Nelson. Ms. Nelson seems like she should be my agent; I'm curious about what she actually represents. More soon.

So back to Taylor Swift. I've been enjoying her stuff. I was a very girlie little girl (shocker...), so I understand the attraction of these songs.

Richard, on the other hand, is a merciless ridiculer. Some of you know that he sings "Tim McGraw" as "When you play Donkey Kong." (I hope you have your sweatpants on...)

I forbid such behavior when the girls are around because I like them listening to *nice* music. (I finally got them to stop asking for "Tik Tok" and "Party Like a Rock Star.")

Still, our recent trip to the beach was a test. Catherine and Laura were demanding their Taylor Swift rock block, and Richard was literally squirming in his seat from all the one-liners just NEEDING to come out.

For example, TS's song "Today Was a Fairytale" was playing. The girls were happily singing all the words in the back seat, the following was going on up front:

TS: Today was a fairytale, I wore a dress... etc. Today was a fairytale.
JRM:  (under his breath) how many times is she going to say that?
LTM: (quiet, scolding voice) Richard...
TS: Today was a fairytale, you've got a smile, takes me to another planet...
JRM: Sounds more like a science fiction story.
LTM: (cuts eyes)

Ahh... The little ladies were unaffected. And I have to say, I've reached the point where I'm recognizing the cycles in the entertainment industry.

It's OK, I am not a ridiculer. Especially when you get that rare performer who actually wrote her own songs and then is actually singing them. And I think it's awesome that there's something out there for everybody (and at every stage of the game).

I'm sure these are the character-building lessons one learns in no news is no news purgatory.

Richard's a songwriter, in case you didn't know it (most of you do). His songs have titles like, "Kiefer Sutherland's Mother," "That Dog'd Bite You," and of course, the "(Not a) Train Song." They're in the humorously unexpected genre. I'll see if I can upload one for your musical enjoyment.

As for me, I'm just trying to get all the paying gigs done so I can get back to my sophomore effort. It's going quite well, and I'm noting how little I've leaned on my musical crutch for this one. (What could it mean...?)

I'll let you know when we're ready to start Round 2.