In each of my Stories From Hartford books, I tried to include at least one reference to something from one of the other books. These are mostly inconsequential to the plots. They are little things intended as something like inside jokes for me and anyone else who noticed the connections. I don’t think anything I’m about to write could be considered a spoiler but if you’re really nuts about that sort of thing, you may want to read books 1, 2 and 3 first.
On second thought, you probably want to read the books first anyway because this will make more sense that way and because the books are very entertaining. Go ahead. This post will still be here when you’re done.
Ready? I’ll start with the characters. Most of the people who appear in more than one book are pretty obvious. I want to point out for the record though that I did not recycle any first names. The Emma who is Summer’s best friend in Jealousy & Yams is the same Emma who is Caitlin and Jon’s sister in Collecting Zebras. This means that when her brother is mentioned in Jealousy & Yams, this is the same guy who has a significant part in the later book.
The young police officer who comes to check on Rebecca at the beginning of Andrew's Key is the same Jimmy we are told can juggle yams in Jealousy & Yams and the same Jimmy who finally gets a last name, Larrick, in Collecting Zebras. He’ll have his biggest part in The Christmas Project as his brother is the Owen in that book’s description.
Rebecca is an avid runner in Andrew’s Key and at least once it says she turns a corner at the building with “the weird purple stripe.” Luke Foster of Jealousy & Yams works in this building.
Angel buys a strange wreath in the third book. (Yes, the one on the cover.) This was one of the old craft kits that Rebecca gave to Jill in Andrew’s Key.
In The Christmas Project, Owen accuses Gaby of once signing him up to ride on a Yam Fest float without asking his permission. This is only an offhand comment but of course anyone who has read Jealousy & Yams knows all about Yam Fest.
At one point in Andrew’s Key, Rebecca stops her car in the remains of a gravel driveway that is no longer adjacent to a house. Something happened at this location that is a primary source of the rumors about her house being haunted. Seth tells this story to Angel in Collecting Zebras.
Angel is reading a book in Collecting Zebras when she says that she’s going to be mad if Charlotte doesn’t end up with Jason. Those names actually come from one of my pre-Hartford books.
There is one minor plot point that carries over from one book to the next. We learn inCollecting Zebras that someone has romantic interest in Jimmy. He’s going to tell us whether or not he shares that interest in The Christmas Project. That’s just one of the reasons for you to be excited that the fourth book will be released next month. I’ll try to give you some more reasons soon. In the meantime, sign up for the giveaway for a chance to win all four Hartford books.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Life After Hartford
Now that I’m working on the last book in the Hartford series (so it’s been a few weeks since I’ve actively worked on it, but I promise I’m making progress) I’ve been giving some thought to what I want to work on next.
I’m definitely leaning towards a similar series, one with books linked by the setting and each one having an independent plot. I’ve been trying to figure out some of the details of this new setting. I haven’t made many decisions but the place might have a name.
I was recently working on a side project when my daughter asked if she could help me. It was a rather mushy scene. She’s eight. I was pretty sure she’d want the scene to be something like, “And when she realized he was going to kiss her, she said ‘Eww’ and ran from the room.”
I pulled out a different notebook and offered to let her help me brainstorm for the new series instead. I asked if she could help me come up with some minor characters, some people to populate my imaginary town. My child has none of my inhibitions when it comes to names. She threw out Lucy Haid. I thought that was a promising start. Then she said the school principal could be Dirk Lay, the mayor May Lewis, a guy working at the library should be named Loy Mystery and a really, really old guy who wanders around the cemetery should be called Asma Loss. She had more ideas.
Already impressed, I asked what she might – just out of curiosity – name a pair of horses. Her answer: Molly and Swift. It took her less time to say them than it took me to write them down.
I asked about some places in the town. She told me there would be only one restaurant and it should be called The Sleepy Crab.
I was getting excited about the gold mine of names. Just as I was thinking I might never have to suffer over names again, my little one suggested a name that I recognized from someone else’s book. This of course makes all her other suggestions suspect as well. I believe at least some came from her imagination but now I cannot use any until I’ve done some research to determine if they have obvious sources.
But I asked what she’d name the town anyway. She said, “Thompson City.” This was when my older son noticed that I was getting help. He insisted that Tweedville would be a better name. If you have siblings, you know it stopped being a brainstorming session at that point and became a battle of wills. There was no backing down on either name and no suggesting further names until I declared a winner. I suggested the compromise of Thompsonville. That sounds like a good Anywhere, USA sort of name. I think I successfully disappointed both children with this choice but I think I might go with it anyway.
Don’t be surprised if Loy Mystery shows up somewhere in one or more of these books. There’s something about that name that intrigues me. It sounds like a fun character. And at least you’ll know where I got the name.
I’m definitely leaning towards a similar series, one with books linked by the setting and each one having an independent plot. I’ve been trying to figure out some of the details of this new setting. I haven’t made many decisions but the place might have a name.
I was recently working on a side project when my daughter asked if she could help me. It was a rather mushy scene. She’s eight. I was pretty sure she’d want the scene to be something like, “And when she realized he was going to kiss her, she said ‘Eww’ and ran from the room.”
I pulled out a different notebook and offered to let her help me brainstorm for the new series instead. I asked if she could help me come up with some minor characters, some people to populate my imaginary town. My child has none of my inhibitions when it comes to names. She threw out Lucy Haid. I thought that was a promising start. Then she said the school principal could be Dirk Lay, the mayor May Lewis, a guy working at the library should be named Loy Mystery and a really, really old guy who wanders around the cemetery should be called Asma Loss. She had more ideas.
Already impressed, I asked what she might – just out of curiosity – name a pair of horses. Her answer: Molly and Swift. It took her less time to say them than it took me to write them down.
I asked about some places in the town. She told me there would be only one restaurant and it should be called The Sleepy Crab.
I was getting excited about the gold mine of names. Just as I was thinking I might never have to suffer over names again, my little one suggested a name that I recognized from someone else’s book. This of course makes all her other suggestions suspect as well. I believe at least some came from her imagination but now I cannot use any until I’ve done some research to determine if they have obvious sources.
But I asked what she’d name the town anyway. She said, “Thompson City.” This was when my older son noticed that I was getting help. He insisted that Tweedville would be a better name. If you have siblings, you know it stopped being a brainstorming session at that point and became a battle of wills. There was no backing down on either name and no suggesting further names until I declared a winner. I suggested the compromise of Thompsonville. That sounds like a good Anywhere, USA sort of name. I think I successfully disappointed both children with this choice but I think I might go with it anyway.
Don’t be surprised if Loy Mystery shows up somewhere in one or more of these books. There’s something about that name that intrigues me. It sounds like a fun character. And at least you’ll know where I got the name.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
What's so funny?
When we say that someone has a “good” sense of humor, we’re actually saying that person has a sense of humor similar to our own. Because we don’t all laugh at the same things. We don’t think the same things are funny.
We try to narrow down the different kinds of humor with descriptive words like witty, wry, zany, wacky, droll and many more. These words still have different connotations to different people though so I don’t know which ones to apply to the humor that I try to insert in my books. I decided that the best idea is to show some examples. And then I spent way too long trying to pick something. It was difficult to find a scene from Collecting Zebras that I thought was at least mildly amusing but didn’t risk any spoilers. I came up with two very brief conversations. I guess banter is my favorite.
____
“My name is Angel Melling,” I said.
The woman nodded and yelled to her husband, “Angel.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Her name is Angel.” When he continued the blank stare she said, “Like in the song.” She began to sing “Angels We Have Heard on High.” She had a lovely voice and got halfway through the chorus before he nodded.
I had no idea what he thought he understood.
The woman turned back to me. “I’m Carol and that’s Walt. We’ve been married fifty-three years.”
“Congratulations.” I didn’t know if that meant they were celebrating an anniversary or simply liked to brag.
“You moved from the city?” Carol asked.
“I did.”
“You like Hartford?”
“Yeah, so far.”
Walt said, “Ask her how she likes Hartford.”
Carol waved off the question. I nodded at Walt to answer him. Carol said, “Are you married?”
“No.”
“Don’t you worry, sweetheart. Hartford has tons of eligible bachelors.”
“I think I only need one.”
She smiled at me. “That’s right. You just find the right one and settle down.”
“Gloria,” Walt said, “what grade do you teach down there at the school?”
“Um…” I glanced at Carol, who didn’t seem to notice that he thought my name was Gloria. “I’m a speech therapist.” I said it as loudly as I could without shouting.
“A gymnast? You mean like the gym teacher?”
“She said a speech therapist,” Carol said. She was shouting.
____
I’m Jill,” the woman said to me.
“Angel.”
She tipped her head forward. “Nice to meet you, Angel. I noticed you sitting with Walt and Carol when I got here so when I realized you were still over there as I was leaving I thought one of us should do something.”
“By one of us,” Seth said, “she meant me.”
“What did you say to get her out of there?”
He shrugged. “I said you were having some sort of girl problem.”
“What sort of girl problem?” Jill looked at me for clarification.
I said, “That’s it. He came over there and said, ‘Jill is having some sort of girl problem.’”
“What does that mean?” She looked back at her brother.
He shrugged again. “They’re nice. I knew they’d let her leave if I used the word problem and it had to be something I couldn’t help with.”
Jill playfully punched Seth in the arm. “What if they ask me about this imaginary and incredibly vague problem next time I go over there?”
“They won’t. Are either of you up for ice cream?”
____
If you enjoy these excerpts, let me know. Not because I like praise (although, who doesn’t) but because I’m still passing out advance copies of the book and I know you’ll want to read the rest.
We try to narrow down the different kinds of humor with descriptive words like witty, wry, zany, wacky, droll and many more. These words still have different connotations to different people though so I don’t know which ones to apply to the humor that I try to insert in my books. I decided that the best idea is to show some examples. And then I spent way too long trying to pick something. It was difficult to find a scene from Collecting Zebras that I thought was at least mildly amusing but didn’t risk any spoilers. I came up with two very brief conversations. I guess banter is my favorite.
____
“My name is Angel Melling,” I said.
The woman nodded and yelled to her husband, “Angel.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Her name is Angel.” When he continued the blank stare she said, “Like in the song.” She began to sing “Angels We Have Heard on High.” She had a lovely voice and got halfway through the chorus before he nodded.
I had no idea what he thought he understood.
The woman turned back to me. “I’m Carol and that’s Walt. We’ve been married fifty-three years.”
“Congratulations.” I didn’t know if that meant they were celebrating an anniversary or simply liked to brag.
“You moved from the city?” Carol asked.
“I did.”
“You like Hartford?”
“Yeah, so far.”
Walt said, “Ask her how she likes Hartford.”
Carol waved off the question. I nodded at Walt to answer him. Carol said, “Are you married?”
“No.”
“Don’t you worry, sweetheart. Hartford has tons of eligible bachelors.”
“I think I only need one.”
She smiled at me. “That’s right. You just find the right one and settle down.”
“Gloria,” Walt said, “what grade do you teach down there at the school?”
“Um…” I glanced at Carol, who didn’t seem to notice that he thought my name was Gloria. “I’m a speech therapist.” I said it as loudly as I could without shouting.
“A gymnast? You mean like the gym teacher?”
“She said a speech therapist,” Carol said. She was shouting.
____
I’m Jill,” the woman said to me.
“Angel.”
She tipped her head forward. “Nice to meet you, Angel. I noticed you sitting with Walt and Carol when I got here so when I realized you were still over there as I was leaving I thought one of us should do something.”
“By one of us,” Seth said, “she meant me.”
“What did you say to get her out of there?”
He shrugged. “I said you were having some sort of girl problem.”
“What sort of girl problem?” Jill looked at me for clarification.
I said, “That’s it. He came over there and said, ‘Jill is having some sort of girl problem.’”
“What does that mean?” She looked back at her brother.
He shrugged again. “They’re nice. I knew they’d let her leave if I used the word problem and it had to be something I couldn’t help with.”
Jill playfully punched Seth in the arm. “What if they ask me about this imaginary and incredibly vague problem next time I go over there?”
“They won’t. Are either of you up for ice cream?”
____
If you enjoy these excerpts, let me know. Not because I like praise (although, who doesn’t) but because I’m still passing out advance copies of the book and I know you’ll want to read the rest.
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