The Book Store Series, Part 5

If you missed any:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

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PART 5:

Time flew; busy days at the office followed by weekends at the bookstore. Milo and I got to know each other and found we had a lot in common including books, movies, and food. Sophie was getting to know Vin, and all four of us even went out for pizza one night. We had turned into a group of friends who genuinely enjoyed spending time together. Although only a matter of weeks had passed, it felt like we had known each other for years.

One Saturday, Sophie and I were hanging out at the bookstore. Since it was a slow day, the guys were sitting around with us on the couches we sat on near the registers. We were talking and laughing, enjoying another afternoon of good company. Sophie and Vin snuggled up next to each other, talking quietly, so Milo and I decided to walk to the coffee cart to get some cocoa.

“So my dad is coming in a few days. He’s been so busy we didn’t even get to see him for Christmas. It’s been months.”

“Will we get a chance to meet him?” I was interested in this man who dedicated his life to his sons and his business.

“Absolutely. Dad’s curious to see who these two women are that Vin and I have been spending all our time with.” He smiled as we ordered our cocoa.

“We are excited to meet him too.” I sipped on my cocoa and we headed back to the cozy couches with Vin and Sophie.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sophie and I walked to the Italian restaurant where we had all agreed to meet. Our route brought us by the bookstore and we were surprised to see all the lights off and a sign in the door: “Closed for Family Celebration.”

“Look, Lily!” She pointed to the door. “They closed the shop for us. That’s so awesome.”

“We are so harrassing them for this!” I picked up the pace, shivering in the January frost.

We turned the corner past the bookstore and, dodging the giant clusters of soft snowflakes, met Milo at the door to the restaurant. He walked us to the table they had reserved. I knew Mr. Trussman as soon as I saw him stand from his seat. He was exactly how I had imagined based on the description Milo had provided over the last few weeks. He was tall and wearing a bright blue suit with matching fedora on his head and matching Oxfords on his feet. You could see a peek of curly salt and pepper hair sticking out from under the edges of his hat. A teal bowtie completed the ensemble, and he took off his hat and held it to his chest before he bowed deeply as Sophie and I reached our seats opposite Vin and Milo.

“Lily, I presume?” He took my hand and kissed the back of it, and I immediately fell in love with this sweet eccentric man. “A beautiful flower in this wretched weather.” He turned to Sophie. “And you. You must be Sophie, the one my Vincent is so smitten with.” She practically old-school swooned when he took her hand and kissed it as well.

We sat and ordered, then started to get to know Mr. Trussman.

“Please, call me Theo, ladies. No need to be so formal.” He grinned. In fact, he grinned for the entire meal and kept looking between the four of us.

“Well, Theo, we find your sons to be excellent company,” Sophie smiled at Vin, who countered with a goofy grin.

“Yes we do,” I nodded in agreement.

“Well, I am glad to know that I have raised a pair of gentlemen. I worried about them coming to this rough and tough city, I thought surely it would harden them a bit. It does not seem to have though, and for that I am grateful.”

We continued to eat with no awkward silences or uncomfortable conversations. In a quiet moment of us all enjoying our meals, I looked around. This felt like family. Sophie, the guys, a father figure in Theo; it all seemed to fit perfectly. The rest of the night went off without a hitch, and we all went back to the bookstore for coffee-or cocoa-and more conversation.

Milo unlocked the doors and we all went in. Vin lit one of the bigger fire pits on the first floor while Theo and I went to the coffee cart to get some drinks. He graciously held out his arm for me to steady myself as we ascended the staircase.

“So Theo, how long are you here for?”

“I had planned on staying for two months, but I may be convinced to extend my journey if you two lovely ladies keep my company while I am here.”

I felt my cheeks warm. “Well, I don’t think that will be a problem.”

“Well, my dear girl, I have quickly become very fond of you as well. And my son seems to be quite fond of you, too. He speaks of you often, and very kindly. I am pleased that he has found a friend, and that he has found it in you has made it all the more wonderful.” He looked at me with a twinkle in his eye.

We had reached the cart and Theo made the drinks. We carried them down the stairs and after we handed them out, we all sat comfortably around the fire pit; Vin and Sophie snuggled together on one couch, Milo and I cozy on another and Theo in a big recliner.

There we sat until nearly midnight, talking and laughing, spending time with people we were swiftly growing close to.

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Move on to Part 6!

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Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Hello followers!

Usually I do an editing post on Wednesdays, but to be honest, I bored myself trying to decide what I wanted to write about. So I'm not. Yep, sometimes editing is a boring topic, even to an editor. One of our dirty little secrets.

What I do want to say is that starting tomorrow, I will be working on an editing project that has me tickled pink! I am so excited about it and can't wait until the book gets released. You'll just have to stay tuned to see what is up my author's sleeve.

I have had several people in the last few months approach me about editing projects "in the spring" or "beginning of next year". If you are reading this and you're one of them, or if you are considering hiring me for an editing job in the next few months, please just drop me a line and let me know what kind of time table you're thinking. I'd like to efficiently and adequately schedule everyone so that I can do an excellent job and meet deadlines without any overlap. I worry that in the same few weeks I will be approached by everyone at once, and I understand the excitement of "get it edited, I want to share it!" I will not work on more than one project at a time because I'm easily distracted and have been known to confuse stories and/or characters when I try to read two books at the same time. Nobody wins.

I also want to remind people that I am still looking for guest bloggers on Fridays. If anyone is interested, please contact me. I'd love to give aspiring writers a platform to test their projects and get a feeling of what it's like to put their writing out there. Plus, I just love seeing everyone's different styles and ideas.

Keep in mind that the things you read are coming right out of someone else's brain. It answers that age-old question of "What are they thinking?" Even if the subject matter is fiction, style is an amazing indicator of someone's personality and deepest thoughts. Although publishing is a very public thing, millions of people have access to your innermost thoughts and it's very intimate. That is an uncomfortable word, and as much as authors might hate to feel that way, that's just the way it is-vulnerability. You pour your heart and soul into the ink on the pages of a novel, and it's out there for everyone to see. It's actually a very nice way to get to know someone.

Well, tune in tomorrow for the 5th installment of the Book Store Series. I'm having quite the love/hate relationship with this whole editor-turned-author malarky. I hope you guys are enjoying, and thanks for stopping by!

Chop, Chop

The book I'm going to review today is one that I stumbled upon completely by accident. It's called Chop, Chop. It's part of a series that I had no idea I would love so much.

I always love to peruse the free book lists on Amazon and stack my Kindle full of free goodies. This was a freebie and one day I was looking for something new to read and opened this up. I was amazed. 

To be clear, I'm not an extremely religious person. Yes, I went to a Catholic school for elementary school (7 years!). Yes, I went to church the first Friday of every month and every Sunday. Yes, I performed all of the sacraments up to Confirmation. But really, not much of that was by choice. Although I find organized religion a bit questionable, I did bring away from the experience a belief in God, and a strong faith and spirituality that I tend to keep private (unless, of course, I'm blogging about it). This series does refer to a bit of religious settings and beliefs, but if you liked 7th Heaven, or have any sort of moral standing really, you can appreciate this story. You can read just the first one, and have a full, completely satisfying story, but I don't recommend it. There are several other books in the series, of which I've only read 3 total. Day-Day and Pon-Pon are the next 2 in the series, and I became quite fond of them. I haven't had a chance to read the next couple that are left, but I fully intend to. 

The story is about a young girl who grows her hair out and repeatedly donates it to Locks of Love. When a boy moves into town and finds out, he starts doing it too. This is a coming-of-age novel, and when tragedy strikes, the main characters find their way closer to each other and closer to God. Chop, Chop is a great young adult read, but you can also watch them grow older as you follow them through the next couple of books. I'm curious to see where they go further on, and I will share with you when I find out!

A heart-warming series, perfect for this cold weather if you're here in the northern hemisphere. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! (P.S. As of this blog post, it is free to download on www.amazon.com).

Thanks for stopping by!

We're going streaking in the quad!!!

Today's movie is super fun and silly!



Another Will Ferrell classic. This is a fun movie about adults trying to keep up with college kids. A great comedy for those 30-somethings trying to get themselves to transition into "adulthood" from a college mentality. I know that as a 30-something myself, I have days when I feel like I could run with the college kids, but the 2 day hangover usually puts that sentiment in check. Just a great piece of ridiculousness. I love it, and you should watch it!

Thanks for stopping by!

FIFTY!!!

It's my 50th blog post!!!! It's amazing! It's such a satisfying feeling to stick with something and see it through.

It's also the perfect day to hunker down and watch movies and blog. I live in central New York, and if you don't know anything about the storm Hercules, put the book down for a few minutes and watch a little news. I know, it hurts, but it'll do you some good to know current events, I promise! This morning our actual temperature was -2 and the wind chill was -20, and they closed our school very early today. If you don't know what wind chill is, well, you're not missing much. Our pipes froze over night, and my hubs put a space heater right in front of the pipe coming in the house. The water just thawed after about 7.5 hours of being warmed by the heater, and the first thing my son wanted to do was take a shower because he "smells like a shoe" (his words!). And you don't realize how often you use water until you can't!

Well that's about it for us. We're just snuggling down and watching movies and keeping warm. It's a good day to be comfy!!

Thanks for stopping by, see you next week!

The Book Store Series, Part 4

Part 4 is here!
If you've missed any:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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We walked into the store and up a few flights of stairs to a floor we hadn’t explored yet. We split up; ‘divide and conquer’ Sophie had said, but I had a hunch she was hoping to run into one of the guys that was at the checkout the weekend before. I turned down an aisle, running my finger along the spines of the books as I walked. Science fiction, magic, mythical creatures. Right up my alley. I browsed the titles and before I knew it, I had a stack of books in my arms. I walked to the end of the row, turned the corner and SMACK! I was on the floor, books everywhere, my cheeks burning in embarrassment. I looked to see what had knocked me on my rear, and Milo knelt across from me, picking up the scattered books. He smiled shyly, offered me his hand and helped me to my feet.

“Um. Sorry…I…I was distracted,” I muttered, taking my books from his arm.

“It’s okay, I was distracted too. Inventory,” he said, waving papers that seemed to have lists of book titles on them.

“Well, since this place will probably become my second home, I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Lily Stone and I’m addicted to books.” I smiled, hoping my humor wasn’t lost on Milo.

He smiled back and replied, “I’m Milo Trussman, and me too. Um, I’m ready for a break, do you want some hot cocoa?”

I hesitated. This was my chance if I wanted to get to know more about him and this store. “Hot cocoa? What are you, ten?” I smiled and quickly added, “Yes, of course I’ll have hot cocoa, I hate coffee.” Milo smiled at me and I followed him down a flight of stairs to the little coffee cart Sophie and I had found. I ordered a salted caramel hot cocoa and Milo and I walked to a little corner fireplace and sat down in some comfy armchairs. I decided just to go for it. “So Milo, what’s your story?”

He paused, shifting in his chair, took a sip of his cocoa, and looked at me. “I’m 28, graduated from a small community college up north with a business degree, and when my dad opened this shop, my brother and I wanted to move here to run it. He has a couple of other stores, but New York City had a draw that none of the others had. There’s just so much more here to experience than some of the smaller towns that have our stores. I guess that’s the great thing about our dad branching out so much. We had our choice of where we wanted to be. I haven’t had a very exciting life really. A lot of working.” He stopped and shot me a quizzical look. “Wow. I’m generally not so chatty with strangers. Did you slip something in my cocoa?”

“Haha, no. I’m not normally talkative either.” I squirmed in my seat and drank some cocoa, staring into the fireplace. I wanted to know about him, but I hesitated to spill my guts to him.

“Well…okay. Now you know more about me than anyone in New York other than my brother. Spill it. It’s only fair.” He sat back and waited for me to reciprocate the information download.

I stiffened, but it was unfair of me to expect him to tell me all about himself without at least giving him a peek of my life. So I cleared my throat and started. “I’m 25, and I moved here to get away from my tiny little town. It was so boring. I needed to find some excitement, make my own path. I’m also from upstate and graduated from a community college with an accounting degree. I work for a firm downtown. Reading is how I escape the extremely boring life I lead, which is how I ended up here in your store last weekend.”

“Accounting, huh? No wonder you read so much.”

I smiled. We sat quietly for a minute, watching the fire and analyzing each other’s stories. I wanted to know more, but I didn’t want to pry or seem disrespectful. But again, I brazenly dove into interrogation territory.

“So what is your dad like?” I watched him, trying to gauge a response. He had an excellent poker face. I couldn’t tell if I overstepped my bounds, and I waited expectantly for him to speak. He finally looked at me and smiled.

“Ah, Theo Trussman. He’s always been a great dad, a great man. He loves his business….a lot. He’s quirky, some might say eccentric. He’ll be here in a few weeks, actually. He’s going to come check on the store and hang out with us for a couple of months. It’ll be nice, we miss him.” He seemed to get a little reminiscent at that point, and I could see the love for his father right there on his face.

I pushed the boundaries even more, “What about your mom?”

Milo’s face dropped and he stared at his feet. I thought that maybe he’d get up and walk away, hating me for digging into his personal life, but he surprised me by answering. His voice dropped as he said, “She died in child birth a couple of years after I was born. I was supposed to have another sibling, but the baby didn’t survive either. That’s about the time dad opened the bookstore. From what I can tell, he dumped his heart and soul into raising us and managing the store, trying to drown out the pain of losing my mom and a child all at once. Vin and I pretty much grew up in the book store; did our homework there, learned everything about business and books from my dad. He doted on us and that store. I think when we went to high school, dad started feeling lonely and that’s when he started branching out and turned Trussman’s into a franchise. He has four now, all owned and operated by relatives, two by uncles, one by my dad, and this one by my brother and me.” He took a deep breath in and slowly pushed it out, and I could almost see him releasing the sadness in his exhale. He perked up a little, straightened his back and smiled at me. “Well, that’s about enough of that for today. I…I’m not sure why but it’s been very easy opening up to you. I hope we’ll be good friends.”

“I hope so too. I feel surprisingly comfortable too. It’s so strange. But you’re right, enough deep thought for today.”

He stood and tossed his empty cup into a nearby trash can. “Come on, let me show you some books I think you’ll like, judging from that stack you dumped all over the floor.”

“Hey! It’s just as much your fault! You ran into me too!” We laughed and after I ditched my empty cocoa cup, we walked around the store for a while. We kept the conversation light, and by the time I was ready to leave-a couple of hours later-we had built a good foundation for a great friendship.

I said goodbye to Milo as he returned to his inventory and I headed toward the checkout with my books. When I got there, I saw Sophie sitting at a barstool at the far end of the checkout counter, obviously flirting with Vin. I walked up next to her and gave her a little nudge in the ribs. “Hey, you ready, lovebird?”

Sophie’s face turned red, and she giggled as she said goodbye to Vin. He rang out my purchases, glancing back at Sophie the whole time. I dragged Sophie away from the counter and we headed back to my apartment.

“Lil, I’m definitely spending the night at your apartment, you have to tell me what you were up to. We saw you walking around with Milo.” Lily’s cheeks were still rosy, and I doubted it had to do with the snow falling around us.

I smiled, but set her straight. “I think I have made a great friend in Milo, Sophie. He was so easy to talk to. Let’s order a pizza, and we can talk.”

Sophie took out her cell phone and ordered the pizza as we walked. I thought about my afternoon in the book store and the new friend I had made. I don’t know why it was so easy to become friends with him, and I’m glad we broke the ice because who knew that we would hit it off so well? I couldn’t wait to go back and talk with Milo again. 

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If you want to move on, here's Part 5

Thanks for stopping by!!

Editing Etiquette

Today I'm going to explain one of my pet peeves. Besides being a spelling nut, I hate when words are misused. I hate when the wrong form of the word is used, because I immediately read it in my head as the way that it's spelled and it's distracting to the story.

So I'm just going to make a list of words and the right way to use them. 

they're- contraction for 'they are' (They're in the yard.)

their- possessive pronoun (Their car is in the shop.)

there- adverb specifying a place (It's over there.)

your-possessive pronoun (It's your cookie.)

you're- contraction for 'you are' (You're next in line.)

to- a preposition (We're going to the mall.)

too- meaning 'also' (We're going too.)

two- the number (We have two cats.)

principle- meaning 'basic truth or law' (An upstanding citizen has good principles.)

principal- person in charge of a school (The principal called my parents.)

than- conjunction used to compare (One is better than the other.)

then- adverb denoting time (Just then, there was a knock at the door.)

lie- to recline or rest on a surface (I need to lie down.)

lay- transitive verb, to put or place (The book lay on the table.)

accept- to receive (I can't accept such an expensive gift.)

except- preposition meaning 'excluding' (Everyone except my brother was at dinner.)

These are just the main ones, but I'm sure there are more. Some of these are difficult to mess up, but some are easy to confuse. It just takes practice and studying to get the hang of using words properly.

On a side note, it might be nice to learn the basics so you don't drive your editor insane. Generally, editors are pretty nutty about grammar, spelling and word use, so it might save them some grief if you at least know the difference between 'there' and 'their'.

Thanks for stopping by!