Author: abby mumford

sports

squash this

abby mumford

if you put the word SQUASH into a google image search, you come up with pictures like these.

they’re all squash-ed in.

that’s exactly what i look like (except for the whole, “i’m a girl and he’s not” thing). what i mean to say is that i project the same badassery that he does. obviously.

so the real point here is why was i searching the word squash and why did i just subject you to those pictures? well, it’s relevant this time of year because it’s autumn and farmers are harvesting their fruits and vegetables AND i’m learning how to play squash. i had my first match on wednesday, during lunch.

why am i learning how to play squash? it’s part of this whole life upgrade thing. and the whole, i’m trying to get in tip top shape for the big 3-0 in january. the gym is boring. this spices things up a bit. especially when you consider the fact that i’ve never played before and i’m entering into a highly competitive trio of dudes. i’m a highly competitive chick, so this isn’t intimidating as much as frustrating. i don’t like to lose. but i’m starting at the bottom and playing against guys who’ve been playing for years, if not decades. let’s hope i’m good with a steep learning curve.

the trick to squash (aside from learning how to use your wrist. tee hee.) is watching your opponent and knowing his/her weaknesses. yes, this is how most games are played, but this is a fast game (true story) and by the time you’ve figured out your opponent’s weaknesses, you’re already down 2 games to none. (maybe that’s just me. it was my first time, cut me some slack.) i think this whole “observe and conquer” will suit me well as i embark into my 30s.

*cackles evilly* yeah, i’ll let you figure that one out yourself.

AND hey, i just realized, i’ve already had a brief and lovely encounter with squash. with joan bauer’s squash to be precise. if you haven’t read her work, you really should. she’s a master at humor. and creating awesomely strong female leads.

and p.s. i realize there are a lot of links in this post, so to keep things interesting, ONE of them (no, i’m not telling which) leads to a special surprise. happy clicking!

(TWSS)

book club

BOOK HUNGRY: beauty

abby mumford

who says you have to be crowded into the living room/kitchen/dining room to hold a book club? we are ladies of the 21st century. we don’t need no stinkin’ couches. so pull up a blog and join in the conversation.

the members of the BOOK HUNGRY are (alphabetically): patty blount, kelly breakey, karla nellenbach, vanessa noble, alyson peterson, cynthia reese, elizabeth ryann, and myself. here’s the deal. we pick a book to read. we discuss via email. we post a review on our individual blogs on the same day (3rd thursday of the month). we link to each other. done. i know, genius. click on each one of their names (above) and it’ll take you to their review. browse. enjoy.

side note to all readers: if you’ve read the book, jump in on the conversation. comment away. if you haven’t read the book, go out and buy a copy, you ninny. and then come back and comment. if you’d like to become a full time BOOK HUNGRY member, contact one of us and we’ll get you set up. no need to have a blog. we can post for you. it couldn’t be easier. and it couldn’t be more fun.

this month’s BOOK HUNGRY selection is:

BEAUTY by Robin McKinley

some books are boosted by lightning fast plots. you turn the pages so quick, you’re in danger of getting a paper cut. other books are charming in a more subtle way with the characters whispering their secrets to you. certain books grip you from the first page to the very end. others require a bit more dedication and perspiration to get through. some books you love and re-read multiple times. others you’re happy to return to the library.

all of these books deserve our attention.

this book, BEAUTY, is a re-telling of a very famous tale, which i’m sure you’ve already guessed — beauty and the beast. i happen to have the lyrics of every song from that disney movie memorized (yes, it’s been decades since i first saw it. don’t judge), so you could say i had a certain preconception when i picked up this book. i was wrong. all wrong. (wait, am i ever right?) while there are no singing dishes or giggling armoires or talking tea cups, there IS magic within these pages. it takes some time to show up, but once it does, the reward is worth the wait.

as a reader, this book won’t be hitting my “favorites list”, but there were portions i really liked. (side note:  i use a post-it note as a bookmark and when i reach a part that makes me go “oooh,” i rip the post-it note and use the smaller portion to mark the passage.) in BEAUTY, i didn’t mark any passages until the third section, but then there were so many parts i enjoyed that i needed more post-it notes, however, i was on plane and didn’t have access to any, so i resorted to writing the page numbers on the small scrap i had left. i can be resourceful, no?

but it was as a writer that i truly appreciated reading BEAUTY. it’s a solid story with some amazing passages. if i hadn’t HAD to read the book, i wouldn’t have learned that a slowly paced plot is something i want to avoid in my writing, but for this book, the pacing fit. and i would have miss out on the McKinley’s third section. the magic is literally palpable. that portion was its own course in creative writing. my point being, it’s necessary to read books you LOVE and books you don’t because it’s not always easy to pick out what you like, but it is easy to figure out what you didn’t. and then once you’ve learned what you like and don’t like, you can go ahead and incorporate it (or not) into your own work.

as elizabeth ryann said, “This book is like the literary equivalent of getting into a really hot jacuzzi. You kind of ease into it slowly, going at your own pace, and each muscle relaxes as you do. You can’t just plop down and feel more relaxed. It’s the [slow paced] process that gets you where you want to end up.” the girl has a point. the beginning (and umm, middle) parts are slow going and while i didn’t love that feature, it did get me to the end, which was entirely adorable and magical and sweet and satisfying. the end result wouldn’t have felt the same if we, the readers, had gotten there faster. also, ER had another brilliant point. the book is titled BEAUTY, not beauty and the beast. this is her story. and her life is a bit dull and we need to know that so we can fully appreciate what she gains when she joins the beast and how she changes once she’s there.

my diagnosis: read this book. read it on a quiet afternoon or on a day when it’s nothing but hectic around you or on a sunny day or on a rainy day. it’s not going to cause lightning and thunder in your brain, but it will enchant you. and who doesn’t want some magic in their life?

thanks for challenging us with your choice, elizabeth. my writerly and readerly sides bow down to you.

//

feelings

inspiration + perspiration

abby mumford

it started in my childhood, what with my parents and older siblings reading books to me before i could read on my own. it continued as i read everything on my shelf and begged sister J to pick up more books for me at the library. (she had good taste. plus, i wanted to be just like her. even if i didn’t understand the high school references of sweet valley high.) it was furthered when i would see my dad sitting on the couch reading, sister J in her room on her bed reading, my mom standing at the kitchen counter reading a quick magazine article before starting dinner, and brother G? he reads now, but my memories of him revolve around him playing nintendo or shooting hoops outside. and from the point when little E was born, the only time you could get her to put a book down is when she was done and putting it down to pick up another one.

anyways, my point is that in my family, reading is genetic. everyone reads and so it was inevitable i would too.

but it wasn’t until JK Rowling and Harry Potter came along (i picked up the series right after book 4 was published) that my flights of fancy of writing a kids book solidified. suddenly, it was okay to want to write for kids, tweens, and teens. and suddenly, it was okay that i was READING those books. (though it did take me until a few years ago to publicly admit i was reading YA and MG books because i LIKE them, not just because i was doing RESEARCH.)

Jo was recently on Oprah. it’s an amazing and rare interview, so i wanted to share it with you all. it’s broken up into 6 parts, so you don’t have to watch all at once.  click here. also, i had a huge run of luck in 2008 and i managed to score tickets to harvard university’s graduation, which featured one JK Rowling as the keynote speaker. that phenomenal speech about the power of failure is here.

so, i’ve got my (10%) inspiration (and you’ve got some too) which means that according to thomas edison, it’s now time to get down to the (90%) perspiration part. and, oh me oh my, i can do that with the best of them. i just have to make sure it stems from slaving over the keyboard…

also, i just came across this post by victoria schwab. not only are the pictures beautiful, but (umm, this is embarrassing to admit) the idea that you can use outside pictures and songs to inspire your creative juices is a REALLY good one. i guess i’ve been a bit too hard on myself by thinking i had to come up with everything on my own. and that? well, it dries up the juices quite quick. (that’s what she said). but now that i know i can (and should) have a few key things to get me into the proper story writing space, to get me into the minds of my characters, I’M ON IT.

what’s your inspiration? or, rather, how do you find it? and do you perspire literally or figuratively when doing something creative?

general

wicked

abby mumford

this word wicked has many meanings. it usually takes the form of an adjective or an adverb. it can even be used as slang (which, yes, i have adopted. i mean, come on, i’ve been in massachusetts for 7.5 years now. it was inevitable.)

but last night, it took the form of a proper noun, as in this:

gosh golly gee wiz bumble mumble HOLY COW it is so amazing. it makes me cry and laugh and cheer and sing along and swoon and tear up and applaud and grin and smile and squeeeeee. it’s so amazing. and it’s the second time i’ve seen it. the first time, i was in NYC at THE show with idina menzel and kristin chenoweth. ms. chenoweth was out sick that day, but idina graced the stage and oh my ever did she.

but last night, jackie burns was playing the title role and she’s no second fiddle. her green skin and her voice were truly stunning. and chandra lee schwartz as glinda? as my roommate would say, it blew my mind grapes. there were so many little bits (and big bits) i had forgotten about. it’s funny! and the music is gorgeous. and this second round of actors really made it their own. i know it was the same play as the first time, but this felt unique and wonderful. i was surprised by how different the same play could be with a fresh new set of actors. it’s snarky and charming and powerful, oh my! i can’t believe i waited this long to see it again. it was totally worth the wait. however, i also feel it would have been worth it not to wait, which means i would have seen it 5 or 6 times by now. my wallet would be a lot lighter, sure, but so would my soul. you could even say it would be defying gravity. oh, did you see what i did there? little inside information. if you’ve seen the show, you know what i’m talking about. if you haven’t seen the show. what the frick are you waiting for??? go see it!

after that first viewing, because i adored it so much, i decided to read gregory mcguire’s book of the same name. (well, wait, it’s not WICKED, the musical. it’s actually WICKED: LIFE AND TIMES OF THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST.) it’s a rare event that can get me to say this, but i actually liked the musical better than the book. i know. can you believe i just said i liked something more than a book? (sorry, Book. this time, it’s true.) it’s probably because i pretty much adore the disneyification of anything and that book? it’s heavy on the politics and light on the fluffy, singing animals. and that’s not to say the musical is full of furry talking mammals. i mean, it is, but it’s so much more. the spirit of the book matches the spirit of the musical, but they get to the end results in different ways. and that’s fine. i just choose to watch the musical (twice) rather than read the book (once). which, GAH, i still can’t believe i’m saying. i always like the book better [than the movie/musical/tv show]. i guess there has to be a rule breaking situation. this is mine.

speaking of disneyifications, our BOOK HUNGRY selection for october is BEAUTY by robin mckinley. if you want to join in, feel free to pick up a copy at your local library or indie book store. our reviews will go up on 10/21, so there’s your deadline. start reading!

feelings

their love affair

abby mumford

yesterday was [chris] columbus day, so it’s fitting i was in the nation’s capital because, you know, it’s from his voyages that the europeans became aware of the existence of the americas and thus, we are here today. so yeah. what brought me down south? us airways flight # 2042. oh, WHY was i there? a college roommate’s wedding.

it was one of those weddings that wraps you up in its love. as the bride’s mother said, “when your cup runneth over, drink from the saucer.” and oh boy, this cup runneth over. from the scenery (a vineyard set at the base of the shenandoah mountains) to the weather to the love apparent between the bride and groom, between their families, between their friends to the speeches to the vows to the music to the wine to the dancing to the sheer classiness of it all. it was a proper celebration of gooey love affair.

and the fun factor of this joyous occasion was upped because the entire college gang was able to attend. we had a brief scare that the russians were going to hold K hostage (no, that’s not a euphemism. it’s a story for another time), but she made it. yes, we all (finally) convened in one spot for the first time since graduation. we pushed aside our hectic schedules and reveled in the memories. chuckled about old times. discussed new developments. made new memories. started new traditions. had as much fun as we usually do. and recreated a photo originally taken back in 2003. we may be getting older and settling down, but we still know how to pretend we are on the opening credits of 90210.

congrats breese and RJ! thanks for supplying us with the materials and reason to celebrate and thanks for showing us how it’s done.