Recently in Three Wishes Category

My family doesn’t have a lot of holiday traditions -- in part because my mother died early and simply wasn’t there to start them. So I live vicariously through the long-standing traditions of friends, and I get pleasure hearing the stories of others.

On that score, I received an amazing letter last week from a reader of mine, Pamela DuVall. It is so beautifully written, and so captures the holiday spirit, that I asked if I could reprint it for you all to see. She gave her permission.

“Dear Barbara, I thought it was time to write you and thank you for your wonderful work. I am 44, a wife and mother of two daughters, living in Folsom, California. My Mother passed away from cancer in 1999. She was 56. I, like she, loved to read. Every year, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the tell-tale wrapped book under the Christmas tree with my name on it. Growing up, I generally devoured the gift in three days. As an adult, I looked forward to spending a few minutes here and there, reading her pick of the year. On December 25, 1998, my mother gave me the last of the 'Christmas books'. She died in May of 1999. My mother and I were very close. Because of the caring nature of my husband and family, I was able to spend much of the last months with her. It was the greatest gift of my life. So, why am I writing to you? Well, I had lost my desire to read and went years without the hunger for the written word. Last Christmas, I felt a familiar twinge, and began looking for the book my Mother had given me in 1998. After opening a few covers, I found her signature tag line: Pam, Merry reading '98! Love, Mom and Dad. It was "Coast Road", and I wrapped my self in a hand knit afgan and began to read! I have since read "For My Daughters", "The Woman Next Door", and just finished "Family Tree". As a long-time knitter, I think "Family Tree" is my favorite, oh, perhaps, second to "Coast Road". I will be picking up "Three Wishes" to start tomorrow. Thank you for your inspiring stories and your part in bringing me back to the joy of reading!”

Thank you, Pam, for sharing such heartfelt thoughts. It is particularly meaningful to me to share your letter today, which is the anniversary of my own mother's death. I like to think that book-giving is something she might have done. Putting books at the center of a holiday tradition is the best idea ever, especialy when it immortalizes the giver. Please think of your mom each time you read Coast Road.

As for the rest of us, here we are, less than two weeks from Christmas. If anyone out there hasn’t found quite the right gift yet, please reread Pam’s note and think of starting a tradition with a book. What is that big blank front page meant for if not an inscription?

Do you already have holiday traditions that live on, year after year? I’d love to hear about them as we approach Christmas 2007. Why not post a comment here for all of us to read?

I read the ending of books first. Well, not first first. I read the opening first. But then, if I come to care about the characters, I read the ending. I need to know that these characters, whom I now like, are going to do okay. Once I know that, I can relax and enjoy the process. To me as a reader, that means savoring the author’s writing style, rereading particularly brilliant passages, and calmly analyzing plot twists and character quirks. When I'm writing a book, I know what my ending will be before I ever know how I'm going to get there. I cried my heart out when I wrote the ending of Three Wishes. I shudder to think what would have happened if I'd been taken by surprise!

I was thinking about that this weekend, as I carefully avoided our family room, where the television screen alternated between the Patriots and the Red Sox. My kids don’t want me in the room during games; they think I jinx the teams. My out-of-state sons will often call after a particularly bad quarter or inning to make sure I’m not watching.

The truth is that the only reason I’d want to watch is to knit. I don’t like the noise of football (is New Year’s Day the worst, or what???), and though baseball sounds remind me of Norah Jones – slow and easy, with only the occasional rise – I’d opt for her CD over the game any day. Because – here’s my point – when I care about a team, I’m on edge. I want my team to win.

Watching sports broadcasts live, I have no way of knowing how the game will end. I hate the suspense. Sure, I could TiVo the game and watch later with the outcome known, but when it comes to football or baseball, as opposed to reading, I’m just not into the process.

So, getting back to books, is it a cop-out to read the ending early on? Some people say it is. I say not. “Different strokes for different folks,” I say in the truest liberal tradition. As long as I don’t tell you the ending, if my knowing it early enhances my own reading experience, what's the harm?

That’s what I get from Chelsea. For those of you who don’t know, Chelsea is my cat. We adopted her fifteen years ago, just when my book, The Passions of Chelsea Kane, was making its debut, hence her name. She’s a diluted calico, various shades of gray and white and pale apricot, and though she didn’t come with papers, she is the most precious thing that currently lives with my husband and me.

Many of you know her from the old days, when I used to post photos of her on my website, and you’ve asked about her, hence this blog. She’s fine and well, thank you for asking. She moves a little slower now than she used to, and has a health problem here and there, but she’s aging beautifully.

Chelsea was our very first pet. My husband wasn’t wild about animals, and I felt I was already taking care of plenty of them, in the shape of my three sons. But I had always wanted a cat – I still have the stuffed cats from my childhood, one of which looks exactly like Chelsea – and there was this frightened little ten-week-old creature, wanting a home. It took my husband a solid month before Chelsea was napping against his leg, but it’s been uphill ever since.

I can’t begin to explain what Chelsea gives us. Being a cat, she is independent. She’s also relatively self-sufficient, though I do have a faithful cat sitter who visits her each day when we’re out of town. She can be needy, sleeping tucked against me at night or leading us to the bathroom sink three, four, five times a day to hold a glass of fresh water for her to drink. She loves being brushed, though she grooms herself quite nicely, thank you.

And she purrs. She is calm. She is constant. She lets us know she’s aware of us and appreciative of our being there. She loves us – loves us whether we say the wrong thing to each other, make a bad decision regarding our kids, or mess up at work. She loves us whether we have a bad hair day or gain ten pounds or smell of Caesar salad garlic – and yes, she senses when we’re sick and stays close by.

Naturally, I've written cats into several of my books. There was Guinevere, in Coast Road, Victoria in An Accidental Woman, and Veronica in Family Tree. All have a wisdom beyond their years, as does, I swear, my Chelsea.

I know all the cute little sayings, like “Dogs have masters, cats have staff,” but, if that’s so, I’m privileged to be in her employ.

As I write this, the news is filled with headlines of people stranded in Colorado snowstorms at this oh so crucial time to be home. So much snow there -- yet none here. I have no doubt but that there are millions of New Englanders who are wishing we had even a tiny fraction of that snow. These would be skiers, innkeepers, and those whose livelihoods depend on both. There are also those of us for whom Christmas is just always more special when there is snow on the ground -- those of us who love thinking of a big sleigh, reindeer, and miracles.

I'm currently rereading Three Wishes, so indulge me there.

Actually, I'll be working this morning, then shutting down the computer for the long weekend, and wow, am I ready for a little down time. We're spending part of the holiday at the lake, which those of you who've followed my work already know something about. It'll be cold up there. It may be white in spots. The lake may even have a skim coat of ice, though from what I hear, the last month has been warm. Even the loons are confused by the weather; I'm told some are still there, though they would normally have already migrated to their wintering waters well before now. Global warming? For another blog.

What'll we do at the lake? We'll walk. We'll sit by a fire and read. We'll visit our favorite places to eat and drop in to wish our favorite friends and shopkeepers a happy holiday. We'll let our minds rest for just that little while. Then we'll be back. I do work between Christmas and New Years, but at a slower pace.

This, I think, is what I wish for all of us for the holidays. Our lives are too rushed; we move too fast. High speed Internet? Bah humbug! Let's slow down and look around and see the good things that we have -- including time with people we care about this holiday season.

I care about you all. Please know that I'll be thinking of you during my slow-down time. As we head into a brand spanking new year, I wish you good health and much happiness. Make those resolutions, and let them count!

Tuesday, June 27, is the big day, which means that today we are five days shy of the paperback pub of LOOKING FOR PEYTON PLACE. The other night, a friend asked me what I'm feeling at a time like this. And yes, the answer is anticipation. It isn't quite the heart-in-the-mouth pulsing that happens on the eve of the hardcover debut of a book, like when LOOKING FOR PEYTON PLACE first came out last July. But it's still vaguely nerve-racking.

I mean, what happens if the books didn't get to the stores on time, as happened with when THREE WISHES UPS suddenly went on strike? Or if the reading public is totally distracted by something in the news, as happened with UPLIFT when terrorists hit the World Trade Center? Or if another book takes so much room in the stores that booksellers don't even bother to put the book out, as happened just last summer with the new Harry Potter, the new John Irving, and the hardcover of LOOKING FOR PEYTON PLACE?

Oh, these problems pass. The hardcover of LOOKING FOR PEYTON PLACE did eventually get out on the shelves and made up for lost time, but I was concerned until I knew that.

So right about now, I'm hoping that nothing interferes with the paperback debut of LOOKING FOR PEYTON PLACE, that the gorgeous new cover is going to draw people to it at the start of this summer season, and that word about the upcoming 50th anniversary of the original PEYTON PLACE will draw in even more readers to my book.

Hope with me, please!