Happy Donut Day!

Almost as soon as I stopped being a librarian and announced (to no one in particular) that I wanted to write, my childhood friend Beth Jacks offered me a gig on her new website USADeepSouth. I'll forever be grateful to Beth, who had tons more writing credentials than I did. She suggested I write book reviews, featuring southern-themed books. What a grand idea! I jumped all over it.

Now that National Donut Day is almost upon us, I thought I'd share my
review of John T. Edge's book about DONUTS from that website.

I'm sorry to report that on a very recent layover in the Houston airport, I spotted a Shipley's and bought 2 donuts. They did not live up to my childhood memories. 

Don't you hate when that happens? 

I am certain, however, that the Donut Sundaes I remember from "The Goose" would hold up to my modern-day dessert standards= Yeast donut, ice cream, hot fudge sauce. 
I think I'll make one tomorrow to celebrate the day.

 

(You can also find this review on the website: http://usads.ms11.net/jedge.html)

DONUTS: AN AMERICAN PASSION by John T. Edge (G.P. Putnam, 2006)

If you’ve ever stood outside a Krispy Kreme waiting for the flashing red light or driven across two counties to pick up a dozen Shipleys, then this fourth addition to John T. Edge’s American food series is for you. He started with fried chicken, then added apple pie and hamburgers. What could be better than topping it off with a quick dozen donuts or two?

As he combs the country in search of donut history, Edge shows us why he’s one of our best food writers. He ferrets out the corner mom and pop operations and digs into the reasons they stay in business (or not). He doesn’t just slosh through old newspapers yellowing in libraries or crisp microfilmed magazine covers to research food history. His research includes eating his way through sugar-coated donuts (or a slugburger or chicken fried in almost anything).

But we’re glad this time he chose to shed a little light on donuts. Otherwise we’d never know about the Salvation Army’s public relations coup in the First World War. As their Lassies fried donuts in a helmet, or perhaps a galvanized trash can, the mission was to help the troops feel more at home. Their doughnuts (the spelling has only recently been shortened) were made from excess rations and whatever the ladies had on hand, and after the War American soldiers returned home hankering for more. According to Edge’s research, so many planned to open donut shops that the military published a book on the subject.

My early donut memories include the superbly fat-ladened Donut Sundae at the Old Goose at M.S.C.W. (glazed yeast donut, vanilla ice cream, hot fudge sauce), selling boxes of Shipley donuts to benefit my Girl Scout troop, and standing over boiling hot oil waiting for homemade donuts in my mother’s kitchen. Perhaps. like Edge, Homer Price— that curious character from Robert McCloskey’s book--  made you laugh out loud in fifth grade with his donut machine gone awry. Whatever your attachment to donuts, John T. Edge has you covered. 

Don’t skip the chapter, or maybe even a trip, to Westport, Massachusetts, where he tempts us with a cinnamon sugar-dusted cake donut, then segueways into a chocolate-glazed yeast. But Edge is after the big prize here- the proprietor’s famous “Long John.”  As with other local donut shops, Butler’s Colonial Donut House has a following that required a visit and a taste. “Rich…sprightly with berries, swaddled in dairy,” the Long John is shaped like a hotdog bun turned on its side and does not disappoint. John T. Edge’s description makes you want to jump in the car and head for Massachusetts. Or in a pinch, the closest Dunkin’ Donuts.

(Sorry about the picture, Mr. Edge. I'm sure you'd never use a DD photo, but you have to admit, it does add a spice of color...)

Carolina Shag (It's a dance...)

Yes, it's a dance we did at Carolina.
A great, holding-hands-and-counting beats-while-you-learned dance. Nothing more. Wanted to clarify that right off the bat. Here's a link to everything you ever wanted to know about the shag. Maybe there's nothing you want to know. But the music was great, even if you never mastered the tricky steps.

Does dancing have much to do with writing? Maybe not. Though I may figure something out one of these days. Come to think of it, I always loved my friend Beth Jacks' essay on how she really learned to dance. And I'm in the middle of wrangling a kids' novel with a dance teacher in it. Does that count?

I learned to dance from a dreamboat of a boy named Robert. Of course, he preferred Sandra as a partner. Sandra starred in all the dance recitals and went on to teach dance classes. She could put all of us to shame. She and Beth and I danced side by side in so many recitals directed by our amazing former-Rockette dance teacher, Miss Ruth Hart.

I think they should make a movie about the Shag. A great dance movie. Maybe even set an HBO series in the Carolinas when the dance was most popular, a la Mad Men in NYC. Oh, wait. Looks like HBO already made the movie.

Naming Names

Choosing names is a lot more fun than picking a title. Early on I learned from the best. My friend and critique buddy, Leslie Guccione, guided me as I wrote a mid-grade novel in my first critique group. At first the sisters were named Virginia and Alice Ann. Nope, kids might be confused by Virginia. Even though the story takes place in 1964 and Virginia was more popular then, we (my critique group) decided most kids nowadays think of Virginia as a state. Then Jesslyn popped into my head, and it was the perfect name for a bossy, big sister. Alice Ann was working just fine until I read a new book, set in approximately the same time, with a main character named--you guessed it-- Alice Ann! So Alice Ann became Gloriana, Glory for short. Great name changes. Both girls grew into their names and were better for it.

In my current manuscript, the character is a 12-year-old boy who longs to play the piano. His uncle forbids him to, but he manages to find a way around Uncle Chester's rules. He started out as Shelton. Don't ask. The name appeared to me. I began this manuscript in the amazing Writing for Children class at the New School, taught by Bunny Gabel. A Southerner like me, she understands how wonderfully unusual Southern names might be but she pointed out that, on the first page of the earliest version, she didn't have a clear idea of whether Shelton was male or female. It took me over a year to go back to the drawing board and find him a new name. This piano-playing character is now named Theo, short for Thelonious Monk Smith. Destiny!

I love names, collect them in my head and in notebooks and on pieces of paper tucked into boxes. Southerners seem particularly adept at names. Names like Squirrel (it's true!), double-named girls, Big Jack and Little Jack (my brother and dad). Play around with the USA DeepSouth website if you want to know everything there is to know about Southern names.


Perhaps choosing the perfect name for a character is my way of avoiding the perfect plot. I could create names forever, but without a problem to solve, thorny issues to get in the way, and an interesting backstory, it's just a group of kids and their grownups sitting on the porch under the ceiling fan.

Book Reviewing: Write about what you know (Books!) or what you want to know more about (More Books!)

When I first left librarianing to set off on a writing life, my friend Beth Jacks offered up a suggestion. I could write book reviews about southern books, on her fun website USADeepsouth. Great practice and a good way to read new, interesting books. I love the South, I love reading. I accepted her offer.

About this time, I heard writer Betty Hicks at a New School panel on Writing for Children in New York City. I love these evenings and always take away a gem from whoever is speaking. Betty Hicks mentioned writing reviews as a good excuse to read all the latest kids' books, a way to keep up with the industry. Now that I'd left my connection to kids and books (said job as a school librarian), this seemed like a perfect fit for me. I followed her advice and applied to review books for a Children's Literature website.

Then I discovered Crescent Blues and Jean Marie Ward, editor extraordinaire. Jean Marie would force me to think about verbs like I hadn't thought about them since Mrs. Effie Glassco's senior English class (that would be Cleveland, MS. HIGH SCHOOL senior English). Too many "wases" and she'd reject. And forget that contrary helping verb "has." Passive voice= sinful! So I learned to write tight reviews that were interesting to read or I would be dismissed from the job. Crescent Blues is no longer publishing book reviews but I learned a lot there.

Did I mention the job of book reviewing is no way to earn a living? Just free books, free exposure, and a terrific way to read and think.

Sometimes getting a foot into a book reviewing door can be elusive. I just missed a connection to my local newspaper when they changed Book editors. I've had other near misses, which shall remain nameless. I queried the Christian Science Monitor's editor a couple of times before she accepted one of my favorite new books. Greetings from Nowhere.

So, like most other writing gigs, persistance pays off. It also pays to make deadlines, write well, be honest, stick to your word count, and watch out for all those "to be" verbs! Thanks, Jean Marie.

What I've learned along the way about book reviewing:

1. Read the book, maybe more than once.
2. Sticky notes are your friend.
3. If you review a book by someone you know, or by a publisher/agent/ publicist you are courting, be honest or don't write the review.
4. Book reviews, other than the short evaluations for industry pubs, should be well written and worth reading, even fun/challenging/ eye-opening, just like any good writing.
5. A good review contains a sentence or two about the author, mention of the plot, something juicy about the characters/setting/ style- Is it humorous? laugh-out-loud funny? Snappy dialogue?

Final piece of advice- When the pile by your chair teeters precariously higher than the dog, you have too many books to read.