urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:seanan_mcguire The Journal of Seanan McGuire Seanan McGuire 2009-03-09T20:04:38Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:seanan_mcguire:66679 2008-12-15T18:37:33Z 2009-03-09T20:04:38Z Bette Midler, 'Human Kindness.' I went holiday shopping with my mother yesterday. Always an entertaining experience, since she's essentially tireless, shameless, and the only person I know willing to go through the <i>entire</i> bottom-of-the-barrel clearance section at Rasputin's with me. As we were driving to the mall, the following exchange took place. (I started transcribing as we talked, and I take good shorthand, so this really is close to verbatim.)<br /><br />Mom: "I finished that book you gave me. I really liked it."<br />Me: "You mean <i>The Stepsister Scheme</i>?"<br />Mom: "Yeah."<br />Me: "Good! Did you bring it back?"<br />Mom: "No, I forgot. I just can't believe a guy wrote it. Is he a little light in the loafers maybe?"<br /><br />(We pause while I giggle hysterically. Then:)<br /><br />Me: "No, Jim's married. He has kids."<br />Mom: "Oh. Well, it was really good. He describes things really well."<br />Me: "Well, I'll tell him."<br />Mom: "You tell him your mother gives it a thumbs up. Now he just has to write another one."<br />Me: "He has. It's called <i>The Mermaid's Madness</i>. It'll probably be out next year."<br />Mom: "Good! Because I want to know--"<br /><br />(There is a longer pause while my mother gives opinions on the book that would count as spoilers if they were posted here. Also, because I spent half of her diatribe laughing too hard to write.)<br /><br />Me: "I'll let him know."<br />Mom: "I couldn't put it down. It's one of those books you can't put down. I got home at three in the morning and I was reading the damn thing. I was like you in your bed with the flashlight when you were a kid."<br />Me: "That's awesome."<br />Mom: "I really liked how he handled--"<br /><br />(Another long pause while Mom goes on about the book. Also, more laughter.)<br /><br />Mom: "So I figure people will like it."<br />Me: "Good."<br />Mom: "On second thought, maybe you shouldn't tell him I read his book if it's not out yet."<br />Me: "That's what ARCs are for. They help build word of mouth, and that sells more copies."<br />Mom: "Oh. Well, I'll tell everybody they should buy it."<br /><br />There you have it. <i>The Stepsister Scheme</i>: it kept my crazy mother up all night. (Also, she would pause for the rest of the day, say 'Cinderwench,' and just start giggling.)