Vanishing and Other Stories by Deborah Willis

I am so happy to have finally read this book! I hate to admit this, but I had hoped to review the book last fall around the time of its U.S. release. For some strange reason, instead of putting it in my to-read basket, I put it on my to-read shelf along with all of the other books I got from attending BookExpo. I was arranging those same shelves in February when I ran across this book, along with a few others from the fall that didn’t belong on that shelf! I am horrified at my misfile, as I am a strict OCD type of gal, but hey, as the movie Some Like It Hot taught me, nobody’s perfect. The best part of it all is that I really, really, really liked the book and I’m actually glad to review it here today.

Being a huge pop culture junkie, the first thing that pops into my mind to describe this book is that it is dark and twisty, like Meredith and Cristina on Grey’s Anatomy. I am a dark and twisty girl, which is why I can appreciate dark and twisty stories. If you are a bright and shiny girl, I’m not 100% sure this book is for you. But keep reading, I may be able to convince you to go to the dark side.

Vanishing and Other Stories is a gripping and gloomy collection of 14 short stories, carefully woven together to form a pattern of stories that flow perfectly together, like that Love quilt Winona Rider got as an engagement/wedding gift in How To Make An American Quilt. Unhappy endings and/or beginnings can sometimes make the most beautiful things, and this is evident in all of Willis’ stories, as someone or something is missing. The stories are told by the people left behind, and I dig the variety and depth of her characters. I enjoyed and connected with all of the stories in this book, but Caught, Frank, Vanishing, and Romance Languages really stand out for me. How could you not fall in love with Willis, after reading this quote from Romance Languages:

“Your mother will visit once in these twenty-three years, when you fly her out to meet your Italian and his two sons. She will sit in your cold dining room and tell her kind of stories. About a woman who birthed a baby with half a heart, and children who lit their own heads on fire. Sleepy and honest from wine, she will even tell of the time she met–spoke with, slept with–a man who ate his own dog. And you will look into her face the way you would stare into a funhouse mirror. Your sense of irony tuned enough to know that she will speak of you–your stone house, tanned skin, elegant husband–in the same way she speaks of her dog man. The same sly, gossipy tone you might use, if you knew your own story, if you could tell it now.”

Deborah Willis is a damn fine author, and while reading this book, I felt it would have been the perfect choice for my sophomore English class back at Michigan State. I was almost that same hungry literary reader, sitting outside Morrill Hall with her class in the sunshine, reading other amazing short stories from Ann Beattie, Flannery O’Connor and Jim Harrison. I know people aren’t so hot on short stories these days, but I don’t understand why. My goodness, I’ve stumbled upon some amazing short stories by Simon Van Booy and David Vann over the past year.

Don’t you just love her author photo? My goodness, the lines, the lightness, the movement in it …

About the Author:

Deborah Willis was born and raised in Calgary, AB. Her fiction has appeared in Grain, Event, Prism International, and The Walrus. Her first book, Vanishing and Other Stories, was named one of the Globe and Mail’s Best Books of 2009, and was nominated for the BC Book Prize and the Governor General’s Award. She has worked as a horseback riding instructor and a reporter, and currently works as a bookseller in Victoria, BC.

Find out more about Deborah Willis by visiting her website, DeborahWillis.ca.

Follow Deborah on Goodreads.

Add Vanishing and Other Stories to your Goodreads To-Read shelf.

Purchase Vanishing and Other Stories on Amazon.com.

Have You Got Travel Fever After Watching The Royal Wedding?

I certainly have travel fever, after staying up until 9:00 a.m. just to watch the Royal Wedding and that first (and second) royal kiss. I would have sold my soul just to have been there in the streets of London today. I’ve been lucky enough to visit London twice–once for a day as part of a Contiki 15 city european adventure package, and once for 10 days during my 14 day honeymoon. London is my absolute favorite city in all the world.

My goodness, Princess Kate looked stunning. I loved it when she stepped on to that balcony and exclaimed, “Wow!” as she looked down to see all of her subjects joyously celebrating her day. I was saying the same thing to myself at home.

While I can’t afford to visit London again, I still have the bug to travel. It wasn’t until I was 20 years old that I began traveling out-of-state, but since then, I’ve been to 39 states and 14 countries. I’ve traveled via car during my many cross-country road trips, by train to the fun city of Chicago, by bus across Europe, and by airplane, as a former flight attendant and extremely savvy and frugal traveler.

Planning a trip in the old days was much harder–you went to a travel agent and spent an hour or so taking their word as law. I can’t tell you how gross my hotel was in Cancun during my second trip there. I guess the agent figured she could swindle college kids–and for a $300 air & hotel package, we fell for it. I’ve spent hours reading travel books and maps and planned many a trips that way, too. Fortunately, I’ve been very lucky doing it myself.

With the invention of the internet, there is nothing more exciting than planning your own vacation online. You can find so many more options for hotels and flights, see what they look like and even pick an aisle or window seat. But the best part of planning a trip online is finding more things to see and do while you are on your adventure.

I’m not the type of girl who goes on vacation and decides to do everything on the fly–I have to plan my sight-seeing battle plan well in advance. A vacation guide can be a wonderful tool to utilize while planning your next vacation. You can pick your favorite states and destinations, order travel brochures, and get them delivered free.

If you could go anywhere on vacation–where would you go? I’m all about planning a third trip to London one day in the future, but at least I’m heading off to New York in less than a month.

Back in the Good Old Days of Michigan: Retro Videos

I love my state, even though I’m sick of the crappy economy, housing market, government cutbacks, and rainy, cold or snowy weather. After watching Capitalism: A Love Story by our own Michael Moore earlier tonight, I wanted to write a quick pro-Michigan post. So, I decided to visit YouTube and found a few old-time videos and commercials there that I just loved, back in the good old days of Michigan.

The Detroit Zoo

Boblo

Faygo

Vernors

Buscemis

Towne Club

Me and Dawg want you to go to Telegraph Road

Mel Farr Superstar

WRIF 101

Stand Up and Tell ‘em You’re From Detroit

I feel so much better now after watching those videos … don’t you?

Need Help Attending BookExpo America & the Book Blogger Convention Next Month?

Like many people, I can’t afford to attend BookExpo America (BEA) or the Book Blogger Convention (BBC) next month. We live carefully since we live on my husband’s income–I haven’t owned my own car for the past 15 months. I can’t tell you how hard that is, as I live in Michigan, where the economy sucks and we have no mass transit outside of the city of Detroit and a few surrounding suburbs. Our health insurance was cut down to master medical about 2 years ago, meaning we have to pay for all doctor’s visits and medical equipment in full at the time of service. Since I see a handful of expensive ($300+) specialists, both my kids need major dental care, and my stepson has a seizure disorder and Asperger Syndrome, our medical bills can be very expensive, especially since insurance refuses to pay for Autism treatment. (WHY? 1 in 60 children have it!) Despite all this, I’m still going to both conferences next month, even though I’ve been unemployed for 18 months and pay $450 a month for my college loans.

Isn’t my hubby a cutie? He FINALLY let me share one picture of him on my blog!

Why am I going? Because I love reading and blogging about books, and I love meeting cool authors, industry insiders and other book nerds like me. Reviewing books and other products has saved my soul while I have been desperately searching for work all this time. It helps me deal with my recent and not-so-fun depression, and it’s giving me something fabulous to look forward to. Plus, I am writing a book and like seeing how the book industry works. I’m only going this year because my husband was thoughtful enough to have convinced me that I had to go again this year, even though we have to charge it and pay it off someday. I feel guilty as hell charging $1,500 (before meals, cabs, book shipping and other expenses) just to attend both conferences.

I had a blast last year (minus the foot pain from wearing dress shoes), and could only attend when an extremely generous reader of mine named PamaJama offered to have me stay at her home for free, even though she had never met me. She and her husband drove me back and forth and all around the city, to the airport and even feed me most of my meals. She lived an hour away in New Jersey, and I am still guilty that she did all of that for me! I even got around $50 in spending money from a few of my readers, one who was also on unemployment? I can’t tell you how amazing it was to see all of that generosity from strangers! Who does that sort of thing?

I’ll tell you who does–people like this wonderful blogger, BEA panelist, and soon-to-be published author Presenting Lenore. She got a book deal, (YOU GO, GIRL!) so she took part of that money and offered a merit/need based scholarship for 1 free BBC/BEA admission (worth $120) + $500 towards expenses. I had already paid for my BBC ticket, but it was exciting for me to know that she was going that for someone, paying it forward like that! Lenore is so cool she even tried to give me her airline miles. While I wished that had worked out, thankfully I found a cheap airline ticket for $200.

Another blogger, Blogging About Books, and More also offered a scholarship for 1 free BBC/BEA admission. KT Grant (her alias) did it because she received an email from a young woman who wanted to attend BEA and BBC, but was afraid she didn’t have the right to go because she was just starting her own blog. This blogger felt she didn’t belong and was fearful of rejection. KT was affected by this email, and remembered a time where she felt like that, where she believed that she didn’t belong.

I just found out via Twitter that The Armchair BEA Committee is hosting another scholarship for 1 free BBC/BEA admission, thanks to the ladies at BBC. Unfortunately, the catch is that you can’t already be registered for the conferences. Visit here to try to win before May 8, 2011.

I found out about both of these events thanks to the ladies at BBC. Not only did they post the news about both scholarships, they sent out emails. If you are still thinking of attending BBC (BEA admission is included with your BBC ticket) make sure to check out their FAQ’s here. Also, if you are going to BBC, or even considering buying a ticket, make sure to sign up for their updates, to find out more about the convention, or to find out about any more potential scholarship opportunities. I didn’t sign up until about 10 days before the conference last year, so there is still plenty of time for you to decide.

BEA/BBC TIPS AND HELP:

I’m planning on writing a complete list of tips for BEA & BBC that will be posted sometime during May-16-May 22. In the meantime, please let me offer you the following words of advice to save or make money for BEA and BBC.

• Come back and enter my giveaway for free business cards next month! 2 lucky winners will receive 500 business cards each. For those who need cards, but can’t wait until the last-minute to try to win them (they company wants me to post the giveaway a certain date, sorry!), I’ll also be offering ALL of you a code to buy 500 business cards for $16.99. This is a HUGE savings, so please make sure to come back to my blog sometime between May 9-May 20.
• Read the blogs and websites of all the BBC attendees. You can find the complete list here. You might find out about other opportunities, giveaways and suggestions. Last year an author put up a book blogger in a hotel for 2 days. You’ll never know what useful tips or scholarships are out there, unless you look for them.
• Find your own help. If you host giveaways, find a company who offers something you want for BBC, such as a business card supplier. That’s how I got my review cards. And when they first said no for a giveaway, I asked again and convinced them I could get them traffic, and hopefully some sales. (Please visit their website, and even consider buying your own cards from my business card supplier when my post goes live!)
• Write a post asking for financial help. You never know who is going to read it. Last year an author read my plea and gave me his tickets to the Independent Book Awards at the Plaza Hotel. I took my friend Pam and we had a fabulous time, and then stumbled upon the Sex and The City 2 Premier that was across the street. By writing two posts about my need for sponsors this year, I have already received donations from some wonderful people, such as GingerMandy, The Kitchen Prescription, JKS Communications, Virtual Author Book Tours, and some of my blog readers, Kristen Papucci, Summer Waldrop, and Traci Sutherland. *Update: Just a day after this post went live, authors Jennette Fulda and Jana Oliver and the creater and host of a book talk radio show called Reading With Robin sponsored me. I am amazed by how fast they responded!
• Make some money in untraditional ways. I signed up for MyPoints 2 years ago, and all I do is open their emails and shop online. So far this year, I’ve received $50 in cash from them via PayPal, and I’m due to get another $25 in the next few weeks. If you want to sign up with them, send me an email, or leave me a comment with your email, and I’ll send you an invite. You get extra points that way, and so do I. That’s an easy way to put money in both our pockets.
• Write an official pitch, asking book-related companies to sponsor you for BEA & BBC. I haven’t done this yet, but I’m considering doing it. If it works for you, make sure to let me know! I’m a little scared to do it, to be honest.
• Pay it forward. Feel free to share this post with your readers via Twitter, Facebook, or your own blog. Or, you can even sponsor another blogger. For instance, my friend (The Kitchen Prescription), he isn’t a book blogger, wrote a blog post about wanting to go home for the holidays last year. Another blogger send her some money, and when my friend didn’t end up going, she deposited that money plus some of her own into my Paypal account once she read my plea. The kindness of others is endless. That’s the best of blogging, in my opinion. I’m amazed by what I’ve experienced, who I’ve met, and what I’ve seen since I started blogging in 2008.
• Sponsor me. I’m definately looking for help in attending both conferences this year. As you may already know, I write book reviews and offer giveaways for free on this blog because I want to entertain and educate people—and I just want everyone to read and appreciate books more! All you have to do is click here. Any amount helps. I’ve made enough so far to cover the price of my BBC ticket, but I could use a lot more help.

If you love my blog, love books, or work in the industry, please consider reading my full plea for sponsorship, Will You Sponsor Me For The 2011 BookExpo America And Book Blogger Convention This May.  Feel free to also read my silly plea for sponsors, Sponsor a Nerd: 2011 BookExpo America & Book Blogger Convention. Or, if you want to read more about the type of book blogger I am, read Yes, I am a Book Blogger.

Yes, I am a Book Blogger!

In the 3.5 years that I have been blogging, I’ve spent countless hours of my free time reading books, reading and responding to book-related emails, writing book reviews and giveaways, promoting those reviews, and even traveling to book events such as BookExpo America. I do all this because I get frightened when I hear things such as 22% of all Americans are illiterate, or that close to 50% of Americans haven’t read a book since they graduated from high school. I think reading is one of the most pleasurable past times I person can give themselves, and it makes me sad more people don’t do this for themselves. I love nothing more than bringing good books and authors to the readers of this blog.

Since I blog about everything I like and don’t like, I thought I’d interview myself, to show you what type of book blogger I am–as you can see, I read so much I’m double-filing books on my book shelves!

Why do you blog under an alias? Well, when I started this blog, I didn’t think anyone was even going to read it, so I picked a silly sounding name, but also a name that meant something to me. (You can find out more about that here.) After having over 3.9 million visitors, I like to keep my identity private, not only because I am looking for work, but because in our crazy, crazy world, I don’t want someone stalking me, in person or online.

How long have you been blogging about books? I started writing about books about 3 years ago, but have really been super book blogging for over 2 years.

What encouraged you to start blogging about books? Books are my passion, my salvation, my life. How could I not talk about them?

What is your favorite book genre? I am a sucker for memoirs, autobiographies, historical fiction and literary fiction. I read from every genre except romance novels, but I enjoy memoirs the most, probably because I connect with them on a personal level. I have a real passion for reading memoirs not just because I am writing my own memoir, but because I love to find other dyFUNctional authors. I get what they went through and I laugh along with them!

What is the best book you’ve read in 2011? I’ve loved The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure. She paints a beautiful story with the perfect blend of pop culture and loss of childhood innocence in her memoir about Laura Ingalls Wilder.

What is your favorite childhood book? I re-read Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret this weekend. It’s the best book I read as a child, and still stands up for me as an adult today. I identified with Margaret so much. We were both flat-chested girls searching for god. I was raised without religion, read the entire old testament by age 9, and was attending 4 different churches at the time I had read this book. It somehow made me realize I wasn’t alone.

What’s the title of a book that describes your life? Everything Is Wrong With Me (by the hilarious Jason Mulgrew), because I have a crazy mother, a sociopath half-brother, and a rare genetic disease that causes me to over 40 serious and/or chronic illnesses. My life has been a funny-yet-tragic roller-coaster ride. I’m so using that title for my second book, if I ever get my first one finished and published!

If you had to choose 3 books everyone should read, what would they be? How about A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving, The Help by Kathryn Stockett and The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. They all have such important lessons and are written so beautifully.

Name one character from a book you’d like to spend time with and why? Zippy Jarvis from A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel. Zippy is a girl like no other. She’s funny, inquisitive, charming and a survivor of dysFUNction and I feel that if we had met as girls, we would have been great friends.

What author would you most like to interview if given the chance? I’m always a little scared to interview authors, because I know that I am so not worthy to interview them. If somehow given the chance, I’d love to meet Pat Conroy and sit down with him and ask him questions for hours about every single detail of his life, as so much of his writing comes from stories from his own life.

What has been the most rewarding part of book blogging for you? When I attended BookExpo last year, an author whose book I reviewed recognized me and told me he was a fan of mine and had appreciated my review. I literally could have died, because this man is a BRILLIANT author and I am a just an unknown blogger! Book blogging is so much fun for me because I love discovering new authors, especially first-time authors. On rare occasion I get to meet them and I love finding out that they are even more wonderful in person than on the page.

What are you reading right now? I’m reading (and loving) Seeds: One Man’s Serendipitous Journey to Find the Trees That Inspired Famous American Writers from Faulkner to Kerouac, Welty to Wharton by Richard Horan.

What’s on your to-read list? Actually, I have an entire shelf of books that need to be read. Most came from last year’s BookExpo and Book Blogger Convention. Trust me, it was twice as full last summer, so I’ll get to all these books, someday …

Read my fun plea to Sponsor a Nerd and my official plea for sponsors, Will You Sponsor Me For The 2011 BookExpo America And Book Blogger Convention This May?