Summer of Cicadas
I took this lovely pic in our nearby park. Note the big bulgy red eyes!
**I have a book releasing in a few days. Check out my author page here for giveaways, info about an Entangled Facebook party, and blog tour stops, all happening this upcoming week! My newsletter with giveaways comes out on Monday so be sure to sign up!**
I just completed a cross-country mini-odyssey driving with my oldest daughter from Ohio to Florida for her summer internship so she could have a car with her.
The thing that struck us about the trip, which was mostly just miles and miles of highway surrounded by countryside, was the cicadas.
Ohio, PA, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and NY are privy this year to the 17-year emergence of these insects from their usual home in the ground. They invade the trees, mate, and make a LOT of noise–well, at least the males do. I’ve heard that by July, they’ll be back in the ground. (And I’m excited for that, because besides being loud and sort of creepy, this infestation reminds me of a sort of biblical plague.)
At home, as I drive my usual route to the grocery store, it’s not uncommon to see them flying around the road, in the trees, and around my car. They make an ungodly noise that sounds to me like a high-pitched car alarm. One website advises not to put a cicada near your ear (like I’d do that!) because the noise can damage your hearing!
Apparently, there are “Broods” of cicadas. Some areas have the 13-year broods and we have the 17. Apparently every 221 years it’s a double treat, and you get both the broods emerging at once. (I haven’t been able to figure out from the web when this blessed event will occur, but truthfully, I don’t really want to know if it’s in my lifetime :))
I learned that some cicada individuals get confused and emerge a year early or a year later than they’re supposed to. “Tardy” and “Overly Punctual” varieties, maybe?
As my daughter and I drove through Ohio and West Virginia, we could hear groups of them singing loudly in the trees. It was weird to hear clusters of this noise doing the Doppler effect as we drove along. We could see them flying around in the trees (because they’re big–around 2 inches long each) and a good dozen smacked into our windshield, while many more flew past our car.
Creepy. But very memorable.
It was great fun spending time with my grown daughter as she looked forward with excitement and anxiety to her summer adventure. Fun to have a good amount of time with her now that she is off being an adult and not home very much.
The best part was, when we finally got to Florida, it was hot as you-know-what, but…no cicadas!
A Man of Honor on Pinterest
Hi Folks! This week I spent some time discovering Pinterest…addictive, yes? I made a board for my upcoming Entangled book, A Man of Honor, which releases in a little over a week–on June 20
.
If you want to check it out, it’s right here: https://www.pinterest.com/mirandaliasson/a-man-of-honor/
I usually don’t like it so much when authors show pictures of who their inspiration is for their hero. I guess I like to picture the hero in my own mind. But I realized something I didn’t even know about my own hero–that he looks a lot in my own mind like Channing Tatum! And once I found the pictures…I had to post them! Love that man 🙂
Anyway, I tried to put up some fun images of what this book is about to me…Cat’s kindergarten classroom is a colorful, fun image. In the book I poke a little fun at the colorful, stimulating artwork that often abounds in kindergarten classrooms…
And of course Preston is not above rescuing a neglected cat named Dirty Harry. Except when Cat asks what the cat’s name is, he only says Harry, thinking that at least one of them should have a chance with her. Except they both discover a surprise about the cat…
Preston, a war hero, returns with a serious leg injury, but he’s not above having a competitive athletic spirit when it comes to canoe racing. Here’s a little exchange between Preston and his rival for Cat’s affection, Brady. They are all part of Cat’s sister’s wedding party, and they’re at the lake for the day:
“So, Cat, how’s the maid of honor? All your duties fulfilled? Because if they are, maybe you’d like to go for a walk with me?” Then he turned to Preston “Pres, you wouldn’t mind if we went for a little walk together, would you? A few of us are going to have a little race later. We can walk down and see my canoe.”
Right. He was going to show her his canoe. Now he’d heard everything.
Over his dead body.
“You could come, too, Preston,” Brady said, then released an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, sorry. I forgot. I wouldn’t want to do anything to aggravate your injury.” His gaze lingered on Preston’s bum leg.
“I assure you, Brady, there’s nothing wrong with my upper body strength.” Preston couldn’t resist flexing his pecs a little. “I’d be happy to take part in a little friendly athletic competition.”
“You mean like chess, Trivial Pursuit? Those might be safer options.”
Preston grinned widely. “Funny. Where do you race to?”
“From the dock on this side across the lake and back. There’s a couple canoes down there we can use.”
“I’m up for it. Unless you’re a little frightened of some real competition. I mean, I wouldn’t want to embarrass you.”
Brady grinned. “You’re on.”
Hope you enjoy the visuals on Pinterest. As I make more teasers, I’m going to add them up there. You can check out more on A Man of Honor on the Entangled website here.
**Also I’ll be taking part in a Facebook party on Tuesday evening, June 21st featuring Indulgence authors who have released books in April, May, and June of this year. Check my Facebook author page for more details to come at https://www.facebook.com/MirandaLiassonAuthor/
Graduation Day
My daughter’s very artsy grad cap.
On a perfectly sunny day a week ago, my younger daughter graduated on the quad of her college, the same college I graduated from many–ahem–years ago.
If anyone has lived her time to the fullest at our alma mater, it was definitely her. She excelled academically as well as partook in service opportunities to better the world and made lifelong friends. She did research and worked with autistic kids and her GPA despite all of this activity was through the roof.
Her mother, on the other hand, was a bit more lopsided and definitely less well rounded. I spent a large part of my time holed up in a building that has since been razed, studying my brains out with occasional breaks to be social. All that work accomplished my goal of getting into grad school. But looking back, I could have had a bit more balance, a little less terror that I wasn’t going to make it. But what can I say, some of us are just more tightly wound than others and fortunately, my daughter seemed to find that elusive balance with amazing ease.
That’s okay. In all my nerdiness, I loved this place. I grew up there, got my heart a little bruised a little, showed myself how I could work hard and survive. It was a great place to spend a college career. Having this opportunity to be able to walk the campus again and reminisce about my times there and share the ceremonies and traditions with my daughter has been…priceless 🙂
I was surprised when my daughter called me one day during her first year there and asked if we could “buy a brick.” I was very touched that she would even want to do this–i.e., purchase a brick on a new patio area the university created near a beautiful fountain. (The idea is to buy one and get your name carved on it.) So on her grad day, we visited “our brick”, the one that has my name and grad year and her name and grad year. I have often stepped over that brick these past few years and thought, that damn brick will likely be here long after I’m gone. And my daughter will look at it and remember our bond of being alumnae at the same special place.
Baby Girl, photobombed by her brother.
It’s thrilling to me to share a place that I have such great memories of with my daughter, who feels the exact same way about it that I do.
From the first day she set foot on campus, my daughter’s dream was to graduate on the quad, always an iffy prospect with Northeast Ohio spring weather. My own graduation on a very rainy day was indoors, so I missed out. But the day last week was spectacular, and wouldn’t you know, I got a second chance through her, sitting on the quad on a brilliantly sunny day.
Life’s funny sometimes. So proud of you, Baby Girl. Go get ’em. I know you will.
The Good, the Bad, and the End
Hi folks! I’m on an editing deadline and we have a big graduation this weekend! Here’s a post from a couple years ago that feels very pertinent right about now…Have a great week!
reprinted/edited from October 11, 2013 
Yeah, yeah, I know, writing a book is a marathon. Don’t remind me, because I’m feeling the burn, baby! Here are Seven Signs you may be utterly toxic from struggling to the end of that elusive finish line:
–Coffee, ordinarily delicious and an aid to your muse, tastes bitter and disgusting and you never want another cup again.
–Your husband arrives home to find you in tears. Mumbling how you are in the last 50 pages and your book makes no sense and you think you have to delete the whole thing and start over.
–To take a break, you read a great, fabulous author, but instead of inspiring you, you start to cry. “I can never write like that! Why bother?”
–Your backside hurts from BICHOK (Butt in Chair, Hands on Keyboard). And your hamstrings, and your calves, and all the tendons in your hands. And the last joint of your index finger! There’s got to be a name for that…”writer’s finger,” maybe?
–You know that this, your “final” draft, is almost done. You pray for it to be done. All you want is relief. Your characters are suffering, heading right into that blackest of moments, and you are contemplating heading out the window. You are laughing, weeping, mumbling to yourself, and in total despair. And just to tip yourself over the edge, you know this will not be THE final draft. Oh, you will see this puppy again. And again, and again, as you carefully reread every word, requestion every word choice.
–You appear in public in sweats. Your deepest darkest secret is sometimes you don’t even shower and dress until just before your kids come home from school.
–You keep saying, “I’ll clean the [insert something appropriate here–e.g., refrigerator/mail pile/car] when I’m done,” a task you despise. But right now it’s looking pretty good as a diversion. Scary!
I don’t know how this marathon will end. All I want is to muscle through and be done. I pound my head against the keyboard and drink my gross coffee (better than eating through the fridge). Every day I sit here and slog it out, and every day I fix the slog from the day before. And most days I do this with a kind of joy I’ve never experienced before.
Except any suffering writer will tell you that getting to the end is a pyrrhic victory in a way. The exhaustion, the self doubt, it can take over if you let it. But you know that saying? It’s never as good or as bad as you think it is? Yeah. That’s usually the case. A little distance, a little rest, and laying off the coffee for a while and sanity usually returns. And you can’t wait to start another book! 
It’s All About the Rituals
**I sent out a newsletter this week. Next newsletter will come out June 20, the release day for A Man of Honor. Sign up to receive the newsletter and you’ll have a chance to win one of two $10 Amazon gift cards!
**I’ve got two books coming out this summer and I’m putting together a review team. If you’re interested in receiving Advanced Reader Copies of my books in exchange for a fair and honest review on release day, please contact me privately for more information at mirandaliasson@gmail.com.
Running a marathon and writing a book are, I’ve often thought, very similar. Not that I know much about what it’s like to run a marathon or even half of one (I was the kid who peeled oranges for the track team, what can I say). But both, I’d say, require endurance and a certain type of mental toughness. And they’re both all about the rituals.
I looked up some running rituals to compare them to my writing rituals…
Spirituality–yes, definitely.
Imagery–For writers, this may involve visualizing The End. Or Ryan Gosling, whatever works better.
Cleanliness rituals–These may fall a bit short for writers on deadline. And may possibly include wearing yoga pants every day and possibly not showering until you type The End.
Caffeine— Essential, if tolerated.
Thoroughness–Always important.
Get a tattoo–(What?) Can the equivalent to this be leaving sticky notes with motivational sayings on them everywhere? Like “Kick Edits’ Butt!” (And if you are a writer, the sticky notes will be grammatically correct, guaranteed!) The sticky note method is definitely less permanent.
Hydrate–Most definitely, as my fellow writer friends say, at wine o’clock.
Good-luck-charm clutching–Rabbit’s feet, four-leaf-clovers, pictures of the beach, your kids, or something slightly more threatening like your kids’ college tuition bills. Some of these aren’t charms, but more good luck is likely to ensue if the bills get paid, right?
Mental skills training–Repeating to yourself I can do this! Oh God, I can’t do this! Keep doing this!
When all else fails–Pull on your (comfy) big girl pants, your most beat-up flannel shirt, and sip from your favorite cup until the job is done.
Have a great week!