Learning From The Soaps

“Like sands through the hour glass,

so are the days of our lives.”

Have you ever watched “The Days of Our Lives”? Apparently this classic soap opera has aired on NBC practically every weekday since Nov. 8, 1965 – Whoa. That’s a long time!

Soap operas sweep me back in time to when I was a kid growing up on Long Island. My mother tuned into “General Hospital” regularly. I can remember my sister Kathleen and I coming home from school, having a snack and getting caught up in the Laura-Luke romance, wondering if this adventuresome duo would stay together and flee the authorities since they were on the run.

Truthfully, soap operas feel too heavy on the drama for my taste. I can’t imagine watching them every afternoon, since that's when  I am at my desk writing my books. Still, I appreciate how they fill a need for story in people’s lives. Soap opera script writers understand the tenets of good storytelling. They know how to hook the viewer with startling beginnings. They use dialogue in clever ways to reveal character. They keep the plot spicy and pump up the suspense -- just before those revenue-generating commercials kick in -- so viewers won’t click the remote. And they know that setting matters, which is why all those good looking men and women live in such glamorous places.

I am not here today advocating we all watch soap operas. But I will say they do show we can learn about storytelling from all kinds of places, even television.

Here’s to good stories, wherever, you get them. And here’s to the  “The Days Of Our Lives”!

Recipe for A Tasty, Fun Book Signing

It goes without saying. A book titled Rocky Road better be published during summertime, and something cold and creamy better get served along with the hardcover at book signings. Lucky for me, some terrific readers (like Becca here), booksellers & ice cream makers have enabled me to do just that. 

First there was the Rocky Road book signing at the fabulous Open Door bookstore in Schenectady, which, by the way, makes a cameo appearance in Rocky Road. Civitello’s Pastry Shop sweetened that day by serving their rocky road ice cream. (The two smiling readers with me here just so happen to be my kids Connor and Theresa. Thanks for being awesome guys!) 

Then there was The Little Book House in Stuyvesant Plaza where Coldstone Creamery  gave out generous samples of their luscious rocky road ice cream along with custom-made coupons to match Rocky Road’s book cover. Onto Barnes & Noble in Colonie Center, Albany, last Thursday where, on a boiler of a night, refreshing smoothie and brownie snacks were distributed by Claire Mesick, B&N employee, cook extraordinaire, and very cool, grownup daughter of my good writer-friend Helen. This was an especially good time because I spoke alongside my good friend and author extraordinaire, Eric Luper , who just released a fabulous YA novel called Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto.

This past weekend, the Rocky Road train made a whistle shop at the Blackwood & Brouwer  Book Shop in Kinderhook, NY. Super Owner Rondi (energetic lady in pink at my right) hosted an awesome ice cream sundae party and let’s just say Rondi picks ice cream flavors as well as she does books. I especially loved the homemade blueberry sauce, which was made from my Yankee Doodle Dandy recipe in the back of Rocky Road.  I also loved meeting readers, especially my librarian buddy Jill Leuning, and super sweet-and-happening kids Becca and Amara. (Becca is a chocolate ice cream lover and very big on sprinkles. No wonder I like her so much.)

On Saturday, July 26^th I’ll be at Barnes and Noble in Niskayuna (my hometown) from 5-7, and we’ll be celebrating with Stewart’s awesome ice cream. And on Saturday August 14^th I’ll be at Book Revue in Huntington, Long Island from 3 to 4:30 pm, where we’ll be enjoying ice cream from the legendary Herrelll’s Ice Cream shop. (Homemade ice cream to die for!)

People often ask me what’s the best part about being an author. That’s easy: meeting readers, in person and through letters and emails, and finding how books connect us all to each like invisible thread. So thanks to to the booksellers and ice cream makers who have made such meetings possible for Rocky Road.

Onward with summer fun, books and ice cream!

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They All Scream For Ice Cream, Part I

Summer is here -- yahoo! --  and ice cream is on my mind. Okay, it’s also on my mind because (1) I eat it year-round, and (2) my new book called Rocky Road is set in an ice cream shop. In Rocky Road, Tess's favorite ice cream flavor is – surprise, surprise -- rocky road. (It also describes what life has served up for her family.) Tess loves how rocky road swirls chocolate ice cream with chunks of marshmallow and crunchy nuts. True story: Rocky road was created back in 1929 by an ice cream man named William Dryer. He wanted to give folks something to smile about during the Great Depression. My character Tess considers him a hero.

Thinking about Tess’s love for rocky road has made me imagine other characters from children's books and what their favorite ice cream flavors might be.

Pooh from Winnie the Pooh -- Honey, of course

Anne of Anne of Green Gables - strawberry, (redhead preference)

Wilbur of Charlotte's Web -- Slop swirl

Harry Potter -- Walnut Wizard Mocha

James of James and the Giant Peach – duh, peach sherbet

Junie B. Jones -- Chawcloate Chip

Huck Finn -- Mississippi Mud Pie

Your turn. Think of other children’s literature characters. Can you guess about their favorite ice cream flavors?

I asked some of my local author buddies about their main character's favorite ice cream flavor. Here’s what they said:

Nancy Castaldo, author of Pizza For The Queen, suspects that Queen Margherita would go for stracciatella, a chocolate chip flavor that was very common with people. A perfect choice since Margherita liked to taste the foods of her subjects.

Eric Luper, author of Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto, says that Seth’s favorite would be chocolate/vanilla twist soft-serve on a waffle cone. “The kind that’s just a little melty so it’s a battle to lick the melty parts before they make it onto your hand or, worse, onto your brand new Izod shirt.”

Matt McElligott, co-author with Larry David Tuxbury, of the soon-to-be released novel, Benjamin Franklinstein Lives!, says that Ben would be evenly split between Philly Vanilla and French vanilla. (Makes sense if you know Ben’s hangouts.)

Coleen Paratore, author of The Wedding Planner's Daughter series, knows with certainty that Willa always gets vanilla frozen yogurt with Heath bar chunks on a cone when she has ice cream with JFK on Cape Cod.  

And Jennifer Roy author of Trading Faces, Take Two and Times Squared (2011) says identical twins Emma and Payton would definitely get double scoops!  Payton would pick whatever flavor is trendy, and straight-forward Emma would stick with vanilla.

See that. You can learn something from a character’s favorite ice cream flavor.

Stay tuned. I’ll be serving up plenty more blog scoops about ice cream…

Sticking Up For Schenectady

I’ll say it loud,
and I’ll say it proud.
 I’m a fan of oldie-but-goodie cities.

Cities like Schenectady, which so happens to be

about eight miles from where I live in upstate NY.

I like walking alongside the Mohawk River. I like the Stockade district with its old-world charm and historical landmarks (George Washington stayed there several times during the American Revolution.) And I like Schenectady’s local-owned fooderies that sell my favorite crusty bread (Perreca’s) and lemon ice (Civitellos) and, of course, books (Open Door).

Schenectady is where Rocky Road, my new book, takes place. On arrival, Tess calls Schenectady “a sorry city just asking to be misspelled.” Some people out there agree with Tess’s first impression of Schenectady. (I write first impression because she changes her mind.) Even famous people take cheap shots at Schenectady.

Stephen Colbert joked that Schenectady should be visited by helicopter only. You usually crack me up, Stephen, but not when you mess with my hangout. You've never sat down in the Central Park Rose Garden and soaked in all that beauty. Being there is way better than an aerial view -- see above photo. (Aka Rose in the roses.)

 Former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer compared it to poverty-struck Appalachia. Well excuse me, Eliot, but obviously you haven't toured Union College and Proctor’s Theater. And like we couldn’t hit you with some low blows?

It’s true that Schenectady has struggled for years due to an aging infrastructure, mall mania, and sprawling suburbs. But it’s also true that many Schenectadites refused to give up on this city whose name comes from a Mohawk word meaning “place beyond the pine plains.”  They pitched in with funding, elbow grease and TLC, and its downtown revitalization is the fruit of their labors.

Plenty of cities in the USA have their own Comeback Kid stories. Do you know one? If so, I bet you could tell a tale or two about the good times you’ve spent there.