“Africa Hot”

“Africa hot,” she muttered, mopping her sweaty brow. Morning was barely out of bed and the thermometer was already doh-si-doh-ing around ninety degrees.  Having lived in Kenya for twenty years, Stella knew what she was talking about when she described summer in Texas, when one scorching month melts into another like butter over a blow torch.

I sighed, brushed a strand of damp hair out of my eyes and wondered how my family and I wound up in the baking heat of the Texas Hill Country.  How long could we last?

***

Excerpted from Lone Star Summer, a memoir.  Stay tuned for more.

Review of ‘Lessons from the Mountain: What I Learned from Erin Walton” by Mary McDonough

Lessons from the Mountain: What I Learned from Erin Walton

By Mary McDonough

Kensington Publishing Corp., 2011

For millions of American television viewers, The Waltons was a Thursday night staple.  It was in my house.  Candidly, I considered the second Walton daughter the least credible character in the whole clan.  Mary McDonough’s Lessons from the Mountain: What I Learned from Erin Walton provides some explanation, connects some dots and offers a glimpse into the girl who portrayed the red-haired Erin and her post-Waltons life.  It also chronicles pranks on the Waltons set (not shot in Schuyler, Virginia but in a studio backlot in Burbank, California), her difficulty in getting other acting gigs, her years of illness, nightmarish experiences with silicone breast implants, and her public speaking and activism.

Looking back on her growing up years on “the mountain,” McDonough
paints a bittersweet picture of gratitude and merriment as well as anxiety and depression.  Lacking any formal training when she was hired to play Erin Walton at age ten, McDonough recounts confusion, angst, fear, anger and frustration when directions on the set were unclear or non-existent.   She also recalls memorable episodes, good-natured teasing and mischief (usually in the kitchen, although once in a “mountain top jacuzzi” a la Richard Thomas and Will Geer),  kindness and camaraderie among the close-knit ensemble that became one of America’s best-loved and most enduring TV families.  She speaks well of fellow cast members and recalls plenty of fun and fond moments, such as working with Jonathan Frakes as her love interest, Ashley Longworth, Jr.  She also mentions at least one (nameless) male guest star and a certain assistant director who vie for Biggest Jerk award and sexual harassment on the set (crew, not cast).

In terms of pacing, McDonough’s style is brisk, engaging, and down-to-earth.  Her tone is direct and appealing, a quirky blend of humor and pathos.  Several pages focus on McDonough’s strict Catholic upbringing which led her to equate unintentional mistakes like a blown line with sin.  “I expanded to include and added other religious teaching to my foundation,” she explains. “Learning acceptance of other faiths, cultures, people, and backgrounds created the space for me to being accepting myself.” She currently embraces an eclectic religious cocktail of Shirley MacLaine-isms, connection with her “Source” and “returning to my inner knowing self.”

If you’re looking for a Waltons memoir, keep looking.  Lessons isn’t just about The Waltons, just like it’s not about lupus, implants, acting, or activism.  As McDonough writes, “I am not just one element of my life.  I have been a child performer, former child performer, nonprofit worker, filmmaker, wife, mother, blogger, activist, actress, writer, acting teacher, and producer” (emphasis in original). Lessons offers a candid “behind the scenes’ look into how and why a frequently frightened, insecure girl grew into a multi-dimensional, sturdy woman.

Hearing the familiar musical lead-in to The Waltons the other day, I noticed something.  When the second Walton daughter came into frame, my reaction wasn’t “There’s Erin,” but rather, “That’s Mary McDonough.”  And that’s a lesson worth learning.

Set Apart: Compelling reads vs. Ho-hum?

Ever picked up a book, read through several pages or chapters and… gave up?

I brought home a book from the library the other day, the fifth in a series by a favorite author.  I read the first four books cover-to-cover in a day or two a piece.  But there was just something about the fifth book… it was like trudging through a muddy bog in hip-waders under a hundred pound pack in a monsoon at midnight.  Blindfolded.  I plowed through several chapters, teeth gritted, hoping it would get better.  Gather steam.  Engage.  It didn’t.  I eventually plopped that puppy into the library book return drop, half-read.  Try as I might, I just couldn’t “get into” that book.

Was this due to an implausible, incoherent plot?  Cardboard characterizations?  Stilted dialogue?  A pace that moved as fast as a gimpy snail in a molasses factory?  Maybe it was bad lighting, a serious dent in my private chocolate stash, or the weather?

What is it about a book or an author that disappoints?  Derails a story?  Elicits yawns, shoulder shrugs or a No-Doze run?  What do you look for in a good book – one that hooks you from the first paragraph, grabs you by the jugular, slides down your esophagus, invades your whole body and being and won’t let go until you finish it?  Compelling reads are out there.  What sets a compelling read apart from a ho-hom one?

“Wanting Mor”

Wanting Mor

By Rukhsana Khan

Young Jameela is determined to follow her mother Mor’s advice: “If you can’t be beautiful, you should at least be good.”  Growing up in a post-Taliban Afghan orphanage, shy, sensitive Jameela finds this easier said than done, especially since she’s not really an orphan.  Her father is alive, but her mother, Mor, has just sickened and died.  the rest of Jameela’s family was wiped out when bombs fell on a wedding party they were all attending.

In response to his loss, Jameela’s father sells the family possessions and rushes to the big city of Kabul to seek his fortune.  She barely has time to say visit Mor’s grave and say goodbye, let alone pack.  Once there, her father marries a boorish widow out of convenience and greed.  When the new “mother” is unable to get along with Jameela, openly despising her country clothes, manners and cleft lip, Jameela’s father takes her to the local marketplace and abandons her.  Jameela is taken in temporarily by a kind butcher.  Unable to manage another mouth to feed, he reluctantly gives in to his wife’s demands and takes Jameela to an orphanage, where she meets some unlikely allies who help her find hope, courage, and the will to pursue a future that’s not just better, but “good.”

An absorbing story with vivid imagery and rich, composite characters, Wanting Mor leaves readers wanting more.  The author paints word pictures of village life in Afghanistan and bustling Kabul that are so colorful, readers can almost taste the dust and feel the jostling crowds.  She also peppers her prose with Afghan verbiage and colloquialisms, bringing a sense of gravitas and authenticity into this well-rounded story.  A glossary is included.

Wanting Mor is based on real events in post-Taliban Afghanistan.  A worthwhile read.

What’s ‘Secret’ About “The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez”?

The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez

by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

Hyperion Books, 2008

Sonia Rodriguez is the family work camel.  The oldest daughter in a family of nine, the 15 year-old wants to keep her grades up and the first member of her family to graduate from high school.  But the demands of caring for her pregnant-with-twins mother (“Sonia….. Ayudame!”) who spends all day, every day watching Spanish soaps, plus cooking, cleaning and caring for her younger siblings as well a endless trips t the tienda for cervezas for her loutish “drunkle” are overwhelming.  In mu cultura, Sonia explains – a culture she both loves and hates – “familia es todo.” (Family is everything.)

So she misses three days of school to make homemade tamales for her drunkle’s birthday fiesta, gets on the wrong side of her manipulate, hyper-religious Tia Luna. And is generally taken advantage of by everyone and anyone except her beloved, hard-working Papa.

Tia Luna insists that Sonia return to “The Old Country,” and demands the young teen spend a summer visiting with the legendary Abuelita (grandmother) in rural Mexico to straighten her out.  Sonia wants none of it.  She’s not interested in becoming a carbon copy of her mother – dependent, whiny, and dominated by men.  Sonia sets her sights considerably higher – and learns that ambition comes at a price when she’s caught in the middle as cultures collide: a daughter of illegal immigrants in El Norte, and a pocha in Mexico.  Where – and how – will she fit in?

***

            Author Alan Sitomer has an uncanny knack for thinking and feeling like a 15 y.o. girl.  His ability to capture teen emotions, frustrations, ambitions and angst is remarkable.  The story is vivid, Sitomer’s characters real, his settings and scenarios crisp.  He also skates perilously close to sermonizing on occasion, and risks losing readers in the process.  The plot seems contrived at times, but is redeemed by solid characterizations and crisp dialogue:

“A tear began to form in my heart for all of the mujeres de Mexico.  I have never realized how much loneliness there was in the hearts of my people, especially the women.  Or how much strength there was to go on, in spite of everything they faced.”

“Do not stoop to their level” is the repeated refrain from Sonia’s proud, industrious father.  And she doesn’t.  By the end of this book, you’ll want to stand up and cheer.

Takin’ a Break

I’m taking a break from blogging for the next month to spend more time with the fam.  Happy New Year and see you in February!

2011 AngelFire Awards

The 2011 AngelFire Awards  recognize the finest in thoughtful, literate blogging over the past year.  Winners must display a high quality of skill in the writing craft.  Additional selection criterion:

- Consistently high levels of creativity, imagination and ingenuity, including new twists on familiar subjects.

- Insightful posts that go beyond pedestrian, predictable re-hashes of tired topics.

- Frequency of guest authors/contributors.

- Originality.  Are posts fresh, vital, intriguing?  Do they compel you to “turn the page”?  Do they fire the imagination and urge readers to keep reading, thinking, questioning, exploring or consider another perspective?

- Blogs with a significant number of posts evidencing a biblical worldview rise to the top.

- Spelling and punctuation count.  If you can’t differentiate between “you’re” and “your” and “its” and “it’s,” don’t expect your blog to be among the finalists.

- Egocentric, online diary-type blogs are exempt.  AngelFire Awards are limited to blogs that speak to something bigger than the author.

And the winners are (in no particular order):

* It Only Takes a Mustard Seed – By Joanne Troppello, mystery and inspirational romance author.

* Writing and Doing: One Man’s Take on Tackling Life – By Kent Ostby  on “novels, short stories, favorite fake memories, and online novellas.”

* Karin Kaufman - Karin writes mystery novels set in Colorado.

* Soulation - By Jonalyn Fincher. “Engaging and growing human souls” and the “sparkly connection between faith, feminism and womanhood.”

* Simple Church Journal – aka The House Church blog by Roger Thoman. “A way of life, simple church, house church, organic church.”

* The Assembling of the Church – By Ph.D student Alan Knox writes about how “our understanding of the church affects (or should affect) the way the we live our lives among other brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Do you have any favorites to add to the list?  Chime in!