Archive for August, 2010
Vacations, new puppy in the house, a short story deadline, preparing for back to school, and getting ready for High Holidays… These are the events and activities contributing to the beautiful happy chaos of my life. There is much fodder for fiction here and I promise to share more. I’m busy, busy, busy and can’t wait for a quiet moment so I can share here all the stuff that’s happening.
Stay tuned! Remember, it’s all Fodder for fiction.
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
Family Bucket List Series. Volume 2. Issue 2
by Lisa Lipkind Leibow, Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
The idea for my summer vacation grew out of a family movie-watching experience. We saw the movie The Bucket List, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. In the film, the two main characters, being treated for terminal illnesses, decided to carry out every adventure on their bucket list before it’s too late.
Luckily, my entire family is happy and healthy. But we do have limited time. My oldest is entering high school in the fall. We decided that since we only have five more years with us all living under one roof that we would each make our own bucket list of the places we would like to travel together. Then we compared our lists and came up with our family bucket list.
Last summer, our first bucket list trip was a trip to the Grand Canyon and more. We flew to Phoenix, spent one night in Scottsdale. Drove from Scottsdale to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, stopping a Montezuma’s Castle along the way. After a night and a full day at the Grand Canyon, we headed to Lake Powell for two nights. Then toured Bryce, Zion, and capped it off in Vegas.
As I write this, I’m getting ready for this year’s Bucket List trip. We’re off to the beautiful Hawaiian Islands. I can’t wait! We’re going to visit the Big Island of Hawaii to explore lava tubes, snorkel, see lava flowing into the ocean, and stand on brand new earth. Next, we’ll hop over to Maui where we’ll drive the road to Hana – one of the last undeveloped areas of the island. I’ll have a chance to spend time with the kids in a bungalow on the beach—completely unplugged! I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to having a few adventures with my husband and kids, exploring new surroundings, and reenergizing.
Tell me, what’s on YOUR bucket list?
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
www.LLLeibow.com
BOSCO’S GETTING A PUPPY!
by Lisa Lipkind Leibow, Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
After my post about my new hobby (trapezing), you already know I’m a little whacky. I spend my life with 3 sons, a husband, a dog, two turtles, and a slew of fictional characters gallivanting in my mind. I routinely characterize my life as happy chaos. Why then, am I compelled to add to the chaos by getting my dog a new puppy?
Well, look at this litter! How could I resist?
The breeder is the same woman we bought Bosco from. He’s six years old now and we thougth a puppy would perk him up a little.
There’s still another month before a little one can leave his mom to join our clan. In the meantime, we’re having fun trying to decide which pup will fit best into our family. Their personalities are still developing, so the jury is still out. We like the look of the one with the “meantball eyes” like Bosco’s. They’re ALL adoreable. We have chosen a name for the new puppy.
My writer’s tool kit cam e in handy here. Brainstorming! Hooray! Did you know brainstorming as a family is even more fun than it is alone? We started by thinking of white or fluffy things:
Chrystal
Powder puff
Snowball
Marshmallow
Fluffernutter
Snowflake
Cotton
Ice cube
Marshmallow seemed a favorite with a plan to call the dog “Mello” –the temperament of a typical clumber spaniel.
That was BEFORE the breeder chose her litter theme. She keeps track of the litters by choosing a theme. The mother of the litter is from a “lettuce” litter. Her name is Raddicchio and they call her Rita. Bosco was from a pasta litter. His registered neam is “Rigatoni di Bosco”
Are you ready? The theme for this new litter of pups is singers/dancers.
Immediately we thought of MC Hammer of Eminem, where the “M” stood for marshmallow. Nope! We missed the mark. The breeder had a nostalgic time in mind. She is looking for Fred Astaire of ginger Rogers. I suggested Mel Torme. She nixed it. Apparently, the Velvet Fog didn’t dance.
Back to the drawing board. My husband said, “Just choose anything. We can still call the dog Mello if we want.
“I guess you’re right. But it’s nice if there’s some connection.”
I mulled. I googled. I mulled some more. I lay in bed at night. Mind tapping through names of old singer/dancers. My imagination combed through Sammy Davis Jr., Fred Astaire, Zeigfeld, Al Jolson, Bob Fosse, Donald O’Connor …
Then it hit me… SINGING IN THE RAIN… melody. Gene Kelly’s Melody.. aka Mello. Perfect!
Stop by again soon for updates on the clumber puppy project. There’s got to be a story in there somewhere!
Crash, Bam, Betrayal
by Sally Koslow, author of With Friends like These
For marriage, brides and grooms start with nothing less than the Ten Commandments to find practical suggestions for keeping things afloat. (“Thou Shalt not Commit Adultery.” Just saying.) When we become parents, we’re smothered with advice. But with friendship, rewarding and as essential to good mental health as it may be—which medical studies confirm—we’re basically on our own, trying to parse this complex relationship from that first moment when some two-year-old creep in the sandbox steals our shovel.
At the bookstore, the non-fiction shelf about friendship has never held much sway for me. The best insights I’ve gotten about friendship have been in novels because, as a wise man I know once said, if you want to tell the truth, you write fiction. This is why I hope you’ll read With Friends like These, my tale of four “achingly real” (that’s Publishers Weekly talking) women who find their close bonds unraveling after ten years.
When the women in my new novel became friends, they were single. Now there are three husbands, one boyfriend and a couple of kids, which add layers of complications to friendships that were once as clear and golden as a glass of Chardonnay. When opportunity presents itself, should the women do what’s right for their friend or their family? Their loyalties start to conflict, and since none of these characters is perfect (who is?) each woman justifies her own behavior. Guilt, regret and, yes, forgiveness enter the picture.
I decided to write With Friends like These inspired by a bad patch with a good friend. A few years ago, my husband and I hoped to move. The morning after I saw what I was sure was my dream home I described its perfection to a pal. Later that day, our bid was accepted and a contract, drawn. But sooner than you can scream “No!” my friend’s boyfriend made a play for the very same place, thanks to the inside information she shared.
Crash, bam, betrayal! Let’s just say this put a serious crimp in our friendship. And yet, once again, we’re friends.
Readers have shared with me that With Friends like These made them think hard about friendships in their life, those that nourish them every day as well as ones that got snuffed out due to careless actions. Have you ever been or had a less-than-perfect friend? Then this, my friend, is a book for you.
___________________________
SALLY KOSLOW is the author of The Late, Lamented Molly Marx and Little Pink Slips. Her essays have been published in More, The New York Observer, and O, The Oprah Magazine, among other publications. She was the editor in chief of both McCall’s and Lifetime, was an editor at Mademoiselle and Woman’s Day, and has taught creative writing at the Writing Institute of Sarah Lawrence College. Her latest release is With Friends Like These. The mother of two sons, she lives in New York City with her husband. You can visit Sally Koslow’s website at www.sallykoslow.com.
With Friends Like These is available for purchase at http://www.amazon.com/Friends-Like-These-Novel/dp/0345506227
WITH THE GREATEST OF EASE…
by Lisa Lipkind Leibow, Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
Dinner at the Leibow home, February 18, 2010
I said, “I had lunch with my friends today.”
He said, “yeah?”
I said, “I told them about my Valentine’s gift. The coupon for trapeze lessons. You should have heard Donna. She said, ‘You wait. He’ll install a trapeze in the bedroom now!’”
“Ceiling’s too low.”
Well, there’s no trapeze in the bedroom. The whole idea of flying on a trapeze fascinated me but I needed to build confidence and carve out time. I worried that I could not even do ONE chin up/pull up/whatever you call it. I worried about stretching enough to maintain flexibility.
I started doing push-ups, a little weight training, and kept my eye toward the few weeks of summer when all three sons were busy with camp.
Still can’t do a chin up to save my life, but while my kids are at camp, I finally found time and guts enough to cash in on my Valentine’s gift and found a new hobby!
Turns out the momentum of the swing makes you weightless – no need to be able to lift my entire weight. What I didn’t consider was climbing a very tall ladder about twenty times in two hours! My butt was killing me the next day!
I did it! I have taken five lessons so far and I can’t wait to go back! It’s a blast. Here’s a video clip to prove it. Click on the hyperlink below. (Oh… How I wish I knew how to embed video properly!)
Remember, this was taken during my second lesson! I’m still working on “the catch.” There’s much fodder for fiction in my new hobby. The diverse reasons people are attracted to this activity: facing fear, sense of adventure, working through life changes like a tough break up or job transition, and more.
As for gathering information for a unique setting, I have hit the jackpot!
Even more adventure: During my first class, construction workers outside accidentally hit a gas main and we had to evacuate. Everyone stayed safe in real life. But you know me… the wheels are turning. I’m starting to envision a high action scene in a trapeze school tent, complet with explosions that send the students flying a little further than they anticipated. Who knows? This could turn up in my next story.