Okay– so I sent this out via social media, but I thought it would be good to tell the whole story, because DUDES, WOW!
So, most people know I twine the real and the imaginary in my contemporary–and sometimes that’s a bad thing, because, hey, grasp on reality is a little thin, and sometimes that’s a good thing. You know, like when I took the dance persona of a kid I’ve seen performing all his life and turned it into Cy– looks like the kid, but I don’t really know the kid, so I can write his story anyway I like. That’s a good time when the thin membrane of reality and imagination allows flow through.
And like what happened today.
Because this was cool.
I went in to Candy Heaven today– and if you look close at that picture, you can see the sign in the corner of the building. (Sort of in the dead center of the picture, actually–and my God was it a pretty day.) I went to give Darrin a copy of the book, and we got to chat, and A. He’s read the first two books and loved them which made me happy, and B. He told me he had a daughter–and I didn’t know this, and this was one of the reasons I didn’t want to make up a life story for him so, there you go. He’s got a daughter–and she was reading Bitter Taffy. And she said, “Hey… I know this person!”
“Who?”
“The writer! She’s the teacher who let me crochet in class!”
And oh my God. He showed me a picture, and I remembered her–and you know what else I remember? She was actually in the second two books of Bitter Moon– she’s one of Marv’s sisters. Now I want to go back and give him copies of of those books too, because I think they would both be excited.
And my mind is blown. I mean so blown. That’s amazing. And I love Darrin (the real Darrin) even more now!
As it was? He called my kids over and told them to fill up a candy barrel, on him. Their father and I were like, “NOT FULL NOT FULL NOT FULL!!” so, I think we ended up with about 2/3rds, and you know? It’s gonna be there when I get back from Florida, and that doesn’t count that we gave some to my parents when we met today for ZoomBoy’s soccer.
Oh– and about soccer. Mate and ZoomBoy’s team won their indoor game today– 3-2. Squish’s team lost yesterday, Mock 7-2. We call it “Mock” because the indoor arena doesn’t acknowledge a gap bigger than 5 points. So, you know, kids don’t look up at the end of the first half and go, “20-1? We’re just gonna lie on the floor like starfish and make faces at the ceiling!” So, you know. Mock 7-2. Squish got put in midfield, and she’d never played that. She would look at us with this expression of, “Offense or defense?” and her father and I yelled, “YES!”
Okay– and one more thing.
The first two Ryan and Scott stories are going to be offered for free! They were tiny shorts, Shirt was in the Curious anthology and Phonebook was offered as a $1.99 short, and their contracts expired. I asked nicely, and my glorious CEO allowed DSP to release them for free and they should be up on the websites in March and May, I believe.
And the covers are adorable!
*claps* Bravo and cover love!
Wow, the cosmic forces of this universe!! It's crazy how both of them struck a chord in your mind enough to use them as characters. I've actually been to Candy Heaven many times and love the vast selection of goodies. Loved "Lollipop" so much I had to read it two times in a row. Thank you for your stories, they are greatly appreciated.
Great covers!