Penalty! Never read the title of a blog post first! Move down a step!

I found a book I can read while revising.

The Willoughbys

It's making me laugh on nearly every page, and because it's meta-fiction, it helps me think about my own fiction, rather than lose myself for days in another writer's created world. Sometimes, you don't want immersion. Sometimes, you want conversation. Conversation with a wicked intellect, a writer not afraid to poke you in the eye, and say: hey all you politically correct children's writers, loosen up. Look what you can get away with!

I mean, come on---listen to kids at play. They're imaginative, ruthless, and astoundingly good at entertaining themselves with games that would make a grownup cry.

And the scene where big brother Timothy bullies his siblings in the Stair Game with ridiculous, arbitrary, and selfish rules so that he can always win? So dead-on that I think Lowry must have played that very game. Recently. Like in writing this book.

And she's winning.

P. S. I'll probably get demoted two stair steps for changing the subject, but I added a box to my sidebar which allows you to subscribe to my blog posts via email. Just put your address in the box, and it will be delivered, rain or shine. :)

I've also added my blog to my Facebook profile, in the Notes section. Plus, a nifty widget that's supposed to scroll the latest headline from here. (Right now, it's displaying, but refusing to scroll. I'm calling in Timothy.)

UPDATE: I took down the blog posts in the Notes section. Apparently, Facebook claims to own copyright for anything you post there. Uh, NO.

The non-scrolling widget is still there, still not moving, but it will link through to my blog feed, which provides a way for Facebook friends to follow me over here.