Lunch with Susan Patron, LUCKY BREAKS, and Male Anatomy

(Note: I'm not kidding about the male anatomy. There will be use of words later in this post.)

I headed into the city on Wednesday for my favorite day of the month--my writerly day with writerly friends. But this month's was extra special because I was able to join friends for lunch, including Susan Patron who was in town sharing her latest book LUCKY BREAKS.

After a little lunch, we headed for cupcakes. Here we are...

Except, our heading for cupcakes turned into Jolie having a cupcake (hey, was that whole thing planned for my sake...my love/need of frosted treats?) So, see that big cupcake (Guinness Stout was the special flavor of the day) in front of Jaime? That's mine. Jaime and Susan had bitty-bitty ones. Like, we're talking a one-bite size.

Back to Susan and LUCKY BREAKS (which I can't wait to read). But if you want to read a review that's going to make you run to your nearest Indie to buy it immediately, then read Kirby Larson's HERE. What she says about the first page of LUCKY BREAKS is perfect. I fell in love with the book on page one.

Now, I have only read page one, because I always read page one. Do you? I love getting a brand new book. It's like a sweet, little present. I love to examine the cover, look through the beginning pages (read the dedication and sometime the acknowledgements), and read the first page. But I made a decision to stop reading LUCKY BREAKS for a couple of reasons. 1. I had to get in the car and drive, and 2. I decided to share it with my girlies.

Reading to my girlies every night (well, almost every night) is about my most favorite thing in the entire world. Theirs, too, because on those certain nights when it's not possible (usually because I'm not home at bedtime) they are (hmm, should I use the word...well, okay) pissed. They are! And I LOVE that! We just finished Patrick Jenning's WE CAN'T ALL BE RATTLESNAKES last night, so I thought it would be time to start LUCKY tonight. However, they haven't read THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY yet. I tend to have to gauge what I'm reading by my youngest, and now I think she is just the right age to appreciate it. So, tonight we start! And, we'll read both.

But, I do have to admit, I am already anticipating the scrotum conversation that is sure to happen. But, at least it will come about in a more appropriate way than the penis conversation did. That one came about when my girlies came running outside, calling each other names (loudly! when neighbors were about). Sort of like this...

"You pean!" (Okay, I already knew where this was going and I was cringing and running to get the words to stop, but then...) "You penis!"

I hustled them in the house to have a "talk." Of course, my first question was, "Do you know what a penis is?"

Shaking heads. They had no clue.

When I told them...they were horrified. So I then set some ground rules. The word was okay to say and use, but only when appropriate. And to call a person one was never okay. Of course, my youngest girlie, who was probably just five at the time, took my words to heart. She used the word appropriatly as much as she possibly could.