Book review: Pack up the Moon by Rachael Herron

Go buy this book now. Seriously. It is that good. I laughed, I wept, I nodded in understanding. Rachael has once again written a book with such compelling characters that I feel I really know them. I may not like all of them, but I know them. They are real people with real emotions living real lives with real hurts and real joys.

I was intrigued with the first chapter. By the time I got to the sixth chapter I toyed with resigning from my job or calling in sick (which would have been a real theatrical act considering I was in the store reading by the time I got to said sixth chapter) so that I could curl up in bed and finish the book that night. I stayed up reading until two in the morning when my eyes wouldn't let me read any further. On Wednesday I had to put the book down for fear of crying myself to sleep. Oh how I ached for these people. Finally last night I forced myself to pick up the book and finish reading it. I am so glad that I did. I wouldn't say it was a happily ever after because there are few happily ever afters in the world. Not truly. I would say that this book ends in a contentedly ever after, but with more understanding and more love in their lives. And that's what we should hope for. Contentment surrounded by love.

So what is this story about you ask? The story is truly about heartache. The worst heartache a parent could have, the loss of a child. For Kate it was the loss of two children. For Nolan it was so much more, even when he didn't realize it. For Pree it was letting go of childhood and having to be an adult. But for these three people it was also a story of acceptance and forgiveness. I don't really want to tell you anymore than that. To do so would be to unfold the story before you had read it. This is a book that needs to slowly bloom and let you see the beauty bit by bit rather than throwing it open like a bed sheet, unfurling the plot and waving it around.

I can't wait for Rachael to write some more books. In the meantime I have this yearning desire to dye my hair blue. Or maybe just a few curls. 

The well springs anew

Since January (as you can see from my lack of postings) writing has seemed more like a burden than anything else. This past week the blog came back to life and I toyed a bit with one of my books. Then this morning I was peacefully ignoring the change in the time (partly because I was deluding myself that it actually happened by not setting my bedside clock forward) when Jenny came and stood by my bed.

"Hey, I know something about the cancer," she said.
"Go away imaginary half-developed character from my book," I said back to her.
"No, no. Get up. You need breakfast and a cup of tea. Come on. I'll help you," she said.
"Go away imaginary half-developed character from my book," I repeated.
"OK, so we are going to have to do this the hard way." And she proceeded to sit down on the bed and start rambling off things like what color hair she has and that she likes to wear it pulled back into a ponytail. She told me some things about her marriage that I didn't know and that she has a fondness for red wine when she was stressed. She even described her spinning wheel to me (yes, my main character is a knitter and spinner, too) and what her knitting space looked like. Then she started singing (she doesn't sing very well) until I was forced out of bed.

I'm glad I got up, though, because the words have started flowing again. Characters are taking shape and the plot is finally moving somewhere other than in a circle inside my head. There are some who would say that my conversations with my characters could be described as a psychosis, but I rather like to think of them as more of a creative venue. I carry on conversations with my characters because that is how I learn about real life people. I talk to them. So, Jenny came and talked to me today and from that flowed over three thousand words in a matter of about two hours (and two cups of tea and a bowl of cereal and a yogurt).

It's good to be enjoying writing again. I was thinking a bit about that last night when I went to sleep. I have this magnet that says, "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" My answer has always been to write and publish a book. So I guess my characters are making me answer to that statement.