THE REVEAL

HONEST, I DID MOST OF THAT--THE REVEAL


Now that we've had some fun trying to guess my BIG FAT LIE among the truths, it's time for the big REVEAL.

Congratulations to Big Brother for correctly guessing #3. Joyce, you guessed correctly too but you have all my books.

I don't have three rescue dogs and a cat. No cats. I'm allergic to cats and three dogs would be overwhelming in my small house. BB, not really my brother (long story), has been to my house and knows I have only the one dog, currently a rescue mutt named Sasha. She was picked up as a three-month-old stray on the streets of New Orleans. After being sheltered there, she was shipped to the Humane Society of Knox County, Maine, where we adopted her. She's now nearly four years old and a treasure. Anyway, BB, let me know what book you'd like and I'll ship it to you faster than Sasha made it to Maine.

So here are the truths.

1. I have canoed white-water rapids.

TRUE. In preparation for writing PRIMAL OBSESSION, the hubby and I embarked on a six-day canoe and camping trip in northern Maine. We were in a party of six that included a Maine guide. The whole week was a thrilling and challenging experience, including the one day of rapids we negotiated. No spills and chills like in PRIMAL OBSESSION, and no killer tracking us, but a white-knuckle experience paddling through narrow spaces between boulders and over a small cascade.

Here's a photo of us in our canoe as we began the week.

2. I earned two master's degrees.

TRUE. Perpetual student, you ask? Yes, for a few years. My college major was French literature followed by one semester of teaching in high school. Some of the kids in my classes back in that high school could barely read the English directions in their French 1 books. I should've seen the light then but it took a few more years and an escape to a doctoral program in grad school. While I liked learning and studying (Yeah, I really did and still do.), teaching in the rarefied atmosphere of a university turned out not to be my cup of tea, so I left with an M.A. in French Literature. When I did some tutoring in reading with inner-city kids, I had a light-bulb moment. An epiphany, if you like. Teaching kids the basics made more sense to this avid reader. Off to another grad school, this time in reading education. Yup, another degree, M.S.Ed. in reading education. Becoming a reading specialist was the best move I ever made. When kids today have a tough time settling on a career (Note I didn't say job.), I totally get it.

4. I spent a summer living with a family in Paris, France.

TRUE. Before that first stint in grad school, I spent the summer studying in a program for Americans at the Sorbonne and lived with a French family. That immersion improved my fluency and accent beaucoup! So much that some French young people on a later tour thought I was Swiss. A big compliment because the French typically detest American accents.

Here's a photo of a gargoyle over Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. They were supposed to scare awy demons. Some doubled as downspouts. I have a smaller version of this guy watching over me on a shelf above my computer.

5. My husband and I have won dance contests.

TRUE. Although the hubby and I are amateurs, gleaning our steps from the classes our respective parents sent us to back in junior high, we're enthusiastic at the jitterbug and cha cha. Two years in a row, we won $100 and coffee mugs at New Year's Eve oldies dance sponsored by a Maine radio station. Sorry, no photo of any of this.

6. I traveled Europe on the back of a BMW motorcycle.

TRUE. This was a long time ago but yes. It wasn't the same European trip as the summer in Paris, but a few years later, pre-hubby. My then boyfriend bought a BMW from the factory in Munich, so off we went for the summer traveling with a loose itinerary. Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, and part of the Croatian coast.

7. I used to live in Houston, Texas.

TRUE. Remember that first grad school for French Literature? That was Rice University, in Houston, Texas. I enjoyed those three years in Texas but I'm too much an Easterner to live there permanently. Winters were mild, but oh, those summers. Crossing the border to Mexico provided cheap weekends for poor students. I still have some of the pottery I bought back then. Never got used to seeing men walking along the streets with guns in holsters. Their Stetsons were pretty sexy though.

Thanks for playing my little game and for guessing. Check in with the other authors I tagged in the previous blog to see if they've put up their seven.