addisonbrae

Twenty years ago tonight I was one of the few public relations professionals left at a huge information technology company after a giant layoff, so I had to work rather than ring in the new millennium with friends.

A group of us were at the office, professionally dressed and without New Year’s toasts. We were prepared to handle the news media and anything that might come up that highly anticipated New Year’s Eve. Best Buy even had a campaign, “Remember. Turn your computer off before midnight on 12/31/99” to prevent whatever it was that might happen.

Nothing happened except for New Year’s Eve celebrations. Companies were prepared.

There was so much Y2K speculation and drama—from the end of humanity to computer systems crashing—all because of those two little digits in the year.

Here we are. Twenty years have gone by. Humanity and computer systems are still around. I’ve made up for missing the 1999 celebration many times over. That night taught me something valuable: be smart, but keep things in perspective. The experience reminded me to make the most of the special moments like New Year’s Eve.

Today, some are obsessed with the next computer apocalypse, the possibility of machines overtaking humans. I understand the fear, especially when Alexa and Siri and Google Home and who knows what other devices tune into everything we do and say. They learn from us and get smarter. But humans control those machines. They will not overtake humanity unless humans make it happen.

Looking 20 years forward, I predict this night in 2040 will be full of happy celebrations. Our daily lives will be vastly different, but life itself will be the same. We will still work for our livings to pay for food and the roof over our head and all of the things that make life grand. Perhaps we will get to those things in very different ways that will give us lots more time with our loves ones, to have fun, and do things we’ve never experienced before.

Remember what you were doing at 12 p.m. December 31, 2019.

Make every New Year’s the best one yet.

Welcome to my theory. I believe that we as readers, authors, relatives, and friends can help young women be better equipped with the skills and confidence to cope by encouraging them to read books with strong heroines who are not loners. A group of authors and Romance Writers of America members shared an amazing list of book suggestions with strong heroines that meet these criteria for middle grade and young adult readers.

If you can suggest books to add to this list, visit the contacts page on my site or share them with me by email to addisonbrae@gmail.com.

Middle grade book recommendations (age 8-12)

• Rob Buyea, Because of Mr. Terupt series. Seven fifth-grade students come together to solve a problem that seems insurmountable, and their lives are changed by one amazing teacher.
• Mary Casanova, The Klipfish Code. This story takes place in 1942 during the Nazi occupation of Norway when twelve-year-old Marit decides to take action despite her grandfather’s warning.
• Roshani Chokshi, Aru Shah and the End of Time. Twelve-year-old Aru Shah teams up with three of her classmates to stop a demon and save the world.
• Sharon M. Draper, Out of my Mind. This funny and heartbreaking contemporary fiction is about an 11-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who’s the smartest kid in school but no one knows it. Draper also wrote Blended with a biracial protagonist whose parents split up.
• Diane Duane, Young Wizards series. This 10-book series starts with So You Want to Be a Wizard. It sounds like a Harry Potter spin-off, but it predates that series by about a decade. The characters begin as preteens and grow into their teen years as the series progresses.
• Sayantani DasGupta, The Serpent’s Secret series. Sixth grade Kiranmala wakes up a normal kid on her birthday in New Jersey. Her parents vanish and a demon slams through her kitchen, and then she finds out she’s an Indian princess from a secret place not of this world.
• Chris Grabenstein, Welcome to Wonderland series. This funny illustrated series is about the wacky things that happen when you live in the Wonderland Motel. P.T. Wilkie, Gloria and other kids try to save the hotel.
• Varian Johnson, The Parker Inheritance. This is a mystery with a young girl who seeks the help from the quiet boy across the street to solve an injustice from decades ago.
• Thanhha Lai, Inside Out & Back Again. The story is told in verse and based on the author’s own experience about a 10-year-old girl who flees Saigon on a boat with her mom and brothers until the U.S. Navy finds them. They settle in Alabama where she has to integrate into a school without knowing any English.
• Gail Carson Levine has written a number of middle grade and young adult books with strong heroines.
• Madaleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time, is classic coming of age fantasy that inspired a modern movie and impacted many of us when we read it as young teens.
• Jennifer A. Nelson, A Night Divided. This historical fiction is about Gerta and her family that gets separated by the Berlin Wall and fights their way to freedom.
• Andrea Davis Pinkey, The Red Pencil. This tells the story of 12-year-old Amira who’s finally old enough to go to school when her Sudanese village is attacked and she strikes out on her own to a refugee camp.
• Eva Stone, Violet Sky and Violet’s Trial. This science fiction chronicles a 12-year-old girl’s experiences when she’s forced to grow up too fast after society is destructed.
• Jordan Stratford, The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency series. These books feature two real historical women, Ada Lovelace and Mary Shelly, but re-imagined as two young head-strong and smart girls solving crimes.
• Raina Telgemeier creates graphic novels such as Guts, Sisters, Drama, and Ghosts that deal with family, peer pressure, and other issues kids deal with.
• Kat Yeh, The Way to Bea and The Truth about Twinkle Pie. These stories are about middle school kids who face fitting in, finding friends, and finding their place.

Young adult book recommendations (age 13-18)

• Beth Barany, Henrietta The Dragon Slayer. This fantasy three-book series is written specifically to empower young women and girls to be the heroes of their own lives.
• Jeri Bronson, Seeking Perfect. A contemporary fiction about a 17-year-old girl living with a alcoholic parent. It depicts her emotional struggles and her resolve for a better life. There is a cute boy too.
• Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy, Once and Future. This story retells the popular legend Once and Future King with a teenage girl with a universe to save.
• Any of the 15 books by Sarah Dessen, who writes beautiful and honest contemporary fiction about family, peer pressure, and other issues most teen girls face.
• ME Girard, Girl Mans Up. This story is about an LGBTQ teen trying to be who she wants to be.
• Maureen Goo, The Way You Make Me Feel. This laugh-out-loud story is about of love, new friendships, and one unique food truck after Clara took a joke too far.
• Georgette Heyer, The Grand Sophy. Sophy, who at age 20 or so, solves every problem in her world by her wits alone. (recommended by a teen)
• AG Henley, The Scourge. This fantasy has a blind heroine who has to help her people of the forest survive The Scourge.
• Claire Legrand, Sawkill Girls. A fantasy about three teen girls who face off against an insidious monster that preys upon young women.
• Guadalupe Garcia McCall, Summer of the Mariposas/El Verano de las Mariposas. This Mexican-American retelling of the Odyssey is about four sisters working together and learning something about family in the process.
• Tehlor Kay Mejia, We Set The Dark On Fire. A romantic fantasy that will appeal to The Handmaid’s Tale fans is about a society wife-in-training who has a great awakening after rebel spies recruit her and she falls for her biggest rival.
• Ariella Moon, The Teen Wytche Saga. A contemporary sweet romance series in which the female protagonists discover magic cannot help them with issues such as friendship troubles, teen suicide, depression, OCD, missing children, and teen homelessness. Instead, they discover their inner strength, and through strength, love, and sisterhood, cope with, and improve, their situations.
• Julie Murphy, Dumplin. About Willowdean Dixon, the fearless, funny, and unforgettable heroine who takes on her small town’s beauty pageant.
• Daniel Jose Older, Shadowshaper. Introduces a heroine and magic unlike anything else in fantasy fiction.
• Tamora Pierce, any of her titles, especially Song of the Lioness books, Protector of the Small series, and Circle of Magic books. Pierce features teen girls as knights, wizards, and heroes.
• Nisha Sharma, My So-Called Bollywood Life. A romance with a Bollywood twist.
• June Shaw, Just One Friend. A dystopian where limited food and space caused leaders to decree each person is allowed only one friend. Sixteen-year-old Alabama Long disagrees. (co-written by teens)
• Sharon Shinn, Elemental Blessings. This four-book series takes place in a historic fantasy world where people believe five essential elements rule all things and guide their lives.
• Ruta Sepetys, Between Shades of Grey. Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life until Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Will strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to survive?
• Isabel Sterling, These Witches Don’t Burn. This story has a lesbian heroine with the power to control fire, earth, water, and air, with her hot ex and her new bi-crush
• Angie Thomas, The Hate You Give. Sixteen-year-old Starr maneuvers between the world of her poor neighborhood and the fancy suburban prep school she attends until she sees a police officer shoot her best childhood friend.
• F.C. Yee, The Epic Crush of Genie Lo. This empowering fantasy is based on Chinese folklore and is about a high school girl gifted with a celestial spirit. She tries to work on her college admissions applications while fighting demons.

Many people in the 468 apartments in Elan City Lights near downtown Dallas were at home folding laundry, doing chores, relaxing with friends, and other things people do on Sunday afternoons.

Then a huge storm blew through Dallas. Residents heard a giant crash many thought was a tornado. Instead it was an enormous construction crane slicing through the five-level complex and parking garage.

It sounds like a scene from a novel or a horror movie. To these people, it’s very real, and will affect them for a lifetime.

One young woman lost her life, and two remain in critical condition in an area hospital. The lucky ones had seconds to grab their pets and loves ones and run. They dashed into the torrential storm in underwear, covered in blood, barefoot on shattered glass trying to help their neighbors. Cars toppled off the parking garage making it look like a war zone. One man was trapped in his car that dangled off the side of the building until neighbors helped him out a window.

After the storm, residents were given 90 seconds to five minutes to grab things from their homes. Now they’re not allowed in at all. The building has been deemed unstable. It may be six months before they can get their cars and other things—if their belongings are still there. The apartment management company (which also owns the building under construction) has provided $100 per day for hotels for a week, $500, plus refund of last month’s rent. Residents are required to have renters’ insurance, but there are deductibles and delays. And can you rattle off everything you own to an insurance adjuster? A resident field the first lawsuit against the crane company and the apartment management already.

People in Dallas have kind hearts. On Sunday, Omni hotels provided hotel rooms, Urban Paws took in pets, and restaurants and private citizens provided food. Other businesses are opening their doors for donations—pet supplies, clothing, toiletries, furniture, shoes, socks, makeup, underwear. Shout out to @JackMasonBrand, @CENTRL_Office, @rentmtwardrobeapp, and especially @Dallas_Iron_Fitness for taking in these items. There are also a number of GoFundMe campaigns. If you’d like to give, search on “dallas crane site:gofundme.com” to see the options. Their needs won’t stop this week.

Remember what you were doing at 2 p.m. last Sunday. The building is down the street, so I drive by it often. The now ghost town will always remind me of that spring Sunday afternoon that was so abruptly interrupted for these people.

Treasure every moment.

It doesn’t matter what nation or neighborhood you live in, Italian food is righteously delicious.

We became one with our inner Italian this weekend with John’s amazing batch of lasagna. It started with a giant pot of Italian gravy (which translates to spaghetti sauce for non-Italians). The next day, it became lasagna.

During the two-day cooking process, the chef and his helpers must enjoy fine cocktails. John opted for an Old Fashioned, one of the most classic cocktails ever. I had a Deep Eddy Orange vodka and water, which is refreshing and light. And Lucy watched from one of her perches.

Old Fashioned
2 dashes orange bitters
2 dashes simple syrup
2 oz. bourbon
Pour over ice into a highball glass. Squeeze a fresh orange wedge into the glass. Mix. Garnish with an orange slice. (on left in photo)

Deep Eddy Orange and Water
2 oz. Deep Eddy Orange Vodka (not every flavored vodka is created equal, some are truly awful)
Fill with water
Add to a highball glass with ice. Mix. Add an orange slice. (on right in photo)

When the mood strikes, find your favorite lasagna and enjoy a fine cocktail.

Per cent’anni! (One hundred years of luck!)

Do you remember when . . .

1. The high-pitched hum meant you were dialing into the Internet?
2. We had to use pay phones when on the go?
3. We could go out and our parents couldn’t reach us?
4. Blue jeans didn’t stretch?
5. People wrote phone messages at work on pink “while you were out” notepads?
6. It took finger gymnastics to dial a phone number on a rotary phone?
7. NEW! Cameras had film, and we had to manually advance it, and then wait days and pay big bucks for only 14 frames to be developed?
8. We had to go to stores to buy things?
9. Car phones known as “the brick” came in a purse-sized bag and the handset was attached?
10. A man came to the car to pump your gasoline (and usually brought bubble gum for the kiddos)?
11. Packages took days to arrive, but the milk man dependably delivered fresh dairy every week?
12. Password was a game show rather than a catalog of codes we use daily?
13. People dressed up to fly, and we could meet friends and family at their gate when they landed?
14. We had to walk across the room to change the TV channel, which wasn’t often since there were only four stations?
15. We couldn’t fast forward through TV commercials?
16. We had to watch a TV show when it aired, or catch it later in the season as a rerun?
17. There was only one computer in the house?
18. We manually rolled down car windows?
19. People could smoke anywhere
20. Teens left their hunting rifles in their truck’s back window gun rack in the high school parking lot?
21. Elevators and cross walks didn’t talk and devices in our house didn’t listen?
22. People wrote letters, visited, or called someone to reach them?
23. Love letters were on paper, and we had to lick the postage stamp?
24. We had to go to the library to do research?
25. Phones didn’t take photos?
26. NEW! There were no selfies?
27. We paid tollway fees to a person in a little booth. On lucky days, the do-good person in the car in front of you paid your toll?
28. Stereos were pieces of furniture?
29. We listened to music on the radio or had to buy it on albums, tapes, or CDs?
30. The fast way to send a document was faxing it?
31. Whiteout covered up mistakes?
32. NEW! TVs and cars had antenna poking out of them.
33. NEW! We changed light bulbs all the time before LEDs came along.

When writing fiction, we have to remember the old ways to be authentic for novels that take place in the past. We also have to keep new ways in mind so the old ways don’t slip into contemporary novels–like dialing phones and rolling down windows. What’s your favorite nostalgic memory of the way things were? Add your memories to social media and I’ll build on this list (and credit you!).

Cheers to nostalgia!

Let’s join in helping celebrate The Romance Reviews’ 8^th Anniversary Party! Festivities include games, contests, and prizes—along with learning about some amazing romance reads.

Visit The Romance Review daily throughout March and follow #TRRparty for the latest. To play the games, you have to register and log into The Romance Reviews website so they can track your points. It’s free and easy to register!

Be sure to visit The Romance Review on March 16 for my contest and a chance to win a free Becker Circle ebook.

Without games, life isn’t as fun!