Review: 117. On Maggie's Watch by Ann Wertz Garvin...

It's the last day of August, so I thought I'd post my thoughts on August's Featured Author Ann Wertz Garvin's On Maggie's Watch today... 

Title: On Maggie's Watch
Author: Ann Wertz Garvin
ISBN-13: 9780425236789
Paperback: 290 pages
Publisher: Penguin, 2010
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Ann Wertz Garvin

drey's thoughts:  
What do you do when you're eight-and-a-half months pregnant and find out there's a sex offender living on your street? If you're Maggie Finley, you start up the Neighborhood Watch and take midnight strolls past his house. Just to make sure he's not out there hurting anyone, that's all...

But it's not all for Maggie. She's a natural worrier--worrying about the baby, the neighbors, the husband working late... Then she makes a new friend and starts worrying if she maybe likes him just a little itsy bit too much? In between all the worrying and cuticle-chewing Maggie finds time to distract her best friend from her daily grind, and starts compulsively leaving "presents" for the offender.

As off-the-wall as Maggie seems, she could be someone you know--if you know people who're neurotic and just a tad too anal-retentive to let things slide, who get a bit obsessive about their latest "passion"... And I liked her, and wished I knew somebody on my street who cared that much. Never mind that she didn't do more research before going all gangbusters, and never mind that what she's doing isn't quite legal. Ann Wertz Garvin's portrayal of Maggie makes her somehow endearing, which makes On Maggie's Watch a cozy read. (Yes, even with the troubles...) And I thought that the present Maggie gets at the end, is a nice little reminder that you can't always judge a book by its cover.

drey's rating: Pick it up! Summer's not over yet, there's still room for at least one more read! *grin*


Have you read On Maggie's Watch? What did you think?

August's FEATURED AUTHOR: Balance 101...

It's almost the end of the month (*gasp*), and today our Featured Author Ann Wertz Garvin is here to share a lil' something on balance...

Balance 101: Shutting off the Bachelor and Getting the Life You Want.

Occasionally, when I’m playing Trivial Pursuit, I’m thrilled that I know that John Philip Sousa wrote the Stars and Stripes Forever. There are times when knowing the difference between mean, median, and mode gets me a look of appreciation from my children during homework time and nobody can rock a dinner party like I do when the lyrics are needed for Funky Cold Medina. During these times I give credit to traditional education and America’s Top Forty Countdown. But where is the love when I need to know how to choose between sleeping, writing, or feeding my children? Where is the class Balance 101: Shutting off the Bachelor and Getting the Life You Want?

I get a lot of questions about balance. I have a career unrelated to my creative life of writing and I’m a parent of two teen girls. I have, essentially three full time jobs. I think based on this information alone, people should be asking me-- Have you heard about balance? You should try it some time. Do you want the enamel on your teeth when you’re seventy?

On the days when I am successful in balancing life I might offer the following advice (but would then deny it as I believe the universe is listening and has a wicked payback system for advice givers):

1. Get a handle on what you value and hold every decision up to those values. I value my health, my family, my job, my relationships and my writing. Oh, and GoodWill (both the store and the concept). I do not value the Bachelor(ette). I do not value Solitaire, Tetris, or Angry Birds. I do not value season tickets to Wisconsin Badger Hockey. If you love nothing better than to dress in your alma mater’s colors and watch your team throttle another, rock on. If that is part of your balance formula, I’m on board with it. Just make it an active decision and not a passive one.

a. Example I: The phone rings and there is an offer to make some money teaching a quick nutrition course to twenty Physical Therapy Students. Does it further or hinder my values? Does it cost or buy me time. Do the positive results outweigh the negatives…and so on. In this case the answer no and to take a pass.

b. Example II: Should I stare into space or write a chapter in my book. Again with the checklist and in this case the answer was to go with the staring. I needed the space-staring for balance in my day.

2. There is no number two. I was going to put time management here. But, time management is just another way to say value management. If you know your values then you know what is worth your time. It’s a twofer.

I think often we need to remind ourselves where we are in the life process. Many times when a beautiful temptation or otherwise irresistible distraction crosses my path I have to review my value system and remind myself, Ann, you are in the parenting part of your life. Jetting off to party with Brad Paisley just isn’t an option right now. You did that before (no I didn’t) or you can do that in a few years (well…probably not).

It’s old advice I’m doling out here. Advice my mother used to give to me in her usual no-nonsense fashion. “Oh for God’s sake Ann. Shut the TV off and get on with your life.”

Well, I guess Ann's mother says it clearly enough! I agree that we all need to better prioritize, and what better way to do so than with a value system. But I am glad that you point out that what may be a negative on one day might be a positive on another. We just need to know what works for our individual selves.

Reading is one of my priorities, and I will freely confess that sometimes I read to the point of ignoring my family. Other times though, everything else sucks up all the reading time I've planned for--and then I binge-read to make up for it. I have definitely worked on balancing reading with all the other things I like to do (note that I reviewed 237 books in '09, 159 in '10, and I'll be hitting around 150 this year--I think!), and yet I still think I could cut back a bit more. But how? There are soooo many books out there just waiting to be read!

What do you do to prioritize reading with everything else going on in your life?

August's FEATURED AUTHOR: Ann and books...

It's Wednesday, and with that our Featured Author Ann Wertz Garvin is sharing some of her favorite authors...

Readers Know How to Party

If I had anything that resembles a memory I might be able to list my favorite books. I think that’s probably why I’ve become a writer in this late stage of the game. My memory is toast and if I don’t write life down in some kind of organized fashion my thoughts will go to the place where all my eyeglasses and earrings are.

Having said that, I’m the Labrador retriever of readers--loyal to authors until the end of time. If you write a book I love, I will read every last verb you publish. If, while I was reading I could call the author and have them over for a thank you facial, I would. I would be a friendly stalker--happy to sit at their feet and watch them craft a sentence with my only interruption being to offer a cup of coffee or a Jolly Rancher.

I don’t have a bucket list but if life was winding down and I won the lottery I would throw a party and invite authors living and dead to eat hummus and drink mojitos.

I’d choose authors for sparkling character if not party dynamics. Tennessee Williams, Erma Bombeck, and Oscar Wilde for their posthumous wit and edgy drama.

Nora Ephron, Elizabeth Berg, and Elizabeth Strout for their love, humor and unflinching honesty.




JK Rowling would have to be wrangled from buying up all property in the northern hemisphere, but I’d get her there. I’d promise to supply her a cocktail napkin so she can plot out her next dynasty.

If Anna Quindlen was available I’d eavesdrop on her conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert and I’d really appreciate it if Thomas Cook could stop to chat with Gregory Maguire and Michael Perry.

It wouldn’t be a quiet party. Not one for the conflict avoidant, that’s for certain. I’d have to be ready to break up debates, smooth ruffled feathers and mediate during the inevitable debate over the difference between literary vs. commercial fiction. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if a Kindle or Nook dropped out of someone’s purse. But, wine would get drunk, conversation would sparkle and this Labrador would wag her tail all the way to her grave.

Those are some fabulous authors on your list, Ann! Can I come be a fly on the wall? I promise not to drink all the mojitos...

What about you guys? Who would be on your invite list for a party like this?

August's FEATURED AUTHOR: Ann Wertz Garvin says hello!

It's a new month (already!) and with it we have a new author to introduce to you. Say "hello!" to Ann Wertz Garvin!

drey: Welcome to drey's library, Ann! Thank you for taking the time to stop by as my Featured Author this month.

Let's do a quick intro: Tell us about yourself in 10 sentences or so...

Ann: I always say, if you want to know who I am just check out my hair. I have a full head of unruly, unorganized, happy hair that has a lot of trouble with authority. That's me. I'm interested in so many things that I tend to take too much on. I like to be productive but only I get to judge what that productivity can be. I think everything is funny and is so inappropriate at times that my friends have to be hard to offend. I don't have much of a temper or a memory. If I blow it's fast and furious but dissipates just as quickly. I'm tenacious and impatient and a total sap where kids and dogs are concerned and if I could eradicate something it would be human trafficking in all forms.

drey: When did you find out you wanted to be a writer? What was your first story?

Ann: I always wanted to write but couldn't get out of my own way to write anything down. My first story was called Daydream Believer about a 16-year-old girl working in a drive in theater with dreams for a bigger life and had to tell her boyfriend she was leaving for college without him in 24hours.

drey: What did you do with that story?

Ann: I wrote that story as a submission for the Wisconsin Book Festival contest in 2004 and won. It was my first story and when I won, no one was more surprised than I was.

drey: Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

Ann: In characters that I meet and funny phrases I read. Sometimes in dreams I have for the future or difficulties I see my friends struggling with.

drey: Tell us a bit about On Maggie's Watch...

Ann: Maggie in On Maggie's Watch is your best friend who's gone a little nutty. She is the "us" that wants so badly to take control and then, against all better judgment, goes for it. She's vulnerable, funny, quirky, and sad. She is all of us. She wants her neighborhood to be perfect for her family and unborn child and when she discovers a less than perfect thing she goes to clean it up. She gets side-tracked but has people who love her and get her back on track.

drey: Where were you when you found out On Maggie's Watch was getting published? How did you celebrate?

Ann: It was on my birthday. I was in my bedroom looking out the window when the phone rang. I spoke to Jackie Cantor from Penguin and she told me. I celebrated by having dinner with my friend Terri Osgood. She brought dinner to my house and a gift and my kids and I sat and basked in the news. Then, I replayed that call 1001 times.

drey: Smackdown: Your number one literary hero faces off in the ring--who's the opponent, who wins, and why?

Ann: Olive Kitterage faces off with the killer in No Country For Old Men. Olive wins because she is the ultimate no nonsense survivor. She probably strangles him with her bare hands because he was coming after her son. Go Olive!

drey: What (if any) TV shows are you hooked on?

Ann: Mad Men and Damages (Glenn Close as prosecutor Patty Hewes). Can't turn away from either.

drey: How do you recharge your batteries?

Ann: Shopping at GoodWill. Watching movies. Working out. Sleeping.

drey: And last (but not least!), the quickie-5:
1. Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte? Austen
2. Banana splits or strawberry sundae? (can you tell it's HOT here?) Banana Splits
3. Madonna or Lady Gaga? Lady Gaga
4. Broadway musical or movie theater? Broadway musical
5. Your favorite swear word is? I hate to admit it but it's fuck

Thank you so much for visiting us this month, Ann!

Everyone--you can find Ann online at her website www.annwertzgarvin.com, on facebook, and twitter.

Giveaway!
Ann has a copy of On Maggie's Watch for you, if you live in the US! To enter, fill out the form below before 6pm CST August 30th. Good luck!