Karen Sandler

Category: Traditions

  • Any Excuse for a Celebration

    Christmas 1985s
    That’s me, front left, 7 months pregnant with son number 2, ladling some of my grandmother’s fabulous gravy.

    In my family, any holiday was an excuse for a party, and usually included a table full of food. New Year’s Day was ham and potato salad, Easter featured deviled eggs and bunny cakes (and plenty of candy since Lent had ended), there were special meals for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, barbecues for Memorial Day, softball games in the park for 4th of July and fireworks and hot dogs after, Labor Day was a last hurrah after summer, we all dressed up in costumes and ate more candy for Halloween, and the table would groan with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberries and pumpkin pie for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. If any month didn’t have a holiday (or even if it did), we celebrated birthdays, lots and lots of birthday, each one with its own cake and party.

    Celebrate sSo it’s no surprise that when some author friends suggested we do a joint holiday anthology, I jumped at the chance. Five of us contributed lovely, happily-ever-after stories to the Celebrate! anthology (buy it here), spanning five holidays throughout the year. Since they’re short stories between about 30 and 60 pages each, they’re quick reads, but each one is long enough to feature a satisfying romance. They’re kind of like little, bite-sized romance novels, like that gooey Cadbury egg you might savor at Easter or a luscious truffle you enjoy at Christmas.

    Here’s the lineup of authors in Celebrate!:

    • Linda Barrett, “Man of the House,” Mother’s/Father’s Day
    • Rogenna Brewer, “One Star-Spangled Night,” Independence Day
    • Barbara McMahon, “Love and all the Trimmings,” Thanksgiving
    • Karen Sandler (moi!), “The 8th Gift,” Hanukkah
    • Debra Salonen, “My Christmas Angel,” Christmas

    Take a taste of the holidays with Celebrate! Buy it here.

  • Best Book for February

    This week, YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday asks the usual end-of-month question, What’s the best book you’ve read in February? I read (or finished) five books in February:

    • Thirteen Reasons Why (Jay Asher, started in January, finished in Feb)
    • A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle)
    • Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief (Lawrence Wright)
    • If I Stay (Gayle Forman)
    • Brothers in Arms (Lois McMaster Bujold)

    I just started The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, The Horse That Inspired a Nation by Elizabeth Letts, which as a horse nut I’m really loving, but I doubt I’ll finish it within the month. And yes, this is the first time I’ve read A Wrinkle in Time. My kids read it years ago (when they actually were kids). I was finally shamed into it when it came up at the SCBWI winter conference in NYC as a must-read book. And, um, yeah, it was. Must-read, that is.

    So, some good and great books on this list. But as for my favorite for February, I’m going to give A Wrinkle in Time a pass just because, well, it’s a classic. Doesn’t seem fair for it to be in the running. Brothers in Arms was a fantastic read, but it’s one of a zillion Vorkosigan Saga books that The Goddess Who is Bujold has written, so in lieu of her being my favorite every month, I will let someone else win: Going Clear.

    I am not much of a non-fiction reader. I like my fiction stories, particularly genre fiction. But once in a while I will hear about an intriguing non-fiction book, often when the author is interviewed on NPR. Sometimes I’ll check out a sample or even buy it and be disappointed. This was not one of those times.

    Going Clear was a compelling page turner from start to finish. I felt the author was thorough and even-handed, for instance balancing descriptions of Scientology’s unconventional beliefs with discussions of odd aspects of other religions, from young ones such as Mormonism to more traditional belief systems such as Christianity. As someone whose belief system is off the beaten path, I appreciate that aspects of a faith that might seem bizarre to one person can make perfect sense to another. Going Clear did a good job making that case, while also being a fantastic, thought-provoking read.

  • Mrs. Sandler Goes to Washington

    After a short weekend visit to NYC to attend the winter conference of the Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators, I took the train down to DC to visit family. Since I’m under deadline on REVOLUTION, the third book of the Tankborn trilogy, I’ve had to spend time every day working. But I decided to set aside a day to go to the Capitol and check out the Senate and House.

    I dropped by the Hart Building office of one of my two senators and picked up passes for the two chambers. Then I hiked over to the Capitol building a couple of blocks away. Police had the usual entrances blocked off. Apparently Vice President Biden was on his way, and the Capitol was in temporary lockdown. Luckily, a lady I’d struck up a conversation with knew another way in, and she escorted me and a visiting friend inside.

    Another even better stroke of luck happened shortly after I reached the Senate chamber. The members present were pretty sparse–many empty chairs. One of the senators was speaking passionately about the Violence Against Women Act–it’s up for renewal. It doesn’t seem like one of those things that requires a lot of discussion (uh, pass it already), but I guess that’s how Congress works.

    Then the magic happened. It turned out I had timed my arrival perfectly (although in total ignorance). In walked several senators who I immediately recognized–Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Al Franken, Patrick Leahy, Elizabeth Warren, and John Kerry. The young woman sitting beside me (who works for a senator) pointed out Mo Cowan. Then Joe Biden arrived in the Senate chamber.

    Vice President Biden called Mo Cowan forward and swore him in as the new senator from Massachusetts. Historic enough–the new Senator Cowan is one of only two black senators currently serving, and yes, two is a record number. But then we all started applauding (we in the gallery took our cue from the floor). Then even more incredibly, everyone on the floor and then in the gallery rose. A standing ovation for Senator Mo Cowan.

    I found out later that applause, let alone a standing ovation, is Just Not Done on the Senate floor/gallery. I was so thrilled to be part of that historic occasion, and it was just by lucky timing. I’d intended to leave for downtown an hour earlier. Instead I spent an hour working and left later. If I’d kept to my original plan, I would have missed Senator Cowan’s swearing in.

    There were more adventures–after my Senate visit, I was escorted via the underground walkways and shuttle to the Senate dining room (again, sheer chance–I happened to talk to the right person). I had a very yummy lunch there (I had no idea you could make mashed cauliflower taste just like mashed potatoes) followed by the incredible Senate Bread Pudding topped with vanilla sauce. My senator walked right past me (didn’t quite have the nerve to say hello). And I had quite an interesting time getting back to the Capitol via the  above ground route to get the jackets I’d checked in the coat room.

    History, democracy, and bread pudding. What a heady mix.

  • RTW – Balancing Reality and Fiction

    This week, YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday asks the question, How do you balance hectic times like the holidays with your writing schedule?

    Um, yeah. How do you do that?

    I’m not sure I’ve entirely figured that one out. The good news is, I’ve been under contract with a publishing house nearly every holiday season for the past dozen or so years. The bad news is, that means I’ve got a deadline staring me in the face every year all through the holidays.

    Which means I have to stay focused and on task in November and December. Yes, I’m longing to go Christmas shopping (or Hanukkah shopping–our family goes both ways). I’m dreaming of baking Christmas (or Hanukkah) cookies. I’m jonesing to go up the hill to one of the local tree farms to cut down my tree. But I can’t just take off all the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas (much as I might wish it) because that darn book isn’t going to write itself.

    So what do I do? I do cut myself some slack. I choose a day or afternoon for the tree cutting, for the baking, for the decorating. I work hard on the days when I don’t have holiday festivities planned and get as much written as I can. I tend to do the Christmas shopping in one fell swoop, demanding a list from everyone, and storm the stores on a weekday when they’re less busy. And I keep an eye on my word count and the number of days remaining until the deadline.

    I do find it annoying to have to write during the holidays. Even worse, my birthday is smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, so there’s another distraction. But I also know that I’m very lucky to be working under contract, to have that deadline, so who am I to gripe?

    How about you? How do you keep working during the holidays? Christmas carols on or off? Christmas cookies stacked on your desk? Is your office decorated? I wanna know how the rest of you do it.

  • Bubble Gum and Pineapple Crush Memories

    Back in the early ’70s, I lived with my dad and two older sisters in Inglewood, CA in a little 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom house. My dad had the big front bedroom and my sisters and I were squeezed into the smaller back bedroom. The house was right under the flight path for LAX, and boy those jet planes were loud going overhead.

    On the other side of our street, half a block down, was a little corner grocery store. A family of Mexican heritage owned the store and they made these fantastic tamales that we’d sometimes pick up for dinner. My dad loved tamales.

    The store also sold the usual small grocery stuff, including soda, candy, and bubblegum. I certainly ate my share of candy (3 Musketeers was a favorite), but I was more often down there for a bottle of Crush and a supply of bubblegum.

    Rather than the typical Bazooka Joe flat rectangle, I bought Double Bubble bubblegum, which was cylindrical and wrapped in brightly colored waxed paper that was twisted on the two flat ends. They sold for a penny apiece, and I would always buy 10 of them at a time.

    As to the Crush, I was a real connoisseur. This was back when soda came in glass bottles. The Crush bottles were very tall and slender, clear glass so it was easy to tell one flavor from another. The corner store sold Crush in the familiar orange, of course, but also grape, strawberry, and my personal favorite, pineapple. Pineapple wasn’t always available, but if it was, I snapped it up. Second choice was strawberry, third was the classic orange, and I generally avoided the grape.

    I’d take my sugary stash of bubblegum and soda back home, then I’d hang out in the living room reading (some Ray Bradbury short stories or maybe a comic book that I’d also picked up at the store). I’d chew one piece of bubblegum after the other, abandoning each one the moment it lost its sweet flavor. I washed all that sugar down with the additional sugar of the Crush. My jaws would ache by the time I’d finished all that gum.

    Even though I paid for all that indulgence with cavities and some TMJ issues, it’s such a fond memory. Not just the sugary treats, but the convenience and pleasure of little corner grocery stores like that, set right into the neighborhoods they served. We could walk right to it, get our sugar rush or the night’s dinner, without ever having to climb into a car.

    I do miss pineapple Crush and bubblegum, although I don’t dare indulge in either anymore. But maybe it’s not the soda and gum I’m nostalgic for. Maybe it’s the laziness of summer, the wonderful convenience of a corner store, and the joy of finding exactly the flavor I wanted most in the cooler.