A new review for Max and Menna

OK, so this is neither here nor there, but a few weeks back I got a review from ForeWord reviews that I have been meaning to share. I normally keep these things to snippits, but this one makes me very, very happy. I'm including a paragraph below.


"The dialogue, particularly in scenes between Menna and Nick, sparkles. Kelley has managed to keep a young, idealistic (and sometimes anxious) tone in her characters' voices, which saves Max and Menna from seeming old hat. As a first novel, Max and Menna is very fine. As James Wood says, “Our memories are aesthetically untalented.” But Kelley shows, with ease, that the freshness of those early days playing in the woods can be reclaimed at any time—that we can relive, through her characters, the big- hearted hopes and dreams we all once had, a long time ago."


Visit "http://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/max-and-menna/" for the whole review!


I am (still) 25 pages from the end of Wicked... must.finish.reading. It sooo good. How have I not read this before?

Where everybody knows my name...

So I must admit, I’ve been something of a sad girl lately. Constantly thinking that I am without limits and biting off more than I can chew has backfired fiercely. Months and months of constant on the run equals one tired Shauna. Beyond tired… just fried, and with being tired, and fried, and overly busy comes sad girl.

But where is a sad girl to go when the pressures of the world get to me? Where everyone knows my name, of course!

You’ve all seen it—I frequently call out awesome specials at Joe Squared in my blog (mmmmm… brisket potato skins), but the other night I was over there and was so struck by how much I love that place. Seriously. I love it there—Joe’s is my happy place. I visited Tuesday night in the midst of major drama, turmoil, stress, and exhaustion. I went begrudgingly, but left in a happier mood, because it is that kind of place.

We all have a place like that, don’t we? I hope so… doesn’t have to be a bar or a restaurant, but that place that just makes you instantly happy?

Just for clarification sake (before you all start to worry), the bar aspect is actually inconsequential to my love of Joe’s Squared…really. Here is what is very consequential: when I walk in, people smile. Now I am sure they have a million regulars, but there is something about messy-haired Okan (Baltimore’s best bartender) saying “what’s up sweetie?” or the always nice and smiling David telling me I am a peach, or Jen saying “hey lady”.

Flash back. Ninth grade. First day of high school and there I was, the overweight girl with troubled skin, braces, flat hair, and an ALF tee-shirt. My brother (a Senior then) pulled my chair out from under me in the cafeteria and I fell on my butt in front of everyone. At the time, I stood up and took a bow despite being totally mortified. I’m not sure how (and if) I got over the embarrassment, but I think Joe’s has something to do with it.

Joe’s owner Joe Edwardsen is not only a brilliant cheff, but also one of the most truly decent, kind-hearted people I’ve ever known, and I say that despite him still not having read Max and Menna. Joe’s makes you feel welcome, and the laid back atmosphere makes you feel relaxed. There is this staff of people who know what wine to pour without being asked, who ask me how my day was and tell me about theirs. Of course I love it there!! And I could (and probably have) fallen on my butt there before, and people smirk, help me up, and we laugh together. Thank you Joe’s for helping me get over high school trauma and finally, finally feel like a cool kid… at least within your walls.

So people, if you don’t have a Joe’s, you should get one. If you’re in Baltimore, I’ll happily offer you use of my happy place!

Big Love for Big Love

I finally had the opportunity a few days ago to watch the series finale of Big Love on HBO.

To fill those of you unfamiliar in, Big Love is a show about poligamy, and it is quietly controversial. I don't remember hearing about any huge outcries over its introduction, for sure, but the subject matter is controversial. While I (clearly) do not endorse poligamy, and would certainly never make the choice for myself, what I appreciated so much about this show is how, at the end of five seasons, I feel like I understood, at least the version of polygamy portrayed here.

And I LOVE that. I LOVE it when a work of fiction gives me a glimpse into something that is elsewise so removed from my life and seems so foreign, even something that makes me uncomfortable or causes an intensely negative initial reaction, and make me understand. This is not to say that I feel that polygamy should be tolerated in cases where young girls are married to men three and four times their age to have chidlren. Just felt I needed a disclaimer, in case it seems that I am heralding wide acceptance of the entire practice of polygamy, because I am not.

But, for the sake of clarity, here is what I loved about the show. HBO has, yet again, proven that through excellent writing, television is high art. Case in point, the character of Margene. She begins this show as a timid, young, immature, and lost soul. Her mother is a neglectful alcoholic, she has no father, and is clearly teeming with a desire for acceptance and love. Throughout five seasons, the change in her is so skillfull, and so subtle. With a combination of masterful acting by Ginnifer Goodwin and awesome writing, Margene transforms into one of the show's strongest, and most reliable, interesting characters. This is amazing writing, and I for one am floored and massively impressed by it.

Let anyone who ever said you can't learn on televesion watch some HBO or Showtime. I am convinced that watching the series on these channels will help me be a better writer, because it is some of the best that exists in our time.

A year in review...

I’m taking a page from my fellow Lucky Press author Sarah Martin Byrd (wonderful lady that she is) and musing back over last year to this. I must say, what a violent difference a year can make. I mean, I have the same job, but from car to house to family, very little else has stayed the same.

Clearly, there have been the bad changes, bad being the biggest understatement I can think of. I lost my mom, and therefore everything else just feels a little bit empty.

I turned 30 and lost my youth J. I know that is an exaggeration, but it really did feel like a fundamental change.

And then there is my writing. A year ago, publication of Max and Menna was this nebulous concept that made me smile but still seemed virtually impossible. And now… now it is a book. A real book that I can hold in my hands, and something that makes me feel more and more every day that my voice is relevant, that I am a “real writer,” and that maybe there is a future here.

Which is why I am very excited to announce (drum-roll please) that Max and Menna is a finalist in the Foreword Book of the Year Awards, Young Adult fiction category. To those of you, like me, who have always thought it hokey when Oscar nominees say “it’s an honor just to be nominated,” let me assure you, it isn’t hokey. Just to be a finalist, combined with lots of great reviews (and thanks to all of you that contributed), have made me feel more and more like a “real writer.”

My publisher Janice should change her business cards to read “I make it happen.” Because she helped make it happen for me, and has introduced something so good in my life that it has helped to overshadow a very tough, transitional year. I seriously owe her big!