Welcome to meryl’s notes blog (this here place you’re lookin’ at) in Plano, Texas. We’re honored to be a stop in Kristin Bair O’Keeffe’s WOW! Women On Writing Blog tour. I first met Kristin through Christina Katz. Since then, I’ve read her book, exchanged a few tweets and emails and absorbed her column in Writers on the Rise. (Stay tuned in this post if ya wanna win this book!)

About Kristin Bair O’Keeffe
Kristin Bair O’Keeffe is the author of Thirsty and an American who lives in Shanghai, China. She is also a voracious reader, a happy mom, an engaging teacher who believes in “telling the best story you can…believing in your writing…and working your arse off,” a fierce advocate for the end of domestic violence, and a writer who spends as much time as possible in writerhead. To find out more, visit www.thirstythenovel.com or Kristin’s blog at www.kristinbairokeeffeblog.com.

Now… post from Kristin Bair O’Keeffe.

Congratulations!

You’re a Mom and an Author!

(Gulp…)

The Beginning

On September 26, 2008, I was in an orphanage in a small village in Vietnam. On that spectacular, unforgettable, life-changing day, a nanny placed my eight-month-old daughter in my arms for the first time.

Three weeks later when our adoption was complete, my husband and I wrapped our arms around Tully and each other, finished up our Vietnam journey, and returned to our home in Shanghai, China.

On October 24 — less than a month after I officially became a mom — I got an email from David Sanders, the director of Swallow Press. “We would like to publish your novel Thirsty,” he told me.

Huh?

Seriously?

After all the dreaming, work, sweat, worry, anticipation, rewrites, excitement, ups-and-downs, paperworkpaperchasingheartsmashingheartopening, I achieved two lifelong dreams in less than one month’s time.

Mom.

Author.

Mom.

Author.

Good gracious me.

What Next?

Of course, all the gorgeous things that are supposed to happen when you become a mom and when you become an author happened:

• I fell in love with my daughter. Deeply, madly, sweetly.
• I read and reread (and um, yes, reread) the email from David Sanders, rejoicing in the fact that my debut novel finally was going to make its way into readers’ hands.
• I obsessed about formula, vaccinations, and pediatricians.
• I nested and made a comfy home for our family.
• I obsessed about the quality of water in China and prayed that our bottled water was as safe as they said it was.
• I obsessed about what the cover of Thirsty would look like and wondered if I’d get a chance to say “yea” or “nay” or if the worst happened, “Have you lost your bloody mind?”
• I obsessed about… (you see the trend here, yes?)

But…

then the reality hit. Suddenly I had to edit my novel AND take care of my new baby…at the same time. While I’d dreamed of both things happening, never had I expected them to happen in the same month.

Kristin Bair O'Keeffe and daughter Tully

Now when I look back, I can’t quite figure out how I did it, but I guess that’s the mystery of human will. I was determined not to have any childcare help during Tully’s first months at home…the three of us had a lot of bonding to do as a family. So while Tully was awake and Andrew was at work, she and I were a team…the dynamic duo. We wandered the streets of Shanghai, danced, played, read books, touched noses, and got to know one another.

While Tully slept (during naps, early in the mornings, and late at night), I edited.

Was I exhausted?

Yes.

Was I cranky at my husband?

Oh, gosh, yeah.

Did I neglect important friendships?

Too often.

Was I deliriously happy?

Yes.

Did I finish the edit?

Barely, but yes.

Ta Da!

Now…jump in time to October 1, 2009. Thirsty is in bookstores. Tully and I are in the United States for a mini-book tour. She is a happy, silly, healthy, brilliant, stubborn toddler. I am a happyhappyhappy, silly, healthy (and yes, sometimes stubborn) mom with a great husband and terrific friends who all nurtured me through my happiest, most challenging new mama moments. I am also an author.

Win: To win a copy of the book, please leave a comment at least 50 words about parenthood, the place where you grew up or a favorite locale. You have until 11:59pm on November 25, 2009 to qualify for the drawing. The unbiased and robotic Random.org has the honor of picking the winner.

I first heard about Thirsty from Christina Katz. Author Kristin Bair O’Keeffe and I connected, and she’ll be stopping by this he’ah blog on November 18 in her book’s blog tour with WOW. You’ll have a chance to win a copy of the book.

I admit I was apprehensive about reading the novel when its description mentions abuse, steel town, a depressing place, heartbreak. I know there’s a lot of sadness in our world, but we hear enough so why read a story for more? Because Thirsty tells a lyrical story about the unbendable spirit of Klara, an immigrant from Croatia.

The story begins in 1883 in Croatia where Klara contends with an abusive father. Her eventual and equally abusive husband, Drago, enters the picture as a likable guy who romances her the old-fashioned way. However, that doesn’t last long. Soon after arriving in the dark town of Thirsty, a town outside of Pittsburgh, Drago changes for the worse.

Klara feels let down as she thought America was supposed to be colorful, full of meadows and an uplifting kind of place. Her depressing beginnings of her life in America compel you to keep reading when you meet the locals consisting of her best friend and her husband, the town drunk and a black man with his own store.

She has three children during the Thirsty’s 40-year journey of her life. O’Keeffe’s writing arouses the reader’s curiosity. The author also doesn’t take the easy way out, so the story never turns into a predictable one. O’Keeffe doesn’t dwell on Klara’s abuse. Instead she touches it — just enough to give you an idea of what she lives with — without wallowing in it.

It’s Klara’s relationships with the town’s people that add helping of color in her dark world. Her neighbor, Katherine doesn’t put up with Klara’s abusive husband. Drago’s dislike of blacks scares Klara into staying  away from BenJo, the shopkeeper whom Klara befriends in spite of her husband’s threats. Klara has strange encounters with Old Man Rupert, the drunk.

Katherine tells captivating stories to Klara, one of which explains how “amen” came to be. This 200-paged novel packs a lot of emotions, events, discoveries, sadness, hardship and growth to keep you intrigued while learning about the times, the working-class, the mills and the traditions.

O’Keeffe tells the enthralling story with amazing eloquence. She takes a reader on a journey of good and bad surprises worth discovering that ends on a fulfilling note without an ounce of predictability.

• Twitter Tools and Resources for Finding People [Link: Joanna Penn]
• 5 Wild Things about a Classic Children’s Story: This Maurice Sendak story originally scared my little guy — understandable. He and his older brother saw the movie today and they liked it. My mom claims I liked it when I was a child. But my first encounter with the story — that I remember — was in my favorite college class ever: Children’s Literature.
• It’s Not Business as Usual — Stop Acting Like It: “…it’s the current business model of most publishers that’s under stress, not the community service of publishing itself,” writes Guy Gonzalez.
• The Power of Perseverance: Kristin Bair O’Keeffe, author of Thirsty: A Novel, is an example of patience, perseverance and passion. She started her book in 1992! She’ll be stopping by here next month and you have a chance to win a copy of her book!

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 130 Halloween Pumpkin Carvings for Your Inspiration: These put my little Snoopy carving to shame. I’ve no idea where the Snoopy pumpkin photo is, so here’s Linux instead.
• Ten Things You Need to Stop Tweeting About: Hilarious! [Link: @socialmedium @Mediabistro]
• The Years Are Short: What may be ordinary to you, may be extraordinary to a child. Enjoy your time together.
• 10 Coolest Laptops: My jaw dropped watching the Roller Laptop video. That would be incredible for on the go.
• 15 of the World’s Strangest Flags