Abby's Faves

Like Lisa, I’ve been hearing the lovely voice of Julie Andrews in my head, every time I’ve checked the blog all week. And I, too, know all the words – not just to this song but, um, all of them from The Sound of Music. Like Maria Von Trapp, music is one of my favorite things (although, unlike Maria, I can’t sing, and my children don’t follow behind me through the mountains singing “doe, a deer. . .” ).

I would also add coffee, dark chocolate, Trader Joes, sunshine, good books, good movies, onesies, sweaters, and hardwood floors to my list of favorite things. And I could go on. But I thought it might be more interesting to write about the favorite things of Abigail Reed, the main character in The September Sisters instead. Here are her top five favorite things (in no particular order), and also how they have roots in some of my own favorite things.

1.)Snow: A big span of The September Sisters takes place over the winter, and when Abby has snow days from school, a lot of interesting things happen to her. As a child, snow days were my absolute favorite things – no school, hot chocolate, sledding down the neighbor’s hill with my sister. For Abby the snow means all of this, plus, it takes on special meaning for her and her next door neighbor, Tommy (see # 2).

2.) Tommy: In a year filled with loss and disaster, Tommy is her one bright spot, the one person she comes to trust, and maybe even love. I never had a Tommy in my life, per se, but I did have a first kiss and a first love, which are some of my favorite memories of being a teenager (especially since I am now married to that first love.)

3.) Shakespeare’s Sonnet # 116: “Let me not to the marriage of true minds. . .” It has very special meaning for Tommy and Abby in the book, and it’s also my favorite sonnet. My husband wrote it to me in a card once, when we first started dating, and then we later put it in our wedding program!

4.) Her sapphire heart necklace (see pretty, sparkly cover above!): Abby and her sister Becky both got these as presents from their grandmother. When Becky disappears, her sapphire necklace, found in a field, is the only clue. Afterwards, Abby treasures her own necklace even more deeply. My own grandparents once gave me and my sister gold pearl necklaces – actually, we both thought they were sort of ugly, not our favorite things at all. But when I was writing the book, my grandfather got sick, and I thought about the necklaces, about what it was like to have something like that, a physical representation of someone’s love. And I realized those are my favorite kinds of objects, even if they’re not always the prettiest.

5.) Books: Abby’s favorite subject is English, and books allow her an escape. She loves To Kill a Mockingbird, but in some ways, her misinterpretation of it yields disastrous results! This is sort of a no-brainer, my favorite things are books, too! Good books, books that make me think, laugh, cry, want to write. (Click here to read my post on my favorite books.) You’ll see To Kill a Mockingbird didn’t make my list – but I’m certain it would make Abby’s!

So there you have it – a little more about Abigail Reed, which maybe even also says a little more about me! If you want to know more about Abby, you can read The September Sisters, which will be out in 74 days (or so says the super-cool widget to your right!!) For more about me, check back next week!