Michele Torrey's Blog, page 5

Most of you know that I'm leaving soon for Africa (July 25). But, I would guess, most of you don't know why I'm really going. On the surface, you might say that I'm going just to scale Mt. Kilimanjaro and view the world from on high (19,300 feet). Or if pressed, you might say it's because I'm catering to the adventuress in me.

But the real reason has been brewing for more than forty years. When I was a little girl, for some reason, the name "Africa" seemed to quiver with mystery. It was...

Most of you know that I'm leaving soon for Africa (July 25). But, I would guess, most of you don't know why I'm really going. On the surface, you might say that I'm going just to scale Mt. Kilimanjaro and view the world from on high (19,300 feet). Or if pressed, you might say it's because I'm catering to the adventuress in me.

But the real reason has been brewing for more than forty years. When I was a little girl, for some reason, the name "Africa" seemed to quiver with mystery. It was remote, e

Hujambo!

In five weeks and one day, I leave for Tanzania. The closer I get to July 25, the more nervous and excited I become. Nervous because there are so many challenges in Tanzania, culturally and physically, and excited because I’m only going to climb Kilimanjaro once, so here’s my chance. (Actually, that last thought makes me nervous too. Egads!)

With the exception of a few articles here and there, I’ve got all my equipment. But I’m baffled as to how I will cram everything into two suitcases a

Although I love poetic language — the language of the abstract, the unspoken, of simile and metaphor — I don’t often try my hand at poetry. But one day as I entered a wooded glade, the poetic muse struck. I sat on a bench, took out my pencil and paper, and let that rare muse wander as it pleased. The result was a poem that speaks to my past, the idyllic years spent in England when I was four and five years old. So, for better or worse, here it is:

PRINCESS

by Michele Torrey

Flower boxes
bolstered th

[image error] Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire




My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
There was much in Gregory Maguire’s novel, WICKED, that tickled my fancy. Elphaba, the main character more commonly known as “The Wicked Witch of the West” in the Wizard of Oz, sheds her uni-dimensional bad girl image for a more likable and complex one, complete with wounded childhood, lamentable green skin, and a tenderness toward animals. Her childhood days are a hoot (her first wor

I’m often asked about my DOYLE & FOSSEY: SCIENCE DETECTIVES series. Kids love them. Parents love them. Teachers love them. But, until now, only book one was available in paperback (which, sadly, very sadly, went out of print).

I’m tickled to announce that — woo-hoo! — the entire series of DOYLE & FOSSEY: SCIENCE DETECTIVES is being released in paperback by Sterling Publishing. THE CASE OF THE GASPING GARBAGE and THE CASE OF THE MOSSY LAKE MONSTER will be released on June 2 (that’s next week!), w

1. Be personable, yet professional - It’s a fine line. If you met face-to-face with your editor today, you’d probably have lunch, coffee and dessert, laugh, talk shop, and then leave feeling like you’ve discovered the secrets of levitation and everlasting bliss. But remember you are also in a professional relationship: you have deadlines to deal with, differences of opinion regarding character motivation, a new contract to negotiate. . . . It is important that you keep your relationship on a pro

Hope you can join me at one of my booksignings on Saturday, May 16 (yes, that’s tomorrow).

1:30-2:15 PM: Mockingbird Books, 7220 Woodlawn Ave NE, Seattle, WA, (206) 518-5886.

4:00-5:00 PM: Orca Books, 509 4th Ave E, Olympia, WA, (360) 352-0123

It looks like it will be another gorgeous day here in the Pacific Northwest, and I’d love to see you there!

I’ve finished my round of antibiotics. The wheezing in my lungs is almost gone. I can take a deep breath now without feeling like I have a fist-sized rock in my right lung. Yay!!! Now it’s a matter of getting myself back on track exercise-wise and head-wise. Should be simple. But I admit, I’ve enjoyed evenings resting on the couch rather than going to the gym. Trying to get back into shape now sounds about as appealing as scrubbing out toilets at a Frat house.

But, hey, I’ve a mountain to climb.

Maya Running by Anjali Banerjee




My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Indian-born Maya Mukherjee attends middle school in a small town in Manitoba. Besides struggling with the usual issues of adolescence (including pimples and braces), Maya straddles the line between the two cultures, with neither foot firmly planted in either one. Maya yearns to belong. Maya wants to be beautiful and hip, and have the coolest boy in the school go gaga after her. One day, when Maya prays to Ganesh, the all-knowing