QUOTE YOURSELF!

In MY HUSBAND'S SWEETHEARTS (pre-order here) the main character has an unwieldy mother. She's chockful of advice like:

"You should marry your first husband for his genes; the second for his money; the third (or fourth or so) for love." and "Never let thine ass give into gravity." and "When dealing with a belligerent hairstylist, you must embrace your inner bitch." and "...I like feminism except, of course, when it asks me not to wear a support bra." and "We love who we love -- even when we hate them."

And in the table of contents -- otherwise known as: Sayings Your Mother Never Cross-stitched Into a Pillow -- you may have run across: "Happy strangers can bring out the worst in anyone." "Your mother is a woman you don't have to become." "You can't always eat your way out of a bad decision, but if you want to try, begin with chocolate." "A family can be tied together by an unlikely series of knots."

These phrases are littered throughout the novel because, I confess, I'm a quote-lover and I've been keeping record of quotes for decades -- just the pithy, weird, exotic and ripped-from-context gems that the people around me (and occasionally me my own odd self) find them(our)selves saying.

A lot of people will tell you the value of keeping a journal, but I'm all for a quote-book, homemade and hand-added. No one famous -- no Churchill or Helen Keller. Just your own entourage and the date. You think you'll always remember especially the things your kids say -- "I can fart at will!" "Who's Will?" and one of my random faves in conversation with my then two-year-old: "Aren't you a good boy?" "No." "But you are a good boy!" "No." "Then what are you?" "I a octopus!" -- but you won't remember. (Who can remember what they said at breakfast even?)

And so this wee blog is a giving you a challenge. Try the quote book. Just try it. For a month. Be dutiful. Have it handy. And then look back at that month and see what odd gems you've got. I think you'll dig it.

Julianna Baggott -- Author of MY HUSBAND'S SWEETHEARTS under the pen name BRIDGET ASHER.

For more, visit: http://www.bridgetasher.com/ -- http://www.juliannabaggott.com/ -- or the current issue of REAL SIMPLE (a humor piece - p. 310). For her kid stuff: http://www.theanybodies.com/.