How's Your Summer Going?

Lucy with Hannah and David

LUCY BURDETTE:  Since amazingly enough Labor Day is less than a month away, I thought it might be fun to check in and ask about the highlights of your summer so far. We have been on a whirlwind of family events – two weddings and a new granddaughter. Oh, and two trips to California. The first was to Malibu for my darling nephew's wedding. It was a glorious weekend with lots of family time. 

Beautiful Dorothea

We thought we'd be going back to California in August after our daughter's baby was born, but nature had other ideas. On July 21, all 5 lbs. 11 oz. of her made her dramatic appearance. Her name is Dorothea, after John's mom, and baby and her fabulous parents are all doing well. Tired, but that's to be expected with these new creatures. 

We careened directly from Venice CA to North Carolina to participate in my sister's wedding. The most amazing part of this

Cousin Joan with Richard and Martha

celebration was connecting with Joan, a cousin I hadn't seen in 40 years, the daughter of my mom's oldest sister. Those three sisters and all of us cousins spent many holidays and summer vacations together, but Time has a way of changing things. She was so lovely, and has many memories of my grandmother from living with her that I can't wait to hear. And we learned that my cousin Tom Isleib on the other side has an amazing talent for limericks, and my brother emerged as a limerick master as well. I will leave you with one example. You'll see the topic can be anything... And stay tuned for more limericks on Friday--and a contest!

Cousins sent their men out to fetch lunch.
"Bet it's Subway," said Steve on a hunch.
Well, we gobbled that goo
While the flies had some, too,
Now we're lying around in a bunch.

RHYS BOWEN: What lovely family time, Lucy. I'm so glad you got to enjoy all of these events. My summer seems to have been going on forever. I keep hoping there will be at least one moment to take a book under a tree and relax. So far I've been to England, saw the premiere of the play of my children's book, taught a workshop in Tuscany, visited the hotel where John's parents spent their honeymoon in Santa Margherita Liguri, did research in Stresa, visited friends in England. Then worked like crazy to finish first draft of next Georgie book. Was on the faculty of the Book Passage Mystery Conference and have just returned from a workshop in Kansas City and a book event for Crowned and Dangerous in Scottsdale. Next up is an event on Mackinac Island in two weeks. I'm planning to watch Olympics and catch my breath for a couple of days before I do anything else!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  After that? I am going to skip my turn. Rhys! You are astonishing, but it makes my Tanglewood-attending, (Mozart and Mahler) and cataract surgery (life-changingly amazing) and book tour planing for SAY NO MORE (November!) pale in comparison. Still! I am having a very nice summer. Working working working. Today I reached word 55,555 in UNTITLED. Yay!

HALLIE EPHRON: When I'm not on the road (right now I'm in Portland OR at the Willamette Writers Conference - a fabulous conference!) I'm chained to my desk editing two books and missing deadlines. When my kids show up I drop everything for family time, but my poor husband who's off for the summer is very much flying solo, poor guy, for a few weeks yet.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I've managed to make a few of my summer bucket list items already: I've gone to see the Sea Dogs play ball in Portland AND the Rockies play the Pirates in Coors Field in Denver. I've had a fresh haddock sandwich at a lobster shack in Midcoast Maine. We've hosted friends for cookouts on our built-last-year patio, and I've spent the day up at Theatre of Monmouth seeing one of their excellent Shakespeare productions.

I've also been traveling quite a bit - although all of us will sound like stay-at-home recluses compared to Rhys! I went to Syracuse to spend time with my parents, went to Colorado Springs to stay with one of my best friends. Along with the ballgame, we also rode the cog railroad up Pike's Peak, explored historical sites and spent an afternoon in an outdoor hot tub drinking wine spritzers. Bliss.

The best thing so far? We just got home from Chicago, where we saw The Boy graduate from basic training at Naval Station Great Lakes! We stayed at the BEST hotel - the Deer Path Inn in Lake Forest. It was the perfect place to hang out and catch up with our son, and that had three separate restaurants, so we never even had to leave to find a meal. It was great seeing him again and seeing the positive changes the Navy has wrought on him already.

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: It's been a summer of lots of travel — to Hudson, NY and Providence, RI. Now we're back in NYC (with the heat) and Kiddo is going to an engineering camp he really loves. I'm trying to write, as well as do the usual accompanying blog posts that come with a new book (THE QUEEN'S ACCOMPLICE drops on October 4). Did I mention it's hot? It's really hot. We're watching the Olympics in the air conditioning.

And did someone say limerick? The town we stayed in in Rhode Island is called "Pawtucket." 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I think I should skip my turn, too. I have spent my summer writing. I finished my book (only a year late) on July 18th. I collapsed for a couple of days, then spent a week madly gathering material for Laura Maestro, the wonderful illustrator who does the endpaper maps. THEN I started revisions. The book went to copy edit on Friday. While I wait for the copy edit, I'm working on revisions for the German version. That is it.

And it's been very, very hot. 107 here on Friday, but thankfully we've had a little cool front. But on Friday I'm going to Kansas City for the weekend with daughter and granddaughter to see my best friend, so that is my big much-anticipated treat of the summer! (Assuming copy edit doesn't arrive before Friday...) 

Lucy: Red friends, how are your summers going?

Get a Clue — Board Games in the Video Age

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: We’ve recently decided that Friday is pizza and board game night (no electronics of any sort allowed). The Kiddo is just the right age for one of my favorites, Clue. (Does anyone remember it? It was created in 1949 and has just kept on going…) Anyway, I went to our local game store to buy it— and was delighted to hear the owner say sales of board games are up. 

Huzzah! Are we turning back to actual games, played by actual people, with actual snacks? 

(The last part is of utmost importance here…)

As a mystery writer, I love Clue — a grand British manor house, lots of questionable characters (I’m always suspicious of Professor Plum), and
a murder to be solved. 

Last night, it started to rain as we played and the Kiddo declared, “This is perfect! ‘It was a dark and stormy
night…’" 

And so I ask my fellow
Reds — do you remember Clue? 

What were your favorite
board games as a child? 

And do you ever play board
games now?





RHYS BOWEN: My family has always loved board games. TABOO has been a favorite for a long while (you have to 

describe something without using a list of words. The grandkids are really good at it). 

But we used to love Clue when the kids were growing up. Scrabble, Boggle... anything with words these days.

I also belong to a board games group at my local AAUW chapter. Very therapeutic with lots of laughter. Our favorite is Cranium (see, we're brainy ladies) and also a card game called Quiddler.

HANK (MISS SCARLETT) PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, CLUE! 

Kidding me? We loved Clue and we played it ALL the time, with much delight, and I attribute my entire career to it.

Well, not really, but I am still enchanted, seriously, thinking about how it made us all think, and how it was different every time, and every time I hear the word "conservatory" I wonder if there's a secret passage.

I used to look back at the used score sheets, and remember how the stories turned out.

I scarfed up Miss Scarlett, wouldn't  play, I fear, if I wasn't her.  Funnily, now, I would pick to be Colonel Mustard, because he's the iconic one, right? Mrs. White, boring. Who was blue and black? Trying to remember...

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Dear Hank, er, Miss Scarlett — Blue is Mrs. Peacock and then there's Mr. Green. No black. (Or anyone Black, as Noel and Miss Edna would say.) So funny you loved Miss Scarlett (who doesn't?) and are now a Jungle Red! Did you all do funny voices? We do. Our Miss Scarlett sounds like Marilyn Monroe.



JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I love, love, love CLUE, although it's a bit of  hard sell sometimes with my family - I tend to win a lot (okay, almost always) and they say I have an unfair advantage. I always play Mrs. White, my son is Mr. Green (apparently Rev. Green in the recent updated game) the Smithie is Prof. Plum and Youngest is Miss Scarlett. The movie is an absolute hoot as well, if you haven't seen it.

We also love Monopoly. I don't think we've ever actually finished a game, but we always dissolve into shrieks of laughter and in-jokes during play.

Ross and the kids challenge each other to chess (which I am hopeless at.) Ross's favorite game is RISK, which is a bit too much like history class homework for me. The one game we two can agree on is Scrabble. He trounces me.

My favorite board game as a kid? THE GAME OF LIFE. Who didn't love getting assigned a career, collecting a spouse and children, and driving the tiny plastic car up hill and down on your way to retire in either Millionaire Acres or a refrigerator box?



DEBORAH CROMBIE:  Oh, I love board games! So does my daughter, but hubby HATES them, so daughter and I only play occasionally. Not sure about son-in-law--will have to find out. I loved Clue, and Monopoly, and Risk, and Scrabble. But my all-time favorite was Trivial Pursuit. Does that count as a real board game? I'm always tempted by the new updated versions, but don't know anyone except my daughter who will play with me.

Hank, of COURSE you were Miss Scarlet! 



SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Debs, we have the Disney Trivial Pursuit game! Love it!

Lovely readers, do you remember Clue? 

What were your favorite board games as a child? 

And do you ever play board games now?