My Turn for 50!

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Some people are thinking "Finally!", and others are thinking "Really?", and my favorite people are thinking "No way, Patti can't possibly be 50!"

I will be 50, as of Sunday, August 3, 2014. I don't feel like I'm 50, and am blessed with looking younger than my age. I'm happy, healthy, I have a wonderful boyfriend, Mike, I have a great job that I love, I love living in Arizona, and my family and friends are happy and healthy; overall, life is very good.

I actually wrote an article that was published in the Arizona Star last month about my work: World's Best Job: Selecting Books for the Library. This was a great addition to my year.

One of the cool things I've been doing this year is receiving birthday postcards from around the world. I requested in April that friends and family send me a postcard from wherever they may be vacationing or from their hometown. This has been a lot of fun, and I'm thoroughly enjoying going to the mailbox! I'd love to receive a postcard if you haven't sent one to me already; email me at superbkwmn1992 at gmail dot com, and I'll send you my snail mail address.

A new interest that has popped up in my life is comic books and graphic novels. This is a whole new world for me, and I believe I have The Mary Sue and Tor.com to blame for much of this. Also, Dark Horse  published a 6 issue Firefly comic series called Leaves on the Wind, written by Zack Whedon (brother of Joss) and illustrated by Georges Jeanty. That got me into the comic book store, and then The Mary Sue and Tor led me to other comics. Currently I'm reading Ms. Marvel, The Lumber Janes, Star Wars: Rebel Heist, and I have some more graphic novels at home from the library. I never thought I'd be reading comic books at all, let alone at "midlife".

Another contribution to the above was "The Avengers", and the movies proceeding it; "Iron Man" (I and II), "Captain America" and "Thor". I didn't think I'd like these kinds of movies either, but they're a great ride, with superheroes who are interesting characters rescuing everybody. Now we just have to give Black Widow her own movie...

I am also coloring, which many of my friends and family know about. I primarily use colored pencils, and print out coloring sheets from the internet--Pinterest has been a great source for this. I like choosing the colors and seeing how the color combinations work together. I'm not sure what, if anything, is next in the creativity area of my life, but it will be interesting to find out.

I am still very interested in Detroit area sports teams and follow the Detroit Tigers, Red Wings and Lions from Arizona. My Big 10 team is the University of Michigan (my dad and grandfather are alumni), but I also follow the University of Arizona as they are the home town team for Tucson. Mike and I have also been to car shows here in Tucson, and hope to visit Michigan sometime in the future for the Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise.

Of course I continue with my great interest in reading, and my favorite genre continues to be mystery. I also read a little romance (Jill Shalvis and Jennifer Crusie), and quite a bit of fantasy (the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness has been dominating my summer). Coming up for the rest of the year are new books by some of my favorite mystery authors; Margaret Maron, Louise Penny, Lauren Willig, Deborah Coonts, G.M. Malliet, Charles Finch, Deborah Crombie, and more series entries for Jenn McKinlay and Juliet Blackwell. I've cut back on the signings I go to, but in the last few years authors have been coming to me via the Tucson Festival of Books. This past March I moderated a fun panel with Jenn McKinlay, G.M. Malliet and Deborah Crombie. Spending time with these three authors, in addition to catching up with Steve Hamilton and William Kent Krueger made it a great festival for me this year!

Mike and I traveled to Michigan for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary celebration in June. I miss many things about MI, but the humidity isn't one of them! My parents' party went off beautifully; it was the perfect time of year for an outdoor event. Mike and I then spent a week seeing some sights, such as Greenfield Village, the Detroit Institute of Arts and Ann Arbor. We also met up with some of my friends, including a few who also are turning or have turned 50 this year. We had a wonderful vacation, with many people contributing to a great trip for us!

My birthday weekend includes dinner out with Mike and some of our friends, the movie "Guardians of the Galaxy" over the weekend (part of a theme I'm noticing here...), and some reading and relaxing. Sounds like a great way to mark a milestone to me!

Thanks to all who have been or are making my 50th birthday year fun!!!
Happy Reading!
Patti