Meaning More Than I Meant, or Maybe Just a Lot of Cats

When you have published five novels, it is possible to look back over the elements common to each and to discern certain themes and patterns that weren't intentionally planted to be part of a larger scheme, but there they are.

One common element in all my novels is cats. In my first novel, Objects etc, a cat falls out a window and dies, and another cat is seen sleeping in a shop window. In The Music Lesson, my second novel, there are a multitude of cats thronging the Irish cottage of a significant character. In my third novel, The Little Women, there is one cat named Tiggy Winkle and another named Miss Demeanor. In Triangle, there is a cat, Joe Green, short for Giuseppe Verdi (nobody got that, I mean nobody), who almost falls off a high ledge to his death, but then he doesn't. In True Confections, there is a cat who dies horribly as the consequence of a fire. (Fire is a topic for another day.)

So what's with all the cats? Maybe nothing momentous. I love cats. See above for a glimpse of my cat Katinka, the not-unlarge Siberian. Cats signify for me, and so why shouldn't they be present in the lives of my characters? In effect, cats are simply also characters in all of my novels so far.

The Music Lesson redux

This week, the new Broadway paperback of my second novel, The Music Lesson, was published. I am thrilled that my 1999 novel has steadily appealed to readers in more than a dozen languages and has been a perennial with book groups. The Picador paperback ran through eleven printings, and I am optimistic that the Broadway edition will have a nice long shelf life.

I am especially happy that Random House/Broadway are my new paperback publishers, with True Confections just out from Broadway, and with my first novel, Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, scheduled to appear later this year, in July. It is a major big deal for a novelist to have an entire backlist in print. It's a terrific vote of confidence from the publisher, and I am grateful.

Candy Cane Season

Have you heard about the origins of the candy cane? Have you been told that it all began when a candymaker wanted to make a sweet that would symbolize the birth, ministry and death of Jesus? So he made a stick of pure white hard candy, white symbolizing the virgin birth and the sinless life of Jesus. The hardness symbolizes how Jesus is the solid rock and the foundation of the church. The firmness also represents the promises of God.The candy maker bent the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the name of Jesus, also representing the staff of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. The three small red stripes show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received, by which we are healed. The large red stripe is for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could be forgiven and have the promise of eternal life. Does all this ring a bell? And why mint? The flavor of mint is related to hyssop, which is associated with purification and sacrifice; hyssop is thought to have been used at the cross when Jesus was given a drink of vinegar before He gave up the Ghost.

Or maybe you heard it this way?

In 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral handed out sugar sticks among his young singers to keep them quiet during the long Living Creche ceremony. In honor of the occasion, he had the candies bent into shepherds’ crooks. In 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio, decorated a small blue spruce with paper ornaments and candy canes. It wasn’t until the turn of the century that the red and white stripes and peppermint flavors became the norm. The body of the cane is white, representing the life that is pure. The broad red stripe is symbolic of the Lord’s sacrifice for man.

ALL URBAN LEGENDS!


In its early form, the candy cane was a simple white stick of sugar. No cane shape, no stripes. The bend came next, possibly as a practical solution in the handmade process of pulling, cutting, and twisting the sugar stick, so as to facilitate hanging on a rod to dry.

The first mass production of candy canes is generally thought to have been achieved by Bob's Candy Company in 1920. Today, Bob's is part of the mega candy company Farley's & Sathers, who have taken over Trolli, Chuckles, Brach's, and a host of other traditional brands. Bobs (minus the apostrophe these days) are still dominant in the candy cane market.

Strange Candy for Thanksgiving

Turkey Joints have been hand-made by Nora's Candy Shop in Rome, New York, since 1919.

What, you say, you don't know about Turkey Joints? You have not heard about these weird confections with soft chocolate and brazil nut "bone marrow" centers surrounded by crunchy sugar bones?

You can order them here for your Thanksgiving table: www.turkeyjoints.com

[Thanks to Aaron Gandy for the gift of a jar of Turkey Joints a couple of years ago. They come in jars! I just couldn't find a place for them in True Confections!]

Salty and Crunchy plus that M -- a Winner!

Big news in the land of M&Ms!
The National Confectionary Sales Association announced last week that the winner of the Best Candy of 2010 Award is Pretzel M&Ms. But we knew that already.

$1.9 BILLION DOLLARS for Halloween Candy?

According to Nielsen Research, America spent approximately $1.9 billion for candy this Halloween season. That's a lot of candy.

The most popular Halloween candy is the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Offensive as this may be to some people, I must confess that I really dislike Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The peanut butter always seems to me to be a terrible combination of stale, rancid, and sugary. I know that I am in a minority and we are a nation of Reese's lovers.


The Peanut Butter Cup was created by Harry Burnett (H.B.) Reese, who had worked for a while for Milton S. Hershey on the dairy side of the business. Reese's first candy bar attempts were Johnny Bars (molasses) and Lizzie Bars (coconut). Untasted, I would trade a PB Cup for a Lizzie Bar in a heartbeat. In True Confections, Alice Ziplinsky would have referenced the Johnny and Lizzie Bars if I had known about them before now.

THE MEMORY OF ALL THAT

Not a staircase thought, but I am sure I will soon be thinking about things I meant to include in the revised manuscript for my forthcoming memoir which went back to my editor today. It isn't too late yet, but it soon will be.

July 2011 pub date. Watch this space.