Best Staged Plans.
Life changing.
That’s how I describe the day Claire Cook entered my life. Sure I loved the movie, Must Love Dogs, which is based on her best-selling book…but the gravitational force that occured all around after hearing the author speak, changed me.
She was the final keynote speaker at the skirt! writing conference I was attending in Atlanta. Before she dived into her insightful speech, first she asked all 100 attendees to write our name on a small piece of paper and put it in a bin that was passed around the room. At the end of the hour, a name would randomly be drawn and the winner would receive a journal and tote.
Claire explained that she goes through this exact ritual at the beginning of every speaking engagement — and has kept in touch with each person who takes home the prize. Each person has also gone onto becoming a published author, and she even attends their debut launch party.
I can’t explain how or why or when psychic-tendancies wash over me, but the moment my name was placed in the bag…with certainty, I knew mine would be the one picked.
And it was.
My eyes started to water. Not so much because the symbol was somehow a magical spell for my dreams to be achieved. But because it felt like the Universe was saying loud and clear, “You believe you’re talented enough to become published, but the reality of it actually happening feels too far out of reach. Well guess what? It’s not. You can do this. You will do this.”
Ever since that day, my world continues to lead me toward crossing off pre-pubbed in front of the word: author. I know it’s fundamentally because my consciousness shifted; I started to believe, really believe. And Claire Cook directly and indirectly facilitated that. Through the serendipitious token that evidently my belief system needed, but also through her empowering stories and encouraging lessons.
I cracked open the authographed copy of her book Best Staged Plans a few weeks ago. There was just no way the summer could come to an end and the 238 pages not be consumed…something about it just screams: Read me with sand between your toes.
Sandy Sullivan is an expert at transforming cluttered rooms into attractive houses ready for sale. If only reinventing her life were as easy as choosing the perfect paint color. She’s eager to put her family’s suburban Boston home on the market, to downsize, and to simplify her own life. But she must first deal with her foot-dragging husband and her grown son, who has moved back home after college to inhabit the basement “bat cave.”
After reading them the riot act, Sandy takes a job staging a boutique hotel in Atlanta recently acquired by her best friend’s boyfriend. The good news is that she can spend time with her recently married daughter Shannon in Atlanta. The bad news is Shannon finds herself heading back to Boston for job training, leaving Sandy and her southern son-in-law, Chance, as reluctant roommates. If that’s not complicated enough, Sandy begins to suspect that her best friend’s boyfriend may be seeing another woman on the side.
Just like Claire was relatable in person, so are her characters in a hardback. The book is humorous and heartfelt. And something I especially treasured is how short the chapters are. I absolutely loved how effortlessly the page turning took place…and if I needed to stop at a moment’s notice, the bookmark wouldn’t get swallowed alive inside of a ridiculously long section.
For example, when sneaking out of the office during my lunch break, enjoying food and fodder at the same time…but quickly needing to head back; there’s nothing worse than having to close the covers to a book and feel total abandonment. Claire keeps you covered with a sense of closure every few pages.
To be honest, I was initially worried that I couldn’t relate to the main character, a middle-aged mother who covets her ‘readers’ (reading glasses) the way I swoon over stilettos. But Claire did an amazing job of building the storylines, filled with witty one-liners throughout, that the age gap never left me hungry.
One aspect in particular that I adored about Sandy’s character is how neurotic she can be at times, and is also super genuine.
- She talks to her GPS as if it’s a friend in the passenger seat, finding ironic metaphors in redirecting routes on the road, and in life.
- She befriends a homeless woman who she passes on the street and comes up with creative ways to help her get life back in order.
- And last but not least, she goes shopping for a paint ball gun with her BFF in pursuit of getting revenge on an unfaithful partner (absolutely brilliant strategy!).
I took away this message: Even someone who professionally stages rooms, homes, and hotels to appear perfect — cannot force her own surroundings to be pristine. We all in our own right stage plans for life, but it’s important not to let the meaningful people and moments pass us by in the meantime when we’re busy plotting.
I’m sad to say good-bye to my 12-12:30 p.m. daily date, today was our last one. But I guess that just means I’ll need to backtrack and pick up her other seven novels.
Besides, the Life Changer offered advice for me and my fellow writers back in June, to actively support each other. So now, on a regular basis, I purchase and review my peers’ books.
I’ll be sure to share this sentiment with Claire, and explain how she influenced me greatly…when we’re standing around a table at my book signing.
