Starting Now (Blossom series 9)
Debbie Macomber, 2013
Random House
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780345528810
Summary
#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber returns to Seattle’s beloved Blossom Street in this heartfelt tale of friendship, renewal, and discovering what’s truly important in life.
For years Libby Morgan dreamed only of making partner in her competitive, high-pressure law firm. She sacrificed everything for her career—her friends, her marriage, her chance at creating a family. When her boss calls Libby into his office, she assumes it will finally be good news, but nothing can prepare her for the shocking reality: She’s been let go and must rebuild her entire life...starting now.
With no job prospects in sight, Libby reaches out to old friends and spends her afternoons at A Good Yarn, the local knitting store. There she forms a close bond with Lydia, the sweet-natured shop owner; Lydia’s spirited teenage daughter, Casey; and Casey’s best friend, Ava, a shy yet troubled girl who will shape Libby’s future in surprising and profound ways.
As A Good Yarn becomes a second home—and the women a new kind of family—Libby relishes the different person she’s become. She even finds time for romance with a charming and handsome doctor who seems to be her perfect match. But just as everything is coming together, Libby must make a choice that could forever change the life she holds so dear.
Warmly told and richly textured, Starting Now is filled with the promise of new beginnings and the unending delights of companionship and love. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—October 22, 1948
• Where—Yakima, Washington, USA
• Education—high school
• Awards—Quill Award; RITA and Distinguished Lifetime Achievement (Romance Writers of America)
• Currently—Port Orchard, Washington
Debbie Macomber is a best-selling American author of over 150 romance novels and contemporary women's fiction. Over 170 million copies of her books are in print throughout the world, and four have become made-for-TV-movies. Macomber was the inaugural winner of the fan-voted Quill Award for romance in 2005 and has been awarded both a Romance Writers of America RITA and a lifetime achievement award by the Romance Writers of America.
Beginning writer
Although Debbie Macomber is dyslexic and has only a high school education, she was determined to be a writer. A stay-at-home mother raising four small children, Macomber nonetheless found the time to sit in her kitchen in front of a rented typewriter and work on developing her first few manuscripts. For five years she continued to write despite many rejections from publishers, finally turning to freelance magazine work to help her family make ends meet.
With money that she saved from her freelance articles, Macomber attended a romance writer's conference, where one of her manuscripts was selected to be publicly critiqued by an editor from Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. The editor tore apart her novel and recommended that she throw it away. Undaunted, Macomber scraped together $10 to mail the same novel, Heartsong, to Harlequin's rival, Silhouette Books. Silhouette bought the book, which became the first romance novel to be reviewed by Publishers Weekly.
Career
Although Heartsong was the first of her manuscripts to sell, Starlight was the first of her novels to be published. It became #128 of the Silhouette Special Edition category romance line (now owned by Harlequin). Macomber continued to write category romances for Silhouette, and later Harlequin. In 1988, Harlequin asked Macomber to write a series of interconnected stories, which became known as the Navy series. Before long, she was selling "huge" numbers of books, usually 150,000 copies of each of her novels, and she was releasing two or three titles per year. By 1994, Harlequin launched the Mira Books imprint to help their category romance authors transition to the single title market, and Macomber began releasing single-title novels. Her first hardcover was released in 2001.
In 2002, Macomber realized that she was having more difficulty identifying with a 25-year-old heroine, and that she wanted to write books focusing more on women and their friendships. Thursdays at Eight was her first departure from the traditional romance novel and into contemporary women's fiction.
Since 1986, in most years Macomber has released a Christmas-themed book or novella. For several years, these novels were part of the Angel series, following the antics of angels Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy. Macomber, who loves Christmas, says that she writes Christmas books as well because "Every woman I know has a picture of the perfect Christmas in her mind, the same way we do romance. Reality rarely lives up to our expectations, so the best we can do is delve into a fantasy."
In general, Macomber's novels focus on delivering the message of the story and do not include detailed descriptive passages. Her heroines tend to be optimists, and the "stories are resolved in a manner that leaves the reader with a feeling of hope and happy expectation." Many of the novels take place in small, rural town, with her Cedar Cove series loosely based on her own hometown. Because of her Christian beliefs, Macomber does not include overly explicit sexual details in her books, although they do contain some sensuality.
Over 170 million copies of her books are in print throughout the world. This Matter of Marriage, became a made-for-tv movie in 1998. In 2009, Hallmark Channel broadcast "Debbie Macomber's Mrs. Miracle," their top-watched movie of the year. The next year Hallmark Channel aired "Call Me Mrs. Miracle," based on Debbie's novel of the same name, and it was the channel's highest rated movie of 2010. In 2011 Hallmark premiered "Trading Christmas," based on Debbie's novel When Christmas Comes (2004).
Debbie also now writes inspirational non-fiction. Her second cookbook, Debbie Macomber's Christmas Cookbook, and her second children's book, The Yippy, Yappy Yorkie in the Green Doggy Sweater (written with Mary Lou Carney), were released in 2012. There is also a Debbie Macomber line of knitting pattern books from Leisure Arts and she owns her own yarn store, A Good Yarn, in Port Orchard, Washington.
Now writing for Random House, Debbie published two Ballantine hardcovers in 2012, The Inn at Rose Harbor and Angels at the Table (November). The same year also saw the publication of two inspirational non-fiction hardcovers, One Perfect Word (Howard Books) and Patterns of Grace (Guideposts April). Starting Now, the ninth in her Blossom Street series, was issued in 2013.
Recognition
Macomber is a three-time winner of the B. Dalton Award, and the inaugural winner of the fan-voted Quill Award for romance (2005, for 44 Cranberry Point). She has been awarded the Romantic Times Magazine Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award and has won a Romance Writers of America RITA Award, the romance novelist's equivalent of an Academy Award, for The Christmas Basket. Her novels have regularly appeared on the Waldenbooks and USAToday bestseller lists and have also earned spots on the New York Times Bestseller List. On September 6, 2007 she made Harlequin Enterprises history, by pulling off the rarest of triple plays—having her new novel, 74 Seaside Avenue, appear at the #1 position for paperback fiction on the New York Times, USAToday and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. These three highly respected bestseller lists are considered the bellwethers for a book's performance in the United States.
She threw out the first pitch in Seattle Mariners games at Safeco Field in 2007 and 2012. The Romance Writers of America presented Debbie with their prestigious 2010 Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award.
Personal
Macomber has mentored young people, is the international spokesperson for World Vision’s Knit for Kids and serves on the Guideposts National Advisory Cabinet. She was appointed an ambassador for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America national office in 1997.
Debbie and her husband, Wayne, raised four children and have numerous grandchildren. They live in Port Orchard, Washington and winter in Florida. When not writing, she enjoys knitting, traveling with Wayne and putting on Grandma Camps for her grandchildren, for whom she has built a four-star tree house behind her home in Port Orchard. (From Wikipedia. Retrieved 3/11/2015.)
Book Reviews
Macomber’s latest is a by-the-numbers tale of midlife crisis and renewal. High-powered attorney Libby Morgan has abandoned her friends and marriage in order to make partner at her firm. One morning, in the sixth year of her eight-year partnership track, her boss lets her go.... But when a tantalizing offer comes from her old firm, she may drop everything and return to her old ways.... Libby and Stone are archetypes who come with no surprises. Readers have read this story too many times.
Publishers Weekly
No. 1 New York Times best seller Macomber takes us back to Blossom Street, site of her popular series and a fabulous place called A Good Yarn. That's where Libby Morgan washes up after the law job she's sacrificed everything for comes crashing down. Libby becomes close to Good Yarn owner Lydia, her teenage daughter, and the daughter's best friend and even has time to fall for the local doctor. Then she faces a tough decision. Fans will clamor.
Library Journal
When Libby Morgan is expecting to be named partner of her law firm but instead gets laid off, she's shocked and angry, but it may prove to be just what she needs to create the life she deserves.... Libby's journey is more about self-discovery and understanding what "a good life" truly means for her, while opening her heart to other damaged characters in the story broadens her understanding of love and purpose. Macomber's writing and storytelling deliver what she's famous for—a smooth, satisfying tale with characters her fans will cheer for and an arc that is cozy, heartwarming and ends with the expected happily-ever-after.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Starting Now is not only the title of this book, it also suggests the idea of starting over, one of the book's themes. Besides Libby, what other characters in the book are coping with life-changing developments? How are they handling the upheaval in their lives?
2. During Libby’s time of unemployment, she learned she was a survivor. Share with your group about a time in your life when you had to start over or went through a similar period of adversity. What did you learn about yourself in the process?
3. When Libby’s boss lets her go, he advises her to get a life outside of work. What did you think about Libby’s attempts to do that? Would you have approached it differently than she did? Why do some people struggle more than others to maintain a balance in life? What do you think are the keys to achieving that balance?
4. Libby discovers great joy by volunteering at the hospital. What do you think it was about the experience that proved so fulfilling? Would a different type of volunteer work have had the same impact?
5. Libby demonstrated her optimistic outlook on life when she told her friend, Robin, that eventually everything would right itself. Even so, Libby still had setbacks and disappointments. Do you believe that everything works out like it’s supposed to? Did you agree with how Libby faced her challenges? How would you have responded differently?
6. For Libby, re-discovering knitting is therapeutic. What is it about this activity that helps her? Have you had similar experiences with taking up a hobby?
7. Both Libby and Phillip have a tendency towards being workaholics but this is something Phillip has taken action to address when the book opens. How do you think this tendency impacts their relationship? Is the fact that these two characters are cut from the same cloth, so to speak, a benefit or a hindrance?
8. Several of the characters in Starting Now, including Libby and Ava, feel they have been defined by their mothers. Likewise, Casey is having a much different mother/daughter experience with Lydia. Discuss these characters and how their mothers have had an impact on them, particularly at critical crossroads in their lives.
9. Which character in Starting Now do you relate to the most—and why?
10. Libby and Robin have a falling out. Do you think Robin was justified in being upset with Libby? How would you have handled it differently?
11. Starting Now demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit. By the story’s end, in what ways was Libby’s life better because of her ability to turn adversity into opportunity?
Caution! Spoiler Alert Questions
12. Lydia seeks out Ava’s grandmother when she and Libby are made aware of Ava’s pregnancy, and they debate about whether or not this is the best course to take. Intervention by outsiders into private family matters can be challenging and controversial. Did you agree with this course of action? How might you have handled it differently?
13. When Libby thought she was going to adopt Ava’s baby, she planned on it being an open adoption, where Ava could be a part of the baby’s life. Do you think Libby’s decision was wise? If you were in Libby’s shoes, would you choose an option adoption? Why or why not?
14. How do you think things would have played out if Libby had been able to adopt Ava’s baby? How would it have affected her career? Would the course of her relationship with Phillip have been any different?
(Questions from the author's website.)