What's better than a really, really juicy summer read? How about a really, really juice summer read where you get to follow the author's journey, bite your nails alongside as the suspense mounts, really see how yes, Virginia, There Is A Writer Just As Neurotic As You, and then finally--finally!--getting your hands on that book and IT. IS. PERFECT.

Yeah, that sounds awesome to me, too.

Joshilyn Jackson's Between, Georgia came out this month amidst much cheering from her fan base. This is her second novel, following on the heels of last year's acclaimed gods in Alabama.

In the interest of full disclosure, I feel the need to point out that I am not just a slavering fan girl when it comes to Joshilyn. She's also a dear friend of mine; so if you feel the need to take this all with a grain of salt, be my guest. But some of you may remember from my post last year that I don't plug on the basis of friendship. Friendship will get you hugs and kisses and maybe even small tokens of my love. But books are serious business. I do not laud unless I am blown away.

gods in Alabama blew me away, alright. And then I waited for Between, sure that it would be just as good (maybe better?) but again, feeling that niggling in the back of my mind. What if...? What would I say if...? I needn't have worried.

Between, Georgia is enjoying its duly earned #1 Book Sense pick for July slot while the positive reviews just keep rolling in. AOL Books' summer reading list says:

Jackson's 2005 'gods in Alabama' (the small "g" is on purpose) seemed like another sunny-side-up Southern-fried novel -- only it wasn't. Same here -- eccentric and family-bound characters are where Jackson's similarities with others ends. Here, the story of the conflicted yet determined Nonny Frett will charm and disturb in equal measures.

Book Fetish gives Between, Georgia 4.5 stars, adding:

The characters were extremely well thought out and I felt like I was standing at the kitchen window looking in as I watched the series of events unfold. Each character had their strengths and weaknesses, with nobody being perfect, which showed the realistic side of your average, dysfunctional family. [...] A recommended book for those looking for pool-side reading material this summer.

But none of this is the best part. The best part is what devoted readers of Joshilyn's blog have been enjoying all along: Watching someone who is, yes, of course, enormously talented, and sure, funnier than should be legal... but also endearingly human wind her way through the process of writing and publishing. Did we get to have such regular peeks into an author's brain before the age of blogs? How did we survive??

Joshilyn wrote recently about how she is adjusting to this author thing, and how she is even finding herself responding differently to criticism, now. In talking about an email she received, telling her that gods in Alabama was offensive:

My response more than a year ago when gods first came out would probably have been to cry and write her a four page explanation of WHY the language is the way it is and WHY she did the things she did and say, PS that was a fragment, and ANYWAY I KNOW MY MOM IS PROUD OF ME, and then I would stew over it when she didn't write back, converted, and apologize for saying mean things about my best beloved.

My response now? Here in whatever month this is in a year I suspect of being 2006? I was going to say I deleted it, because that version makes me sound emotionally stable and mature, but let's be DEADLY honest here. In truth, I IMMEDIATELY hit reply, typed out, "I am so sorry. Perhaps you might like a sweet little book that my friend James wrote better. You can pick it up just about anywhere. It's called Deliverance." and then hovered, hand on mouse, cursor on send button, for a good 8 seconds while the still small voice of the Lord told me, DO NOT BE A SNOTBUCKET. THEN I deleted my reply and moved her e-mail to my BLOG THIS file, and I felt an emotion that can best be described as....meh. She didn't like the book. Oh well. My emotional reaction bobulator needle BARELY twitched. I don't think it got above "Vague Pique."

She muses that maybe she's finally understanding this:

My first publicist, Jennifer, told me this would happen, although at the time, dewey and terrified and aching with longing for RELEASE DAY when my book would enter the world and OH! GEPPETTO I would be a REAL BOY!!! to come, I didn't understand her. Here is what she said: "You put the book out, and then the reader speaks. You have to shut up then."

And we, loyal fans of her blog, whoop and holler and cheer. And that is partially because she is the same woman who had this to say back in February:

Another blurb came in for Between, Georgia, and I have to tell you, it has made me COMPLETELY repulsive. I keep calling my editor and asking her to read it to me v.e.r.y. s.l.o.w.l.y.

LET'S LOOK AT IT, SHALL WE? Lord knows I haven't stopped looking at it since it arrived....

“BETWEEN, GEORGIA is a small miracle, and Nonny Frett is the most engaging woman who ever lived in the pages of a book. Joshilyn Jackson is an enormously talented writer.�
Anne Rivers Siddons, New York Times bestselling author of SWEETWATER CREEK
[...]
The day the blurb arrived, I was FOUL! I got this SOCK PUPPET of my daughter's...he is named Socky, but I put it on and named it Mrs. Rivers Siddons and I kept asking it OBNOXIOUS questions.
Me: "WHAT ABOUT EMMA??? You know, JANE AUSTEN'S EMMA?"
Puppet: "HMMMMM...yes very engagaing...but.... I prefer Nonny!"
Me: Okay but---what about, say, Lily Bart? How could any fictional creature be more engaging than---
Scott: THIS IS THE POLICE. YOU ARE SURROUNDED. SET DOWN THE SOCK PUPPET AND BACK SLOWLY AWAY.

Would I have loved Between, Georgia even if I hadn't gotten to watch Joshilyn on her journey, play voyeur through her blog--both enjoying her very real and dorky elation over All Things Book as well as being privy to such gems as The Terrible True Story of What Happened on Mother's Day? Absolutely.

Do I, and other readers of her blog, consider it a double-plus super-good bonus to get to know Joshilyn the Person in addition to Joshilyn the Novelist? Hell yes.

Read the blog. Buy the books. I promise you'll be glad you did.

Mir

BlogHer Contributing Editor Mir also blogs at Woulda Coulda Shoulda and Want Not.