Today's guest post is introduced by Stephanie, and I thank both her and Kristina Riggle for joining us!
Once Upon a List, the new novel by Robin Gold has inspired everybody here at Avon to reevaluate their “Bucket List”—things we’d like to accomplish before we, you know, kick that proverbial bucket. When younger, mine included things like “get into a good college” (check), “move to New York City” (check), and “marry Prince Harry” (still working on that one).
Now that I’m older, my list has morphed into a series of even more grandiose, seemingly impossible, yet practical goals: “find a rent-controlled apartment in New York City,” “pay off all my student loans,” “take my first trip on an airplane, to any exotic location imaginable” (yes, I’m in my almost-mid-20’s and have still never been on a plane before – sad but true).
One of the most charming and relatable aspects of Robin Gold’s Once Upon a List is that our heroine, Clara Black, rediscovers her childhood bucket list at a very vulnerable time in her life—her fiancé, the love of her life, has just passed away and she feels shaken, not sure what this version of future holds for her. We follow Clara as she finds her list of old dreams and pursues each of them into a new future. So in celebration of Robin’s heartwarming and life-affirming tale, we have asked Robin, along with two of our favorite authors, Kristina Riggle and Susan McBride to share their very own bucket lists with us this week. Today we hear from Kristina. Enjoy, and feel free to share your bucket lists too!
Kristina Riggle’s Bucket ListMy bucket list used to have one thing on it: become a published novelist. Check, as of 2009.
(Really, it’s folly for a bucket list item to be dependent on outside forces. It should have been more like, “write a novel and submit it to publishers.” Moving on…)
I’m glad to be asked now what I’d put on my bucket list, because it gives me an excuse to look up from the frantic onrush of daily tasks and ponder … now what?
There are lots of things I would try once, in the spirit of seizing the day. Take spelunking for example, which is also fun to say. Try it. Spelunking, spelunking, spelunking. Sounds like something Dr. Seuss would have made up, and I love words like that. (See also: blunderbuss, perambulator.)
Now that I think of it, I’m having a little trouble coming up with new bucket list items. I tend to jump into things when an urge strikes. I have – in a small, community theater way – sung and danced on stage, as a chorus girl in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” I also played Miriam once in a local production of “The Women”. No singing or dancing required, but I did smoke a fake cigarette and get in a catfight. (On stage, not in real life. Just to be clear.)
I also embarrassed myself at an audition, and lived to tell the tale. (Sing off key, then slip as I exit the stage, pinwheeling my arms to stay upright? Check.)
Maybe it’s a lack of derring-do. Bungee jump? Run a marathon? Skydive? No, thank you.
There is this one, thing, though.
For many years now, I’ve daydreamed about playing piano. I don’t have grand ambitions to perform Beethoven in concert halls, though I like Beethoven just fine. I’d just like to be able to plink out some Christmas carols and showtunes. I have this fantasy of a cocktail party-turned-singalong, me at the piano, taking requests…
I even have a spot in my living room that’s perfect: a little nook created by a closet in the next room over. It’s almost exactly the right size for an upright piano.
Now, I can’t read bass clef, nor can I make the fingers of each hand operate independently at the same time. The most piano playing I can manage is a few bars of the Muppet theme, one-handed, after I painstakingly locate “C”.
However, there was also a time when I hadn’t ever written a novel …
Kristina Riggle's new novel, Keepsake, goes on sale on June 26th. Robin Gold's Once Upon a List is available now as an ebook, click here for more information and look for Susan McBride's bucket list tomorrow!
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