Books in Real Life, Episode 13: When We Collided

 

If this is the first time you've come across a Books in Real Life post, welcome! Rachel of Hello, Chelly & I created this collaborative feature as a way to encourage ourselves to actually do the things we've read about in books in real life. We've been at it for a little over two years, and we've definitely had some fun adventures! 

This edition was inspired by When We Collided, the third novel from author Emery Lord. I fell in love with the story of Vivi, a vibrant girl determined to have a summer of freedom, and Jonah, a boy dealing with the burden of grief and responsibility and how their paths cross and their lives are changed forever. It's a beautiful story, and I absolutely loved it. It was an instant choice for a Books in Real Life post, and you'll see why soon enough!

In the novel, Vivi has a summer job at the pottery shop called Fired Up! Visitors can come in and paint pots. (It's actually how she and Jonah meet, as Jonah takes his little sister there for a treat.) We were inspired to do some painting of our own, and so we visited Doin' Dishes over in Montclair! We wound up painting two coasters a piece, and we chose to design them with the novel in mind. It was really fun (if a little messy) to get creative and paint however we chose to! Even though I'm not necessarily the most artistic person, I'd like to think I did pretty well!

After painting, it was lunchtime and so we went off to Leone's Restaurant to grab some pizza! This, too, was inspired by the book, as Jonah works at Tony's, a restaurant that was originally as a pizza joint. It was a lovely day to sit outside (in spite of the light drizzle that lasted a couple of minutes), and we definitely enjoyed our slices of pizza.

1. What was your favorite part or a memorable moment? I honestly was surprised to discover that I really liked painting! I was actually quite intimidated by the idea of getting creative, particularly because painting is not my forte. But I am quite proud of how my coasters turned out!

2. Anything you wish you'd known beforehand? I wish I'd realized I'd have to be extra steady when I was doing the lettering on my coasters! I also wish I'd been more deliberate in designing my coasters; I just went with the flow for the most part.

3. Would I do this again? Absolutely! There was a TARDIS piggy bank that I really wanted to paint, and I would also like to try doing a patterned plate too.

Here's a little vlog of our When We Collided adventure for your viewing pleasure!