Thought for the Day:
“The trick is to pay attention to
what you wrote – not what
you THOUGHT you wrote.”
~ David Lubar on fixing mistakes ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Janice
Hardy again has a very useful post over at Fiction University. This one is on
working with multiple point of view characters. Click HERE to read it.
The
Write Practice has a wonderful post HERE on writing in first person point of
view. I don’t use that point of view often, but next time I do, I will be sure
to read through this before I get started.
Excellent
post from Writer’s Digest HERE by James Scott Bell with 7 Tools of Dialogue.
Last week I promised one of you a copy of Gail Jarrow's incredible new book, Fatal Fever. This week's winner is Myra. Congratulations, Myra! I will get the book out to you this week. For the rest of you, keep reading. I have another great giveaway this week.
I like funny books and kids like funny books. I read one earlier this year for a review for San Francisco Book Review. It's non-stop fun and I want to share My Near-Death Adventures (99% True!) by Alison DeCamp with you this week. Here is the review I wrote for SFBR.
When we
first meet Stanley Slater, he is eleven. It is 1895. Stanley lives with his
mother and grandmother, and his greatest wish is to find his long-lost father.
When they move to a logging camp run by his uncle, Stanley thinks it’s the
perfect place to find his dad. Arriving in the lumber camp, Stanley meets his
cousin Geri, an annoying girl a little older (and a little smarter) than he is.
He soon comes to think she is quite a prankster and is there to make his life
miserable. One habit Stanley has that causes him no end of problems is that he
often says out loud what he is thinking and doesn’t mean to say out loud. While
he tries to cover over these outbursts by trying to say he really said
something else entirely, but that doesn’t usually work.
“I have never before had
the urge to commit an act of lawlessness, but Granny’s voice might force me to
give up my law-abiding ways, skip town, and start a life of crime.”
Alison DeCamp
his written a very funny book that will keep young readers
engaged and turning
pages. The characters are all pretty fascinating, although a little outrageous
and over-the-top, but they simply add to the non-stop humor. The first-person
telling of his own story by Stanley at an absolutely frantic pace is perfect
for this story.
 |
| Alison DeCamp |
I have a gently-read hardback copy for one of you. To win, all you need do is have a
US address, be a subscriber or follower, and tell me that in a comment
you leave on this post. If you are reading this in your email, click
HERE to go to the blog so you can leave a comment. If you would like
extra chances, please spread the word by posting the link on a Tweet,
blog post, Facebook, or any other way you like. Let me know what you
have done in your comment, and I will put in extra chances for you for
each that you do.
Don't forget to check out Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog HERE for many more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews and giveaways.
