Thought for the Day:
“A writer is, after all, only half his book. The other half is the reader
and from the reader the writer learns.”
~ P.L. Travers ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Dialog, dialog, dialog. I can’t get enough of good posts about making it better. HERE is a great one from M. L. Keller. She does use a few, ahem, bad words (although I don’t think there is any such thing as a bad word as long as it does its job), so be aware of that.
K. M. Weiland has two posts on plotting problems. See HERE if your plots are too flat and HERE to help you with plots that are too complex.
Janice Hardy, it seems, has a second site called Romance University. Who knew? Anyway, she has a wonderful post HERE on An Easy Way to Create Conflict in Your Novel.
The Mendocino Coast Writer's Conference last week was amazing. If any of you ever have a
chance to take a class of any kind from Lewis Buzbee, do it. He is simply wonderful. We had twelve in our workshop (three morning workshops of about three hours each), and I learned a great deal not only from what others had to say about my writing, but from what everyone had to say about all the writing we looked at. In addition there were pitch sessions with critiques by agents and editors, readings by all workshop leaders and many of the attendees, and other workshops such as the ones I attended on dialogue and screenwriting. And of course, Mendocino is just a spectacular place. So, my writing well is a bit fuller than it was before, thanks to that terrific three days.
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| Lewis Buzbee |
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| Amandine's birthday picture |
I have a new resident at my home. I saw several pleas on our neighborhood email group for host homes for exchange students. When my daughters were still at home and in school, we hosted five exchange students -- three from Germany, one from Sweden, and one from Yugoslavia. The experiences were great and I thought it might be nice to offer my home now. I contacted them and they had a young woman in Belgium who had not yet been placed. After checking me out, the organization decided I probably am not a serial killer, and they sent her to me. Amandine Crabbe arrived last Sunday night, we celebrated her 18th birthday on Monday, and she started at the local high school on Wednesday. I think it should be a fun and rewarding year for both of us.
When last we met, I promised an ARC of The Tapper Twins Tear Up New York by Goeff Rodkey. This week's winner is Tudy. Congratulations, Tudy! I will be getting your book out to you soon. For the rest of you, please keep reading, I do have another wonderful book to give away this week.
This week I will share my love of retold myths. I ran across a middle-grade book for review
Hades steals the beautiful Persephone to be his bride, but her mother, Demeter, is so heartbroken she withholds all her gifts to the earth of growing things. Zeus demands Persephone’s return but only if she hasn’t eaten any food in Hades. But Persephone had eaten six seeds from a pomegranate, so a compromise is reached allowing her to live six months above ground, saving the earth. The story of Theseus and the Minotaur is one young people will especially relate to with such a young man who seems to be a hero, then turns out not to be. Justice in the world of the Greek gods is swift and painful. The third tale, that of Orpheus and the love of his life Eurydice, is simply a lovely story that will enthrall readers.
Authors Hugh Lupton and Daniel Morden retell these ancient stories in beautiful, lyrical language putting their own stamp on them with unusual details. They include back-matter for each to familiarize young readers with the stories’s origins.Illustrator Carole Henaff completes the stories with art that hearkens back to ancient Greece, reminiscent of art found on vases and amphoras of that period. Middle graders will love this.
I have a gently-read paperback of this book to share with 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.
