Two Sentence Tuesday - Curmudgeon Edition

I'm not going to say what book the two sentence I am posting this week came from because I generally like the author's work and I've chosen these two sentences because they illustrate something that drives me right off the deep end.

He'd acted in haste, perhaps. A haste he may later regret.

Not may. Might. It should be might. I started seeing this error crop up, oh, maybe six months to a year ago. And it's out there a lot. As if it's an editorial choice rather than a simple grammatical error.

Back when I was in high school, my English teacher had a sign on her office that said "Abandon 'hopefully' all ye who enter here." It was a peeve she passed along to me, so I pass along the appropriate check. If you can use the three words "full of hope," the single word "hopefully" is being used correctly. If you can't, it's not. "Full of hope, the pitcher awaited the umpire's call." Yep. "Full of hope, the Sox make it to the Series." Nope. I don't mind it in conversation, or even on blogs, but when I see it in print media it drives me crazy.

Now, my grammar isn't perfect. And my spelling's atrocious. And I am just bleeding awful when it comes to understanding where commas go. (In fact, I was told once in high school not to bother using them because it took a lot less red ink for my teacher to add then where they were needed than to circle all the ones I'd put in unnecessarily, so now I don't use nearly enough!) So you'd think, with all those flaws, that I could cut other people a break. But I can't help it. When it comes to plunking down my money for a published book, I expect the grammar and usage to be right (except for stylistic choices), even if the occasional typo slides beneath the radar.

So tell me, dear readers, what are your pet peeves? What will yank you straight out of a narrative?

Oh, and the two sentences I wrote this week?

But the man didn’t seem to be expecting trouble. He’d had time to grow bored, to tell himself his employer was overreacting to some threat.

Give us your two cents, your two sentences! If you post them on your blog, let us know in the comments and we'll put a link here in the post.

MTM Excursion: Bear Mountain, NY

According to Wikipedia, there are eleven peaks in New York State called Bear Mountain, but the one we spent about an hour driving to is the one for which Bear Mountain State Park is named.

From the summit, there's a tower from which you can see four states. From other vistas, you get spectacularly lovely views of the Hudson, which made it a strategic priority for British troops who would capture the area in 1777 in the Revloutionary Army's defeat at Fort Mortgomery. It's reported that we did eventually reclaim it.

In 1908, the state decided to relocate its notorious Sing Sing prison to the area and actually began construction. However, thanks to community resistance and motivated, wealthy philanthropists, the area was re-designated and opened as a state park instead in 1913. A year later, more than a million people were visiting the park annually, brought by the frequently arriving steamboats, and the place had become hugely popular with Boy Scouts who frolicked healthfully around such bucolic sites as the pictured Hessian Lake.

(The lake's right shoreline leads to the Trailside Museum complex, which we didn't manage before closing. There's a small colonial history museum and a nature study with mounted specimens of larger local fauna which were donated many years ago by NYC's famous natural history museum. They also have live habitats for local amphibians, reptiles, and fish, and a geology museum. Raise your hand if you knew that local Orange County yielded the largest number of mastodon skulls in the nation. Oh, you did not!)










By the 1920s, winter sports, including ski jumping, were added, as well as the very first section of the Appalachian Trail, going from the parks south end to the Delaware Water Gap. The carousel, in a house near the ice rink and across playing fields from the inn, is a very recent addition from 2001, and is populated with local critters such as rabbit, fox, bobcat, otter, turkey, goose, and even skunk.

It's easy to see how lovely the Bear Mountain Inn must've been, and still is, though it's obviously under renovation and badly behind schedule for reopening. By several years. It was originally raised by park employees in 1915. Not only is the exterior made from from stone quarried nearby and local chestnut timbers, but the interior is paneled and timbered in chestnut, the fireplaces are of the same stone, and the fixtures are of native birch and hand-hammered iron. Carpenters even crafted the inn's rustic furniture from local chestnut. It was once decorated with contemporary paintings of riverboats and native American textiles from the area, and I do hope to be able to stay there someday.





Travis Erwin, founder and proprietor of My Town Monday, hosts more tours here.

Forgotten Books: First Mothers

For Mother’s Day 2001, my son gave me the book First Mothers: The Women Who Shaped The Presidents.

In this highly charged political season, I thought it appropriate to bring Bonnie Angelo’s book to your attention. Through extensive interviews with family members, Ms. Angelo brings to the public eye the formative relationship of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt through George W. Bush.

In the introduction, Ms.Angelo explains that she started with the story of FDR's mother because his presidency marked "the beginning of contemporary America and the modern presidency, the prize that now can be won only by men of supreme self-assurance who are willing to withstand the grinding process and microscopic examination not required of candidates in the bygone era of nominations decided in smoke-filled rooms."

Parent-child relationships are always interesting when viewed from the outside. This book is no exception. It is an entertaining read whether you go cover to cover or choose to read one biography at a time.

Since I "borrowed" the picture from Amazon, the "Click to Look Inside" doesn't actually work here but does on the Amazon site for the book, which is linked above.

**News Flash** Speaking of mothers, my wonderful daughter-in-law gave birth at 9:20 pm last night to her fourth child, my sixth grandchild, a strapping baby boy, who weighed in at 9 lbs 3 oz, which is exactly what his father (the same son who gave me the book First Mothers) weighted when he was born. Himself has yet to be given a name, but is healthy and his mom is feeling terrific and that is all that matters.

Terrie

Friday Fun - September 26, 2008

Bring On the Evidence!

Jansen, on trial in March in Pontiac, Michigan, said he had been searched without a warrant.

The prosecutor said the officer didn't need a warrant because a "bulge" in Christopher's jacket could have been a gun.

Nonsense, said Christopher, who happed to be wearing the same jacket that day in court. He handed it over so the judge could see it.

The judge discovered a packet of cocaine in the pocket and laughed so hard he required a five minute recess to compose himself.

Thaaaat's all, pals!

Thanks for the laughs, Uncle Jimmy!

Thanks to http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/6020/dumb.html

Write On!~Nan

For Your Inner Children's Book Writer

Has your inner child been pitching a fit because he or she's been wanting to write a children's book? One of those cute ones with lots of pictures? But grown-up you has been saying no because you just don't know how? If yes, check out Big Universe.

Big Universe is a Web community of online children's picture books. Among its many offerings is a fun, easy-to-use tool for parents, teachers, and kids (including inner kids) to create their own custom picture books. A tutorial leads you through the process. And when you're done creating your book, you can make it available for the rest of the world to enjoy, too.

Launched in March 2008, Big Universe also features picture books from children's book publishers. Its catalog includes hundreds of beautiful books that can be read online completely for free. And we're not talking sample pages here. Then, if your child (or inner child) likes a particular book, you can order a hard copy. Books are available in 30 categories (such as action & adventure, astronomy & space, bedtime, crafts & hobbies, friendship, science & technology, social issues, and social studies) and five age groups (from 0-2 to 13 and up).

Oh, did I happen to mention that the site is mega award winning? How could I forget? I'm the one who's been writing the press releases! In August alone, founder and CEO Anil Hemrajani and his wonderful crew brought home the National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval and the iParenting Media Award for being an "Outstanding Product of 2008." In June they snagged the prestigious Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Award for 2008.

To create your own book, read and purchase other books, and read blogs related to children's books, embrace your inner child and venture on over to Big Universe: A World of Online Children's Books!

28 Agents Who (May) Want Your Work

Image by Christophe Vorlet, from Boston Globe article Slush Life.

I know, I hardly believed it myself. I got the tip on this August Writer's Digest article via Lee Goldberg's blog. He recognized some of the names as agents he knew to be reputable, and when I looked over them, I recognized a few, too. So if you're looking for agents that are actually eager for submissions, here they are!

As always, do your research and target appropriately, however, I tend to think that the best agencies are not only in tune with what's currently happening but constantly looking toward the future (not just weeping mournfully into their harder-to-expense appletinis).

The Future, I said portentously. -- ahem, elbow jab-- That's you!

Loving Your Creative Brains, Brains, Brains!

Maybe it's because the thunk of white shoes hitting the back of the closet after Labor Day now seems to signal the kick-off of retail Halloween, when I read this article from Psychology Today, my thoughts turned immediately to zombies. (Brain-loving image by artist Sean Keeton.)

Author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says: Creative individuals are remarkable for their ability to adapt to almost any situation and to make do with whatever is at hand to reach their goals. If I had to express in one word what makes their personalities different from others, it's complexity. They show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated. They contain contradictory extremes; instead of being an "individual," each of them is a "multitude."

He identifies simultaneous pairings of energy and idleness, abstraction and pragmatism, playfulness and discipline, even extroversion and introversion, among others, that seem to alternate within the creative people he's studied. For myself, I do tend not to be this or that consistently, but enjoy swinging between them. (Though, thankfully, not from the chandeliers yet.) Anyway, I thought of this kind of mental ping-pong as my personal peculiarity, but what if it's not a bug, but a feature?

Are you like the radio announcer who barely speaks at home? Do you work like a dog and then lounge like a lizard? Are you a born rebel who loves traditions? Do you find yourself the life of the party and then aching to be alone? It might not be food preservatives or unresolved mother issues. You might just be creative.

Do any of the 10 personality paradoxes ring true for you? And does knowing this get me any further into my story's Act 2? *sigh* Feel free to confess your own weird brain in the comments.

Shakin' loose the TwoFers

Since I've been on week-long driving vacation through Massachusetts (mostly), what I've been reading principally is roadside plaques and curator's cards. At Hancock Shaker Village, the setting and architecture and craftsmanship was as lovely as I'd expected, and it was great that they maintain active gardens and livestock, as well as teaching craft classes. It was also fascinating to learn how innovative and curious the Shakers were, and how they kept exploring and selectively embracing innovations of the day, perhaps the reason for their unique longevity among the millenial movements of the 18th century.

The trustees' office, from which outside business was conducted, has indoor plumbing and all the electric mod cons of adding machines and telephony their 20th century trading partners would've expected. There's also a sweet 1923 REO Speedwagon being restored in the community's garage. The wonderful Shaker-costumed weaver above answered lots of questions while demonstrating the creation of a typically patterned, sunset-colored throw rug. In part, here's how the information from the picture's lower left corner reads:

Even after cloth became commercially available, Shaker women worked together to make homespun in large quantities for the clothes and bedding of the communal family... The Shakers eventually ceased large scale manufacturing of fabric in the late 19th century when it became more efficient to buy cloth rather than to make it.

Even the Shakers outsourced. As the inimitable Paul Harvey once said, "In times like these, it is helpful to remember there have always been times like these."

Here are two I've written for a short story in process:

After succumbing to the Summer of Love, the single mother of Baby Girl Fowlkes had allowed herself another quirk of exoticism, insisting upon pronouncing her daughter’s outre name just as she remembered it from the subtitled film in high-school French. “Zhawn-vee-EV!” she’d yell at suppertimes down the leafy streets of their smallish Pennsylvania town, though forty years later, the optimistically-named Genevieve had yet to cross the Mississippi, much less the Atlantic.

Please to share any two sentences you've read and/or written this week in the comments, or tell us where to link to them!

UPDATE: Travis Erwin throws down both the classic and Christmas-y. Don't miss 'em.
Crystal Phares is sharing her finish-line anxiety and smoked rabbit.

Friday Fun - September 22, 2008

Georgia: Stupid Criminal

Investigating a purse snatching, detectives picked up a man who fit the thief's description and drove him back to the scene. He was told to exit the car and face the victim for an I.D.

The suspect carefully eyed the victim, and blurted, "Yeah, that's the woman I robbed."

Thaaaat's all, pals!

Thanks to www.legal-forms-kit.com

Thanks for the laughs, Uncle Jimmy!

Write ON! ~ Nan

Playing Hook-y

Last Thursday, Jessica Faust of BookEnds Literary Agency came to talk to the New York/Tri-State Chapter of Sisters in Crime (to which all the Women of Mystery belong). Since several of our chapter members couldn't make the meeting, I thought I'd post the bullet points here with the caveat that I am posting as I remember...so if anyone wants to comment and correct or add to my recollections, please do!

Jessica spent a goodly portion of the meeting talking about hooks, and with good reason. First, the hook is what attracts new readers and thus agents and editors. Second, all too few inexperienced authors don't understand how to frame their hooks when discussing their work.

All agents and editors say "write a great book." Unfortunately, writing a great book isn't enough. Think about your last trip to the bookstore. How many books did you pass by on the shelves that might be just fabulous? Now, think about the last time you picked up a book by an author you'd never heard of. (That's okay, we'll wait while you try to remember.) Now, what made you buy that book? It wasn't the author or poetry of the writing, because you didn't know about either of those. No, whatever it was that made you pick it up probably had something to do with the plot. And whatever unique, exciting thing it was that made you pick up that book rather than any of the dozens of others you might have chosen, that was the hook.

Agents and editors look for hooks, too. Like those first-time readers, they haven't heard of you, they don't know whether your writing is great (or even competent), and they don't have time to find out by reading your manuscript. They only have your query and the hook contained therein. On the basis of that, they'll decide whether they want to see some of your manuscript.

Because she was speaking to a group of crime writers, Jessica talked mostly about mysteries, but the idea holds true for any genre. Mysteries, she said, divided very generally into three subgenres:

• Cozies
• Straight (traditional) mysteries
• Thrillers/suspense

Generally, all of these have some things in common--at least one murder, an investigation, the murderer revealed. Prospective readers, and agents and editors, know that. They're shopping in the mystery section because they want that. You don't need to tell them your book has it. What you need to tell them is what makes your book different from anything else on the shelf.

Your hook needs to go with your genre. For example, you don't want to write a cozy with a protagonist who suffers from PTSD and has frequent, bloody flashbacks. If you want to write that character, you need to write your novel as a straight mystery or even a thriller.

Different publishing companies like different kinds of books. Jessica said that the cozy market, in particular, is very tight in that there are a limited number of publishers who have success publishing them. Cozies tend to have certain types of hooks, particularly activities (crafts, hobbies, etc.) and often attract those with an interest in the activity itself.

Traditional mysteries, too, are a tough sell. There might be a larger number of publishers an agent can try to sell your work to, but the hook can be much harder to define. What makes you stand out becomes more difficult to express in two sentences.

Jessica recommended practicing hooks/pitches with people outside your critique group. Why? Because the members of your critique group probably already know what you're writing about and their minds will fill in the blanks. Or they'll already know how good your writing is, so they won't hear anything your hook might be lacking. What you want, when testing your hook, is a completely cold reader.

Jessica and BookEnds have a blog where you can find out more about the ins and outs of publishing. For more on hooks, I highly recommend Miss Snark's Happy Hooker Crapometer Archive. I think it starts about here, and continues. That woman was a saint. She was also completely insane. If you have the patience, you'll be able to read something like 700 hooks and the comments she--and others--had on them.

Size matters.

I don’t know about you, but when I sit at my computer these days, regardless of whether my goal is fiction or business writing, I can’t help but click away and compulsively watch our plummeting financial market. My retirement’s at stake, but what good does it do me to watch it slip like sand through an hourglass?

I have learned to let voice mail record my calls, but the distraction of the internet interferes with my writing in catastrophic ways. I resolve daily I won’t check the fireplace tools I’m watching on eBay. I won’t check for my son’s email messages six times an hour. I’ll discipline myself to read the news twice daily. And I'll wait until 5pm to explore delicious Women of Mystery links.

Which brings me to a solution I’ve contemplated - and I do wonder what you all have to say about it - which is the purchase of an AlphaSmart NEO or its big sister, the Dana. (If I bought the Dana I’d obviously need to forgo the WiFi option, else I’d be back in the same pickle.)

I thought I’d feel lost without my online thesaurus, but both contraptions have got one installed. They can optionally run on three AA batteries. They’re incredibly light. They’re incredibly little...will fit easily in currently-fashionable suitcase-sized handbags. With AlphaSmart’s claims about their indestructibility, I conclude I could safely throw one at my couch-clawing cat. (But will it withstand the frequent coffee spills?)

The company asserts that the small screen is visible outdoors in bright light, an opportunity sadly missing with all the laptops I’ve owned. The ability to transfer my wip to and from MS Word on my PC is essential, and upload and download features are included. Essential, because six lines of text would prove impossible for revisions. Perfect, however, for first drafts. NaNoWriMo, here I come!

Naysayers, please comment before I plunk down my $219.

- Lois

Is It The End?

There is a hugely long article entitled The End in a recent issue of New York Magazine, which discusses the current state of publishing as an industry and what the future may hold.

Here's a quote:

The demise of publishing has been predicted since the days of Gutenberg. But for most of the past century—through wars and depressions—the business of books has jogged along at a steady pace. It’s one of the main (some would say only) advantages of working in a “mature” industry: no unsustainable highs, no devastating lows. A stoic calm, peppered with a bit of gallows humor, prevailed in the industry.

Survey New York’s oldest culture industry this season, however, and you won’t find many stoics. What you will find are prophets of doom, Cassandras in blazers and black dresses arguing at elegant lunches over What Is to Be Done. Even best-selling publishers and agents fresh from seven-figure deals worry about what’s coming next. Two, five years from now—who knows? Life moves fast in the waning era of print; publishing doesn’t.

Intrigued? Read the article here. Comments always welcome!

Hat tip to Gail Farrelly for bringing this article to my attention.

Terrie

Two Sentence Tuesday

Another week gone...how does it happen so quickly??? I was sure I'd have written more! As I've mentioned a couple of times, I am participating in Unleash Your Story and I am determined to get 25k words written in September. I'm not doing so well, but I am working on it! Please consider making a donation, or join the team to give yourself a kick to do more reading or writing this month...no financial commitment required!

This week I read:

Kelly recognized this girl. She had grown up with a whole host of Tiffany Agostanellis, girls whose whole world consisted of clothes and boys.
--From The Tunnels by Michelle Gagnon

This week I wrote:

She stayed there, gasping for breath, spitting out her own blood, until she could drag herself back up to the cot. She wanted to stand, to defy them, but her muscles wouldn’t cooperate.

What about you? What did you write? What did you read? Post here in the comments or on your own blog and I'll update this post so people can see where you're writing! (Though not til tomorrow, since today I'll be on yet another airplane....)

----
Pretzel has some sentences about two men in her life...Jack Reacher and her husband.

New Haven, CT: Not Done Yet

Heading north up the coast, a little over an hour from my home is New Haven, CT, a town founded in 1683 by Massachusetts Bay Puritans who bought land from the local fishing and maize-growing Quinnipiac tribe in return for aiding their protection from the Pequots. Since 1716, it's also been home to Yale College, now a real-live university, I hear. That fascinating history aside, a few weeks ago, I went there for an octagonal lighthouse and a carousel. Being an avowed excursionist and the Sunday being very fine, I was in the mood for new, nearby coastlines.

Five Mile Point Light at Lighthouse Point Park (1912 image via Wiki) is still as pretty as the postcard. Now, beyond it, you can see a modern cityscape on the left-hand horizon, and from my photo below, you see the white building to the right which houses a carousel built in 1916. Though it's estimated there were once 10,000 of these twirling beauties in operation, now there are less than a hundred. My noble steed, now restored to offer lively carriage for one half dollar, was named Sundance. Tell him I sent you.



After hopping rocks with many swimmers and anglers to survey the beaches and boats, we headed inland toward downtown and the perimeters of the university campus, skirting New Haven Green, the grid of blocks established by the original colonists. Later, we had a nice dinner on the terrace of one of the surrounding restaurants, thus capping a simply lovely day. Once home, I realized how much we'd missed.

Turns out the Green's not only historically interesting, but reputed to be haunted, as 10,000 bodies were buried beneath it from 1638 to 1821. Among other haunted locales, the Church-on-the-green was built over many graves, and you can still see many preserved headstones in its basement "crypt". With fall creeping in, my thoughts always turn to spectral fun.

New Haven was the location of the 1839 trial regarding the enslaved "cargo" of the Spanish ship turned slave transport La Amistad. Now, a seaworthy and modern-engined recreation of a Baltimore clipper ship called Freedom Schooner Amistad is based there. This tall ship also sails internationally to educate about the history of slavery, discrimination, and civil rights.

Louis' Lunch was undoubtedly cute and interesting, but (unlike here) shuttered and locked tight when we happened to walk by, so we went to a modern cantina down the street. Now I discover Louis' claims to be the home of the first hamburger and steak sandwiches. Apparently, New Haven is also famous for its unique local version of pizza, a Neopolitan version called apizza (pronounced a-BEETS) or New Haven-style pizza. For people like us who've been to Montauk specifically for the lobster rolls, Coney Island for the dogs, and Philly for the cheesesteaks, this particular gap created by my lack of advance research really stings.

Oh, New Haven, I'm not nearly done with you. You're back on my list!

Travis Erwin, the My Town Monday orginator, has more armchair explorations.

~TA DA~

A few weeks ago I announced that I have a short story, “Just Call Me Nick” in this year’s Toys for Tots anthology, Dying in a Winter Wonderland, soon to be released by Wolfmont Press. If you click here, you will see I had the devil’s own time trying to get the colors of the cover to behave as they should, but, TA DA, the picture at the top of this blog post is one hundred percent accurate. Isn’t it a terrific cover?

For lots of news about Dying in a Winter Wonderland, including some content description, reviews, and purchase information, click here.

Who doesn’t like lighthearted family-friendly mysteries? Right now you can save a dollar per book when you pre-order. It’s never too soon to purchase and stash away holiday presents for your family and friends. Since all proceeds from Winter Wonderland go directly to Toys for Tots, you will also be ensuring that a lot of kids will receive a special present or two during the holiday season. What could be better than that?

Terrie

Friday Fun - September 12, 2008

Ten Things to Never Say to a Cop:

1. I can't reach my license unless you hold my beer.

2. Sorry, Officer, I didn't realize my radar detector wasn't plugged in.

3. Aren't you that guy from the Village People?

4. Hey, you must have been doin' at least 120 mph to keep up with me...Good job!

5. You're not gonna check the trunk, are you?

6. Gee, Officer...that's terrific...the last officer only gave me a warning too!

7. I was trying to keep up with traffic. Yes, I know there are no other cars around-that's how far ahead of me they are.

8. What do you mean, "Have I been drinking?" You're the trained specialist.

9. Well, when I reached down to pick up my bag of crack, my gun fell off my lap and got lodged between the brake pedal and the gas pedal, forcing me to speed out of control.

10. Hey, is that a 9 mm? That's nothing compared to this .44 Magnum.

BONUS: Excuse me, sir, can you give me another one of those full cavity searches?

Thanks to http://jokes.edigg.com

Thanks for the laughs, Uncle Jimmy!

Write ON! ~Nan

A People Person

Lately, I have had a lot of trouble reading. Writing, too, but as much as that bothers me, the inability to read bothers me a great deal more. I can't be bothered to finish books I know I would have finished in the past. I read book descriptions and think "nah, doesn't sound thrilling." I feel...disengaged from the books in front of me.

When this problem first presented itself, it grew out of my epilepsy. But even when the drugs stabilized life began looking up, I couldn't seem to get enthused about reading. I tried everything. Books by authors I'd loved in the past still appealed to me, but even those had lost the ability to keep me up all night.

(On a side note, I've talked to a lot of people recently who have had this problem. I wonder if it's some kind of weird cultural phenomenon.)

So I decided to try something I hadn't read in years: fantasy. Fantasy was my favorite genre for years and years back in my late teens and twenties. Oh, I read everything else, too, but I'd picked up pretty much every book on the Fantasy shelves at the local bookstores to check them out, even if I hadn't actually ended up buying them.

Back then, one of my favorite series was the "Tiger and Del" series by Jennifer Roberson. It was big, it was comprehensive, it was exciting. Love, war, politics...it had everything. Now, it's closing in on twenty years since I read those books, but that's how I remember them. I remember staying up all night to finish the third one and being infuriated that the fourth was not yet available. I'd thought the thing would be a trilogy, you see.

But it wasn't. What was available, was another series by the same woman, the "Cheysuli" series, for which, I discovered at the time, she was better known. I looked at them. And I do mean looked. Because back then (newer editions have updated covers), all the covers looked had animals on them. The back covers described a society of shapeshifters.

And I just couldn't do it. I've never been able to go that far in my fantasy, and I have no idea why. A friend, who doesn't read were-critter lit told me some of the things that she'd discovered in it that turned her off, but I've never even gotten to the point of being turned off...I've never read a single one.

So how do I know I won't like them? I have no idea. I just...know.

But luckily, almost twenty years later, when I went to the bookstore in search of some fantasy to read, there was a new book by Roberson. It took me a while to get into this new series, given the difference in style from what I have become used to reading. And the beginning seemed choppy to me. I was afraid I would put it down, not pick it back up. But by a couple of chapters in, I was hooked. I was up until 3am, then went to Borders the next day for the second book.

Just what I'd been hoping for.

Wednesday's Child is Blue Meltzer

Actually, thriller writer Brad Meltzer doesn't seem too blue about the awful reviews for his latest book. I saw this video first at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, and fell so much in love I had to share it here. See bestselling author gleefully abused by friends and family! May we all have such sang froid .

Two Sentence Tuesday

Here we are again...another Tuesday! After Terrie's fab post on Poe yesterday, I hesitate to post any of the things I've read or written, since I feel decidedly pathetic, but here goes!

This week I read:

Long before devising the plan that had brought him here, he'd dreamed of seeing this place. Had grown up feeding that dream on the stories Ole Hemp used to tell the eager crowd of boys who gathered round his feet of an afternoon, once the boats were in and the catch was cleaned and gutted and the gulls were squabbling their fill on the pier.
-- From The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller.

This week I wrote:

She examined the contraption attaching her to the cot more closely, but found no weakness. The supplies--a simple combination lock and length of coated stainless cable--could be bought at any hardware store or bike shop, but their ubiquity in no way cheated them of effectiveness.

And you? What did you read? Anything exciting or interesting? Did you write anything? A letter? A few words of a short story? Let us know! As usual, if you put a link to your post in the comments, I'll edit this post to include your writing spot!

Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, Bronx, New York

Anyone who has read my story “Strike Zone” in the anthology Murder New York Style knows that Edgar Allan Poe’s cottage in the Fordham section of the Bronx has a supporting role in the story.

Poe moved into the cottage in 1846, in the hope that the country air would invigorate his beloved wife, Virginia. However, she died in the cottage in 1847. Poe continued to live there with his mother-in-law Maria Clemm until his death in Baltimore (while he was traveling home to the cottage) in 1849.

During the Fordham years Poe wrote many of his most renowned poems, such as Annabel Lee and The Bells as well as a number of great essays, criticisms and stories. The Cask of Amontillado comes to mind.

Click here to see a complete list of Poe’s works written while he lived at Fordham.

I have always known that Poe died in Baltimore and was buried there. I never begrudged Baltimore for keeping the body and I even forgave them for waiting until 1979 to open a small museum in Poe’s honor. Now, according to this article in the New York Times, Philadelphia has decided to challenge Baltimore for the honor of being the final resting place of Edgar Allan Poe. Hold on, hoss.

If Poe travels at all, he belongs here in New York City. We can find a grassy spot in the park surrounding Poe Cottage, and we’ll erect a master monument, something Baltimore failed to do for more than twenty years after Poe’s death. So, let’s every body settle down and let Edgar Allen Poe rest in peace.

For more My Town Monday posts, visit our fearless leader Travis Erwin, who links to MTM posts from all over the world.

Terrie

Quillr????

Wandering around the Blogosphere I was fortunate enough to "meet" Pat Browning, author of the Penny Mackensie series. Book number one is Full Circle soon to be followed by Winter Moon.

Pat blogs on Saturdays over at Murderous Musings. Take a few minutes to read her very intriguing column on the past and future of reading.

The future gets more exciting every day.

In the comments, Laura suggests we look at this article from the New York Times regarding Twiller, a very creative use of Twitter. I barely understand Twitter, so Twiller looks like a joke--almost.

Terrie

Forgotten Book: Painting as a Pastime by Winston S. Churchill

According to the Churchill Centre books page Winston Churchill wrote the essay portion of Painting as a Pastime in 1921. In 1948 Odhams of London published a slim volume including the essay and 16 pages of color plates of Churchill’s paintings. Presently out of print, Painting as a Pastime was reprinted any number of times. I own a copy of the 1965 reprint. I picked it up in a second hand book shop in Manhattan many years ago.

During the years I fancied myself a painter, I read it over and over, chuckling at lines with which I disagreed such as: “I write no word in disparagement of water-colours. But there really is nothing like oils.” I would nod sagely when I agreed with a comment like: “Nothing makes a man more reverent than a library.”

In this book Churchill argues, very successfully, that every thinking person should have two or three life long hobbies. He has a strong opinion that when the human mind is focused on the hobby, then the parts of the mind that run the person’s enterprise can actually rest. Churchill contends that physical rest does not stop the mind from racing. In order to rest the mind you must give it another occupation for a time. Hence, the true purpose of hobbies. Brain cells related to work, stand down. Brain cells related to hobbies, step up.

So when I am speeding along, and my brain refuses to function, I drag out a hobby (lately the Irish tin whistle) and in no time at all I am refreshed and ready to go. I highly recommend this book, or the essay if you can find it. But the book presents the added delight of viewing some of Winston Churchill’s paintings.


Per the Churchill Center, Painting as a Pastime is readily available secondhand.

You can find a list of links to other forgotten books by visiting Patti Abbott every Friday.

Terrie

Friday Fun - September 5, 2008

Dumb Criminals:

A pair of Michigan robbers entered a record shop nervously waving revolvers.

The first one shouted, "Nobody move!"

When his partner moved, the startled first bandit shot him.

Thaaaaat's all, pals!

Thanks to http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/6020/dumb.html

Thanks for the laughs, Uncle Jimmy!

Write ON! ~Nan

Fiction-for-Hire

Accusations of sell-outtery and common hackery land like birdsplat on frankly commercial fiction projects and their writers. But what if the one casting the worst aspersions is the prospective author himself?

YOU COULD spend your entire life sitting in Starbucks next to people hunched over laptops, and you'd never hear a single one of them divulge that their dream is to write a television or movie tie-in; you know, those novelizations that magically appear in the airport bookstore rack with the screen stars on their covers...

I was finishing a short story about very depressed people doing very depressing things and trying to figure out another word for "desperation." My brother, in addition to writing and producing television shows, has written 14 tie-ins, including the current spate of "Monk" books. He was approached by his publisher, Penguin, to see whether he'd be interested in doing "Burn Notice" too, but he declined, saying he knew just the right person...

My brother was right: I was the perfect person. The only problem was my advanced sense of artistic self. I had long, twisting conversations with my agent, my wife and the kid who makes my sandwiches at Quiznos about the literary equity I'd accrued, about how writing a tie-in might somehow sully my career and other topics concerning my navel. My agent told me to take a deep breath, get lucid and call her back after I did some research...

Tod Goldberg further details his funny mental contortions and subsequent discoveries in this LAT article.

Dying in a Winter Wonderland

Tony Burton is Chief Editor of Wolfmont Press, Chief Editor of Crime and Suspense Ezine and an all around super guy. How do I know he’s a super guy? Because for the third year in a row, Tony has compiled and Wolfmont is publishing an anthology of winter holiday crime stories to benefit the U.S. Marine Corp Reserve Toys for Tots Program.

According to the Toys for Tots website, their objectives include helping disadvantaged children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas, while uniting all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign.

Each year mystery authors vie to donate a story for the holiday anthology. Tony donates his own time as editor and publisher. Printing and shipping costs aside, every dollar spent on each copy of this anthology goes directly to Toys For Tots.

The 2008 holiday anthology is titled Dying in a Winter Wonderland, and I am pleased beyond measure to report that Tony has selected my story, “Just Call Me Nick” as one of the mystery and crime stories included in this anthology for your “snuggling by the fireside” reading pleasure this winter.

I have to apologize for the picture of the cover. I have two jpegs in the correct colors but blogger insists in changing the colors no matter which one I use. The blue letters and trim should be red. The blue bench slats should be orangey-red and the dark background should be black. I kept trying but this is the best I can get out of blogger right now. But we all know that I'll be posting about this anthology time and again. I'm sure I'll get the picture correct eventually.

We anticipate an October release date. As soon as I have more details, I will be pushing you to ante up for a great cause. Start saving your pennies. I know you are aching to buy a copy of Dying in a Winter Wonderland for absolutely every person on your holiday shopping list because every copy you buy helps to buy a present for some kid somewhere. Isn’t that what the holiday season is really about?

Terrie

Labor Day Tuesday

One of the things distracting me was this oyster bar in suburban/rural Illinois. Sure, oysters in Illinois. Jet fresh, baby. Look at the leather banquettes and trophy fish and smell the Sinatra. I was swinging.

Weeelll... In the last month, I've been generating sentences and outline material slowly but surely. But in the last week, not so much. I have a new idea for a short story, but it hasn't left my head for the page. I've been reading what I consider fun stuff. The latest is Kate Mosse's Sepulchre, a parallel timeline story including fin-de-siecle Parisians like composer Claude Debussy, his present-day biographer, and a mysterious Tarot deck hidden in southwestern France near Da Vinci hotbed Rennes-le-chateau. Publishers Weekly felt "contrivance, cliche, and expository overkill overwhelm" this book, but I'm liking it well enough for a mood that can't settle down. I'm more in line with the Washington Post's take: "All of this might seem damning if Sepulchre weren't such a giddy read." And I'm afraid, until I see the ant trail of schoolkids tromping their sneakers down my sidewalk to the nearby school, I'm not going to be able to get past my own late-summer giddiness to work either.

However, perhaps I'll be inspired by all the wonderful things you've been reading and writing...? Do you have two, tiny sentences to share of each? Either?

Update: after 11pm, Travis Erwin posted his 2's at his blog. And we, aiming to serve, will squeeze it right under the clanging gate of the calendar watchmen.

Final Month of Hardluck Stories

Was it really two months ago that I announced right here that “When a Bright Star Fades” was published on the Hardluck Stories website?

I have to thank all of you for your wonderful comments about Bright Star. Writers have a great drive to write but we also need to be read. I get so much satisfaction in hearing how you feel about my work. Does it raise questions in your mind? Do you find my stories entertaining? So for all of your comments and emails regarding Bright Star, I humbly thank you for taking the time to read it and to get in touch with me. And if you haven’t yet had a chance to read Bright Star and the eleven fast-paced noir stories in this, the final issue of Hardluck Stories, time is running out. Publisher Dave Zeltserman has announce that the Hardluck Stories website will be taken down on October 1, 2008.

It will be gone, but never forgotten.

Terrie