If the weather outside frightful and the fire is so delightful, January's a great time to snuggle up with a good book, or a movie. Recently a fellow writer recommended to me to watch the director's cuts and interviews on DVDs for some great tips that can apply to any kind of storytelling, not just screenwriting and directing. I'm in the habit of skipping those bonus features, but now I realize I've been missing out. Sounds sort of like taking a film class from the comfort of your couch!
If you're cruising the Web, take a few minutes to read the winners and runners-up of the Inlander Short Fiction Contest. The talent of Spokane writers Ross Carder and John Whalen, Pullman writer Richard Harlan Miller, and more will reaffirm the conviction that Inland Northwest writers really do rock.
On the other hand, if you've been cooped up for days and the walls are starting to close in on you, don't give in to cabin fever! Bundle up and head out to see what's going on in the wider world.
Catch the film version of the widely loved James Thurber story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, starring Ben Stiller, at local theaters.
Author Deby Fredericks will sign copies of her latest sci-fi novel, The Seven Exalted Orders, at 1 p.m. on January 11 at Hastings, 1704 W. Wellesley Ave., Spokane.
Moscow-based author Janet Richards will present and sign copies of her book, Crossing the River Sorrow: One Nurse's Story, January 11 at 2 p.m. at Auntie's, 402 W. Main, Spokane.
Also at Auntie's, a new poetry workshop called the Wordwright's Workshop will be held on the second Saturday of the month, open to all ages. January 11 at 4:30 p.m. Free. For information, visit Spokane Poetry Slam (838-0206)
Later in January, in Coeur d'Alene, Athol-based author Alexander Hencoski will sign copies of his book The Adventures of Rathdrum Willie and His Motor Car. Rathdrum Willie is an uproariously
funny hermit who lives in the small town of Rathdrum, Idaho. When he’s
not being a public nuisance, you can usually find him inventing a unique
contraption or practicing his finely tuned hermit skills. This time,
Willie has created a car that has no brakes! Follow Willie as he rides
around town, wreaking havoc on all who cross his path. 1-4 p.m. on January 18 at Hastings, 101 Best Ave., Coeur d'Alene.
Up in Sandpoint on January 15, writers, musicians, and listeners can check out the Five Minutes of Fame
open mic event beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Cafe Bodega, located inside
Foster's Crossing at 504 Oak St. Original material only, please --
arrive at 6 p.m. for dinner.
Showing posts with label Happenings/Events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Happenings/Events. Show all posts
Friday, January 10, 2014
Friday, January 11, 2013
Writing in the Dark: Learning from Others
That’s how it is sometimes. We fumble around and make do until the light shows us the way. This is true in many facets of life, including in our writing life. As beginners we often stumble around in a dark new world full of unknowns, looking for guidance not from an iphone app, but from those who have come before us and left a trail of experience for us to follow. We read books written by authors we admire and try to emulate their writing style, we read books written in genres in which we want to write, we read how-to book after how-to book to learn as much as we can about the craft of writing, all serving to broaden our knowledge base and begin shining a light on our own path towards becoming the writer we hope to become.
I was reminded when talking at the IWL meeting this week what a wonderful way the writers in these groups support each other in their work, experiences, and growth as writers. They are, in broad terms, on the same path. Their energy, excitement and eagerness to learn inspire me. Writers groups are a great way to connect with other writers in your area. If you’ve never attended a writers group, try one out by attending a meeting. You will find friendly faces, new writing contacts, acceptance, encouragement and guidance.
The Coeur d’Alene chapter of the IWL meets the second Wednesday and the third Thursday of each month. For details of meeting places, scheduled events, and membership, visit their website: Idaho Writers League - Coeur d'Alene Chapter. You may also contact the current President of the Coeur d’Alene chapter, Faye Higbee at mdnf.higbee@gmail.com.
Another high-energy, active group in the north Idaho area is the Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers group, which meets the first Thursday of each month in Spokane. For details of meeting places, scheduled events, and membership, visit their website: Spokane Authors and Self Publishers. For additional information, contact Dave McChesney at daveeva@comcast.net.
You can find information on more local writing groups listed in the right-hand sidebar of this blog.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Exclamation Mark: Its Use and Abuse!
He also mentioned the overuse of exclamation marks in writing. Nicholson advises writers to “hoard your exclamation points and only dole them out when necessary.” He further states that dependence on them indicates a lack of power in your action sentences.
I personally haven’t noticed the overuse of exclamation marks in my general reading, but I have noticed that they seem to be prolific in online writing, emails, and text messages. There are even websites and blogs that discuss the overuse of exclamation points. One site titled Excessive Exclamation!! shows, as an example, a shot of a Carl’s Jr. receipt on which is printed:
Please let us know how we did!!!
In his article,Nicholson advises:
Adding a bit of visual oomph or dialogue tag is a better choice: "‘Look out,’ he shouted, diving for cover as bullets zinged overhead." The word "shouted" does the work of the exclamation point, though if you are in the book’s climax or a particularly brisk and intense scene, then one or two can do the work of unnecessary words, too. In this case, I’d let "Look out!" slide, assuming exclamation points weren’t already hopping all over the page like drunk celebrities begging for tabloid coverage. Anyone using two or more exclamation points together will not only be rejected but taken out and shot!!!
His point about exclamation marks reminded me of an old Seinfield episode I saw years ago when Elaine, who worked as an editor for a New York publishing house, purposely peppered her boyfriend’s manuscript with exclamation marks because she was upset with him. This got her in trouble with her publisher boss. For fun, below is a short clip of the episode:
You can find Nicholson's entire article here.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Scott Nicholson is the author of 10 thrillers, including the Bram Stoker finalist The Red Church, Drummer Boy, Disintegration, and The Skull Ring. He’s published over 60 stories in seven countries, as well as numerous writing articles, five screenplays, several comic books, and magazine features. He’s won three North Carolina Press Association Awards as a newspaper reporter and also has a freelance manuscript editing business, in addition to hosting pop-culture shows and an annual paranormal conference. More information at www.hauntedcomputer.com.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
New Reading Series: America’s Civil War
But for those interested in knowing more about the Civil War, the Coeur d’Alene Public Library is beginning a reading/discussion series, “Making Sense of the American Civil War”, which will examine the impact of the war on American culture and history.
The series, presented in partnership with the Idaho Humanities Council, includes a five-meeting, scholar-led reading/discussion program beginning tomorrow, November 8, and continuing through December 20. The five two-hour book discussions are scheduled for five Thursday evenings, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., on Nov. 8, 15, 29, Dec. 13, and 20 in the library Community Room. The program is based on three books:
“March,” by Geraldine Brooks, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novel which tells its story through the voices of characters from another novel, “Little Women,” by Louisa May Alcott.
“America’s War,” edited by historian Edward L. Ayers, is mostly a collection of writings by people who had to decide for themselves before and during the war where justice, honor, duty, and loyalty lay, including selections writ-ten by Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Henry David Thoreau, and many others.
“Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam,” by historian James McPherson, explores the battle in the fall of 1862 that changed the course of the Civil War.
Scholars who will lecture and facilitate discussions include University of Idaho History Professor and Dean of Letters Arts and Social Sciences Dr. Katherine Aiken, North Idaho College History Professor James Jewell, and Boise State University Andrus Center for Public Policy Director Dr. David Adler.
The discussions will be open to the public.
To sign up for the series or for more information contact David Townsend, Library Communications Coordinator, at 208-769- 2315 Ext. 426 or by e-mail at dtown-send@cdalibrary.org.
Enjoy!
Friday, August 31, 2012
On Saturday, September 1:
If you and your family have enjoyed sunny days filled with thrilling rides and water slides at Silverwood Theme Park (pictured above), you will want to make a point of visiting the park this Saturday or Sunday, from 10-5 both days, when Silverwood owner and founder Gary Norton will sign copies of his new book, American Theme Park. The book features personal stories and memories from Norton's life and explains how Silverwood came to be. Pick up the book at a special introductory price, and meet the man who made it all happen. (Silverwood Theme Park, 27843 N. Hwy. 95, Coeur d'Alene).
At Auntie's Bookstore in Spokane, Kenny Knight will sign copies of his book Unknown Rock Star from 1 to 3 p.m., in which he recounts his forty-plus years of experience in the entertainment industry, from sound man to stage performer to radio host and studio master. Unknown Rock Star offers a rare glimpse of how an everyday kid from California harnessed his talent and made it in the entertainment industry through hard work, perseverance, personal tragedy, and an unyielding faith in the music. (402 W. Main, Spokane)
At Hastings in Coeur d'Alene, Jessica Hecket of Blanchard will sign copies of her book The Water Words from 1 to 3 p.m. The Water Words is a mystical tale of a young girl who prevails against all odds. You can view a trailer for the book here. (101 Best Ave., Coeur d'Alene)
Joan Kopczynski will sign copies of her book Spies, Lies & Psychosis at Hastings in Spokane from 1-3 p.m. Subtitled "A Personal Journey of Adult Schozoaffective Illness Triggered by Traumatic Events of Love, Espionage, and Betrayal," Spies, Lies & Psychosis tells of a harrowing journey through mental illness to healing and hope. (2512 E. 29th Ave., Spokane)
On Sunday, September 2:
Silverwood founder Gary Norton will again sign copies of American Theme Park from 10-5 at the park. (27843 N. Hwy. 95, Coeur d'Alene)
. . . and beyond the weekend:
Coming up on Tuesday, September 4 at 7 p.m., Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas L. Friedman (The World is Flat) will speak at Gonzaga Unversity's McCarthey Athletic Center, 801 N. Cincinnati St., Spokane, as part of the university's Presidential Speaker series. Friedman's latest book is That Used to Be Us: A Crucial Time for America and the Role Education Must Play. Admission is $15 ($12 for seniors, $10 for students). For more information on this event, click here.
Happy Labor Day!
Friday, July 6, 2012
Author Events and 100 First Lines
Aunties Bookstore in Spokane has a great lineup of author events for July. Authors presenting books and slideshows include geologist Bob Weldin, geologiest-hydrologist Bruce Bjornstad, historic home preservationist Ron Tanner, former Marine and firefighter Daniel O'Rourke, healing arts professional Joseph Drumheller, and several others. Be sure to check our Events page for details.
Meanwhile, below is a list of the 100 Best First Lines from Novels posted by the American Book Review on their site. Although I know the full list makes this post run rather long, I decided to include them all because it is so interesting to read through them. They provide a helpful lesson on how to capture a reader's attention with the first words of your writing. Be sure to take a look at number 95...(and I thought I wrote long sentences!)
1. Call me Ishmael. —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851)
2. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)
3. A screaming comes across the sky. —Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow (1973)
4. Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano BuendÃa was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. —Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967; trans. Gregory Rabassa)
5. Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. —Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955)
6. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. —Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1877; trans. Constance Garnett)
7. riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs. —James Joyce, Finnegans Wake (1939)
8. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. —George Orwell, 1984 (1949)
9. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
10. I am an invisible man. —Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952)
11. The Miss Lonelyhearts of the New York Post-Dispatch (Are you in trouble?—Do-you-need-advice?—Write-to-Miss-Lonelyhearts-and-she-will-help-you) sat at his desk and stared at a piece of white cardboard. —Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts (1933)
12. You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. —Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)
13. Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested. —Franz Kafka, The Trial (1925; trans. Breon Mitchell)
14. You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. —Italo Calvino, If on a winter's night a traveler (1979; trans. William Weaver)
15. The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. —Samuel Beckett, Murphy (1938)
16. If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. —J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
17. Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo. —James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)
18. This is the saddest story I have ever heard. —Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier (1915)
19. I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me; had they duly considered how much depended upon what they were then doing;—that not only the production of a rational Being was concerned in it, but that possibly the happy formation and temperature of his body, perhaps his genius and the very cast of his mind;—and, for aught they knew to the contrary, even the fortunes of his whole house might take their turn from the humours and dispositions which were then uppermost:—Had they duly weighed and considered all this, and proceeded accordingly,—I am verily persuaded I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that, in which the reader is likely to see me. —Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy (1759–1767)
20. Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. —Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1850)
21. Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. —James Joyce, Ulysses (1922)
22. It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the house-tops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness. —Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford (1830)
23. One summer afternoon Mrs. Oedipa Maas came home from a Tupperware party whose hostess had put perhaps too much kirsch in the fondue to find that she, Oedipa, had been named executor, or she supposed executrix, of the estate of one Pierce Inverarity, a California real estate mogul who had once lost two million dollars in his spare time but still had assets numerous and tangled enough to make the job of sorting it all out more than honorary. —Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (1966)
24. It was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not. —Paul Auster, City of Glass (1985)
25. Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting. —William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929)
26. 124 was spiteful. —Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987)
27. Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing. —Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (1605; trans. Edith Grossman)
28. Mother died today. —Albert Camus, The Stranger (1942; trans. Stuart Gilbert)
29. Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu. —Ha Jin, Waiting (1999)
30. The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel. —William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984)
31. I am a sick man . . . I am a spiteful man. —Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground (1864; trans. Michael R. Katz)
32. Where now? Who now? When now? —Samuel Beckett, The Unnamable (1953; trans. Patrick Bowles)
33. Once an angry man dragged his father along the ground through his own orchard. "Stop!" cried the groaning old man at last, "Stop! I did not drag my father beyond this tree." —Gertrude Stein, The Making of Americans (1925)
34. In a sense, I am Jacob Horner. —John Barth, The End of the Road (1958)
35. It was like so, but wasn't. —Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2 (1995)
36. —Money . . . in a voice that rustled. —William Gaddis, J R (1975)
37. Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself. —Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (1925)
38. All this happened, more or less. —Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)
39. They shoot the white girl first. —Toni Morrison, Paradise (1998)
40. For a long time, I went to bed early. —Marcel Proust, Swann's Way (1913; trans. Lydia Davis)
41. The moment one learns English, complications set in. —Felipe Alfau, Chromos (1990)
42. Dr. Weiss, at forty, knew that her life had been ruined by literature. —Anita Brookner, The Debut (1981)
43. I was the shadow of the waxwing slain / By the false azure in the windowpane; —Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire (1962)
44. Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. —Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
45. I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story. —Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome (1911)
46. Ages ago, Alex, Allen and Alva arrived at Antibes, and Alva allowing all, allowing anyone, against Alex's admonition, against Allen's angry assertion: another African amusement . . . anyhow, as all argued, an awesome African army assembled and arduously advanced against an African anthill, assiduously annihilating ant after ant, and afterward, Alex astonishingly accuses Albert as also accepting Africa's antipodal ant annexation. —Walter Abish, Alphabetical Africa (1974)
47. There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. —C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
48. He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. —Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea (1952)
49. It was the day my grandmother exploded. —Iain M. Banks, The Crow Road (1992)
50. I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974. —Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex (2002)
51. Elmer Gantry was drunk. —Sinclair Lewis, Elmer Gantry (1927)
52. We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall. —Louise Erdrich, Tracks (1988)
53. It was a pleasure to burn. —Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
54. A story has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead. —Graham Greene, The End of the Affair (1951)
55. Having placed in my mouth sufficient bread for three minutes' chewing, I withdrew my powers of sensual perception and retired into the privacy of my mind, my eyes and face assuming a vacant and preoccupied expression. —Flann O'Brien, At Swim-Two-Birds (1939)
56. I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho' not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull; He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, whose Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family in that Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call our selves, and write our Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call'd me. —Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719)
57. In the beginning, sometimes I left messages in the street. —David Markson, Wittgenstein's Mistress (1988)
58. Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress.
—George Eliot, Middlemarch (1872)
59. It was love at first sight. —Joseph Heller, Catch-22 (1961)
60. What if this young woman, who writes such bad poems, in competition with her husband, whose poems are equally bad, should stretch her remarkably long and well-made legs out before you, so that her skirt slips up to the tops of her stockings? —Gilbert Sorrentino, Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things (1971)
61. I have never begun a novel with more misgiving. —W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge (1944)
62. Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person. —Anne Tyler, Back When We Were Grownups (2001)
63. The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up. —G. K. Chesterton, The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904)
64. In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. —F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)
65. You better not never tell nobody but God. —Alice Walker, The Color Purple (1982)
66. "To be born again," sang Gibreel Farishta tumbling from the heavens, "first you have to die." —Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses (1988)
67. It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York. —Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar (1963)
68. Most really pretty girls have pretty ugly feet, and so does Mindy Metalman, Lenore notices, all of a sudden. —David Foster Wallace, The Broom of the System (1987)
69. If I am out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog. —Saul Bellow, Herzog (1964)
70. Francis Marion Tarwater's uncle had been dead for only half a day when the boy got too drunk to finish digging his grave and a Negro named Buford Munson, who had come to get a jug filled, had to finish it and drag the body from the breakfast table where it was still sitting and bury it in a decent and Christian way, with the sign of its Saviour at the head of the grave and enough dirt on top to keep the dogs from digging it up. —Flannery O'Connor, The Violent Bear it Away (1960)
71. Granted: I am an inmate of a mental hospital; my keeper is watching me, he never lets me out of his sight; there's a peephole in the door, and my keeper's eye is the shade of brown that can never see through a blue-eyed type like me. —GŸnter Grass, The Tin Drum (1959; trans. Ralph Manheim)
72. When Dick Gibson was a little boy he was not Dick Gibson. —Stanley Elkin, The Dick Gibson Show (1971)
73. Hiram Clegg, together with his wife Emma and four friends of the faith from Randolph Junction, were summoned by the Spirit and Mrs. Clara Collins, widow of the beloved Nazarene preacher Ely Collins, to West Condon on the weekend of the eighteenth and nineteenth of April, there to await the End of the World. —Robert Coover, The Origin of the Brunists (1966)
74. She waited, Kate Croy, for her father to come in, but he kept her unconscionably, and there were moments at which she showed herself, in the glass over the mantel, a face positively pale with the irritation that had brought her to the point of going away without sight of him. —Henry James, The Wings of the Dove (1902)
75. In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. —Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (1929)
76. "Take my camel, dear," said my Aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass. —Rose Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizond (1956)
77. He was an inch, perhaps two, under six feet, powerfully built, and he advanced straight at you with a slight stoop of the shoulders, head forward, and a fixed from-under stare which made you think of a charging bull. —Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim (1900)
78. The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. —L. P. Hartley, The Go-Between (1953)
79. On my naming day when I come 12 I gone front spear and kilt a wyld boar he parbly ben the las wyld pig on the Bundel Downs any how there hadnt ben none for a long time befor him nor I aint looking to see none agen. —Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker (1980)
80. Justice?—You get justice in the next world, in this world you have the law. —William Gaddis, A Frolic of His Own (1994)
81. Vaughan died yesterday in his last car-crash. —J. G. Ballard, Crash (1973)
82. I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. —Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle (1948)
83. "When your mama was the geek, my dreamlets," Papa would say, "she made the nipping off of noggins such a crystal mystery that the hens themselves yearned toward her, waltzing around her, hypnotized with longing." —Katherine Dunn, Geek Love (1983)
84. In the last years of the Seventeenth Century there was to be found among the fops and fools of the London coffee-houses one rangy, gangling flitch called Ebenezer Cooke, more ambitious than talented, and yet more talented than prudent, who, like his friends-in-folly, all of whom were supposed to be educating at Oxford or Cambridge, had found the sound of Mother English more fun to game with than her sense to labor over, and so rather than applying himself to the pains of scholarship, had learned the knack of versifying, and ground out quires of couplets after the fashion of the day, afroth with Joves and Jupiters, aclang with jarring rhymes, and string-taut with similes stretched to the snapping-point. —John Barth, The Sot-Weed Factor (1960)
85. When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon. —James Crumley, The Last Good Kiss (1978)
86. It was just noon that Sunday morning when the sheriff reached the jail with Lucas Beauchamp though the whole town (the whole county too for that matter) had known since the night before that Lucas had killed a white man. —William Faulkner, Intruder in the Dust (1948)
87. I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus This-that-and-the-other (for I shall not trouble you yet with all my titles) who was once, and not so long ago either, known to my friends and relatives and associates as "Claudius the Idiot," or "That Claudius," or "Claudius the Stammerer," or "Clau-Clau-Claudius" or at best as "Poor Uncle Claudius," am now about to write this strange history of my life; starting from my earliest childhood and continuing year by year until I reach the fateful point of change where, some eight years ago, at the age of fifty-one, I suddenly found myself caught in what I may call the "golden predicament" from which I have never since become disentangled. —Robert Graves, I, Claudius (1934)
88. Of all the things that drive men to sea, the most common disaster, I've come to learn, is women. —Charles Johnson, Middle Passage (1990)
89. I am an American, Chicago born—Chicago, that somber city—and go at things as I have taught myself, free-style, and will make the record in my own way: first to knock, first admitted; sometimes an innocent knock, sometimes a not so innocent. —Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March (1953)
90. The towers of Zenith aspired above the morning mist; austere towers of steel and cement and limestone, sturdy as cliffs and delicate as silver rods. —Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt (1922)
91. I will tell you in a few words who I am: lover of the hummingbird that darts to the flower beyond the rotted sill where my feet are propped; lover of bright needlepoint and the bright stitching fingers of humorless old ladies bent to their sweet and infamous designs; lover of parasols made from the same puffy stuff as a young girl's underdrawers; still lover of that small naval boat which somehow survived the distressing years of my life between her decks or in her pilothouse; and also lover of poor dear black Sonny, my mess boy, fellow victim and confidant, and of my wife and child. But most of all, lover of my harmless and sanguine self. —John Hawkes, Second Skin (1964)
92. He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad. —Raphael Sabatini, Scaramouche (1921)
93. Psychics can see the color of time it's blue. —Ronald Sukenick, Blown Away (1986)
94. In the town, there were two mutes and they were always together. —Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940)
95. Once upon a time two or three weeks ago, a rather stubborn and determined middle-aged man decided to record for posterity, exactly as it happened, word by word and step by step, the story of another man for indeed what is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal, a somewhat paranoiac fellow unmarried, unattached, and quite irresponsible, who had decided to lock himself in a room a furnished room with a private bath, cooking facilities, a bed, a table, and at least one chair, in New York City, for a year 365 days to be precise, to write the story of another person—a shy young man about of 19 years old—who, after the war the Second World War, had come to America the land of opportunities from France under the sponsorship of his uncle—a journalist, fluent in five languages—who himself had come to America from Europe Poland it seems, though this was not clearly established sometime during the war after a series of rather gruesome adventures, and who, at the end of the war, wrote to the father his cousin by marriage of the young man whom he considered as a nephew, curious to know if he the father and his family had survived the German occupation, and indeed was deeply saddened to learn, in a letter from the young man—a long and touching letter written in English, not by the young man, however, who did not know a damn word of English, but by a good friend of his who had studied English in school—that his parents both his father and mother and his two sisters one older and the other younger than he had been deported they were Jewish to a German concentration camp Auschwitz probably and never returned, no doubt having been exterminated deliberately X * X * X * X, and that, therefore, the young man who was now an orphan, a displaced person, who, during the war, had managed to escape deportation by working very hard on a farm in Southern France, would be happy and grateful to be given the opportunity to come to America that great country he had heard so much about and yet knew so little about to start a new life, possibly go to school, learn a trade, and become a good, loyal citizen. —Raymond Federman, Double or Nothing (1971)
96. Time is not a line but a dimension, like the dimensions of space. —Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye (1988)
97. He—for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it—was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters. —Virginia Woolf, Orlando (1928)
98. High, high above the North Pole, on the first day of 1969, two professors of English Literature approached each other at a combined velocity of 1200 miles per hour. —David Lodge, Changing Places (1975)
99. They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did. —Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)
100. The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting. —Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage (1895)
Find more about the American Book Review HERE.
Meanwhile, below is a list of the 100 Best First Lines from Novels posted by the American Book Review on their site. Although I know the full list makes this post run rather long, I decided to include them all because it is so interesting to read through them. They provide a helpful lesson on how to capture a reader's attention with the first words of your writing. Be sure to take a look at number 95...(and I thought I wrote long sentences!)
1. Call me Ishmael. —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851)
2. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)
3. A screaming comes across the sky. —Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow (1973)
4. Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano BuendÃa was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. —Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967; trans. Gregory Rabassa)
5. Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. —Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955)
6. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. —Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1877; trans. Constance Garnett)
7. riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs. —James Joyce, Finnegans Wake (1939)
8. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. —George Orwell, 1984 (1949)
9. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
10. I am an invisible man. —Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952)
11. The Miss Lonelyhearts of the New York Post-Dispatch (Are you in trouble?—Do-you-need-advice?—Write-to-Miss-Lonelyhearts-and-she-will-help-you) sat at his desk and stared at a piece of white cardboard. —Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts (1933)
12. You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. —Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)
13. Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested. —Franz Kafka, The Trial (1925; trans. Breon Mitchell)
14. You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. —Italo Calvino, If on a winter's night a traveler (1979; trans. William Weaver)
15. The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. —Samuel Beckett, Murphy (1938)
16. If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. —J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
17. Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo. —James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)
18. This is the saddest story I have ever heard. —Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier (1915)
19. I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me; had they duly considered how much depended upon what they were then doing;—that not only the production of a rational Being was concerned in it, but that possibly the happy formation and temperature of his body, perhaps his genius and the very cast of his mind;—and, for aught they knew to the contrary, even the fortunes of his whole house might take their turn from the humours and dispositions which were then uppermost:—Had they duly weighed and considered all this, and proceeded accordingly,—I am verily persuaded I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that, in which the reader is likely to see me. —Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy (1759–1767)
20. Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. —Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1850)
21. Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. —James Joyce, Ulysses (1922)
22. It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the house-tops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness. —Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford (1830)
23. One summer afternoon Mrs. Oedipa Maas came home from a Tupperware party whose hostess had put perhaps too much kirsch in the fondue to find that she, Oedipa, had been named executor, or she supposed executrix, of the estate of one Pierce Inverarity, a California real estate mogul who had once lost two million dollars in his spare time but still had assets numerous and tangled enough to make the job of sorting it all out more than honorary. —Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (1966)
24. It was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not. —Paul Auster, City of Glass (1985)
25. Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting. —William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929)
26. 124 was spiteful. —Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987)
27. Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing. —Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (1605; trans. Edith Grossman)
28. Mother died today. —Albert Camus, The Stranger (1942; trans. Stuart Gilbert)
29. Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu. —Ha Jin, Waiting (1999)
30. The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel. —William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984)
31. I am a sick man . . . I am a spiteful man. —Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground (1864; trans. Michael R. Katz)
32. Where now? Who now? When now? —Samuel Beckett, The Unnamable (1953; trans. Patrick Bowles)
33. Once an angry man dragged his father along the ground through his own orchard. "Stop!" cried the groaning old man at last, "Stop! I did not drag my father beyond this tree." —Gertrude Stein, The Making of Americans (1925)
34. In a sense, I am Jacob Horner. —John Barth, The End of the Road (1958)
35. It was like so, but wasn't. —Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2 (1995)
36. —Money . . . in a voice that rustled. —William Gaddis, J R (1975)
37. Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself. —Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (1925)
38. All this happened, more or less. —Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)
39. They shoot the white girl first. —Toni Morrison, Paradise (1998)
40. For a long time, I went to bed early. —Marcel Proust, Swann's Way (1913; trans. Lydia Davis)
41. The moment one learns English, complications set in. —Felipe Alfau, Chromos (1990)
42. Dr. Weiss, at forty, knew that her life had been ruined by literature. —Anita Brookner, The Debut (1981)
43. I was the shadow of the waxwing slain / By the false azure in the windowpane; —Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire (1962)
44. Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. —Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
45. I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story. —Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome (1911)
46. Ages ago, Alex, Allen and Alva arrived at Antibes, and Alva allowing all, allowing anyone, against Alex's admonition, against Allen's angry assertion: another African amusement . . . anyhow, as all argued, an awesome African army assembled and arduously advanced against an African anthill, assiduously annihilating ant after ant, and afterward, Alex astonishingly accuses Albert as also accepting Africa's antipodal ant annexation. —Walter Abish, Alphabetical Africa (1974)
47. There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. —C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
48. He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. —Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea (1952)
49. It was the day my grandmother exploded. —Iain M. Banks, The Crow Road (1992)
50. I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974. —Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex (2002)
51. Elmer Gantry was drunk. —Sinclair Lewis, Elmer Gantry (1927)
52. We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall. —Louise Erdrich, Tracks (1988)
53. It was a pleasure to burn. —Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
54. A story has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead. —Graham Greene, The End of the Affair (1951)
55. Having placed in my mouth sufficient bread for three minutes' chewing, I withdrew my powers of sensual perception and retired into the privacy of my mind, my eyes and face assuming a vacant and preoccupied expression. —Flann O'Brien, At Swim-Two-Birds (1939)
56. I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho' not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull; He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, whose Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family in that Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call our selves, and write our Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call'd me. —Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719)
57. In the beginning, sometimes I left messages in the street. —David Markson, Wittgenstein's Mistress (1988)
58. Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress.
—George Eliot, Middlemarch (1872)
59. It was love at first sight. —Joseph Heller, Catch-22 (1961)
60. What if this young woman, who writes such bad poems, in competition with her husband, whose poems are equally bad, should stretch her remarkably long and well-made legs out before you, so that her skirt slips up to the tops of her stockings? —Gilbert Sorrentino, Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things (1971)
61. I have never begun a novel with more misgiving. —W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge (1944)
62. Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person. —Anne Tyler, Back When We Were Grownups (2001)
63. The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up. —G. K. Chesterton, The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904)
64. In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. —F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)
65. You better not never tell nobody but God. —Alice Walker, The Color Purple (1982)
66. "To be born again," sang Gibreel Farishta tumbling from the heavens, "first you have to die." —Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses (1988)
67. It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York. —Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar (1963)
68. Most really pretty girls have pretty ugly feet, and so does Mindy Metalman, Lenore notices, all of a sudden. —David Foster Wallace, The Broom of the System (1987)
69. If I am out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog. —Saul Bellow, Herzog (1964)
70. Francis Marion Tarwater's uncle had been dead for only half a day when the boy got too drunk to finish digging his grave and a Negro named Buford Munson, who had come to get a jug filled, had to finish it and drag the body from the breakfast table where it was still sitting and bury it in a decent and Christian way, with the sign of its Saviour at the head of the grave and enough dirt on top to keep the dogs from digging it up. —Flannery O'Connor, The Violent Bear it Away (1960)
71. Granted: I am an inmate of a mental hospital; my keeper is watching me, he never lets me out of his sight; there's a peephole in the door, and my keeper's eye is the shade of brown that can never see through a blue-eyed type like me. —GŸnter Grass, The Tin Drum (1959; trans. Ralph Manheim)
72. When Dick Gibson was a little boy he was not Dick Gibson. —Stanley Elkin, The Dick Gibson Show (1971)
73. Hiram Clegg, together with his wife Emma and four friends of the faith from Randolph Junction, were summoned by the Spirit and Mrs. Clara Collins, widow of the beloved Nazarene preacher Ely Collins, to West Condon on the weekend of the eighteenth and nineteenth of April, there to await the End of the World. —Robert Coover, The Origin of the Brunists (1966)
74. She waited, Kate Croy, for her father to come in, but he kept her unconscionably, and there were moments at which she showed herself, in the glass over the mantel, a face positively pale with the irritation that had brought her to the point of going away without sight of him. —Henry James, The Wings of the Dove (1902)
75. In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. —Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (1929)
76. "Take my camel, dear," said my Aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass. —Rose Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizond (1956)
77. He was an inch, perhaps two, under six feet, powerfully built, and he advanced straight at you with a slight stoop of the shoulders, head forward, and a fixed from-under stare which made you think of a charging bull. —Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim (1900)
78. The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. —L. P. Hartley, The Go-Between (1953)
79. On my naming day when I come 12 I gone front spear and kilt a wyld boar he parbly ben the las wyld pig on the Bundel Downs any how there hadnt ben none for a long time befor him nor I aint looking to see none agen. —Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker (1980)
80. Justice?—You get justice in the next world, in this world you have the law. —William Gaddis, A Frolic of His Own (1994)
81. Vaughan died yesterday in his last car-crash. —J. G. Ballard, Crash (1973)
82. I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. —Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle (1948)
83. "When your mama was the geek, my dreamlets," Papa would say, "she made the nipping off of noggins such a crystal mystery that the hens themselves yearned toward her, waltzing around her, hypnotized with longing." —Katherine Dunn, Geek Love (1983)
84. In the last years of the Seventeenth Century there was to be found among the fops and fools of the London coffee-houses one rangy, gangling flitch called Ebenezer Cooke, more ambitious than talented, and yet more talented than prudent, who, like his friends-in-folly, all of whom were supposed to be educating at Oxford or Cambridge, had found the sound of Mother English more fun to game with than her sense to labor over, and so rather than applying himself to the pains of scholarship, had learned the knack of versifying, and ground out quires of couplets after the fashion of the day, afroth with Joves and Jupiters, aclang with jarring rhymes, and string-taut with similes stretched to the snapping-point. —John Barth, The Sot-Weed Factor (1960)
85. When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon. —James Crumley, The Last Good Kiss (1978)
86. It was just noon that Sunday morning when the sheriff reached the jail with Lucas Beauchamp though the whole town (the whole county too for that matter) had known since the night before that Lucas had killed a white man. —William Faulkner, Intruder in the Dust (1948)
87. I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus This-that-and-the-other (for I shall not trouble you yet with all my titles) who was once, and not so long ago either, known to my friends and relatives and associates as "Claudius the Idiot," or "That Claudius," or "Claudius the Stammerer," or "Clau-Clau-Claudius" or at best as "Poor Uncle Claudius," am now about to write this strange history of my life; starting from my earliest childhood and continuing year by year until I reach the fateful point of change where, some eight years ago, at the age of fifty-one, I suddenly found myself caught in what I may call the "golden predicament" from which I have never since become disentangled. —Robert Graves, I, Claudius (1934)
88. Of all the things that drive men to sea, the most common disaster, I've come to learn, is women. —Charles Johnson, Middle Passage (1990)
89. I am an American, Chicago born—Chicago, that somber city—and go at things as I have taught myself, free-style, and will make the record in my own way: first to knock, first admitted; sometimes an innocent knock, sometimes a not so innocent. —Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March (1953)
90. The towers of Zenith aspired above the morning mist; austere towers of steel and cement and limestone, sturdy as cliffs and delicate as silver rods. —Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt (1922)
91. I will tell you in a few words who I am: lover of the hummingbird that darts to the flower beyond the rotted sill where my feet are propped; lover of bright needlepoint and the bright stitching fingers of humorless old ladies bent to their sweet and infamous designs; lover of parasols made from the same puffy stuff as a young girl's underdrawers; still lover of that small naval boat which somehow survived the distressing years of my life between her decks or in her pilothouse; and also lover of poor dear black Sonny, my mess boy, fellow victim and confidant, and of my wife and child. But most of all, lover of my harmless and sanguine self. —John Hawkes, Second Skin (1964)
92. He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad. —Raphael Sabatini, Scaramouche (1921)
93. Psychics can see the color of time it's blue. —Ronald Sukenick, Blown Away (1986)
94. In the town, there were two mutes and they were always together. —Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940)
95. Once upon a time two or three weeks ago, a rather stubborn and determined middle-aged man decided to record for posterity, exactly as it happened, word by word and step by step, the story of another man for indeed what is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal, a somewhat paranoiac fellow unmarried, unattached, and quite irresponsible, who had decided to lock himself in a room a furnished room with a private bath, cooking facilities, a bed, a table, and at least one chair, in New York City, for a year 365 days to be precise, to write the story of another person—a shy young man about of 19 years old—who, after the war the Second World War, had come to America the land of opportunities from France under the sponsorship of his uncle—a journalist, fluent in five languages—who himself had come to America from Europe Poland it seems, though this was not clearly established sometime during the war after a series of rather gruesome adventures, and who, at the end of the war, wrote to the father his cousin by marriage of the young man whom he considered as a nephew, curious to know if he the father and his family had survived the German occupation, and indeed was deeply saddened to learn, in a letter from the young man—a long and touching letter written in English, not by the young man, however, who did not know a damn word of English, but by a good friend of his who had studied English in school—that his parents both his father and mother and his two sisters one older and the other younger than he had been deported they were Jewish to a German concentration camp Auschwitz probably and never returned, no doubt having been exterminated deliberately X * X * X * X, and that, therefore, the young man who was now an orphan, a displaced person, who, during the war, had managed to escape deportation by working very hard on a farm in Southern France, would be happy and grateful to be given the opportunity to come to America that great country he had heard so much about and yet knew so little about to start a new life, possibly go to school, learn a trade, and become a good, loyal citizen. —Raymond Federman, Double or Nothing (1971)
96. Time is not a line but a dimension, like the dimensions of space. —Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye (1988)
97. He—for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it—was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters. —Virginia Woolf, Orlando (1928)
98. High, high above the North Pole, on the first day of 1969, two professors of English Literature approached each other at a combined velocity of 1200 miles per hour. —David Lodge, Changing Places (1975)
99. They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did. —Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)
100. The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting. —Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage (1895)
Find more about the American Book Review HERE.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, May 25, 2012
Events for Writers: Seminars, Workshops, Speakers, Book Signings
There are a number of learning opportunities for writers being offered in the North Idaho area in the coming weeks. They include monthly seminars sponsored by the Loon Lake Ink Slingers, as well as free writing workshops hosted by Eastern Washington University. Check out the details below.
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THE ART OF WRITING SEMINAR
The Art of Writing Seminar, sponsored by the Loon Lake Ink Slingers, announces their agenda for the monthly seminar hosted by Terry Hughes, author of the novel Burning Paradise. The seminar’s venue is The Depot, a Knapweed restaurant, located at 107 Shaffer in downtown Springdale, seven miles west of Loon Lake.
SCHEDULE
The Art of Writing seminars occur on the last Friday of every month from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
Hughes will speak from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m., and then the guest speaker will discuss the topics listed below, plus chat about their books, until Noon, at which time there will be a lunch break, social hour and book signings. All events will be recorded for audio books by Blue Line Multimedia Enterprises, and will be aired on Spokane’s community access Channel 14.
The current guest speaker schedule is as follows:
May 25 Craig Goodwin author, Year of Plenty, Pastor, Millwood Community Church
Topic: The Art of Living Locally
June 29 Frank Scalise (pen name, Frank Zafiro) author, ten published novels. Frank is also a major with the Spokane Police Department
Topic: The Art of Writing While Earning a Living and Raising a Family
July 27 Dawn Nelson, author of too many books to count
Topic: The Art of Writing While Living
Aug 24 Laura Munson, NY Times Best Selling Author of This Is Not The Story You Think It Is...
Topic: The Art of Getting on the NY Times Best Seller List
There is a five dollar charge for each event. For more details contact: Eve Dubois, 509-844-6650.
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FREE WRITING WORKSHOPS
Eastern Washington University's Writers will be hosting a series of creative writing workshops for adult writers. These workshops will consist of craft-based discussion, writing exercises, and mini-workshops to provide feedback to authors. All workshops will be led by graduate students from EWU’s creative writing program.
Writing exercises and writing time will be built into the workshop format. Participants can bring works in progress to work on during the sessions, but it is not necessary.
All workshops will meet in the library of the Student Academic Center on the EWU/WSU Riverpoint campus. The address is 600 N. Riverpoint Blvd. in Spokane. The entrance to the library is on the second floor of the building.
Workshop Schedule:
Sunday, May 27 @ 2 - 4 p.m. – Fiction
Sunday, June 3 @ 2 - 4 p.m. – Poetry
Pre-registration is not required. Questions? Contact the WITC office at (509) 359-7437 or by email at witc.ewu@gmail.com.
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AUTHOR BOOK SIGNINGS
There are several author book signings scheduled at Aunties Bookstore in Spokane. For these and other events in the North Idaho area, check the Events page of this blog.
And finally, here’s a fun graphic my about the English language from BusyTeacher.org.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Monday, May 14, 2012
The Clubhouse Turn
I recently had
the pleasure of indulging in a familiar and much loved annual rite of spring; I spent a happy afternoon watching the
Kentucky Derby. Starting early in order to catch the
preliminary shows, I felt informed enough to pick a horse, but did not indulge in off track betting. A call to my sister gave me a heads up. She told me her heart belonged to a beautiful, all white steed, named Hansen. We discussed the favorite, and then she added, "There is also a Canadian entry, a long shot, but we should cheer for 'I'll Have Another'," just in case. I told her I liked the name, but was kind of taken with Hansen too.
Exposure to the
world of thoroughbred racing came early for my sister and me. Our paternal
grandfather was a breeder and fierce competitor whose love of the sport of kings became legendary. Up way before dawn
he would be at the rails, stopwatch in hand, figuring the
odds and statistics of the track. He theorized that champions come through the bloodlines, not just in horseflesh, but in people as well. He looked for that quality everywhere. The Canadian world of horse racing has
its own version of the Kentucky Derby, namely, the Queen's Plate. The race
often includes the presence of royalty and those lucky enough to win
when the Queen is present, will ride around the track with her in a
splendid carriage. As a child, I used to think the best part of the
event had to be in watching my parents and get dressed. Dad wore a light gray top hat and
tails. The ladies, turned out in their finery, and as in
Kentucky, donned beautiful hats. I remember my mother hand sewing a garland of flowers for my sister to wear in her hair.
There were times as a child, at our farm in the country, when our old crank style phone would clang in the front hall and we would listen for our special ring, as we were on a party line. When my father said, “We'll be right over,” we kids would start jumping up and down. His words signaled the birth of a beautiful colt, or filly and we would excitedly enter the spotless barn and see a glowing mare nudge her new born to rise up on spindly legs, the chief characteristic of the thoroughbred. It was on one of these occasions when we found my grandparents arm in arm, peering into the stall. My grandmother remarked, in reference to the still wet, little filly, “isn't she lovely?” Stricken with cancer, and ill at the time, we were all moved to see her radiant smile. My grandfather, looking at the sight of her, thought his wife had never appeared more beautiful. So he named that horse Jamned Lovely. As if endowed by a special sort of magic, our beautiful filly went on to give us the supreme thrill of winning the Queen's Plate, passing a field full of bigger, and stronger looking colts. When she came around the clubhouse turn and the crowd leaped to its collective feet, we knew she had a chance. My emotional grandfather, a widower, at this point, stood, slapped his racing form to the side of his mourning coat and roared, “Come on, come on!”
There were times as a child, at our farm in the country, when our old crank style phone would clang in the front hall and we would listen for our special ring, as we were on a party line. When my father said, “We'll be right over,” we kids would start jumping up and down. His words signaled the birth of a beautiful colt, or filly and we would excitedly enter the spotless barn and see a glowing mare nudge her new born to rise up on spindly legs, the chief characteristic of the thoroughbred. It was on one of these occasions when we found my grandparents arm in arm, peering into the stall. My grandmother remarked, in reference to the still wet, little filly, “isn't she lovely?” Stricken with cancer, and ill at the time, we were all moved to see her radiant smile. My grandfather, looking at the sight of her, thought his wife had never appeared more beautiful. So he named that horse Jamned Lovely. As if endowed by a special sort of magic, our beautiful filly went on to give us the supreme thrill of winning the Queen's Plate, passing a field full of bigger, and stronger looking colts. When she came around the clubhouse turn and the crowd leaped to its collective feet, we knew she had a chance. My emotional grandfather, a widower, at this point, stood, slapped his racing form to the side of his mourning coat and roared, “Come on, come on!”
I am always taken
by the stories, not just of the breeders and their skill, but of the
trainers and jockeys as well. On Derby day, I love to see the red roses, the
celebration of spring, the time honored tradition of the
singing of, 'My Old Kentucky Home'. Horses are noble; there are no two
ways about it. They move us with their strength, their beauty and
their character. They have moods, they can be persnickety and like us,
they are competitive. They inspire great writing too, and many a
young girl has been transported to a life long love of horses by
reading Black Beauty by Anna Sewell and Enid Bagnold's National Velvet. Seabiscuit also comes to
mind, telling the tale of a horse that captured the imagination of an
entire nation. The stories often involve, grief, heartbreak and with
the help of horses, healing and recovery.
In the race, when
the horses reach the clubhouse turn, the field has narrowed, the positions
are somewhat set and the jockeys who have held these fine creatures back, up until this point, will
let out the reins, give them a few taps with the stick and let them
show their stuff. On Derby day 2012, it was the Canadian entry who took the lead down the stretch. Challengers poured on the speed, but they could not quite catch, 'I'll Have Another.' Jockey, Mario Gutierrez wept with joy from the finish line to the moment when his mount became blanketed in red roses.
I think of the
clubhouse turn when writing a novel. The last third of the book
requires that level of inspiration and speed. It also serves as a
milestone in life: when you round that bend, you go into your true
power. Ideally, it should spark the same level of excitement.
Now, on to the Preakness.
I am so thrilled to add this update. 'I'll Have Another,' in a flat out race to the wire, won the 137th running of the Preakness today.
Now, on to the Preakness.
I am so thrilled to add this update. 'I'll Have Another,' in a flat out race to the wire, won the 137th running of the Preakness today.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Get Lit! & Online Classes: Happenings and Opportunities
Get Lit! Festival 2012 continues its schedule with a number of authors and speakers, such as Jess Walter presenting his latest novel, Beautiful Ruins, and Kim Barnes discussing her latest novel, In the Kingdom of Men. The schedule of remaining events are shown on the Events page of this blog, as well as a link to the Get Lit! site.
Also, for those writers interested in online writing classes, below is the schedule for a couple of interesting-looking classes I received in my inbox last week from WriterUniv.com. I took a travel writing class through them a few years ago and enjoyed the lessons and valuable feedback.
"Make 'em Laugh, Make 'em Cry, Make 'em Wait"
by Patricia Kay
May 1-25, 2012
$30 at www.WriterUniv.com
Great books are about more than good plotting, likable characters, lots of conflict, and skillful writing. For a book to really grab a reader, the author must make an emotional connection with that reader. Otherwise, even though the reader may enjoy the book, it won't be one he'll remember. It won't be one he'll talk about. And it won't be one he'll recommend to others. In this class, you'll learn various dramatic techniques that will help you stir your reader's feelings and make him feel he has an emotional stake in the story's outcome.
* Making your reader care: the dramatic journey
* Crafting powerful scenes that accomplish what you envision
* How sequels help you involve your reader
* Psychic distance: one of your most powerful tools
* Suspense and tension on every page
* Various emotional responses and ways to elicit them
* Building your own emotional palette
Patricia Kay is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 50 novels of romance and women's fiction. An acclaimed teacher, she formerly taught writing classes at the University of Houston and has given workshops all over the country. She now limits her teaching to online classes. You can learn more about her on her website at www.patriciakay.com.
~ ~ ~
"Fearless Writing"
by Laura Baker
May 1-31, 2012
$30 at www.WriterUniv.com
It all began with Fearless Writing. Writers start with freedom from doubts and just a passion for story. Then all too soon you struggle to overcome weaknesses in your storytelling. But what if the very thing you're muscling into submission is what would empower you? This is the premise of Fearless Writing -- that what you call flaws are what make your stories unique. Packed with exercises and feedback from award-winning author Laura Baker, this class taps your own dramatic powers, then puts those powers to work, transforming your story concept into a Story Vision empowered with your own strengths.
* Find the story you need to write
* Define your emotional and thematic motivators
* Through writing craft, focus the three underpinnings of great storytelling
* Create your own defining Storytelling Paragraph
* Turn ideas into a story using the Story Box process
* Learn the power of premise
* Bonus special exercise for those with a completed manuscript
With Laura's coaching, many unpublished writers are now published, and the techniques she teaches are used by NY Times bestselling authors. One author said, "Light bulb moments are so common when I'm learning at your side that I spend most of my time in this wild state of enlightenment and excitement. Just incredible." For more information about Laura's coaching classes and critiquing visit her website: www.fearlesswriter.com.
Also, for those writers interested in online writing classes, below is the schedule for a couple of interesting-looking classes I received in my inbox last week from WriterUniv.com. I took a travel writing class through them a few years ago and enjoyed the lessons and valuable feedback.
"Make 'em Laugh, Make 'em Cry, Make 'em Wait"by Patricia Kay
May 1-25, 2012
$30 at www.WriterUniv.com
Great books are about more than good plotting, likable characters, lots of conflict, and skillful writing. For a book to really grab a reader, the author must make an emotional connection with that reader. Otherwise, even though the reader may enjoy the book, it won't be one he'll remember. It won't be one he'll talk about. And it won't be one he'll recommend to others. In this class, you'll learn various dramatic techniques that will help you stir your reader's feelings and make him feel he has an emotional stake in the story's outcome.
* Making your reader care: the dramatic journey
* Crafting powerful scenes that accomplish what you envision
* How sequels help you involve your reader
* Psychic distance: one of your most powerful tools
* Suspense and tension on every page
* Various emotional responses and ways to elicit them
* Building your own emotional palette
Patricia Kay is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 50 novels of romance and women's fiction. An acclaimed teacher, she formerly taught writing classes at the University of Houston and has given workshops all over the country. She now limits her teaching to online classes. You can learn more about her on her website at www.patriciakay.com.
~ ~ ~
"Fearless Writing"
by Laura Baker
May 1-31, 2012
$30 at www.WriterUniv.com
It all began with Fearless Writing. Writers start with freedom from doubts and just a passion for story. Then all too soon you struggle to overcome weaknesses in your storytelling. But what if the very thing you're muscling into submission is what would empower you? This is the premise of Fearless Writing -- that what you call flaws are what make your stories unique. Packed with exercises and feedback from award-winning author Laura Baker, this class taps your own dramatic powers, then puts those powers to work, transforming your story concept into a Story Vision empowered with your own strengths.
* Find the story you need to write
* Define your emotional and thematic motivators
* Through writing craft, focus the three underpinnings of great storytelling
* Create your own defining Storytelling Paragraph
* Turn ideas into a story using the Story Box process
* Learn the power of premise
* Bonus special exercise for those with a completed manuscript
With Laura's coaching, many unpublished writers are now published, and the techniques she teaches are used by NY Times bestselling authors. One author said, "Light bulb moments are so common when I'm learning at your side that I spend most of my time in this wild state of enlightenment and excitement. Just incredible." For more information about Laura's coaching classes and critiquing visit her website: www.fearlesswriter.com.
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
More contest news, The Moral Premise, and going the last mile
Good news! The entry deadline for the Writing North Idaho Short Story Contest has been extended to Friday, March 30. That's an extra couple of weeks to write your story, so warm up that keyboard and get your creative motor running. Details here.
The Inland Northwest Christian Writers Conference in Spokane Valley and the Idahope Writers Conference in Boise are taking place this weekend. Who's planning to attend one of these? (Waving! I'll be at INCWC. Hope to see some of you there.) I understand that both conferences still have a few spaces available for walk-ins, if you haven't registered but find that you're able to attend. Check the websites for details.
I'm finally getting around to reading a book that's been on my nightstand since last fall, and now I'm sorry I didn't pick it up sooner. It's The Moral Premise: Harnessing Virtue & Vice for Box Office Success by Stanley D. Williams, Ph.D. The author, a veteran filmmaker, directs his attention primarily to filmwriters, but his insights into elements like story structure, cause-and-effect, and character motivation will prove useful for storytellers of all genres. Peppered throughout with examples from familiar movies, this is an eye-opening book for novelists, playwrights, short-story writers, and other yarn-spinners, in addition to screenwriters.
What's on my desk today: I'm in the home stretch of my novel, a romantic comedy set in 1920s Chicago. I had set a personal goal of finishing it before attending the Inland Northwest Christian Writers Conference, which starts in--oh, let's see--two days. Yikes! I don't know if I'll make it all the way to "The End" by Friday, but I'll be awfully close--much closer than I'd be if I didn't have a deadline to work toward. Between now and then, caffeine is my friend and Facebook is my enemy!
What's on YOUR desk?
The Inland Northwest Christian Writers Conference in Spokane Valley and the Idahope Writers Conference in Boise are taking place this weekend. Who's planning to attend one of these? (Waving! I'll be at INCWC. Hope to see some of you there.) I understand that both conferences still have a few spaces available for walk-ins, if you haven't registered but find that you're able to attend. Check the websites for details.
I'm finally getting around to reading a book that's been on my nightstand since last fall, and now I'm sorry I didn't pick it up sooner. It's The Moral Premise: Harnessing Virtue & Vice for Box Office Success by Stanley D. Williams, Ph.D. The author, a veteran filmmaker, directs his attention primarily to filmwriters, but his insights into elements like story structure, cause-and-effect, and character motivation will prove useful for storytellers of all genres. Peppered throughout with examples from familiar movies, this is an eye-opening book for novelists, playwrights, short-story writers, and other yarn-spinners, in addition to screenwriters.
What's on my desk today: I'm in the home stretch of my novel, a romantic comedy set in 1920s Chicago. I had set a personal goal of finishing it before attending the Inland Northwest Christian Writers Conference, which starts in--oh, let's see--two days. Yikes! I don't know if I'll make it all the way to "The End" by Friday, but I'll be awfully close--much closer than I'd be if I didn't have a deadline to work toward. Between now and then, caffeine is my friend and Facebook is my enemy!
What's on YOUR desk?
Friday, March 9, 2012
Reading Tips and Upcoming North Idaho Events
Michael Fogus posted an interesting article on his blog, Lifehacker, recently. Titled, Reading for the Rushed, he gives pointers on how he manages to maximize his motivation and reading time. They include:
Read only what you find interesting
Be willing to abandon bad books
Read in context
The more you read the faster you’ll read
Keep a reading log
Fogus expands on these principles in his article, which you can find Here.
The Coeur d’Alene Library has a number of writing-related events coming up this month. Here are the highlights:
Photo Safari from South African Park
COEUR d’ALENE – Writer and photographer Joan Budai will share her photos from South Africa as part of the Novel Destinations series at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave., on Thursday, March 15, at 7 p.m. The free program on the big screen in the Community Room features wildlife photos from the Kruger National Park.
Reception at Library for Author/Volunteer
COEUR d’ALENE – For many years Dorothea Maley has volunteered at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library surrounded by books. Now she has written a book herself.
The Friends of the Library will host a reception for the author Thursday, March 22, at 7 p.m. where she will read from and sign copies of her book, “In the Shadow of Rainbows.”
A longtime North Idaho resident, Maley achieved success in the fields of graphic arts and publishing. This is her first full-length book. “In the Shadow of Rainbows” is a fictional adaptation of a true story. The central character, Ann Marie Duvall, is determined to visit Egypt and its historic sites. But with cancer spreading through her body it appears unlikely she will be able to fulfill her dream. But with courage, faith, and laughter she fights to overcome the challenge.
Writers Competition is 24th for Library
COEUR d’ALENE – The 24th annual Writers Competition at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library has begun.
Writers ages 6 to adult can submit up to two entries of fiction and nonfiction prose (no poetry please) – two fiction pieces, two nonfiction or one in each category – up to 2,000 words.
Entry forms and rules are available at the library, 702 E. Front Ave., beginning Jan. 31 or can be downloaded from the library website, www.cdalibrary.org. The web entry forms can be found under the “About Us” and click on “Annual Events.” You can receive entry forms/rules by mail by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Writers Competition, Cd’A Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814. The deadline for entries is March 31. Entries mailed to the library should be postmarked no later than March 30.
North Idaho Reads Grant Approved for Film Festival
North Idaho Reads – a cooperative reading and discussion project by regional libraries – has been approved by the Idaho Humanities Council to receive a grant of $1,882 in support of a film festival as part of the group’s programs.
The project – previously called Our Region Reads – selects a book each year for the regional community to share and to discuss during a series of programs. This year’s title is the classic “Fahrenheit 451,” by Ray Bradbury. Programs will be scheduled from Sept. 30 to Nov. 11. The Humanities grant will fund “The Future is Yours – Join the Fahrenheit 451 Conversation” a movie series looking a films with different interpretations what the future may hold.
Planning is currently underway for other programs as part of North Idaho Reads at libraries that include Coeur d’Alene Public Library, the Community Library Network, the West Bonner Library District and the East Bonner County Library District as well as other nonlibrary venues. Humanities grants are funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the “We the People Initiative.”
Additional information about North Idaho Reads is available at www.northidahoreads.blogspot.com.
For details about these and other North Idaho events, check out the Events page of this blog.
Cheers!
Read only what you find interesting
Be willing to abandon bad books
Read in context
The more you read the faster you’ll read
Keep a reading log
Fogus expands on these principles in his article, which you can find Here.
Upcoming Events
The Coeur d’Alene Library has a number of writing-related events coming up this month. Here are the highlights:
Photo Safari from South African Park
COEUR d’ALENE – Writer and photographer Joan Budai will share her photos from South Africa as part of the Novel Destinations series at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave., on Thursday, March 15, at 7 p.m. The free program on the big screen in the Community Room features wildlife photos from the Kruger National Park.
Reception at Library for Author/Volunteer
COEUR d’ALENE – For many years Dorothea Maley has volunteered at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library surrounded by books. Now she has written a book herself.
The Friends of the Library will host a reception for the author Thursday, March 22, at 7 p.m. where she will read from and sign copies of her book, “In the Shadow of Rainbows.”
Writers Competition is 24th for Library
COEUR d’ALENE – The 24th annual Writers Competition at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library has begun.
Writers ages 6 to adult can submit up to two entries of fiction and nonfiction prose (no poetry please) – two fiction pieces, two nonfiction or one in each category – up to 2,000 words.
Entry forms and rules are available at the library, 702 E. Front Ave., beginning Jan. 31 or can be downloaded from the library website, www.cdalibrary.org. The web entry forms can be found under the “About Us” and click on “Annual Events.” You can receive entry forms/rules by mail by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Writers Competition, Cd’A Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814. The deadline for entries is March 31. Entries mailed to the library should be postmarked no later than March 30.
North Idaho Reads Grant Approved for Film Festival
The project – previously called Our Region Reads – selects a book each year for the regional community to share and to discuss during a series of programs. This year’s title is the classic “Fahrenheit 451,” by Ray Bradbury. Programs will be scheduled from Sept. 30 to Nov. 11. The Humanities grant will fund “The Future is Yours – Join the Fahrenheit 451 Conversation” a movie series looking a films with different interpretations what the future may hold.
Planning is currently underway for other programs as part of North Idaho Reads at libraries that include Coeur d’Alene Public Library, the Community Library Network, the West Bonner Library District and the East Bonner County Library District as well as other nonlibrary venues. Humanities grants are funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the “We the People Initiative.”
Additional information about North Idaho Reads is available at www.northidahoreads.blogspot.com.
_______________________________
For details about these and other North Idaho events, check out the Events page of this blog.
Cheers!
Monday, February 27, 2012
The Five Top Reasons to Attend a Writing Conference
By: Jan Cline
Spokane Valley freelance writer, author & speaker
Spokane Valley freelance writer, author & speaker
It was my first writer’s conference. I sat close to the stage where an author I had never heard of spoke about her writing/publishing journey. Her words were inspiring and discouraging at the same time. Even though she was enjoying great success as a bestselling author, her road to fame had been long and arduous. Rejection after rejection had left her wondering if she would ever be good enough to be published.
But she stuck it out. She endured years of rewrites and committed herself to learning her craft. It paid off in a big way for her, not everyone is so lucky. As I listened to her story, I wondered if I would have the fortitude to hold tight to my dream to be a published author.
After attending wonderful workshops that weekend and networking with other writers who had the same dream, I knew I had to give it my all. I would listen, read, learn and push myself to be a better writer. That conference was the turning point in my writing journey.
Since that day I have attended three more conferences and met more writers and publishing professionals than I can count. One of those conferences is the Inland NW Christian Writers Conference here in Spokane, which I founded and direct. This Spring I will attend a large conference in California and present a workshop at another conference in Seattle. I have learned more about the publishing industry, especially in the Inspirational genres, than I thought I would ever need to. I have become friends with other writers in the Northwest and beyond. Doors have opened and I have stepped, no, jumped through them.
All this because I attended that very first conference.
My experience is not unusual – except for the part about starting my own conference. However, I’m still amazed at how many writers I meet that have never even considered attending a conference. Partly because they are often expensive, and partly because they don’t realize how much they would benefit from attending one. I know I had no idea where it would lead for me.
Writing classes are good, writing and critiquing groups are even better. But I believe every serious writer should consider a conference. Why? Here are some key reasons.
1. Networking with other writers
2. Access to a variety of workshops all in one place
3. Meeting publishing professionals that could help your career
4. Inspiration and idea exchange
5. Clarification as to whether you were really meant to be a writer
You may ask why I listed that last point. At each conference I’ve attended, I’ve talked to at least one writer who has told me they knew after it was all said and done that they were not committed enough to pursue writing anymore. Some said they were actually relieved to put to rest a dream that was no longer a passion. It’s not defeat, it’s direction.
Do you ever wonder if you have what it takes to live your dream to be published? Do you need a gentle nudge or a kick in the backside to take your writing up a notch? Do you need to be inspired by other writers and authors to refresh your dream?
A conference might be just what you need.
I would love for you to come to my conference – but it may not be the one for you. You can check us out at www.inlandnwchristianwriters.com. There are lots of other conferences to consider. I hope you will keep an open mind and save your pennies to attend one of them in the next year. You won’t regret it.
Here are some possibilities.
- Pacific Northwest Writers Association
- Pikes Peak Writers Conference
- Northern Colorado Writers Conference
- Northwest Christian Writers Renewal
- South Coast Writers Conference
Happy writing!
Jan Cline
Jan is a freelance writer, author, and speaker from Spokane Valley. Since 1996 she has been speaking to women’s groups at retreats and meetings, on a variety of topics. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association, NW Christian Writers, and leads a writers group in her area. Jan is also founder and Director of the Inland NW Christian Writers Conference. She has had numerous articles and short stories published, including a Chicken Soup for the Soul book coming out in March 2012. She is currently on the final edit of her book, A Heart Out of Hiding, which she hopes to have published by the end of the year.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Downton Abbey and the tale of Two Classes.
Julian Fellowes, Academy Award winning screenwriter for "Gosford Park," created a remarkable series for Masterpiece Theater called, Downton Abbey. To any readers who find themselves out of this loop, please do not despair. Boxed sets are available for purchase and the website will furnish past episodes. This series has created a great stir on both sides of the Atlantic.
The tale begins when the man set to inherit the estate of Downton Abbey, goes down with the Titanic. As his son perishes with him, the next in line is a distant cousin, a man who works for a living and is not 'to the manner born'. He has to be brought in to learn how to manage, not only the enormous house, but the thousand acres that go with it. He arrives with his mother in tow, and meets the three unwed daughters who grace the drawing room. Archly referred to as “the great matter,” the race is on to insure the survival of the estate. In this story, the house itself is a character.
The drama skips along at a tremendous pace encompassing the events of the outside world, the downstairs realm of the servants, and the upstairs affairs of the Grantham family. The Dowager Countess, played by Maggie Smith, is the supreme matriarch of the clan, having much social advantage over her American daughter-in-law, Lady Grantham. The fictitious Downton Abbey is filmed at Highclere Castle, a very real establishment in Yorkshire. The setting is as magnificent as one could possibly imagine and is described as “a statement of aristocratic confidence.” The audience cannot look upon it without imagining the staggering upkeep. Many great houses in England would have gone to ruin towards the end of the Edwardian age, had it not been for the large infusion of cash coming from Newport and New York. A crush of American brides came over; they were affectionately known as the buccaneers- some three hundred in all. Many were given the deep freeze by the old aristocracy who were glad of the funds, but would not soften. They stiffly insisted on perpetuating the status quo.
“Will you have a change of heart?” This is the question raised time and time again, episode by episode, from characters inhabiting roles both upstairs and down.
Wondering about the enormous popularity of the show, many have asked if there is not a sort of longing for the old days, a nostalgia, if you will, creeping throughout modern day England. Julian Fellowes responded by saying that perhaps there is a fondness for a more courteous time when working society involved respect for others. Even if that may have some appeal, he is quick to say, “the cheese of it is that you don't have to live it; you're not the one lugging the coal.” The quaint picture of the devoted servant has long been the fantasy of the employer and not so much the dream of past employees who longed for a proverbial ladder. Toiling from before dawn until midnight, they sought every way possible to improve their lot in life.
In the story, the Grantham family know their lifestyle is not sustainable. They are well aware that change is coming, and that the labor movement is gaining strength. The Great War sees servant and master side by side in the trenches, both willing to give their lives for England. Many voice the belief that war changes everything. The servants hope that change will come: the upper classes fear it.
Highclere Castle has its own first family, namely, the Carnarvorns. Like all great estates, they made changes in order to survive, opening the house for tours, serving tea, and hosting weddings and private events. The staff fluctuates between sixty and eighty people and they have a ninety year old living under their storied roof.
The Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey states that she is not a Jacobean revolutionary. She is perfectly comfortable with her life and extends her fan to blot out the glaring lights brought by electricity. Yet we sense that when the changes come, she will be able to manage.
Ghandi said, "The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of forms. It requires change of heart."
The rules were clear back then and the dress code very exact. Was it a simpler time? That would depend on the lens through which it was perceived. The higher one climbs, the better the view tends to be. As the story continues to move through the twentieth century, we know the lines will be blurred and we wait with joyful hope to see both sides weather the coming storm. Julian Fellowes says the next installment is "done and dusted," but we will have to wait almost a year before it airs. As far as Downton Abbey is concerned, I for one will not have a change of heart. I shall wait with baited breath.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Chilly Outdoors? Get Fired Up about Writing!
There are a few great, learning-opportunity events for writers coming soon to the North Idaho area.
Cheryl B. Klein has worked as an editor of children's and young adult books for more than a decade. She served as the continuity editor for the American editions of the last two Harry Potter novels, and books that she edited have won the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, the Sid Fleischman Humor Award, the Batchelder Award for translation, and a New York Times Best Illustrated Book citation, among other honors.
A story is what happens in a book; plot gives that story structure. In this INTENSIVE master class with editor and writer Cheryl Klein, we’ll examine the care and feeding of a plot, including a number of techniques authors employ to control pacing, tension, character development, and reader reaction. We’ll also look at the DNA of action and emotional development in a novel, and the uses of subplots. You’ll learn methods for analyzing your own plot to identify its strengths and weaknesses, and tips for completing a thoughtful and effective revision.
Sponsored by Eastern Washington University, the 2012 Get Lit! Festival focuses on writers who “Capture the World.” While the festival continues to celebrate the role of writers from multiple genres, crime fiction will be spotlighted at the 2012 festival. Mark your calendar for the 14th annual festival and workshops.
The Get Lit! Festival is weeklong celebration of reading and writing offers events for literature lovers of all ages, including:
• readings and lectures
• interviews
• workshops
• panel discussions
• poetry slams for children, teens, and college students
• writing contests
• book signings
• visits by festival authors to local K-12 schools and colleges
For more information about events, check out the Get Lit! website.
For additional writing-related events such as author book signings and readings in the area, take a look at the Events page of this blog.
- In early March, Cheryl Kline, Executive Editor at Arthur E. Levine Books, will be holding a novel intensive master class on plot.
- In mid-March, the Inland Northwest Christian Writers group will hold their second annual Inland Northwest Christian Writers Conference, with keynote speaker Tracie Petersen, award-winning and bestselling author of over 80 books. Note: Last day for Early Bird Registration is February 4!
- In April the Get Lit! 2012 Festival begins, bringing a week-long festival of writing-related events.
________________________________________
Novel Intensive:
MASTER CLASS On PLOT
Cheryl Klein
Executive Editor, Arthur A. Levine Books
MASTER CLASS On PLOT
Cheryl Klein
Executive Editor, Arthur A. Levine Books
A story is what happens in a book; plot gives that story structure. In this INTENSIVE master class with editor and writer Cheryl Klein, we’ll examine the care and feeding of a plot, including a number of techniques authors employ to control pacing, tension, character development, and reader reaction. We’ll also look at the DNA of action and emotional development in a novel, and the uses of subplots. You’ll learn methods for analyzing your own plot to identify its strengths and weaknesses, and tips for completing a thoughtful and effective revision.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
9:30am-4:30pm
Laundau Room
Lincoln Center
1316 North Lincoln Street
Spokane, WA
Sponsored by the
Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators:
Inland Northwest Region
To Register visit the SCBWI website.
9:30am-4:30pm
Laundau Room
Lincoln Center
1316 North Lincoln Street
Spokane, WA
Sponsored by the
Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators:
Inland Northwest Region
To Register visit the SCBWI website.
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INLAND NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN WRITERS CONFERENCE
INWCW 2nd Annual Conference
March 16 & 17, 2012
March 16 & 17, 2012
New Life Assembly of God Church
Spokane Valley, WA
The Inland Northwest Christian Writers organization will hold their second annual conference in March, 2012. Keynote speaker will be Tracie Peterson, award-winning, bestselling author of over 80 books.The conference will include a variety of workshops to choose from and other activities to inspire writers of all levels.
Reserve your spot today with editors, agents and critiquers while
there are still appointments available.
EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS FEBRUARY 4!
EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS FEBRUARY 4!
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April 10 – 15, 2012
Spokane, Washington
Spokane, Washington
Sponsored by Eastern Washington University, the 2012 Get Lit! Festival focuses on writers who “Capture the World.” While the festival continues to celebrate the role of writers from multiple genres, crime fiction will be spotlighted at the 2012 festival. Mark your calendar for the 14th annual festival and workshops.
The Get Lit! Festival is weeklong celebration of reading and writing offers events for literature lovers of all ages, including:
• readings and lectures
• interviews
• workshops
• panel discussions
• poetry slams for children, teens, and college students
• writing contests
• book signings
• visits by festival authors to local K-12 schools and colleges
For more information about events, check out the Get Lit! website.
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For additional writing-related events such as author book signings and readings in the area, take a look at the Events page of this blog.
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