Reading

Books I Bought on a Whim

Posted on by vlaw759
Top Ten Tuesday, Broke and Bookish, Books I picked up on a whim
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, they provide a prompt for bloggers. Today’s prompt is Ten Books I Picked Up on a Whim.
Actually, this could apply to most of the books currently on my shelves. I almost never set out to buy a particular book. I see it and I want it. And so, in no particular order, here are a few of my whimsies.

 

Books I Bought on a Whim: the Bizarre

I’m attracted to anything with bizarre in the title. Who wouldn’t want to know about peculiar precipitation, from colored rain to frog falls? It may be comforting to know that not even acid can dissolve a diamond. And if you ever came across a Hercules beetle, you’d know it by its 7-inch length.
Bizarre-Weather-The-Book-of-Bizarre-Truths-book-whim
Bizarre Weather and The Book of Bizarre Truths

Books I Bought on a Whim: Skulls

I like skulls. I have half a dozen pairs of skull earrings, 3 rings, 4 pendants, and 1 bracelet. I bought this book by mail-order, and it covers everything from the empire of the dead to tattoo skulls.
The Mammoth Book of Skulls, book whim
The Mammoth Book of Skulls

Books I Bought on a Whim: the Horrible

And then there are books that just appeal to me as a mystery writer—and as one fascinated by death.

Books I Bought on a Whim: Bob Dylan

I first loved Dylan lyrics when I heard his songs sung by others. It took a long time for me to appreciate his voice. And truth be told, I seldom even glance at this book. I just like knowing it’s on the shelf.
Bob Dylan lyrics, book, whim
Bob Dylan Lyrics

Books I Bought on a Whim: Writing Journals

I’ve written in my diary every night for decades. I’ve kept notes and files related to writing ideas and projects. But I’ve never kept a writing journal. Maybe that’s why I buy every one I see!
Journals by Hawthorne, Christie, and Cheever, books I bought on a whim
Journals by Hawthorne, Christie, and Cheever

Books I Bought on a Whim: Chagall’s Illustrated Bible

I bought this book after having seen it briefly in a writing class. You may remember my blog comments about cross-over art. Chagall’s illustrations cover only Genesis, Exodus, and The Song of Solomon. The text is set in paragraphs. The combination of format and paintings makes the words themselves fresh.
illustrated Bible, Chagall, books i bought on a whim
Chagall’s illustrations of Genesis, Exodus, and The Song of Solomon

Books I Bought on a Whim: the Dark Side

Books that deal with the dark side—for example, the books in the Postsecret series—are highly inspirational for writers. This book is similar. It covers shameful confessions to all the deadly sins, plus miscellaneous.
Not Proud: A Smorgasbord of Shame, Books I bought on a whim
Not Proud: A Smorgasbord of Shame
This book I bought because the title is such a cliché, and because it reminded me of BONK: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (Mary Roach). 
 
Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll, books I bought on a whim
Sex, Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll

Books I Bought on a Whim: Repeats

Last but not least, here are 5 books I bought on a whim more than once! Don’t ask.
books I bought on a whim

Trivia Pursuit

Posted on by vlaw759
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I like having books about places I’ve lived. I was born and reared in Ohio, and now live in Virginia, so those are two of the states I am drawn to. And given that I’m also drawn to the weird. . .

 

trivia books, Weird Ohio, Weird Virginia
Weird Virginia and Weird Ohio

 

From books like these, you can gain such vital information about Ohio as the location of Crybaby Bridge; abandoned hospitals, prisons, and asylums; and graveyards worthy of a safari. And as for Virginia, you might think Civil War Statues—but what about a statue of a giant Viking, or Johnny Appleseed, or the Auto Muffler King?

 

trivia books, Virginia, Ohio

 

Did you know that the official state drink of Ohio is tomato juice? Or that the 50-star U.S. flag was designed by an Ohio high-schooler? And FYI, the dorm room occupied by Edgar Allan Poe at the University of Virginia is on permanent display. And Secretariat was the first Virginia bred-and-owned horse to win the Triple Crown.

 

 

Of course, trivia can come in all forms. I have several books of lists. I like knowing the 6 illegal substances that occur naturally in our bodies, 21 biblical contradictions, and 12 erotic works by well-known writers. (Anne Rice? Piers Anthony?)

 

If ever evidence was needed that people will compete in anything, just check out weird records: the longest time balancing a Christmas tree on the chin (56,82 seconds), the longest time keeping toe in mouth while hopping on one foot (1min. 49.02 sec.), and the largest grand piano cake (300 lbs, shaped like a baby grand).

 

And examples could go on. But why? Either you love trivia—and therefore will own these books or others like them—or you won’t. In which case, why are you still reading?

 

Trivia positives for readers

Trivia is interesting, often funny, can serve as a conversational gambit, and you needn’t worry about coming to a good stopping place before going to bed.

 

Trivia positives for writers

Giving your characters off-beat information or obsessions adds interest—and you can enjoy the research!

Loving Libraries

Posted on by vlaw759
library-books-love-library
True confession—in case you hadn’t figured this out yet: I’m a book hoarder. So, you might ask, why does someone who seldom sees a book she doesn’t want to own love libraries? Let me count the ways!

 

  1. My local libraries all have book sales on-going, and I can pick up all sorts of interesting books, CDs, DVDs, etc., for $1-$2—some good enough to gift!
  2. I can borrow audio books for those times when I can’t actually read—e.g., when I have a raging case of conjunctivitis or I’m driving 200 miles
  3. Many people—even writers!—think research means Google, but sometimes that comes up short. In my experience, nothing beats the reference section of a library and a friendly librarian for helping to ferret out the tidbits you need to make your story real.
  4. Big, important libraries—such as the Library of Virginia or Radcliff’s Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on The History of Women in America—hold all sorts of materials that you can’t buy, or even borrow: historic papers, maps, diaries, letters, photos, etc. But you can take notes and often you can make copies!
  5. Probably less important for writers than for others—except in emergencies—but libraries offer free access to computers, and thus the internet.
  6. Libraries host programs that are free to the public, often talks by writers or about writing.
  7. Study rooms and meeting rooms are available free for non-profit use—such as critique group meetings. IMHO, every writer should have at least one good critique group that meets regularly, and meeting at a library means no one has to make the house suitable for visitors!
  8. Inter-library loan is a godsend!
  9. So why do I love libraries? Because I’m a writer!
 
Tell me your reasons for loving libraries. Leave a comment below, or find me on Facebook or Twitter.

Bestseller Lists

Posted on by vlaw759

 

bestseller lists, books, author

How often do you check out bestseller lists? Which ones?

There are some who sneer at best-selling books, but I’m of a different opinion.

Just because it sells doesn’t mean it isn’t good!

There are debates about the legitimacy of bestseller lists and how the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today arrive at their rankings. Some lists have more editorial oversight than others; some lists rely on sales figures as well as a sampling from their pre-selected booksellers. Some lists split digital and print, some don’t. The New York Times shows both.

Whatever your opinion of the tactics that create the lists, the lists are excellent places to find a great book to read. Or you might try recommendations from booksellers, such as the Indie Next List, which is curated by independent booksellers.

Top Ten Bookworm Delights

Posted on by vlaw759
Top Ten Tuesday logo, Broke and the Bookish, blog feature, reading list,
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, they provide a prompt for bloggers. Today’s prompt is Top Ten Bookworm Delights.

BOOKWORM DELIGHTS come in all guises! I’m talking about the periphery, the delights beyond lovely language, powerful characters, and compelling plots.

Bookworm Delights #1: I love old books.

DIRECTIONS FOR COOKERY, IN ITS VARIOUS BRANCHES, BY MISS LESLIE, 1843, book, bookworm delights, top ten tuesday
Directions for Cookery, In Its Various Branches
My oldest books are cookbooks. The oldest is DIRECTIONS FOR COOKERY, IN ITS VARIOUS BRANCHES, BY MISS LESLIE, 1843; unfortunately it isn’t at all photogenic. It includes helpful hints, such as two jills are half a pint; preparations for the sick; receipts [sic] for perfumery, and pudding catsup; uses for peach pits and plum stones; and advertisements for a treatise on the physiological and moral management of infancy, a book on the culture of flowers and grapes, and THE HOUSE BOOK: OR, A MANUAL OF DOMESTIC ECONOMY BY MISS LESLIE.
 
White House Cookbook, bookworm delights, top ten Tuesday
White House Cookbook
 
Sometimes old books yield bonuses. This 1899 printing of the WHITE HOUSE COOKBOOK came with four 1917 U.S. Dept. of Agriculture pamphlets with titles like “Do You Know Corn Meal? ITS USE MEANS Service to Your Country, Nourishing Food for You.”
 
I don’t actually collect antiquarian books, cookbooks or otherwise. But I like having old books around, and many on my shelves date from the 1930s onward.
 
inexpensive paperbacks, bookworm delights, top ten tuesday

Given my druthers, I’d still read the fifty- and sixty-cent paperbacks rather than the shiny new editions from the bookstore.

Bookworm Delights #2: I love sets of books

books by Tony Hillerman on shelf, bookworm delights, top ten Tuesday
Books by Tony Hillerman

When I find an author I really enjoy, I want to read everything he or she wrote. And I keep the ones I like best, both fiction and non-fiction.

Bookworm Delights #3: I love books about places I’ve lived. 

Carroll, Ohio by Mildred Marie Clum, Virginia Curiosities by Sharon Cavileer, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday
Carroll, Ohio by Mildred Marie Clum and Virginia Curiosities by Sharon Cavileer

Therefore, I have an array of books about Upstate New York, Washington, DC, and Maryland, as well as Ohio and Virginia.

Bookworm Delights #4: When I travel, especially abroad, I love bringing home books of memories. 

I have everything from books of cityscapes to fiction in translation and historical summaries. I’ll spare you photos of all the foreign cookbooks I’ve accumulated. But here are a couple representing Germany and Italy, places I’ve visited more than once.

travel book, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday

Bookworm Delights #5: Oddball books give me great pleasure.

My favorites of these are the three volumes of Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices by George Leonard Herter and Berthe E. Herter.

The first printing of the first volume was in 1960, and the three volumes are extremely entertaining examples of do-it-yourself publishing. The books contain wonderful paragraphs of opinion and assertion, with no attempt to document sources for the statements. For example, his recipe for Doves Wyatt Earp begins with four pages of purported biography of Earp. The recipe itself begins, “Pick ten doves and cut off their wings, feet and head. Remove the entrails and singe off the hair feathers with a candle.” Some of the recipes are quite tasty, the historical bits are fun reading, and all three volumes are illustrated with hundreds of black-and-white photographs, most of them by the author—at least, no photo credits are offered.

Closely related to oddball books are books on oddball topics—or if not oddball, at least on narrow topics—which I enjoy immensely because of the information therein.

three oddball books, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday

There are whole books out there on toads, dung, how to hide one’s assets and disappear, and just about anything else you could think of.

Bookworm Delights #6: I love having shelves of unread books!

It feels like money in the bank.

With unread books on hand (and this can include unread books on an e-reader!), should you suddenly find yourself unemployed or otherwise short of money to buy more books just now, no problem! Ditto should you find yourself laid up with a broken back or a lingering case of flu.

Bookworm Delights #7: I love receiving books from family and friends.

It’s better if I actually enjoy the book. But opening books inscribed by loved ones, knowing they were thinking about me and my interests—however imperfectly—when they bought them, makes me glow.

Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson by Alan Pell Crawford, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday
Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson by Alan Pell Crawford

And what are books without bookmarks?

Bookworm Delights #8: I love bookmarks.

My favorite commercial bookmarks are book darts. 
 
book darts, Bookworm delights for Top Ten Tuesday
Book darts

They are simple, slim, and elegant. They stay put. They can mark a page at top or side or bottom (though I don’t see the point of bottom). Unfortunately, the local Barnes and Nobel doesn’t carry them anymore.

And did you know that Post-Its were invented by a man who was trying to create a bookmark that would stay put when reading on airplanes?

And speaking of bookmarks, decades ago I started using postcards as markers in cookbooks—books that often need more than one marker AND are opened frequently.

postcards, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday

Bookworm Delights #9: I love coming across a postcard sent thirty years ago by someone traveling near or far.

They make me smile and think of the sender. Many of those senders are dead now. And I suppose postcards are going the way of the dodo bird, as friends now send e-mails with photos. Oh, sigh. All the more reason to treasure the ones I have.

Last but not least. . .

Bookworm Delights #10: I delight in my reading chair! 

 
recliner where I read, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday
Recliner where I read
 
True bookworms read anywhere and everywhere. I read in doctors’ waiting rooms, and in the dentist’s chair waiting for the impression gunk to set up. In the car when it isn’t my turn to drive. When I’m in bed, lights out, the only glow that from my Kindle. Yes, I’ve even been known to read in the bathroom. But the best, coziest reading—whether with fireplace or AC—is in my recliner, feet up, padded armrests supporting my elbows.

Bottom line

Bookworm delights are as many and as varied as bookworms themselves. What are yours? Tell me in the comments below, on Facebook, or Twitter.

Top Ten Tuesday: Funny Writing

Posted on by vlaw759
Top Ten Tuesday, books on humor, funny, humorous books
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, they provide a prompt for bloggers. Today’s prompt is Ten Books That Will Make You Laugh.
FUNNY WRITING : I don’t do that. It isn’t for lack of interest; it just doesn’t come naturally to me. I have sometimes written things that make people smile, and several of those short pieces appear in Different Drummer. But when writing those things, humor wasn’t my goal. On the other hand, I definitely chose the cover for smiles!
Different Drummer by Vivian Lawry, humor stories, short stories, funny
That said, I do like to laugh. And it’s a scientific fact that you can’t get ulcers while laughing. So for the sake of your physical and mental health, write funny if you can. And if you can’t, read some of the following.

 

My all-time favorite humorist is James Thurber—and not just because he lived and worked in Columbus, Ohio. Not only does he write funny, he draws funny! His stories, illustrated with his own cartoons, appeared dozens of times in The New Yorker. If I had to choose just one book of his, it would be The Thurber Carnival.
 
James Thurber, funny writing, humor writing
The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber
For one thing, it includes selections from several of his other books, as well as some previously unpublished stories. It begins with a third-person bio which Thurber wrote about himself. Even his titles make me smile, e.g., “Are You the Young Man Who Bit My Daughter?” and “Darling, I Seem to Have This Rabbit.” But really, snap up any Thurber you happen to come across.
James Thurber collection of novels, funny writing, humor writing
James Thurber collection of funny writing
I tend to like collections of humor writing. For example, Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures, edited by Jennifer L. Leo, contains stories by Anne Lamott, Ellen DeGeneres, and others.
Sand in my Bra short story collection, funny writing, humor writing,
Sand in My Bra
Two great classic collections are Fierce Pajamas: An Anthology of Humor Writing from The New Yorker, edited by David Remick and Henry Finder, and An Encyclopedia of Modern American Humor, edited by Bennet Cerf. Both include dozens of time-tested stories.
I also enjoy a number of writers who have assembled entire books of their own work. P.S. Wall’s My Love Is Free . . .But the Rest of Me Don’t Come Cheap comes to mind, as does David Sedaris, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and Erma Bombeck, All I Knew About Animal Behavior I learned in Loehmann’s Dressing Room.
 
 
Then there are the humor books targeted to specific groups of readers. The Primal Whimper (Glenn C. Ellenbogen, Ed.) a collection of made-up research that pokes fun at psychologists and psychiatrists. I like What Dr. Spock Didn’t Tell Us: A Survival Kit For Parents (B.M. Atkinson, Jr., with Whitney Darrow, Jr.). I recently found four copies on Amazon to gift to the “children” of friends who are now parents themselves. Maybe part of the reason I like it so much is that the drawings remind me of Thurber!
Perhaps the greatest admiration should go to people who can write entire novels that make us laugh. I’m thinking particularly of Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones.
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, writing humor, humor writing
Tom Jones
Also remember P.G. Wodehouse and Steven Leacock. And who could forget Mark Twain? The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  But consider the slim volume The Jumping Frog. It pokes fun at literature in translation!
The Jumping Frog, Mark Twain, writing humor, funny writing
The Jumping Frog
And where do I fit in Peg Bracken? Most well-known for The I Hate To Cook Book, she is just as funny in But I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For the World.
 
But I Wouldn't Have Missed It For The World! by Pec Bracken, writing humor, funny writing
But I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For The World!
 
But we mustn’t limit our laughs to books written primarily for humor. Think Jane Austen and Mary Roach. 

Takeaway for Readers

Take your laughs where you can find them.

 

Takeaway for Writers

Good humor writing is timeless.

 

What books make you laugh? Tell me in the comments below, on Facebook, or Twitter.

Queen of Mystery

Posted on by vlaw759
No, I don’t mean Agatha Christie. Frankly, Christie’s mysteries usually annoy me—too much alligator-over-the-transom in her solutions—meaning that some completely unforeseen, unpredictable bit of info suddenly appears and unlocks everything. (No offense to Christie fans out there; but reading preferences are very individual. Ask any writer who’s received multiple rejections for a piece of work that someone more on the same wavelength eventually accepts.) No, if I were bestowing the crown, it would be Dorothy L. Sayers.
 
Dorothy L. Sayers novels
 
Sayers was a woman of many achievements. She translated Dante, wrote poetry, and worked as a copyeditor. She was a playwright, essayist, literary critic, and Christian humanist, as well as a student of classical and modern languages. But she is best known for her Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane mysteries. You may recall from last Friday’s blog that Sayers is one of the few fiction authors I periodically re-read. Now, you might ask, “Why would anyone reread a mystery? Once you know Who Done It—and probably how and why—what’s the point?”

 

Dorothy L. Sayers The Unpleasantness at The Bellona Club; The Five Red Herrings

 

In the case of Sayers, my answer is three-fold. First there is her openings that draw me.  The Unpleasantness at The Bellona Club begins, “’What in the world, Wimsey, are you doing in this Morgue?’ demanded Captain Fentiman, flinging aside “The Evening Banner” with the air of a man released from an irksome duty. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t call it that,’ retorted Wimsey, amiably. ‘Funeral Parlor at the very least. Look at the marble. Look at the furnishings. Look at the palms and the chaste bronze nude in the corner.'”

 

Five Red Herrings opens, “If one lives in Gallowy, one either fishes or paints. . . To be neither of these things is considered odd and almost eccentric.”

 

Strong Poison begins, “There were crimson roses on the bench; they looked like splashes of blood. The judge was an old man; so old, he seemed to have outlived time and change and death. His parrot-face and parrot-voice were dry, like his old heavily-veined hands. His scarlet robe clashed harshly with the crimson of the roses.”

 

Have His Carcase begins, “The best remedy for a bruised heart is not, as so many people seem to think, repose upon a manly bosom. Much more efficacious are honest work, physical activity, and the sudden acquisition of wealth.”
 
Dorothy L. Sayers novels

 

The second reason to reread is to really grasp the intricate plots that often allow me to learn something. And, coincidentally, to appreciate all the ways she foreshadowed the ending and inserted the evidence and clues without telegraphing the ending. In various Sayers novels, I learned the effects of chronic ingestion of arsenic, a lot about English bell-ringing, cyphers, the advertising world, a great deal about the questions surrounding the execution of the family of Czar Nicholas II—among other things.
 
Dorothy L. Sayers books
 
And then there are the characters and their romance. I recently read that Sayers once commented that Lord Peter Wimsey was a mixture of Fred Astaire and Bertie Wooster. I always envisioned Wimsey as Astaire, even when the TV serials starred Ian Carmichael or Edward Petheridge. He’s brilliant, graceful, athletic, debonaire—plus he blathers, and suffers “shell shock” (a.k.a., PTSD). Harriet Vane is highly intelligent, strong-willed, principled, with a low opinion of men—and not really beautiful. I find them appealing in their flaws.

 

Dorothy L. Sayers books, cheap editions

 

Sayers set her mysteries between WWI and WWII, but they are still popular today. Masterpiece Theater aired the series. The complete DVD collection was released in 2003.

 

Dorothy L. Sayers, "Are Women Human?"

 

Harriet Vane was very atypical for her time. Sayers did not devote a lot of time to talking or writing about  or otherwise dealing with her own non-traditional choices, let alone her heroine’s. In Are Women Human, two Sayers essays address the issue of women in society. Her position is that women are first and foremost human beings, and that women and men must be regarded and treated as essentially much more alike than different. Human beings—color, age, background or abilities aside—are equal. Sex does not, a priori, determine anything. Sounds pretty modern to me!

 

So get thee to the library or Amazon or your favorite bookstore and sample Dorothy L. Sayers. Her first mystery was Whose Body? That’s as good a place as many to start. Unless you’d rather go for romance first, in which case, start with Strong Poison. But do it!
Dorothy L. Sayers,

What Writers Can Learn From Diana Gabaldon

Posted on by vlaw759
learning from Diana Gabaldon
Last Friday I posted “Loving Diana Gabaldon.”  It was general praise and admiration of the sort you might expect from that title. Today I want to cite some specific ways that writers would do well to follow her example. In particular, I will focus on vivid language. We have all heard or read that we should use fresh, vivid language and strong verbs. Here’s how.

 

For one thing, Gabaldon is a very sensory writer.

She uses all the senses, and often more than one in the same sentence or phrase. I notice particularly that she uses smell more often than most.

 

 The following line is made stronger by the unexpected juxtaposition of “smelled delectably” with road dust and sweat.
He smelled delectably of road dust and dried sweat and the deep musk of a man who has just enjoyed himself thoroughly.
Delectable is more expected here, but overall very concrete and specific.
The smell of cut, dry hay was mingled with the delectable scent of barbecue that had been simmering underground overnight, the fresh bread, and the heady tang of Mrs. Bug’s cider.

More sensory details

. . . swept me into an exuberant embrace, redolent of hay, horses, and sweat.
Would I wake again to the thick warm smell of central heating and Frank’s Old Spice? And when I fell asleep again to the scent of woodsmoke and the musk of Jamie’s skin, would feel a faint, surprised regret.
It [cider] was wonderful, a dark, cloudy amber, sweet and pungent and with the bite of a particularly subtle serpent to it.

She describes a white marble mausoleum:

. . . a white smear on the night…

Note strong verb and simile.

. . . his skin shivered suddenly, like a horse shedding flies.
. . . it [hair] was writhing off merrily in all directions, à la Medusa.
Her description of the hair is so much fresher than “flying out in all directions.”
Diana-Gabaldon-quote-blazing-deep-blue-August-sky
. . . kissing me with sun-dusty enthusiasm and sandpaper whiskers.
. . . the lines of his face were cut deep with fatigue, the flesh beneath his eyes sagging and smudged.
. . . I was sloshing back and forth to the kitchen, kicking up the water so it sparkled like the cut-glass olive dish.
. . .they poured into the dooryard, bedraggled, sweat-soaked, and thirsty as sponges.
. . . with thin grizzled hair that he wore strained back in a plait so tight that i thought he must find it hard to blink.
. . . [bread pudding with honey] bursting sweet and creamy on the tongue…
 This simile is much fresher than sober as a judge!
. . . sober as a sheep at the time.
We climbed through a stand of quivering aspen, whose light dappled us with green and silver, and paused to scrape a blob of the crimson from a paper-white trunk.
She merely smiled at that, wide mouth curving in a way that suggested untold volumes of wicked enterprise.

Gabaldon reveals emotions exceptionally well.

 
[Food] had formed a solid mass that lay like iron in his stomach.
…the last of the whisky lighting his blood…
Fear snaked up her spine…
…felt his bones strain in his flesh, urgent with desire to hunt and kill the man…
…goosebumps of revulsion rose on my shoulders…
…a small uneasy feeling skittering down my backbone…
…my mind felt soggy and incapable of thought…
…comforted by the fleshy, monotonous thump [of his heart]…
…a rich tide of color surged into her face…
In A Breath of Snow and Ashes, Gabaldon writes a scene in which Claire is telling Jamie how a hoard of grasshoppers caused her to burn a field of ripe barley. I found it stunning. Here are some of the vivid images from that scene.
Diana Gabaldon quote, flew up like sparks

Advice to Writers

Pick up any book by Diana Gabaldon, read any ten pages, and learn from her language!
Diana Gabaldon Outlander Series, The Fiery Cross

Research Roundup

Posted on by vlaw759

research: library

Love Your Research 

I can’t imagine a writer without some tools of the trade, even if those are only a good dictionary and a thesaurus, preferably a good manual of style as well. I share a few of my favorite resources.

Writers on Writingwriting 101: love your research

There are lots of ways to get inside writers’ heads.

Bicycle History to Celebrate UCI Road World Championships 

When my interest is piqued, of course I turn to research.

Books for Writers: Deborah Tannen 

Deborah Tannen has published numerous books that might be of interest to writers.

On Writing by Stephen King book cover
Stephen King’s On Writing

Dictionary of American Regional English 

Somewhere in my public life, I mentioned that I collect dictionaries. I have whole shelves of them, everything from slang to carnival jargon to common usage during the Civil War to books of insults and dirty words. I ordered all six volumes of the Dictionary of American Regional English—and then thanked my husband for his birthday present to me.

Wonderful Words 

I was much taken with Ammon Shea’s book, Reading the OED, a memoir of the year he spent reading the entire Oxford English Dictionary.

Beware Beautiful Words Beware Beautiful Words

Writers are readers, by and large, and also word collectors. We tend to fall in love with words. Some writers make a career of writing about words as well as with them.

 

The Great Escape on Buried Under Books

Posted on by vlaw759

I’m delighted to have a guest post on Buried Under Books. Many thanks to Lelia Taylor for welcoming me to her fantastic blog.

The Great Escape

Excerpted from Buried Under Books

When I was a young child, the only books in our house were several Bibles and a two-volume pictorial history of World War II. My father, who had an eighth grade education, subscribed to Field and Stream. My mother (tenth grade education) subscribed to Modern Romance and True Confessions. Besides the Dick-and-Jane readers, the first books I remember clearly are The Littlest Mermaid (not the Disney version) and my fourth grade geography book. The former showed me beauty, magic, and sorrow. The latter showed me wonders of the world beyond my small Ohio town. I can still see the pictures of African tribes—pigmies; women with elongated necks, their heads resting on a column of rings; men with artistic scarring.

Neither my school nor my town was big enough to boast a library. Instead, we had a bookmobile that came every two weeks. I had special dispensation from my teachers to take out more than two books at a time. I walked home with all the books I could carry between my cupped hands and chinCherry Ames Student Nurse book cover. On the shelves of that bookmobile I discovered my first serialized love: the Cherry Ames nurse books, 27 of them written between 1943 and 1968 (by Helen Wells (18) and Julia Campbell Tatham (9)). Every book involved a medical mystery. My second serial love was the Ruth Fielding series, 30 volumes produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, between 1913 and1934. Ruth Fielding volumes and several books of fairy tales filled a small bookshelf at the foot of my Aunt Mary’s bed. Mary was (and is) five years older than I. When I stayed with my grandparents in the summer, I devoured Aunt Mary’s books. Ruth Fielding also solved mysteries. And the fairy tales? Only a step from The Littlest Mermaid.

Continue reading on Buried Under Books. 

Different Drummer by Vivian Lawry cover