Some interesting facts for Tolkien fans. Read on …
Tolkien was born on this day in 1892. In honour of the anniversary of his birth, we’re launching a new series, ‘Five Fascinating Facts’, which will be a regular feature on this blog over the coming months. Fans of our blog may have followed our recent series, ‘Five Reasons’, featuring articles on lesser-known writers such as George Meredith, Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Ernest Dowson, and George du Maurier.
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Exciting news! Blog tour volunteers needed for the launch announcement of John Howell’s novel ‘My GRL’ Launch. Read his post for more details.
Volunteers Needed. . . Volunteers Needed. . . Volunteers Needed. . . Volunteers Needed Please e-mail me at johnhowell.wave@gmail.com
I need your help to spread the word that my thriller My GRL is available on Amazon. (Today the print version and e-version will be available Monday January 6). I would like to take the time to make the announcement in an organized fashion. I think an official My GRL Launch Announcement Blog Tour scheduled between January 19 and February 1 will do the trick and I am asking for volunteers. If you participate; the only thing you will need to do is paste the material I send. If you do join; I will publish a link to your blog and your book or what ever you designate on the day of the tour and be so grateful for your help. As I stated, I will send you all the material, and you will only need…
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This is my first post of the New Year and also my 500th post. To celebrate, I want to throw the spotlight on a blogger who is finding her poetic voice: Pamela.
Pamela actually has two blogs: Year ‘Round Thanksgiving Project and Poetry by Pamela.
Pamela’s first blog is a homage to everything she (and, by extension, we) have to be thankful for. She can have the worst day; yet at the end of that day, she will express thankfulness for something. It may be as simple as being thankful for good weather, or thankful to have another day with her dad. Her blog is nothing short of inspirational.
Poetry by Pamela is an inspiration of another sort: the play of words that make one smile; the making of a song that lifts the spirits. Visit her blog now to enjoy a poetic play on New Year’s Resolutions. And while you’re there, be sure to read her other poetry and even leave some comments, some feedback on what you like about her poetry. Here’s a link to one of my favorites: Yours, written in the Tanka form. It is wickedly good :)
Here is the 26th installment of Ten Top Lists of What Not to Do by Marie Ann Bailey of 1WriteWay at http://1writeway.com and John W. Howell of Fiction Favorites at http://johnwhowell.com. These lists are simu-published on our blogs each Monday. We hope you enjoy.
10. On New Year’s Eve, do not think you need to consume everything in the city. If you do, at best you may gain a few pounds. At worst, you will never ever feel better again.
9. On New Year’s Eve, do not think everyone is in love with you. If you do, at best you may get a new roommate. At worst, you may wake up next to a stranger who is now your spouse.
8. On New Year’s Eve, do not think you have to scream “Happy New Year” more than once. If you do, at best you will lose your voice. At worst, someone may in fact put a sock in it.
7. On New Year’s Eve, do not think you need to invent and issue resolutions for everyone else. If you do, at best you will lose some friends. At worst, your host may resolve to ban you to the patio.
6. On New Year’s Eve, do not think you have to help others drink more. If you do, at best you may be the last person standing. At worst, you may be named as a co-defendant on a DUI.
5. On New Year’s Eve, do not think you need to give everyone a kiss. If you do, at best they will all think you are a nerd. At worst, you may pick up a nice case of bubonic plague.
4. On New Year’s Eve, you do not have to sing “Auld Lang Syne.” If you do, at best, your off-key rendition will be recorded for playback when you are sober. At worst, you’ll not know the words and remove all doubt as to your IQ.
3. On New Year’s Eve, you do not have to tell everyone exactly what you think of them. If you do, at best, a few will want to take you outside. At worst, several will.
2. On New Year’s Eve, there is no reason to remove some of your clothes to be more comfortable. If you do, at best, you may not know when to stop. At worst, there could be additional records of your lack of discretion that you will need to pay handsomely to squelch.
1. On New Year’s Eve, there is no reason to get behind the wheel of a car after you have won the shots per hour contest. If you do you, at best you will end up in jail. At worst, you might just hurt someone.
I do what I can to get work done. That doesn’t mean any one thing, though. It just means I try everything. On a daily basis. (From “An Interview with David Anthony Durham” in The Writer’s Chronicle, Volume 46, Number 4, February 2014)
Gent confessed in a new preface he wrote for “North Dallas Forty” in 2003, that “writing is the only thing I have done that comes to being as terrifying as being a football player.” (From the essay on George Sauer from The New York Times Magazine, December 29, 2013)
For the vast majority of us, launching a book means almost nothing in terms of dollars earned. What it does mean is that somewhere out there, someone is closing the loop — truly hearing what we needed to say — and that is why we do this in the first place. (From One Last Word, blog post by Kim Triedman) (more…)
For fans of Flannery O’Connor, or simply fans of writing itself, read on …
The recent attention and acclaim Flannery O’Connor’s previously unpublished “Prayer Journal” has received inspired me over the holidays to pull out my well-thumbed marked up copy of her selected letters, THE HABIT OF BEING (edited by Sally Fitzgerald and originally published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 1979). It had disappeared in my bulging over-stuffed bookcases because the book’s colorful jacket was long gone, having fallen apart years ago, and the book itself is bound in dull black cloth. I had to search and re-search the shelves before I located it finally by homing in on the bristling yellow post-its, tabs and whatnot marking favorite passages. Yes, there it was, hunkered down rather like a small porcupine with colorful quills springing out in all directions, lurking in the shadows on a top shelf.
As per my usual encounter with this treasure trove of writerly wisdom informed by faith and a lively intellect, I immediately fell into it head first…
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Five *Interesting* reasons why you should know George du Mauier (and, yes, one of them concerns a certain descendant of his).
This is the fourth in our ‘Five Reasons’ series, which could carry the alternative name of ‘Forgotten Victorians’, since every writer we’ve looked at so far has belonged to that period: our previous posts have been on George Meredith, Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and Ernest Dowson. Now it’s the turn of George du Maurier (1834-96), or George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier, to give him his full name. Here are the five reasons we’ve discovered for why we should all know this Victorian writer.
1. He was also a talented cartoonist, who drew what is perhaps the most famous Victorian cartoon. The cartoon in question, ‘True Humility’, appeared in Punch magazine for which du Maurier drew many cartoons from the 1860s onwards. The cartoon (see right), is the origin of the phrase ‘curate’s egg’, used to refer to something that is ‘good in parts’ – a mixed bag…
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Kristen offers great advice on five mistakes that many self-published authors make. A good post to read if you are considering self-publication for the first time.
When I began writing I was SO SURE agents would be fighting over my manuscript. Yeah. But after almost thirteen years in the industry, a lot of bloody noses, and even more lessons in humility, I hope that these tips will help you. Self-publishing is AWESOME, and it’s a better fit for certain personalities and even content (um, social media?), but we must be educated before we publish.
Mistake #1 Publishing Before We Are Ready
The problem with the ease of self-publishing is that it is, well, too easy. When we are new, frankly, most of us are too dumb to know what we don’t know. Just because we made As in English, does not automatically qualify us to write a work spanning 60,000-100,000 words. I cannot count how many writers I’ve met who refuse to read fiction, refuse to read craft books, and who only go to pitch agents…
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I’m a bit late with the reblog, but this silent film is so Interesting and timely :)
As an appendix to our previous post on the interesting history of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, here is a link to a Youtube video containing the first known film adaptation of Dickens’s classic story. Directed by Walter R. Booth, the British-produced film was only a short piece, and the only surviving footage we have is incomplete.
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I have been rather remiss of late. I’ve been honored a few times recently with awards, but I’ve been slow to respond to the award givers. Time flies. Seems like just yesterday, I was posing for this picture …
But just last week, I posed for this one … (more…)
Marie at 1 Write Way 