Blog on Vacation - ALOHA!

It had been my sincere intent to write and schedule posts while I'm off basking in the beautiful Hawaiian sun ... but alas ... my to-do list became too long, and I did not accomplish everything.

So, while I'm gone for a week ... enjoy these pretty pictures:

How about you?

Have you been to Hawaii? What was your favorite thing about it?

Book Review: STILL ALICE

Still Alice by Lisa Genova


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Excellent.

Read it.


How's that for a book review?

:)

What are you reading right now?


View all my reviews

Campaign Challenge: ALONE

Today starts a fun campaign challenge. CLICK HERE for all of the details.

Basic details: "Write a flash fiction story in 200 words or less. Begin the story with the words, “Shadows crept across the wall”. These five words will be included in the word count. If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), do one or more of these:
• end the story with the words: "everything faded." (also included in the word count)
• include the word "orange" in the story
• write in the same genre you normally write
• make your story 200 words exactly!"

I tackled all of the items on the list. :) Here's my entry:


ALONE
by
Margo Kelly

 Shadows crept across the wall. I froze in bed listening for the sound to come again, but only the antique clock on my mother’s dresser ticked as I refused to breathe. What had woken me? The heater? A passing car? What was I thinking when I convinced my parents to let me stay by myself for the night? I’m seventeen. I should be fine. I took a deep breath and fluffed my pillow—the silky orange fabric seemed black in the darkened room. But before I threw my head back down on the pillow, more shadows crawled along the wall, and a moan from outside the bedroom window made every hair on my skin stand. A lump grew in my throat, cut off my air. I grabbed the cordless phone, and my finger hovered, ready to dial 911. But I hesitated. Maybe my imagination tricked me. I tiptoed to the window and pulled the drapes away from the edge of the frame. Flashlights danced across the yard. I leaned closer. White balls cascaded through the trees leaving long trails behind. A smile snuck across my face. Friends were toilet papering the yard. I let the drapes close and everything faded.

Book Review: LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I find it interesting how many "literary novels" overuse the *F* word ... like it's a requirement for the genre. And, with that said, if you are offended reading the *F* word SEVEN times in one sentence, this book is not for you.

I had decided to give this book four stars instead of five for three reasons:
1. Overuse of the *F* word
2. Disparaging views of God
3. Too many characters - too many points of view

I vacillated between four and five stars for days ... which is silly, if you stop to think about it.

Here's what I loved about the book:
1. I felt like I was taking a master's class in creative writing.
2. The interwoven character lines kept me interested in turning the page.
3. The metaphors made me mark pages to discuss at book club.

Overall, here's what the book meant to me:

"The greatest part of the law was the wisdom of toleration" (LTGWS, page 255).

Even considering how much God was doubted in this book, the sentence above is another wording of the teachings of Jesus:

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:24).



View all my reviews

STILL Thinking about VOICE

VOICE ... have you defined it? Mastered it? Ignored it? Set it free?

Donald Maass wrote, "By voice, I think they mean not only a unique way of putting words together, but a unique sensibility, a distinctive way of looking at the world, an outlook that enriches an author's oeuvre" (WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL, p.193).

An author's WHAT?

Oeuvre: "a substantial body of work constituting the lifework of a writer, an artist, or a composer" (from merriam-webster.com)
For example:

Calvin & Hobbes
Hobbes says "I notice your oeuvre is monochromatic," in comment to Calvin's snowman.
Click here to see some awesome Calvin & Hobbes cartoons.

Again, Maass wrote, "Voice is a natural attribute. You no more control it than you can control the color of your eyes--nor would you want to. ... To set your voice free, set your words free. Set your characters free. Most important, set your heart free. It is from the unknowable shadows of your subconscious that your stories will find their drive and from which they will draw their meaning. No one can loan you that or teach you that. Your voice is your self in the story" (WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL, p.195).

So ... what do you think?

Is your oeuvre monochromatic? Is your voice distinctive?

CRAFT: Voice

The awesome blogger Christine Tyler wrote the following wonderful words as a comment on a previous post of mine about VOICE.  I thought I'd repost it here for more people to see. :-) Thanks Christine!

Picture source: http://technorati.com/business/gurus/article/corporate-blogging-much-ado-about-voice/

"Honestly, I think voice is one of the least "researchable" aspects of writing style. Because even if you manage to watch teens, or study teens, the best you can get from that is an imitation-sounding voice. If you can't remember your OWN teen voice, I wouldn't write it.

"However, you may be underestimating how well you do remember your voice. I know as a teen, I sounded a lot more intelligent in my head than the words that came out of my mouth, and more often than not, people would remark that I didn't sound like a teenager at all, and that was part of my personality. If this was the case with you, let your character be the exception. Some teens are more mature than others. Some don't cuss, and barely use slang. Some have big vocabularies, and are considerate of others.

"YA doesn't have to be stereotypical. As a matter of fact, TRYING to sound like a NORMAL teenager may not appeal to teen readers who are anything but stereotypical.

"This reminds me of a bad review Orson Scott Card got on Ender's Game. A critic once said "Children don't speak like that. They don't even THINK like that." And Orson's reply was, "No, YOU didn't think like that."

"You'll always have someone tell you your voice isn't coming across "right." The only thing you can do to ensure that it is? Is by using your own, authentic voice.

"So don't worry so much about "listening to kids" so you can try to find someone *else* inside you. Read your old journals, your high-school notes, think of memories you have, how you acted around boys...bring yourself there and go, "Why did I do that? What was I thinking? What was I really feeling?" And best yet, "Did I even realize that at the time?"

"Because this is your heart, and your voice. Not ventriloquism.

"Best of luck, and what a thought-provoking post!"

... THANKS Christine for the great words of wisdom.

How about everyone else?

How do you feel about the topic of voice? Have you mastered it?

Winter Camping in Idaho

Well, what did you do last weekend? Me? I stayed at home in my nice warm house while my husband took my daughter winter camping. (Blech)

They promised lots of great pictures, but apparently, they got distracted with the cross-country skiing, the snow cave digging, and the steep hill climbing activities.

My totally awesome daughter!

See that tiny box near the middle of the picture? That's some of their camping gear down by the ski trail. They camped on the top of a huge hill and had to carry their gear up it! Did I say, "BLECH?!"

Not much snow in southern Idaho this year - but plenty of beautiful blue skies!

What about you? Have you ever slept in a snow cave?

Expand Your Group of Friends

Are you interested meeting other writers and expanding your circle of friends?

Then the Writers' Campaign is for you!

Check out the full details at: Rachael Harrie's blog

I've participated in this campaign a couple of times and met fantastic new writerly friends. I highly encourage you to join in!

What other things you normally do to increase your circle of friends?

Quick Quote for Inspiration

"If your story is worth telling, it must be vitally important to everyone involved."

-- Blake Snyder (Save the Cat, p. 135)

First Page of MANIFESTED up for Critique

Oh boy! Today, the first page of my ms, MANIFESTED (currently under major revision), is up for critique on Dianne Salerni's blog! and on Marcy's blog!

So, hop on over there and check it out.

THEN, if you'd like to read the entire chapter, visit my author website at: www.margokelly.net 

Have a great MONDAY.
:-)

Books for a Library?

At a recent HS Speech & Debate competition, I spoke with a fellow judge ... who just happens to be the librarian for our high school. So, we had wonderful discussion about BOOKS of course ... what else would we talk about?

"It must be so much fun picking out the novels for the library," I said.

She kinda scrunched her face and nodded. And, I thought that was a VERY non-excited reaction!! So, I asked another question!

"Do you have a significant budget for purchasing books for the library?"

"No."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I have a minimal budget for textbooks, and I have a zero budget for everything else, fiction and non-fiction."

"Are you kidding me? You're a high school library! Those kids need interesting books to read!!"

"I know," the librarian said. "The only way we are able to add books is through my own fundraising efforts, donations, and Eagle Scout projects."

Speechless.

Little-old-head-in-the-sand ME had NO idea.

...

Here's my question for you ... how can I rally blog readers and the writerly community to donate some books or money to help out this one (gotta start somewhere with something doable) library?

What are your suggestions for organizing, starting, and promoting this effort?

Help me figure this thing out ... and there might even be a cupcake (virtual of course) in it for you!!

Blogfest: CRITIQUE MY BLOG

Today's the day! And, it's not too late to join in to have your blog critiqued and to critique other people's blogs, CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS & LIST OF PARTICIPANTS!

You can feel free to leave comments below regarding my blog's:

a. Appearance: Does it appeal to you? Is it too busy, or too plain?
b. Layout: Is it difficult to navigate? Is it cluttered, or sparse?
c. Frequency: Post too often? Not often enough?
d. Content: Are the posts interesting? Unique? Are they focused, or all over the place?
e. Quality: Are the individual posts too long, too short, too sloppy, or too generic?

And anything else you'd like to critique ... well ... except my weight. Any comments about my weight will be deleted right away.

IWSG: On Fire!

Well ... it's that time of the month again ... NO! NO! ... not *that* time of the month (you know, when I complain of cramps and avoid water aerobics - - t.m.i.??) haha ... sillies ... It's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group!! Come on! Join the fun at: IWSG

According to the purpose of the group: "Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance."

Fire ... as in: Do you have too many irons in the fire to achieve your writerly goals?

... or ...

Fire ... as in: WAIT! Don't throw your manuscript into the FIRE! Read this great book instead and improve that crazy writing style of yours!

... or ...

Fire ... as in: Set your blog on fire (in a good way) by following these simple BETTER blogging tips!!


Ha! There you go! Light a fire under those writerly goals and get to work!

What's the first item on your list to light on fire? I mean, light a fire under? haha!