GRAMMAR: Apostrophe S

[Originally posted on March 16, 2012.]

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There is a BIG difference between a plural noun and a possessive noun.

Right?

For example: Hero's vs. Heroes

...

The hero's sword is big and shiny.

source: www.marvel.com

The heroes band together to fight for their right to wear spandex.

source: www.trackingwonder.com

What?

It seems obvious to you?

What about the possessive singular form of Charles?

Well ... according to THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by Strunk and White, the correct answer is:
Charles's friend

Did you get it right?

That tricky little apostrophe S can get the best of us sometimes.

What about you?
Do you ever struggle with possessive nouns?

My Favorite Color is FALL

 

 

 

That is all.

:)

 

 

 

 

Book Review: How to Prepare a Standout College Application

How to Prepare a Standout College Application: Expert Advice That Takes You from Lmo* (*Like Many Others) to Admit by Anna Ivey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I feel like I should wait until my daughter is accepted into her first choice college before I rate this book! But hey, this is a great book, and I highly recommend it. It is a quick read for a parent; and for my college-bound teenager, she found it to be an easy read, interesting, and helpful book.

There are exercises in the beginning chapters for the college applicant to do, and then the rest of the book builds upon that foundation.

In addition to giving advice for the mainstream college applicant, there are also sections for the homeschooled applicants, and there are sections for people who've gotten in trouble with the law.

From the very beginning to the very end, this book is packed with helpful information. For example, on page 9 the authors define "Early Decision" options. Did you know these are BINDING? Ack. What if you took advantage of an Early Decision option to your second choice school--not knowing what it meant--and then you're stuck with that binding agreement when your first choice school accepts you later?

If you care at all about getting into a particular college, I highly recommend this book. My older boys didn't really care if they got into their first choice or second choice school, and so they just shot from the hip, and they both got into both schools they applied to. However, my daughter has her heart set on her first (and frankly only) choice school. Even though her first choice is NOT Harvard, this book will help her submit the best application possible.



View all my reviews

Launching Pad: Great Blog Finds

There are so many great blogs and great posts out there; how do you sift through them ALL? Well, here's a launching pad for you (just click on the titles):

Cut Thousands of Words: "There comes a time in every writer’s life when the need arises to shorten a manuscript. Ack! Not my precious words! Even if your word count is fine, most writers would benefit from tightening up their manuscripts before submission."

Guide to Goodreads for Authors: "You’ve finally done it!  Your book is done and ready for delivery to your millions of rabid fans.  Except those millions of rabid fans don’t know you exist."

How to Launch an Instant Best-Seller: "... launching a book is hard.  It’s hard to know what to spend your time on.  There’s a million and one different things you can do to launch a book, and I’ve found starting with a solid framework helps make it easier to come up with a solid plan of action."

How about you? Have you read a great blog post recently? Share it in the comments! :)

A Quote for Your Writing Inspiration

"Conflict that holds our attention for long periods of time is meaningful, immediate, large scale, surprising, not easily resolved and happens to people for whom we feel sympathy" (Donald Maass, WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL, p.136).

Are You Smarter Than Me?

 

 

Have you heard of the music artist LORDE? She has a great sound, and I love her placement of commas. Which might seem to be a weird thing to say about a singer/songwriter, but if you take the time to listen to some great ones, they place their pauses in interesting places. So I purchased this album by Lorde, and I actually wondered for days why she would title it after a drug. But as I listened and listened to her smart and intentional lyrics, I looked again at the album title and realized it says, "HEROINE" as in a brave woman - not a drug. The addictive narcotic is spelled heroin.

So are you smarter than me?
Did you look at that black album cover and know she was making a play on words?

Do you listen to the lyrics of music and find yourself mesmerized by them?

Here's a short interview with the sixteen-year-old musician known as Lorde. (Her real name is Ella Yelich-O'Connor, born and raised on Auckland’s North Shore.)

I like her even more after watching this video about her influences and writing short fiction! Songwriters amaze me.

Doing Things in the Proper Order

Well, according to our research, if you want to play sports at the college level, you need to do a LOT of prep work beginning no later than your junior year of high school. ha. oops.

Okay, so we are late bloomers. Plus, it's not my daughter's main goal to play volleyball. Her main goal is to get into the college of her choice. Playing volleyball would be an awesome fringe benefit.

We realize she's not 6'2" ... and we know she didn't play on expensive club teams that travelled the country ... but she just wants to play more volleyball. Possible? We'll see.

Here's the highlights video we made for her:

A Killer Title

I have read (and own) quite a few books on the craft of writing, but very few tackle the topic of creating a great title.

SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder dedicates a page and a half to the topic, which is more than the other books. ;)

Snyder writes, "to come up with one that nails the concept, without being so on the nose that it's stupid, is an art unto itself" (page 9).

Right ... we know that ... but how do we come up with that great title that nails the concept?

I dunno.

Evidence: My debut novel was originally titled THE EDUCATION OF THIA. After several agents used the phrase "too didactic" in their rejection letters, I reconsidered the title and changed it to BUT HE LOVES ME. With that change alone (I left the content of the query letter the same) I received quite a few requests for the full manuscript. So was it a winning title? Not really. After signing with an awesome agent, we worked and worked and worked to come up with a better title. We decided on SAFE. A winner? Not sure. The editor who made an offer on the manuscript said we had to change the title. Okay. Back to the drawing board.

Snyder also writes, "Title and logline are, in fact, the one-two punch, and a good combo never fails to knock me out. Like the irony in a good logline, a great title must have irony and tell the tale. One of the best titles of recent memory, and one I still marvel at, is Legally Blonde. ... It says what it is! ... If it doesn't pass the Say What It Is Test, you don't have your title. And you don't have the one-two punch" (pages 9-10).

So here is the logline my agent used to sell my manuscript:
Margo Kelly’s debut SAFE is a modern take on “the call is coming from inside the house” old urban legend, in which a young girl falls in love with a guy online who comes for her.

And here's the new title my editor and I came up with:
WHO RU REALLY?

Does it pass the Say What It Is Test? Or is it so "on the nose that its stupid?"

Actually, don't answer the second question.

Naming a book is like naming a child. Inevitably someone is going to hate the name, and you can't possibly please everyone.

*sigh*

BUT the good news is, I have a KILLER TITLE for my next book. ;)

NCAA & College Applications

Whew. I'm trying to navigate the world of NCAA Eligibility and college applications. I've already had two boys attend college, but I've never had a child interested in college sports before. I had no idea it was so complicated.

So ... if you've ever played college sports, or if you have any experience or insights to the world of NCAA ... please share your advice in the comments!

I am reading HOW TO PREPARE A STANDOUT COLLEGE APPLICATION by Chisolm and Ivey ... and it says: "Your child may or may not have a realistic view of his or her artistic or athletic talents" (page 206). It goes on to say, "Because coaches do make their choices early .. contact coaches ... your junior year" (page 207-208).

Epic fail.

Well, it is what is. We'll do what we can to make her dreams come true. ;)

Did you or one of your children play sports in college?

Book Review: EMBRACE THE CHAOS

Embrace the Chaos: How India Taught Me to Stop Overthinking and Start Living by Bob Miglani

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I love the subtitle of this book "How India Taught Me to Stop Overthinking and Start Living." ... In fact it was the subtitle that hooked me. The actual title, EMBRACE THE CHAOS, turned me off a bit. I don't want to embrace the chaos, even after reading the book! I want peace in my life. As much peace as I can possibly get. So I read the book with a bit of an attitude, struggling against the author's idea of embracing chaos, but then I had to stop and laugh at myself as I read it, because there I was "overthinking" while reading a book about how to stop overthinking. Sheesh.

This book is a short easy read. It's certainly not a manual about rocket science, and I wasn't struck by any epiphanies while reading it, but I enjoyed the stories (modern day parables) about India.

There were several great points that struck a chord with me:

"It all works out in the end. Just accept it." (page xvi)

"What I'm suggesting is not that we sit back and give up on life but that we in fact work harder on the things that we can control: our own words, thoughts, and actions. By making a choice to redirect our frequently wasted effort to control others or the conditions around us, by refocusing that intense passion on our own actions, living in each precious moment, we can begin to move forward into a life we want." (page 3)

“What I had missed … in my search for the presence of God, I discovered only when I was forced to let go of the plans I had made, when I stopped trying to understand why things went wrong and simply accepted it. Instead, I found that presence hidden inside the generosity and kindness of those who notice our effort and help us on our journey …” (page 27)

“I became happier the moment I stopped putting my attention on others. … What I work on changing is me.” (page 86)

However, there were also quite a few religious/spiritual points I disagreed with:

“We have been living in the fabric of chaos all our lives, without realizing it. Chaos determines our birth; our meeting of friends, partners, and colleagues; and some of life’s greatest experiences.” (page 101)

“When you pray to God … Does He answer you? … No … God doesn’t answer.” (page 115)

So if you’re looking for spiritual enlightenment, I would not recommend this book. Instead I would recommend HEARING THE VOICE OF THE LORD by Gerald Lund.

And if you’re looking for a deep, thought-provoking book about how to improve the quality of your life, I would recommend THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by Don Miguel Ruiz.

But if you’re looking for a light, easy-to-read, and interesting book that you can read on the airplane or in the doctor’s office or waiting in the carpool line … and learn a few things about how to stop overthinking, THIS is the book for you.

Bob Miglani shows his personal insecurities while sharing his stories of India, and his humble approach impressed me. I really enjoyed reading this book.




View all my reviews

Great Blog Finds

From NPR:
"Remember the first time you felt really terrified — and liked it? "Being scared is like sex," Stephen King says. "There's nothing like your first time.""

From The Writer's Shack
"So, how DO you market your book when you have no idea where to start and hate promoting yourself?"

From Dumb Little Man:
"Successful People Don't Let Their Fear of Failure Hold Them Back. Do You?"

From Buzz Feed:
"11 Faces You Make While Reading - Because when you're reading a good book, or a not so good book, you've gotta express yourself. To yourself."

Have fun checking out these great blog finds, and let me know which one was your favorite!

IWSG: Why Settle for Average?

I've been reading a lot of great blog posts lately, and one in particular really struck me. It is so very appropriate for the Insecure Writer's Support Group:

WHY SETTLE FOR AVERAGE by Lydia Sharp

So ... check it out ... and then come back Friday for a list of four more great posts I found. :)

What's your favorite blog for inspiration? (We all need some from time to time!)