Friday Potpourri: JK Rowling News

In book news, I just saw this little preview of J. K. Rowling's new novel, The Casual Vacancy, due out this fall.

Exciting!



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Also, here's something to inspire the Yoda writer in you.

I'm off on an all-weekend camp out with the Girl Scouts. If I come back with tales of Braveheart, it's because we're having an archery lesson tomorrow. This could be fun. Or dangerous. Or dangerously fun. I'll let you know. TTFN!

Thing One and Thing Two

Thing One

I want to embroider this on a pillow. If only I knew how to embroider.

"I am a writer who came of a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within."  Eudora Welty

Thing Two

I want you to watch this so you will laugh with me. It's Christopher Walken (or a reasonable facsimile) reading and interpretting Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. You've never heard anythinglike this.

(I discovered this clip on author Ruth Donelly's fine blog READATOUILLE. You should check it out. Really. You should.)

On writing local color vs. regional writing

There are years of writing lessons in this single paragraph.

“Local color is writing that is only about difference—what makes this particular place exotic. Regional writing is writing that shows what is distinct about a place—its language, culture and all of that—yet at the same time says something universal. Eudora Welty says it better than I can. She says that one place understood helps us understand all other places better. That’s been a credo for me. I think that if you go deep enough into one place, you hit the universal.” - author Ron Rash

Read more of Ron Rash's interview and details about his new book, The Cove, here on BookPage. 

Monday Morning Inspiration

After working on a draft for a new book for three months, I felt a dull sensation that I'd merely written an interesting biography of a character. Here's her family. Here's her strange house. Here's what happened to her in the sixth grade with her science project partner. Those weren't wasted pages, but they didn't comprise a story either. It wasn't until I abandoned those 70 pages (Ouch!) and put the character in a dangerous situation that scared me on page 1, sentence 1 that an interesting story began to emerge. 

So go write a sentence that scares you a little. There are so many possibilities.

Writers' Bedrooms

Hemingway's bedroom

Doesn't this picture fit your idea of what Hemingway's bedroom would look like? Just the right amount of detail and contrast, but not too cluttered - just like his writing. Here's a great series called Literary Style: 15 Writers' Bedrooms. 

A bedroom is really a personal space so this is a very interesting glimpse into the life of artists. I thought about photographing mine for you, but at the moment there's one lazy dog and two cartoon-watching kiddos occupying the space. What I will tell you is that I think my bedroom is very serene. The walls are the color of rain, or what I perceive is the color of rain. I have a chair by the window and it's my favorite place to read.

If you are an artist or writer, tell me: what's your favorite thing about your bedroom space?

Monday Morning Inspiration: Begin

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

Lao Tzu

I just turned in what I hope are the final round of edits for my forthcoming novel. Woo! As it often happens with me after I finish one project, I have the feeling that I don't even know how to write a simple sentence. So I'm trying to focus on taking that first single step. Here I go....

Saturday Snapshot: Proofreading

Proofreading is ALWAYS a good idea for success.

Wordless Wednesday: Sweet Spell Check Please

From cakewrecks.com 

Teaser Tuesday: The Wednesday Wars

"Of all the kids in the seventh grade at Camillo Junior Hight, there was one kid that Mrs. Baker hated with heat whiter than the sun. Me."

- p. 1 - The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

About the book: He's just started seventh grade with Mrs. Baker, a teacher he knows is out to get him. Why else would she make him read Shakespeare...outside of class?

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I have an author crush on Gary D. Schmidt. I first read Schmidt's OKAY FOR NOW earlier this year and became a fan for life. Now, I have the pleasure of reading his previous works.  So far, I'm loving THE WEDNESDAY WARS, a story set in 1967. If I didn't have a deadline to meet today, I would sneak outside and finish reading the whole book.


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Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Monday Morning Inspiration: Musical Ride

In less than one minute, you can experience a musical ride. This is a good way to get your morning going, whatever your creative endeavor. As for me, I'm diving back into what I hope will be the last round of edits on the new novel. It's exciting to be at this stage!