tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87212637939627608502024-03-13T19:25:23.462-07:00Sweets for Scribblers & Book BanditsWeekly inspiration for writers and readers: Writing Tips, Book Reviews, and Library News.Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.comBlogger117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-65576499622593512972015-06-21T11:07:00.000-07:002015-06-21T11:15:31.248-07:00My New Book Review SiteHello Scribblers and Book Bandits!<br />
<br />
Long time no talk. I just wanted to let you know that I have started blogging again over at <a href="https://christyluisreviews.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Christy Luis Reviews: Book Reviews for You</a>. It's not a writing blog, just a review blog. I don't post there on a regular schedule, like once a week; I usually post a review every two or three weeks. There's no set day.<br />
<br />
But I hope to see you over there, whether you're a Scribbler or a Bandit or both. <br />
<br />
Thanks for reading, friends. <br />
<br />
-Christy<br />
<br />Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-15417387836546417142014-10-07T19:32:00.000-07:002014-10-21T10:43:00.715-07:00My "Foot Problems" (aka Arthritis)<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hello, All,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Since my health has allowed Kevin and I to return to church
again, many friends have been asking about the health problems that confined us
to the house for so long. We decided the best way to answer your questions was
to post an abbreviated version here, on my old blog. (I’m not returning to blogging, but
the story is complicated enough that a blog post seemed like the most effective
way to spread the news.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My health issues began in summer 2012 with a nagging bruise
in the joint of my left big toe, and escalated when the bruise worsened,
apparently turning into a stress fracture. (That’s what the podiatrist guessed,
anyway. She couldn’t see the fracture on my x-rays, but the symptoms seemed to fit.)
You may remember seeing me in a walking boot in the winter of 2012.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The “fracture” took an unusually long time to heal—too long—so
I developed Achilles Tendonitis & Plantar Fasciitis in both of my feet. I
started physical therapy in March 2013. Four months of therapy helped, somewhat,
until the pain and swelling inexplicably spread to my right foot. Aleve and ice
packs couldn’t seem to control the swelling. I also began to have pain in other
joints, although we didn’t connect it with my foot pain, at the time. We just thought I was "that weak" from almost a year of inactivity. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My Lakeport podiatrist finally admitted, after over a year of visits,
that she had no idea why my feet were still swelling. So my general
practitioner advised us to visit a podiatrist and a rheumatologist in Santa Rosa.
The Santa Rosa podiatrist put me on a few weeks of Prednisone during December
2013. When that treatment didn’t knock out the swelling, he told us something
that, amazingly, we hadn’t heard before from a doctor: this wasn’t just a foot
issue. It was a systemic problem. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">He sent us to the rheumatologist, who diagnosed me with a
genetic form of arthritis called “spondyloarthritis” in January 2014. This made
sense with the other inexplicable pains in my lower back, hips, knees and feet;
all the joint pain and swelling, even that original foot pain (probably), was just
a symptom of the arthritis. Spondyloarthritis develops around age 19 or during
the early 20s. “Spondylo” refers to the spine because the immune response often
attacks the lower back. The diagnosis isn’t an entirely sure thing, because spondyloarthritis is tough to confirm. For example, it doesn’t show up on x-rays, like rheumatoid arthritis does. We can only guess based on the symptoms. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But that doesn’t change the delightful fact that the treatment plan is working (!!!). This diagnosis may sound </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">like bad news, but honestly,
we’ve never thought so. We’re just thrilled to have a diagnosis that makes
sense and a treatment plan that has offered relief. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As for said treatment, our rheumatologist (Dr. Todd Hoeffling. A
GENIUS.) prescribed an arthritis medication called “sulfasalazine,” which,
together with physical therapy, gradually eliminated the pain and swelling in
my feet. Ever since January, I’ve been working through all the exercises we
learned from Lem Martin’s excellent Quail Run Physical Therapy, and a few back
stretches learned from the wonderful Pilates teacher, Tina Woelbling.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p>Currently, I only have three more steps in my physical
therapy exercise plan. (There were quite a few. Think in scores.) After that, I
will need to build up my strength to relearn a few other basic living skills
without pain or swelling, such as walking barefoot, standing in the hot shower,
and driving my clutch car. And, finally, I will need to rebuild my stamina.<br />
<br />
However, I’m not sure when I’ll be up to drumming,
volunteering or anything else, yet. Strengthening and recovery have taken many
months, and
Kev and I will need some time to relax and restore, once we’ve met our physical
therapy goals. Kev has been right here with me through all the unanswered
questions and medical appointments. You may notice that I
keep saying “we did this, we went to our doctors,” etc. That’s because it’s
been a team-effort all the way. We will let you know when we’re ready to renew
some of our commitments; just know they are very important to us, and we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will </i>be back.</o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you would like to pray for us, here are some of our current
requests:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">-That driving the clutch car
wouldn’t cause any problems. Last time I tried (in July), it set me back four
weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">-That my back and stomach would
heal up quickly. I recently stopped taking NSAIDS because of some stomach
problems (I will be asking about ulcers at my next appointment), and my back
has been the main nuisance, post-NSAID.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">-That we would find the perfect
medication to fit my needs, if the sulfasalazine doesn’t turn out to be the
ideal choice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">-That we would get to take our
vacation to Florida & New Orleans. We’ve been postponing this trip since
May 2013, and now we’re aiming for early 2015. It’s going to be a major step
toward feeling like “normal,” again. Eyes on the prize.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thank you so much for reading this post. You’re part of our
celebration. We've had inexhaustible support </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">from immediate family—thank
you Melodi, Steve, Nancy & Ed, for meals, rides, prayers and love<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">and
friends<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span>Bevie, Corryn, Marc & Brenda, and others<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—<span style="font-size: small;">and</span> </span>particularly our Bible study group here in the Riv (Dorothy Cundall, for
e-church, coffees and breakfasts; Kathy & Pat Chambers, for keeping us
connected; Lisa & Chris Nowak, for visiting and being impromptu electricians; Dina
and Rob Roumiguere, Carol and Ray Perry, and everyone else in our group, who
prayed us through it all). And where would I be without my email buddies? M, C, and Q, I appreciate every one of your sweet, encouraging
words. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Love,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Christy & Kevin<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
****Update 10/21/14: After explaining my stomach pain to the dr. last week, he said my stomach lining is probably inflamed from a year of taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. Worst case scenario, I might have a few small ulcers. He prescribed a generic form of Prilosec for a couple of weeks and thinks that will take care of the problem. We would appreciate prayer that this would be the case. </div>
Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-81624803223156283632013-11-25T18:18:00.000-08:002013-11-25T18:18:08.080-08:00Hiatus<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-KWPW1rdr2LIgX4YPih2NIz-BaRUw0HGEbhVyHvJKZxTurjDNCwwAsqKzE5nNROFjcwpc4LMkha1DV37BpDS5e6EJA81E-l0QxuLeFSocI27NZru6zhQu4fkMBGygV4aIH_g9_SYK_-EJ/s1600/IMG_0236-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-KWPW1rdr2LIgX4YPih2NIz-BaRUw0HGEbhVyHvJKZxTurjDNCwwAsqKzE5nNROFjcwpc4LMkha1DV37BpDS5e6EJA81E-l0QxuLeFSocI27NZru6zhQu4fkMBGygV4aIH_g9_SYK_-EJ/s400/IMG_0236-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Dear Readers,<br />
<br />
I launched Sweets for Scribblers and Book Bandits almost exactly two years ago, on November 14th, 2011. <br />
<br />
I began this blog to write a new chapter of my life.<br />
<br />
I began this blog to write about this amazing thing called "writing."<br />
<br />
I began this blog to rave about my favorite books.<br />
<br />
I began this blog to publicize library events.<br />
<br />
I began this blog to share what I learned about writing during college. <br />
<br />
And in three weeks, I will graduate with my Bachelor's Degree in English, Emphasis Creative Writing, from Regent University. Now I need to evaluate my career goals and make the transition from student to adult. I need time to think and to write my own stories. To live my own stories.<br />
<br />
The time has now come: I must take an indefinite blogging hiatus.<br />
<br />
I have learned so very much from this blog--and from you, my dear Scribblers and Book Bandits, in your emails and comments. Thank you for reading and writing with me. <br />
<br />
I have loved sharing my words with you every Friday, then every Monday.<br />
<br />
And I still do.<br />
<br />
So maybe I will again? Surely, at some point in the future. But for now (for however long "now" lasts), this is goodbye.<br />
<br />
So long! Keep scribbling and reading.<br />
<br />
<br />
P.S. Happy (Early) Thanksgiving!Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-27953287573512104852013-11-18T15:54:00.000-08:002013-11-21T19:55:39.645-08:00YA Book-to-Movie News Roundup <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<em>Ender's Game </em>premiered Nov. 1, 2013.</div>
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<em>The Book Thief </em>premiered Nov. 8, 2013.</div>
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<em>Catching Fire </em>premieres Nov 22, 2013.</div>
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<em>Divergent </em>premieres Mar. 21, 2014.</div>
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<em>The Maze Runner </em>premieres Sept. 19, 2014.</div>
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I, for one, love to watch as Hollywood discovers YA Fiction. <br />
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The <a href="http://lakeportcinema.com/index2.php">Lakeport Cinema</a> is doing a special double-feature for <em>The Hunger Games </em>and <em>Catching Fire </em>on Thursday, Nov. 21 for $12. What a fun event for a family outing!<br />
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The <em>Mockingjay </em>movie (third in <em>Hunger Games Trilogy</em>) will be split into two parts (thanks to <a href="http://screenrant.com/hunger-games-mockingjay-movies-release-dates-sandy-186360/">screenrant.com</a> for the news). Boo! The book isn't long or detailed enough to merit the split, but Hollywood WILL MAKE THEIR MONEY, Y' HEAR?<br />
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The <em>Divergent </em>movie trailer looks good! Much better than the teaser trailer did. I read <em>Divergent </em>in one sitting when I should have been doing homework, which speaks to its thrills and pacing. This book also packs a thematic punch, which I love, but it has some plotting and worldbuilding problems. But! Check the new trailer:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sutgWjz10sM?list=PLQMiRykNdb9gjqcl3nAc7hR32IyY2uTNO" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Thanks to <a href="http://www.greenbeanteenqueen.com/2013/11/ya-movie-news_15.html">GreenBeanTeenQueen</a> for the news.<br />
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<em>The Giver</em>, a classic in Children's Literature, is also being filmed and is scheduled to premiere on August 15th 2014 (thanks to <a href="http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/weinstein-dates-giver-starring-meryl-streep-jeff-bridges-august-2014/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=weinstein-dates-giver-starring-meryl-streep-jeff-bridges-august-2014">ropeofsilicon.com</a> for the news). The book is a wonderfully lyrical, disturbing Dystopia by Lois Lowry (a prolific author of several critically acclaimed children's and young adults' novels). Many famous actresses and actors populate this cast, including Meryl Streep. Exxxxcited! Certain readers, however, are rumbling about Hollywood's choice to cast a 24 year old actor for Jonas, the 12 year old main character of the book. Personally, it doesn't worry me too much--Hollywood can remake Jonas into a teenager without impacting the story line too much. I hope.<br />
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Though filming for <em>The Maze Runner </em>is over, the director protracted the release date until September 19, 2014 (thanks to <a href="http://www.hypable.com/2013/10/05/fault-stars-maze-runner-official-release-dates-announced/">Hypable</a> for the news). Again, boo. But maybe that's a good thing--we wouldn't want an undercooked film, after all. I enjoyed the trilogy, which is why it made my <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2013/05/2013-summer-reading-list-and.html">2013 Summer Reading Recommendations</a>. If you want to read my book review + craft post on the trilogy, you can click <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-maze-runner-killing-readers-friends.html">here</a>. By the way, have you seen these <a href="http://www.hypable.com/2013/07/07/the-maze-runner-movie-official-character-cards/"><em>Maze Runner </em>trading cards</a>?<br />
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<strong><em>*11/21/13 Update:</em></strong> I forgot to mention that the film adaption of Meg Rosoff's <em>How I Live Now </em>premiered on Oct. 4th 2013. <br />
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Photo Attribution:<br />
I, Sailko [GFDL (<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html">http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html</a>), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/</a>), CC-BY-2.5 (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5</a>) or Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsChristy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-13870013476150551162013-11-11T17:14:00.001-08:002013-11-11T17:14:56.744-08:008 Things for Christian (and Other) Parents to Love About Twilight<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUKhMPbnEYQgeCEYl79tEkP82_r2YwdVaCLc3bKAjUgoaNF4s0k-t-tmnntlEvH9YZZta6-JXlGqRMoaa6atqJRS6Ni3PGGI7MbesgmbIRK_fdtDZ2g6FwWSjWRrlKiGM-8k9nZnWzTIfV/s1600/Twilightbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUKhMPbnEYQgeCEYl79tEkP82_r2YwdVaCLc3bKAjUgoaNF4s0k-t-tmnntlEvH9YZZta6-JXlGqRMoaa6atqJRS6Ni3PGGI7MbesgmbIRK_fdtDZ2g6FwWSjWRrlKiGM-8k9nZnWzTIfV/s400/Twilightbook.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
I'm not a parent...but I was a teenager during that first humongous <em>Twilight </em>boom and I really enjoyed the books. I've just reread the first book to see if all the criticisms about it are true. Coming back to it as an older person, more experienced reader, and aspiring writer, I can understand the criticism; but there's been plenty of that. It's time to give <em>Twilight </em>a little well-deserved lovin'.<br />
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*By the way, this post contains some spoilers. But if you're reading these words, you've probably either already read and love/hate the book, or you are curious about its content. So read on!<br />
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Bella and Edward As Teen Role Models (Don't laugh, yet.)</h3>
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<strong>1) Bella and Edward wait to have sex until after they get married</strong>. I mean, seriously, do you want your sixteen year old having sex with her boyfriend? How about her second or third boyfriend? No? Then Bella and Edward can be an example in this regard. <br />
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<strong>2) Edward is a respectful, old-fashioned kind of guy.</strong> He respects Bella's dad Charlie, and he's actually the one in the relationship who <em>insists </em>on marriage before sex. <br />
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<strong>3) Bella is a responsible young adult.</strong> She finishes school essays several days before their due dates. She reads literature. She shops and cooks for her father. She was ready and willing to buy her own car <em>with her own money</em>. Are you liking this, parents? She's actually not a bad role model, in a lot of ways.<br />
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Spiritual Matters</h3>
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<strong>4)</strong> <strong>This book touches on a few spiritual matters.</strong> During chapter 14, "Mind Over Matter," Bella asks how vampires might have originated. Edward replies,<br />
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"Well, where did you come from? Evolution? Creation? </div>
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Couldn't we have evolved the same way as other species, </div>
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predator and prey? Or if you don't believe that all this</div>
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world could have just happened on its own, which is hard</div>
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for me to accept myself, is it so hard to believe that the </div>
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same force that created the delicate angelfish with the </div>
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shark, the baby seal and the killer whale, could create both</div>
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our kinds together?"<br />
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I thought this was a beautiful way to suggest the question of origins to a teenager. This idea appears in few books, much less in Teen lit where it <em>should </em>be since teens are still feeling all this out for themselves. (Check out <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/videos/8512-stephenie-meyer-talks-to-host-andrew-freund">this video</a>, around the 5 minute mark, for a minute long overview of Stephanie Meyer's religious views, and how they impacted her book.)</div>
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<strong>5) The books don't glorify the blood-sucking, evil sides of vampires</strong>. I haven't read <em>Dracula, </em>so I know very little about the classical metaphors, etc. But I do know that these are "vegetarian vampires," meaning they've found a way to control their thirst without drinking the blood of humans. Edward worries about his soul. These don't sound like the dangerous, evil vampires that Christians worry might influence the minds of their children. And anyway, most kids know the difference between fantasy and reality. <em>Twilight </em>won't demonize the minds of your children. I understand that this is a personal opinion, though. If you aren't comfortable with it, I won't try to convince you any farther. <br />
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Good Reading Experiences</h3>
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<strong>6)</strong> <strong>Moms and daughters can read and enjoy these books together.</strong> It's been done. Seriously.<br />
<br />
<strong>7) It'll get your teen girl <em>reading</em>! </strong>What's not to like? One positive reading experience can easily lead to another. Would you rather your daughter be watching TV or reading <em>Twilight</em>? By the way, <em>Twilight </em>is a pretty big book for a reluctant reader to pick up (my copy has 498 pages and rivals a few of my Bibles in thickness). If they're reading it, I say give 'em a gold star.<br />
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<strong>8)</strong> <strong>The classical references throughout the series spur teens on to read and listen to the classical sources.</strong> How do I know? Because I read <em>Wuthering Heights </em>after <em>Twilight </em>piqued my curiosity about it. I didn't like "the classics" back then, but <em>Twilight </em>helped me along. And if it makes your teen curious about vampires? Tell her to read <em>Dracula</em>. That's kind of a classic, you know?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Before I leave you to consider these things, let me tell you that the books are NOT the same things as the movies. I really...dislike the movies. But I like the books. And before you decide you <em>don't </em>like the books, give them a fair trial, please.Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-2952817720085256932013-11-04T12:50:00.000-08:002013-11-04T12:50:07.937-08:002 New Book-To-Movie-TrailersAnother new Catching Fire Trailer, this one with some exciting glimpses:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zoKj7TdJk98" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
Also, another book trailer for The Book Thief movie (yippie!):<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hEnLF-pCybw" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
Thanks to <a href="http://www.greenbeanteenqueen.com/">GreenBeanTeenQueen</a> for the news!Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-78569340001529399992013-11-01T17:42:00.000-07:002013-11-01T17:42:09.340-07:00Library Events and News (Including a Book Sale!)Hey Scribblers and Book Bandits!<br />
<br />
Three things for Lake County library geeks:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Tomorrow is the Fall book sale at the Lakeport Library, from 10-3pm. Paperbacks sell for $.50, hardcovers for $1.00. I've gotten all kinds of great books there--<em>Catching Fire</em>, <em>Mansfield Park</em>, several <em>Harry Potter</em>s, <em>Jane Eyre </em>and others. Check it out, if you like books!</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Also, Jan Cook, one of the librarians, gave me permission to post her helpful <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=141f5a2b5d3086bf&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui%3D2%26ik%3D7dfd53d5af%26view%3Datt%26th%3D141f5a2b5d3086bf%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbTUpyAiQvakzipRkNMT8gFN5_c_eg">library events calendar</a> for November. I'll be posting these every month. Thank Jan when you see her at the book sale!</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>And finally, the library is putting together a newsletter. You can sign up for it <a href="http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Page386.aspx">here</a>. Look for the "subscribe to our email list" logo on the right side of the page.</li>
</ul>
Enjoy!Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-50087784114850853212013-10-28T14:13:00.000-07:002013-10-28T14:16:45.936-07:00Three Goodies: New Narnia, TTT & Self-Publishing Done Right<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMgCsBL796hqaPQ_WlQ7zsoEs-aLk4V0NGGqUq56hgMyc9nmFhlaUbcKMqZvHmpII7Q9GwKLi6q_1vtUcUTH95sC1e5GnRTdEHzB0M1pAMyrph1vPE7AI6ufycfOUJs7SajxMrgG43fyw/s1600/King_of_Finland's_crown-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
I have three announcements!<br />
<br />
First, <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2013/1004/Narnia-book-The-Silver-Chair-will-be-next-for-a-movie-adaptation">the next Narnia movie is in the works: The Silver Chair!</a> <br />
<br />
Second, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) announced the Teens' Top Ten Winners- Woot! <br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_1k2G3pe9UQ" width="420"></iframe>
<br />
For a list of the books and other information about Teens' Top Ten, check out <a href="http://www.ala.org/yalsa/teens-top-ten">YALSA's website page</a>, or <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2012/04/teens-top-ten-competition.html">this post in which I explain why I love the TTT competition</a>. <br />
<br />
And, finally, earlier today the blogging sensation Nathan Bransford <a href="http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2013/10/how-to-write-novel-47-rules-for-writing.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NathanBransford+%28Nathan+Bransford%2C+Author%29">released his first self-pubbed book</a>, a writing guide. Happily, Bransford presents writers an example of "the right way" to self-publish for a large audience. He hired two editors, a cover designer, the whole shebang to prepare his book for the public. I haven't read it yet, but I certainly will.Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-11659524849990695552013-10-21T13:19:00.000-07:002013-10-21T16:57:03.694-07:00NaNoWriMo Perspectives and Helps <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABundesarchiv_Bild_146-1981-076-05A%2C_NSV-M%C3%BCtterheim.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1981-076-05A / Höss / CC-BY-SA [CC-BY-SA-3.0-de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1981-076-05A, NSV-Mütterheim" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1981-076-05A%2C_NSV-M%C3%BCtterheim.jpg/256px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1981-076-05A%2C_NSV-M%C3%BCtterheim.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just picture it: you are your newborn<br />
(novel). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello, Scribblers and Book Bandits,<br />
<br />
If you are considering doing <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/">NaNoWriMo</a> this year, welcome to a smorgasbord of perspectives on the matter! Every year, as October comes to an end, I post about this month-long literary celebration. Here are a few old posts and a few new ones for Wrimos to digest.<br />
<br />
Last year, I posted a <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2012/10/nanowrimo-time.html">pre-NaNo roundup of great resources</a>. They are still helpful, so feel free to check them out. The post by Mary Kole gives the positives and negatives of the exercise. Nathan Bransford offers helpful resources in his post, such as his "NaNoWriMo Bootcamp." The experienced story consultant Lisa Cron talks about how to avoid the pitfalls inherent in a month-long noveling stint. Martha Alderson tells us how we can pre-plot our novels in preparation for the event.<br />
<br />
This <a href="http://www.agentquery.com/genre_descriptions.aspx">list of genre descriptions from Agentquery.com</a> can help you discover and decide the genre of novel-to-be.<br />
<br />
Lisa Cron writes on the subject of NaNo once again, this time advising writers about <a href="http://writerunboxed.com/2013/10/10/story-first-writing-second-especially-come-november/">how to prep your characters</a>.<br />
<br />
And, finally, young adult author and illustrator Ingrid Sundberg gives her own five tips about <a href="http://ingridsnotes.wordpress.com/2013/10/15/five-quick-tips-for-nanowrimo/">how to prepare</a>.<br />
<br />
So far, most of these posts have been supportive, if realistic, perspectives. But not everyone feels that way about NaNo, which is something important to consider. Maggie Stiefvater, who has tried NaNo in the past, 1.) <a href="http://maggiestiefvater.com/blog/my-annual-dear-john-letter-to-nanowrimo/">rants about it</a> (hilariously) in her annual "Dear John" letter, and 2.) <a href="http://maggiestiefvater.com/blog/my-nanowrimo-anti-pep-talk/">explains why she dislikes it and why no one needs it</a>.<br />
<br />
As with everything else, we have to decide for ourselves whether NaNo can be a helpful part of our writing process. I'm in the midst of trying out the insane-outline approach to noveling, so I will not be taking part, at least in the traditional sense. What have you decided? <br />
<br />
Photo Attribution:<br />
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1981-076-05A / Höss / CC-BY-SA [CC-BY-SA-3.0-de (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en</a>)], via Wikimedia CommonsChristy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-28223248056887788852013-10-14T18:23:00.000-07:002014-11-23T17:29:46.878-08:00Story Notes, Story Words & My 86 Seconds of Fangirly Fame<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADifferent_cards2.jpg" title="By Tired time (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Different cards2" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Different_cards2.jpg/512px-Different_cards2.jpg" width="512" /></a><br />
Scribblers and Book Bandits,<br />
<br />
If you watch the first 1 min and 26 seconds of this video , you will see me being fangirly famous (sort of); I promise it will be useful to you, if you do, because we'll be analyzing the writing style of Lauren Oliver based on the info she shares about her writing process.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/T1ur6_2btqQ" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
Yeeeah, did you hear? Christy Luis! <br />
<br />
Okay, onto the real subject of this post.<br />
<br />
Lauren Oliver writes enormously popular Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction (<em>Before I Fall</em>, The <em>Pandemonium </em>series, <em>The Spindlers</em>). I've only read the first novel, but its unusual structure and skilled plotting drew my attention--it was a very impressive debut. Oliver also runs an innovative e-publisher called <a href="http://www.paperlanternlit.com/">Paper Lantern Lit</a>. She and other "story architects" find writers with a strong voice and teach them about the higher order writing skills involved in structuring story. The architects provide the structure; the writers provide "the talent." <br />
<br />
All this talk about structure is what interested me in Lauren Oliver. She obviously has a strong writing method that works for her, so I decided to ask her about it. <br />
<br />
What she shares in this video is a mix of planner/pantser writing style. I want to talk about it with you and compare it to 1.) a strict planner's process, and 2.) a strict pantser's process. <br />
<br />
I asked emailed this question to Oliver: "You said you write 1,000 words a day. Are all of these words 'story words?' Or do outlining and brainstorming count?" A writer-friend and I had recently discussed the benefits of writing "story notes" along with story drafts. She and I have both wondered if story notes really "count" towards daily word quotas when one is working on a novel. In order to truly understand this concept and its relevance to our own processes, it will be helpful to compare the "panster" method, which uses very few "story notes," versus the "planner method" with its targeted story notes (outlines, brainstorms, etc.). The key for each individual writer is to discover her own happy medium, as Lauren Oliver has. We will analyze her method after looking at first the pantser, then the planner method.<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"Story <em>Words</em>" are written “in the moment” --they are short sighted because they come from deep a character's point of view; in contrast, Story <em>Notes</em> are good for long range planning and following several idea strands to see where they could end. Story notes and story words come at the problem in two different ways. These two approaches are also known "pantser" versus "plotter."</span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sometimes writing a scene is the only way to discover bits of a story. Quick example: I was trying to outline my first few novel chapters and the plan wasn't clicking very well, but I had to write the chapters anyway for a school deadline. As I wrote, I realized my main character was actually an orphan working as a prison guard as payment for his room and board in the prison's training wing. I may never have found this knowledge, which solved several of my story snarls, simply using story notes and outlining. I had to write in the character's prison-issued shoes in order to understand his sad existence. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In writing </span><a href="http://nanowrimo.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">NaNoWriMo</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> novels (50,000 words in 30 days during National Novel Writing Month, which is November), I learned some of the benefits of "just writing" without listening to my "inner editor"--the pantser method. Extreme versions of this method have worked well for some authors, such as, say, Ray Bradbury. Pantsers write first drafts, or even multiple drafts, of the story in lieu of outlining and story-notes. Bradbury advised his students to write 4 pages a day. "Most of that will be bilge, but the rest will save your life.” He would think about the work and organize its structure <em>after</em> writing it.<o:p></o:p></span></span>
These types of writers often say, "Once I've got words on the page, it's much easier to 'fix' them."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;">But as far as I can tell, I don't work well writing 1670 words a day (average for a NaNoWriMo day) off the cuff. NaNo gave me a few nifty plot twists, a bit of lovely prose and a giant mess of a first draft. In attempting to revise two (and a half) NaNo novels, I learned that writing that way is simply <em>too fast</em><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> because I literally don't have time to outline, write story notes and discover all the options I could take. I have no time to explore and ruminate. Each time, I ended up throwing out the entire story draft because it's structure is too much of a mess. It doesn't matter how much I love the lovely bits if there is no real useable story. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I think my stories turn out this way because my natural story choices aren't usually the best. I have to explore all of my options in order to find the perfect one (at least on the structural and outer-character-arc levels). </span></span><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Juliet Marillier is an example of a professional author who explores <em>extensively</em> before actually writing. You can read two great breakdowns of her process, <a href="http://writerunboxed.com/2006/10/20/interview-juliet-marillier-part-1/"><span style="color: #0563c1;">here</span></a> and <a href="http://writerunboxed.com/2007/02/28/hummingbirds-and-owls/"><span style="color: #0563c1;">here</span></a>, in her own words. And I know I've probably mentioned this about a thousand times on the blog and elsewhere, but John Truby offers a thorough and effective array of structural techniques in his book <em>The Anatomy of Story. </em></span></span><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am still mining this "planner method," because I didn't even know about it until after I wrote my first novel NaNo style (which is probably a good thing. I would have run away screaming before I had a chance to get hooked). For my second NaNo, I outlined a little bit in preparation, but I still didn't know what I was doing. Bradbury <em>did </em>say that plotting should happen after the first draft. <span style="font-family: Times;">So there is a planning, organizing and plotting phase that a writer must go through.</span><span style="font-family: Times;"> <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2013/02/permission-to-brainstorm-sir.html">Why not do it before actually writing?</a></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;">It seems to me that story notes and first drafts accomplish much the same thing, even if they go about it a bit differently. I try to solve as many problems as I can using story notes because it’s much quicker for me than spending days on a sequence of scenes which I must promptly throw out because, well, the structure was unstable/a character took an entirely wrong turn/should have been the antagonist instead; etc. So </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">story notes should count at least somewhat towards a daily word goal. (I will address that "somewhat" in a bit.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;">Let's get back to Lauren Oliver for a sec, because she falls right in the middle of this planner/pantser debate. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Oliver's process is a bit more of a "pantser" method than I am able to work with, at least at this point in my journey. She writes 1,000 words a day, and 90% of days, she's writing "story words" not "story notes" like brainstorming and outlining. </span><br />
<br />
I researched Oliver a bit and found other insights into her process that contextualize this tidbit. In a different video, Oliver also says that she begins novels impulsively by writing about 10,000 words of her story without slowing down. If the story seems to be jiving, she sets it aside and compiles a working outline before continuing on with her word count. Perhaps the "working outline" is a very SMALL working outline, or perhaps she only takes a few full days to write it. At any rate, she does not take months to do so because, as we know, she writes 1,000 story words a day. <br />
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">Oliver also offers that she started trying to write novels at a very young age and it took her many years to actually <em>finish </em>one. When she finally did finish one in college, it had no plot. So if young writers just blast out ginormous word quotas from the beginning, most of it the writing be structural miasma. I believe this is why Oliver also often says that<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKLVHyid4rY"> it takes time to build up the discipline of meeting a word quota everyday</a>. The quotas may be time quotas, fifteen minutes a day, in the beginning (as she said in another video). I believe by this she means that beginningish writers can meet some sort of quota and raise the quota as they grow in skill enough to properly meet it every day.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times;">And in another video, she mentioned that her first drafts are, let's say, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/52073-the-first-draft-of-anything-is-shit">what Hemmingway calls first drafts</a>. This means that she does what many pantsers do and basically uses her first draft as an outline. </span><span style="font-family: Times;">Her guest author friend essentially answered the question the same way as Oliver, but allowed that sometimes she "cheats" by letting "planning" into the word count.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times;">
</span>So what I'm getting from all of this is "What you put into the words is what you get out of them." If you just let loose and write thousands of words a day, you will probably have to snip a lot of lousy <em>and</em> a lot of wonderful writing because it simply doesn't fit the end product. But that does not mean we have to write as Juliet Marillier does in the posts I linked above, outlining every paragraph, practically. <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/write-first-chapter-get-started/get-messy-with-your-first-draft">In fact, that may be taking too much control and losing creativity</a>, for some people. <br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">But truly, for several reasons, writing "story words"</span> and "story notes" go hand in hand.<span style="font-family: Times;"> When one or the other isn’t helping, I switch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Eventually we need to recognize when it's time to begin. We cannot just write
story notes forever, obviously--we must hone our skill and gradually work
towards the confidence that we can begin our stories. I've come to the
conclusion that it's important to "write write" at least a little bit
during every writing session, be it character exercises for your novel, actual scenes, or even
writing on another project that is past the planning stage (I'm preaching to myself, here, but feel free to take it to heart).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I think
the NaNo method of a first draft can work wonders if I outline it significantly
first. I'm working on
a big 'ole outline right now, and I hope to blast out the first draft during a NaNo stint(perhaps next month, perhaps during Camp NaNo), outline in hand. I'm using John Truby book that I mentioned earlier in order to write my outline.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">This is my opinion based on trial and error, and it will probably change in my growth as a writer.</span> We all must discover through trial and error what works and what doesn't for our unique processes. It’s time-consuming to really search out and
understand my own process, but I guess that’s why they say it takes a
million words or a decade to learn how to write well!"</span><br />
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Hopefully you find something helpful in this mess of methodology comparison, whether you're a pantser or a planner or something in between. Should you write story notes? Or should you press on with your word count? It's up to you to find out.<br />
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<strong>Photo Attribution:</strong><br />
Different kinds of <a class="extiw" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_clubs" title="en:King of clubs">Kings of Clubs</a>. By Tired time (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons</div>
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Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-68960526911627672013-10-07T14:55:00.004-07:002013-10-07T14:55:54.734-07:00TTYAF, Scribblers & Book Bandits!Talk To You After Finals, Scribblers & Book Bandits!<br />
Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-80128460922754561722013-09-30T15:57:00.000-07:002013-10-04T12:56:19.544-07:00Project Gutenberg: Free eBooks!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AOld_Book.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="By David Kennedy (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Old Book" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Old_Book.JPG/512px-Old_Book.JPG" width="512" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Project Gutenberg gives out old books (like this one!) for free. I could kiss 'em.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you've never heard of <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page">Project Gutenberg</a>, you are due for enlightenment!<br />
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This digital library gives out free eBooks in lots of formats. You can read them on your computer or put them on an eReader. Also, all of the books were 1) previously published by what they specify as "bona fide" publishers, and 2) digitized and proofread by volunteers. <br />
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It can be great, in a pinch, when I realize I need a copy of such and such a book to just click over to PG and find what I need. I was reading <em>Moll Flanders </em>the other day for class and I realized my copy was missing an important author's note. PG saved the day!<br />
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Most of the books are free because their copyrights have expired, so they are especially great for historical fiction writers or researchers looking for primary sources, period pieces, etc. I've used the books both for school projects and historical fiction before. A fellow scribbler friend of mine downloaded an old sea story to study atmosphere for her own writing. (Hi, M! :)<br />
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But the website also offers many classics such as <em>Sherlock Holmes</em> and <em>Alice in Wonderland</em>. <br />
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Check it out, ye old Book Bandits!<br />
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Photo Attribution:<br />
By David Kennedy (Own work) [GFDL (<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html">http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html</a>) or CC-BY-3.0 (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0</a>)], via Wikimedia CommonsChristy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-91819137957484912002013-09-23T21:42:00.000-07:002014-02-20T13:50:40.424-08:00How I Write Essays in 16 Steps (Which can also be how YOU write essays in 16 Steps!)<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGerminating_seedling.jpg" title="By Dbxsoul (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Germinating seedling" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Germinating_seedling.jpg/512px-Germinating_seedling.jpg" width="512" /></a><br />
If I've learned how to do one thing as an English major, it's how to write a solid essay. This process took a long time to refine, though, starting way back in Junior Year of high school. (Well, before then, my teachers tried to teach me. Thank you, Ben Sombs. But I was not very receptive at that time, I guess! :) Many of the teachers at Regent University online have been particularly helpful in giving me personalized feedback about what wasn't working in my essays. Gradually, this and writing stories have helped me develop a good process. (The processes of essay-writing and story-writing actually don't differ a whole lot, as I'll note along the way.) I don't always use every step because each essay is a little different; but I wanted to share all the tools I <em>have </em>used. This post will share everything I wish I knew back when I first started writing essays.<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<strong>1.) Before I begin read my source (if the essay requires one) and subject or prompt, I find some good study materials to ponder along with my reading; if the essay requires no source, I carefully examine the prompt.</strong> Study questions are particularly helpful for research or analysis essays: I find them on websites like <a href="http://www.sparknotes.com/">Sparknotes.com</a>, or get them from a teacher. If I can, I find some sort of introduction or context for the source, as well. I also make sure to study my prompt very carefully; my AP English teacher always said "'AP' stands for <em>'Address the Prompt.'</em>"<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<strong>2.) Then I begin reading my source and taking notes on themes or anything that could possibly be useful.* </strong>For longish research essays, this step could take up quite a bit of time. But...I shut up and eat my peas. That's just how writing goes, sometimes! Hence why I like to get started on this a week or two before my essay is due. <br />
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<strong>*</strong>If I don't need a source, I just brainstorm about my topic and thesis. When I finish brainstorming, I skip to <strong>step 4</strong> on this list.<br />
<strong></strong><br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Notes are like mind mulch. Good seeds come from mind mulch. (To see how I make mind mulch for stories, <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-i-cultivate-inspiration.html">check out this post</a>.)</h3>
<ol>
</ol>
<strong>3.) Once I'm finished reading, I just write about the material for a while in an effort to pin down topic ideas. </strong>Actually, sometimes I'm not finished reading <em>everything</em>, yet, if this is a research essay; but I make sure to constantly ask, "What is the author of the source trying to tell me?" as I do read and after I finish a source. As I observe main points and themes (for which the study questions come in handy), I keep asking myself what might be useful for my thesis. Throughout this step and the rest, I ask myself question after question about the material and my own notes so I can begin to understand it all and make connections. I describe this process <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2013/07/an-investigation-how-to-identify-your.html">in this post</a>, if you are curious about it. Although I describe it there in terms of story-writing, it works exactly the same way in essay-writing.<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<span style="background-color: white;"><strong>4.)</strong> <strong>When I've brainstormed everything I can possibly think of to say on the sources and topics, I go back over my notes and </strong></span><strong>highlight the best stuff I find there.</strong> This mysterious "best stuff" will often be made up of conclusions I've drawn from the rest of the mass. Sometimes I'll spend a whole page or more just coming to one conclusion. Most teachers never tell you that lots of "eh-but-necessary notes" happen <em>before </em>the good stuff happens. Once in a while, the study questions yield good stuff immediately. But by the time I finished my last essay, an analysis of Daniel Defoe's <em>Moll Flanders</em>, I ended up with a whopping six pages of messy notes on top of the four pages of my essay. And each note brought me closer to "the end."<br />
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<strong>5.) I compile the "good stuff" onto a new page or word document, separating it from the leftovers.</strong> Typically, by this point, some sort of central idea is beginning to percolate in the back of my mind, so I pick the notes that fit that idea. But I make sure to save the old leftover notes in case I change my mind later.<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<strong>6.) At this point, I might need to take a break.</strong> Emptying my brain is usually exhausting, if I do it right. <br />
<ol>
</ol>
<strong>7.)</strong> <strong>Next, I make connections between my ideas by scanning and sorting my good notes (and, if necessary, my leftovers).</strong> I write s'more, beginning to form ideas for the introduction that will lead me and my readers through the mass of information (though the introduction will not truly take its final shape until later). If I need to, I riffle amongst those old notes I saved. Perhaps I find that I need to expand or change the central idea, or perhaps my exhausted brain picked the wrong central idea at first. Whatever the reason, old notes sometimes come in handy. Because I'm a visual learner, I use <strike>strikethrough text</strike> to cross out old ideas when they may have become irrelevant, and I use the <span style="background-color: yellow;">highlighter tool</span> to pick out new "good stuff." Actually, I don't know what the heck a visual learner is, or if I am one, but these two tools sure help! At this point, I am still asking and answering any questions about my own essay or my source the way I described in <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2013/07/an-investigation-how-to-identify-your.html">that post I mentioned in step 3</a>.<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<strong>8.) After I've picked some good ideas out of my notes, I develop a thesis.</strong> I refine the central idea I've been pondering. It may be tough to find amidst all the possibilities, so I keep them all, for now. My thesis may begin to come to me even before I've finished all my research. And even at this point, my central idea/Frankenstein monster thesis may completely change. I usually panic at this step because <em>it's hard</em>, but I'm sort of learning to skip that and just keep looking for the best option. The best kind of thesis will not have lots of directions--it will be fairly concise. It will state a firm claim about my topic, one I think I can prove. Everything else I write in this essay will depend upon this one little sentence. Again, highlighting and strikethrough text come in handy.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
The thesis is a lot like the<a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-to-start-your-story.html"> premise of a story</a>. Or like God. It is the Alpha and the Omega of your essay.</h3>
<ol>
</ol>
<strong>9.) Once I have my thesis, I move it onto a brand-spankin'-new page.</strong> This is a new beginning, because I finally have a focus point for my essay. But I keep my notes in a separate document in case I need them again.<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<strong>10.) I use my notes to figure out what points to make in support of my thesis. </strong>These are called "supporting points," and they will form the backbone of my essay though the body paragraphs. It may take some time to find these main points. I compile all the major ideas I've discovered into the all important introductory paragraph, which is still messy. I compare them with my thesis and pick the best ones.<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<strong>11.) Once I have some possible "supporting points," there's nothing to do but try them out.</strong> I start filling in the spots between the supporting points to see if they actually lead anywhere (they don't always, but there's no way to find that out until I explore them). Yep, more notes! But these notes will eventually become my body paragraphs. I make sure to quote directly from my source to support each of my points. Even supporting points need support.<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<strong>12.) Once I've filled out my body paragraphs, I start connecting them with transitions.</strong> If I can't connect one of my supporting points/body paragraphs, that's alright. I just paste it right near the top of my "notes" documents so I know where to find it, in case I change my mind. I may even erase it using "track changes" if I can't bear to simply remove it (another useful crossover from my story-writing process). Usually, by the time I've finished my essay and I check back on these track change deletions, I have no problem removing them because I've realized they just don't fit. This is how I trick myself into "<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/371112-kill-your-darlings-kill-your-darlings-even-when-it-breaks">killing my darlings</a>."<br />
<br />
<strong>13.) I tie everything up into a conclusion.</strong> I may form the conclusion at any time during the essay, not just at the end. Creating the conclusion helps me see my essay as a whole for the first time. It also forces me to see whether or not all the parts of the essay (introduction, body paragraphs and transitions) fit together. I summarize all of my main points and tie them into my argument, the thesis. And once I've finished with all these parts of the essay--thesis, body paragraphs, transitions and conclusion--there's only one essay component left to write.<br />
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<strong>14.) I write the introduction of the essay.</strong> This may seem backward, but let me explain. My introduction shows the reader the main points I will make and the order I will make them in.* If I don't know those things myself yet, how can I introduce them to my reader? I tinker with my introduction throughout the essay because it gives my essay both form and focus. It shares the "designing principle" (a term from <a href="http://catalog.sonomalibrary.org/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=QR81083A12609.13579&profile=dial&source=~!horizon&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!1081083~!1&ri=2&aspect=subtab24&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=the+anatomy+of+story&index=.TW&uindex=&aspect=subtab24&menu=search&ri=2#focus">John Truby's wonderful book <em>The Anatomy of Story</em></a>) of the essay with my readers--meaning, what will I cover and in what order? For example if I decide I'm going to argue how Moll Flanders changed after each of her (five) marriages in the essay, I might let them know the order: first marriage to last. Readers need to know this. So, to recap: once I've figured out my supporting points and tied them together using the transitions and conclusion, I can officially write "the" perfect intro to my creation<em> because</em> I finally have all the parts. That's what I write it at the end. Then I've finished my <em>rough draft</em>! The process gets easier from here on out. <br />
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*The introduction also interests the reader in my essay so they'll keep reading. This is called <strong>"hooking"</strong> the reader. A "hook" can be a quote, a question, a startling statistic or claim...anything that will interest them, really.<br />
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<strong>15.) I clean up the draft by clarifying rough spots, fixing typos and making it all-around prettier</strong>.
This usually involves taking a step back and letting the work sit for a short time. If I have a few days (I usually don't), I'll come back to the essay and probably be glad I did. Oftentimes I'm too "close" to my work to catch all the typos. I almost always read my paper out loud to myself before turning it in, because that helps even an overloaded brain find the weak spots. Some people print papers out to spot more typos, but that doesn't do much for me. Save a tree. Once in a while I will <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">change</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> the</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">font</span> as I do a final read-through. This helps catch those final typos because, rather than skimming through all that Times New Roman again, I have to actually look at the words. And then? Then I'm finished.<br />
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<strong>16.) And I go celebrate.</strong> Seriously, that was hard work.
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This process is extremely fluid, which can make it stressful. Every essay works out a little bit differently. I always use certain steps, but other steps I only use once in a while. And there is no set time period for writing an essay--often, it takes me <em>at least</em> a full day of slogging to complete a rough draft. But even sledding, an essay takes hours of diligent work. But once you learn to trust the process (your own process, I mean, not necessarily the one I've laid out here), then it will become a bit less stressful. We Scribblers must simply keep pressing on if we're going to write worth-while essays!<br />
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Photo Attribution<br />
By Dbxsoul (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0</a>)], via Wikimedia CommonsChristy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-54945076045328223362013-09-16T15:38:00.002-07:002013-09-17T13:32:58.603-07:00Banned Books Week <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AXinhui_%E6%96%B0%E6%9C%83%E5%9F%8E_%E5%A4%A7%E6%96%B0%E8%B7%AF_Daxin_Lu_motorbike_Pedestrian_zone_Xinhua_%E6%96%B0%E8%8F%AF%E6%9B%B8%E5%BA%97_Bookstore.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="By Huangkeipais (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Xinhui 新會城 大新路 Daxin Lu motorbike Pedestrian zone Xinhua 新華書店 Bookstore" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Xinhui_%E6%96%B0%E6%9C%83%E5%9F%8E_%E5%A4%A7%E6%96%B0%E8%B7%AF_Daxin_Lu_motorbike_Pedestrian_zone_Xinhua_%E6%96%B0%E8%8F%AF%E6%9B%B8%E5%BA%97_Bookstore.JPG/512px-Xinhui_%E6%96%B0%E6%9C%83%E5%9F%8E_%E5%A4%A7%E6%96%B0%E8%B7%AF_Daxin_Lu_motorbike_Pedestrian_zone_Xinhua_%E6%96%B0%E8%8F%AF%E6%9B%B8%E5%BA%97_Bookstore.JPG" width="512" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xinhui 新會城 大新路 Daxin Lu motorbike Pedestrian zone Xinhua 新華書店 Bookstore</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Banned Books Week is coming up, friends: Sept 22nd-28th.<br />
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Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to access any book about any thing, and it advocates against banning or censoring books. Ultimately, it promotes the freedom of ideas, the freedom to think and publish our thoughts. While I might not like or be comfortable with books like <em>We Love Nazis!</em> or <em>Sex, Sex, Come and Get Your Sex</em>, they're allowed to be published. Just like Bibles are allowed to be published.<br />
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In fact, I'm against censoring books partially because of the Bible, <a href="http://www.persecution.com/public/nationsdefined.aspx?clickfrom=c2lkZWJhcg%3d%3d">which is banned, restricted or censored in certain countries where my fellow believers live</a>, and that's just not fair. <br />
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If we ban or censor literature now, what might we erase from the future? Think <em>Fahrenheit 451 </em>or <em>1984</em>, here. Societies deteriorate when they ban free expression. <br />
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This conclusion dawned slowly for me, because typically I'm a very a conservative type of person. I could have been a Puritan if I lived in the 17th century.<br />
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But I've never heard a good argument for banning books. It just sounds...dangerous, to me. People have been killed simply for owning "banned" books in the past and present. Even today, in nations such as China, Christians are <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/august/23.46.html">fined or even imprisoned for publishing Christian literature without the government's permission</a>.<br />
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These and other reasons have convinced me that <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2012/07/forming-opinions-on-books-we-disagree.html">people should read and come to their own conclusions</a> about the material, not ban it. <br />
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I <em>do </em>think schools should be allowed to keep certain books from the shelves because sometimes, kids <em>are </em>too young to read about ____. But banning books from school shelves is a very fine line. There has to be a good reason. For example, I <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2013/04/speak-banning-it-vs-considering-its.html">wrote a post about the controversy over <em>Speak</em></a>, a book about a rape victim that some felt was inappropriate for its target audience of Jr. High and up. This book has been challenged and banned in certain schools before, but the reasons twist the book into something it's not. <br />
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For the most part, I think it should primarily be a parent's job to protect their children from unwise reading. (I <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2012/10/aesthetics-of-art-and-literature.html">interviewed my awesome artsy neighbors</a> about the aesthetics of art and literature, and their valuable thoughts contributed to my opinion on this matter.)<br />
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Adults, though...they need to handle books, not ban them. Books are all<span style="background-color: white;"> about ideas. An author is trying to tell you something through his book. If you don't like the delivery,</span> you can look past it or put it down and find a new one. But don't say, "This book should be banned."<br />
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As for my own struggles on this matter...I haven't read <em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em>. I probably won't either because I avoid erotica as a genre, even though I almost always give books a chance. There, I said it, I handled it. But I won't say "This book should be banned" because I honestly haven't read it. I assume it's porn because of the genre, but I can't speak out against it until I know for sure what's it's really all about. So I won't.<br />
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I will, however, force myself through a John Green book sooner or later just so I can say, "See, I read it, now I can say 'No thanks!'" I've heard great literary analyses about Green's books; I have never heard a great literary analysis about <em>Fifty Shades of Grey.</em><br />
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I'm an adult. It's about time I start to handle my reading like one. So I propose that everyone ought to stop banning books and starting <em>talking</em> about their <em>content</em> instead. <br />
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So what do you think about Banned Book Week? Read more about it, and find lists of frequently challenged books,<a href="http://www.ala.org/bbooks/bannedbooksweek"> here</a>.<br />
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Photo Attribution:<br />
"Xinhui 新會城 大新路 Daxin Lu motorbike Pedestrian zone Xinhua 新華書店 Bookstore." By Huangkeipais (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0</a>)], via Wikimedia CommonsChristy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-75094915008063580402013-09-06T13:19:00.001-07:002013-09-06T19:07:01.073-07:00Book-To-Movie Trailers GaloreEventually, when I run out of book-to-movie trailers to post about, I'll get back to writing about writing and book reviews. But for now, you can get excited about these upcoming adaptions! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBocS4nrmlTG-ZxLSzLBTHnchAeR2axypA-udM-R5XWE50h7SQl-f9VAVbzTdohq7cK-CCo1ToZ0soMULKWeYgVXMT3GdK1uWWZxO_dLjZCBS_ZYQ3VDMsBgFi3lBXRInCFQ2znCHQwrfN/s1600/How+I+Live+Now.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBocS4nrmlTG-ZxLSzLBTHnchAeR2axypA-udM-R5XWE50h7SQl-f9VAVbzTdohq7cK-CCo1ToZ0soMULKWeYgVXMT3GdK1uWWZxO_dLjZCBS_ZYQ3VDMsBgFi3lBXRInCFQ2znCHQwrfN/s320/How+I+Live+Now.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
Book #1:<br />
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The YA novel <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/161426.How_I_Live_Now"><em>How I Live Now </em>by Meg Rosoff</a> has won several awards, including YALSA's Printz award (just found <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/award/show/3863-printz-award">a Goodreads list for Printz award winners</a>!). An American girl visits her English cousins and Aunt. Soon after, the aunt takes a business trip, leaving the cousins alone. The next day, London is bombed by an unknown enemy and war breaks out. The story sounds amazing, although I've never read it. I have heard that the narrator is obnoxious, at first (too teenagerish, according to Maggie Stiefvater's review), but that her voice quickly draws the reader in completely. <br />
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Trailer for Movie Adaption:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RSaxm68PPT4" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Next Book:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWnRLR9uKp87Q4CVE6GkZZLzAbzgC0GQ9V4QDASMUdHocRNWHVSZ-J07YaCwMAolMH3pnBYQks6zm23wbigN7TJ5HQKOlMnlhdRHh6YMMKG2BckqUeHS-aTBpi-WOoOTnLULavqynOgNl/s1600/The+Hobbit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWnRLR9uKp87Q4CVE6GkZZLzAbzgC0GQ9V4QDASMUdHocRNWHVSZ-J07YaCwMAolMH3pnBYQks6zm23wbigN7TJ5HQKOlMnlhdRHh6YMMKG2BckqUeHS-aTBpi-WOoOTnLULavqynOgNl/s320/The+Hobbit.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
<br />
The next movie needs no explanation beyond "Hobbit Part II." *Happy dance*<br />
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Trailer for Movie Adaption:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/fnaojlfdUbs" width="560"></iframe><br />
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And Finally:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPAu8oTHBklvEGIC9ougtL7-UgZyBvp_lNlsLcDpW9JVhep4TPNNwjVhEyGzOtgq57oPqO_v2IQPXabYgD95g_wkb7VY4-KBzh75MHNqemJJaxWgOODZh2xb5lrw-NTbqBCF6539HZgjL/s1600/Divergent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPAu8oTHBklvEGIC9ougtL7-UgZyBvp_lNlsLcDpW9JVhep4TPNNwjVhEyGzOtgq57oPqO_v2IQPXabYgD95g_wkb7VY4-KBzh75MHNqemJJaxWgOODZh2xb5lrw-NTbqBCF6539HZgjL/s320/Divergent.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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This teaser trailer for the movie "Divergent" is based on the crazily bestselling YA novel of the same name. I was modestly excited about the book, on a thematic level, and it has a killer pace with a few good thrills. But I say "modest" because craftwise, it could have been better. We'll see how the movie turns out...I fear we may have a soap opera on our hands! But we'll never know until we watch, right?<br />
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Trailer for Movie Adaption:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/S6HHCxLZftQ" width="560"></iframe><br />Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-22482334423416533342013-08-30T16:25:00.001-07:002013-09-02T16:00:02.756-07:00Free PDF ConverterCreating <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Document_Format">PDF</a>s is a helpful skill for any writer to learn. Maybe you want to keep a club or community informed; maybe you work in an office; or maybe you're starting your own newsletter. PDFs are great tools for all of those things and more.<br />
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But the software can be expensive. I use a free website recommended by library staff called "<a href="http://dopdf.com/">Dopdf.com</a>" to convert my Friends of the Library newsletters from Word docs to PDFs. It's easy and it works great!<br />
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When installed, it lists itself under your printer. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoy2O10OHcHXz8EVhMFsSdw6a1bFGdFDMsMfOH2yqbw4GpgKTjv5dtSaqPKLxlD0sbFXKBgTkpBl1DAB6Ku6vvh6KDZo6Sf8DqlwIEcv5TV51zhyphenhyphen0kku3wSnOO89sMbyMLcpshCZk-ff6v/s1600/doPDF+Screenshot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoy2O10OHcHXz8EVhMFsSdw6a1bFGdFDMsMfOH2yqbw4GpgKTjv5dtSaqPKLxlD0sbFXKBgTkpBl1DAB6Ku6vvh6KDZo6Sf8DqlwIEcv5TV51zhyphenhyphen0kku3wSnOO89sMbyMLcpshCZk-ff6v/s640/doPDF+Screenshot.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a screenshot from the Windows 8. If you have an earlier version of windows, it will look slightly different,<br />
but it's just as easy. Just act like you're going to print your document, but choose "doPDF" as the printer rather than <br />
your normal printer selection. The red arrow points to the spot on my screen. <strong>**Revision note 9/2/13: </strong>Since I got <br />
Windows 8, I found another way which worked better. Instead of "Print" I chose "Export," which is a few <br />
options lower on the blue sidebar on this page. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Enjoy!Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-8389303741301641522013-08-26T08:48:00.000-07:002013-08-26T19:10:45.248-07:00 The Book Thief Trailer <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPXxESOzPhHZ-gFbPz0ovsP_lq0RUteUofDOud5aZD1DJrlg5o-caFlfP-NdjzN7sTx-94Z-lw_q0P4AJoPdsrWGNjT0wmXWoo7eTBn1oi12cM0fMMxevLNTy59S1a3LC1BaS56EgMIWP/s1600/the-book-thief.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPXxESOzPhHZ-gFbPz0ovsP_lq0RUteUofDOud5aZD1DJrlg5o-caFlfP-NdjzN7sTx-94Z-lw_q0P4AJoPdsrWGNjT0wmXWoo7eTBn1oi12cM0fMMxevLNTy59S1a3LC1BaS56EgMIWP/s320/the-book-thief.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
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Since I'm lame and missed my post on Friday...you'll just have to <em>suffer </em>through this wonderful trailer for <em>The Book Thief</em> today instead...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/92EBSmxinus" width="420"></iframe><br />
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By the way: <em>The Book Thief </em>is available on both ebook and audiobook from the <a href="http://downloads.sonomalibrary.org/855910C1-FF3D-4145-A806-6857111D1474/10/50/en/ContentDetails.htm?id=8BEFE73D-9E68-4B56-A46F-7D7C9F8E87D1">Lakeport Library</a>, if you want to prepare for the movie.Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-6861382661787448042013-08-16T09:37:00.002-07:002013-08-16T09:37:40.264-07:00End of Teen Summer Reading Program (Pictures!)What a great year for the tween-teen program! <br />
<ul>
<li>37 teens signed up. Although 38 signed up last year, this year's crop was much more active in the events.</li>
<li>33 teens attended 1 or more events, which is kind of incredible. </li>
<li>14 teens read 3 or more books. In order to get prizes, the teens needed to read at least 3 books.</li>
<li>145 books were reportedly read. (Wow!)</li>
</ul>
Here are some pictures Amy sent me of the final shebang (the Award Party):<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8dzAsoi-KKLUXwmk9iTMYcPaqLFDqPuETInE9Ia6-4O8bJ9ux4ZSfVUGbae0jEKwAn_rCdVj5wMH-z6b1oWllQUrUyd4Ec4jQLxCV3Py2h0C1y-0Dph8aOxOUagC_TJdFnwIE50Vt4_2/s1600/Teen+Program+2013+3-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8dzAsoi-KKLUXwmk9iTMYcPaqLFDqPuETInE9Ia6-4O8bJ9ux4ZSfVUGbae0jEKwAn_rCdVj5wMH-z6b1oWllQUrUyd4Ec4jQLxCV3Py2h0C1y-0Dph8aOxOUagC_TJdFnwIE50Vt4_2/s640/Teen+Program+2013+3-001.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eating Pizza Om Nom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigcTO4Yj2TNNUuu_2lb_feQL6RSN8dO60JLS3L020Adcgqx9D1D3CCUq1L899n11y9hxRP3NfmwFfBGpPe-IYJXt005sXcsp9VCF1N9wFkTfL6CtKfkwJaxYUgFhRQ-BEYxFlQN88_wCmN/s1600/Teen+Program+2013+2-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigcTO4Yj2TNNUuu_2lb_feQL6RSN8dO60JLS3L020Adcgqx9D1D3CCUq1L899n11y9hxRP3NfmwFfBGpPe-IYJXt005sXcsp9VCF1N9wFkTfL6CtKfkwJaxYUgFhRQ-BEYxFlQN88_wCmN/s640/Teen+Program+2013+2-001.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awkward Moment when head librarian and teen winner<br />
fight over the Kindle Fire grand prize. <br />
OKAY, yes, I'm kidding. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeDzx1IguUITK9Pp5Yz1wTvRGxxoq4a9Ocjn9wUl6BJWdcQyvonRcE74-lelOk8vZ6DtUOJ0c-01I3PPpZQF7ZQwkozu6U71m90qhfmvADrKGNyE4FmO0r42Jy2l5PWJczENAvOOwjE62t/s1600/Teen+Program+2013+4-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeDzx1IguUITK9Pp5Yz1wTvRGxxoq4a9Ocjn9wUl6BJWdcQyvonRcE74-lelOk8vZ6DtUOJ0c-01I3PPpZQF7ZQwkozu6U71m90qhfmvADrKGNyE4FmO0r42Jy2l5PWJczENAvOOwjE62t/s640/Teen+Program+2013+4-001.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Girl in front wearing Pikachu shirt: Fist bump.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-69387487994069751582013-08-09T17:05:00.004-07:002013-08-09T17:07:42.182-07:00YA Fiction Booklist: Twisted Fairy Tales and Retellings <br />
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<span style="font-family: "AR BERKLEY"; font-size: 36pt; line-height: 107%;">Fairy Tale
Retellings<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Check out these twisted and retold
fairy tales, all available at the Lakeport Library,or upon order from nearby Redbud library. And don’t forget about our
ebook and audiobook downloads. <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2013/07/how-to-borrow-ebooks-and-audiobooks.html">You can download certain books on your home computer through “overdrive” onto your Kindles, ipods and other ereaders and mp3players</a>. Some books are Adult Fiction that appeals to Young Adults, and others are Juvenile Fiction that appeal to Young Adults.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-FyIhGdDu2QYmxaHCKTK5Ma45IlhzCzetMkeoPey6ImhnaEOLmFphsFqXsdxJc8FhJOUTXnLL1WhCC_lxMSp97p5NQzN6NgUzaZ1hYKopGo79uh6C1lDKKvpVvgjC-tBnKDT09VIuAyA/s1600/cinder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-FyIhGdDu2QYmxaHCKTK5Ma45IlhzCzetMkeoPey6ImhnaEOLmFphsFqXsdxJc8FhJOUTXnLL1WhCC_lxMSp97p5NQzN6NgUzaZ1hYKopGo79uh6C1lDKKvpVvgjC-tBnKDT09VIuAyA/s320/cinder.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Microsoft PhagsPa;"><em>Cinder </em>/ Marissa Meyer <o:p></o:p></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">The book of lost things</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / John Connolly (Adult Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Golden </span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">/ Cameron Dokey<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Bewitching : the Kendra
chronicles</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">
/ Alex Flinn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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the Midnight Ball</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">
/ Jessica Day George<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Just Ella / </span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Margaret Peterson Haddix<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Fire and Hemlock / </span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Diana Wynne Jones<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Snow</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Tracy Lynn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Beauty : a retelling of
the story of Beauty & the beast</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">
/ by Robin McKinley (Juvenile Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Deerskin</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Robin McKinley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Rose daughter</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Robin McKinley (Juvenile Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Microsoft PhagsPa;"><em>Mermaid : a twist on the classic tale</em> / Carolyn Turgeon<o:p></o:p></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Spindle's end / </span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Robin McKinley (Juvenile Fiction)</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Beast </span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">/ Donna Jo Napoli <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Bound </span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">/ Donna Jo Napoli <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Sisters red</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Jackson Pearce<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Bella at midnight / </span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Diane Stanley<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Nobody's son</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Sean Stewart</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">The swan maiden</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Heather Tomlinson <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Midnight pearls : a
retelling of "The little mermaid"</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Debbie Viguié<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Breadcrumbs </span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">/ Anne Ursu<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Briar Rose</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Jane Yolen </span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">The following books are available Ebooks or Audiobooks AND in hard copy at the Lakeport.</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">A little princess / </span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">by Frances Hodgson Burnett
(audiobook, Juvenile Fiction )<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Entwined </span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">/ Heather Dixon (ebook)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Book of a thousand days</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Shannon Hale (audiobook)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">The goose girl</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Shannon Hale (ebook & audiobook)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Fairest </span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">/ Gail Carson Levine (audiobook, Juvenile Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Impossible : a novel / </span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Nancy Werlin (audiobook)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">The amazing Maurice and
his educated rodents</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">
/ Terry Pratchett (ebook)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: center;">
<!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_3" o:spid="_x0000_s1026"
type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;margin-left:386.25pt;margin-top:8.7pt;
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o:title=""/>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Order These
From Nearby Redbud<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqe9lGu1KvrCQrgqA7Faj1QncNU74SXOyovpq5e7OLz81QDtG4HrMGcZyR9wap9btk05Tf9xK5N_ljFKNjvy-n13Mn4yrIDvdAdPZwtcB40tEHkO8P2BBIo4PnNiRWw1nu58E0xwhL_5p/s1600/confessions-of-an-ugly-stepsister_7-great-gregory-maguire-novels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqe9lGu1KvrCQrgqA7Faj1QncNU74SXOyovpq5e7OLz81QDtG4HrMGcZyR9wap9btk05Tf9xK5N_ljFKNjvy-n13Mn4yrIDvdAdPZwtcB40tEHkO8P2BBIo4PnNiRWw1nu58E0xwhL_5p/s320/confessions-of-an-ugly-stepsister_7-great-gregory-maguire-novels.jpg" width="212" /></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Into the Wild : a novel</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Sarah Beth Durst<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Confessions of an ugly stepsister</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Gregory Maguire<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">The swan maiden</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Heather Tomlinson <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";">Briar Rose</span></i><span style="font-family: "Microsoft PhagsPa","sans-serif";"> / Jane Yolen </span><br />
<br />
<br />
</div>
Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-23147247875319288792013-08-02T16:30:00.001-07:002013-08-02T16:34:23.224-07:00Letting Critiques "Marinate"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7c3I5SaIwAIMwupT-JdZBoiuUlc7WixJImTfcSOuF-lyy0N6K50z5I0EHA9JKVexmzi-Pvbqfy5MWWJMFXd4bGqf8U48kVFaoXERV2EtwfeRo_t12sT_RAs9ml5lnIglawWhF4vJWhKF8/s1600/Korean+Food2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7c3I5SaIwAIMwupT-JdZBoiuUlc7WixJImTfcSOuF-lyy0N6K50z5I0EHA9JKVexmzi-Pvbqfy5MWWJMFXd4bGqf8U48kVFaoXERV2EtwfeRo_t12sT_RAs9ml5lnIglawWhF4vJWhKF8/s400/Korean+Food2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Viewing our stories from the perspective of another person can teach us a lot about writing. Most serious fiction writers make friends with other writers and exchange critiques with them.* Critiques give us vital perspective on our creations.<br />
<br />
*You can also exchange work on <a href="http://www.critiquecircle.com/">this great site</a>, called Critiquecircle.com, where I learned how to self-edit by editing the work of others. Besides this, I learned many basic writing skills from the critiques of others, such as "showing" versus "telling." The website is essentially a free, online critique group.<br />
<br />
However, we writers won't be able to understand that perspective, at first. It can be difficult for our minds to adjust to the lens of our critique partner's view. A partner's critique on my story often contains all sorts of hidden gold, if only I could mine it. In order to do that, I need to let the critique marinate in my mind alongside my story. <br />
<br />
Then something magical happens (Magical, I tell you!). I suddenly see tons of ideas in the critiques that I never noticed before. It's like getting thoughts from several writers, instead of just one. <br />
<br />
I used to read a critique once, maybe twice at most, before assuming "I got it." <br />
<br />
No. No more.<br />
<br />
Now, I have a process. <br />
<ol>
<li>I read the original critique and let it sit for a day or two or more, depending on how it strikes me. I may or may take some notes on it, at this point.</li>
<li>Later, I read it again. I take notes on what I think is true, or what I think merits serious consideration. It's important for me to type it out the critique, or explain it out loud in my own words. As I do this, new insights from the critiques pop out at me.</li>
<li>I come back to the critique multiple times and reread it, eventually transitioning from the critic's words to my own digested version. I run through my story with them fresh in my mind, taking notes on revision ideas as I go (but not necessarily implementing all the changes I see). As I do this for a time, more things make sense and connect. This part is especially exciting when I have two or more critiques because the advice often overlaps in areas.</li>
<li>Finally, I implement the ideas from the critique (or ideas the critique inspired), starting with structural issues and ending with the nitty gritty. I can't say I stick to a list because sometimes new ideas pop up and I follow those. <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2013/07/an-investigation-how-to-identify-your.html">It's a haphazard, yet strangely, chaotically ordered process</a>. (Sometimes it drives me a little insane because I like order. But writing is essentially ordering, so getting it done feels great.)</li>
</ol>
So, what can you learn from this, Scribblers? I don't know--maybe you'll want to try paying lots and lots of attention to the words of your own critics.<br />
<br />
I was inspired to let critiques marinate by Kristin Cashore's <a href="http://kristincashore.blogspot.com/2013/06/on-revising-embrace-tedium-embrace-chaos.html">wonderful blog post</a> about how tedium and revision go hand in hand. (Kristin Cashore is the author of <em>Graceling, Fire </em>and <em>Bitterblue</em>, all of which are award winning female-driven YA Fantasy that I LOVE.) I highly recommend Cashore's craft post.<br />
<br />
<strong>Photo Attribution:</strong><br />
<br />
By SJ Yang (Ganjang gejang Uploaded by Caspian blue) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0</a>)], via Wikimedia CommonsChristy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-22840597983111249552013-07-28T13:37:00.001-07:002013-07-28T13:37:58.776-07:00The Story of My Feet
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Dear friends,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Many of you have kindly asked about my feet over the
past ten months, and some of you have even done thoughtful things like bringing
meals or praying or mailing me cards. Kevin and I can hardly express our
gratitude for your concern. (Thank you!!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I decided to summarize what’s been going on to answer your questions. I refrained from doing this for a long
time because we weren’t sure ourselves what we could say for certain. We still
aren’t sure, but I’ll try my best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Last year, at some point, I bruised my foot from
running (*insert complicated story here*). In September, it turned into a
stress fracture, but we didn’t know that for sure until December. After this, I
wore a walking boot for about 9 weeks. Unfortunately the fracture took so long
to heal (for several complicated reasons) that both of my feet developed Achilles
Tendonitis & Plantar Fasciitis. The previously-fractured foot atrophied
quite a bit. We found out all this in March. At that time, I began physical therapy.
I still attend PT once or twice a week. The process has been slow going and has
had many ups and downs. At this moment, I can’t drive, play drums, or go many
places. That may or may not change soon—it’s very unpredictable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">If you want to help both Kevin and me, you can do
one major thing for us: pray! We would love prayer for<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">1) patience,
persistence and a positive attitude on my part.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">2) encouragement and
lots of blessings on my husband, Kevin, who has been amazing through all of
this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">3) that God would
reveal His plan to us in all of this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">If you want to pray for the physical, you can pray <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">1) that God would heal
me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">2) that we would get
into a healthy pattern at Physical Therapy, and <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">3) that we could reach
our goal of going on vacation in October.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Both Kevin and I would appreciate if you didn’t ask
when I’ll be better/when I’ll be playing drums again/whether I can help with such
& such event, etc. If there are commitments that I am ready to renew, I’ll
let you know. It may still be awhile, but I can’t wait to get back to it all! Thank
you so much for your consideration in this area, friends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I must say that throughout this process, God has
been faithful to provide everything we need. We have learned so much—I have a
long list of blessings and answered prayers pertaining to my foot problems. God
is good, all the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">We hope to see you/talk to you all soon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Love and gratitude,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">-Christy & Kevin Luis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-42178935075813384132013-07-26T09:54:00.000-07:002013-08-01T22:55:31.232-07:00NEW Catching Fire Trailer + Signed Book Plate SwagDid YOU know there would be ANOTHER Catching Fire trailer? *happy dance* This one lets us in on a major plot twist, but it sure sells the movie!<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/keT5CRhhy84" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
ALSO! <br />
<br />
I just thought I'd brag about my new <em>The Raven Boys </em>swag. Last month I told you about <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-giveaway.html">a bookplate giveaway</a> Maggie Stiefvater was doing. Well, I just got my signed bookplate! Here 'tis:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cvwl9bYfFTw/UfKlMbCmCqI/AAAAAAAAApw/Ynm4AwyoWcw/s1600/Book+Plte+Edit+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cvwl9bYfFTw/UfKlMbCmCqI/AAAAAAAAApw/Ynm4AwyoWcw/s400/Book+Plte+Edit+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Yeah, I taped it to my Kindle. So?<br />
<br />
Stiefvater 1) wrote my absolute favorite YA novel of the last two years, <em>The Scorpio Races</em>, and 2) is also an artist, so she did the artwork for the bookplates. She sent me a Maggie-esque note along with the book plate:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zIarK4vJ3BY/UfKlTp1a3JI/AAAAAAAAAp4/rzEpD1Ndzl0/s1600/Book+Plate+Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="301" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zIarK4vJ3BY/UfKlTp1a3JI/AAAAAAAAAp4/rzEpD1Ndzl0/s400/Book+Plate+Edit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Made. My. Year!Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-37215892025474980202013-07-20T14:30:00.004-07:002013-07-24T10:22:53.025-07:00An Investigation: How to Identify Your Story's Problems<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AInspector_Lestrade.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="By Sidney Paget (1860-1908) (Strand Magazine) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Inspector Lestrade" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Inspector_Lestrade.jpg" width="256" /></a>Scribblers, <br />
<br />
I ran across a problem in one of my stories, recently. That's not bad or even unexpected. A problem can be dealt with. <br />
<br />
But I couldn't figure out what the problem <em>was</em>, exactly.<br />
<br />
Have you ever experienced that? You can't put your finger on it, but something about your story is out of place?<br />
<br />
Part of writing is learning how to deal with this. There are probably a million ways, as there are for every other step of the writing process. I'll tell you how I do it, though:<br />
<br />
I transform into an investigator. An investigator refuses to be discouraged by puzzling clues or the general unpleasantness of bad writing. We Scribblers must be inquisitive folk. When a story of ours has a problem, we must be all up in its business. Nosy. Investigative.<br />
<br />
Asking questions is the best technique I've found to discern the nature of a problem. <br />
<br />
Lately, I've been revising a piece of historical fiction. I researched lots of period details, carefully formulated a unique story structure and mapped out what my main character wanted and needed. <br />
<br />
But something was missing. The story felt dead. I sent it around to a few friends and got some great feedback, but even as I revised it, I just didn't <em>like </em>it very much. <br />
<br />
So I turned to questions. When trying to solve a hazy problem in revisions, I have to push past my natural comfort zone and persistently inquire about my story's problems. I have to ask, <br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
"Which areas feel wrong?" </h3>
<br />
I follow my intuition to areas that just don't feel "right." <span style="color: black;">Typically, these are areas that I've been avoiding because they're uncomfortable and I don't feel like digging in to assess the damage</span>. <br />
<br />
This questioning process frequently takes me down tangents that may seem unrelated to each other, but I pour every thought out onto the page. I explore every misgiving or uncomfortable vibe via multiple smaller, more specific questions. Any one of them or all of them combined could be "the" problem, or a symptom of "the" problem, or at least an opportunity to improve my story. Exploring and questioning can be time-consuming, but they are necessary for me.* <br />
<br />
*Lots of writers do this "exploring." As always, I would direct you to John Truby's <em>The Anatomy of Story</em> and Chris Baty's <em>No Plot? No Problem! </em>(Chris Baty is also the creator of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month). <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4QPVtsRbW23UIJdV3YXATKQnjUNcGiUg7eNiFgaS3DXykFHKeWYzyZKHg0mptXARNArCmf4mPlGZnoJu4wDetGAfQVtZPfI7rJI8DNSFpZoeuj_LSGQhp4W_mZgwl_dMXIsbgdpBgRB9/s1600/Nofret+Screen+Shot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4QPVtsRbW23UIJdV3YXATKQnjUNcGiUg7eNiFgaS3DXykFHKeWYzyZKHg0mptXARNArCmf4mPlGZnoJu4wDetGAfQVtZPfI7rJI8DNSFpZoeuj_LSGQhp4W_mZgwl_dMXIsbgdpBgRB9/s400/Nofret+Screen+Shot.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="left">
<strong>This is an example of what story notes, questions and exploring can </strong><br />
<strong>sometimes look like. </strong><strong>The red is what I'm unsure about. Other times, </strong><br />
<strong>I highlight, </strong><strong>make comments, or use strikethrough text to sort.</strong></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>When you go on revision-brainstorming tangents, your subconscious is trying to point out what feels wrong about your story. </em><br />
<em></em><br />
After I've exhausted my tangent, I've typically exhausted my brain, too. I take a break for a bit. Then I come back and organize the mess of "story notes" that usually looks like words, words, words without meaning. I have to fight off a headache and <em>lots </em>of distractions every time I begin to sort and evaluate this mess because it can be tedius and discouraging.* It's hard to deal with intangibles, especially if you are an indecisive sort of person, like I am. But I have to explore my options.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfaYY2pLDdNDaWVPWPF15j36G-6En1zKI1dIIKsHarKvtuEdjAvMdBSFALi_CTmyCA5PSgzv_EP0zuEoVL6btXrME0tHEnYhr5nsGET1xN2d-rYhzl9qq0VpxPT0efbS46rsOzChbVK-m/s1600/Nofret+Screen+Shot+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfaYY2pLDdNDaWVPWPF15j36G-6En1zKI1dIIKsHarKvtuEdjAvMdBSFALi_CTmyCA5PSgzv_EP0zuEoVL6btXrME0tHEnYhr5nsGET1xN2d-rYhzl9qq0VpxPT0efbS46rsOzChbVK-m/s400/Nofret+Screen+Shot+2.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="left">
<strong>This is an example of a more "sorted" section. I've organized my </strong><br />
<strong>thoughts </strong><strong>into labeled lists of ideas, such as the character's "Desires"</strong><br />
<strong>or the story's </strong><strong>"Premise." </strong><strong>But tangents </strong><strong>still butt in throughout the </strong><br />
<strong>entire process, </strong><strong>as evidenced by the gigantic comment t</strong><strong>o the right.</strong></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
*I also begin to question myself: Exactly how short <em>is </em>my attention span? Am I really cut out to be a writer? How could I possibly write such a dead boring story? If you hear these voices in your head as well, don't worry. Once you push past the madness in your first few stories, you'll start to develop the confidence that you'll eventually like the end results. (Note: Your housemate(s) might try to comfort you at this stage. What nice friends. Tell them you'll be okay, you're just dealing with the voices.)<br />
<br />
All these tangents and miniature questions may show you an overwhelming amount of work to be done still (it did for me: the side characters, the main character voice, and the themes). And/or, you might find that all these smaller problems are a symptom of one larger problem. My problems stemmed mainly from writing the end of my story all wrong. Don't worry, your story will be better for your revisions. But before implementing them, you can always save the old draft, in case you don't like the result.<br />
<br />
I have one more technique that helps me form questions, if I'm struggling to sift through my masses of notes. Or perhaps I am perplexed by some seemingly unrelated feedback from my <a href="http://www.critiquecircle.com/">online critique group</a>, and my investigation isn't helping. <br />
<br />
I usually take a day off from my brainstorming page and open up an email addressed to no one. <br />
<br />
I imagine I know a recipient who has all the "answers" to my story story questions. But this person is extremely busy, so I don't want to waste her time. Like a professor, for example (uh oh, my technique development is showing).<br />
<br />
I then form my incomprehension into a few perfect, succinct questions in the clearest possible manner. If I don't have an answer to my question by the time I form it (often, I do), I save it in my "drafts." <br />
<br />
Then I do something else for a day, such as reading a writing manual or something else I think might help me answer the question. I may even give my brain a break and read for plain old fun.<br />
<br />
Later, I return to the query and revise, revise, revise. Tighten it up even more. Did I really word the question right the first time? Or is my focus slightly off? <br />
<br />
Then I take another day off from the question and read some more, or work on another project. (Letting the problem sit can be a great way to solve writing snaggles, as long as you come back on time to make your deadline. I do this constantly with blog posts, school papers or story problems. The only thing is, you have to start the project early in order to have time for rumination.) Then I come back to it again. After a few edit-then-research sessions, I always manage to find an answer. <br />
<br />
If this doesn't work, you can do as I do and ask <a href="http://kidlit.com/">this wonderful agent/author/editor</a> for advice! But you'll have to be able to form a general question about it, rather than asking for specific feedback on your work. <br />
<br />
Before you try asking the agent/author/editor, though, try questioning yourself. You might be surprised what these organic techniques will yield in you. More than once, I've drafted an email to the agent/author/editor and discovered the answer to my question during the process. Yes, this <em>is </em>how I discovered the technique for myself. Somehow, trying to explain the issue to someone else with respect to their time and attention helps me find, ask and answer the right questions.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
So, get in touch with your inquisitive side, Scribblers! </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Photo Attribution: By Sidney Paget (1860-1908) (Strand Magazine) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons</div>
Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-80427992898254853452013-07-13T13:01:00.000-07:002013-07-13T13:01:31.551-07:00To Be Truly Brave: Religion in YA Fiction<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMetropolitan_Cathedral_1_Curitiba_Brasil.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="By Morio (photo taken by Morio) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Metropolitan Cathedral 1 Curitiba Brasil" height="400" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Metropolitan_Cathedral_1_Curitiba_Brasil.jpg/256px-Metropolitan_Cathedral_1_Curitiba_Brasil.jpg" width="299" /></a><strong>I always thought YA Fiction was brave in breaking down boundaries and discussing the undiscussable in fiction.</strong> Homosexuality is a good example. In what other genres do you find titles like <em>Boy Meets Boy</em>? However, I've discovered the disheartening truth that YA Fiction isn't always being brave. Sometimes it is simply being trendy. What with the gay rights campaigns blaring, books about gay teenagers are becoming the popular causes to promote. <strong>But I think</strong> <strong>if YA Fiction wanted to be truly brave and groundbreaking</strong>,<strong> it would talk about something the overwhelming majority of teenagers worry about: religion.</strong><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/18/unaffiliated-third-largest-religious-group-after-christians-muslims_n_2323664.html">At least 84% of the world identifies themselves with a religion, and much of the remaining 16% still believes in some sort of spirituality,</a> according to this article by the Huffington Post. That's...most of the world! So you would think YA Fiction would be all over that.<br />
<br />
But it's not. Why?<br />
<br />
In America, it's popular, comfortable and sanctioned to bash religion. But that isn't the case in most of the world or in every circle of Americans.<br />
<br />
I read <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-parkin/religion-lifts-young-adul_b_2155630.html">an interview of the author Rae Carson</a>, a secular humanist, in which she expresses regret that today's religious teens can't find themselves in the fiction supposedly written for them. When asked why she included religion in her Fantasy novel, she said, "I include it because religion exists, and because I think it's tragic when teenagers can't find themselves in fiction."<br />
<br />
Teens today <em>do </em>have to deal with religion. They have to discover it and learn about it and decide what they believe. They may have religion in their family, or their family may be atheists, but they will still have to decide for themselves one way or the other.<br />
<br />
Don't get me wrong: there is some YA Fiction that digs into religion, but most of the main-stream popular books bash it, brush it aside, or ignore it altogether. YA Fiction owes teens dialogue about something so important.<br />
<br />
And by the way, it owes them more than blown up stereotypes and purposefully antagonistic representations.<br />
<br />
So let's break the ringing silence and talk this out. <br />
<br />
The social reading website, Goodreads.com, provides some religiously-themed YA Fiction booklists, in case you're looking for them. You can get to Goodreads by clicking the box of my book reviews in the top right of my blog site page.<br />
<br />
On a side note, should Christian teens be relegated to reading "Christian Fiction" in order to identify themselves in their fun reading? I've talked before about <a href="http://christy-luis.blogspot.com/2013/01/labels-christian-fiction-versusun.html">my feelings on the label "Christian Fiction."</a> What do you think?<br />
<br />
Photo Attribution:<br />
By Morio (photo taken by Morio) [GFDL (<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html">http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html</a>) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/</a>)], via Wikimedia Commons<br />
Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721263793962760850.post-55518063469023588112013-07-05T09:23:00.000-07:002013-08-09T15:01:32.314-07:00How to Borrow eBooks and Audiobooks from the Library<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABarack_Obama_Rally_Feb_2_2008_3.jpg" title="By Calebrw (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Barack Obama Rally Feb 2 2008 3" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/90/Barack_Obama_Rally_Feb_2_2008_3.jpg/512px-Barack_Obama_Rally_Feb_2_2008_3.jpg" width="512" /></a>Downloading ebooks* and audiobooks** from the library is free and fairly simple. <br />
<br />
*electronic books you can read on ereaders (a "Kindle" is an ereader). If you want to make sure your device is compatible, <a href="http://www.overdrive.com/drc/ebook-audiobook">here's a list</a>.<br />
<br />
**recorded books you can listen to on mp3 players<br />
<br />
This explanation will only apply if your system subscribes to "Overdrive." Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma County libraries subscribe to Overdrive, but not all other county libraries do. In order to find out if yours does, just go to this <a href="http://overdrive%20website/">Overdrive website</a>** and search for your library. If it does, your steps will line up with this explanation by <strong>Step Five</strong>*, assuming you have already taken care of Step One, which is to get a library card.<br />
<br />
*I marked <strong>Step Five </strong>below.<br />
<br />
**If you go to step five, you can see a picture of what the Overdrive Website looks like.<br />
<br />
<h2 align="center">
Let's Begin.</h2>
<br />
First, get a library card, if you don't have one.<br />
<br />
Then Google "Lake County Library Catalogue" (Or "Mendocino County Library Catalogue," or "Sonoma County Library Catalogue") to find the county's library page. <a href="http://library.co.lake.ca.us/">The Lake County page</a> should look like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW3ph175r6xHk-jzVS9UTYQjVpayU0H0uWxufnSFf3-EwNJgjicpp4Hcw9RfY76FWEHqYXZsbKlSPtrpXkO4yQqjLMSjVrXwBgkiDaS9cnosPve41EDaYKymbMJhyphenhyphenIBzkezyzwYZjrHvrf/s1600/Lakecount+Library+Page+Screenshot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW3ph175r6xHk-jzVS9UTYQjVpayU0H0uWxufnSFf3-EwNJgjicpp4Hcw9RfY76FWEHqYXZsbKlSPtrpXkO4yQqjLMSjVrXwBgkiDaS9cnosPve41EDaYKymbMJhyphenhyphenIBzkezyzwYZjrHvrf/s400/Lakecount+Library+Page+Screenshot.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
MC should look like <a href="http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/library/">this</a>. SC should look like <a href="http://www.sonomalibrary.org/catalog.html">this</a>.<br />
<br />
Click "Search the Catalogue." All resulting pages should look like <a href="http://catalog.sonomalibrary.org/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=137A0Q96Y9067.642&profile=dial&logout=true&date=1373039676170#focus">this</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPk83uC0KUSlwoQvc3XOCpNEvO28ugDDH8Pn49zBZQ2FEKDt9YJkiinnF7YN76A5qLm-cj0CWJBDanpRDsVuzStNfbf5DnstChWIXjB3Tm235E2_aZF7qKIWBybpSrbwBPYYkKrF4rffH/s1600/Library+Catalogue.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPk83uC0KUSlwoQvc3XOCpNEvO28ugDDH8Pn49zBZQ2FEKDt9YJkiinnF7YN76A5qLm-cj0CWJBDanpRDsVuzStNfbf5DnstChWIXjB3Tm235E2_aZF7qKIWBybpSrbwBPYYkKrF4rffH/s400/Library+Catalogue.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Click "Downloads," the fifth option on the green searchbar. <br />
<br />
(<strong>Step Five</strong>) This will bring you to the <a href="http://www.overdrive.com/">Overdrive Website</a>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRroiYngIpX62ALmc5ivSU-6z8RI29FsB-PU0L9AmaJHrZ75oB46r3lGZvInXXaaqF17TbdxV40fZCsTTlZ0KoCYKAGdFGEyjLV5pFs9AjdGTnPf6Wwuq95nWWt5XEda2PTg-pLrWqNwgR/s1600/Overdrive+Screenshot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRroiYngIpX62ALmc5ivSU-6z8RI29FsB-PU0L9AmaJHrZ75oB46r3lGZvInXXaaqF17TbdxV40fZCsTTlZ0KoCYKAGdFGEyjLV5pFs9AjdGTnPf6Wwuq95nWWt5XEda2PTg-pLrWqNwgR/s400/Overdrive+Screenshot.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Since the book cover photos change, I circled the "Downloadable Library" text in the photo below as an identifying marker:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYF8WdXBlVCAmJ9fP4oLRyXsDzNXUnLwGm8Afpxu-4h3HkPKNwheuyHoX41t1S0dpW9xP3UmPOc9eX-zi1NKQFTbA354-bxjDpY25d8qxf4ykGnf6u-ZO9IF629RiBTJlb_2R7xGem-h_/s1600/Overdrive+Screenshot2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYF8WdXBlVCAmJ9fP4oLRyXsDzNXUnLwGm8Afpxu-4h3HkPKNwheuyHoX41t1S0dpW9xP3UmPOc9eX-zi1NKQFTbA354-bxjDpY25d8qxf4ykGnf6u-ZO9IF629RiBTJlb_2R7xGem-h_/s400/Overdrive+Screenshot2.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
On the top right hand corner of the page should be a link labeled "sign in." Click it.<br />
<br />
Choose your county (it will give you the options of Lake, Mendocino or Sonoma). It will ask you for your library card number and pin. The pin is simply the last four digits of the phone number you gave the library to get your card.<br />
<br />
Pick a book. If you search for a title, Overdrive will indicate which formats the book comes in: ebook, audiobook, both or neither. The site is fairly use-friendly, but if you have any difficulty navigating it, here's a <a href="http://downloads.sonomalibrary.org/7362AFFF-895B-49C9-AC20-58F107D56F39/10/50/en/NextGen.htm">great tutorial video</a>. <br />
<br />
For an ebook, you're nearly golden. After your select your book, click "Borrow." You will also need to select the format of the ebook. You can read it on your computer screen (as the tutorial video demonstrates), but I think the Kindle ebook format is the best. The latter will lead you to a webpage on Amazon where you simply click "Get Library Book" and indicate where it should be delivered (e. g. "Christy's Kindle"). <br />
<br />
To get an audiobook, you will need to download the <a href="http://omc.overdrive.com/">"Overdrive Media Console" software</a>, which is free and easy to use once you make it past your computer's protection software. (Some computer protection software can give you problems, but Overdrive has a wonderful <a href="http://downloads.sonomalibrary.org/7362AFFF-895B-49C9-AC20-58F107D56F39/10/50/en/Help.htm">help service</a> to answer those and any other questions. I've used it several times on new computers.) Once you do that, you can download the book to your computer via the Console. Then you plug your ipod or mp3 player into your computer and transfer the book to it. <br />
<br />
And no late fees! Audiobooks and ebooks automatically disappear when they are due. <br />
<br />
I salute you on your bookish journey, Book Bandit.<br />
<br />
Photo Attribution:<br />
By Calebrw (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0</a>) or GFDL (<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html">http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html</a>)], via Wikimedia CommonsChristy Luis - Dostoevsky in Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12708043180359908869noreply@blogger.com0