Favorite Nooks

On the road today, so I'm sending out a quick little post with some of my favorite nooks and crannies from across the web - all favorite blogs of mine, that have become my frequent haunts over the last few weeks (and months, some of them):

Yearning for Wonderland:  Snarky, spleen-eating, Downton Abbey-loving, can't-remember-where-she-parked-her-Barouche-Box-and-in-which-century Anna Meade has a wonderful blog full of fairies, fiction, whimsy, yearning for yesteryear, and snark. Love this girl. You will too.

Amanda McCrina: Poli Sci student, movie aficionado and soon-to-be published author, Amanda writes concise, thoughtful posts on a host of topics. Having been privileged to be one of her beta readers for His Own Good Sword, I can also vouch for her giftedness as an insightful and incisive writer. Look for more about this savvy lady on my site in the coming weeks as she approaches her May publication date.

The Surly Muse: Keep Daniel Swensen's blog on speed dial for insightful articles and some of the most original flash-fiction I've ever read. (Don't believe me? Check out this one. Or maybe my personal favorite over here.) He writes phenomenal longer works too, as this happy beta-reader can tell you. Wish you could read them for yourselves...hopefully you will, and soon.

Going for Coffee: I wish I did live close enough to meet this gal for coffee in person. Jo-Anne Teal is one of the kindest, encouraging, most sweet-hearted writers I've met since joining Twitter*. Her blog exudes her natural sweetness and sincerity, and her flash fiction - though entirely hers and in that same calm tone - carries an extra edge that will surprise you at every turn. Go for coffee at her blog and sip some of her writing - you won't be disappointed.

Kristen Lamb: I discovered Kristen's website just the other day, and let me tell you: Kristen Lamb is sharp. She knows the publishing business. She's made mistakes and learned from them. Nor is she afraid to tell you about them, or which side of the prickly Mistake Fence you've fallen on. This lady has a LOT to share - including some great writing, the #MyWANA hashtag - and even some morbid hints about The Pants of Shame.**

* No, I was not paid to say that --- I mean it whole-heartedly! Seriously.

** Not for the faint of heart. Trust me.

Enjoy these stellar blogs - and then join them! Follow these savvy people on Twitter.

Then enjoy the knowledge that your Coolness Quotient just went through the roof.

You're welcome. :-)

Winners!

Oh, how I wish we could have picked more than five. Do you know how unbelievably difficult it was to choose finalists from such an amazing line-up of entries for our Blog Hop Contest?

Of course you don't. Unless you took the time to read all of the entries, in which case...of course you do!

So many fantabulous writers, so few prizes.....

But we DO have five amazing finalists -- at last!!! Here is the full roster, with their magnificent prizes:

1st PLACE:  Ruth Long ~ "Between the Lines" ~ 50 pg edit from Lillie McFerrin

2nd PLACE:  Donna McNicol ~ "Forest Flowers" ~ 25 pg edit from Angie Richmond

3rd PLACE: Jo Ann Teal ~ "Out of the Dark" ~ 15 pg edit from ME!!!!!!!!

4th PLACE:  Brewed Bohemian ~ "A Beautiful Place to Die" ~ 10 pg edit from Daniel Swensen

5th PLACE:  Gwen Tolios ~ "Extinguishing Souls" ~ a copy of Stephen King's On Writing

Aren't you splendiferously proud of all these writers? You should be! Drop by their blogs and tell them so! 

Follow them on Twitter! And then join their blogs. And read their contest entries. 

And encourage them to write MORE.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Congratulations to all our winners!

Thanks also to Lillie, Angie and Daniel for hosting the blog hop and making all this possible.

Backward (Reading) Glance

2011 is near its end. With it comes the requisite backwards glance at where we were this time last year, and what that means for the coming year.

If you're a writer/bibliophile, then your inventory of "books read" is a part of that backward glance. I was inspired to compile my list of "books read" by the fabulous Elizabeth Holbert, who put out her own list on her website. Below is my own list of books I've read during the past twelve months.


NOTE: I am a teacher of American History/Literature and Modern World History/Literature, and that profession is definitely reflected in the bulk of my book choices. Admittedly, several of these were read for the express purpose of teaching them for school. But hey - I read them. They count.

I did not count books that I reread every time I must teach them (like The Crucible, The Scarlet Letter...etc); only those that were first time reads are included here.




My 2011 Reading List                            


Silverlock by John Myers Myers
The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, by himself   
Wren Journeymage, by Sherwood Smith
The Portable Patriot by Miller & Parrish            
The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo
Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson

The 5000 Year Leap, by Cleon Skousen

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madame L'Engle

On Writing, by Stephen King

Making Shapely Fiction, by Jerome Stern

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by himself

 The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

More Than Dates and Dead People, by Stephen Mansfield

Mary Chestnut's Civil War Diary, by herself

The Confidence Man, by Herman Melville

The Pilgrim's Regress, by C S Lewis    

The Annotated Pride and Prejudice (annotated by David M Shapard)  

Journal of Madam Knight, by Sarah Kimble Knight             

I don't know about you - but that list seems woefully short, even with my adding in those academic tomes that I perused in the spirit of teaching history and literature. Without them, the list would be dismally short.

As for the books that made the biggest impression on me, here are my top three picks for the year:

                   

My goal for 2012 is to read twice that many titles. I think this is very doable, as I am coming up on a Modern History/Literature year in my teaching cycle and am actively reading through several titles that I ought to be acquainted with, and possibly teach, next year. Add in the "fun reads" that I intend to make time for, and I should make my proposed goal of 36 books easily. That's roughly a book and a half a week. That doesn't sound too daunting, does it?

What books made YOUR 2011 "read it!" list?

Shifting Gears (A Bit)

My blog has now been up and running for a full month, and I have learned a lot in the process. These past four weeks have taught me a great deal about traffic patterns, tighter guidelines for blogging, visibility, intended and extended audiences, and how often I can reasonably update, among other things.

With that in mind, I am slowly refining a new posting schedule, as well as pinning down what topics I want to write about, and when. I've had great feedback from people on several of my anecdotes - Elephant Chai and DaVinci's Grocery List being current favorites - but I also want to talk about what I'm reading, especially since my October Fun Reads post received the most hits to date, and by a wide margin. I'd also like to occasionally post on matters strictly pertaining to aspiring writers, including some of the insights I've gleaned from Twitter about book agents, the publishing industry, and especially the ever-dreaded necessity of query letters.

Obviously I don't want to get in a rut, be untrue to myself, or fill my blog with dullness and drudge. So I would like to know: What would you like to see in regards to books, writing, or stories in general? What do you think I should not do, or have you spotted some mistakes I've already made? Those of you who have been blogging for a while - what advice do you have? You can post your comments here, or email me at goff (dot) taproostudio (at) gmail (dot) com.

Next official update will be Monday - until then I'll be working on getting ahead for future posts, as well as the beginning of NaNoWriMo! Wish me luck - and again, feel free to let me know what you're thinking about the site. Thanks!

Current Fun Reading: October

To start: a simple yet bald fact about me: I love to read.

More than that, I read a LOT.

As a teacher, I usually have to triage my reading into three categories:

     Fun Reads
     Fun Reads That I Get to Teach
     Books That I Must Teach But Hate As Much As (If Not More Than) My Students Do

I could type volumes on each of these categories; but today I'm going to give you just a quick look at some of the "Fun Reads" that are currently on my nightstand, or at the top of my Kindle queue.

I admit, I read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice late in the game. It took several very literate men in my life - men, I tell you - to convince me that this was not some shallow chick-flick type novel, but a real work of intelligent, savvy, humorous literature. I was pleasantly surprised, and more than I can say, when I finally sat down and read this one all the way through. (And yes, to weigh in on the everlasting debate about the movie versions: I prefer the BBC version with Colin Firth above all others. I'm sorry - I just refuse to let Kiera Knightley taint my image of Elizabeth Bennett.) I'm currently reading the annotated version in order to savor all the fine nuances and details I missed the first few times through, and gaining an even deeper appreciation for it - which is good, since next year this will be a "fun read that I get to teach" book.

I'm not sure you can get much farther removed from Austen than Kurt Vonnegut. But I was introduced to his Slaughterhouse Five under rather peculiar circumstances while teaching high school (long story - with plenty of fodder for a future post), and as a result the story - disjointed and inverted as it is - has never left me. Irony saturates this tale of the time-shifting Billy Pilgrim from beginning to end, and the fact that the book is quasi-historical (in regards to the bombing of Dresden) makes it that much more peculiar and riveting, in the sort of dark, off-kilter way that only Vonnegut can manage.

I have a love-hate relationship with the Bronte sisters. Honestly, they were all talented, but I'm not always sold on how "gifted" they were - at least when it comes to Anne and Emily. Granted, I'm only halfway through Anne's Tennant of Wildfell Hall (and have yet to read Agnes Grey). I've been hotly prejudiced against Wuthering Heights since high school, and have yet to summon up the nerve to give that novel another try. But I've never had issues with Charlotte - leastways, not with her lyrical, haunting Gothic tale of the abused child who grows up into the quiet but steely governess Jane Eyre. I fell in love with it in high school, and every time I've revisited it, my adoration for the fiery Jane only grows by leaps and bounds.

And finally, my current, not-taught-in-school, purely-for-fun read on my nightstand: Stephen R Lawhead's Hood. It is a retelling of the notorious Robin Hood in a Celtic setting, and the first of a series; and while I am only a few chapters into it I've already found it very engaging and original, neither too sordid nor too cliche, and all around a delightful read. For the moment, we'll say that the jury's out on this one - I like to judge a book by it's entire tale, and not the beginning only - but to be fair I'll also say that I've been delighted with the tale so far.

_________________________

What about you? What "fun reading" are you making time for just now?