Let's Write A Funny Blurb

Okay... time to have some fun!  And it'd be great to see what you guys can do with this too.

I was looking at the Romance Bandits posts today and found they had a fun way to write blurb of a childrens' book... and here it is:

1] and the Magic [2] is the tale of a little girl who travels on a [3] carpet to the mystical land of [4], where she will encounter a friendly [5] [6] in a forest of giant [7] and try to avoid falling into the quarry of everlasting [8]. Using the powers of the magic [2] to help her, can she defeat the wicked wizard of [9], save the people of [10] Valley and be home in time for tea?

Quick 10 questions:

[1] Your first name

[2] Object to your right

[3] Colour of carpet or rug in your room

[4] Town you were born

[5] Favourite colour

[6] Favourite animal/bird

[7] Favourite flower

[8] Favourite dessert

[9] Your surname spelled backwards

[10] Favourite snack food

Now, my blurb is:

Mozette and the Magic Pencilcase is the tale of a little girl who travels on a beige carpet to the mystical land of Brisbane, where she will encounter a friendly purple Budgie in a forest of giant Gloxinias and try to avoid falling into the quarry of everlasting Rocky Road. Using the powers of the magic Pencilcase to help her, can she defeat the wicked wizard of Rekrap, save the people of Cashew Valley and be home in time for tea?

Well, have a go, and see how you go.  Until my next post, happy reading!

'Pet's Letters to God' translated by Mark Bricklin

'Dear God,

One thing I like is that you never interrupt when I'm talking to you!

Worshipfully,

Molly'

'Dear God,

Every night, a coyote comes sniffing around our house.  It is quite frightening.  Please give me the address of the Acme Dynamite Company.

Thank you,

Sugar'

'Dear God,

Why do I have to share my aquarium with a catfish?  Is this somebody's idea of a joke?

~Maddie'

Three of the funnier letters from this lovely little book about letters to God - if only animals could speak and write like humans.  There's more in this little hard-covered book, ranging from what they think of Thanksgiving, other animals and our closets... to how they think we should be treated and why is it dogs, cats, fish and birds are kept inside and yet squirrels are shut outdoors?  Hmmm... good question, when said squirrel is hoping to be a good little guy in the eyes of humans.

This is a lovely, funny, cute little read.  I highly recommend it for a quick afternoon read or a before dinner read and it had me laughing out loud many times, remembering how much my bird made me laugh at her little antics ... and then realising sometimes - just sometimes - she probably thought I was weird as much as I thought she was.  Until my next post, happy reading!

'The Naughty Book for Girls' by Candice Hill

Are you a good girl or a bad, bad girl?  I bet you women out there are laughing at the question with a wicked grin on your face... saying you can be very bad if the mood strikes you, but good if you want something out of somebody.

Well, I've discovered 'The Naughty Book for Girls' by Candice Hill which will clear this mystery up for you - and everyone else around you for good. 
For the first few chapters, it asks you all kinds of questions about your personality and I found them dead easy to answer, then it gets a little more detailed.  
This book is a fun, easy read and has a candy-striped pink cover with a hot redhead on the cover in a kinky pose to make it more appealing to our naughty side.  However it does make you wonder about just how naughty us girls can get... doesnt it?  Until my next post, happy reading.

Pulling Into This Port - The Answers!

Okay!  A couple of days ago, I was talking about the hook to a book that keeps us here; the first line.  And then, I dropped in eight first lines with their books and authors in a jumbled mess and left you guys to it to figure out which belongs to who... so, how did you go? 

I didn't see too many attempts; so I take it you either found it too easy or didn't know any of them.  Never mind, I'll supply the answer to them now!

'They're out there.'
One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

'First, in my spare room, I swivelled the bed on a north-south axis.'
'The Spare Room' by Helen Garner

'The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.'
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

'It was a a pleasure to burn.'
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

'He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.'
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway

'Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.'
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - A trilogy In Four parts by Douglas Adams

'The primroses were over.'
Watership Down by Richard Adams

'Hapscomb's Texaco sat on US 93 just north of Arnette, a pissant four-street burg about 110 miles from Houston.'
The Stand by Stephen King

So, how did you go?  How many did you guess right? All eight?  Or just a few?  Now if you didn't get any of them, don't worry, it's okay, I had a few people on Facebook who didn't know any of them either... but they took a good guess too.  But the ones I have read out of these are:  'The Stand', 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy - the Trilogy In Four Parts', 'Old Man and the Sea', 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', 'The Spare Room' and 'Fahrenheit 451'.  However, it's been a few years for a couple of them, so I've forgotten the first lines of them; not that I'd remember them anyway.  Well, until my next post, happy reading!

Not Just Any Port In A Storm

Okay, reading is something of a passion for everyone here.  But I've found that it's not the book cover that attracts me to read the book I've chosen, it's the opening line... the hook that pulls in my interest and makes me stay to read the rest.

So... I'm going to play a little game with you guys.  I'm putting up a list of first lines and with authors below it and the title of the books next to the authors and I'd like you guys to figure out which books they came from.  Yep, this is going to be fun as I chose some books I've read and some I haven't.

'They're out there'

'First in my spare room, I swivelled the bed on to a north-south axis.'

'The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.'

'It was a pleasure to burn.'

'He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.'

'Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.'

'The primroses were over.'

'Hapscomb's Texaco sat on US 93 just north of Arnette, a pissant four-street burg about 110 miles from Houston.'


'The Spare Room' by Helen Garner 
'The Stand' by Stephen King
'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury
'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde
'One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' by Ken Kesey 
'The Old Man and the Sea' by Ernest Hemmingway
'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' by Douglas Adams 
'Watership Down' by Richard Adams

Okay, I'll be here in a day or so to let you guys in on who's books fits in with which first lines... good luck! And this is just for a bit of fun!  Until my next post, happy reading! 

Racing Along!

Life is a race - sometimes.  But today, I've been invited to a writing race.  This is where I sit down for 3 hours in front of the computer and write as much as I can for that time.  Then, I report back to a Facebook events page and tell my friends (who have also taken part in this race) what I got done.  It sounds like a great way to get myself working on my books and to move my pages along.  I can't wait!

But!  (isn't there always one?)

The time I've gotta do this is during the time of 'Supernatural' being on television.  So, I'll be sitting down this afternoon and doing my 3 hour writing race.  It'll be something I can't wait to do; making my day completely full.

So, if you write, what do you do to keep yourself going?  How do you keep from your work going stale?  Do you take part in writing races or Poetry Slams online (I did that once on Facebook between 8pm and midnight and came out with the best work I've ever done; and ended up putting it into my poetry books).  Let us know - if you're a writer or a teacher of creative writing - how do you keep yourself or your students writing and creating? 
For me, this is one way.  However, I have books to help me and I just keep on plugging away at storylines.  I also have other hobbies which tap into other parts of my brain to help me tackle my writing from another angle, to help me slow down a little and make sure I don't see the forest for the trees instead of being too close to the work.  Well, until my next post, happy reading!   

Hidden Genres

I've been very busy lately.  Busily reading and writing and busily cleaning my house up too.  I also did my annual book count - which came to 991 books here in my little office.  I did have over 1,000 books last year, but I do remember giving away some too, so it's brought the number down by a few.  

I am busy with a few things around the place while I'm reading, however I have mis-placed a few books in the house.  And while I have been tidying up, I've found them!  I found 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins hiding under a few things on my coffee table.  How long that's been there is only going to be a wild guess of mine. 
Then, by the door, I found 'Crossing Paths' by Debbie Robson, 'Kim' by Rudyard Kipling and then, I added to that a book Mum and I searched high and low for at her place:  'Dandelion Wine' by Ray Bradbury.  Mum had put it 'somewhere safe' which happened to be in their overstuffed bookcase by the front door.  

Well, it's been a couple of days and each time I've tidied up something, I've dug up a book or two, or a magazine I've been looking for.  And I've been searching for these thing for weeks... and they're showing up now!  Amazing what happens when you're organising yourself for something else to happen in your life.
And what is the something else that's going to happen for me?  I'm heading into hospital in mid-June for a minor operation, and Mum's going to be looking after me for the next week after I return home.  So, my place has to be in some kind of order to have her stay here with me.  Anyway, what books have you found around your place when you've cleaned up, you've sworn you've lost and yet they've been hiding from you all this time?  Until my next post, happy reading!   

Terrible Minds Make for Great Reading

Being a writer is a great thing.  Sometimes.  Yeah, it can be frustrating to no end when you want to write everything down and yet you don't have enough time, enough fingers, a faster brain or know exactly how to say what you want to say in the precisely the right way.  And yet, there are times, when you get yourself in just the right spot, at the right time of the day or night, in the zone, gleaming the cube and in the right mind-set to have your books take you where you want to be.

This is when your creative mind and muse play along well.  They are like two kids in a schoolyard who sometimes get along well if the conditions are right; but not all the time.  One of them is good for you, while the other can be bad for you.  And figuring out which is which is part of the game.  I still don't know which is which and I'm almost 40 years old; and yet I still love playing the games of creativity with them.

But I found a blog today where the creator pulls no punches, tells it as it is and will give any writer - no matter who you are - a good kick in the butt about your writing.  He uses the blunt, down-to-earth kind of language all writers love to see but their family cringe at; and yes, I must warn you all now, there's some of what he calls 'naughty words' involved... but I'm tellin' ya, it's worth it.

Chuck Wendig is well worth a look at.  I've subscribed to his blog on Wordpress.  And if you're a writer who's claiming they have Writer's Block (but really you can't be bothered writing... you know who you are, stop hiding behind your cup of coffee there), this is the guy for you to read.  Until my next post, happy reading.  

Gift Certificates

I have a gift certificate.  How cool is that?  Now, it's not an exact amount of money, and it's not over $20.  However, it's one where I've earned the money on it.  It's a QBD Bookstore Gift Certificate where I've become a member of it Book Club and have bought 10 books to accumulate a certain amount of money to spend on my 11th book.  Pretty cool, eh?

Now, usually, I know what to spend the money on.  However, this time, I'm stuck.  I have $17.83 and no idea what I'd like to buy.  I've looked on their site, but they don't advertise any of their pens or anything else that is usually not a book instore.  So, it looks like I'll have to go instore physically to see what I can buy there.  I might get myself a nice pen - a better one than my last one - with the money.

So, what do you do when you get a gift certificate from a bookstore?  Do you spend it immediately, or do you save it up and wait for the right book to come out to spend on it?  Or do you buy a few small purchases and make it worth your while?  Until my next post, happy reading! 

Lunch With Ged Maybury

Last week, I was without my computer - as you all know - and so, I took off to my parents' house to use their internet.  While there, I chatted with steampunk writer, Ged Maybury, on Facebook and he suggested we have lunch.  You see, the day I arrived at my parents' house, I was given some horrible news about a sick friend of mine, and Ged wanted to cheer me up.  So, I accepted the lunch suggestion and we made a time and place to meet.

This was on a Wednesday, and I had a lot to do between then and Saturday, when we were having lunch.  On Thursday, Dad took me out to Bunnings and we picked up some potting mix and a lovely new pot to bury my little bird in.  On Friday, I had my parents over to help me with my bird's burial; which I found I couldn't do on my own.  
Then, Saturday arrived and I walked to Rocky's Bakehouse and Cafe and met Ged there for lunch.  

He was prompt and it was wonderful to meet up with him after such a long time.  It had been around 15 years since I last saw him, and he had spoken at the Logan Writers' Guild about how to write Young Adult Fiction for today's teens.  I remember the time clearly that we had booked out a meeting room at the Logan North Library at the IKEA Centre (before both of these places moved) and then afterwards, the LWG invited Ged for afternoon tea at The Coffee Club at Springwood (the only place that hasn't moved in all this time).  He remembers attending the talk for the Guild and said it was good I remembered him so well after all this time.
We had a lovely lunch at Rocky's Bakehouse while we chatted and laughed over authors, agents and publications and our own writing.  Then, I offered to show him some of my book collection and he accepted; as he had been hinting at wanting to see some of my first editions while we spoke on Facebook chat in the past.  We walked to my place and he loved how the books are all here and enjoyed that I loved collecting more of them no matter what.  He was amazed at how I knew where each of my first editions were; as well as the signed ones too.  We kept swapping stories until it was time for him to pick up his kids from Browns Plains.  I walked him out to the front gates of my unit complex where we said our farewells before he walked off down to Rocky's again where he left his car. 

I had a great time, and he did too.  It's so good to connect with people who are also writers and have a love of the written language, isn't it?  Well, until my next post, happy reading!    

Betty's Reading Room

I just read on Bookcrossing about a little bothy which has been renovated in Orkney, Scotland in memory of a dear friend of a couple who passed away suddenly.  Betty's Reading Room is a little hideaway for the book-loving people of the world, which has cosy lounges, a warm fire and oil lamps hanging from the ceiling along with shelves and shelves of bookcases filled with books of all kinds.  These are for people to settle in and read, put back, take home, exchange or keep; but by all means, enjoy them as Betty would have too.  For the complete story, here's the report on it.

Betty's Reading Room 

Another Interview!

I've been interviewed again!  How fun is this?  Not a month after I was interviewed for the Southside Bulletin, I have been asked to be interviewed for the Romance Bandits here on the net.  

I've been following their site for a some time - over a year actually - and now, one of the ladies who runs the site has asked me to be in their December Newsletter.  I was totally surprised by this when the e-mail arrived.  So, I accepted after joining their site as a Bandito and and reading some of the newsletters that had been around and were only for the members to read.  

So, I'll post the link to my interview on their site here during the Christmas/NYE break so you can all read it when it comes in.  Until my next post, happy reading!

Results

Have you ever inadvertently collected other things as a result of your main collection?  For example, if you paint, have you found old-fashioned easels your weakness?  Or, let's say music, you go out and collect cds and the next thing you know, you've become a vinyls collector (yep, I'm putting my hand up here because that happened to me in recent years).
Well, I have had a collection creep up on me that I never thought would; and it's because of my main collection.  And this secondary collection is bookmarks.  Now, I started out with about 10 or so and have ended up with around 500 in about 3 years.  I know what you're all thinking... how in the heck did that happen?  I did an art project where I needed a large number of bookmarks very quickly and so asked my friends on Bookcrossing.com and they all pitched in and helped me out.  Over 3 - 4 months, I received so much mail, my little PO box was overflowing with parcels, envelopes and boxes filled to the brim with bookmarks.  And there I was busily sorting through them.
Some of them were old and lovely - and didn't make it into the art piece as they were just to nice to glue - while others were gifts from my Bookcrossing friends who thought what I was doing was great!  And once the piece was finished, I counted up the bookmarks that were arranged, glued and found I had around 200 bookmarks in my collage of 'Spread The Word'.  Now, the bookmarks that were leftover are living all over my house.  They are mainly in my office in a purple mini-crate where they all stand up on end, cramming for space, but yet they are all used, loved, creased and borrowed by various people in my family.  I've given a few to my niece, Riley, and still I receive them through the mail as books are sent to me...  and I don't know where to put them.  The little purple crate is overflowing now, and I've nowhere to put them.  So, now, I put them on the top shelf next to the modem and hope and pray I get to use them at some point.

So, do you have a collection that started out small, but kind of exploded out of control - which isn't your Mt TBR or your book collection?  If you do, please do share it with us here... mine is bookmarks.  Thankfully, they can be contained and are small enough to fit in a box or something tiny, but it could have been worse... much, much worse, right? Until my next post, happy reading.

Secret Books

I have a big secret; and it's a weird one too!  I love secret books.  These are books that have been hollowed out, have a magnet installed and you can hide things in them.  In fact, I have one in my office here and it's fooled many people who have picked it up by accident, thinking it's an ordinary book; including my Dad who thought I had a book out of place and thought it was very cool to find a book such as this with all the goodies inside it. 

However finding these books aren't easy.  I have a secret book made from a Reader's Digest Condensed Book and it's all done up in felt on the inside and has a trademark on the inside cover of Marcus Rowe Designs 2000.  I have tried looking up this trademark on Google but what it coughs up takes off in all kinds of directions about all kinds of people.  So, there's no real source of where my first Secret Book Box came from.
I have another one in my living room where people have been fooled about where it's sitting - in amongst my gardening books.  It's a thick and heavy 'Fashion Disasters' book.  But when you open it, it's a locked metal safe.  I have hidden the keys in a place where nobody but me can find them.  And I have been working on trying to save money in this one.  Because I often forget it's there, I have been using my various money boxes spread around the house to save money instead.  So, there's not much in it right now.
My third Secret Book Box came for my birthday - and it's a real doozey!  I didn't know they made them this big!  When I pulled the wrapping off it, I thought it was one massive book, but then, I pulled the cover open and I was so blissfully happy to find it was a Secret Book Box!  It held my gifts and now, it's in my bedroom holding more books - mainly my dream journals that have been filled up, so there's only one dream journal sitting there waiting to be written in.  I love this Secret Book Box as it's so gorgeous and I don't intend to have it anywhere else but on display. 

So, do you have any Secret Book Boxes - or any unusual books in your bookcases you'd like to share with us?  If so, leave a comment and let us all know of them.  Until my next post, happy reading.