Ryan Field's Blog, page 489

And the Word "That"

The word "that" is an interesting word for writers. According to this thread on Yahoo Answers, you'll see what I mean. There's more here at Dr. Grammar. And this web site is interesting as well. Here's an example below.

In the following, does the word "that" belong?

"He said that we should go fishing."

Answer:


This usage of "that" is correct and belongs.

"That" sets off a dependent clause but could be left off without ambiguity:

He said we should go fishing.

So there you are. I could link to a...

ALBERT NOBBS

We finally had a chance to rent "Albert Nobbs" On Demand last night and I wanted to post something about it before I forget. I loved it. Tony had mixed reactions. He loved the acting and the characters; he didn't love the storyline and thought the pace was too slow.




I disagreed with him completely, which often happens when we watch films or read books. I fell in love with each character and it was the fastest two hours I've spent in a long time. I loved the storyline, the period in which...

Happy 86th Birthday!

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Two Good Cheesy Things From Social Media

I like both of these. And I don't post like this often, so indulge me for a moment.



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Gay News Blog

I came across a web site and thought I'd share. It's a gay news blog that seems to cover a lot of information that's hard to find. So many come and go it's hard to keep track.

Here's the link. And here's a post from today about the top headlines for gay news.

Today’s Top Headlines
Presented by special Lavender Media guests Andy Lien, Joy Summers, Suzanne Farrell, Stephen Rocheford, and Barry Leavitt
Majority of Russians Oppose “Gay Propaganda”
Gay Marriage Not A Top Concern For U.S. Vot...

Chase of a Lifetime the Series and Thoughts on Self-Publishing

Evidently, google blogger decided to change things and I'm not sure how this post is going to look. Please excuse any errors. It's going to take a while to get used to this. But in a way, it's more than appropriate to write a post like this on a completely new blogging format.

What prompted this post was a blog post I read late last night by a talented young blogger I started following a short time ago. His name is T.D. McFrost and he's been doing the A-Z blogging challenge. Yesterday's post...

Book Review: The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

Unless you've actually experienced a horrific event in your life that is so shocking it not only defines your past but also your future, it might be difficult to grasp the magnitude of The Beginner's Goodbye. In other words, that one day in your life...or maybe even minute...that defines everything about you and tests you, where there was your life before the event and then your life after the event. People who have experienced these sudden losses, so strange by nature they never could have b...

Amazon United Kingdom: Chase of a Lifetime

I've been receiving a lot of e-mails from readers in the United Kingdom about "Chase of a Lifetime" and I wanted to say thank you with this post. It's been on sale here at Amazon.co.uk since the release.

For a writer like me who has always depended on publishers, I can't thank you guys enough for making COAL a bestseller in the UK, too.

The entire self-publishing on Amazon process has been intense, humbling, and a huge learning experience for me. I promised I wouldn't spam anyone or do any outrageous promotions and I haven't. I didn't expect to blow anyone out of the water and I didn't expect to win a Pulizter. I just wanted to find out if I could do it alone. There were nights I didn't sleep at all because I couldn't stop thinking about edits for the book and other things like formatting that I never had to worry about before. Tony was ready to hit me over the head with a two by four more than once.




In a way, to see that COAL did well in the UK is a quiet, personal accomplishment for me. When I was in college I turned down an opportunity to study at the Fairleigh Dickinson University Campus in Wroxton, England because I didn't want to miss an internship I'd landed with a small text book publisher in Morristown, New Jersey. I don't have many regrets in life, but I will always regret that decision. I was an English major. I should have dropped everything and gone to Wroxton. But I was young, dumb, and didn't grasp the magnitude of what I was missing at the time. Seeing COAL on a bestseller list in the UK makes me feel a little better about missing that opportunity. And one of my future goals is to travel to the UK and spend time in Wroxton checking out the campus. If I had a bucket list, it would be in the top ten.[image error]

"Cowboy Mike and Buddy Boy" Cover Preview

This is my newest release from loveyoudivine.com. A release date has yet to be set but I will post when it is.

It's a short story, and below are the tag line and blurb. It's one of the few times I get into a subject like this. It happens in real life and without a happy ending in most cases. But I do know of a few cases where the ending was happy and I wanted to focus on that.


Tag:

When a guy falls in love with a married cowboy, he'd better know how to run like hell.

Blurb:

When Noah realizes he's fallen in love with the wrong person, he decides to change his life and his circumstances. He vows he'll never get involved with a cowboy or a married man again. But when Noah's married cowboy, Mike, begs him not to leave, Mike explains that his marriage was over a long time ago and then he promises to do the right thing. Unfortunately, Mike's wife finds out about Mike and Noah before Mike has a chance to tell her he wants a divorce. And, this all happens on Halloween night, when Noah meets Mike on his way home from a costume party. It's the first time Noah's ever done drag in his life and it's only a joke. But Mike's wife doesn't find it funny when she catches Mike with his hand up Noah's tight dress in the backseat of a car. [image error]

Just Because I Like it...

swag/swag/

Noun:

An ornamental festoon of flowers, fruit, and greenery: "ribbon-tied swags of flowers".