Arlene Miller's Blog, page 15

Books! Books! Books! 2022 Reading Challenge

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

I am one of those people who cannot remember what a book (or movie) was about three minutes after I finish it, unless it was very special, in which case I might remember something about it — or only that I thought it was very special. Since I read a lot, and I don’t like to read the same book twice, especially if it is unintentional, I keep track of what I read on the Goodreads website. 

In the Goodreads 2022 Reading Challenge, I challenged myself to read 50 books. I read about 64. Most of them were fiction, but there were a few nonfiction — and a few that I started and didn’t finish. Life is too short and all that…

Many of the books I read are tailored more to women, but not all of them. I do like romance, but not the hardcore Harlequin type of romance.  Here are the novels that I gave five out of five stars to in 2022:

The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander – I love most books that are about libraries and bookstores!The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel – Don’t remember anything about it, but it was recommended to me by a friend who was reading it in a book club.Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin – I think this was voted the best novel of the year by Goodreads readers.The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene – Yes, this is a Nancy Drew book. I read it again for old time’s sake. I loved them then, and I love them now. This is the second book in the series of many books. I remember my cousin bought me the first and second books in the series. The first is The Hidden Staircase. The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick –  I love reading any books about book people!The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley – I don’t remember anything about it, but I also am drawn to books about Paris. And if a book is about a Paris bookstore, well….Maus  by Spiegelman – Politics as it is, Maus was sold out on Amazon for a while this past year. I had never read it.  I read the graphic novel. Does it come as a regular novel???? I couldn’t find one on Amazon.The Arc by Hoen – I loved this book, and I actually remember something about it.  It is about a matchmaking service gone awry.The Newcomer by Andrews – I loved this one too, but I don’t remember it. I read it at the beginning of 2022. The Party Crasher by Sophie Kinsella – Definitely a girl’s book. I love everything Kinsella writes. Her most famous book is Confessions of a Shopaholic.

I would also recommend the novels I gave four stars to:

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth StroutWhen We Were Bright and Beautiful by Gillian MedoffLast Night at the Telegraph Club by  Malinda LoMiss Benson’s Beetle – Recommended to me. Don’t remember it, but I liked it. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka  I saw her interviewed another book (later in this list) that I think I had already read, and I was intrigued.The Huntress by Kate QuinnThe Swimmers by Julie Otsuka – Very interesting book. Recommend to either gender. Election by Tom Perrotta – This is a pretty easy read about a high school election. Good book about popularity and teen stereotypes. The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand – I like everything by Hildebrand.The Book Woman’s Daughter by Richardson – I also read The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek. and I enjoyed them both. Lessons in Chemistry by Garmus – Another entry for best novel of the year in Goodreads.Love Marriage by AliDonut Fall in Love by Lau – “Donut” remember it, but it sounds like a romance.Book Lovers by Emily Henry – I like Emily HenryBy the Book by Jasmine Guillory – She is a romance writer.Groundskeeping by Lee Cole – I really liked this one. Great characters and story.Shadows of Berlin by GillhamOne Italian Summer by SerleThe Lincoln Highway by Towles – A very popular book. Highly recommended for everyone. This book has no quotation marks at all for dialogue. Check it out!Vox by Baker – Recommended to me by a friend. I think it is about phone sex if I recall.The Unsinkable Greta James by Smith – I liked it. The Night She Disappeared by JewellThe Cat Who Saved Books by NatsukawaBefore She Disappeared by Gardner – Not to be confused with the book above! Liked then both.Somebody’s Daughter by FordDial A for Aunties  by Sutanto – Fun read.State of Terror by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny – Good collaboration. Penny is a great suspense author.Little Black Book by Carlisle – Cozy mystery

Three stars, but I did get through them. They were good enough to read, but after I was done, I guess I said Meh! Or maybe just not as good as the book I read before it!

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney – Did I even finish it? I expected more of Feeney. I believe it was a popular book in 2022.Fairy Tale by Stephen King – Not a real King fan, but the few I have read I have liked. This one had too much fantasy world in it for me. On the Rooftop by Sexton – Also a finalist in the best book of the year. Maybe I should have given it four stars. It was a good book. Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally ThorneThe Most Likely Club by Elyssa FriedlandThe Mutual Friend by Carter BaysTracy Flick Can’t Win by Tom Perrotta – Related to Election about high school popularityThe Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill – I liked this one. Mystery/thriller, I think.The Change by Kirsten MullerThe Spanish Love Deception by Elena ArmasCounterfeit by Kristin ChenForever by Judy Blume – She writes teen books mostly. I think I read this because I heard it ws groundbreaking. Girl, Woman, Other by Evaristo

If I got through the book, I generally liked it well enough, and gave it a 3, 4, or 5. There are a few books that I didn’t get through. I don’t like to waste time reading books I don’t like, although I still feel a little guilty when I give up!

P.S. I apologize for not using the first names of some of the authors. It got tedious listing all of these books and authors!!!

Next Week: Some nonfiction books

Ten Years of the Grammar Diva Blog: Happy Birthday to Us!

Image by silverstylus from Pixabay

After I wrote my first couple of grammar books, I thought I needed a website. And I thought I might need a blog on my website, since a blog is routinely updated, thus improving a website’s search engine optimization (SEO). These days everyone (it seems) has a podcast. Back then, everyone had a blog.

So I started a blog and decided it would come out weekly. The first post was published on January 11, 2013 and was called “TYPO Is (Sometimes) Just a Euphemism.”

To prepare for the writing of this special 10th birthday blog post, I went through all 105 pages of my blog posts that are listed on the bottom of the blog page. I categorized them and listed many of the topics. Of course, some of the posts fell into more than one category, but my statistics are fairly accurate. Ten years is approximately 500 posts. Here are the categories and approximate number of  posts in each category:

Grammar instruction posts – 136Personal posts – 31Quirky or miscellaneous posts – 55Posts about writing – 19Holiday posts – 46Trivia posts – 9National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) posts – 3Posts about confusing words, such as homonyms – 38Posts about pronouns specifically – 20Posts about words – 48Guest posts – 28Quizzes – 33Posts about books – 17

Grammar Instruction – These topics warranted more than one post in the category :

Commas – 18 (at least two about the Oxford comma)Common grammar goofs and peeves – mine and yours – 15Lay and lie – 8Misplaced modifiers – 5Rules you can break -4Clauses – 4Colons; quotes with other punctuation; quotation marks; tenses; hyphens, dashes, ellipses; lists; prepositions; interrupters, possessives – each 3 postsFlat adverbs; quotes, italics, bold, or caps; British versus American English; conjunctions; adverbs; adjectives; nouns; capitalizing titles; like and as; got and have; irregular verbs; colons and semicolons; possessives before gerunds – each 2 posts.

Some other grammar topics included quotes in dialogue; online dating and grammar; using italics; OK, ok, and okay; interjections; the position of “only”; and  subjunctive mood.

Personal Posts

Topics that got more than one post:

Amazon: A love and hate relationship -3Social media and me – 2My writing life – 2Going to conferences – 3

Other personal topics included Facebook trauma; trademark trouble; moving to Florida; how I learned about grammar; my talents and limitations; Sonoma County fires; synesthesia; my experience with scientology; and an interview with me.

Quirky and Miscellaneous Posts 

Phobias (a favorite topic of mine) – 6 postsGrammar goofs on TV – 5 postsWords of the Year – 2 postsSlang, jargon, and regional speech – 3 posts

Here are some other “miscellaneous” posts:

palindromesmondegreenshistory of the ampersandparaprosdokiansdyphemismsparanymshyponyms, autonyms, euonyms, caconymseponyms, metonyms, toponymscontronymshistory of the exclamation pointstories from the pandemicfunny headlinesShakespeare idiomsrestaurant namesthe concept of and writing about time

Writing Posts

Well, posts about writing seem appropriate for a grammar blog! Cursive writing, redundancy, proofreading, and writing tips each got two posts.

Other writing post topics included:

concisenesssalutations and closingsbook designwhat editors doclaritytrusting Spell Checkplagiarismverbosityparallel writing

Holiday Posts

New Year’s Resolutions – 7 postsNational Grammar Day – 6 postsChristmas words and quotes – 4 postsMother’s Day – 4 postsThanksgiving posts – 4Valentines Day – 4 postsNational Punctuation Day – 4 postsIndependence Day – 3 postsSanta posts – 2Christmas jokes – 2

Other holiday posts included one about Halloween candy,  history of fireworks, Memorial Day, holiday songs, Black Friday, and Father’s Day.

Trivia Posts

I have written four posts about language/word trivia. I also wrote some recent trivia posts about New Years, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.

NaNoWriMo Posts

November is National Novel Writing Month. I have participated three or four times, and I have written three posts about it. 

Confusing Words Posts

I wrote a book about confusing words and malapropisms (Does Your Flamingo Flamenco?) and 38 posts about these words. The confusion among sometimes, sometime, and some time was talked about a few times!

Pronouns

Although pronouns come under the Grammar Instruction category, I wanted to call them out separately, since there were many of them:

me and himmyself –  4 postsone word or two (indefinite pronouns such as anyone/any one) – 4 postsI and me – 3 postsWho and whom – at least 2 posts

Words Posts

Who doesn’t love words? I have written about these words:

misspelledweird  – 13 poststrivia about wordsCovid wordsdead words – 2 postscuss wordstainted wordspolitical wordsnew definitions of old words – 5 postsmalapropisms – 3 postsmispronounced words – 7 postsHalloween wordslost wordselection words

Guest Posts

I have run 28 guest posts by a variety of guest authors on a wide variety of topics – and I am always looking for great guest posters.

Quizzes

I love quiz posts!

20 confusing words quizzes3 comma quizzes2 punctuation quizzes2 general grammar quizzesspelling quizquiz on National Spelling Bee wordsphobia quizitalics versus quotes quizword usage quiz

Books

My books posts have included reviews, banned books, my favorite books, and your favorite books.

Whew! That is a lot!

I try to give my posts fun and creative names. Here are some of them:

To Comma or Not to Comma: That Is the OxfordWhere Have All the Adverbs Gone?Winston Tastes Good Like (As) a Cigarette ShouldOops….I Did It Again: Redundancy in WritingWhat’s Love Got to Do with It? A Valentine Word TestI Put a “Spell” on You!“Whom” Cares?Technology: No Place for WimpsThe 7 Deadly Sins of WritingManspreading May Cause Butt DialingGo Slow: Flat Adverbs AheadI Brang You an Irregular VerbThe Curse of CursiveRebel Without a Clause (guest post)Verb Tense-ionThe Alien in Your Future (my favorite post of all time)Have Some M and N’s: More Confusing WordsDon’t Take This “Laying” Down

In the years since this blog started, I have

written a bunch more grammar bookssold a bunch of grammar books (thank you!)written two novelswritten a memoirmoved from California to Floridabecome a grandmotherjoined two boardsSee you next week to start year 11!

 

 

Onward to 2023 with 23 Facts About New Years!

Image by markito from Pixabay

Here are some fun facts about New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day:

“Times gone by” is the  translation of the title of the song “Auld Lang Syne.”About one billion people watch the Waterford crystal Times Square New Year’s Eve ball drop on television each year.At one minute before midnight in Spain, twelve grapes are eaten before the clock strikes for the New Year. The Waterford crystal ball that is dropped in Times Square is a geodesic sphere.In ancient Persia, eggs were given as gifts on New Year’s Day.If you are in Scotland on New Year’s eve, you kiss everyone in the room at midnight.  Guy Lombardo was the first broadcast host of the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration. The first year there were fireworks for the New York New Year’s Eve celebration was 1904.The earliest known New Year’s celebration was 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia.According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau more cars get stolen on New Year’s Eve than at any other time of the year.You are not supposed to take out the garbage or propose marriage in Scotland on the first day of the New Year.People in Cuba fill all the dishes in the house with water on New Year’s Eve and then throw the water into the street to wash away all their sins.Pork is served on New Year’s in Cuba, Hungary, Portugal, and Austria signifying progress and prosperity.Denmark’s New Year’s tradition is ending the evening meal with Kransekage, a cone-shaped, steeply sloped cake decorated with flags and firecrackers.In Italy, the tradition is to throw out old clothes, furniture, and dishes on New Year’s Eve in order to have more wealth and luck in the New Year.The shoreline of Australia’s Sydney Harbour stretches 40 miles and is crowded by more than a million people on New Year’s Eve for the fireworks display.One of the largest fireworks displays in the world is in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, and most of the profits from firework sales fund rescue operations in the country.Getting healthier is the most common New Year’s resolution.England and its American colonies officially adopted January 1st as New Year’s in 1752.The idea of a baby as a symbol for New Year’s was begun by the ancient Greeks.Brazilians wear brand-new yellow underwear to welcome in the New Year.The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra traditionally performs a New Year’s concert on the morning of New Year’s Day. Julius Caesar accepted January 1st as the date for the New Year In 46 B.C. The Grammar Diva wishes you and yours a happy and healthy 2023!!The Grammar Diva Blog (yes, this very one) will celebrate its 10th birthday next week! The first post appeared on January 11, 2013. Expect a special birthday post next week. 

Holiday Trivia Part 2 – Christmas

Image by Gundula Vogel from PixabayMerry Christmas to all who celebrate! You might think that toys or electronics are the biggest selling items at Christmas, but actually that is not the case: clothing and accessories leads at 74%; food, drink, and wellness at 70%; toys at 64%; electronics at 47%; and kitchen and home goods at 36%.85% of us prefer free shipping to fast shipping.Total holiday retail sales in 2020 reached $789.4 billion despite the pandemic.Holiday shopping can account for up to 30% of all retail sales. Men shop just as much as women, but men tend to spend more, with an average spend of over $725 for men and $609 for women in the United States.24% of millennials say they expect shipping in less than 24 hours.60% of U.S. consumers start their Christmas shopping before December. 60% of shoppers in the United States prefer to shop online. 24% of parents said they plan to spend $50 to $100 per child for Christmas gifts. 18% of parents had a budget of $150 to $200 per child, and 17% planned to spend more than $200 per child.Here are the top ten online retailers during the 2021 holiday shopping season, ranked by unique visits to the websites: Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Target, Apple Etsy, Best Buy, Home Depot, Macy’s, Kohl’s.The original title of “The Little Drummer Boy” was “Carol of the Drum.”Gingerbread houses originated in Germany in the 16th century.Candy canes are red and white to represent the purity of Jesus Christ and the blood he shed on the cross.Sherry is the alcohol added to the base of candy truffles.Wassail is made from apple cider, lemons, oranges, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg.The first Christmas tree was lit in Rockefeller Center in 1933.In Australia, people celebrate Christmas by gathering on the beach.Germany started the custom of putting up a Christmas tree.The first Christmas card was sent in 1843  and was designed by John Horsley, an English academic painter, illustrator, and designer.Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created in 1939 by Robert L. May as an advertising gimmick for Montgomery Ward.Santa was born in 270 AD.Swedish children leave out coffee for Santa in case he is tired after delivering all those gifts!

Holiday Trivia Part I – Hanukkah and Kwanzaa

Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa as an opportunity for Black Americans to reaffirm their African roots and strengthen their bonds in a time of racial unrest. 

DID YOU KNOW . . .  

That the word Kwanzaa is Swahili?

That when Kwanzaa was first celebrated in the United States, it was celebrated in California?

That Kwanzaa is celebrated for seven days?

That the word Kwanzaa means “first fruits”?

That the three colors of Kwanzaa are red, green, and black?

That Kwanzaa begins on December 26 each year?

That Kwanzaa ends on January 1st?

That Kwanzaa was established as a holiday in 1966?

That corn is the food of Kwanzaa?

That Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday, not a religious holiday?

That the first Kwanzaa postage stamp was issued in 1997?

That President Bill Clinton was the first president to make a declaration about the celebration of Kwanzaa?

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Hanukkah  signifies a miracle from the Jewish religion, when after reclaiming the Holy Temple of Jerusalem that had been conquered by the Assyrian Greeks, Jewish people found only one vial of oil, but that little amount of oil burned for eight days. 

DID YOU KNOW . . .

That Hanukkah is called “The Festival of Lights” or “The Feast of Dedication”?

That Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days?

That the candle holder used for Hanukkah is called a “menorah”?

That the largest menorah in the United States is at Grand Army Plaza in New York?

That Hanukkah originates from the Hebrew word hinuch meaning “to teach”?

The first president to celebrate Hanukkah at the White House was Harry Truman?

That there are 16 ways to spell Hanukkah?

That the potato pancakes eaten at Hanukkah are called “latkes”?

That the money often given as a Hanukkah gift is called “Hanukkah gelt”?

That the gold-wrapped chocolate coins, first produced in the 1920s, are called Hanukkah gelt, and that gelt means “money”?

That the shamash, meaning “helper,” is the first candle lit and is used to light the other candles?

That there are nine candles on the menorah, the shamash in the middle and eight others, one for each night of Hanukkah?

That a dreidel is a spinning top with Hebrew letters on the sides, and that the dreidel game is played during Hanukkah?

That the round jelly donuts eaten at Hanukkah are called “sufganiyot”?

That Hanukkah begins on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev, the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar, and that it does not always begin on the same day on our calendar?

 

Next Week Christmas Trivia Quiz….Happy Holidays from The Grammar Diva!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Musings About Babies and Books

This is the week I became a grandmother for the first time. 

This is also the week I realized I was a true book addict.

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

So, first….I am the proud grandmother (I will be called Bubbe, the Jewish grandmother) of a beautiful little baby girl my daughter and son-in-law have blessed us all with. She is just two days old and is the center of much love. So now, when people misunderstand me, and think that I write “grandma” books rather than “grammar” books, they won’t be wrong! I did write an alphabet book especially for my new granddaughter. 

And I must say that my new blessing has a bookcase full of books! Her mother (my daughter) asked for books in lieu of cards at her baby shower. She has been showered with books. It makes my heart happy. And because I don’t sew or crochet, and knitting is a challenge (I did knit her a blanket), I decided that since I am a author, I would write her a book. 

Of course, as I have written in past posts, I love books and have told you the history of me and books from Uncle Wiggly to Nancy Drew to Janet Evanovich. 

I have recently discovered I am a true book addict because of these symptoms:

I have many books borrowed from the library simultaneously, both in print and ebook form. Since I put the unavailable books on hold, I never know when they will be coming to me, so having so many books to read is really out of my control! So I have to look at the library website and see when they are all due and then put them in order of when I need to get them read by. Heaven forbid I should not get to one of them! The print books are easier to handle. I have three weeks, plus two renewals if the books have no waiting list (but most of them do), and then if worse comes to worst, I can always keep them past their due date. There are no fines any longer, but I hate to keep the books when people are waiting for them. I mean, how do I feel when that happens to me? With ebooks, on the other hand, I have a mere two weeks, no renewals, and when they are due, I can’t keep them. The library grabs them back virtually. I keep making lists of recommended books that I want to read, and my lists are out of control. I get these recommendations from emails from places like BookBub, contest winners from places like Goodreads, and from bookstores. A local indie bookstore in California ( I used to live there) does a YouTube program a couple of times a year with book recommendations. I always watch and write everything down.

I usually read books about relationships: women’s literature. I wouldn’t really say I read “romance” in the way people think of romance books. Recently I have a read a few books that were different from my usual genres.

Right now I am reading Dinners with Ruth, by journalist Nina Totenberg. It is a nonfiction about the author’s long friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. So far, very enjoyable.I just finished A Fairy Tale by Stephen King. I am not a big Stephen King reader. I believe I have previously read only two of his books, the one about JFK’s assassination (11-22-63) and another about a carnival, but not a book typical of King’s style. I am not so much into horror. This, of course, was a very long book. I liked the beginning and the end, but I skimmed through the middle ,which was the part about an otherworld. I guess I am not into other worlds either.And recently I read Random by Penn Jillette  (part of Penn and Teller). It is a novel about — random. It was interesting and I would recommend it.  It takes place in Las Vegas.

Off to see baby!

 

Why (and How) To Create an Ebook

A guest post by Amber Ramsey . . .Image by Capucine from Pixabay

With some thoughts from The Grammar Diva!

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Amber is a career woman. She’s fierce, confident, and has the “can do” attitude we all strive for. Like most of us, she started out in the corporate world, but she found that her fire, spirit, and creativity were better suited to the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Amber has been on both sides of the desk, as an employee and the boss, so she has plenty of career advice to share.

Ebooks have become increasingly popular in recent years as a way to consume content. According to a study by Pew Research Center, three in four Americans have read an ebook in the last twelve months. That number is only going to increase as technology continues to advance. So why should a writer create an ebook? 

Why Create an Ebook?

If the fact that lots of people are reading ebooks isn’t enough reason to make one, there are plenty of other benefits to consider as a writer. Here are a few of them:

Ebooks are easy to produce. All you need is a computer and some time. Once your book is finished, it can be published and made available for sale almost immediately.Ebooks are cost effective. There’s no need to print and ship physical copies of your book. You can sell your ebook as a PDF or distribute it on sites like Amazon ‘s Kindle Direct Publishing.Ebooks are environmentally friendly. By avoiding traditional print methods, you’re helping to save trees and conserve energy. This is especially true for frequent readers who purchase many books.Ebooks can be updated easily. If you find an error in your book or want to add new content, you can simply upload a new version without having to reprint and redistribute physical copies.Create an Ebook in 6 Steps

Now that we’ve looked at some of the reasons why writers should create an ebook, let’s go over how to actually create one. Creating an ebook is easier than you might think and can be done in just a few simple steps.

Step 1: Choose Your Topic

The first step is to select the topic of your book. It can be anything you are passionate about and think would interest others. Once you’ve chosen a topic, it’s time to start brainstorming ideas for content.

Step 2: Outline Your Book

Put your content ideas into a structured format by creating an outline for your book. This will help you stay on track as you write and ensure that your book flows well from beginning to end.

Step 3: Write Your Book

Once you have your outline created, it’s time to start writing your book! Some people prefer to write their ebooks all in one sitting. But if that feels like too much pressure, don’t hesitate to break up the writing process into smaller chunks that fit into your schedule better. Just don’t procrastinate!

Step 4: Edit and Proofread Your Book

It’s essential to hire an editor to edit and proofread your book before moving on to the next step. This will help ensure that it’s free of any typos or errors and reads smoothly from beginning to end.

Step 5: Format Your Book

Now that your book is written, edited, and proofread, you’ll need to convert it into a format that can be easily read by anyone who downloads or purchases it. Look into the wealth of software programs that can help you sell your book as a PDF. And utilize online resources to learn how to edit a PDF document. There are many services and people who can convert your manuscript into the epub format that is used by all e readers including Kindles.

Step 6: Publish Your Book

The final step is publishing your book so that others can read it! Turn to a tried-and-true service like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. Draft to Digital will distribute your ebook to many types of e readers of your choice.  You can also distribute your ebook for free on platforms like Wattpad or Medium.

Wrapping Up

Creating an ebook is an excellent way for writers to reach a wider audience with their work. Ebooks are easy and affordable to produce, and they offer many environmental benefits compared to traditional print books. If you’re thinking about publishing an ebook, following the six steps outlined above will help you get started. Who knows, it could be the next big thing!

And a Word or Two (or More) from The Grammar Diva

I actually have two books that are in ebook format only (a lesson plan book and a grammar cheat sheet, both short books). However, the rest of my books all began with the idea of a print book in my head. And then I did also make then available at the same time in ebook format.

Many writers, particularly those who write fiction, sell more ebooks than print books. To me, that is a foreign concept. I sell way more print books than I do ebooks. I would assume people find it easier to have a printed grammar book that they can just pull of the shelf when they need it. One that they can make notes in and put stickies on to mark certain pages. Yes, you can do that in an ebook, virtually, but it isn’t the same. And then of course, I have a couple of workbooks. Those are definitely better in print. 

What do you like to read? Do you read mostly print books or ebooks? Or maybe you mostly listen to audiobooks now. I have maybe listened to one audiobook in my life. And yes, I still consider it cheating. It isn’t reading — in my humble opinion. 

I love the feel of a print book. Make it a hardcover even! However, I have a Kindle, and I do use it, more now than ever. It is easy to et library books for the Kindle, and I find it is just easier for me to read on the Kindle — since I can make the font larger! I also feel I can read faster on the Kindle. 

To each their own…

 

My first grandchild, Emilia Rose, coming this week!

No Time for Leftovers

Some people are still enjoying the leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, munching on drumsticks, stuffing, and pumpkin pie.

And some people are looking at their calendars, wondering how it is suddenly the last  week in November — National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo for short — and they are not even close to their goal of writing 50,000 words by November 30. If you start on November 1 (and you are not allowed to start this “contest” any earlier), and you write every day, you need to write about 1667 words a day, or about 7 pages (assuming 250 words per page), to finish on time.  

And yes, your writing can be absolute junk  because you are probably writing a first draft. But if you try to game the system by  simple typing in the same sentence until you reach 50,000 words. you are only cheating yourself. It is (or was last year, when I did it) on the honor system. 

So what exactly is NaNoWriMo? It is a national online contest for those who want to write a novel in 30 days, or part of a novel in 30 days — or even a nonfiction book in 30 days. It is a writing motivator. Whom do you compete against? Only yourself.  What do you win? A certificate you can print out. You can also buy yourself a t-shirt, mug, or other swag, whether you finish or not. And who counts your words?

You register for this contest online. Then, you copy your words into their system and they count them. The website keeps track of your total words and how many words you write each day. It is pretty fancy. In fact, I am not even sure (I don’t remember) if you have to enter your words to be counted any longer. Last year, I might have entered my word count myself. Your Word program will give you that information.

And any time during November, once you have hit the 50,000-word goal, you win!

I have done NaNoWriMo a few times. The first time I did it was in 2011 when I wrote my first novel in about 26 days. I pantsed it. There are two types of writers: plotters and pantsers. I guess everyone is some sort of combination of the two. I was much more a pantser for that one. I started with only a vision of a character, and after reading a book or two on plots, I decided that the book would write itself. Aside from having major computer problems at the time, the book did write itself, including a twist I never could have predicted. And then I completed NaNoWriMo last November, when I wrote my first romance novel. I am just now getting back to reviving it. This one did NOT write itself and needs a major overhaul. The overhaul is much harder than the original draft, which can be  — and often is — word vomit.  I think I did NaNoWriMo a couple of other times to get my grammar books written. I might have given up once; the other time I think I finished. 

When I taught 7th grade, I gave my students the option of doing the Young Writers NaNoWriMo contest in which the teacher gets to set the word count. Depending on the class, I gave them counts of 5000 or 10000 words. Many students who started it finished it.  Extra credit!

NoNoWriMo is not a solitary event unless you want it to be. You can connect with other writers although I found it difficult to navigate that part of the site.. And there are write-ins, where people join together to write — kind of like parallel play! They used to be set up in coffee shops and bookstores. Then when Covid hit, they occurred on Zoom. 

So if you have always wanted to write a book, give yourself a push by entering NaNoWriMo next year. If you work hard at it every day, you still might have time for those leftovers!

The Story of “Me and Him”

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Last week I wrote about the overuse — and misuse — of myself. Someone reminded me that the horrors of I and me are still around and not to forget those grammar faux pas..  I know that by now, you know the difference between I and me — and I have written several blog posts about that sticky issue in the past, but just to review.

Me and my wife saw the best movie last night!

It was just me and him; no one else wanted to go.

Between you and I, I didn’t like the cake she baked at all.

Mom made the kids and I dinner last night. 

I and my friends are going away for the holiday weekend. 

You have heard them all. They are all incorrect. Does anyone care anymore? (Besides us?) 

I figure if you are going to say something, you might as well say it correctly. It can’t hurt. And you do want to sound smart, right? Saying it wrong becomes a habit, and then when you really do need to be correct (in formal business writing or academic writing)…

And it isn’t just I and me. It is all those other pronouns. The grammatical explanation is that some pronouns (like I, for example) are used as subjects in a sentence. Other pronouns (like me, for example), are used as objects. The non-grammatical explanation is that the subject pronouns (subjective) usually appear at the beginning of a sentence and the object (objective) pronouns will be nearer to the end of a sentence. But you cannot depend on that. Another way to figure it out is to find the verbs in the sentence. Then find the subject to each verb. Those pronouns will be the subjective type.

Subjective Pronouns: I, we, you, he, she, it, they, who

Objective Pronouns: me, us, you, him her, it, them whom

Subjective Pronouns are used as subjects and also after the verb to be in all its forms —  if it is the main verb. (for example “Yes, this is she.“)

Objective Pronouns are used as direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions. 

And when you have two pronouns, or a name and a pronoun, and one is them is you, put yourself second please. 

He and I make a great team.  (subjects)

The winners are she and I. (predicate pronouns, following the “to be” verb are.)

Noah saw him and me at the concert, but he didn’t say hello. (direct object)

I gave the photos to him and her. (objects of the preposition to)

Mom made my brother and me a cake. (indirect object – the direct object is cake)

The last hint to figuring out which pronoun to use is to take out one of them. The pronoun you would use with one of them is correct when using both of them (or the pronoun and a name:)

 Mom made me a cake.Mom made my brother and me a cake.

 

 

 

 

 

When NOT To Use “Myself”

Image by Dgdom from Pixabay

Okay, by now I am used to sentences like this:

Me and my wife went to the hockey game last night.

My friend gave the tickets to Sharon and I. 

They are wrong uses of I and me, and I have just about given up letting it bother me.

But…..

The misuse (and overuse) of myself is driving me crazy. I hear it everywhere, said by educated, brilliant people. Rachel Maddow uses it on her new podcast: This podcast was created by “whoever” and myself.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Myself, as well as all the other pronouns that end in –self (yourself, himself, themselves, etc.) are called intensive or reflexive pronouns, depending on how they are used. They either bounce back (reflect) to the I in the sentence, or they emphasize (intensify) the I that comes before them:

I baked their wedding cake myself. (reflexive)

You might not believe it, but I myself baked that beautiful wedding cake! (intensive)

And those are the only two uses for those pronouns. They are not used as subjects or objects. So these are all wrong:

Jose and myself are taking a vacation to the Keys. (should be I)

Those books were written by myself a long time ago. ( should be me)

It is all up to you and myself. (should be me)

Generally speaking, you use myself when the subject of the sentence is I. Likewise, you use the other pronouns that end in –self if the pronoun matches the subject. These sentences are correct:

He went to the beach by himself.

The queen herself is coming for dinner.

The baby is learning to walk by herself.

Simple. If you can use I or me and it makes sense, that is the correct pronoun to use, not myself (or any other –self pronoun):

This pie was made by me. (Me makes sense, so don’t use myself).

She and I work at the same place.  (I makes sense, so don’t use myself).