Arlene Miller's Blog, page 3

Uh-Oh! It’s Thursday!

Image by Heiko Stein from Pixabay

It’s Thursday. And by Thursday,  I have likely thought about my blog post earlier in the week. But on Thursday, if I still haven’t decided what to write about or haven’t yet written a word, I begin to worry. My blog post is automatically sent out on Saturday mornings about 11 a.m. EST. If it isn’t done, whatever is last there is sent out by my mailing service. So, that would be the same post as last week. Not satisfactory!

I like to have my post completed on Thursday, so I don’t feel under the gun on Friday, especially if I have plans for Friday.  I had planned to write about manifestation (one of  my current fascinations), but I don’t have enough brainpower to deal with that this week. But soon…

Grammar is still part of my life (and always has been in some form), but it has taken a back burner to some other things at this point in my life. Twelve grammar books — or however many it is — is probably enough for one person to write, although I do have ideas for more. And fiction, well, is hard to sell, and I don’t think it comes very naturally to me. I thought my first attempt at a novel (Birds of  a Feather) was pretty good. But my romance novel lingers on the shelf. Who knows if I will ever finish it? Frankly, I am spoiled because grammar books (good ones like mine ) sell with hardly any effort.

My life right now consists of mostly reading (and coffee), music, studying and practicing manifestation, and hanging out with a very select group of people: one or two close friends and my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter (and I really don’t hang out with then all that much). I have a fair number of friends and acquaintances in Massachusetts, California, and elsewhere in Florida, so there is a little travel included too. Add to this some political activity including three clubs. And I still belong to two publishing groups, one of which has  a monthly Zoom meeting I really enjoy attending.

I will definitely write at least one post about manifestation soon. And I already write a book post every couple of months. I won’t get into politics here (unless you really want me to) because every time I post anything political, someone tells me to “stick to grammar.”

Music is very exciting right now. I wrote a bunch of songs when I was a teenager, mostly lyrics. Last year I found them and scanned them all into my computer. They were obviously decades old and typed on a manual typewriter. A few had melodies.

I love music people. My son played percussion and guitar in the school band. My daughter skated and danced and played drums for a while. My son-in-law plays guitar, writes songs, and does some gigs. My best friend’s husband and son-in-law are both guitarists. When I lived in California, I had jams at my house. I have three friends there who are guitarists, and I also know a fiddler and band director.

I have not managed to find a music community here in Florida. But I have amassed many musician friends on social media. Some I have met and some I have not. Some are in Florida; others are not. Some are very well known; others are not. The most significant  synchronicity was running across someone who is a real pro with a very impressive resume. He has worked with everyone (well, almost), has written songs, and mostly been an arranger and musical director. I told him I had always wanted to be a songwriter. He knew I wrote books, so he told me I could probably write lyrics. I told him I had, and I sent him a few of my songs.  He loved one of them and wrote music for it, so we are now collaborating on that one. He is making a demo. It has taken me decades, but I am finally doing what I have always wanted to do. I recently wrote both songs and lyrics  for a song I wrote for a special someone and sent it to him. It was low tech, but I love the song.

Technology is my issue. I am a novice. I cannot even figure out how to work my piano keyboard! And I want to be able to use music software. Right now I am working on two songs I wrote long ago. One has only music and no words. The other has both, but needs work.

I spend (“waste,” I was going to say) a lot of time reading and listening to manifestation videos on YouTube! And I still run my book business: tracking sales, doing some advertising, keeping the books, writing daily grammar social media posts, and writing weekly blog posts.

Sorry if this post is a little disjointed….but yes, there will be lots more grammar posts!

 

The Case for the Oxford Comma

Image by Peter from PixabayBest of the Grammar Diva…

We invited the two supermodels, Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger to the party.

What’s that? Read that again? When you read that sentence, it might appear that Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger are supermodels. Well, while some may think so, probably not. Try putting a comma between Springsteen and and. Clearer? Should be. Now, you can tell that two supermodels were invited to the party and so were the Springsteen and Jagger. Four people, not two.

That comma makes all the difference. That comma is called the “series comma,” or by its more lofty name, the Oxford comma. It is thus named because it was first used by the Oxford University Press. It is that comma before the and that introduces the final item in a series within a sentence. In the United States, it is common to use the Oxford comma. And although it is obviously used by Oxford University, most of the rest of England shuns its use. Most of the time, it makes no difference whether or not you use it, and it is a matter of personal choice. Here is an example:

The bowl contained apples, oranges, grapes, and strawberries. OR

The bowl contained apples, oranges, grapes and strawberries.

Most of the time, it really makes no difference whether or not you use it . Sometimes, such as in the example at the beginning of this post, the sentence is confusing and misleading unless you use the comma. Less commonly (in my opinion, since I am pro-Oxford comma), it is confusing to use it. Look at this example:

Attending the meeting were Mr. Jones, Mrs. Greene, Mr. Level, the mayor, and Mr. Falk. 

Those who are anti-Oxford comma would say that the comma before the and is confusing and makes it look as though there are five people attending the meeting.  They say that if you remove the comma before and, it becomes obvious that Mr. Level is the mayor, and there are only four people attending the meeting:

Attending the meeting were Mr. Jones, Mrs. Greene, Mr. Level, the mayor and Mr. Falk.

In my (not so) humble opinion, it is confusing either way. That’s what semi-colons are for (well, one thing they are for): to separate the main items in a series where there might already be commas:

Attending the meeting were Mr. Jones; Mrs. Greene; Mr. Level, the mayor; and Mr. Falk. 

In the above sentence we can tell for sure that Mr. Level is indeed the mayor.

Attending the meeting were Mr. Jones, Mrs. Greene, Mr. Level, the mayor, and Mr. Falk.

And now in the above sentence, we know that he is NOT the mayor. 

However, as long as you make exceptions when your meaning isn’t clear, it is up to you whether or not you use the Oxford comma. Some find that it clutters writing (Oh, really! It is so small!)

There is no right way or wrong way. The only thing is to be consistent. Once you have decided which way you will do things within a piece of writing (with the exception of clearing up fuzzy meanings by adding it or removing it) either use it or don’t.

For more information on the Oxford comma, you may want to look at these:

Monkey See – Going, Going, And Gone?  No, The Oxford Comma Is Safe … For Now

and if you dare….

Vampire Weekend:Oxford Comma Lyrics

 

Whatcha Readin’?

Image by Square Frog from Pixabay

Well, here is what I have been reading since I last wrote a books post. As you see, I had a little binge on Freida McFadden, who is pretty popular and writes thrillers. 

Sunset Beach – Mary Kay Andrews – A little bit of romance, a little bit of living on the beach, and a mystery. Good read. I gave it four out of five stars. Recommended more for the ladies.Never Lie – Freida McFadden – Good one. A couple shopping for a home is trapped in a spooky old house they visit in a blizzard. The house was owned and lived in by a renowned psychiatrist who disappeared. Four stars plus.Looking for Alaska – John Green – I read this young adult book for a banned book club I just joined. It is a great book, funny with some fascinating teenage characters at a boarding school. Why banned? Well, I don’t think any book should be banned. Not appropriate for grade school kids, since it deals with depression and suicidal thoughts. Older teens and adults will enjoy it. Four stars.Every Tom Dick and Harry – Elinor Lipman – I read this because I read most of Lipman’s books. She writes the type of books I like although this one wasn’t very riveting. She graduated from the same college as I did a year before me, and I vaguely remember her from then. And she made it quite big as an author. This one is about a realtor, her roommate, and a house of ill repute. I didn’t love it, but a lot of people did. Three stars from me.Do Not Disturb – Freida McFadden – To avoid spending her life in prison, a young woman runs away, stopping at a creepy motel…called a Hitchcock-type thriller. Four stars from me. The Perfect Son – Freida McFadden – A high school girl has vanished, and suspicion arises against the boy who last saw her. The police suspect murder. The boy’s mother wonders if her son could have actually done it. Four stars.The Inmate – Freida McFadden – A nurse practitioner begins a job in a maximum security prison. And unknown to the other employees, one of the inmates is her ex. Five stars.The Housemaid’s Secret – Freida McFadden – A maid with a past is hired to clean a penthouse. She needs to keep this job. But what about the wife who is in the bedroom? Four stars.The Teacher – Freida McFadden – A high school is rocked by a student-teacher affair. Five stars. It is a thriller. No sex involved as far as I can remember!A Brief Welcome to the Universe – Neil deGrasse Tyson – I gave this book four stars because I know it is a good book. I don’t remember much about it or how much I understood it. It talks about the universe. How did it begin? Why is it constantly expanding? It gives a good picture of just what infinity means.Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe – Heather Webber – A cafe in the mountains and magical blackbirds. The granddaughter of the late owner comes to take care of the cafe and probably sell it, but she falls in love with it, deciding to change her life plans.  It was a good book, but not great. Three stars.

 

You’re Going the Wrong Way!!!

Image by Adam Tumidajewicz from Pixabay

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that had made all the difference.”

Robert Frost may have taken the road less traveled, but I feel I took the one more traveled — and it also made a difference.

I started thinking about this, when about a month ago, I ran across a manifestation video on You Tube. I am very interested in manifestation (which I will go into in another post someday) and watch a lot of videos by various people. But you don’t need to understand manifestation to know what I am talking about here. 

This woman was someone I had never watched before and never heard of. I haven’t watched her since, and I don’t remember her name. I think I may have started another of  her videos, but it didn’t grab me like the previ0us one did.

Most people who manifest are trying to manifest either money or a Special Person — in other words a soulmate, who is usually, but not always, an ex they want back. 

I don’t even remember the exact words this person used, but I remember the gist of what she said. She asked,”Why do you think you have never found your s0ulmate? You are living the wrong life!”

That hit home. I believe that is true for me. Now, I have two children and a grandchild that I love more than life itself and to the ends of the Earth and farther. But if had pursued the “other life,” I wouldn’t know any better. That is, unless there are parallel universes where we are living multiple versions of our lives (let’s not even go into that).

I think I took the path of least resistance , pleasing my parents and making it more comfortable for me. Once again, disregarding the path that I did choose and its obvious high points, I think it was the wrong choice looking back. But maybe it was the right choice then?

I started writing poetry in childhood and songs in my early teens — either handwritten or on a manual typewriter. I must have written over a hundred songs. I had one of them made into a demo by one of those scam companies that said they would try to sell your song. They put my words to an awful melody with a terrible singer and made it a country song. Needless to say, that was the end of that.

Every week I read Billboard Magazine. I listened to my transistor radio constantly. My high school yearbook said my ambition was to be a songwriter. So I should have been New York City bound, especially since I was accepted with a scholarship to Barnard College (Columbia’s sister school). I would have majored in English (I didn’t have the background to get into a music school), but I would have been in the midst of the recording industry, especially when it came time to look for a job.

But I lived near Boston, Massachusetts and also got accepted at Simmons College in Boston with a scholarship. My parents didn’t want me to go to New York, I had a cousin who had just graduated from Simmons, and I could major in print media at Simmons, And I had morphed into wanting to write for Billboard Magazine if I couldn’t have a song on its charts.

So I went to Simmons, wandered from job to job, most of them connected to writing or journalism and most of them unfulfilling. I met a bunch of men who weren’t for me because my desire for someone in the music or entertainment industry never went away, as I more recently discovered. I ended up being a successful indie author, and for that I am grateful. I cannot complain about my life at all — but it wasn’t the one I truly fit into.

About a year or so ago, I was going through my mementos box, and I found all my songs. I was so glad I had saved them. I didn’t want to ever misplace them (as I had misplaced some important photos that I never found), so I scanned them all into my computer (and saved the hard copies).  I went through them to see if any of them could be reworked and put to music. (Several of them have the music written down, but most don’t. However, it is easier to write lyrics with a melody in mind, so most of them had a melody in my head at one time.)

Over the years I have developed social media (and some in-person) friendships with music people. Recently, I found someone who is a well-known arranger, music director, and songwriter. He has worked with many music people I know and love. He is now putting one of my old songs to music, and we plan to make a demo. He gives me a great deal of credibility.

Maybe I am just a VERY late bloomer????????

 

 

 

Kangaroo Words??

Image by David Nightingale from PixabayBest of The Grammar Diva

I had never heard of kangaroo words until recently, when a friend posted about them on social media. And they have nothing to do with Australia!

A kangaroo word carries within its spelling its own synonym, with the letters in the correct order, although not necessarily right in a row. For example: regulate  and rule or encourage and urge. They are difficult to think of, but more common than you might think.

They are called kangaroo words because they carry their smaller selves with them, as a kangaroo carries its joey, or baby, in its pouch. They are also called marsupial, swallow, or joey words. The term was popularized as a word game by Ben O’Dell in an article in The American Magazine in the 1950s, later reprinted in the Reader’s Digest.

Here are some more kangaroo words:

indolent – idlerambunctious – raucoussplotch – spotacrid – aridblossom – bloomchicken – henobserve – seeaction – actmasculine – male

And there are also twin kangaroo words. These words have two synonyms within them:

container – tin and candeteriorate – rot, die (and perhaps riot)diminutive – minute and minifeasted – ate and fed

And then there are grand kangaroo words. These carry two joeys, one inside the other

inflammable – flammable and flameaccustomed – used and usealone – lone and onechariot – cart and car

Yes, there are also anti-kangaroo words, which carry antonyms within them:

covert – overtanimosity – amitycourteous – curtfabrication – factfeast – fastshe – hethere – hereexacerbate – abate

You learn something new every day . . .

 

 

14 Tips: Plurals, Possessives, and Apostrophes

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from PixabayThe Best of the Grammar Diva…

Apostrophes and s‘s cause lots of problems in writing: plural possessives, possessive pronouns, pluralizing last names etc. Here are some tips:

Plural nouns very rarely have apostrophes. Very, very rarely. The only ones I can think of offhand are the letters a, e, and u because without an apostrophe they make other words ( as, is, us) , and it would confuse the reader. Possessive nouns have apostrophes (these are singular possessives): Susie’s toy, the girl’s book, the dog’s bone Possessive pronouns do not have apostrophes: ours, hers theirs, its ( it’s is a contraction, and all contractions have apostrophes.)Plural possessives are usually the plural word followed by an apostrophe.  The girls’ books are on the bottom shelf; The dogs’ barking is driving me crazy If the plural doesn’t end with an s , the possessive is made by adding ‘s : The children’s toys are all over the house. For singular nouns ending in s and ss , you still add ‘s for the possessive: I looked under all the bus’s seats; My boss’s coffee cup is always full; The princess’s slipper fit her perfectly. The plurals in #6 are buses, bosses, and princesses .The plural possessive of the nouns in #6  are buses’, bosses’, princesses’ . We don’t add another s because of the way we pronounce them. We pronounce the  singular possessives, plurals, and the plural possessives the same way, but we spell them differently (compare #6 and #7): The princess’s slipper fits perfectly. The princesses are in the front float of the parade. The princesses’ dresses are hand made. When a person’s first name (or last name)  ends in s , we usually add ‘s to make it possessive, but generally we go by the pronunciation: Frederick Douglass’s biography is in the school library. James’s backpack is on the table. Myles’ backpack is on the table could also be Myles’s backpack is on the table. It depends if you want to pronounce it with one or two syllables. ( Myles’ has one syllable; Myles’s has two.)Last names are made plural the same way any other nouns are:  Jefferson = the Jeffersons; Garcia = the Garcias; Jones = the Joneses; Glass= the Glasses. What about last name possessives? That is Mrs. Jefferson’s car. That is the Jeffersons’ house; That is Mrs. Garcia’s car. That is the Garcias’ car. That is Mrs. Jones’s car. That is the Joneses’ house (pronounce with two syllables). That is Mrs. Glass’s car. That is the Glasses’ house.  If you get a house sign, it should probably say The O’Haras , NOT The O’Hara’s .An exception is Jesus , the possessive of which is Jesus’ .Another exception are words that end in es that sounds like ez . These words or names have only an apostrophe in the possessive: Xerses’, Socrates’

 

 

Women’s History Month in Song

Image by Ri Butov from Pixabay

To celebrate Women’s History Month (March), I thought we would talk about all those songs with women’s names in the title. There are thousands of them, many of them hits, and many of them that I have never heard of, although you may have. And it does seem that there are more oldies songs with women’s names in the titles, but that may just be because I am more familiar with oldies from the 50s and 60s!

According to my sources, Mary is the most common woman’s name used in a song title, although I cannot personally think of that many.

I never thought my name was in any songs; Arlene just doesn’t seem that lyrical to me. However, apparently there is a country song by Marty Stuart named Arlene. And the Tokens had a B-side doo wop song called A Girl Named Arlene. My name isn’t in the title of this one, but a few years ago, while listening to oldies with a friend, I heard my name four times in the difficult-to-understand lyrics of Who Do You Love by Bo Diddley.

Here is an alphabetical list of just some of the more popular songs with girls’ names in them. A few of the letters had only songs I had not heard of. This is not a complete list by any means!

A- Angie by the Rolling Stones, Alice‘s Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie

B- Barbara Ann by The Beach Boys, Billie Jean by Michael Jackson, Brandy by The Looking Glass

C- Cecilia by Simon and Garfunkel,  Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond

D- Delilah by Tom Jones, Denise by Randy and the Rainbows, Donna by Ritchie Valens

E-  Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles, Elenore by the Turtles, Come on Eileen by Dexys Midnight Rovers

F- Fanny by the BeeGees, Felicia by the Blues Traveler

G- Gloria by Laura Branigan, Gloria by Them

H- Happy Birthday Helen by Things of Stone and Wood (Huh???)

I- Izabella by Jimi Hendrix, Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls

J- Jolene by Dolly Parton, Judy Blue Eyes by Crosby, Stills, and Nash

K – (surprisingly tough to find because many times Cathy is spelled with a C) –  Kim by Eminem, Kathy‘s Song by Simon and Garfunkel

L- Lucy in the Sky by the Beatles, Linda by Jan and Dean, Lucille by Little Richard, Layla by Derek and the Dominoes, Lola by the Kinks

M- Proud Mary by Tina Turner and Creedence Clearwater Revival, Mandy by Barry Manilow, Martha My Dear by the Beatles, Along Comes Mary by the Association

N- Darling Nikki by Prince

O- Ophelia by The Band

P- Dear Prudence by the Beatles, Peggy Sue by Buddy Holly

Q- Little Queenie by Jan Berry

R- Roxanne by The Police, Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac, Ruby (Don’t Take Your Love to Town) by Kenny Rogers

S- Run Around Sue by Dion, Long Tall Sally by the Beatles, Suzie Q by Creedence Clearwater Revival

T- Tracy by the Cufflinks

U- Ursula by Barclay James Harvest (?????)

V- Victoria by the Kinks

W –Windy by the Association,  Wendy by the Beach Boys

X- My Sister Xanara by Emiel Van Egdom (?????)

Y- Dear Yoko by Jon Lennon

Z- Zelda by Pete Townsend

*NOTE: Yes, I know that song titles are enclosed in quotation marks. But that would be sooo many quotation marks. So, instead, I put the girls’ names in boldface. Poetic license!

 

Here’s To Women! And Music!

 

 

 

 

The Houseboat Wars of Sausalito…

 A Guest Post by Author John Byrne Barry

—————————————————–

My Interview With…Well, MeOver the decades, I’ve interviewed hundreds of people for news stories, profiles, book research, and more. I can count with my ten fingers, however, the number of times I’ve been interviewed as an author. One of my favorites — “Setting That Works” — was not a true interview where someone asked me questions and I answered them, but an interview I wrote myself and forwarded to a writer who did a light edit and then published it. 

So, since I have answers ready, but no one has shown up to ask me questions, I’m going that route again. Here then, is my interview with…well, me. 

How did Pirates of Sausalito come about? 

I live in Tam Valley, two miles from the Waldo Point houseboat harbor, in Sausalito, where close to 300 floating homes are docked. Intrigued by this unique community, I did a little research and learned that for decades, there was conflict between the artists, hippies, and squatters who lived there and the police, city leaders, and developers determined to evict them in order to build docks that would attract more affluent residents. This tumultuous time became known as the “houseboat wars.” 

The more I dug into the history of the houseboat wars, the more I thought it would make a promising setting for a murder mystery. Conveniently, I’m an actor in a local community theater troupe called the Tam Valley Players, which has performed a murder mystery every year for almost two decades. 

I pitched the idea for the play to the troupe and got the green light. 

But how did your play become a novel?

That’s an easy question. I finished writing the play in the summer of 2020, during the early months of the pandemic, and I had no idea if or when live theater would ever come back, so I thought, well, if we can’t perform this, why don’t I turn it into a novel? 

That turned out to be harder than I expected.

Why was it harder? 

I’m glad you asked. First off, it was easier than starting with a blank page. No doubt about that. I had a story full of drama, snappy and funny dialogue, and colorful characters. There was lots of action too — like the houseboaters resisting eviction by jumping into dinghies and pushing away police boats with oars. Also a sword fight.

In the play, I went for laughs, and the play was funny. We finally performed it in March 2023 and got lots of laughs. The play’s success didn’t rely on three-dimensional characters or cleverly placed clues. 

The challenge in translating the play to a novel was tone. Here’s what one beta reader of the novel, who also saw the play and very much enjoyed it, said: “The play works well as a farce works because the action is fast, and it’s Saturday night and we’re all ready for a laugh. We’re happy to watch comically farcical characters played by actors free to go over the top. But reading a novel is different.”

My problem was that I wanted to keep as much of the humor as I could, but so much of it was embedded in the farcical elements of the play, and relied on ridiculous caricatures instead of three-dimensional characters.

How did you address that?

The primary way was by delving into the interior thoughts and emotions of the characters — there’s none of that in the play. I narrated the story from ten different points of view, including the murder victim and the murderer. That changed the novel significantly because some of the characters became different than they’d been in the play. One in particular, Police Chief Tin Holland, turned into one of the main characters in the novel.

I was happy with how the multiple points of view gave the characters more depth, but it made my life as a writer harder. 

When I shared the almost-final draft with beta readers, I realized I had more to do. The most common theme to the feedback was that too many of the characters were not realistic or sympathetic.

In my rewrite, I “fixed” that problem by first toning down the farcical elements more than I already had, and then, more importantly, by finding opportunities to show the characters having empathy for other characters. I ended up with a 12-page document titled, “Add depth and empathy to characters.” 

For example, my self-absorbed pirate character Honest reflected on his sister Fate’s grief and guilt over their parents’ car accident, which created more sympathy for her as well as for him. 

I understand you narrated an audiobook of Pirates of Sausalito. Was that your first time?

Yes, and it was thrilling to read my words out loud into a professional microphone and audio setup. The audiobook was produced by Pro Audio Voices, and its founder, Becky Parker Geist, a friend and colleague I know through the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA), narrated the women’s parts. I narrated the men’s. 

The audiobook brought the characters to life again like the actors did in the play. Though I reviewed the audio enough times that I lost all perspective. I look forward to listening to the audiobook again in a year or two when I’ve forgotten enough of it that I can appreciate it more like a new listener.

Earlier this year, I wrote about the process and what I learned — Maniacal Laughs, Musical Stings, and Distinctive Voices — Eight Lessons From Recording My Audiobook. (Below is the “cover” of the audiobook.)

Anything else you’d like to add? 

Pirates of Sausalito is my shortest book, and one reason is that it started as a play. Because of the pandemic, I had two years between finishing the first draft and starting rehearsals, so I kept cutting, and every cut made the play better. 

I used to have trouble cutting my precious words, but that’s no longer the case. I want readers to keep turning the pages, so I keep things moving. I did the same with the Pirates novel. It’s hard to know if I sacrificed literary merit for pace, but if I did, that was intentional. 

This seems like a good time to end. Thank you for your time. 

But I have more to say. I —

We’re already at 1,000 words. Save it for next time.

One more quick thing. The audiobook is available wherever you find your audiobooks, and on March 15, I’m leading a workshop titled, “How to Write a Killer Blurb” for authors. The blurb for your book —

No need to go into that here. This is your author letter. You can add a section about your workshop below.

Oh, right, I’ll do that. Thank you for your questions. It’s been fun talking with you.

 Join Me for ‘How to Write a Killer Book Blurb’ Workshop March 15

This collaborative, hands-on workshop is for authors who want to work with other participants to make their book blurbs stronger and sharper. Other than your book cover and title, nothing is more important in attracting readers to your book than your blurb, whether it’s on your back cover, on your online sales page, or your promotional collateral.

We’ll start by reviewing formulas that can help you improve your blurb, and then look at examples of effective blurbs for fiction and nonfiction. We’ll devote most of our time to putting participants’ blurbs up on the shared screen and, together, brainstorming ideas and editing copy. I led this workshop last spring at Book Passage and one participant said the most valuable part was collaborating with other participants to strengthen and sharpen the submitted blurbs.  

Register for the workshop here — How to Write a Killer Book Blurb. It’s $25 for BAIPA members, $40 for nonmembers. It’s on March 15, from 10 am to noon PST.

If you want your blurb workshopped, send 100 words or fewer to johnbyrnebarry@gmail.com by March 10. One blurb per participant.
 

   I would love to hear from you. You can reach me at johnbyrnebarry@gmail.com or visit me at johnbyrnebarry.com and facebook.com/johnbyrnebarryauthor.

 

One of the Best Grammar Blogs: Right Here!

Just about every day I get an email from Feedspot, which seems to write about grammar. I get so much email that I delete most of it. I used to save Feedspot’s emails in a folder, thinking I could use them for ideas for this blog. Actually, a few times I saw my blog post right there, reprinted in their email. I think what they do is gather other web content that looks interesting and put it together in a daily email. It is not just grammar. And I believe you need a paid subscription to read the articles in full. 

In any case, I received an email from them a couple of days ago letting me know that this blog was, in their estimation, one of the top 40 grammar blogs. I don’t know if they were in order, but this one was #10 on the list. I felt really good about it and shared it on all my social media. They even gave me a downloadable badge, as you see.

I have likely written before about how difficult it is trying to think of topics to write about each week, since this blog has been going since 2013. I have written about every grammar topic I can think of at least once, if not multiple times. And I have branched out to other topics, some related to grammar and language and some not.  I have thought about stopping the blog or writing less frequently; I have thought about combining a variety of things to create more of a newsletter. I have begged you for guest posts, and some of you have answered the call.

Of course this mention from Feedspot has inspired me to continue. 

Here is my ask:

I would still love to receive your guest posts. About anything. Yes, I do reserve the right to not accept a topic and to edit the accepted posts. I think my audience is slanted older and more educated, so topics like “How to Start Your Own Business” are not really what I am looking for. I have already had such a post anyway. Sometimes freelancers will contact me with topics that I don’t think will appeal to you.I would also love to receive ideas for posts. I am interested in grammar, language, words, books, music, manifesting, spirituality, the arts, popular culture, etc. One type of post I used to do, but have ceased doing, are quotes, for example, quotes about a specific topic or holiday. I am afraid of using a quote that I need permission for, and I have had enough trouble recently with blog illustrations I was not supposed to use. These were generally back in 2013, when I didn’t know any better! If you have an idea, please contact me on the website; please do not put it in the blog comments section. Thank you!Please share this blog post on  your social media or with friends. Thank you again!

And thank you, Feedspot!

Gerund? or Participle?

Image by Manuel do Moucheiro from PixabayThe Best of The Grammar Diva

(reprinted from an earlier post)

 

Which one of these sentences are you most likely to say?

“I hope you don’t mind me borrowing your car.” Or

“I hope you don’t mind my borrowing your car.”

Notice that the only difference is me versus my.  My is the possessive form of the pronoun I or me. For example, “my book” and “my idea” are possessives. The book and the idea belong to me.

The second example is correct—the sentence that uses the possessive my. Why? Because you use a possessive before a gerund, and borrowing is a gerund.

Let me explain. A gerund is a word that used to be a verb (action) and is now being used as a noun, or thing. Nouns are used as subjects and objects in sentences. Gerunds end in -ing.

We are swimming in the pool. In this sentence, are swimming is the verb, or action. (By the way, the are helps determine the tense and is called a helping verb.)

Swimming  relaxes me. In this sentence, relaxes is the verb, or action word. Swimming is the subject of the sentence, or the thing performing the action (relaxes). You can tell swimming is a noun because you can substitute other nouns here and the sentence makes sense. For example: Chocolate relaxes me. In this sentence, chocolate is a noun and is the subject.

When you use a noun or pronoun before a gerund, that noun or pronoun should be possessive. Here are some examples:

Your swimming is really improving.

I enjoy your singing.(I is the subject, enjoy is the verb, and singing is the object and a gerund.)

I don’t like my son’s riding a bicycle without a helmet.

I am punishing you for your eating in the computer room.

OK. But now we hit a snag (of course). 

There are some other words that look like gerunds—in other words, they used to be verbs, are not being used as verbs, and end in -ing. But instead of functioning as nouns, they are functioning as adjectives (which describe nouns).  They are called participles. Here are some examples of participles:

I know the woman wearing the hat. (Wearing describes woman. Which woman? The one wearing a hat.)

I hear you singing in the shower. (Singing is an adjective describing you. I hear you. You are singing in the shower.)

There is a bunny hopping in the back yard. (Hopping describes bunny. Hopping bunny.)

See if you can tell which is a gerund and which is a participle:

I see the cat chasing its tail.

Chasing its tail is fun for the cat.

Chasing is a gerund (or noun) in the second sentence. It is the subject of the sentence and a noun. In the first sentence, chasing is a participle (or adjective) describing the cat.

RULE: Use the possessive before a gerund, but not a participle.

Examples:

I know the woman wearing a hat.  In this sentence, wearing describes the woman. It is the woman whom you know. Which woman? The one wearing a hat. The focus here is on the woman, the noun. Wearing the hat simply tells which woman.

I don’t like the woman’s wearing a hat inside the house. In this sentence, the focus is on the wearing. It is the wearing you don’t like. The wearing belongs to the woman. It’s not the woman you don’t like. Here, wearing is a noun, or gerund, and you use the possessive (woman’s).

Here are a few more examples to (hopefully) make this a little clearer.

I know his reading every night has helped him pass the test. (possessive and gerund – focus is on reading)

I see him reading in the library every evening. (reading, a participle, describes him – focus is on him)

I hope you don’t mind my staying with you next week. (possessive and gerund – focus on staying)

I hear you calling my name. (calling,  a participle, describes you – focus on you)

As you can see, there is sometimes a fine line between the two, so do the best you can!!