Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 14
July 20, 2018
More Conversation about How and Why Writers Write . . .
[image error] Our current conversation began on July 18th…
Conversation posts are on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays…
It takes at least one reader comment to continue the discussion; and, there were three responses to the beginning of this conversation—three authors—one from the United Kingdom, one from Germany, one from Australia; and, for newcomers (and, because I began this conversation…), I’m from the U.S.A.
Here’s the comment from the author in the U.K.:
“Why do I write? To communicate ideas.
“How d...
July 19, 2018
Writing to Tell Your Story: Making It Personal
Communicating to others can often come up against misunderstandings and, at times, unfair judgements; yet, today’s re-blog author can say:
“Writing to me, is a place to work out yourself and share these pieces as you figure them out. Your morals, ethics, and understanding of the world shine through, and that is a big responsibility for a writer.”
By Holley Oxley
In sixth grade, I sat in the classroom, reading the genetics chapter in my science textbook, and in lookin...
July 18, 2018
Blog Conversation about How and Why Writers Write . . .
Our last conversation, about libraries, ended July 16th because that post had no comments… [image error]
I began the whole conceptual plan of Blog Conversations back on February 12th, after a month of doing only re-blogs; and, I quickly adopted the practice of continuing any particular conversation topic as long as each post had at least one comment.
As it stands now, our Blog Conversations are on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays…
Today, we’re starting a very broad topic—How & Why Writers Write—and it mig...
July 17, 2018
July 16, 2018
Still More Conversation about Libraries . . .
This conversation began on July 9th and continued on July 11th and July 13th…
[image error]~ Village Library in Greece ~
It began with me remembering a few of my library escapades and interests, continued through four readers’ experiences in libraries, then on through a focus on a particular “library-charity-shop” in the UK…
Now come the reader comments that enable this continuation of the discussion…
Concerning my trying to locate a particular place in the UK, an author from Australia said:
“Well, I love...
July 15, 2018
Ambushed at Ten: The Book I Can’t Forget by Ben Guterson
Today’s re-blog certainly can let you know (in case you’ve forgotten) how much books can affect us…
My fifth-grade teacher—kindly Miss Black, who’d taught my oldest brother a decade before me and who, not long after I was her student, retired from a lifetime of teaching—settled our class daily by reading to us after lunch. I’d like to claim I recall the many books she shared that year. But only one, The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs, has stayed in my memory...
July 14, 2018
Heroes and heroin – writing a character who has an addiction
Roz Morris says, near the end of today’s re-blog:
“Ultimately, when writing an addicted character, it’s not about the substance/habit or the extreme physical experiences. Concentrate on their personality, priorities, conflicts and other people.”
But, the path she takes to get to those words is packed with writerly wisdom…
Pic of Janis Joplin from Wikepedia
You might remember the terrific question Adam Nicholls asked me about daily wordcounts and now he’s sent me this: May I...
July 13, 2018
Yet More Conversation about Libraries . . .
[image error] As tens of thousands of citizens flood the streets of London, I recall part of a comment from a UK author in our July 9th post in this discussion about libraries:
“We have just come back from Charlbury in Oxfordshire where I took some of my books to what I thought was an independent bookshop.
“When I got there I found it was a room where local people brought books and bought another copy for 50p – rather like a charity shop. In fact, it was a charity, for the upkeep of the building. Not stri...
July 12, 2018
It’s Not You, It’s Me: Talking about the Things We Don’t Talk About Mental Health in YA Fiction by Kim Briggs
Today’s re-blog is from the end of last year; but, Oh my, it’s still very important…
In ninth grade, I remember sitting in Madame Chambers French class. The seat to my left was empty and had been empty for three or four weeks. There were rumors that Lily tried to hurt herself, but I didn’t believe them because everyone liked Lily. The teachers, the students, the coaches, everyone, but here’s the thing, and it took me a lot of years to figure this out, Lily didn’t like Lily. Sh...
July 11, 2018
More Conversation about Libraries . . .
[image error] Our current conversation began this past Monday, with A Blog Conversation about Libraries . . .
To kick off the conversation, I said:
“I’m going to be rather desultory with this beginning of our discussion—bounce around a bit—rather like being in a library—So much to do…”
And, we had four comments—one from Australia, one from the UK, and two from the USA…
Here’s Jane, from Australia:
“I did love the local library that was in the basement of the town hall near my school. It seemed to have all...
