Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 34
December 22, 2017
Friday Story Bazaar ~ Tale Seventy-Four
Recreating Life
by
Alexander M Zoltai
~~~~~~~~~
It all began in Australia…
Well, “It” began in the U.S. state of Florida at the Cape Canaveral space complex—”It” being human space flight.
The It that began in Australia was the Recreating called Terraforming. It was a trial-run for the real thing on Mars—bring lush forests and grain-growing soils to the huge central deserts of Australia…
It’s not like there wasn’t Life already in Australia’s deserts—the acacia, gum, and eucalyptus trees—shrubs...
December 21, 2017
So Many Books, So Little Time: Tips for Reading Strategically by Donalyn Miller
You can answer these questions in today’s re-blog:
“…does your reading life fill your current reading needs?
What do you want to read and why?
What questions do you have?
How are you continuing to grow as a reader?
What gaps do you see in your reading diet?
What strategies can you employ to reach these personal reading goals?
How can you manage your limited resources and your desire to read?”
We own too many books. I’ve confessed this before, and it surprises no one. Don...
December 20, 2017
Pay Money or Self-Edit ?
Today, I have two articles to share from The Write Life; and, they both have bullet-point lists of important info…
[image error]Photo by Trent Erwin on Unsplash.com
I’ll give you a few excerpts from, Looking for a Book Editor? Here’s How Much You Should Expect to Pay, first…
“I wish I could tell you that proofreading will always cost one cent per word, copy-editing two cents per word, and developmental editing three cents per word, but the truth is much hazier than that.
“While I will provide hard numbers...
December 19, 2017
A Gift I Give Myself by Julie Potvin Kirchner
Today’s re-blog is for those folks who haven’t {yet…} found a good reason to go to Conferences…
When I got home from NCTE last November, there were several colleagues surprised to hear I had paid for the entire trip, with the exception of the cost to cover a reserve teacher, out of my own pocket. They wondered how and why I would choose to do this. The reasons are many and continue to grow with each conference I attend. The how came a few years ago from a newfound desire to gr...
December 18, 2017
“Eat Pray Love” Author Writes Amazing Fictional Tale. . .
Have you heard of Elizabeth Gilbert? [image error]
Perhaps you read the book, Eat Pray Love; or, saw the movie?
Well, Ms Gilbert wrote a few fiction titles and did some journalism before Eat Pray Love.
In fact, here’s a bibliography of her work…
The specific work of fiction I want to talk about is her 2013 release, The Signature of All Things.
Wikipedia’s “overview” does not do the book any justice, at all:
“The story follows Alma Whittaker, daughter of a botanical explorer, as she comes into her own with...
December 17, 2017
Ten Authors and Artists Share Their Inspiration
Yes, today’s re-blog is a teacher talking about writers and artists of children’s books; but the words of inspiration work just as well for writers and artists of adult books :-)
There I was, listening to the best children’s book authors and illustrators at the Eric Carle Museum of picture Book Art, talking about what inspired them. I couldn’t write fast enough (yes, I took a flurry of notes) or listen hard enough. I strained my ears so I wouldn’t miss a word. And,...
December 16, 2017
Children Don’t Forget
Completely *Delightful* re-blog today :-)
I wish I could remember everything important, like the titles of all the books I intend to read this summer. I can recall stories galore of yesteryear, with crystal clear pictures in my head. The present often seems cloudy in comparison. Children remember everything. The tiniest detail is there beside them, for the longest time. Isabelle is a case in point.
My library read-aloud group started the year reading Diva and Fle...
December 15, 2017
Friday Story Bazaar ~ Tale Seventy-Three
Unity
by
Alexander M Zoltai
~~~~~~~~~
She was The Witness—she was objective—yet, in spite of years of experience, she was still quite nervous…
She’d just arrived by shuttle (by order of the World Leader) from Lafri Pertru and was ushered into an inquiry (suggested by the World Leader) with a man claiming he was the longed-for Divine Messenger who would fulfill the prophecies of all other religions.
She could make no comments, ask no questions—The Witness only witnessed…
But, she was acutely a...
December 14, 2017
Let’s Be Bored!
Just to clarify, today’s re-blog is not a “message” to any of my friends who might have gotten a new phone—honestly, it was just the next one in my bookmarks :-)
The first screens that bothered me were in minivans. Back around 1998 when an in-car VCR first was a thing I asked my mother, “But when will the kids be bored?” I remembered long family car rides from Florida to Canada and back every summer, staring out the window, making up games in my head about the dividi...
December 13, 2017
Writing ~ in Spite of Everything . . .
We live in “Interesting Times“… [image error]
Humanity is going through trials and tribulations never before imagined by the human race…
Personally, I think all these disorders are becoming fearfully dangerous because humanity is purging itself of the ideas and systems that aren’t worthy of our new role as a Global Family—the ideas and systems that run on greed or privilege or pure egotism—things that favor a few and punish many…
I think it’s the last thrashings of systems and movements and entrenched bel...
