Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 46
August 29, 2017
IOTA: Inspirational Space, Inspired Writing
Different writers need different “conditions” to write — sometimes different spaces to write regularly and to write “irregularly”…
Today’s re-blog is a lovely story and I want to “cheat” and quote the ending:
“… to understand that surviving this writerly life is not about excess. Sometimes all we need is a bit. A bit of space. A bit of time. To linger a little. To breathe a little. To remember that just a moment can fill us completely.”
By Melanie Brooks
Melanie Bro...
August 28, 2017
In Praise of #Libraries
Image Courtesy of Amanda Dafoe ~ http://www.freeimages.com/photographer/amandafoe-48011
I’ll start with a praise of libraries from Columnist and Author, Caitlin Moran in her article, Libraries: Cathedrals of Our Souls:
“A library in the middle of a community is a cross between an emergency exit, a life raft and a festival. They are cathedrals of the mind; hospitals of the soul; theme parks of the imagination.”
If you have the time, do go read her full article…
Now, a rather ironic offering fr...
August 27, 2017
Why Picture Books Now? by Mary Boehmer
Today’s Re-blog is authored by a Teaching Librarian — it focuses on Diversity — if not of direct interest to you, do share it with a few friends who could profit from it :-)
Remember when picture books gave us a simple view of family, neighborhoods and the world at large? As readers we felt safe, cocooned between the pages of that one view, it was comforting.
Fast forward twenty years, an elementary school librarian in a small rural town that is made up of vast social economic...
August 26, 2017
Our Top 10 Bedtime Read-Aloud (Chapter) Books by Holly Kregel
Today’s re-blog — for Parents & folks who know Parents :-)
Perhaps, for a few adults with no kids who want to have fun reading to each other and feeling like a kid :-)
One of the biggest joys for me as a parent and as a children’s literature scholar is being able to bring the books I’m working with home. Every night before bed, my daughter used to pick out a few picture books, snuggle up, and read with her dad and I before she fell asleep. Our favorite books encouraged laughte...
August 25, 2017
Friday Story Bazaar ~ Tale Fifty-Eight
What Is Fiction?
by
Alexander M Zoltai
Dedicated to
Jane Darnton Watson
~~~~~~~~~
He sat at his computer in the cheap apartment, contemplating how to fertilize the story-seed that had infected his mind…
Not quite ready to create a draft—needing some skeleton-shape to hang it on—he began writing about fiction itself…
“We think our daily doings are real and they certainly are; but, not like a good story…”
Something happened in his mind—swift merging of meanings—a rising of worth; and, he contin...
August 24, 2017
Two cool ways to use misdirection as a storyteller
Now, pay attention…
Roz Morris will flawlessly explain how to, oh, so fairly, fake out the Reader :-)
I’ve had an interesting question from Jonathan McKenna Moore (who was one of this blog’s earliest readers – quick fanfare :) ).
Jonathan had seen Anthony Horowitz talk about writing new Sherlock Holmes stories, which led him to ask this question:
‘How does misdirection work in prose? Horowitz says that one of the functions of Dr Watson is misdirection, following false trails t...
August 23, 2017
Still Hoping to Get a Book Published by the “Big 5”?
If you’re not sure what the title of this post means and you’re a writer, you just might be safe from a maelstrom of difficulties. [image error]
Regular readers of this blog know I lean toward self-publishing; and, to edge toward full transparency, I would only let a traditional publisher near my book if I could hire a lawyer to write the contract—a contract that most of those publishers would immediately laugh at and throw in the waste can…
So, Traditional publishers, the Big 5…
Different folks will defi...
August 22, 2017
A Little Hook
Valuable re-blog today…
If you’re not a writer, tell a writer friend about it…
If you don’t have a writer friend, find one :-)
Every writer has his or her own process. Ideas come, sometimes in the form of virtual Mack trucks that appear out of nowhere, usually at the most inopportune of times, creating the need for you to stop whatever it is that you’re doing and run away to write all that good stuff down before it disappears back to wherever it was that it came from. Kin...
August 21, 2017
“When a Storyteller Dies, a Library Burns”
I think we’ve all known a storyteller — [image error]member of the family, immediate or extended…
But, I’m sure you’ve heard that stories haven’t been printed and circulated for all that long in the history of the human family…
And, of course, we’ve had way less time for stories offered digitally…
My published stories are free to read ( to yourself or to others :-) — just checkout the left side-bar…
The quote in today’s title is an old Moroccan saying I saw in a video and in “…an original folktale that ce...
August 20, 2017
The Beauty of Technology
This re-blog is a Wonderful Surprise — enjoy and ponder………
I’ve been experimenting with some new poetic forms recently, because I’ve never been too comfortable about prose poems. What makes it different from experimental prose? I struggle to understand. Also, I’m amused by the marketing patter on some of our electronic devices, so they gave rise to this…
Innovation is advancement but not precursor of success, pervades our daily lives, frustrates us with its complexity and u...
