Sharman Burson Ramsey's Blog, page 38

Dark Knight; Your, you are and you're; Plus diagramming sentences

I will probably be mentioning websites of which you have never heard. But for me, that is a daily occurrence. My youngest daughter introduced me to Pinterest.com the other day and I know all of her friends were already acquainted with that website. An age and interest thing, I guess. Maybe need to know. They are still in the baby stage, while I have graduated to writing books. That daughter also introduced me to Shabby Blogs (http://shabbyblogs.com/) where I got the design for the logo of this blog. Talented girls! Thank you for sharing!
Having now mastered (?) a website, a blog, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon author, Goodreads author and Library Thing author, I am almost overwhelmed that there are others out there that must be tackled. But that's another day. Today we have lunch with child and grandchild number one and go to see the Dark Knight. We hope to survive. Later we go to dinner with a friend battling cancer.


Back to the writing process. Folks tell me constantly that they depend upon Spell Check to make sure their manuscripts have correctly spelled words. Can spell check tell the difference between you are, you're, and your; they are, they're and their? Can you?You are is a subject and a verb. (You are coming tonight with the crowd.)You're is a contraction of the two words you and are together. (You're coming tonight with the crowd.) Your is a possessive pronoun. (Is this your book?)That is a very important difference that spell check cannot pick up, but an educated person can.
If I say aren't you coming tonight, what I am really saying is are you not coming tonight and therefore aren't is a contraction of the words are and not. 
If I were to diagram that sentence it would look something like this: you (subject)  |  are coming (verb)                                 \not     (adverb modifying are coming)They are is a subject and verb. (They are in the car.) They (sub) | are (verb)                       \in (preposition)                                 
                          \car (objective of the preposition)
                           ______                                    \ the (adjective modifying car)They're is a contraction of the two words they and are together. (They're in the car.)Their is a possessive pronoun used as an adjective to modify. (This is their car.)
Is all of this coming back to you? If it isn't, perhaps this is a self-study you should pursue that will help your grammar.

Let me remind you that from what I hear, editors take one look at a manuscript and make a first impression. Will they read it or toss it in the round file? What impression will your manuscript give an editor? First impressions matter whether with a personal interview or a manuscript on an editor's desk.

More Hurdles in the Publishing Process

The process of publication becomes ever more convoluted. Yesterday I completed the author information on Goodreads and today I did the same for Amazon. I guess since I am now listed on Amazon like Navin Johnson in The Jerk when he found his name in the telephone directory and declared  -- "I'm Somebody!" Unfortunately, the book is already discounted and is still in pre-publication, so I hope that is not an omen for the future!
Each of these steps is important toward the ultimate goal which is actually having someone read that book that I imagined so vividly in my mind as I grabbed minutes here and there (waiting for dinner to cook and my husband to come home -- we won't mention the many times the fan was running and the windows were open because something burned, while the babies were napping, in the late hours of the night, and so on).  My husband would often have to call me twice while sitting next to me because I was so lost in the mental world of the battle at Horseshoe Bend, the middle of child birth, a pirate battle in a ship on the high seas, in the middle of Tampa Bay clinging to a spar while a hurricane roars. I have the gift of total concentration.
I learned it when I hid behind furniture reading books while my mother called me to run this or that errand for my siblings. (Okay, so I am ashamed of that now that they are gone.) But I was lost in another world far beyond the confines of my small town Alabama existence -- a chubby little girl with no social life until high school came along and I lost weight and tried out for EVERYTHING. Actually won cheerleader and the lead in the senior play!

Moral here? There's hope. As Annie would say (and my granddaughter Megan would belt out)

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may

Tomorrow!
Tomorrow!
I love ya
Tomorrow!

You're always
A day
A way!

Tomorrow!
Tomorrow!
I love ya
Tomorrow!

You're always
A day
A way!

Peeve No. 2 's

  Today I will hear Jim Parker talk about  ALABAMA AND THE WAR OF 1812: AFTER THE HORSESHOE at the Alabama Archives. I am so excited. While I wrote about the Red Sticks who left Alabama and fought in the Red Stick War, there has been very little information that I could find about those who stayed in Alabama. I look forward to learning from this learned scholar (degrees in History, Anthropology and American Studies) who is the Director of Fort Toulouse/ Fort Jackson State Historic Site in Wetumpka.




Since I began a rant on pet peeves in grammar, let me address my second most irritating grammatical error.
It's is a CONTRACTION for the two words it is.  It is NOT a possessive. Example: "Each day brings its own challenges."
In creating the plural (indicating more than one) of words, ONE DOES NOT PUT A CONTRACTION THERE. 
It's is a contraction for it is or it has.
Its is a possessive pronoun meaning, more or less, of it or belonging to it.
And there is absolutely, positively, no such word as its'.  This problem has it own page on the internet!  (http://garyes.stormloader.com/its.html)
The contraction in other situations does indicate possession. I will quote here from http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/gramma...
By adding an apostrophe and an s we can manage to transform most singular nouns into their possessive form: the car's front seat Charles's car Bartkowski's book a hard day's work
Some writers will say that the -s after Charles' is not necessary and that adding only the apostrophe (Charles' car) will suffice to show possession. Consistency is the key here: if you choose not to add the -s after a noun that already ends in s, do so consistently throughout your text. William Strunk's Elements of Style recommends adding the 's. (In fact, oddly enough, it's Rule Number One in Strunk's "Elementary Rules of Usage." ) You will find that some nouns, especially proper nouns, especially when there are other -s and -z sounds involved, turn into clumsy beasts when you add another s: "That's old Mrs. Chambers's estate." In that case, you're better off with "Mrs. Chambers' estate."
There is another way around this problem of klunky possessives: using the "of phrase" to show possession. For instance, we would probably say the "constitution of Illinois," as opposed to "Illinois' (or Illinois's ??) constitution."
To answer that question about Illinois, you should know that most words that end in an unpronounced "s" form their possessive by adding an apostrophe + s. So we would write about "Illinois's next governor" and "Arkansas's former governor" and "the Marine Corps's policy." However, many non-English words that end with a silent "s" or "x" will form their possessives with only an apostrophe. So we would write "Alexander Dumas' first novel" and "this bordeaux' bouquet." According to the New York Public Library's Guide to Style and Usage, there are "certain expressions that end in s or the s sound that traditionally require an apostrophe only: for appearance' sake, for conscience' sake, for goodness' sake" (268). Incidentally, the NYPL Guide also suggests that when a word ends in a double s, we're better off writing its possessive with only an apostrophe: the boss' memo, the witness' statement. Many writers insist, however, that we actually hear an "es" sound attached to the possessive forms of these words, so an apostrophe -s is appropriate: boss's memo, witness's statement. If the look of the three s's in a row doesn't bother you, use that construction.

This helped me. Perhaps it will help you as well.

Grammar and Pet Peeves

Old English teachers don't die, they just decline and parse away. Some of us keep up the good fight till the very end. Therefore, I feel I just must bring to your attention that there are still objective and subjective cases in grammar today, despite of the very best efforts of the Transformational Grammar folks to pretend that just putting ideas on paper is sufficient.
For those of you who are unsure, let me clarify through a simple example of conjugating the verb be.

I am,
you are,
 he/ she/ it is,
we are,
you are,
they are

Here you have an example of a subject and a verb. The subjects are I, you, he, she, it, we, you and they (subjective case) and the verb is am, a verb of being. You could also have an action verb like pass.

I pass
you pass
he/she/it passes
We pass
you pass
they pass
Mary (subject) passes the hymn books (direct object) to Sheila and ME (object of the preposition).  (ME. NOT I  !!!!) To is a preposition that requires an object. You cannot imagine how many times I hear educated people misuse the pronoun I.

Pronouns in the objective case are me, you, him, them, us, you, her, it, them, whom, and whomever.
You use the objective case to receive the action performed by the subject of the sentence.Direct objects RECEIVE the action.  (Mary struck him and me.) NOT HE AND I!!!!! Indirect objects answers the questions to whom? or for whom? (Mary gave him and me the books.) NOT HE AND I!!!Prepositions take objects (Mary gave the books to him and me. NOT HE AND I. Prepositions are words like aboardaboutaboveacrossafteragainstalongamidamongantiaroundasatbeforebehindbelowbeneathbesidebesidesbetweenbeyondbutbyconcerningconsideringdespitedownduringexceptexceptingexcludingfollowingforfromininsideintolikeminusnearofoffonontooppositeoutsideoverpastperplusregardingroundsavesincethanthroughtotowardtowardsunderunderneathunlikeuntilupuponversusviawithwithinwithout

After which these PRONOUNS will take the OBJECTIVE CASE!!!Thanks to http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/pr...

Trailers

As I have written before, there's more to this publishing business than writing a book!  I thought I had the top of the line in creating movies when I discovered Windows Live Movie Maker on my brand new computer (new a year ago). That was when I started noticing that not only did movies have trailers, but books did as well. So, I decided to learn how to create a trailer. I can assure you, it is not easy!
First you must find pictures that fit your story line. There are a lot of free downloads out there and you can also take your own pictures.  But then you have to trim your four hundred page book down to perhaps a paragraph of provocative sentences. And you must listen out for the very best audio clip to put behind the scenes.
And then you will discover that the wonderful, glorious trailer that you created in Windows Live Movie Maker will crash again and again when you try to save it because it is some flaw in the program. 
I downloaded converters that might make a .mlmp file open and convert it to something usable. No go. 
Finally, after hours and hours of trying to make a flawed program work, I found a clue on the internet that suggested that I download the previous version of Windows Movie Maker (.wmv). I then had to recreate the entire movie. It works! And I could use those converters I downloaded to change the .wmv file into an .avi file!!!! That was what Peter Wentworth, my publicist who is also a producer, requested. Now comes the interesting part. Can he create magic with the basic pictures and copy I finally managed to send him?
I am amazed that elementary schools across our nation are actually having children create book reports by producing trailers. If it takes them as much time as it has me to find pictures, audio files, and make a doggone program work, when do they have time to read books?

Enemy Mine?

I was thinking this morning about a movie that I had seen quite a while back. Enemy Mine. I never thought I would be so moved by a sci fi movie, but with Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett, Jr., I guess you couldn't go wrong. Two soldiers from different planets crash land on a distant planet.

I guess the movie that I remember having made such an impact upon me goes along with the lyrics to the song I sing just about every time I sing Karaoke. It is a Bette Middler song.

From a distance
The world looks blue and green
And the snow capped mountains white
From a distance
The ocean meets the stream
And the eagle takes to flight

From a distance
There is harmony
And it echoes through the land
Its the voice of hope
Its the voice of peace
Its the voice of every man

From a distance
We all have enough
And no one is in need
And there are no guns, no bombs and no disease
No hungry mouths to feed
From a Distance
We are instruments
Marching in a common band
Playing songs of hope
Playing songs of peace
They are the songs of every man

God is watching us
God is watching us
God is watching us
From a distance

From a distance
You look like my friend
Even though we are at war
From a distance
I just cannot comprehend
What all this fighting is for
From a distance
There is harmony
And it echoes through the land
And its the hope of hopes
Its the love of loves
Its the heart of every man

God is watching us
God is watching us
God is watching us
From a distance

God is watching us
God is watching us
God is watching us
From a distance

And so I guess that is why I write about the consequences of war and why I choose to support the Fugee Family project. 

Discipline

As I have posted before, there is more to writing than telling a good story. After actually getting that story onto the page and into a passable manuscript, you have to convince a publisher that it is the best thing since sliced bread and they really must publish it. Then you have to do your best to help them sell it. If no one knows about the book, then how can they buy it. I am fortunate to have a publisher with a great reputation, Mercer University Press. But they publish 40 books a year. I realize how easy it could be to get lost in the shuffle there. So I employed a publicist, Marjory Wentworth, at the recommendation of my dear friend Kathie Bennett.

The past couple of days I have been teaching myself how to Tweet and have redone my website. (http://www.southern-style and http://www.sharmanbursonramsey.com). In addition to that we had the pleasure of seeing some old friends who brought their 64 foot Alaskan Yacht to Bay Point in Panama City and accompanied us to the St. Andrew Bay Yacht Club (15 Friday night at our table). We had fun doing karaoke at 30 Degree Blue Thursday night with Mike Alford and on Friday night at the Yacht Club. We were all impressed with the crowd at 30 Degree Blue. There were some quite talented singers and everyone was encouraging and supportive so we all had fun.

We took our boat (24 foot Chapparal) out for awhile to go down to Beach Drive to see where they had razed Bubba Nelson's old house. Two sisters lived side by side and connected their houses with a breezeway on what was 10 lots. His grandsons decided the lots would sell better without the house on it so they demolished the house to sell the lots. That is such a beautiful area.

So, I just finished the redesign of my website. We plan to go to a movie later. The discipline that I refer to in the title has to do with delegating the precious time I have so that I can actually write and not neglect that which makes life worth living -- family and friends. Life is fleeting. Making the most of the time we are given takes focus. We cannot do everything.

It takes discipline.

My friend, Richard McCuistian sent me his novel to read. I know he thinks I do not like it because I haven't finished reading it. But that is certainly not true.  He is a gifted writer and I found myself immediately involved in his story from the get go. But, time is of a premium, and I just have not had the chance to chill and read.

Fugees Family

#Romney brings in $106 million in June. #Obama $70 million. Fugees $80,000.

 The Fugees Family is devoted to working with child survivors of war.
 The Serpents Series of novels that I am writing, beginning with Swimming with Serpents, tells of the consequences of war on the innocents. Fugees Families is the charity I choose to be the recipient of a portion of the proceeds from this series of novels. It just seems to fit.


The numbers at the beginning of this post tell us that there is money available to support a cause. Why shouldn't that cause be caring for the children who have been the innocent victims of some government's policy. Let us pray that our own government's policies not produce more of these innocent victims.

I am a fan of Luma Mufleh. If you would like to get involved as well visit Fugees Families (www.fugeesfamily.org). When you shop Amazon through their website they get 6% of the purchase.

Ornery website

I bit the bullet today and committed to hiring a publicist. Marjory and Peter Wentworth now represent me. Remember now, I am woman; hear me roar.
Today I kept my sweet granddaughters, Lily (10) and Megan (22 months). I went to the bank, went to the jewelers, went to Office Max to get the galleys copied, browsed T. J. Max until time for lunch with hubby and daughter no. 2, picked up jewelry, picked up galleys being copied at Office Max, picked up friend for granddaughter no. 1, put granddaughter no. 2 down for a nap while GD 1 and friend went swimming, baked chocolate chip cookies, redesigned my author pages (http://sharmanbursonramsey.com), and now I am writing the blog. Remember we ALL had to go in to do everything listed above - in the car--out of the car--into the baby seat--out of the baby seat.
And now my ornery website has confounded me. Why will it not upload onto the website like my Dreamweaver page? I loved Front Page when I first taught myself to make web pages. I used it until the servers no longer wanted to support it. I decided that since Dreamweaver was the industry standard, I might as well learn to use it. I'm still learning. The website is so doggone large, it takes forever to correct the problems. But with 7,000 to 8,000 visitors per month, there must be something going on there.
I find it interesting that the most visited pages are Southern Wedding and -- Southern Manners and Etiquette.
My new publicist tells me I need a Twitter account. Twitter? There's barely time to blog or Facebook or brush my teeth. Whoever said that things slowed down as one got older?  There's more people who need you, more things you want to do!
I'm not complaining, mind you. I think it is a real blessing to have people who actually want to be with you! To have interests that you are passionate about and actually finally see come into fruition. I'm just saying --- Life is full and wonderful and glorious and exciting. I am blessed -- and a bit tired.

Deja vu all over again?

El Peru Waka in the Yucatan Peninsula, a part of Guatemala, had an advanced civilization that disappeared around 900 A.D.. Did these people move as the result of the eruption at Krakatoa, the resultant climate change which brought about drought and famine? Did they come to Florida and Georgia settle near Wakulla Springs and then move northward to settle Kolomoki mounds where they had been excavating the clay that was perfect for producing the beautiful blue they used in their murals? Dabney, main character for Partyin' on the Plantation, has just awaken to find herself in this strange place. Deja vu all over again?