Cheryl Snell's Blog, page 34
May 25, 2011
Books to the Rescue
The Writer's Lair Books is launching a 72-Hour "Books to the Rescue" Fundraiser starting at 12:01am EST TOMORROW May 26, 2011 and ending 11:59pm EST May 28, 2011 to support the Severson Sisters Foundation, a foundation dedicated to ending bullying and inspiring girls towards authenticity and confidence.
Carrie Severson founded Severson Sisters with the idea that cultivating creativity helps to eliminate peer pressure and forge what she calls a Supergirl. Carrie posits that artistic outlets not only give girls a place to express themselves and to flourish, but also allows for girls to better connect with one another in what she calls sisterhoods. Their mission to end bullying falls right in line with the anti-bullying we promote with our book, Flightless Goose. Consider buying any book in our bookshop to support the Severson Sisters Foundation. Let us know you are for the "Severson Sisters Fundraiser" at checkout. A portion of each book sold will be donated to this organization.
We know that helping young girls is motivation enough, but we thought we'd throw in some prizes to thank you for your help. At checkout, the buyer will list both 'Severson Sisters Foundation' and from which blog they heard about the fundraiser. From this data, we will tally the top three bloggers and award them one of the following prizes:
First Place Prize:
$50 giftcard to Amazon.com
Second Place Prize:
A gift basket including a signed copy of our book Flightless Goose, the book's audio CD, an Illustory kit that lets children publish their own hard copy children's book, and other summertime goodies
Third Place Prize:
A copy of our exciting and fun novel entitled Shiva's Arms, which dramatizes the clash of cultures in a family
Those Important Details:
1. All sales must be through our website .
2. For more information, go here
Be sure to check out the Severson Sisters Foundation. Thank you, in advance, for helping us support the Severson Sisters Foundation and helping to build Supergirls!
May 24, 2011
May 22, 2011
on Fictionaut's Recommended Stories List
I found my new preposition poem on Fictionaut's list of recommended stories this morning. Thanks, Fictionaut!
Fictionaut Recommended
I found my new preposition poem on Fictionaut's list of recommended stories this morning. Thanks, Fictionaut!
May 21, 2011
There's Truth, and there's Fictional Truth
This article was recently published in the Indian website and magazine NRIMatters:
Will an American girl and her Hindu Brahmin mother-in-law grind the man in the middle into chutney? That's the premise of my multicultural debut novel, Shiva's Arms, and the first thing that readers want to know is "How much of Shiva's Arms is autobiographical?"
The short answer is: everything and nothing. The set up, unsuitable American bride marries Hindu NRI, parallels my life. But the characters are fictional, not portraits of people I know. I gave my main character Alice my own long hair and quirky fashion sense, but I am not Alice, although I know her very well.
A power struggle between in-laws is a universal conflict. Everyone knows an Amma, right? I never met my own mother-in-law but when an Indian family moved in next door to my husband and me, I had a bird's eye view of samsara as it played out in their household of three generations.
The walls between our townhouses were thin enough so I could even hear what they argued about-- from the conflict between personal independence and family to the divided loyalties that ask the question, "when one belong to two cultures, what part of the self goes and what stays?"
I began to imagine a novel built on the swirl of relationships around me. While I was composing, I'd assign tics of people I knew to my characters to help me find a reaction to a made-up situation that would ring true.
The little Ganesh on the chain Amma gave to Alice is modeled after the one my own mother-in-law sent to me, for example. In a gesture that meant more to me than I can say, she melted down her marriage bangles for me, the "unsuitable bride," she had never met.
Amma would never have done that! Truth is always stranger than fiction.
Will an American girl and her Hindu Brahmin mother-in-law grind the man in the middle into chutney? That's the premise of my multicultural debut novel, Shiva's Arms, and the first thing that readers want to know is "How much of Shiva's Arms is autobiographical?"
The short answer is: everything and nothing. The set up, unsuitable American bride marries Hindu NRI, parallels my life. But the characters are fictional, not portraits of people I know. I gave my main character Alice my own long hair and quirky fashion sense, but I am not Alice, although I know her very well.
A power struggle between in-laws is a universal conflict. Everyone knows an Amma, right? I never met my own mother-in-law but when an Indian family moved in next door to my husband and me, I had a bird's eye view of samsara as it played out in their household of three generations.
The walls between our townhouses were thin enough so I could even hear what they argued about-- from the conflict between personal independence and family to the divided loyalties that ask the question, "when one belong to two cultures, what part of the self goes and what stays?"
I began to imagine a novel built on the swirl of relationships around me. While I was composing, I'd assign tics of people I knew to my characters to help me find a reaction to a made-up situation that would ring true.
The little Ganesh on the chain Amma gave to Alice is modeled after the one my own mother-in-law sent to me, for example. In a gesture that meant more to me than I can say, she melted down her marriage bangles for me, the "unsuitable bride," she had never met.
Amma would never have done that! Truth is always stranger than fiction.
May 20, 2011
One Sister Interviews the Other
J- Describe the best dinner you ever had.
C- The chocolate bombe you made me for my birthday that time.
J- That was cake, not dinner. What about the filet mignon and potatoes roasted with garlic, nutmeg and lemon before that?
C- Good, too.
J -Recommend a book that you didn't write.
C- Flytrap, by Janet Snell.
J -You have excellent taste, if I do say so myself. Which brings me to my next question- What fictional character would you like to date?
C- Your brother-in-law won't let me date.
J- Bummer!Describe your perfect day.
C- "Waking up, the first and the last privilege, waking up once more."
J- Elizabeth Hardwick?
C-Yep.
J- Why do you write what you write?
C- "I never know what I think about something until I've written on it."
J- Faulkner said that.
C- No less applicable, though.
J -What's your favorite reaction from a reader?
C- When I bring them to tears, like that newscaster.
J- Are writers better liars than other people?
C -Yes. Other people add too many examples, and they're always the wrong ones.
J- Name an artist who inspires you. It doesn't have to be a writer.
C- That would be you, dear.
Thanks to my sister Janet Snell for playing!
C- The chocolate bombe you made me for my birthday that time.
J- That was cake, not dinner. What about the filet mignon and potatoes roasted with garlic, nutmeg and lemon before that?
C- Good, too.
J -Recommend a book that you didn't write.
C- Flytrap, by Janet Snell.
J -You have excellent taste, if I do say so myself. Which brings me to my next question- What fictional character would you like to date?
C- Your brother-in-law won't let me date.
J- Bummer!Describe your perfect day.
C- "Waking up, the first and the last privilege, waking up once more."
J- Elizabeth Hardwick?
C-Yep.
J- Why do you write what you write?
C- "I never know what I think about something until I've written on it."
J- Faulkner said that.
C- No less applicable, though.
J -What's your favorite reaction from a reader?
C- When I bring them to tears, like that newscaster.
J- Are writers better liars than other people?
C -Yes. Other people add too many examples, and they're always the wrong ones.
J- Name an artist who inspires you. It doesn't have to be a writer.
C- That would be you, dear.
Thanks to my sister Janet Snell for playing!
Janet Interviews Cheryl
J- Describe the best dinner you ever had.
C- The chocolate bombe you made me for my birthday that time.
J- That was cake, not dinner. What about the filet mignon and potatoes roasted with garlic, nutmeg and lemon before that?
C- Good, too.
J -Recommend a book that you didn't write.
C- Flytrap, by Janet Snell.
J -You have excellent taste, if I do say so myself. Which brings me to my next question- What fictional character would you like to date?
C- Your brother-in-law won't let me date.
J- Bummer!Describe your perfect day.
C- "Waking up, the first and the last privilege, waking up once more."
J- Elizabeth Hardwick?
C-Yep.
J- Why do you write what you write?
C- "I never know what I think about something until I've written on it."
J- Faulkner said that.
C- No less applicable, though.
J -What's your favorite reaction from a reader?
C- When I bring them to tears, like that newscaster.
J- Are writers better liars than other people?
C -Yes. Other people add too many examples, and they're always the wrong ones.
J- Name an artist who inspires you. It doesn't have to be a writer.
C- That would be you, dear.
C- The chocolate bombe you made me for my birthday that time.
J- That was cake, not dinner. What about the filet mignon and potatoes roasted with garlic, nutmeg and lemon before that?
C- Good, too.
J -Recommend a book that you didn't write.
C- Flytrap, by Janet Snell.
J -You have excellent taste, if I do say so myself. Which brings me to my next question- What fictional character would you like to date?
C- Your brother-in-law won't let me date.
J- Bummer!Describe your perfect day.
C- "Waking up, the first and the last privilege, waking up once more."
J- Elizabeth Hardwick?
C-Yep.
J- Why do you write what you write?
C- "I never know what I think about something until I've written on it."
J- Faulkner said that.
C- No less applicable, though.
J -What's your favorite reaction from a reader?
C- When I bring them to tears, like that newscaster.
J- Are writers better liars than other people?
C -Yes. Other people add too many examples, and they're always the wrong ones.
J- Name an artist who inspires you. It doesn't have to be a writer.
C- That would be you, dear.
Rapture?
I have the feeling I missed something...
:)
May 19, 2011
Double Portrait with Held Breath
black to shadow, and blue sparks struck from her - pastel pills crumbled in iodine vials, losing power hourly - warmth rose in all her tips then waved him in - a baton keeping peculiar time - swinging brass fish, violet violins: - acoustics echoing like the present full of a past with no future - where is that vanishing point - water here there the plunge - if no one is dancing then why all this music
