Vicki Lane's Blog, page 556

Blog Tour - Second Stop

I've fluttered away to Buried Under Books where I'm talking about writing dialect . . . and there's another drawing for another copy of THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS. 

Please click over and give your opinion -- how much dialect is too much?  I'm still struggling with this question... 

Fall Flush

A heavy rain together with warm days and we've been enjoying the Fall flush of mushrooms -- shitake mushrooms. I came home after my writing class to see mushrooms spread out on every surface in the kitchen and have been drying them for later use.
A few days later -- there were more and I managed to remember to  get a picture. A nice little harvest, but nothing like the earlier one. Still, with a few garlic chives ... two fresh eggs and a bit of butter . . .l
some Cherokee Purple tomatoes on...

ROOM

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Many, many thanks to all of you faithful readers who followed me over to Poe's Deadly Daughters and left comments yesterday. And what great comments they were! You all are the best! I'll be drawing for the winner of the signed DAY OF SMALL THINGS sometime after seven AM EST on Monday (so there's still time to comment over there if you haven't) and will post the winner's name here on this blog on Tuesday. And now, to today's post...As many of you know, my reading has been limited recently to ...

Blog Tour - First Stop

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I'm not here today. I'm blogging about The Day of Small Things over at Poe's Deadly Daughters, the first of four mystery-related blogs I'm visiting in support of the new book. The post won't be up till 6 am EST on Saturday, so you early birds in California, NZ,  England, and Elsewhere will have to wait a bit if you choose to visit.
I'd really love it if you'd click over and leave a comment at PDD -- make me feel like one of the popular kids...

What's more, your comment over there will enter...

Nigerian Millionaires and Stranded Travelers Need Your Help!

I had my spam filter off for a while and received these heartfelt pleas. I find them kinda fun. Not sure what that says about me...

I AM JEAN ABBAS,THE ONLY CHILD OF LATE CHIEF PETER ABBAS MY FATHER WAS A VERY WEALTHY GOLD MERCHANT BASED IN ABIDJAN, BEFORE HE WAS POISONED TO DEATH BY HIS ASSOCIATES. 

BEFORE THE DEATH OF MY LATE FATHER IN A HOSPITAL HERE,HE TOLD ME OF HIS (US$15.5M)THAT HE DEPOSITED IN A ONE OF THE SECURITY COMPANY IN EUROPE.I WAS ALSO MADE THE NEXT OF KIN TO THE MONEY.HE...

ONE THOUSAND

How time flies when you're having fun . . . sharing the delights of life . . . And the beauty of the world!
 And a lot of other stuff.  Thanks for all your comments! It's even more fun because of you all.
 

Size 4 Cat . . . Size 2 Bowl

What are you looking at? It's a perfect fit -- thank you very much. Move along ... nothing to see here.

FAQ - What Are Your Limits?

Q: Are there things you won't do in your writing or things you just won't write about?   A:  Some readers  vow that they won't read a book if the writer: harms a dog, kills a cat, abuses a child, writes a prologue, puts in too much back story, ends on a cliff-hanger, leaves out the back story, writes about violence to women,  gets preachy and pushes a cause, uses adverbs, deploys the F-word, engages in stereotyping, writes dialect, uses italics, kills off an on-going character, uses the past...

Form and Texture

Back in 1976 when first I began to landscape around our house, I was crazy for trees and shrubs that bloomed -- forsythia, weigelia, mock orange. If it didn't flower, I wasn't interested. Fortunately, these were all plants that were easily obtained as starts from friends and neighbors. And they prospered and Spring and early Summer were a riot of bloom.


But unfortunately, all these beautiful shrubs turned into a bunch of brown sticks, come Fall and Winter.


Then I began reading gardening...

Hurrah for Editors!

The edited manuscript of Under the Skin (the fifth Elizabeth Goodweather  book, tentatively scheduled for an October 2011 release) showed up Friday. My editor's comments and suggestions are in pencil; the copy editor's marks are in green.(I get to use red this time.)

The copy editor also keeps track of continuity -- making sure that my dates agree, that I don't have Gloria call Elizabeth 'Lizzy' on one page and 'Lizzie' on another. My editor (Herself) is reading, I think, with an eye to...