Annette Lyon's Blog, page 33

Here's Where It Gets Fun

Word has it that Band of Sisters will be shipping to stores on Monday. At what point it reaches shelves is yet to be determined, but we're almost there! Yippee!
The journey for this book began with that magazine article the summer of 2007, so Band of Sisters has been nearly three years in the making. In many ways, this release means more to me than many of my others. I'm not sure why.
Maybe it's because the topic wouldn't be shaken off until I wrote about it. Maybe it's because I felt so...

WNW: Reader Peeves

More Word Nerd Wednesday fun from reader comments and e-mails. On tap today:
Alyson of New England Living mentioned a constantly confused word pair:
Affect/Effect
One of these words in a verb, and the other is (almost always) a noun. In a handful of cases it's a verb, but usually in formal situations, so probably not when you're writing a blog or a novel.
AFFECT is a verb. In other words, it implies an ACTION. Use that as your mnemonic device: they both begin with A: AFFECT mean ACTION.
Examples:span

Personal Wagons

In recent years, I've had a particular lesson hammered home many times:
Life isn't perfect . . . for anyone.
That's simply a fact, no matter what someone's life looks like from the outside. No human being will escape this life without their share of trials, unwelcome surprises, and burdens. But somehow, we either forget that, or we don't realize it, or, often, we simply don't believe it.
I've had people say to my face that I must have no clue what stress is like, that gee, I should be so...

When Is Writing Work?

I get this question asked a lot: Do I ever get sick of writing, and/or does it ever become work?
The answer is messy and convoluted . . . pretty much like the writer brain is.
I don't think I've ever gotten sick of writing during the drafting phase. Sure, I've stressed myself out during it, trying to get it done or worrying that the story won't turn out right, or that maybe this is the time I'll fail at writing a whole book.
But as for actually getting sick of writing?
Absolutely not. Drafting...

WNW: Dangling Participles

A couple of weeks ago, Michelle Jeffries asked me to address participial phrases. Since that's a giant topic, I thought I'd start with the way participles are most often misused: the famous dangling participle!
They're loads of fun . . . really! They're easy to giggle over . . . at least when you find the mistake in someone else's work (or before yours gets in front of an editor).
I originally wrote about them on the Writing on the Wall blog about a year and a half ago, so for those who have...

A Happy List

At times, a list just feels good.
Some things that made me happy today:
1) Making quite a bit of progress at digging the house out from under some serious messes.
2) Getting a freelance check in the mail (which was a bit larger than expected, so double smiles).
3) Husband taking the day off work and saying, "This afternoon, if there's housework you want help with, let me know." (SERIOUSLY? WOOOOOOT!)
4) Meeting Emily M of Segullah for the first time. Even though we've corresponded a lot via...

A Valentine Post from #3

My three oldest kids have their own blogs that their friends and family read. #2 and #3 update theirs more often than my oldest, and it's been a great writing exercise for them.
#3, who is in 5th grade, has created a second blog for an alter-ego named Bob. He's got his own personality, and my daughter has this wicked sense of humor she uses when writing in Bob's voice.
I'm hoping she forgives me for doing this, but first, I laughed myself silly when I read it and second, it's Valentines Day...

WNW: Hopefully Unthawing

Today's WNW is one of those fun ones where we look at commonly misused words submitted by my trusty readers.


Hopefully
This one is so chronically misused that it's pretty much taken on the wrong definition in casual conversation. That said, I'd be hesitant to use it that way in professional writing.
Hopefully is an adverb, similar to slowly, happily, and randomly.
In other words, it's the manner in which something is done. Correct usage would be something like this:
Sarah looked up at her father...

Motherhood: Rocking It Out

There's a reason my children know all about Ed Grimley, Footloose, Anne of Green Gables , and so many other parts that make up the mother they know and love.
(It brings me no end of joy that my two oldest daughters adore Hitchcock. Hitchcock! I could sing!)
I show them older (as in 80s) TV shows, movies, and even YouTube clips under the guise of "educating" them so they'll be culturally literate. It's proven helpful for them when watching other shows or reading books and they get the inside...

Exciting Things Are Afoot.

First off, time for celebration! Both of my Whitney Award ballots are submitted. Done. Finito. Woohoo! My eyeballs are ready to drop out of their sockets, but I'm done! Now we all get to wait a couple more days to find out the results. Squeeeee!
Second, two of my bestest writer friends are featured in this month's issue of Mormon Artist magazine, Julie Wright and Robison Wells.
Julie is one of those people I call when I need a shoulder to cry on or someone to vent to, and she's always in your...