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Welcome to My Official Web Page!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

A Gem on Every Page- The Book Thief

Don't forget to enter my Motherload Contest!  You can win three books AND an ancient Roman coin!  The contest ends April 11th!


Last month I read Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, a story of a girl who steals books during World War II in Nazi Germany.  It is beautifully written, and interestingly enough, written from Death's point of view.  That might sound strange, but I promise you that it works.  Here's some of my favorite lines from Death:

The minutes dripped past.

The desperate Jews - their spirits in my lap as we sat on the roof, next to the steaming chimneys.


*** A SMALL PIECE OF TRUTH***
I do not carry a sickle or scythe.
I only wear a hooded black robe when it's cold.
And I don't have those skull-like
facial features you seem to enjoy
pinning on me from a distance. You
want to know what I truly look like?
I'll help you out. Find yourself
a mirror while I continue.


At the end of the novel there's an interview with Zusak where the interviewer said, "Your use of figurative language seems natural and effortless.  Is this something you have to work to develop, or is innately part of your writing style?"

Zasak replied, "I like the idea that every page in every book can have a gem on it.  It's probably what I love most about writing- that words can be used in a way that's like a child playing in a sandpit, rearranging things, swapping them around."

I love that.  Two of my favorite books- The English Patient and Memoirs of a Geisha read like poetry in some sentences.  The language adds to the story, never detracting from it.

What about you?  Do you have gems on the pages of your novels?  Do you like reading books that use figurative language?

Monday, March 29, 2010

The Motherload Contest: Three Stupendous Books AND An Ancient Roman Coin!



This is the contest to end all contests!  From today through Sunday, April 11th, you can enter to win the following:

1.  A signed copy of Michelle Moran's Nefertiti
2.  A signed copy of Michelle Moran's Cleopatra's Daughter
3.  A brand-new copy of Pauline Gedge's Child of the Morning (with a new forward by Michelle Moran
4.  And a certified ancient Roman coin!


I know, totally amazing, right?!  Can I just say right here that Michelle Moran rocks?  Here's what you need to do to enter and accrue extra entries:

(+1)  Post a comment to this post with your email address 
(+3)  Be a follower of this blog (new and old followers)
(+3)  Post this contest on your blog's sidebar
(+5)  Tweet, post to Facebook, or devote a whole blog post to this contest (only one type of ad required for the extra 5 entries)

 The contest is open to anyone (including all you international folks) and will run from now until Sunday, April 11th at 11:59PM Alaska Standard Time.  On Monday I'll put all the entries into a random drawing and announce the winner.  Good luck!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Once Upon a Time


Before we get to our regularly scheduled programming, I want to give everyone a head's up that the greatest, most splendiferous contest will be unveiled Tuesday.  Check back tomorrow for all the details!

And now on to today's super exciting post!

My three-year-old loves to be read to and has a gazillion books.  Some of her favorites are Green Eggs and Ham and The Three Little Pigs (the original version where the first two pigs and the wolf get eaten).  Recently, she's started some storytelling too, which is downright hilarious.

Here's her story from yesterday afternoon she told my husband and me.  This is the abridged version- I assure you the original was much, much longer.


Bella:  Once upon a time in a cottage there was a butterfly that was pink and yellow and then it turned purple.  It was wearing a costume with wings and a kitty cat on its back.  It was carrying lollipops and candy and another one was carrying toys and animals. 

Hubby:  Were they yummy animals?

Bella:  Yes.  They taste like cherries.


Hubby:  How big were these butterflies?


Bella:  About thirty inches.  The butterflies carried dolls and a kitty on a wheel.  

Hubby:  How many butterflies were there?

Bella:  Two.  And they went up and down.  They go'd to the city filled with toys.  And they lived happily ever after.  The end. 




I think she's onto something here, maybe with a niche in the sci-fi market.  Genetically modified animals that taste like cherries (I'd prefer strawberry, but whatever) and thirty inch butterflies that double as beasts of burden and change color?  Genius!  (Okay, maybe I'm a little biased.  Whatever.)

What about you?  Do you have any favorite kid's stories?


Artwork from Vladimir Kush.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Spread the Love

Today was parent teacher conferences.  I love meeting with parents, but I'll admit that it's a little exhausting to talk for six hours.  But then, teaching is an exhausting job.  I don't get huge bonuses or a big fat paycheck, but I do get benefits.

The best benefits?

Compliments from students. 

Yesterday I had a student drop by my room at lunch.  He's a great kid, but decided to drop out of the Socratic Seminar class I teach to go into regular to improve his grade.  He came up to my desk and said, "Mrs. Thornton, I have to tell you something."

A conversation that starts that way doesn't always end well.

"And what is that?" I asked.

"I wanted you to know that you're a great teacher.  I thought switching out of your class was a good decision at the time, but I wish I'd stayed.  It would have been worth it to sacrifice a higher grade to learn more."

Awwww.... 

Yep, that made my day. 

Take a moment today to thank someone or give them a compliment.  Is there someone who has made an impact on your life you've thanked, or wished you'd thanked?  Did you have a really great teacher in school who inspired you?

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I Need a Word

Main Entry: thesaurus
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: dictionary of synonyms and antonyms
Synonyms: glossary, language reference book, lexicon, onomasticon, reference book, sourcebook, storehouse of words, terminology, treasury of words, vocabulary, word list

Swiped from Thesaurus.com


I love my thesaurus. My husband bought it for me six years ago when I first said I wanted to write a book and since then, my copy of Roget's Thesaurus has gotten quite a bit of a mileage. I also have a couple thesauruses (looks like a dinosaur name) on my iPhone for handy reference.

I once had a discussion with a writer who claimed he never used a thesaurus. That seems sacrilegious. I have a pretty firm grasp of the English language, but sometimes I just need a thesaurus to help me think of the right word. And occasionally I come across something new.

For example, instead of reaching for my thesaurus, I can now grab my onomasticon. Spellcheck doesn't even recognize it as a real word, but it sounds great. Of course, when using a thesaurus, I have to beware of falling into the tarpit of really great sounding words that stop my story in its tracks. That's bad. Very bad.

Do you use a thesaurus? If so, how often?

BTW- I just posted my interview with agent Mark McVeigh at Secret Archives of the Alliterati.  Check it out!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Cabin Fever in Ancient Egypt


Imagine Twilight set entirely in Forks High School.

Think of Old Man & the Sea without leaving the boat. (Makes me want to slit my wrists.)

What would Gone With the Wind have been if it was completely set at Tara?

Envision Memoirs of a Geisha only set in the okiya (geisha house).

Yawn, right? Setting is important. In my writing world, there's the primary setting and then there's secondary settings. (There's also homemade tiramisu for everyone in my world.) My primary setting is ancient Egypt, but my secondary setting changes based on the scene. Maybe it's the womens' quarters (AKA the harem), a banquet hall, Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el Bahri, a boat on the Nile, or the royal menagerie.

The point is, the characters need to move. The setting changes the mood and often tweaks the way events play out. If I kill a character in his chambers at night versus in the menagerie in broad daylight, that's a bit different, eh? (Yes, sometimes Alaskans sound like Canadians.)

Why do I bring this up? Because in Draft #1 of Book #2, I am very aware of the fact that everything so far has happened in the palace. I'm boring myself which really doesn't bode well for other people reading the novel. This happened when I wrote Hatshepsut so I made our darling female Pharaoh take a trip up the Nile. It was fun for both of us (you know I love to travel). Now my second protagonist is going to have to get out of the palace. I was thinking of having her take a chariot ride, but the darn things weren't invented yet so I'll have to come up with something else. Maybe the court hightails it to an oasis or something. I don't know if ancient Egyptians got cabin fever, but I do.

What about you? Do you kick your characters out of their setting comfort zone? Do you find yourself using one setting way too much? Does setting matter all that much to you?

Photo from My Eye on Egypt

Monday, March 22, 2010

Collapse


A while back, Jared Diamond wrote an interesting book called Collapse on the reasons why societies choose to be successful or decide to fall apart. Environmental degradation, inept political decisions, and the inability to think about the future abounded in examples of Haiti and Easter Island. Pretty enlightening stuff, even if it was a bit of a tome to get through.

This got me thinking about the book I just finished reading today (#15 for the year!). After a somewhat promising start, the story decided halfway through to fall apart. Ugh.

What makes a novel crumble?

1. Unbelievable Characters. When the protagonist (and even secondary characters) start doing things that contradict their personalities, I get irked. When I start asking, "Why do I care about these people anymore?" then I know the story is lost.

2. Far-fetched Plot Twists. I know it's tempting to pull a Days of Our Lives plot twist and suddenly have the main character take a lesbian lover or become possessed by the devil, but RESIST! There's almost nothing worse than getting halfway through a book to start rolling your eyes and saying, "You've got to be kidding me. Seriously?"

3. Plot Holes. Readers are smart cookies. They can spot a plot hole a mile away. When I'm writing, I know where there are plot holes. I'll admit that sometimes I get lazy and hope beta readers don't notice them. They do. So I fix them. I'm often amazed that a book could get to publication without the writer, agent, or editor fixing a plot hole.

4. Writing Inconsistencies. I notice this with series. If you spend four books telling me a character's truck was pink with aqua flames and now it's purple with blue flames I'm going to be ticked. I'm also going to be annoyed if the protagonist is sixteen on one page and fifteen on the next (barring a time travel novel). This in itself isn't a deal breaker, but I was already leaning toward putting the book down, this might be the straw that breaks the poor camel's back.

I'm looking forward to the newest novel on my list- I'm going with one I've heard nothing but good things about as two of the last three I've read have been somewhat disappointing. But you have to read the good with the bad to understand what makes a good story, right?

What about you? What makes you put a book down?

Sunday, March 21, 2010

How Does Your Garden Grow?


I just planted more goodies for my garden this weekend. Now I've got blueberries, tomatoes (yellow, cherry, heirloom, and regular), bell peppers, cucumbers, basil, summer squash, purple potatoes (yes, they're really purple), and zucchini on the vegetable front. I've also got three types of sunflowers (including red ones) and black-eyed susans that are stretching their leaves.

This is just the stuff in the indoor greenhouse right now. There's still a couple feet of snow on the ground, but the little guys need a head start or they'll never make it before the white stuff flies again in October.

I pretty much live outside all summer. Except when I'm inside writing. There's something great about seeing something you planted sprout and take off. Eating what you grew is even better.

The same thing goes for my manuscripts. I just hit 100 pages on Book #2 this weekend (just shy of 30,000 words). This time last year, I never in a quadzillion years (yes, that's more than a million, but I'm not sure by how much) would have guessed I'd be writing a second book. Seeing that page count creep up never fails to thrill me.

I'm growing a book!

So, what are you growing lately? Books? Veggies? Chia pets? Sea monkeys?

Photo from Flickr.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Yes, It's a Baby


A while back, after I had just finished my first draft of Hatshepsut, a friend asked how long it took to get the whole thing on paper.

My answer? Roughly nine months of concerted writing. (The first year I only managed 100 pages and half of that was cut.)

Her response? "Wow. So writing a book is like having a baby."

Yes. In more ways than one.

Here are some mammal gestation periods with my written "baby" equivalents.

Opossum: 12 days (Creation of first draft of first chapter, most of which will inevitably be chopped.)

Cat: 63 days (Length of time it takes me to run out of my initial inspiration when starting a new book.)

Cow: 284 days (Roughly the amount of time for human gestation, approximate time necessary to finish the first draft.)

Whale: 360 days (Time required to complete enough edits to get a WIP ready for beta readers.)

Indian Elephant: 624 days (A smidge less than the time from writing the first word of the first draft to having Hatshepsut query-able.)


Now the next time someone asks why your book isn't on the shelf at Barnes and Noble, you can tell them the process of writing a book is like having a baby. An elephant baby.

(On a side note, I'm glad I'm not an elephant! Nine months of being pregnant just once was more than enough for me!)

So, what stage is your book at?

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Ancient Egyptian Love Poetry

You may not think of ancient Egypt as being the most romantic of societies (hard to think of candlelit dinners when candles hadn't been invented yet), but a fair bit of ancient Egyptian love poetry has actually survived the archaeological record. Today I have a little taste for you dating from the 15th-10th centuries BCE.

The little sycamore she planted
prepares to speak- the sound of rustling leaves
sweeter than honey.

On its lovely green limbs
is new fruit and ripe fruit red as blood jasper,
and leaves of green jasper.

Her love awaits me on a distant shore.
The river flows between us,
crocodiles on the sandbars.

Yet I plunge into the river,
my heart slicing currents, steady
as if I were walking.

O my love, it is love
that gives me strength and courage,
love that fords the river.



My imagination soars with this poem, written by some man (probably a scribe) 3,500 years ago. I wonder who the woman was he loved and if they ever got together. I certainly hope so.

Do you have a favorite poet? Do you ever wonder what an artist was thinking when you read a poem or look at a painting?

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Lessons From Mexico, Part II

2. Reading is good. But not all books are good.

Many of you know I recently rediscovered time for reading. When your two-year-old starts putting herself to bed and you get rid of the T.V. it's amazing how much free time you suddenly have. I have an informal goal to read 100 books this year, but I tend to go in spurts when school is out. Over Spring Break I read a couple, both current New York Times Bestsellers.

This one was amazing. Like as in, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, wipe away tears, laugh out loud amazing. I highly recommend everyone go pick up a copy of Little Bee by Chris Cleave from your local bookstore, library, or whatever. The back cover states, "We don't want to tell you what happens in this book. It's a special story and we don't want to spoil it." I'm not going to tell you what it's about either. Just go buy it. You can thank me later.

I left the second book in my cruise cabin. I never leave books behind. It's like a fallen soldier- they must return to my bookshelf. But not this one. It didn't deserve the suitcase space for the trip home. The plot was ridiculous, the characters unbelievable, and the setting never seemed to change. I wanted to gouge my eyeballs out. I would have put it down, but I've already put down two other books this year and it's kind of ruining my monthly average for the 100 book goal. I'm kind of a glutton for punishment.

Anyway, there was a lesson in all this. (Isn't there always?) Book preferences are subjective. I highly doubt anyone could pick up Little Bee and not like it, but I suppose there will be a few out there. And as for the nameless book? It's at the top of the NYT list so apparently I'm in the minority. I can tell you I certainly won't be starting a fan club for the book.

It doesn't matter what your story is. Someone will like it and someone will hate it. Just write it.

What about you? Any books you've read lately that rocked? Or books everyone else loved that you wanted to use as scratch paper?

Monday, March 15, 2010

Lessons From Mexico, Part I

I'm baaaaaack!

I know you all missed me. I swear I thought of you when I went to check blogs and remembered the cruise ship charges $.55 a minute for internet. I spend about an hour a day on blogs, on a seven day cruise...

You do the math.

But now I'm back! And this week I have writing lessons I learned from Mexico.

1. Life is good when you're on Mexico time.

Who needs watches and time zones when you can just do what you want, when you want? I'm a huge fan of checking boxes to feel like I've accomplished something, but sometimes it's nice to just let life do the driving. I planned to write a lot over vacation, but I only wrote five pages. But I'm okay with that. Sometimes my brain needs to lie fallow for a while.

And really, isn't late better than never? (Insert nod here.) That brings me to my next point...

The Secret Archives of the Alliterati launched today! And yes, I can say today because it's still Monday here. One of the benefits of living in Alaska is I'm behind everyone else so I'm rarely late. Mwahaha! If you haven't already joined, you must! There will be an uber-cool contest coming up. Check it out!

And throw away your watch while you're at it.

Friday, March 12, 2010

This is Now



Remember, remember, remember, this is now, and now, and now. Live it, feel it, cling to it. I want to become acutely aware of all I've taken for granted. -Sylvia Plath

What will you do today to live, feel, and cling to life?

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Student Bloopers

I'm hoping everyone can use a little giggle today. For your reading pleasure, I present my very own Student Bloopers!


1. Last year, I was grading my students' tests on Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. One of the questions asked them to identify ziggurats. Under the "what" portion, one of my brightest students wrote that they are temples of worship and regurgitation centers.

Hehehe... I think she meant redistribution centers.



2. While grading tests on ancient Rome I came across this gem...

"During the Pax Romana the Romans built a lot of things like the Coliseum and aqua ducks."

I just picture lots of little blue rubber duckies floating atop the aqueducts.



3. Another good one, thankfully from a different student's paper...

"After Caesar died, there were some crazy emperors. Like Caligula- he put his whores in the Senate."

Whoops! I guess next time I'll need to enunciate HORSE instead of whores.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Who the Heck is Hatshepsut? (Re-post)

I've been putting off writing a blog bio of Hatshepsut for a long time. Since I started blogging actually.

Why? Because I wanted to wait until people would actually read the post! Imagine your hero, the one person in the world you've on a pedestal, one so high you can hardly see the top. Now imagine that no one has ever heard about your hero. That's Hatshepsut.

And I want everyone to know what a superstar she was!

So, without further ado, here is Hatshepsut!

Hatshepsut was the daughter of Pharaoh Tutmose I and Queen Ahmose. (BTW- There are multiple spellings of some of these names and I'm going to use the ones I used in my book.) Her father had several other children, but all of them predeceased him except for Hatshepsut and her half-brother, Thutmosis. That's one of the hazards of living back then- life expectancies hovered somewhere around the 30 year mark.

Thutmosis was the son of the Pharaoh and a lesser wife named Mutnofret. When Tutmose died, Thutmosis became Pharaoh. His reign was short- dated anywhere from two to twelve years, but with most historians leaning toward the former. Regardless, the guy's only major accomplishment while on the throne was fathering a son with a dancing girl named Aset and Hatshepsut's daughter, Neferure.

Then he dies.

Aw, what a shame. But not really! Thutmosis kicking the bucket allows Hatshepsut to become regent to her toddler stepson. (And yes, little Tutmose would also be her nephew since he's her brother's kid.)

Anyway...

Hatshepsut sits by dutifully for seven years, ruling for Tutmose like a good little regent. But then, for whatever reason (and we don't really know what this reason is) she declares herself Pharaoh.

Yay!

Only two other women before Hatshepsut were Pharaoh and both were the end of their family lines, the last link in a family to toss on the throne. And both women brought about the end of their family dynasties. Oops.

But Hatshepsut's reign was a total success. She went on to built the architectural marvel of Deir-el-Bahri (there I am in front of it!), organize an expedition to reopen trade to the mythical land of Punt, and keep the peace in her country for a couple decades.

Hatshepsut disappears from the historical record around 1482BCE and then Tutmose gets to take his place on the throne. Late in his reign all references to Hatshepsut as Pharaoh and all her monuments and statues are destroyed. Historians used to think this was an act of revenge against his usurper stepmother, but now it's believed it was merely to secure later successions and erase the aberration of a female ruler from Egypt's history.

Hatshepsut may not be as famous as Cleopatra VII (who lost the entire country to Rome, by the way), but of all the women Pharaohs, Hatshepsut was by far the most successful. In fact, even compared to the entire list of Egypt's rulers, Hatshepsut would still rank up there in the top five. I'm biased, but I'd say she only comes behind Ramesses II and he lived so long (ninety-some-odd-years-old) that his death sunk the country into a slump from which it would never recover.

So yeah. Hatshepsut is a rock star!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Hats, Hats, and More Hats!


We writers wear a lot of hats.

In fact, Elana Johnson just blogged about this. I've been wearing my editing hat since August when I finished the first draft of Hatshepsut. I did manage to put my writing hat on for a while while the MS was curing, but it's been buried in the closet since November. The poor dear is dusty.

I really need two heads (I've always liked the god Janus) because I'm currently wearing my querying hat, but I need to brush off the writing hat and get going on Book #2 again.

Now here's my little secret. Of all my writer's hats (Writing, Editing, Critiquing, Querying), the writing hat is my least favorite.

Shhh!

I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority here. I'm one of those people who has to know what is happening all the time. ALL the time. I'm the only teacher I know who plans out a quarter in advance (sometimes more). I would shrivel up and die without my planner. First drafts are scary because I don't know where they're going 100% of the time. In Book #2 I know the ending (that's what inspired the book- thanks Herodotus!), but I don't have a formula for how to get there. I like editing- that's when I get to play and have fun without wondering if what I'm writing is going to get chopped later on or if I've just killed the story with a new plot twist.

What about you? Which of your writer hats is the most uncomfortable? What do you do to make it better?

On a side note, I'll be exchanging my writing hats for mouse ears and a sombrero the next week- I'm headed to Disneyland and a Mexican cruise. However, I've got some pre-set posts that should come up while I'm gone. See you all when I get back!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Haute Couture, Ancient Egypt Style

It's easy to spot an ancient Egyptian in art, right? They're the ones with the white sheaths or kilts, black hair, and all sorts of goofy crowns. Today, I have for you a run-down of ancient Egyptian dress, haute couture from 3,500 years ago.



Let's start at the top and work our way down. There are a gazillion crowns in ancient Egypt. The most common is sported by the second guy to the left- the Double Crown. The white part symbolizes Upper Egypt (which because the way the Nile runs is actually the bottom part of Egypt) and the red piece symbolizes Lower Egypt. Put the two together and viola! You've got a crown that means you're the big kahuna for the entire country.

The guy on the very left is wearing the blue battle crown, or Khepresh. This wasn't used very often, but Ramesses II was depicted wearing it a fair bit. Of course, he also liked to go to war.

For our last crown up for discussion, we have Nekhbet's vulture headdress on the extreme right. This was a crown usually worn by Egypt's queens, a physical manifestation of the goddess. Typically Nekhbet is depicted as a vulture flying above the Pharaoh's head. Nothing says "I've got your back" like a hovering vulture.

As for clothes, the Egyptians typically stuck to white linen, for obvious reasons. The thinner the linen, the finer it was, with some accounts stating the finest linen was one thread thin and virtually see-through. My guess is that the gal in the middle- the only one not wearing linen- is wearing a beaded gown. By Hatshepsut's time, upper class women often wore beaded overgowns. The lower class women wore less. In fact, female dancers would often dance naked.

Shoes! (Where is Susan when you need her?) If you were situated in one of the upper echelons (love that word!) of Egypt's social classes, you probably wore leather sandals, maybe even golden ones. As a Pharaoh, you probably would have ordered some snazzy footwear with pictures of your enemies on them (like the ones pictured). That way, every time you took a step, you ground those pesky Nubians and Hittites into the dirt. If you were a regular Joe, you mostly would have gone barefoot or been lucky enough to have some lashed papyrus sandals.

There will be more on ancient Egyptian fashion later- wigs, cosmetics, and jewelry! I'm not sure if I'd prefer their clothes or modern style. It sure was simpler back then!

Holy cow! Or holy Roman coin!

Yes, this is a bonus post today, but I just discovered that Muse in the Fog is having a fabulous contest over at her blog Confessions & Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog.

You can win a copy of Michelle Moran's new book, Cleopatra's Daughter and a certified ancient Roman coin. Totally cool! I like Moran because she's one of the only non-fantasy, non-mystery, ancient Egypt writers out there. I hope to join her ranks one day soon!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Writers Are Like Beavers


WARNING: This post is a result of too much grading before Spring Break and my brain working to detox from intense lessons on the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. I'm slightly unhinged.


Beavers are cool.

The little critters (actually not so big- I once mistook one for a bear. I'm a cool Alaskan like that) swim around, chopping down trees with their oversized incisors. Now, I'm no beaver, nor have I ever spoken with one (thank goodness or we'd really have issues), but I would imagine that there are times when munching on hardwoods gets to be rather painful. Not to mention the splinters in your gums.

However, those hardworking beavers keep right on trekking. You never see a beaver lazing about. Heck, they're not known as busy beavers for nothing.

And I'll bet it never occurs to those guys to stop building dams and dens because maybe no one will want their cool new lakeside property. Heck no! They just keep plugging away. And it works. I've never seen a beaver all by himself- the guy (or gal) who builds the dam perseveres, meets some nice beaver friends, and they all hang out and have a great time at the new beaver resort.

Until they run out of trees. But that's kind of irrelevant.

So what is the point of all this beaver mumbo jumbo?

#1- I like beavers.
#2- Beavers work hard, like writers. We can't stop writing. We work our tails off (beavers get to keep theirs) to write the most perfect book we can. Then we put our hearts out there to query the baby we created, never really thinking that not everyone is going to fall in love with it. We're all going to be the next Stephen King, darn it!
#3- Beavers are smart. In the end, everything works out. The beavers have a party. Writers get published and get to see their book on the shelf at Barnes & Noble.
#4- Writers are like beavers. (Just in case you missed that.)

Yeah. That's all I've got for you today. Yay for beavers and other rodentia-like animals!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Take Cover! Prepare Yourselves!

Yes, I plagiarized this from Bane. And he copied it from Matt. (We might be lazy. Maybe.) But this version has new nicknames!


A little over a week ago, Matt (a.k.a. The Mad Scientist) and L.T. Host (a.k.a. Wallaby Woman) were having one of their semi-regular pow-wows about story development and they developed the idea of putting together a team blog.

So they graciously invited Bane (a.k.a. Mr. Sarcastic) and me (a.k.a., the Egyptian Supreme Dictator), and the four of us decided to set up The Secret Archives of the Alliterati. The official launch date is Monday, March 15, but we're announcing it now because we need guest bloggers.

Monday through Thursday, one of us will take the reins and offer up some etherly goodness. However, we need fellow bloggers willing to take up the mantle one day a week as either semi-regular or one-off guest bloggers.

Shoot an email to us at alliteratiarchives@gmail.com if you're interested in either a one-off spot or a semi-regular feature. One of us will make sure to respond to all offers/inquiries/emails about random cute animals (maybe not the last one, but you never know).

And then wait for the week of March 15 (yes, that most certainly is The Ides of March!), where we will visit the awesomeness of The Secret Archives of the Alliterati on the world. You know you'll love it.


So, what do you think our nicknames should be? I've always wanted a gangster name and this might be my only opportunity. And you know Matt, L.T., and Bane want gangster names too!