A creek in early Spring.
Photo finish Friday: “Stop by a creek”
A creek in early Spring.
Filed under 2016, Photo by Lauren Booker, Photo Finish Friday
Haiku to you Thursday: “For us”
Is the sun for us /
or are we merely its guests /
at a feast of light?
Filed under 2016, Haiku to You Thursday, poetry by author
cARtOONSdAY: “cASE lOGIC 6: pAUSE”
The Comma Gang was going to be hard to stop.
Filed under 2016, cartoon by author, CarToonsday
Monday morning writing joke: “Cluck luck”
Q.: Why did Mozart kill his chickens?
A.: Because he asked him who the best composer was and they all said, “Bach, Bach, Bach.”
Chicken out.
Filed under 2016, Monday morning writing joke
Brother, can you spare a bookstore?
Patterson to Acquire Joseph-Beth Booksellers
Source: http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2723#m31970
Author James Patterson is in “late stage negotiations” to purchase Joseph-Beth Booksellers, which operates five bookstores in Kentucky and Ohio. A source with direct knowledge of the talks told Shelf Awareness that Patterson, who has donated millions of dollars in recent years to independent bookstores, frontline booksellers and libraries, “caught the bookselling fever” and decided to become more actively involved in the retail side of the book trade. He plans to change the name to James-Beth Booksellers, honoring both its old and new incarnations.
James Patterson may soon be among a select number of authors who own a bookstore.
Patterson’s move into retail may also be influenced by his own personal book inventory, which includes more than 150 titles (most with co-writers), as well as the children’s imprint JIMMY Patterson and the recently announced BookShots, “a new line of short novels that cost less than $5 and can be read in a single sitting.” A James Patterson aisle is not out of the realm of possibility.
–Robert Gray
Let’s get “fiscal, fiscal”
Lawmaker snaps, files bill demanding fellow lawmakers quit using ‘physical’ when they mean ‘fiscal’
Thank you to the Riverfront Times for bringing us this tidbit from the Missouri legislature:
A state rep from St. Louis, unable to take it any longer, has filed a resolution asking her colleagues in the House of Representatives to please, please stop using the word “physical” when talking about Missouri’s fiscal needs.
“Whereas, on occasion, members of the Missouri House of Representatives have used the word ‘physical’ instead of ‘fiscal’ when referring to fiscal matters including, but not limited to, fiscal review and fiscal notes…” begins House Resolution 1220, offered by Rep. Tracy McCreery.
McCreery tells the Riverfront Times that “fiscal” becomes “physical” almost every single day in the Missouri legislature and she just can’t take it anymore:
The sound of lawmakers screwing up even basic terms as they debate critical financial decisions has become like “nails on a chalkboard” to McCreery and a few of her grammatically sound colleagues.
“There are a lot of reasons to be depressed about the Missouri Legislature, and this just kind of piles on,” she says.
Filed under 2016, English, right word
Photo finish Friday: “Lights out”
Traffic indecisive.
There once was a light in town
that folks just couldn’t get around.
Red, yellow, and also green:
all colors could be seen.
It glowed all day and night —
strong was the town’s light plight.
They couldn’t get anywhere
with that light hanging in the air.
Stuck at a standstill they were;
no thought or action could occur.
Nobody knew what to expect
or which color light to select.
Green meant they should go,
yellow meant I don’t know,
And red meant do no more,
keep your brake down to the floor.
So there were wrecks and bottlenecks
and people who couldn’t trek.
The town was in full mess.
What to do was anyone’s guess.
Then one day in the dead of night
with hoods on to block the light
people stumbled and bumbled around
until they cut the light Hydra down.
They hung it in the town museum
where folks now can come and see them:
all three bright lights —
glowing both day and night.
But they attached a timer switch
so even those caught in its twitch
have a chance to get away
on this, April Fool’s Day.
So, if you ever come to town
and feel life has you down,
go where others have already gone
and watch the lights shine on and on.
–photo and poem by David E. Booker
Filed under 2016, photo by David E. Booker, poetry by author
Haiku to you Thursday: “Stars”
If the stars touch me, /
I will be as one with them /
as I am with you.
Filed under 2016, Haiku to You Thursday, poetry by author
Writing tip Wednesday: “Agent to consider”
New Literary Agent Alert: Elise Erickson of Harold Ober Associates
Elise Erickson of Harold Ober Associates (http://www.haroldober.com/) graduated from St. Olaf College and the NYU Summer Publishing Institute in 2014, and spent several months interning at Penguin’s New American Library imprint, Folio Literary Management, and Susanna Lea Associates before taking on her current position at Harold Ober Associates. She grew up in both Florida and Minnesota, but is quickly learning to love city life in NYC. Elise is passionate about the role and responsibility of the literary agent, especially being an advocate for authors. In addition to working with books, she currently assists in selling Harold Ober’s TV, film, and subsidiary rights, and is actively building a client list of her own.
Interests: Romance and all of its subgenres, women’s fiction, paranormal, mystery including clever cozy mysteries, thrillers, historical fiction, commercial literary fiction, and some YA. She is particularly drawn to stories that contain a strong sense of place, and female protagonists with unique, compelling voices.
Not Looking For: Poetry, Screenplays, Picture Books, Horror, Self-help.
How to Query: Please email the first 15-20 pages of your manuscript, a concise query letter, and a detailed synopsis to
elise [at] haroldober.com.
Filed under 2016, writing tip, Writing Tip Wednesday
cARtOONSdAY: “cASE lOGIC 5: e-tRUNK lINE”
The lawyer told Gumshoe to pick up the E-trunk line: elephant trunk line.
Filed under 2016, cartoon by author, CarToonsday
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