Today has been a day to dabble. A few words here, a paragraph there. My mind can't stay in one place, but it is enjoying every encounter.
First I would like to start by saying "It was a dark and stormy night."
Do you know what that is?
It is the first line in A Wrinkle in Time
. (Have you read it?) I am rereading this classic young adult fantasy book. I remember so little about it I decided it deserved a second look.
Back to the night. You know, the one that was stormy and dark. It has become a cliche in American writing. Wikipedia informed me that the line is actually an allusion to "the opening words in Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel Paul Clifford." Did you know that? There is whole page dedicated to the pop culture references of said first line.
Second, my friend Chelsie (not to be confused with Chelsea), is having a contest. It is a really fun one so you better go and check it out. You can win your choice of some fabulous books. But really I hope you don't. Cause then I won't be getting the books. But you better not refrain from entering out of some false sense of honor for me, because I sure as heck wouldn't return the favor!
Thirdly, since Thursday I have been giving my writing books a little more love. All the Booking Through Thursday posts inspired me to bring all my writing books to one place and take a look at a few of them. Chelsea and I did a writing exercise I created from Writing fiction: A guide to narrative craft
. This is a supremely awesome writing text book that is no longer in print. It is kind of sad actually. The exercises we did is called "Conflict, Crisis, and Resolution" and is a way to brainstorm story ideas.
The other book I started flipping though was The Writer's Handbook 2001
. I bought this on a whim for 25 cents thinking it wouldn't be of much use to me. But then I flipped through it today and IT IS SO AMAZING! It is collection of essays and other great stuff about writing. This too is only a the used market, but pick it up if you see a copy. There are also newer versions, but I don't know which one is the most current.
I hope every mother out there is having a fabulous day. My kids didn't get the memo!
Did you spend some brief time with something today but it still impacted you a lot? Tell me about it...
First I would like to start by saying "It was a dark and stormy night."
Do you know what that is?
It is the first line in A Wrinkle in Time
. (Have you read it?) I am rereading this classic young adult fantasy book. I remember so little about it I decided it deserved a second look.Back to the night. You know, the one that was stormy and dark. It has become a cliche in American writing. Wikipedia informed me that the line is actually an allusion to "the opening words in Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel Paul Clifford." Did you know that? There is whole page dedicated to the pop culture references of said first line.
Second, my friend Chelsie (not to be confused with Chelsea), is having a contest. It is a really fun one so you better go and check it out. You can win your choice of some fabulous books. But really I hope you don't. Cause then I won't be getting the books. But you better not refrain from entering out of some false sense of honor for me, because I sure as heck wouldn't return the favor!
Thirdly, since Thursday I have been giving my writing books a little more love. All the Booking Through Thursday posts inspired me to bring all my writing books to one place and take a look at a few of them. Chelsea and I did a writing exercise I created from Writing fiction: A guide to narrative craft
. This is a supremely awesome writing text book that is no longer in print. It is kind of sad actually. The exercises we did is called "Conflict, Crisis, and Resolution" and is a way to brainstorm story ideas.The other book I started flipping though was The Writer's Handbook 2001
. I bought this on a whim for 25 cents thinking it wouldn't be of much use to me. But then I flipped through it today and IT IS SO AMAZING! It is collection of essays and other great stuff about writing. This too is only a the used market, but pick it up if you see a copy. There are also newer versions, but I don't know which one is the most current.I hope every mother out there is having a fabulous day. My kids didn't get the memo!
Did you spend some brief time with something today but it still impacted you a lot? Tell me about it...
I spent my day dabbling through "Home-Buying for Dummies". I assume putting in to practice what I'm reading will "change my life"!
ReplyDeleteI love to go through writing books. It is another matter that I sel;dom follow those. I too need to re-read A Wrinkle in Time.
ReplyDeleteI spent time with my mom. Lots of it.
I've re-read the whole sequence of L'Engle books over this past year and was very glad I went back to them. They ought to be better known in the Uk than they are.
ReplyDeleteThe list of pop-culture references for 'A dark and stormy night' was fun. I kind of want to read the source now, 'Paul Clifford'. :P
ReplyDeleteI just bought A Wrinkle in Time at Target the other day. I have never read it! I hope to get to it in a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteI reread A Wrinkle in Time the other week--and then I read L'Engle's A Circle of Quiet (a memoir) where she talks about the American versus UK versions of Wrinkle. She says: "I was asked if I would mink if the setting of the story were identified as being in America. I replied that I didn't think it was very important, but if they felt it to be essential, go ahead....The English edition begins, 'It was a dark and stormy night in a small village in the United States.'" (She wasn't too happy, I don't think.) Hmmm, I wonder why it may not be as popular in the UK...talk about taking away the magic. [Reviews of both books at my blog.]
ReplyDeleteI haven't read A Wrinkle In Time. It's one of those I keep planning on reading then forgetting until it pops up like this. Hopefully I get around to it now!
ReplyDeleteWrinkle in Time is one of my favorites. I loved it as a kid and am still a fan. Unfortunately, I've never been able to get my students into it. It may be on the young side for 7th graders these days.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see so many people reading it, though.