storyfires

February brain-fog is lifting, even though the weather still kind of stinks. I had a good writing day. It's also NATIONAL GRAMMAR DAY, March forth, er, fourth. I know you're excited. Some Grammar Day comics for you: Take this quiz, courtesy of the Grammar Girl website. See how you do. Correct the Celebrity 1. Which album title has the spelling error?       a. “Dutchess,” by Fergie       b. “Growing Pains” by Mary J. Blige       c. “Graduation” by Kanye West       d. None of the above 2. What’s wrong with this lyric by Justin Timberlake? “When you cheated girl, My heart bleeded girl.”       a. It’s perfect as it is. Leave Justin alone!       b. “Bleeded” is not a word. “Bled” is.       c. There should be commas before and after “girl”       d. Both b and c are correct. ...

The last week of February ends tomorrow and I admit, in spite of the rest of it, the month has redeemed itself: First, because the sun came out and there was light . And because snow fell all day one day and stuck to the trees and they stood around like bright-white elegant sculptures in the fog while I took the dog for a walk on the mountain twice. It looked like this: Magical.  Also, because then the sun came out again and shone so hard and warmed up the air so much I went on a bike ride . I don't have a picture of that. But, all that brightness turned on something in my brain, and I rewrote the beginning of Hepzibah again - and decided I have my final beginning . I've said that before, but I believe this time it's true. And then, because of " Bright Star ," which I watched tonight, about the poet John Keats. It was stunning. I love his poetry, loved the movie. I cried. And then I remembered that I got to hear Manachem Pressler play Ch...

Thanks to everyone who joined my blog this month and/or participated in the Ides-of-February book-giveaway. I hate this part of blog contests, because I'd love to give you all a book, just for following my blog, and I can only pick one. I'd love to give everyone in the world a book, kind of like that Coca-Cola song. Too bad. The winner of the Ides-of-February book giveaway: (drumroll please) Pat! Congratulations, Pat. The rest of you, don't give up hope if you didn't win. I'm doing another free-book contest in March, and since so many of you mentioned how much you like Neil Gaiman, I'll be sure to include him again. Also, please feel free to suggest any other books you'd like to see in future giveaways and I'll consider them.

Today is February 15th. The Ides of February. (Insert raised eyebrow and sinister music here). They say the Ides of March are bad luck--what with the anniversary of Caesar's murder and all--but February is so much worse than March, I say the Ides of February must be worse, too. I expect something dreadful any day. On that superstitious note, I say we need something to counteract the bad omen. Free books, I think. Did I say that loudly enough? FREE BOOKS! This time I'm giving you a choice: 1. The Graveyard Book , by Neil Gaiman. It's a beautifully written, incredible story, with a rather disturbing first chapter, which doesn't change my opinion that this book is amazing--it just changes the age of the child I would give it to for a birthday present. When I closed the last page, I sighed and thought: That's how I wish I could write. 2. Rapunzel's Revenge, by Shannon Hale. My ten-year-old son read this in one sitting. It made him an instant Shanno...

Lest anyone has been doubting, yes, I am still alive. I'm trying hard to survive February, my least favorite month of the year (take a peak outside if you want to know why), and the best way I know how to do that is write. Unfortunately for the blog, that doesn't mean blog posts. Sorry, readers. I'll try to do better. But sanity comes first. I have a post about fantasy-writing I've been wanting to write forever. I have books to give away. I promise I'll get back in the swing before the month is out. However, I figure I owe you some updates now, at least. So, Hepzibah: The novel I started several years ago, worked on for a year, put in a drawer for another, got out again, and thought I'd finished. After a couple months' letting her rest and some helpful feedback, I'm back to revising her. So, I sat down to work and was completely embarrassed that I let my writing people read her in this state. Agh! I'm going through with a hatchet, disgusted ...