Quote of the day

Tim O'Brien, speaking about the "sense of place" in writing stories:

"It's not the amount of time you spend in a place that matters; it's the intensity of that time."

as quoted by Rebecca McClanahan in

Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively. Writer's Digest Books: 1999.

Have you read O'Brien's story "The Things They Carried"?

Do you have one minute and fifteen seconds?

If you do, take a look at this video by Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. Scroll down the left side of the page just a bit and you'll see the video under "check out related media."

I like that Ms. Simonson confesses why she didn't write something dark or gritty! We like dark and gritty, but sometimes we need a little something different.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812981227/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1J2EDAFS1KS8YYQQDQDJ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

I just finished this novel, and loved it for an escape from everyday life in Jacksonville, NC.

I found it hilarious in parts. The Major is something else. And so is Mrs. Ali.

book from a blog

I mentioned in class that I’m a blog reader. I just came across this blog today:

www.37days.com

The author, Patti Digh, has also written a book from her blog—Life is a Verb. The 37 days concept came about because her stepfather was diagnosed with lung cancer and died 37 days later. This led Digh to wonder, “What would I do if I only had 37 days to live?” Digh lives in Asheville, NC.

Quote for the day

"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

Voltaire
author and philosopher, 1694-1778

description of winter silence

“Our valley hibernated, and I missed the sounds that marked the passing of each day almost as precisely as a clock: Faustin’s rooster having his morning cough; the demented clatter—like nuts and bolts trying to escape from a biscuit tin—of the small Citroen van that every farmer drives home at lunchtime; the hopeful fusillade of a hunter on afternoon patrol in the vines on the opposite hillside; the distant whine of a chainsaw in the forest; the twilight serenade of farm dogs. Now there was silence. For hours on end the valley would be completely still and empty, and we became curious. What was everybody doing?”

From A Year in Provence

By Peter Mayle

literary tattoos

From Dominique Browning's Slow Love Life blog. She has a book by the same name with the subtitle
How I lost my job, put on my pajamas and found happiness.

http://www.slowlovelife.com/2011/01/body-of-bookstores.html

Quote for the day

Whatever you can do, or believe that you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. -Goethe

Thanks to the Optimal Optimist blog for providing this quote from Goethe.

http://optimaloptimist.blogspot.com/