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As a weekly columnist for the Los Angeles Times, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Héctor Tobar has eloquently and convincingly challenged his readers’ assumptions about the diverse people who imbue this vast metropolis with a complex, thriving and, at times, petulant spirit. As a native Angeleno and the son of Guatemalan immigrants, Tobar’s columns often highlight the multifaceted Latino experience by painting exquisite portraits of individuals who want nothing more than to earn a living, get an education or raise a family. And yes, some of his subjects are undocumented immigrants. Such subjects inevitably produce flurries of angry and sometimes ugly e-mails from certain quarters of his readership. Tobar has been doing this long enough not to be surprised by such a response. Undaunted and apparently energized, he continues to bring these Southern California stories to us, something for which we must be grateful in this age of vitriolic blogs, venal politicians and ravenous 24-hour news cycles.
Tobar now brings us a thrilling and vital novel, The Barbarian Nurseries (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $27.00 hardcover), where he asks us to consider what would happen if an undocumented housekeeper is wrongly (and very publicly) accused of kidnapping the young sons of an apparently affluent Orange County couple?
The novel has already garnered great advance praise. Dagoberto Gilb says that Tobar's protagonist, Araceli Ramirez, “has flesh, brains, dreams, ambition, history, culture, voice: a rich, generous life. A story that was demanded, we can celebrate that it is now here." And Susan Straight calls the novel “astonishing, like a many-layered mural on a long wall in Los Angeles, a tapestry of people and neighborhoods and stories.”
The Barbarian Nurseries will be available online tomorrow, and in bookstores throughout the country on October 4. Tobar graciously agreed to sit down with La Bloga to discuss his new novel:
DANIEL OLIVAS: In your weekly columns for the Los Angeles Times, you often touch on the issue of immigration. Why did you decide to approach the topic in fiction form?
HÉCTOR TOBAR: I’ve been writing books, or trying to, for almost twenty years. Way back in the 1990s, I quit my newspaper job (temporarily) to get an MFA in Fiction. I wrote The Barbarian Nurseries, a story with an immigrant woman at its center, not because I wanted to write about immigration, but because I wanted to write about the California and the United States of my time. Today, in the country and state I live in, immigration is a defining issue. I’m the son of immigrants, and have lived in California off and on since I was born. I can remember a time of great openness toward newcomers (the 1960s and 70s) and have since seen the evolution of a powerful resentment toward immigrants. That arc of California history is what I’ve lived. It’s shaped who I am and how I see the world. I’m a writer and that life experience is the most important thing I have to write about.
DO: Your protagonist, Araceli Ramirez, a live-in housekeeper for Scott Torres and Maureen Thompson, is judgmental, prickly and does not like children. Why did you take the risk of putting someone like her in the middle of the immigration debate?
1 Comments on Interview with Héctor Tobar regarding his new novel, “The Barbarian Nurseries”, last added: 9/26/2011
Holy crap guys, I am running three, that is right THREE contests this week. Two were set to end on the 28th and one on the 30th, but I have decided that's a bit silly isn't, so how about they all run through Friday the 30th. Soooooo PLEASE ENTER!
Here they are:
Contest #1: Spread the word about ROOKIE and DEAR BULLY and you could win a boatload of stuff! Signed copies of I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE, BALLADS, and DEAR BULLY (well that one will only be signed by me, sorry I can't get the more exciting authors, but you will at least get to read their essays!) PLUS copies of my zines PLUS the lovely Karen Mahoney is giving up a signed copy of THE IRON WITCH. Yeah, that is a lot of prizes. Find out the details and enter here.
Contest #2: Win Patricia Ann McNair's TEMPLE OF AIR. This book rocks. Patty rocks. She was one of my best professors. She is super cool. Learn about it and win it here.
Contest #3 Win the ENTHRALLED anthology. Jeri Smith-Ready is putting this up for grabs and you can learn about it here and read an interview with Logan Keeley as it is his story that Jeri tells in ENTHRALLED.
I'm actually kinda sorta bummed that the entries are so low in these contests. (Well, except for the ENTHRALLED contest. You guys are very excited about that one.) But that means everyone who enters has a really good chance to win, so pretty please enter?
I'm pondering taking a blog and contest hiatus because it seems none of my contests and blog posts have gotten as many comments as usual lately. Maybe it's just an end of summer/beginning of school thing and much like traffic at the bar where I work is down, so is blog traffic? Though, I think this is partially my fault because I took that blog hiatus around this time last year and maybe it never recovered. Or I'm boring cause I haven't had a book out in a while (sorry, working on that!) or I'm too terribly long-winded (again, apologies, can't help that). So maybe that means it would be really dumb to take another hiatus, but the fact is that I'm spread INSANELY thin right now between teaching, writing for ROOKIE, writing fiction, bartending, group blogging, and maybe sometimes occasionally wanting to spend time with my loved ones so something has to give and since it doesn't seem like there is much interest on this blog anymore it might be this. But I dunno. I've said this before and I've always come back because this is my outlet.... However, I think ROOKIE is becoming more and more outlet for memory/essay/dish on my teen self type things. And I wonder if the whole interview/contest thing is done too many other places so that is why there is less interest. So that leaves me with writing life type stuff which I may keep blogging about here, but that too seems to be covered in a lot of other places maybe better than I can do. Then I've got my muses and inspirations, music I love etc, but that might be better suited for my new tumblr....
So yeah, I'm just not sure. This blog might have to take a backseat for a bit again for better or for worse. I'm sure I'll have the overwhelming urge to babble about something so it's not like it will completely disappear. Then once my life feels a bit less chaotic hopefully I can figure out what its purpose should be and give it a better direction that will interest you all again. As usual if you have insights, please
2 Comments on Dudes, there are CONTESTS!, last added: 9/27/2011
I understand that you have a lot of things going on in your life now and it'll be easier if you sort out the priorities but OH PLEASE DON'T LEAVE THIS BLOG! Sorry, that had to be in caps. I love your posts. And interviews and look forward to them. I might not comment on every one of them but I do read them all on Google Reader. You're invaluable to the blogger world in your own way. I don't think anyone talks about books and music with equal enthusiasm the way you do. Or maybe I just haven't come across them, but that's not the point. I hope your writing goes well, and everything else falls into place. And I do hope you come back to this blog once in a while, Stephanie :)
Aww Bee, thank you so much. I'm sure I won't leave completely, I might just be sporadic for awhile til I get things under better control. You are so sweet and I'm glad you think I'm contributing to the blogging world and that you love Ballads so :) Thanks!!!!
This post continues to chronicle my attendance at the Telluride at Dartmouth program at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Days 1 & 2 can be found here.
Lynne Ramsay is a director of exceptional visual and aural skill, as anyone who has seen her films Ratcatcher and Morvern Callar can attest. I adored Ratcatcher and found Morvern Caller rather a bore, which seems to be a somewhat idiosyncratic view, as lots of people who saw both loved the second film even more than they did the first. What we can all agree on, though, is that a new Lynne Ramsay movie is a cause for celebration. And when that new movie stars just about my favorite living film actor, Tilda Swinton, it becomes for me a great event.
I have not read the acclaimed novel by Lionel Shriver that We Need to Talk About Kevin is based on, and I was just about to read it when I heard about the film, so I decided to wait. I have seldom wished I had read a book before seeing a movie based on it, and so whenever possible, I don't read the book first. That turned out to be, it seems, an especially good decision here, because I had dinner after the film with friends, some of whom had read the book, and it was clear that that would have changed my viewing somewhat by adding more context to Swinton's character of Eva.
Ramsay is brave and nearly alone among narrative filmmakers in her willingness to subsume almost all exposition within image and sound -- to suggest, hint, and gesture toward exposition rather than state it. (It is no surprise that Tarkovsky and Malick are to her taste, and in Ratcatcher she even used some of the Carl Orff music from Malick's Badlands.) What we get in We Need to Talk About Kevin, then, is not so much a story as a portrait of a psyche. Things happen, certainly, and there's a major climax that the film works its way toward, but the movement of the film is associational, imagistic, musical. Meaning is created not through dramatic scenes, but through colors and sounds, camera angles, montage, repetitions. The story is not presented so much as unearthed -- this is filmmaking as psychic archaeology.
The film's slow revelation of the events at its heart is its most traditional feature, and one that creates tension and suspense. However, I don't know if it's a feature I much like. On one hand, it's good to have tension and suspense. On the other hand, it feels a bit like a cheat, because it puts the audience and the characters on very different levels -- in the present-time scenes, the characters all know what has happened, and so their behaviors are explicable, but the audience stays ignorant, though we certainly intuit early on that Something Bad Has Happened. Had the movie been solely concerned with Eva's mind and perceptions, it wouldn't have hidden so much information; obviously, then, the movie is not solely concerned with Eva. Or, to look at it differently, Ramsay and co-screenwriter Rory Kinnear thought we would be better able to experience and evaluate Eva's perceptions if we did not share her knowledge. (Or they may have just decided to stick with the book's structure; I'm told it is as slow to reveal the major events as the movie is, if not slower.)
In a traditional narrative, keeping the viewer (or reader) from knowing
1 Comments on Telluride at Dartmouth: We Need to Talk About Kevin, last added: 9/27/2011
Ooh, I'm happy to learn of this movie. I loved Ratcatcher (though I, too, thought Morvern Callar was largely a bore).
(Have you seen the interview with Ramsay that accompanies the Criterion dvd of Ratcatcher? She talks about the score, and how her friends were surprised she was using the Orff, because it was so famously in Badlands. She says, amusingly, "I don't care if it was in Badlands!"
The feature panel came in the mail a few weeks ago. It really is something to have the work you breathed, slept and ate and put your heart into for such an intense period of time, right there in tangible form. I am so happy to see it, and yes I am bursting at the seams! I actually did tear up a teeny bit when I saw this in person. Colors look rich and deep—so pretty!
I showed the panel to my friends' three-year-old daughter this weekend. She went pretty crazy for the ice cream cone kitty—so funny! I am so looking forward to having some stuff for her whipped up from Jive Cats fabric. It's going to be just perfect for her.
Here is a "sell card". There is one for each colorway. These are large (11 x 17) heavy card stock, accordion-fold printed pieces with four panels containing images and information about the line. The Northcott Sales team will use these to introduce the line to their clients.
The printed piece features all of the pertinent information about the line.It also includes quilting patterns created exclusively for Jive Cats—very neat! The talented quilt designers at Northcott came up with some fantastic quilt designs for the collection. You can see the beautiful quilt designs here in the right rail. (I'm so tempted to commission someone to make a Jive Cats a quilt!)
1 Comments on Jive Cats: First Look, last added: 9/26/2011
First I think it would be good to go over the difference between tone and voice?
Tone reflects the mood or attitude of the writing. Tone usually refers to all the ways in which a voice may enrich or modify the meanings of spoken words. There are many varieties of tones possible in speech. Tone can be condescending, or whining, or aggressiveness. We can be comforted by tones that are sympathetic or soothing or up lifted by the tone of a story.
Robert L Bacon says, “Voice is you. Should you and another person write a book about the identical topic, your story will reflect your way of telling the tale via words and syntax that differ from what the other writer has used. So when you write a book, and the critics proclaim a fantastic new voice has roared onto the scene, these pundits are talking specifically about you, because you are the voice of your writing. And a unique voice indeed.”
Here are some things you can use to help with tone.
Find a book or two that reflects the tone you are trying to achieve with your book. Before you start writing spend 15 or 20 minutes reading a passage in one of those books. This should help you set the tone with what you are writing.
Examine each sentence of that passage, considering the rhythm and word choices. Is there something you can make your own? Don’t copy. Use it to stir up your creative juices.
Look at your own work-in-progress. Find a paragraph that sounds exactly the way you want to sound for this book. Print it out and tape it to your computer, so that it’s always in front of you.
Try moving sentences around. Does that change the tone? Does it make it better?
Starts and finishes are especially important to tone. Try moving some of your best sentences, the ones with energy and just the right tone, up to the top of your document. Could your book start with one of those great sentences? Experiment. Moving strong sentences to the conclusion of your book may create a more cohesive ending.
Hmmmm…and I was under the impression that it was the “voice” that set the “tone!” I’m SO confused lol
Donna
Eileen Balesteri said, on 9/26/2011 9:53:00 AM
This is really great information!
I totally get where you’re coming from…
I find it even applies to everyday life, especially with regard to short blips on social networking sites (FB, Twitter -which I have yet to master!- & texting…)
I often worry that my tone is being misinterpreted, (especially since I’m so bad at expressing myself verbally!) so I tend to write too much in areas that are intended for short exchanges.
Tone, for me, is like the literary version of the acronyms & smiley faces we use to quickly communicate, and our chosen words are the voice…
The Tempest by William Shakespeare Illustrated by Arthur Rackham Gramercy Books, 1993
Arthur Rackham is considered one of the great artists from the Golden Age of illustration. He was in a special league with other hugely talented illustrators such as Edmund Dulac, Kay Nielsen and W. Heath Robinson. Rackham's work continues to inspire and influence legions of artists. His first edition books are extremely collectible.
Though Shakespeare's works are not my cup of tea, I'll buy any book that is illustrated by Arthur Rackham (that I can afford), and found this copy of The Tempest at a library sale.
It’s the gadget innovation that makes the functionality easier. For the office purpose gadgets, this need fulfillment is even more urgent, because the office works are getting more and more complex. The visit to the link at www.rightshopping.in/g/it.asp?C=Office%20Gadgets-India&cid=9 flashes out the latest offerings in this regard.
Today's Doonesbury strip struck me as particularly apt today. There was a nice piece in the Parade about the effects of the economy on the Parker Public Library in Arizona, which, though depressing, showed that folks value the library. Except then there's the fact that hundreds of library aides in LAUSD elementary schools just had their last day of work on Friday, a horrific and barbaric situation on which Steve Lopez has done a good job reporting.
The powers that be, whether at LAUSD or in government, give lots of lip service to libraries (and to education and kids in general) - but all those things are the first to be cut. If we were to gift politicians and bureaucrats with Skulls of Truth, they'd all sound a lot like our Honest Man above. Who cares whether we have any educated or literate young adults 20 years from now? Let's slash libraries and education and health care to the poor right now, 'cause it's low-hanging fruit. After all, it'd be "class warfare" to pick on the poor rich people and apparently it's just useless to get anyone, Democrat or Republican, to understand that spending money on education today means spending less money on jails tomorrow (or rather, in 20 years - but that's science fiction to politicians) - not to mention that maybe, just maybe, it might be best to have citizens who are literate and well-educated and healthy and productive.
Grrr.
2 Comments on Sartre called it Bad Faith, last added: 9/27/2011
Banned Books Week is here! I hope you will celebrate the freedom to read this week by reading a banned book. ALA is hosting a virtual Read Out so I decided to join in the fun and celebrate by reading one of my favorites, A Wrinkle In Time.
I also wanted to re-post my review of Sarah Ockler's novel, Twenty Boy Summer, since it was recently banned in my community and Sarah will be visiting my library this week. Rating: 4/5 Stars
Genre: Contemporary
Release Date: 6/1/09
About the Book: Frankie, Anna and Matt have always been inseparable. Then one summer changed everything-Matt and Anna become something more. They spend a month sneaking out and sharing a summer romance-until the tragic accident that Matt dies in.
Now, a year later, Anna is joining Frankie and family on their first summer vacation without Matt. Frankie is convinced if they find a boy every day, Anna will have a summer romance. Anna still keeps her and Matt a secret and she's not sure she's ready to let Matt go.
GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: A perfect book for readers wanting summer romance with something deeper. The story deals with loss, grief, and letting go without being bogged down in those issues. Sarah Ockler does something amazing-she manages to tie together something tragic with the sweetness and happiness of first love. I don't know how she pulls it off, but it all comes together in a great story that has many layers and readers are in for a treat.
6 Comments on Celebrate Banned Books Week, last added: 9/29/2011
"A Wrinkle in Time" is also one of my favorite childhood reads! I'm planning on reading a banned book a week during BBW. I always find the reasoning of the challenge/ban interesting because it's almost always tackles the same issue that people are arguing against it.
Rummanah-We got a book in from ALA that had a big list of challenges and bannings. It listed all sorts of titles for all ages and why they were challenged. It was a very interesting book to browse through! You're right-most of the time the book is tackling the issue people are arguing against. A Wrinkle In Time shows a fight between good and evil, but that often gets overlooked when people are challenging it. Much like Harry Potter!
Whenever I see a banned book, I secretly hope that it will make teens want to read the book even more. Sometimes the whole mystique of why the book was banned will draw people to read a book they might have overlooked otherwise. I know that is how I felt when I was a teen :)
This is one of the first books I read when I started blogging YA. I enjoyed it but see so much advancement in the realistic fiction field. I liked her book Fixing Delilah even better.
Ashlyn Baptiste is falling. One moment she was nothing—no memories, no self—and then suddenly, she's plummeting through a sea of stars. Is she in a coma? She doesn't remember dying, and she has no memories of the life she left
3 Comments on New Release Roundup: September 25 - October 1, 2011, last added: 9/26/2011
So many great books coming out this week! My wallet has already taken quite a hit w/ a handful of these, but I'm thinking another trip to the bookstore is in order :0) Thanks for making the list!
I love these posts but my bank account HATES them. Already read and loved Lola and Smoke & Bone, but I'm dying to get my hands on The Name of the Star and The Faerie Ring...we'll see how it works out, lol.
I was lucky enough to win a copy of Lola and the Boy Next Door and loved it. Now I cannot wait for both The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and Daughter of Smoke and Bones, which I pre-ordered. I am also wnat to get The Faerie Ring and The Name of the Star. This week is definitely going to put a dent in my bank account.
September 14 marked my 1 Year Bogiversary. I was lucky enough to have a great line up of guest bloggers help me celebrate! This is a recap of the fabulous posts for you to enjoy!
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Why Children's Books? by The1stdaughter of There's a Book. Her site is a wonderful resource for parents who are looking for fabulous books to share with their children. Danielle knows how vital books are in the lives of kids and she is able to write about them in a way that lets parents know exactly what to be reading. Danielle has been a very loyal follower and contributor to Book Talk Tuesday. We share links and resources regularly on Twitter and Pinterest. Danielle has been an important part on my virtual learning community! Thank you for writing this post for me... I can think back to all of the pivotal times on my life and I know exactly which book I was reading. Books have shaped my life and I am a better person for all of the times spent devouring books.
Never Too Busy to Read by 11 year old Addy Smith. Of all the famous, published and well-known guest bloggers I have been lucky enough to host this week, none of them hold a candle to my next guest. Addy Smith is a sixth grader at Lemme School, but she could be a freshman in college. She is an amazing young lady. She reads like crazy, and reads all sorts of great books. We have been known to have 45 minute conversations about which faction we would choose if we were Tris. We have gotten caught up in our discussions of why we think Gale is so much better for Katniss than Peeta. And these conversations are some of the best I have ever had about books. Addy knows her stuff and can articulate her opinion better than girls 10 years her senior. But she isn't only good at reading- she is a whiz at math too and she is tech savvy. She is a caring big sister and someone I trust to look after the little tykes in the library when I need her. She is dependable and has a good head on her shoulders. She is funny and witty and I truly love spending time talking with her. You would think that a kid that has all of this and a bag of chips going for her would let it go to her head- and be smug and snooty. No. Not Addy. She is down to earth and she knows where she is going in life. I adore this girl and I know she will do big things with her life. I know she has her heart set on being a obstetrician (she told me that 6 years ago when I first met her in kindergarten), but do
1 Comments on Blogiversary Round Up!, last added: 9/28/2011
The other fun to do is: when a crowded elevator empties, leaving only you and one other person, instead of doing the courtesy shift to fill the newly vacated space, stay exactly where you are, now standing awkwardly close to the other person. But act like everything is perfectly normal.
I know exactly how you feel. Once when I was at a hospital, I was going up the service elevator and the BIG motorcycle/gang guy got on. As we were going up he turned to me and said "I bet your afraid of me" then gave a very evil sounding chuckle. I should have had my nose in the corner. I've never been able to go up in elevators by myself again!
Hahaah I feel the same way. I feel it more awkward when it's you and just one more other person. Especially if you have to ride more than 5 levels. Awkwardness to the max.
Teen reader Leanette created a fan trailer for Scars, for a project in her Reading For Pleasure class in high school. What a thrill to see a reader create a beautiful trailer that captures the emotion and the story of the book through text, music, and photos! (beaming)
2 Comments on Teen Reader fan trailer for Scars, last added: 9/27/2011
Hey blogger world! I hope everyone has had a great weekend. I know today is Stand Out Synposis day, but I haven't gotten any entries this week so instead I thought I'd let you in on what I have been up too. (As soon as I get some more in, you'll be the first to know! So hurry up and get those synopsis in!):-)
The weather has been horrible here in Rhode Island. For September it has been hot and humid and gross. I don't even have an air conditioner anymore because we took them out thanks to Irene, and we figured what was the use of putting them back in when the summer was basically over. Stupid, Stupid.
Anyway, I know many of you have been wondering how I am doing with sewing my son's costume, so I thought I'd post a picture for you to see. Not a bad looking guy huh? He looks like he belongs on a cover of a book.
It's a renaissance shirt, anyway, notice the sword he is holding, that is why my son picked it; he wants the sword the model has in the picture. I didn't argue, because the shirt looked fairly easy to make, minus me remembering how to sew again. Besides, the model is pretty easy on the eyes. Hey, you have to refer to the picture once in a while to make sure your sewing looks right. Might as well have a nice picture to look at.
(And yes the cushion you see in the back round I sewed as well)
And here is my version, not exactly the same but, I'm not done yet. I have to finish the cuffs on the arms so it has the same banding as the the collar and hem the bottom. I think it will take me a total of 3 weekend days to finish. Not bad for someone who hasn't sewn in years.
As for writing I decided to put the editing on my WIP aside. I figured after all the great feed back I got on it this week, I need walk away for a while. Instead, I have opened up an older WIP and started editing and finishing that. (I squeezed that in, in the early morning hours this weekend). It's not YA, it's a romantic contemporary and I hope to finish it before spring at the rate I'm going.
So tell me, what have you been up to this weekend? Have you gotten any writing in like I have? Anything fun go on? Tell me curious minds want to know!
2 Comments on What I'm Up to these days, last added: 10/6/2011
Great looking shirt! I wish I could sew, but sadly, I almost failed 8th grade sewing. The nighgown I made my sister that year did not survive. Thankfully I have friends and family who kindly help out. :)
I know we should be posting picture book illustrations, but I hope I won't be sent into detention for showing a B/W text illustration, it's from the Japanese edition of Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors.
1 Comments on Teacher trauma, last added: 9/26/2011
No detention at all John, all art or illustrator news is welcome here. I really like to see black/white work along with the colour. Thanks for joining in :o)
That's gorgeous, Jennifer. Can you imagine to be in a place like that?
What I saw of Canada, which was not that much, was very beautiful, but everything there is more expensive than here. Do you believe that I did not buy anything there? I wanted but it's not worth it. I can buy everything cheaper here.
Surprising numbers of children have eaten dog food.
This was the unexpected finding of my first bookshop signing. Determined to have plenty of interesting things for kids to do (and to avoid ending up behind a table bleating “Please buy my book!”) I had compiled a quiz on childhood misdoings. A sort of survey, if you like. As the heroine of my book, Martha, is a real “little stinker” I thought it would be fun to find out how many other little stinkers there are out there. So I compiled a list and handed it out.
Well, it turned out they were a pretty well-behaved bunch in Waterstone’s. However much they enjoyed reading about naughty characters, and chuckling at their exploits (they were good enough to chuckle loudly at Martha’s) they scored low on the naughtiness index. A more polite, obedient, considerate bunch I have seldom met. Maybe this is a sign that reading books makes for a well-behaved child? (And is yet one more reason to reverse those library cuts?)
Except when it came to eating dog food. Then it was a different story.
A little girl came up to me. Did cat food count, she wanted to know?
Certainly, I replied.
Include cat food, and everyone seemed to have tucked into their pet’s dinner, one time or another. One parent revealed that the family cat could only be fed when her son was elsewhere; another waxed nostalgic about the childhood joys of nibbling Whiskas.
Hmm. I grew up with a family dog – and somehow I never once felt like sharing his supper.
Anyhow, it certainly broke the ice, and the signing went with a swing. There were ups and downs, of course. I had brought too few colouring sheets. A friend of mine went dashing onto the street in search of photocopiers: thank you, Thomas Cook, who gallantly responded to his plea and ran off extra copies! Thank you everyone who did so much to help in different ways.
So here you go (be honest now):
Have you ever flushed your sister’s homework down the toilet?
Have you sneaked food from fridge, cupboard or biscuit tin?
Have you ever tried to sell your brother?
Have you eaten dog food?
Have you ever made a cake from dog food and served it to your family?
I’m glad to reveal that nobody said “Yes” to the last one. It wasn’t one of Martha’s misdeeds either. It was my sister.
Your event sounds like great fun. I was the shy quiet girl at school but I was always best friends with the naughty daredevils (still am). I never exactly sold my brother - it was more like an extreme swap!!
I ate cat food. I decided the cat was more interesting than my baby brother so I would be a cat, thank you. I ate his food, I balanced on dangerous ledges he walked along (with some ill effects) and tried to go in and out through the cat flap.
Some years ago I worked in Child Protection. Met a woman who, as a child, had looked after the family from the age of 11 - and was abused by her father. She regularly made him stews of dog food, the only way she could think of to get back at him.
They were pink. And intended for a corgi. So I don't think it really counts. Besides, I only ate 3. And I didn't even touch the green ones. I mean, that would be totally disgusting.
We have a small-dog flap, and grandson Max loves using it, though at almost 4 he's getting a bit big for it. I ate dog chocs when I was a kid, when there was nothing more interesting in the cupboard. I can still remember the way they didn't melt properly, but lay claggily against my tongue. It was the only time I ate them. I've never been a great one for any kind of tinned meat, so dog-food wouldn't appeal. And I loathe offal. My bruv and I 'stole' (my parents' word) food from the larder, raisins, and so on, and were regularly called to account, with great severity. I always told my own kids they were welcome to help themselves if they were hungry, especially when they'd just come home from school. They have both turned into extremely slim adults.
Me and my sister tried dog choc drops once when we were desperate for a chocolate fix. Taste of nothing although smell good. Otherwise we led boringly blameless lives. I do stilll occasionally try the wippitties biscuits to see what they're like. And I have a really good recipe for peanut butter oatie doggy crunchies that taste much better than the usual commercial jobbies ... feel free to pop round for coffee and cookies if you're in the area and want to relive a misspent yoof ...
Neat idea for a book signing. I think you were wise to have yes/no questions - open-ended on something like "what's the most revolting thing you've ever eaten?" could have been just a little bit too much info...
By the way, How To Make Bad Children Good is an excellent book! I have just finished reading my copy of it and it cheered a weary evening. Book soon to be on on its way to seven-year old Daisy.
By Candy Gourlay
Kuper's piece in last Saturday's FT Magazine
In this past weekend's FT Magazine, Simon Kuper wrote a piece entitled How I lost my love of reading - the illustration by Luis Granena was of a man struggling to carry massive tomes on his back. Kuper writes:
My daughter (age five) simply lives the book. Better, she doesn't know yet that books are both status symbols and good for
19 Comments on Does writing affect one's love of reading?, last added: 9/27/2011
This is me and I fear I am becoming a book bore. On reading the first page of my book club choice this month, I sighed heavily saying 'well that's a cheap devise to get me hooked.' <br /><br />Spoiled. Mind you, when a book does suck me in, it's all the more magic for it!
Interesting, Candy. For me, this problem happened years ago - doing an English degree and then PhD meant for a while that I analysed books rather than enjoying them. But after a while, the analysis part becomes assimilated and the enjoyment returns but is enriched by understanding and knowledge. It means you can work out why something works - but you don't have to, after a while you just know
>Mind you, when a book does suck me in, it's all the more magic for it!<br /><br />Well that's the amazing thing isn't it ... the books that can surprise and delight readers as jaded as us are real treasure! I've read a three books like that recently, couldn't put them down, read under the covers by torchlight ... so satisfying.
Helen Peters said, on 9/26/2011 2:32:00 AM
Ooh, Candy, tell us what those three books were!<br /><br />Great post - I think the advice to slow down is spot on. I left the first draft of my book alone for the whole of the school summer holidays, although sometimes I was itching to pick it up and read it. The first draft had been a rush to get the story down on paper and see if it made sense. But in those seven weeks spent doing other
Oh lord, and I thought it was just happening to me - I am so glad I'm not alone. Both a degree in English literature, and now writing, seem to have dulled my appetite for books, or rather, books that are anything less than excellent (which, I acknowledge is entirely subjective). With many, I struggle to get past the first chapter, if I'm not engaged, I find it hard to continue, I find I
Well it's very subjective - what I love might not be your cup of tea ... but for what it's worth - Fifteen Days Without a Head by Dave Cousins (in manuscript form), Moon Pie by Simon Mason and The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan (I read this 19 years ago through the night while at the bedside of my first born in hospital ... picked it up recently and couldn't put it down).
Candy & I have had this conversation before! But this blog reminds me what law school did to me. I spent so MANY hours reading cases - reams and reams and reams... - and having to pick out the important points. Usual with a highlighter in one hand. I went through literally years when I just couldn't read for pleasure any more, couldn't even read at a normal speed. <br />When I started
My daughter (17) and a fair few of her mates are still in love with the world of Harry POtter. They reread and play on Pottermore because they LOVE the characters. <br />I do find that I can suspend my critical faculties fairly easily which probably says less about the books and more about me.<br />Interesting post, Candy. Thanks!
what a coincidence, my family is re-watching all the HP movies and last weekend we watched The Prisoner of Azkhaban - what a brilliant ending! JK Rowling deserves some kudos for making us suspend our critical faculties! (It's not just you)
And there are some books that just take you beyond all of that nevertheless. One or two will stop Chunterhead. (That's what I call my perpetual inner editor) Occasionally one of my students will do the same. Recent e.g. "The Horses" by Elaine Walker. Recommended. <br />But even so, I don't think Chunterhead matters all that much. it allows me, in a perverse way, to enjoy some
I've been through phases like this before, but happily I still seem able to immerse myself in fiction without any side effects. One thing I have noticed though, is that I've become harder to please over the years. I enjoy reading lots of books, but very few hit that magic spot. I think that's probably why I started to write my own stories.
>I enjoy reading lots of books, but very few hit that magic spot.<br /><br />I'll bet everyone's got a different magic spot. When I was younger, anything with time travel or amnesia was cool. Now I can't get into a book unless I really care for the characters.
I can still immerse myself, though the book has to be pretty good - but perhaps unusually, I'm willing to read more than one page before making my judgement about reading on. Trouble is, while immersed, I'm also feeling guilty that this is writing time going awol. And like most of you, I also stop occasionally and think aha that's what is happening. I try to make it a learning point
Gosh and I thought it was just me! <br /><br />So interesting to read others thoughts on your topic Candy. I think that we edit our own work to the point of nearly going crazy and then start 're-editing' and dissecting the books that we have bought for enjoyment!<br /><br />I hasten to add that I didn't re-edit Tall Story!
Yes, I have become hypercritical too. In fact, when doing critique I have to do my first read-through while sitting on my hands, otherwise I'm in there marking up mistakes without even getting into the story.<br /><br />I do find I'm much less critical with books written by people I don't know. I think there's a competitive pressure that surrounds work by my peers and it makes me
Hello, Reader Friends and welcome to this week's In My Mailbox, which is hosted by The Story Siren. This has been a good book week for me. I got some things that I bought in the All 4 Alabama Auction:
Divergent, by Veronica Roth - with temporary tattoos!
And a signed copy of Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews
Then Luke and I went to McKays where I traded in a bunch of books for store credit and got:
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide
The Reader's Bathroom Reader - a bunch of lists and book trivia and stuff
Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min
Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer
10 Comments on In My Mailbox (23), last added: 9/28/2011
Elizabeth Mosier has been celebrating the launch of her novella "The Playgroup" this week, and this afternoon friends from all corners of her life gathered in appreciation of both her work and her spirit.
I came home with 114 photographs and share but a handful of them here. There's Chris, Libby's cupcake-stacking husband. There's Libby's youngest, Cat, on the right, tempting the rest of us with treats. There's Libby herself, reading to those who gathered, and, below her, her eldest, Alison, listening to words long-wrought and savored. Finally, among the cast of mothers, teachers, friends, and writers stood Kelly Simmons, whose second novel, The Bird House, I loved, and Lynn Rosen, the creator of the fabulous Open Book series.
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I had the honor of interviewing Meredith Allard the author of Her Dear & Loving Husband (Copperfield Press, 2011), a paranormal love story set around the Salem Witch Trials about her experience in the publishing world. She received B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from California State University, Northridge, and since 2000, Meredith has been the executive editor of The Copperfield Review, a journal for readers and writers of historical fiction, named one of the top sites for new writers by Writer’s Digest and winner of the Books and Authors Award for Literary Excellence.
I always like to start with a little background, where were you born?
I was born in New York, and we moved to Arizona when I was about seven. When I was eight we moved to Los Angeles, and that’s where I spent most of my life. I’ve spent the last eight years in Las Vegas.
How old were you when you realized you wanted to be a writer?
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TheLittle Treasures have arrived andlook spectacular.
Fourof Peter Carnavas’ special books have been reduced in size and now come with anenvelope for easy postage. Instead of sending a card you can now send a veryspecial book.
Eachone of the books has a special message to impart:
Jessica’s Box –Self Worth
Sarah’s Heavy Heart – Love
The Important Things – Family
Last Tree in the City – Environment
Peteris about to embark on a blog tour to celebrate the release of the Little Treasures. He would be thrilledto pop over and visit your blog. Here are a few options:
·An interview. Peter will happily answer any of yourquestions.
· <
1 Comments on Peter Carnavas is about to embark on a blog tour to celebrate the release of Little Treasures, last added: 9/29/2011
Ratha's Creature is the first book in the Named series.
Ratha is a yearling herder of the Named, she is from a clan of intelligent, prehistoric wild cats who keep deer and horses. Her mentor, Thakur, believes she has great promise and also believes she would make a good mother to his cubs, however, before any of this is to occur, a fire breaks out and sends the clan scampering for protection.
During this panic, Ratha has learned how to "control" fire and her leaders are afraid and ban her from the clan and leave her at the mercy of the Un-Named ones, those who lack intelligence, and survive on instinct and hunger alone.
Ratha sets out to find others like herself, while braving the elements and the creatures not of her lands. Upon her journey, she befriends Bone-Chewer, who shows her how to survive in the wild. Ratha dreams of returning to her people and after years of running, she returns to find that the Un-Named ones are masking for an all out attack. Ratha must warn the others and believes she has the answer to their problems but first she must face the challenge set before her by the fates that have steered her to this point in destiny. Will Ratha have the courage to do what is right for her clan or allow the old ways to kill them all?
This is marked as a young adult fantasy and wish for you to note that some of the scenes may be graphic for the more sensitive reader, when the clans war, it is rather bloody and descriptive.
I thought that the read was an intelligent one, using cats as the characters set in a prehistoric was outstanding. This read often reminded me of other clan stories I have read however, with humans and not animals involved. The quest for fire was interesting from the point of view of a cat and the naivete was captured splendidly.
I didn't enjoy reading the terms three horns and dapplebacks and horses and deers, I kept thinking there were more than the two animals that the Named ones tended. The references between them was aggravating, either they are three horns and dapplebacks and describe them to the readers as you would explain a deer or a horse or just call them deers/horses. The flipping back and forth, even in the same paragraph, wasn't an enjoyable experience.
I thought that the book was rather fast paced and I didn't really get a feel for Ratha nor her plight. Her inner thoughts and such didn't give me a better glimpse at her overall makeup. After all that she survived, one would think she'd have a bit more maturity and wisdom to bring to the table, but she appears immature and headstrong.
I would give this book a three out of five stars, while the storyline was enjoyable, I had issues with the characters and need more depth to give me a better understanding of the Clan and its inhabitants. Many interesting back stories could have been incorporated but were left out, leaving a story without any life. However, for you younger readers, I am sure you will find this a fabulous read as it sets you in a different area outside the box, then you are used to believing.
SYNOPSIS: Twenty-five million years in the past, a society of intelligent cats pushed close to extinction meets an enemy band of raiding predatory cats in a decisive battle which will determine the future for both.
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Great post! thanks a a lot!