How to use this Page

to think about what kind of house my MG protagonist lives in. Does he grow up in a stiff plastic-covered furniture type of house? A run-down fixer-upper that creaks with every footstep? Does he live in a house filled with books and clutter so he can't find a matching pair of shoes? Or maybe a house with designer furniture and designer parents. Lots to think about as I wade through a pile of

Chris from The Simple and the Ordinary tagged me for a book meme that is so easy and fun.

Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

I picked up a bunch of books and read the assigned sentences and came up with an idea. I thought it would interesting to take it up a notch and devise a writing exercise from this book meme.

"What?" you say.

Oh, yeah, baby. Watch and learn.

Okay, so here's what I've done. I've selected three books with sentences that piqued my interest. I'll post the sentences, and then, if you dare, read a passage you like and write.

What emotion are you feeling? What do you see or hear when you read these passages? Can you see an idea shaping up in your mind of scene, a plot, a story? I'd love it if you shared your writing in the comments, but if you're shy, just write in the privacy of your journal. The important thing is to have fun with this writing exercise and see where your imagination takes you.

-------------------

Gentle's Holler by Kerry Madden
Page 123
Fifth sentence: "My daughter was as smart as a whip."

"She had promise. So much promise. She could have married anyone, Tom Weems, you know. Anyone." -- Okay, I took liberties in adding the fourth sentence, but can you blame me?

-----------------

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Page 123

Fifth sentence: "Templeton's eyes were blazing."

"Is this true?" he asked. "Is this appetizing yarn of yours true? I like high living, and what you say tempts me."

-----------------

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Page 123, I took liberties with this one and used the first complete sentence rather than the fifth sentence.

First sentence: "I felt a strange relief at hearing that someone besides me had been treated monstrously by Hatsumomo."

"She can't bear to have rivals," Mameha went on. "That's the reason she treats you as she does."

"Surely Hatsumomo doesn't see me as a rival, ma'am," I said.

----------------

Go, have fun with this exercise and write!

I'd like to wish all my friends a very Happy Hanukkah!

I'm thrilled to announce that I have been interviewed by Heidi Estrin for her HOORAY FOR HANUKKAH! Book of Life blog podcast. Heidi has a delicious selection of Hanukkah related interviews, including illustrator Ann Koffsky who created her snowflake "Jerusalem of Peace," for Robert's Snow for Cancer's Cure, author Sarah Marwil Lamstein and illustrator Neil Waldman talk about their book Letter on the Wind: A Chanukah Tale, and Heidi interviews Cantor Kenny Ellis about his CD, Hanukkah Swings!

Please check it out: www.jewishbooks.blogspot.com

May your holiday be filled with light and lots of chocolate!

I wrote a post on Saturday about exploring different writing styles. Five brave souls decided to join me in this exercise. So, Sassy Lucy, Alkelda the Gleeful, Becky C., Christine M. and M. Thompson--since you were kind enough to share your talents, send your snail mail address to my e-mail address: hipwritermama at comcast dot net, and I'll send you a paperback copy of Gail Carson Levine's Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly. Edited to add: I forgot to mention, this book is geared to help young writers (Grade 5 and up) find their voice. I haven't read the book yet, but my feeling is that Gail Carson Levine knows how to identify what is important for young people. With that said, I think this book will probably help adult writers discover the right voice to appeal to the young.

Please note: these entries are the property of the authors. If any of you go on to write a manuscript from your entry...good luck!

Sassy Lucy:
Beneath the gnarly oak tree Christina and Tarabeth nestled as tightly as they could together. Once again their parents were arguing over everything and anything, and they could no longer take it, so they had sought shelter beneath the tree that had once held their childhood treehaven.

Elizabeth glanced towards the back of their old brick house, wishing they could go in. "Tarabeth," Elizabeth chattered, "do you see that small door over there?"
Tarabeth too noticed a glint of metal in the sun, she had never seen that before.
Slowly the girls crawled across the yard to the house. There, unbeknownst them before they found a silver finished door just waiting to be opened.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Alkelda the Gleeful:
Kate and Moon-Pie found a dusty door. The door was behind the couch in Aunt Libby’s library. “I will have to crawl through the doorway,” Kate said. “You are short enough to walk through the door. Then I can see what is behind the door.”

“No,” Moon-Pie said. “I do not want to go.”

“We will have fun,” Kate said. “This is a secret passage. We will find gold. We will find shiny stones. We will find books with magic spells.”

“No,” Moon-Pie said. “We will find monsters. We will find meat-eating dinosaurs. We will find spiders.”

“Some spiders are nice,” Kate said. “Besides, we are prepared. I have a flashlight. You have silly putty. We are both brave. We will have the adventure of our lives.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Becky C.:
The sisters ran past the shaking trees then crept along the path, looking for the light that would show them back to the passage. It was getting dark, and the wildlife of the forest behind them were starting to get restless.

"Quick!" Mary said, pulling Rita through the bushes. "Let's rest here. Keep quiet and look around. Let's see if we can figure out where we are."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christine M.:
There couldn’t possibly be a more boring way to spend a beautiful fall day, Shelby thought to herself as she trudged up the basement stairs in her aunt’s house with yet one more box for Goodwill. Couldn’t her parents have chosen a rainy day to do this particular chore?

“Thanks, Shelby,” her mom said as she deposited the box in the driveway. “Can you help Kaylee in the cold room?”

Shelby shrugged. What was she supposed to say? No? Of course she would help her sister. When Shelby got to the cold room, Kaylee was surrounded by piles of linens.

“Oh – I’m glad you’re here. I don’t know if any of this stuff is considered good or not.” Kaylee said, and held up a finely embroidered handkerchief.

“That looks good. But who uses handkerchief’s anymore?” Shelby said and sat beside her younger sister.

“Of course it’s good.”

Both girls jumped at the unexpected voice behind them. Shelby, heart beating fast, turned slowly to see who could possibly be behind them, since the only door to the room was in front of them.

“I embroidered those myself.” It was a girl, not much older than Shelby, wearing very old fashioned long skirts.

“Who are you?” Shelby asked.

“Where did you come from?” Kaylee said at the same time.

“I’m Rita. I came from here – but sometime else. Want to come with me?” She beckoned with one finger, a slight smile on her face.

Anything was better than sorting out old handkerchiefs and napkins. Shelby and Kaylee nodded.

“Then follow me.”

And they followed her behind a shelf and back around – right back to where they had been. The room was the same room – but everything was different. There were herbs hanging from the ceiling and strings of onions, and there was a barrel of potatoes and a barrel of apples.

“Where are we?” Kaylee asked.

“Right where you were,” Rita answered.

“Then when are we,” Shelby asked.

Rita just grinned. “That is the question, isn’t it,” she answered.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

M. Thompson:
Cree-aa-k! Ann and Hope jumped.

"What was that?" Hope said.

"I don't know," Ann said, "let's go check."

The sisters started to walk up the stairs to the attic. Ann noticed a glimmer of light near the top stair that floated towards them. She nudged Hope.

The light shimmered then faded in front of them. Hope put out her hands to try to catch the last of the light. Her right hand caught on something solid. She pulled on it and a door opened into the staircase.

I saw this exercise over at The Longstockings, and thought it would be interesting to try out. Of course I can't find the exact post now, but it was along the gist of experimenting with writing the first sentence of a story in different genres...which may lead to many more.

I'll make this a variation from the exercise I read about. How about if we write a few sentences from any point of the story. Beginning, middle or end. Your choice.

Let's try writing about this storyline:
Two sisters discover a secret passage in their aunt's house.

So here are the categories I chose:
Easy Reader
MG/YA Fantasy/Adventure
MG/YA Historical Fiction
Edgy YA
Poetry

Keep in mind, the lines don't have to be perfect. This is an exercise to see if you can find a voice out of your comfort zone. You may find you're intrigued by a different genre once you try this.

Historical Fiction is totally out of my comfort zone. So here's my try at it:
Lady Smythe smoothed out imaginary wrinkles from her crisp crinoline skirts. She walked over to the fireplace and ran her fingers along the edge of the mantel. Click. The fireplace groaned open to reveal a long hallway. Elizabeth gasped from her hiding place.