Category Archives: literacy

Film Friday: Ruby Sparks

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“When we feel the need to change others, take the time to look inside yourself, find the mirror and the message” ~ Unknown

How often do you think a novelist creates a character that people fall in love with? I would suspect, quite often. Personal attributes of a character communicated through good dialogue and storyline is all part of the Art of  creative storytelling.

One of the top independent films of 2012 is Ruby Sparks. The film is about a male novelist who becomes enamored with a woman he has crafted in his mind through his story writing. This person becomes real. The author and character develop a romantic relationship. Not all of her characteristics are admirable, however, and the novelist begins to rewrite part of her personality to become more like the person he wants her to be.

This romantic comedy-drama, Ruby Sparks, features Paul Dano as the novelist and big name actors Elliot Gould, Annette Benig and Antonio Banderas also play parts in this independent film. Click here for info & ordering Ruby Sparks

 

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Digital books: Conserving Gas and Trees

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“What’s cheaper than a gallon of gas? An e-book. Save a dollar, stay home and read!”
~ Shandy L. Kurth 

At the 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair, there was a lot of discussion about the e-book industry. Digital books are gaining popularity globally. In fact, according to an article in Publishers Weekly Magazine, people in India top the charts as leaders in e-book buying. Thirty nine percent of the respondents to a survey say they have bought an e-book. Other top countries of digital book buyers are the United States and the United Kingdom.With each passing year, there is healthy growth in the electronic publishing industry, indicating an increased interest in digital reading content. 

If you have ever had any doubt about whether Americans are consumed with buying books, volunteer at a donation center for a thrift shop. Three or four hours every Saturday, I help out in a donation center run by the local churches. The amount of books that come through the doors is astounding. Each week, I gain a greater understanding of the value of buying e-books.

Electronic books take up less space for one thing. For readers who read a book once and then get rid of it, the new generation of books makes more sense. Sure, the reading experience is a little different. There are no paper pages to turn or to dog-ear to mark a spot. But, the story is still the same whether we are reading it digitally, in a hardback version, paperback or listening to an audio book. 

I am grateful the books have not ended up in the landfill and I know they are very much appreciated by the people who buy them. They are resold at a minimal price – usually 50 cents up to a few dollars. Sometimes a little more if the book is a large volume or a special collectible publication. Many of the donated books are in “like new” condition. Read once, then discarded. 

If you would like to know more about this growing trend among publishers, please read this article. It is a good source of information, brought to you by Publisher’s Weekly Magazine, digitally. http://bit.ly/Trf7RF.

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Better Living Books

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Are you looking for a different assortment of books, like no other? Publications geared toward mind, body, spirit and the Earth? 

The Living Now Book Awards “Books for Better Living” has a great selection of independently published books on many topics that are popular and relevant to better living. Here are just a few categories that are judged in the Living Now Book Awards. 

  • Green Living
  • Social Activism/Charity
  • Enlightenment/Spirituality
  • Metaphysical (Astrology, Tarot, Psychic Development)
  • Healing Arts/Bodywork/Energy Techniques
  • Caregiving
  • Mature Living/Aging
  • Grieving/Death and Dying
  • Inspirational Fiction

 To see the titles of the winning books that came from thirty-six U.S. States, six CanadianProvinces and 7 overseas countries, please visit this link. http://bit.ly/RLQ8WV.

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“The Boat” Brings Prized Authors to Community

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“I try to be respectful of how other people think, I try to listen to what they’re saying.” ~Rick Scott

This past weekend was Literary Sojourn weekend here in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. This event has been held annually since 1993. So popular, people arrive from all over the country to attend it. Each year it sells out very quickly.

As a way of extending the event, the Bud Werner Memorial Library invited two Bellwether Prize winners to speak on Sunday. For those who were not fortunate enough to get tickets to Saturday’s discussions, the second part of the “Sojourn” weekend was open to everyone at no charge. The two featured authors were Naomi Benaron and Hillary Jordan, Bellwether award winners in 2010 and 2006, respectively.

Jennie Lay, adult programs coordinator at the Bud Werner Memorial Library, asked the authors “what winning this book prize has meant to them?” Each expressed it has done wonders for their publishing careers. All contestants for the “Bellwether” must have a previously unpublished novel. Along with winning $25,000, winners are given publishing contracts with Alqonquin Books.

Jordan and Benaron discussed how fiction writing is useful for telling stories that are interwoven with issues of culture, politics and social justice. However, Benaron stressed the importance of writing stories about controversial issues in a “respectful manner.” She also mentioned how research into a culture brings credibility and correctness to the story.

“Literature,” Benaron said “is the only art form that takes you into another person’s brain.” Essentially, she said, as readers, we are better able to feel and live the story along with the characters through fictional dialogue.

To read more about the publications of these impressive authors, visit these two websites,Hillary Jordanand Naomi Benaron.

For more information on the Bellwether Prize, which was established in 2000, solely funded by author Barbara Kingsolver and administered by the PEN American Center, please visit this site http://bit.ly/Rom01E.  For information on Barbara Kingsolvers latest book, click here: Flight Behavior: A Novel.

As I left this most enjoyable event, I thought to myself “living in a community with avid readers and writers, certainly has its benefits.”

Thank you to our local library and our local “Indie Bound” bookstore, Off the Beaten Path” for their participation in this event.

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Wrinkles from Delight are Best

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If you read yesterday’s blog, you know of my struggles. I’ve been working on an elegy for my creative writing class. Last night, my trials and tribulations continued as I tried to nail down just the right words symbolizing a grievous time in a person’s life.  The professor said I am  “intellectualizing it” rather than “feeling it.” Her point is well taken, I understand what she is saying.

It has been a challenge, and I think it shows in my writing. To me, it is not fun to write about morose things.I so enjoyed writing my memoir because although the beginning was a bit uncomfortable to write, the tale takes some fulfilling turns that are unanticipated. Click here for info and ordering Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

Last night when I turned off the computer , I picked up a book called Watching Grandma Circle the Drain. It was the perfect cure-all to brighten my spirits after being engrossed in dark, depressing writing. The essay called “Hairdresser’s Lament” had me on the floor laughing.Click here for info & ordering

The author of the book, Allen Smith, is a humor writer whose perspective has been said to be “gritty.” Definitely, adult comedy. It’s been mentioned on ABC’s The View and has appeared in publications such as The Denver Post, The Writer Magazine, The Vail Daily, The Aspen News and LIVESTRONG.COM, just to name a few. For more information on Smith’s writing, please visit www.snowwriter.com.

Through his creative writing, Allen Smith reminds the reader to live with joy by laughing at ourselves and not to take life so seriously. One might describe Smith as a healing artist. He helps the reader see the ridiculous in careers, aging, men’s issues, medical situations, dating, sport, and other relatable subjects.

Watching Grandma Circle the Drain is a perfect gift for people who think “wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.” ~ Mark Twain

To order Allen Smith’s book, please click on this link. http://amzn.to/RG9DQG.

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Writing Fictitious Scenes

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“Keep your face to the sunshine, and you can not see the shadow.” ~ Helen Keller 

Who likes to think of sad and unhappy times? Joyous moments, positive thoughts, fulfilling feelings are much better. Is there value in clinging to images that make us feel anything other than good and healthy? 

In my creative writing class yesterday, we were given an assignment to write an elegy. Do you know what that is? I didn’t. Think of the word eulogy. Composing an elegy is very similar in nature. The teacher said “write about significant loss or death. Nothing funny; make it serious.”  In her words, “no rhymes!” In my words,“Don’t use expressions in writing that makes a frown turn right side around.” 

Last night, I worked a little on my elegy. Wow- that is difficult for me. I am not used to that way of thinking. It is like having to transition my stream of consciousness into something backwards. An analogy would be trying to make water flow, in a river, in the wrong direction. 

I feel as if  I don’t have that much to draw from compared to a lot of people. I have been so very fortunate – the really bad times in my life have been few and far between.  

 I suspect I’ll have to dig deep within to come up with a good piece of writing. If I can’t find it inside, I suppose I can make something up –  creative writing is what you decide to make it, isn’t it? Can it all be fiction? I’ll ask my teacher.

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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

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“When faced with a challenge, look for a way, not a way out.”
—David Weatherford 

Yesterday’s blog was blasé, there was something missing. As much as I try to paint pictures with words in my blog writing, corresponding images makes things POP! Let’s face it, a picture helps drive a point home, there is no denying it. 

Posting a blog without a picture is like: 

    • Music without Sound
    • Peanut butter without jelly
    • Fries without catsup
    • Men without a Remote Control
    • Dungeons without Dragons
    • Tea Kettle without Water
    • Movies without  Screens
    • A Tux without a Tie
    • Chips without Dip
    • Pen without Paper
    • Coffee without Donuts
    • Upstairs without Downstairs
    • Fulfillment without Satisfaction
    • Shopping without Money
    • Yin without Yang
    • Campfires without Marshmallows
    • Books without Text
    • Weeks without Days

When one half of two things that are meant to be together, is missing, life just does not seem right.

 Yesterday, I couldn’t post any images, there were technical difficulties. But I thought “What’s a girl to do when things are out of her control? Find more Words, and Press on, I guess! ”

Today, all is right with my world again.

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Literary Project in Baltimore

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“The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries.” ~ Descartes 

Last week’s blog about author F. Scott Fitzgerald triggered one of my regular blog readers to e-mail me and ask whether “I was familiar with The Baltimore Literary Heritage Project?” I was not. It did stir my curiosity, however. 

There is a wealth of authors that have come from the Baltimore area, and an interesting project is being organized by the Baltimore Literacy Heritage Project. Imagine going on a self-guided tour to visit the homes and locations where some of the most significant novels in America’s history have been penned? 

The tour, guided by a CD, gives insight into the writer’s life, their genre of writing and their publications. Authors highlighted by this on-going literacy program may include: 

  • Upton Sinclair
  • F.Scott Fitzgerald
  • H.L. Mencken
  • Edgar Allen Poe
  • Frederick Douglass
  • Edith Hamilton
  • Emily Post
  • Leon Uris
  • John Waters
  • Billie Holiday 

The University of Baltimore, School of Communications Design, is sponsoring this endeavor. The school, a part of the Yale Gordon College of Liberal Arts, offers five unique interdisciplinary majors in writing.

To read more about this ambitious and educational project, and to learn about other writers who called Baltimore their home, please visit this link. http://bit.ly/SgsRid. 

Although many of these authors are long gone, they will never be forgotten, thanks to this very fulfilling literacy project.

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Film Friday: Won’t Back Down

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“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” ~ Chinese proverb

The film “Won’t Back Down” will be making its debut in movie theatres today, September 28th.  It is a movie that many parents will relate to because it is about doing the right thing for children by providing them with the best opportunity for education.

The story focuses on two parents, one of whom is a teacher, who are unhappy with their children’s inner city school and they face issues of how to “fix it.”

Evidently, this movie is raising eyebrows of the Teacher’s Union. Although controversial, I feel compelled to share this movie because the subject is so familiar to my family.

We went through a similar situation in rural Vermont back in the 1990s.  Our son was going to a tiny elementary school, 30 students, in danger of closing entirely due to budgetary constraints and not so great quality. The parents were unhappy with the public school system. Our town boldly voted to close down the public school, and re-open it as a “private school, with a public mission.” The transition was not an easy one; there were dissenters.

In the end, it seems the children are receiving a better and different kind of education. Moving into a unique school model grew the school, which now includes middle school grades. Parents from surrounding towns are able to send their students to it. According to everything I am reading, some fourteen years later, students are scoring well above state and national averages on standardized assessments.”

Look for “I Won’t Back Down” in your neighborhood theatres. To read more about this film,Click here for info & ordering.

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Obsessed and Over taken

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“If you judge a poet, you have no time to write prose.”                                     ~Sue Batton Leonard

 Let’s start with something fresh today and talk about something different. It’s time to air my dirty laundry.

Last week in my creative writing class we were given an assignment to make a list of all of our obsessions. “Choose one, ” the professor said “and write about it; either in poem or prose form.”

My teacher has not yet seen my poem, so it is making it’s debut on this site – rough draft, unpolished. As you read my composition, remember, this is only my third attempt at writing poetry, ever!  Yes, ever. It is not really my forte.

Obsessed and Overtaken 

Concept, idiom, jargon

Articulation

Penning, scrawling, sketching

Communication 

Nouns, Verbs, Tenses

Alliteration 

Overused, Unclear, Redundant

Elimination 

Capitalize, comma, period

Abbreviation 

Emotional, verbal, mental

Abstraction 

Drafting, Editing, Rewriting

Direction 

Creating, planning, posting

Position 

Video, polls, images

Suggestion 

Digital, social, visual

Connection 

 Come on back, if you can bare to. Perhaps better blog writing tomorrow.

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