writing

Mr. William W. Johnstone are you done turning in your grave?

Angela12 Comments

I was so excited to see that my favorite author, who I had written to and had much communication, was having his family re-release all of his books.

I have all of these books, somewhere, but have rebought many on my Nook.

And whomever edited for ebook release needs to be shot.

Miscellanious 7-7-2014 164
William W. Johnstone

I started reading Sweet Dreams, a book he wrote in the 80’s, and sent me an autographed copy of, and the spelling errors are horrible. I fear that the family is so intent on making money, that they are not paying attention to the quality of his work.

Miscellanious 7-7-2014 163

I was a 13 year old girl who read his books, and literally wrote him a letter. I received many letters back, and autographed books. But the fact that they would re-publish his work, so fast and haphazardly, is really sad.

He stopped writing the horror books I loved as a teen, and started writing westerns. But he always replied to my letters, and encouraged me to write, and never give up.

Good gracious, I would edit these ebooks for free rather than see the crap they are putting out.

Mr. Johnstone, thank you for being kind to a teenager, and encouraging me.

Bittersweet Dreams – VC Andrews

Angela3 Comments

Okay, I have to say I got sucked into this book just like I would get sucked into any VC Andrews’ book when I started reading them 30+ years ago.

Mayfair Cummings is a 16 year old with an IQ that would make Albert Einstein jealous. She had the perfect family life, until her mother died from an aneurysm. Her father got remarried, and she suddenly had a step-mother and a step-sister.

Bittersweet Dreams Cover Image

I like to avoid spoilers, but this is the standard fare that you expect from VC Andrew novels. It is full of suspense, and I definitely had it read in record time.

Now; about the grammatical errors. There were a few, and they were too ridiculous to even ignore. Nothing frustrates me more than spelling and grammatical errors in a book I spent good money on.

I’m just going to give you one example, and it is a single sentence. Although I am not including the sentences before or after it, this sentence is not going to be misunderstood because you don’t have those sentences with it. This is a sentence that was meant to stand alone, and make sense.

Chapter 5, Page 81

I have this tendency to compare Julie to animals often.

That’s it. That one sentence. Maybe I am being too picky, but there are so many other correct ways that sentence could have been constructed. There are a few of these poorly written sentences throughout the story.

With all of that said, I will definitely be reading some more VC Andrew books that I have not read before.

The Last Anniversary – Liane Moriarty

AngelaLeave a comment

I really enjoyed this book by Liane, and I believe it is her third story I have read. The first one I did not care for, the second one I loved, and I definitely liked this one.

The Last Anniversary Cover Image

I am still trying to get a feel for her style of writing, and it is not something I have been able to pinpoint yet. I do not get that familiar feeling I have from other authors who have multiple books that I have read. Her style of writing seems to change with each book, but I do not think it is done intentionally to help set the tone of the story.

So after all of that complaining, I really did like this story. I promise! I did have the initial problem of keeping all of the characters straight, because there were several, and they all seemed to be introduced very quickly, and very briefly. This does seem to be her method-of-operation when it comes to writing.

A small island with a small population and a big mystery seem to be the only thing keeping some of the characters going. Introduce a new person to the mix, and see what begins to happen. It seems that everyone knows everybody else, and there are some long-stretched ties connecting basically every single resident to everyone else. It can make things familiar, and also very interesting. You would think in this type of environment there would be no secrets. It seems as if every resident has secrets falling out of their ears, they have so many.

Without giving away any spoilers, this is definitely a book full of suspense, mystery, laughs, and some romance. It is a page turner, and I think you will be glad to have read it!

One of My Favorite Days!

Angela21 Comments

The last day of ANY college class! I have to admit, this class went fairly well, and I had a great professor. He even suggested I submit my Graduate Research Paper to a magazine, journal, or online publication! I was shocked, but also very happy for the great encouragement. It really is nice to be recognized for the amount of hard work one invests in that type of assignment.

Throwing Papers in Air Image
courtesy of rockislandschools.org

 

So to celebrate, I dropped my HR Management class that was scheduled to begin tomorrow. It is starting to get nice here in West Michigan, and I want to read books that I pick. I also have a couple of editing jobs I just started working on, so I am very excited about that. I also plan on a lot of motorcycle rides, swimming pool time, and just plain laziness until my next class starts on June 23rd.

Yeah; June 23rd. Not the greatest time to start a college class, but it is my last required core class, and this is the last time it is offered this year, so I have to take it then or wait until 2017. I am already crossing fingers that that class will go as well as this one did.

So plan on a lot of book reviews, some featured authors, great quotes, and I will try to limit my grumbling to my parenting blog 🙂

My 2016 Book Plans

Angela3 Comments

Are to read more

Find new favorites

Revisit some old favorites

Edit more

Finalize the set-up of my store

… I would go into all the details of where I have been and what I have been doing for the last 2 months, but it’s really rather boring and does not make a good story!

May your 2016 be filled with wonderful stories that take you on great adventures! 

 

We Were Not All Meant To Be Writers…

Angela7 Comments

…because if it was not for us readers, you would all be working for nothing!

Reading Glasses Image

And that is just my way of saying Thank You to all of the authors who have been so kind to share the stories, the triumphs, the heartbreaks, and the challenges; all with me. Me being someone who wanted nothing more than to read what they had to write.

I look forward to another horrible Winter in West Michigan, with lots of coffee, Earl Grey tea, and great books to keep me comfy!

Write on my friends; write on!

Where Are You Going To Wear That Outfit?

Angela2 Comments

There is a third “ware”, but is generally not used any longer, so I just decided to leave it out of this post. But back in the day, before retail stores were on every corner, people used to go door-to-door to sell their wares.

Now, I have also seen people use we’re when they should have used where, but since that is so far beyond even being related to where, I will discuss that in another post as well.

So what exactly are these two words? One is a verb, and one is an adverb. You can wear something, which is an action, or verb. You can wear a frown, you can wear a jacket, and you can wear your hat.

But you cannot where you hat. Unless if you lost your hat. Then you need to know where your hat is. Where is an adverb. Where is a destination, a place, or somewhere you want to be.

B&O 9-18-2015

This is a Perfect Example of What is Wrong With Our Education System

Angela6 Comments

I am sure you have already had a good laugh from this image. Unfortunately, it is one of many examples of people trying to make points about how they are in control of their education, and know what is going on, yet they cannot spell simple words.

Unfortunately, this embarrassment will follow this hopefully-not-teaching-your-children person for the rest of her life.

Test Score Image

I am pretty sure I know what your test score is going to be…

So, my whole point here, was than versus then.

As I like to not get into the rules-and-regulations of my AP English classes eons ago when I was in high school, or the APA and Purdue formatting rules. I am going to keep this simple.

Then = next, after, also, as well

Than = instead of, in place of, not to be confused with.

Confused? Me too. Some examples…

I would rather sleep in than get up early to go fishing.

I am going to go fishing, and then come home and have breakfast.

I will fix the sink for you, then I am going out.

I would rather eat dirt than have this conversation with you.

Do these two words get you caught up? What words get you caught up that drive you mad?

Let me know, and I will post some solutions!

Happy writing, and happy reading!