Act D.E.A.R.ly Today!

For all of you who have aversions to dots in acronyms, you might not have known I was trying to pass along a national holiday.  Reading the banner above should give the gist.  For all who want to know just a bit more…

The day is April 12th to coincide with Beverly Cleary’s birthday.  The idea of D.E.A.R. originated in the book Ramona Quimby, Age 8.

If you want to truly Drop Everything And Read, all you have to do is click this link, which will take you to a free excerpt from one of the Ramona books.  What are you waiting for?  =)

Finished a book: The Blues Brothers

The Blues Brothers by “Miami Mitch“

[How acquired: borrowed - yeah, that's what it was...]

I really was wracked with guilt in obtaining this book.  First of all, I never knew there was a novelization of one of my favorite movies of all time – which I argue is the best pound-for-pound movie ever made.  The only thing I thought ever released in print was Blues Brothers: Private; which I love to death, and own an original copy of (with the poster – which I hung up; couldn’t help it).

The novel is good, but of course differs highly from the actual movie.  There’s a lot of great humor, but it starts pretty drearily…which makes sense to gain sympathy for Jake and Elwood.  The down side is you can’t hear a musical number in a book, but there are a lot of songs mentioned which don’t appear in the movie.  I’ll read it again since it has great replay value [as the movie itself] – and I’ll jot down all the tunes to make a compilation disc.

A cool thing about the novelization is how much more the non-Blues members are fleshed out.  Instead of grabbing half of them in a deft swoop, most of the band is tracked down one-by-one; the final member not making it until close to the end.

A favorite backing member of mine has always been Donald “Duck” Dunn.

In the book, his straight job is a burglar alarm technician.  He also happens to be a bit of an electrical wizard.

Another great things is the explanation of what got Jake tossed into the clink before the movie started.  It was noble – from a certain view.  It would have made a great actual scene, but it wouldn’t have fit well into the movie’s flow.

If you can find it – grab and read it.  I’ll buy a legit copy and return mine to the place it came from…

For clarification sake, I would have bought the book if it was a buck.  I would have paid five or so for it even…to help support the cause.  It wasn’t for sale and I had to read it.  I donated a ton to this particular place, so I can’t say I did nothing for them.  Jake Papageorge would have understood: and he saw the light.

It’s Away! [Pitchapalooza]

I just took a potshot at Pitchapalooza’s second Nanowrimo contest.  This is the first year I feel like I officially qualify since I was a “rebel” in 2010 and worked on finishing two previous novels rather than start something new.

To qualify for Nanowrimo Pitchapalooza, one had to “win” Nanowrimo and submit a [no more than] 200 word synopsis during the month of February.  Even though it’s supposed to be a “random” 25 submissions selected, I went big: spending serious time editing a perfect-as-I-can-get-it pitch; which I’m sure can still use a lot of improvement.

They duo behind the The Book Doctors site critique all of the chosen entries.  Win, lose, or place…at least i tried.  And for all those who know my writing style – I was able to land my summary under 200.  My writing program said it clocks in at 191 words, but my grammatical cross-checking said the summary was under 170 words.  I’d rather play it safe since I think the hyphenated words were the points of contention.

What’s the big deal about this event?  Here’s an excerpt from their January 31st explanation in the Office of Letters and Light blog…

“It’s our job to help writers make their dreams come true. It’s what we did with our first Pitchapalooza winners, Nura Maznavi and Ayesha Mattu, whose book, Love InshAllah, just hit the shelves. In the last week, they were profiled in the New York Times, had one of the most talked about pieces on the Huffington Post, and cracked the top 500 of all books sold on Amazon. Then there’s Pitchapalooza winner and NaNoWriMo veteran, Genn Albin. After she won Pitchapalooza, one of New York’s top agents sold her dystopian novel in a three-book, six-figure deal.”

Pretty cool for finishing a writing marathon.  I read the twenty-five summaries [and reviews] to get an idea of what I needed to do to come off somewhat decently.

I won’t know anything (good or bad) for a week or so.  My hopes aren’t high, but at least i am more interested in furthering my novel…after I finish editing my first Figment-exclusive post.

Related links:

http://blog.lettersandlight.org/post/16836319467

http://www.thebookdoctors.com/nanowrimo-online-pitchaplaooza

Finished a book: Spilling Ink

Spilling Ink: A Young Writer’s Handbook – by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter

[How acquired: birthday gift]

I decided to give this book a peek in November; which usually isn’t the best time for Wrimos to to anything related to writing since they are supposed to be writing their novels that month – quantity over quality and all that good stuff.

Reading this in short bursts made me think a little bit more about my story.  It’s really a great book for younger people who want to write but don’t feel like they could.  It gives a lot of pointers on remembering you don’t have to follow any certain rules if you don’t want to.

Both writers are accomplished authors in the young writing field – whether it be picture books, middle grade, or young adult books.  The honest and enthusiastic vibe of this “handbook” makes me want to give a peek at some of their fiction writing.

Only when writing this post did I realize there is a whole plethora of support and encouragement tied to this book.  If you know anyone younger who needs a push to write; or even a little positive reinforcement yourself, give this book a peek.

Even if you don’t read the book, take a peek at all the motivational help and prompts on the book’s site:  spillinginkthebook.com