A Holiday Wish

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Happy Holidays to all our faithful readers from the members of The Blood Red Pencil blog. We appreciate your loyal following and the great comments that have led to some beneficial discussions. We all truly learn from each other and you have proven that point through your responses.

Whatever holiday you celebrate, may it be filled with good times, good friends, good food, and special moments.

------

Posted by Maryann Miller on behalf of all the contributors.

Some Christmas Fun

Tis the day before Christmas and all is not done,

Things on the “to do” list number a million and one.

There are cookies to cut while the oven is hot,

And a gift for Aunt Mildred. Egad! I forgot.

There are presents to measure, to balance and wrap,

If the stacks are not even the kids will know in a snap.

The turkey is snug in the freezer so cold,

Will anyone notice if I put dinner on hold?

Tis the day to test stamina, courage, and brawn,

The survivors are heroes at next morning’s dawn.

Just when I thought I was running out of time

A stranger appeared with a smile so sublime.

He was dressed all in silver from his head to his toe.

And I blinked my eyes twice to see if he would go.

He patted my shoulder and gave me a latte,

“Your’re almost there,” he said. “The rest will be easy.

“Don’t worry, don’t fret, don’t get in a frazzle,

Together we’ll do it with narry a hassle.

I’ll hang the tinsel and check all the lights,

You bathe the children and kiss them goodnight.”

The kids were all tucked in their beds nice and warm.

(A threat to their presents always works like a charm.)

I’d finally decided, of course. It’s a dream.

That’s a mirage on my sofa eating toffee ice cream.

I was amazed at the picture that greeted my eyes,

My living room looked like Currier and Ives.

The stockings were stuffed, and so was the bird,

What magic he used was beyond any word.

He smacked his lips, gave a sly little wink,

“It’s time I was off to help other, I think.”

He twirled around once, then three time and more,

And in a twinkling was headed out my front door.

There’s no doubt about it; it was love at first sight,

For that stranger who saved me on Christmas Eve night.

No matter his name, he was really such a dear.

I wonder, will he return again in another year?

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, Good Cheer!

--------

Posted by Maryann Miller who is still baking cookies and wrapping gifts.
Maryann's Web site

Spoiled Milk by Morgan Mandel

Not long ago, as I swallowed a swig of milk at lunch, I realized it was sour. Since I was almost through with my meal, I didn't request an exchange. What I did was go to the cashier and ask for a refund. She recognized me as a regular customer, so I had no problem. Still, the experience left me unsettled and wondering if I'd get sick.

To make an analogy, it's kind of like picking up a book written by a favorite author, starting to read it, then discovering it's not what you expected. In fact, it's so bad, you don't want to finish reading. That kind of experience can make you swear off an author for good.

Maybe you've learned more about writing since you became a fan of that author. Perhaps the author became careless, riding the tide and pumping out books just for the bucks, instead of the craft. There are lots of ways to make readers disappointed in books.

What about you? Have you ever been disappointed by a favorite author? Or, a book that looked good, but turned out mediocre or worse? Please share.

______________________________

Morgan Mandel

http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
Latest Release - Killer Career

More Plotting Tips From Down at the Mule Barn

Slim Randles is a syndicated columnist and author, and his work is featured on WinnsboroToday.com the online community magazine where I am Managing Editor. Back in November he introduced us to the unique plotting techniques of a country boy, Dud. Here is a follow up, just in case you were wondering how the story of the duchess and the truck driver is coming along ...

Anita Campbell watched as her husband, Dud, quietly built a fire in the fireplace. She was still a fairly new bride, but she had learned at least this much of his body language by now, and fixed two cups of coffee. Fire, coffee, evening equals serious talk.

“It was us getting married that did it,” he said, finally. “I want you to know I’m really happy being married to you.”

“Well thank you, sir,” she said, smiling, “but our marriage did what, exactly?”
“Got me thinking about the book.”

Oh, the book. “Murder in the Soggy Bottoms,” which Doc said sounded like a young mother with too many diapers. The rest of the local world referred to his book as “The Duchess and the Truck Driver.”

“What about the book, Hon?” she asked.

“Maybe I should tone down the murders and put more love in it. I mean, after all, the duchess and the truck driver had a dukelet together, even though the truck driver doesn’t know it and he married someone back home and had a daughter, and his wife died in childbirth, and the daughter wants to marry the dukelet because she doesn’t know he’s her half brother, and the dukelet likes her, too. So instead of their parents being murdered, what if they get together again?”

Anita sipped her coffee and smiled. “I’ve always liked love stories better than murder mysteries, myself.”

“But you see, I have all these murders … I’m down to just six of them throughout the book. So if I have a happy ending for the duchess and the truck driver, that cuts me back to just four murders, and then I’ll have to figure out if they’ll live in her castle just outside Budapest, or at his place back home. Then I’ll have to figure out who killed those other people before I get to the end of the book because I can’t have it be the same guy as before because that would wreck the romance, you see.”

“I know you’ll figure it out, Dud,” she said, putting her arm around him.

The strain of the creative demon in him showed plainly in his furrowed brow. It used to be so easy to just do his job and come home each night, but literature makes a guy’s brain hurt.

-----------

Brought to you by “Sun Dog Days,” Slim’s latest novel. Available at Slim Randles Web site

Posted by Maryann Miller who is so thankful that Slim shares his wit and wisdom with the readers of WinnsboroToday.com. Visit Maryann's Web site for information about her books and her editing services. If you have a good book, she can help you make it better. When she is not working, Maryann loves to play "farmer" on her little ranch in the beautiful Piney Woods of East Texas.

Self-Editing One Step at a Time: One Final Chore

For those writers who will be sending manuscripts electronically at any time during the submission or publication process, there is one more little housekeeping chore to be done: eliminate extra spaces and other formatting errors inadvertently added to the manuscript.

On your Microsoft Word toolbar there is an icon that looks like the editing symbol for new paragraphs. If you click on that icon, your text will indicate spaces in your work as dots. You may have a perfectly formatted manuscript, but if you are an old-style typist like me, you’ll probably find a lot of extra spaces at the end of paragraphs and sometimes at the end of sentences within paragraphs.

Since many manuscripts are now submitted electronically, and publishers/editors often require print-ready formatting from the authors at some point in the process, it’s wise to add this step to your self-editing procedures.

If your publisher wants one space after a period instead of two (common when using fonts other than Courier New), first use the Find/Replace function to search out two spaces and replace with one.

After that, check every page of the manuscript and eliminate extra spaces, being careful not to delete periods. Click on the icon again to hide the formatting symbols.

Note that page breaks, hidden text, paragraph, and indent or tab characters will also be visible and may be added, corrected, or deleted in this final editing step.

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

Patricia Stoltey is a mystery author, blogger, and critique group facilitator. Active in promoting Colorado authors, she also helps local unpublished writers learn the critical skills of manuscript revision and self-editing. For information about Patricia’s Sylvia and Willie mystery series, visit her website and her blog. You can also find her on Facebook (Patricia Stoltey) and Twitter (@PStoltey).

Hopelessly Devoted to Grammar

In yesterday's post, Patricia mentioned Grammar Girl who is also known to us as Mignon Fogarty. Let me get straight to the point: I worship at this woman's feet.

Okay, perhaps I exaggerate a bit, but not much. Since I first discovered the site and the book, Grammar Girl's Quick & Dirty Tips for Better Writing, I've become a loyal fan. This book sits on my bookshelf along with my favorite dictionaries, thesaurus, and other reference books I use to edit. I've signed up to get a tip in my mailbox every day (and read them, too, unlike so many other bits of email that end up in the virtual trash can), and if ever I have a question that truly stumps me, Mignon is the person who springs to mind - she of the final and absolutely correct answers.

If that isn't enough to convince, you can listen to the podcasts, buy a cool mug or tee shirt, even holiday greeting cards. Add to that iPhone apps, tips on Twitter and Facebook, free book chapter downloads, and you'll understand why you can't lose with GG as your friend. Does this woman have her act together? Yes she does, and you'll want to explore all the components of the Quick & Dirty Tricks network.

Okay, I'm worshipping again, aren't I?

But, of course! And so should you. I've saved the best until last - Grammar Girl's newest book - the fabulous and aptly named Grammar Devotional. With a tip for every day of the year, this little gem of a book will teach and refresh in the easiest way possible - a little each day. I'm here to tell you, it makes a fantastic gift for writing pals and even your favorite editors, not to mention all those high school and college students who have yet to experience the true love of grammar. Go forth and buy a couple of copies today, one for yourself and one to give. Believe me, you won't be disappointed.

The Grammar Devotional is available at MacMillan, amazon.com, and Borders to name just three sources.

Now quick, somebody edit this before Grammar Girl finds a mistake. Heh.

~~~~~~

Dani Greer is a founding member of the Blood-Red Pencil and is spending a great deal of time drinking mulled wine and baking Christmas cookies. She will start writing and editing again in January, so be sure to ask about her special mystery novel rate.

Self-Editing One Step at a Time: Searching for More Silly Stuff

Sometimes we’re so focused on the big picture—our plot and characters—that we miss obvious clues that more editing is required. My July 16th, 2009 post, Look for the Silly Stuff: Exclamation Points, discussed the overuse of that popular punctuation mark. Here are a few other things you need to consider.

1. Bad grammar and lousy punctuation. If you don’t know the basic rules of grammar and punctuation, you need to take a class, buy a good book and study it, or choose one of many excellent online resources to hone your writing skills. I like Mignon Fogarty’s Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips™ for Better Writing and her website by the same name. Guide to Grammar and Writing is a website sponsored by the Capital Community College Foundation. I’ve found it to be very useful.

2. When Microsoft Word underlines a word in red, it means the software thinks you have misspelled the word. The error might be a typo. The word might really be misspelled. Or you may have used a correct word or spelling that is not in Word’s dictionary.

If you right click on the underlined word, an option box will pop up giving you a few alternate word/spelling choices and the ability to add the word to the dictionary so future uses will not be underlined in red. This is helpful for names of characters or fictional places, creatures, and objects (as in fantasy novels). Always turn to a good dictionary to verify spelling.

3. When Microsoft Word underlines a fragment or sentence in green, it means the software thinks your grammar is incorrect. You need to check it out and revise the sentence if necessary. Right click on the underlined phrase or sentence and an option box will give you a brief description of what might be wrong. If you’ve intentionally used incorrect grammar for emphasis, or in dialogue, you may select “Ignore Once” in the option box to make the green line disappear.

4. Two words, one word, or hyphenated word? This is a trickier problem. Whenever you have a noun that is made up of two words, and you’re not 100% sure whether the noun should be two words, one word, or hyphenated, it’s best to look it up in an official dictionary. Two words that tripped me up were rearview (as in rearview mirror) and backseat. Also remember that your word might be hyphenated if used as an adjective, but not when used as a noun.

Here are a few other examples: ape-man, backstory, bookseller, chain-smoker, deathbed, fishwife, safe-conduct, woodshed, and trashman (Word thought trashman was wrong, but Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary assured me it was correct). For more on this spelling puzzle, see Dani Greer’s posts, This is a test, just a test on April 22, 2009 and Spelling Test Answers on April 23, 2009.

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

Patricia Stoltey is a mystery author, blogger, and critique group facilitator. Active in promoting Colorado authors, she also helps local unpublished writers learn the critical skills of manuscript revision and self-editing. For information about Patricia’s Sylvia and Willie mystery series, visit her website and her blog. You can also find her on Facebook (Patricia Stoltey) and Twitter (@PStoltey).