Pam Webb

a writer's journey as a reader

Archive for the category “Blogging”

30 Dec 2014
10 Comments

Blog Spotlight: Reading with Rhythm


As a professed Book Booster I have a definite soft spot for a blog that promotes books. The added bonus of Reading with Rhythm is that this is all about a dog dedicated to sharing the love of books with children through visits at schools and libraries. This gets double Shazam points!
Just who is Rhythm and why is this dog so besotted with books? Rhythm’s story is quite interesting. She first trained to become a guide dog, but like some first pick careers, things didn’t go according to plan. However, her second career is just as special and important, because she is enriching many lives now that she is a registered therapy canine. To read more about her career change, read this post.

Rhythm’s Mom Person keeps readers updated with books of note, along with keeping readers entertained with the various adventures she and Rhythm’s family and extended network of pals enjoy and experience.

Rhythm also is the star of her own book! Now that’s something to brag and wag about.

book

Image: Amazon Books

Rhythm and her Mom Person provide a lively and light-hearted perspective to life and life with books. Hoping you’ll stop by and extend your paw of approval for this lovable labrador’s love of reading.

Posted in Animals, Blogging, Libraries, Reading, reviews, Writing and tagged , ,
29 Nov 2014
6 Comments

Blog Spotlight: Jilanne Hoffman


Jilanne would have received my recent pick of nominating a blogger for One Lovely Blog, yet she has one already. In fact, she has a bunch of awards–well deserved, I might add.
Upon visiting her site you have to stop a moment and decide what to visit first. Her book reviews? Her writing challenges? Her impressive bio? I especially like her Picture Book Friday entries because there will always be a place on my reading list for picture books. She is definitely a book promoter–not just picture books. A definite Kindred Spirit for Book Boosters out there.

Jilanne also provides readers with unique stories (check out her O ring entry). You will not be bored, that’s for sure, with so many options to select. And that’s what makes her site so diversely interesting.

I also get a kick out of her friendly mutual pokes and swipes with Mike Allegra. In fact, I think that’s how I connected with her, through his site. You really do meet up with the nicest people on WordPress.
So I hope you check out Jilianne’s blog and enjoy your visit, I know you’ll find something of interest there.

Posted in Blogging, Books, Reflections, writers, Writing and tagged , , ,
12 Nov 2014
23 Comments

It’s So Lovely


I do so enjoy serendipity finds, those unexpected moments of joyful surprise. The other day as I was scrolling through my notifications I discovered Megan of Make Something Mondays. provided one such moment, by nominating me for the One Lovely Blog Award. Having just finished a long week of parent-teacher conferences and staff meetings, this proved to be just the pick me up needed.

For once I’ll try not to scribble outside the lines in the midst of the procedure.
So, thanks, Megan who can be found at Make Something Mondays

The Rules:
1. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog in your post [check]
2. List the rules and display the award logo [check]
3. Include seven facts about yourself [check]
4. Nominate ten others and let them know you’ve nominated them [working on…]

Seven Facts About Me:
1. I am a librarian at heart who teaches high school English
2. Absolutely crave light–I have two Happy Lights to survive winter
3. Walking is preferred form of exercise, unless turning pages in a book counts
4. Resisting dark chocolate is tragically pointless for me
5. Soggy cereal is worse than creamed corn in my opinion
6. The Dick Van Dyke show of the sixties is still my all-time favorite TV show
7. I tan walking to the mailbox–is that bragging or a fact?
I nominate the following for also having lovely blogs:
1. Reading with Rhythm–a dog who promotes reading is irresistible
2. Mike Allegra--well, he isn’t lovely but he is lovable
3. Paperback Princess–a definite Book Booster
4. The Room Mom--a cheery, update blog about being a parent/teacher
5. Friendly BookWorm–another wonderful Book Booster
6. Writer Side Up--always lovely to have such an enthusiastic blogger about
7. Sorry, I’m Booked–yup, another Book Booster
8. A Writer’s Life for Me--I do appreciate another writer
9. Mustard Seed Budget–providing thoughtful uplifting messages
10. Eagle-Eyed Editor–one of my first blogging buddies

Wait–only ten?

Drat…

You do know you are ALL lovely, right?

Thanks for stopping by and please visit the others–you won’t be disappointed.

Blue Skies,

Cricket Muse

Posted in Awards, Blogging, Writing and tagged , ,
26 Oct 2014
12 Comments

Blog spotlight:Letizia


Letizia’s banner image invites readers to open a book and fall in love with reading

 

Book Boosters are those who place reading right up there with breathing. Yup, for some, reading and breathing is pretty essential  Letizia is definitely  a Book Booster because she reads , reads, reads. Pop onto her “About Me” page and this is what you’ll find:

I read in cafes, in my garden, in buses, in airplanes, at the kitchen table, at work, in parks, in bed, in the tub, in the doctor’s waiting room, in hotel lobbies, in trains, in restaurants, waiting for the electrician, during a snowstorm, and when I can’t sleep. I still haven’t mastered the art of walking and reading without looking up from my book, but I hope to one day.

university professor, translator, editor, workshop coordinator (and lover of all dogs!)

languages: French, English, Italian, some Portuguese

 

Her posts are thoughtful and thought-provoking. Take for instance her post on last sentences. In a playful interactive manner she encourages her readers to grab their fave novel and look up the last sentence and reflect upon it. I pulled out my beloved To Kill a Mockingbird, the 1960 issue with the nondescript green tree branch on brown background cover (talk about don’t judge a book by its cover). Letizia’s little exercise reminded me why I adore Harper Lee’s novel and why it is so enduring. This is why I follow her. And I hope you will too.

As a blogger, I always appreciate responses to my own posts, and Letizia faithfully adds her comments.  We all appreciate comments, don’t we?

Thanks, Letizia for your Book Boostering, comments, and worthwhile posting.

 

 

Posted in Blogging, Reflections, Writing and tagged , , , ,
25 Oct 2014
9 Comments

Graphically and Comically Speaking


Confession: I am a reformed annoying little sister. One of my annoying habits involved sneaking into my brother’s room and get into his stuff. When he wasn’t looking, I crept into his room and stole furtive sneak reads of his comic book collection. He fussed quite loudly whenever he caught me, but I couldn’t resist. What little girl could resist feasting on Disney comics, for those were my brother’s faves. He mainly bought Uncle Scrooge along with those mini-comic books (comics are actually magazines not books, if you think about it).

Uncle Scrooge made sense to me as a kid–I saw through his skinflinty ways and saw a softie. Image: wikipedia

My comic passion ignited I am hooked and remember summer afternoons binging on comic book reads with friends in our backyard. Years pass and my brother graduates and I move on from Disney to Peanuts to Archie and the gang. Flash forward and I’m in college and I’m still reading cartoons, although they are now sophisticated commentary: Doonesbury.
From Doonesbury I easily switched to Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes and Zits. I introduced my own kiddos to the joy of comics, buying the big treasury collections which I read as well. They didn’t bat an eye about their mother reading a Better or for Worse collection with her own bowl of cereal in the morning.

Cereal and comics–best times. Image: stockfreeimages.com

Oh yeah, in high school my research paper was “What’s So Funny About the Comics?” I wrote about the history of the comics from their beginnings clear up to modern-day offerings. I prefer Snoopy over Garfield any day.
This weekend my youngest progeny visited for his monthly Mom Meal. I dragged him along on errands, one of which being the library. Besides picking up a couple of movies we picked up some books. Actually that’s an understatement. We staggered out of the library with mixture of graphic novels (Beowulf rocks), Herge Tin Tins, Marvel Encyclopedias, Batman, Zombie stuff, and DMZ. About twenty books. My son, who is all grown up, living on his own, and is a responsible adult, holed up on the couch the rest of the afternoon and feasted on his found treasures.

Forget surfing the Internet–surf through a comic book instead! Image: slj.com

I’m okay with that. I’d be a bit of a hypocrite if I was, wouldn’t I? Reading comic books didn’t warp my mind, didn’t ruin my kiddos to read “real” books and I’m quite glad to see them legitimized and sitting on their own shelf in the library.
Anyone else still reading the comics page? I only wish I could manage to do so without feeling so silly to see how Luann is doing these days when I’m in the staff room.

Posted in America, Blogging, children, Reading, Reflections, Writing and tagged , ,
21 Oct 2014
4 Comments

Conference Crumbs


image: wordsharpeners.files.wordpress.com

Recently I attended a writing conference and I will freely admit I attended primarily because I knew my time had arrived. Yes, this time I would be discovered. My critique editor would be so impressed with my submission that she would pat the chair next to her and state, “I’ve waited all day to finally meet you. I adore this * points to my pages* and we need to talk about contracts.”
This, of course, did not happen and I doubt it will. Or if it does I hope the actual moment will not be as corny as my version.

I didn’t always used to be conference goer. I used to be a conference nayer. “Pfft–I don’t need to spend money, drive miles, and sit and listen to people who have made it. I have my books and magazines to tell me what I need to know.” That’s me turning down a suggestion to attend a SCBWI conference. My critique group sagely retorted, “You go because it’s all about networking.” And she was right. Making connections is primary, and gaining knowledge is secondary for me.

When conference invites drop into my mailbox I first check the line up–who is going to be there? Getting to hear a favorite or well-known author or to glean industry insights from a respected editor, publisher, or agent might entice me to reach for the calendar. Yet, what gets me actually going to the conference is the critique, having the opportunity to learn and to receive an assessment of my writing from an industry professional. If I can get a renowned publisher, editor, or agent to look over my work and get their attention for 12 minutes, I’m all in. Critiques range in price and my pocketbook can handle the $60 variety, which translates to roughly $5.00 a minute . I consider this a good value since I willingly pay a dollar a minute for my ten minute chair massage at the farmer’s market. Both are invigorating focused sessions, yet only one is beneficial towards my career.
Once at the conference  I diligently sit through the various speakers, deftly mining worthy industry nuggets. Admittedly I’m only half tuned into the program because I keep glancing at my at my watch after continually rechecking my critique appointment slip. Bad form, really. It would be much better to relax and relish while waiting.

This year I did do just that.

My appointment was probably the last one of the day which meant I needed to pass the time. I actually decided to really listen to the speaker presentations and not just flick through the bin of offered treasure trove of advice but to really savor the meal before me. Yes,a muddle of metaphors.  As for the actual conference I had a productive meeting with a publisher of a respected, well-known publishing house. She liked my approach, style, and even appreciated my humorous bits in the manuscript. She had prepared an amazing critique page–the best organized I’ve ever received. No, she did not offer a contract. However, she did hand me her personal business card and invited me to send my proposal for another project to her directly *no slush pile*. And she said I could resubmit the piece she had critiqued. Better than six chair massages, I’d say.

So, if are on the fence about attending a writing conference I would give you a bit of a nudge and so “Zip out the credit card and go absorb and mingle and learn.”

Oh–I would appreciate some good thoughts towards the project I just emailed her.  Having just received a rejection for a manuscript, I wouldn’t mind some good news around the corner.

Posted in Blogging, creativity, Reflections, Writing and tagged , , ,
16 Oct 2014
7 Comments

A Room Of My Own or a Writer In Woolf’s Clothing


image: amazon.com

While I’m not particularly a fan of Virginia Woolf, I do appreciate her unspoken contributions to women and writing. She once penned an essay discussing the need to have a room to create in, the desire to close out the responsibilities of mother and wife in order to be alone with self and creating. Rather a revolutionary idea in her time.
Though not so confined to the stove of domesticity these days, as a woman and a wife, mother, teacher, library trustee, GiGi–assorted other hat wearer, I too crave a room of my own. Carving out a space for personal creative endeavors has had its own set of challenges involving space and guilt.
We’ve tended on the small side of houses and squeezing out an area for a desk meant getting creative to find a creative corner. A door placed on top of filing cabinets worked for a time, but definitely cramped the bedroom and so we moved it out to the living room.  Still squishy. Ugly to boot.

When I switched to laptops, I got rid of the desk arrangement and I splurged, buying a loveseat the color of eggplant. I eked out a coveted thinking space in the bedroom, approximating nanoseconds of creative corner. The kids loved the idea that my office was purple.
Now, as an empty nester, I’ve commandeered one of the back bedrooms, I forget which progeny actually had it since they switched around so much. None of them can complain I’ve stolen their room. They know my standard reply anyway, “Your room? It was on loan for eighteen years.” My desk is an Ikea chair complimented by matching footstool to accommodate my two laptops (I still like my antiquated Dell, as I am trying to get used to my touch screen Lenovo). I have a rocking chair for when the MEPA wants to pop in and chat and a futon for the occasional overnight guest. This is where the guilt comes in: it feels a bit me-centric to devote one entire room towards my endeavors.

I know, I know–lots of people, lots of women have sewing rooms, craft corners, workshops, man caves and suffer not a twinge of remorse. I, on the other hand, do feel a bit bad about eradicating all traces of the progeny’s room. No beds, posters, old clothes, trophies remain; they truly are a guest when they visit.

Then again, I nudge away those nipping little guilts and conclude I should have no dilemmas about acquiring a room of my own. And this is where I have my moment of truth. Possessing a room of my own means I should make use of it, shouldn’t I? Then why am I writing this in the living room?

Posted in Blogging, children, creativity, Family, Reflections, technology, time management, writers and tagged , , ,
11 Oct 2014
15 Comments

Pedestrian Thoughts


I do my best writing while out walking. There is something about the synced coordination of brain and body both exercising at the same time–I now understand the trend towards the new kinetic desks.

After an hour of sitting down at the laptop I get antsy and start moving around, tidying up, doing laundry, futzing and such. Writing in lock down mode doesn’t work well for me. Writers who state they sit down and work office hours have my admiration. This is why I appreciate Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Pedestrian.”

Set in the future a man is out walking one night, his accustomed habit, when he is pulled over by the metro police–suspicious behavior since no one walks anymore, especially at night. The pedestrian ends up being taken in for “further questioning” when he reveals he is a writer–no one reads anymore either.
Fortunately, my walking habit is not deemed odd in our own days and times. Our little town has a refreshing diversity of walking paths and I do relish my times of walking briskly, revving up the muse and muscles. The exercise unknots plot stoppage, uncramps stiff dialogue passages, and opens up new avenues of thought, like blog posts. This one, matter of fact.

Posted in Blogging, creativity, Reflections, technology, Uncategorized, writers and tagged , , ,
03 Oct 2014
1 Comment

Of Entry Deadlines Whooshing By


Scrolling through my iPhone notes, I came across a bit of writing that I had good intentions of entering into a writing contest. Oops. That Vonnegut deadline whoosh went by me, but I like the piece so much I couldn’t resist sharing it. The contest required the telling of a story in dialogue only, without any tags. Challenge accepted, just not actualized. Here goes:
“Do you need some help?”
“Seems I’ve twisted my ankle.I’ll be all right. My friends are returning with the car.”
“I’m going in that direction. I’ll take you to when you’re staying.”
“That’s all right. They should be along shortly.”
“Those clouds indicate a change in the weather.”
“Yes, I think you’re right. Are you sure it’s no trouble?”
“None at all.”
“Thank you for your help.”
“You’re welcome. You’re American?”
“Yes, I’m visiting with friends. We’re on a hiking tour.”
“Yes, I’ve often hiked this area. You must have stepped in a rabbit hole.”
“Probably so. This is a bit awkward. I don’t quite know what to say.”
“Ah, we are addressing the elephant after all, then.”
“Oh, right. Yes, well…”
“I’m on holiday. There is no obligation.”
“Courtesy and good manners at least.
“And they say Americans are rude.”
“Not always.”
“How is the ankle?”
“Truthfully, I’ve forgotten about it. It doesn’t look like a bad sprain. I’ll recover.”
“Ice and elevation. I’m no physician, but I’ve dealt with a few twisted ankles. The men folk do their fair share of traipsing these hills on their hunts. Do you hunt?”
“Only with my camera.
“Much preferable, though I still appreciate the hunt. Tradition. It’s difficult to get away from tradition.”
“That’s my group. Up ahead, yes, over there by those trees. Looks like they’ve stopped for lunch.”
“Are you up to walking? I can set you closer to your camp.”
“Yes, well. The ankle is still a bit tender.”
“Then it’s best I drive you to your camp.”
“Only if it wouldn’t be an inconvenience. Thank you. That would be appreciated.”
“Is that it, by those cars?”
“Yes. Well, thank you once again.”
“Enjoy your stay and I hope you have a full recovery.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

 

 

 

Posted in Americans, Blogging, holidays, summer, travel and tagged , , , ,
30 Sep 2014
23 Comments

Blog Spotlight: Mike Allegra


How can you not want to read a blog with this as its banner?

Mike Allegra

This is Mike Allegra, aka HeyLookAWriterFellow. Think of Steve Martin and Billy Crystal as children’s book writers. A little scary but Mike promises he keeps it clean. In fact he insists on it, even though he has been known to trot out some potty jokes now and then.  Besides writing an absolutely this-is-really-funny stuff blog, he is a very talented writer, doodler, and all around good guy. He loves to show off his cute kid, who I need to figure out how to bribe so he’ll pull my entry out of the next doodle hat round.

I don’t even know how I found Mike’s blog. I think we started frequenting the same blogs with our commentary and I popped in. Mike and I now banter until I get him to cry “uncle, already.” Yes, Mike, I am keeping score. But I should stay on his good side because I am really hoping to get a cow on a pogo stick doodle out of him one of these days. And, no–this is not a butter up attempt. There have been at least three blog spotlights prior to Mike (I’m going by who trades the most comments with me or who I’ve known the longest in the blogosphere).

So, if you are looking to connect with a talented published children’s author, or like witty writing, or hope to win a doodle (there is a batch of us petitioning for him to run his doodle drawings at least once a month) you need to pop in and visit Mike, who is more than just another writer fellow.

Posted in Blogging, creativity, Reflections, writers, Writing and tagged , , , ,

Post Navigation

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →