Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won’t come again And don’t speak too soon For the wheel’s still in spin And there’s no telling who that it’s naming For the loser now will be later to win Cause the times they are a-changing
Bob Dylan, the poet laureate of the rock era, has been rewarded with the Nobel Prize in Literature, an honor that elevates him into the company of T. S. Eliot, Gabriel García Márquez, Toni Morrison and Samuel Beckett.
Bob Dylan is the first musician to win the award, and his selection on Thursday is perhaps the most radical choice in a history stretching back to 1901. In choosing a popular musician for the literary world’s highest honor, the Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, dramatically redefined the boundaries of literature, setting off a debate about whether song lyrics have the same artistic value as poetry or novels.
“Dylan has the status of an icon. His influence on contemporary music is profound, and he is the object of a steady stream of secondary literature.”
Literary scholars have long debated whether Mr. Dylan’s lyrics can stand on their own as poetry, and an astonishing volume of academic work has been devoted to parsing his music. The Oxford Book of American Poetry included his song “Desolation Row,” in its 2006 edition, and Cambridge University Press released “The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan” in 2009, further cementing his reputation as a brilliant literary stylist.
This tweet wraps up everything I love about the internet!
* 2016 READING CHALLENGE STATS * Participants 2,693,803 / Total Books Pledged 127,845,226 / Books Finished 28,625,135 / Avg. Books Pledged 47 / Challenges Completed [to date] 5,475 / Time Left 95 days / KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK EVERYONE!
I’ve completed the 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge, and have read about 128 of 125 books… so far – (that is just the Goodreads challenge, not Shadow Girl‘s personal goal… I am far from finished!)Just try to stop me – It’s not even October yet!
I may be 36 books ahead of [the GR] schedule, but do you realize just how many books on my 2016Must Read list are not even published yet?! (not to mention my ‘don’t judge me’list or my ‘guilty pleasure’ list – No. I have no shame).
OMG, these authors are killing me!
But, I wouldn’t want to go any other way.
Big, BIG, HUGE thanks to the minds behind the mayhem.
You guys are a large & very important part of my life, and I’m lucky enough to call many of you my friends. Thank you for the journeys so far, and I can’t wait to see where we’re going next!! P, L & N ♥ ~sg
I’m sharing a ton of links in this post, click everywhere!
Starting off with something fun, 12 Signs You’re A Banned Book Reader is from Epic Reads. I hope that everyone is like me and loves to see LISTS about STUFF, and that will help get more hits for this post, which will lead to more serious links about Raising Awareness and What You Can Do To Help! Be naughty, READ A BOOK!
12 Signs You’re A Banned Book Reader – From Epic Reads
1. You couldn’t care less about pigeons, doves, seagulls, or canaries, but you know it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. 2. You read dystopians before Katniss was even born. 3. You don’t judge people on whether they’re a good witch or a bad witch. 4. You had a nervy spaz and almost duffed up a div for proposing to ban a book, even if it contained nunga-nungas or nuddy-pants. And you know exactly what that sentence means. 5. Speaking of nuddy-pants, sometimes you have dreams where you lose your clothes and you don’t understand the big deal. 6. And somehow, you still manage to sleep through the night to have those dreams, even after looking at this cover. 7. Because you realize that sometimes the most realistic fiction is the scariest (but all the more reason NOT TO BAN IT!). 8. Let’s face it––censorship really gets you down. Good thing books are your CRUTCH. 9. And sometimes you’re so engrossed in reading you leave a light on in the attic. 10. Economics, econometrics. . . it’s all just fancy ways of saying INTERESTING THINGS TO READ. 11. You know that sometimes your greatest friends are only in your life for a short time.
And, Thinking of all my awesome blogger buddies… 12. But mostly you just hang out with a bunch of WILD things!
Check out – “Banned Book Hop – Celebrating 30 years of protecting your right to read!” Blogged by Cabin Goddess.
A lot of hard work went into this, follow Cabin Goddess’s Blog!Freedom To Read Foundation
This last century the top ten most frequently challenged and banned books:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Ulysses by James Joyce
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
1984 by George Orwell
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Want to get involved in #BannedBooksWeek? Defend books being challenged RIGHT NOW
AASL – BANNED WEBSITES AWARENESS
To raise awareness of the overly restrictive blocking of legitimate, educational websites and academically useful social networking tools in schools and school libraries, AASL has designated one day during Banned Books Week as Banned Websites Awareness Day. AASL is asking school librarians and other educators to promote an awareness of how overly restrictive filtering affects student learning.
This is a video from Khaled Hosseini reading a passage from his frequently challenged novel, The Kite Runner. The Kite Runner, was the 6th most frequently challenged novel in 2012 for homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, and being sexually explicit; and the ninth most frequently challenged book of 2008 for offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group –
#FunFact
Four of Stephen King’s books are on the top 100 Most Challenged Books:
#49 Cujo
#81 Carrie
#82 The Dead Zone
#95 Christine
I wish I could take credit for being this clever, but, since I’m not….
This is a BUZZFEED post that I wanted to share, but because I don’t think enough people actually visit links to see posts in their entirety, I’m copying the BUZZFEED page, posted on August 16, 2013 at 3:02pm EDT & contributed by ‘a member of the BuzzFeed Community‘. Please, click the links and visit the original post. Thanks!!
P, L, & N ❤
~sg
If you’re a self-proclaimed bookworm –
(or a bibliophile in denial),
you can probably relate to these 17 problems.
#1: When someone asks you what your favorite book is and expects you to pick just one.
#2: When someone interrupts your reading.
**** Because, really, a book is basically a Do Not Disturb sign.
#3: When the movie version of a book gets everything wrong.
#4: And completely ruins your mental images of characters.
#5: When someone you like tells you they don’t like to read.
#6: When you forget to eat or sleep because a book is so good.
#7: When your favorite character dies.
**** And you pretend they’re still alive but it’s just not the same.
#8: When a book you love gets a harsh review.
#9: When an author stops writing mid-series.
#10: When someone spoils the ending of a book.
**** Or worse, the ending of an entire series.
#11: When you walk into a bookstore.
#12: When you lend someone a book and get it back in terrible condition.
#13: Or never get it back at all.
#14: When you finish a book and have to wait a year for the sequel.
#15: When a book makes you cry hysterically in public and everyone thinks you’re crazy.
#16: When no one gets your obscure literary reference.
#17: When someone says you read too much.
**** Because you know there’s no such thing as too many books.
Since there are so many aspiring writers here, and me being one myself, I wanted to share a book with everyone that is available for FREE DOWNLOAD today on Amazon.
This looks like it could be helpful, and, it only has 4 and 5 star reviews! I picked up a copy, saved five bucks, and will hopefully learn something along the way. If I discover just one new ‘thing’, I consider myself lucky.
The Mythic Guide to Characters: Writing Characters Who Enchant and Inspire [Kindle Edition] by Antonio del Drago (Author), and Derek Bowen (Editor) is available for FREE DOWNLOAD today.
Amazon synopsis says this:
As a professor, writer, and philosopher, Dr. Antonio del Drago has immersed himself in the literary and mythological traditions of the world.
Applying this knowledge to the writing of characters, he has developed a systematic, layered approach to character development that is based on psychology and archetypes.
In this guide, you will discover:
*The secret to writing multidimensional characters
*How to develop your character’s unconscious motivations
*Four ways in which characters interact with their worlds
*Five formative relationships that shape your character
*Nine mythic character archetypes and how to use them
*The difference between proactive and reactive protagonists
*Ways to define a character through dialogue and physicality
*The guide also includes a detailed worksheet that walks you through the stages of character development.
This is more than a book on how to write characters. This guide offers a practical, step-by-step approach to character creation that is sure to take your writing to the next level.
Taken from the short story collection:
Strange Tales of the Curiously Uncommon
*An Amazon Top 10 Best Seller in Short Stories!*
A Curiously Uncommon Short Story by Award-Winning Author Andrew Biss
*****
Ethel has had a hard time of things since her husband Wilfred passed away. But, she is learning to adapt, falling into a routine to help her cope. She sits down one evening to work on her daily crossword puzzle, and have a cup of tea. She chats with the picture of Wilfred that sits atop the antique trunk in her living room, she’s not crazy or senile – it just helps her to not miss him as much. Her quiet little world is interrupted when a burglar breaks in, thinking her home is vacant.
Ethel tries to engage the burglar in some chit-chat, to forge some sort of relationship with the man, but he’s not falling for it. He only wants to get her valuables and get out of there, because that smell is really starting to get to him!
And, he’s about to find out what that embarrassing door is.[In my Bad Santa impersonation] – Granny is still spry!
When newly weds Jason and Emily moved into their first home together they thought they had the perfect start to their new life together; a quiet house in the middle of the country away from the hustle and bustle of everyday city life.
Unfortunately for them, things take a supernatural turn when they realise the house isn’t quite as empty as they first believed it to be.
The book starts with an idealistic summer backdrop; idealistic if you don’t pay attention to the food burning on the grill, or the huge puddle of blood drying on the pavement. I knew I was in for a ride when I had tears in my eyes at the end of the first chapter.
Fast forward in time a bit to meet Jason & Emily. Newlyweds who put off their honeymoon to purchase their dream home. They arrive, with their dog Roald, just before the moving truck. (Fun Fact: Notice the dogs name? – Leave me a comment if you get it.) We notice strange happenings before they’re even moved in. Once they are, Roald picks up on something – like all pets are known to do. Your pets always know!
Jason begins to take notice when doors in the house start slamming closed, but he can’t find the source of a draft no matter how hard he looks.
To weird him out a little more, he gets a surprise visit from Aimee, a strange woman who claims to have once lived in his house. He thinks she looks looney, but, her husband, Ian, comes to collect her – promising it will never happen again. He tells Emily about it, and gets her properly bugged, too. (This bit plants a seed for our minds to silently cultivate while we continue reading.)
While laying in bed with Em that night, having a tiff about how unproductive his days are while she’s off at work, they hear a commotion coming from downstairs. He goes to investigate & finds one of the boxes he neglected to unpack had fallen over, spilling it’s contents onto the floor. He returns to bed, leaving the mess until morning, (and further irritating his wife). The next morning, when Em thanks him for picking up, and knowing he did no such thing, Jason starts to freak out. Could that woman have returned in the night? Is she here now? Roald, you didn’t do this, did ya? (To which he replies O.o – then licks his butt).
By the time Emily gets home from work, Jason has it all figured out. They are sharing their home with the ghost of an eight year old boy, Josh Tomsett, the son of the houses previous owners.
In my best Steffon character voice…
This book has EVERYTHING!
“This book has everything! Ouija boards, surprises, heartbreak, and twists… That thing from the movie Poltergiest where the living play games with the ghost in the kitchen!”
This is another of those stories that dragged my emotions through the ringer. I laughed out loud, cried, got angry, got scared… And, as it always happens to me, during one key moment towards the end… great big huge scary noise from the other room! (Upon investigation, it was the ‘shower caddy’, the thing holding all the shampoos and soaps, it fell right off the side of the shower at a perfect moment. It’s strange how things like that happen!
The only other thing I’ll say is this – we’re in Matt’s world, there are no happy endings.
* The Lost Son also includes a bonus story from the recently published collection SHORTS, titled AS I LAY STILL
EASTER EGGS!!
I’m a closet geek. Well, as I like to say… geek by day, nerd by night!
In geek speak, an easter egg is a secret message, credit or screen hidden in an application, game, or DVD. Easter eggs typically include a bonus feature or item but can include the names of the developers responsible for the application, extra levels, or bonus content.
Even though the term brings to mind electronic bonus material, I use it for literary bonus material. Those hidden gems authors slip in once in awhile. Matt is famous for them. I try to point out a couple of my favourites from every story, without spoiling things. A couple Easter Eggs in THE LOST SON…
Remember me pointing out the name of the dog?
Roald. I won’t ruin what I said earlier, if you ‘get it’, leave a note in the comments. Need a hint? Read my interview LOW TEA WITH MATT SHAW.
JOSH TOMSETT, our lead ghost in this story, borrows his name from our friend Kim Tomsett, (aka wistfulskimmie)! I’m sure you’ve seen her reviews on Amazon, or chatted with her on Matt’s Facebook wall.
I think it is really cool that Matt interacts and includes his fans throughout his writing process.
At one point, Emily, (while trying to get in touch with Ian Tomsett), was put on the spot when asked for her name. In a pinch, she uses the name Nurse Ratched, (made me laff!!). In case you can’t place the name, Nurse Ratched is the antagonist in the 1962 Ken Kesey novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and in the 1975 movie of the same title. The overbearing, cruel, perfectionist nurse rules the asylum in the story with an iron fist.
Any book nerd like me has called at least one nurse by this name in their lifetime!! Used creatively, you can turn it into an insult on almost anyone!
The Bloody Book Blogger 