Tag: fun

Posts About Books About Books

Leave a comment

It’s Read Across America Day, so it feels very appropriate to see this post by Kate Goodman at GoodLife Eats, Etc., in which she talks about books about books. Book-ception!

She focuses on picture books, most of which I haven’t read but sound fantastic. I definitely want to check out That Book Woman by Heather Henson.

On the novel side, I’d suggest Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, and When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Any other ideas?

Fifty First Lines, Part 2

Leave a comment

I took part in the Accidental Novelist’s 50 First Lines Challenge, which was really fun. (It’s a great exercise on its own; seriously, try it!) Now it’s onto Round 2–and you can participate! The very brief details:

“If you did NOT enter the first round, your job is to write 5 First Paragraphs using the WINNING First Lines above. ONLY SUBMIT YOUR TOP THREE.”

For more on how and what to submit, check out the full post. At the very least, you get to do a fun writing exercise, and maybe you’ll have internet bragging rights at the end of it. So get writing, everybody!

Sounds Like Blackberries

Leave a comment

A lot of times, writers rely on sensory details to create vivid worlds for their characters. Sometimes it’s fun to use synesthesia and mix the senses. But it’s not just an artistic tool or neurological condition. Apparently this combination of senses is something we all do to some degree.

Scientists studying this link found that people can generally link specific tastes with specific sounds:

“Blindfolded or not, significant associations emerged. Few subjects linked brass with blackberry, for example, but many associated it with piano. Hardly anybody connected piano with musk, but many linked it to brass. Fruit odors were consistently associated with high pitched notes. That confirmed an earlier study by Crisinel and Spence showing that sweet and sour flavors were also associated with high pitched notes.

This effect apparently works the other way, too. Another scientist recently asked different musicians to play pieces of music with adjectives like “bitter,” “salty” and “sweet” in mind. Though the musicians could play whatever they wanted, consistent patterns emerged.”

It’s amazing what our minds can do! The next time you’re capturing sensory details, don’t forget that you can play with the senses. Have fun!

First Fifty

Leave a comment

Staring at a blank piece of paper can be intimidating. To get your creative juices flowing, The Accidental Novelist (Writes Again) is hosting a 50 first lines contest. The basics: write fifty possible first lines, then post your five favorites in the comments section by midnight tonight (Monday). Not much time, but it’s only fifty lines. You can do it!

If you want some examples, check out the 50 list by 4am Writer. Stiff competition! I might post mine here as well if I can get myself organized. Let me know if you end up taking part!

And You Don’t Need Any Quarters

Leave a comment

I can’t remember the last time I used a pay phone. It might have been in high school. Since they’re not getting a lot of public use anymore, it’s cool to see some New York pay phones getting a literary update.

John Locke (I’m going to imagine him like this) is the man behind the project. He hopes that people will pick up a book while they’re about down, or maybe drop a another off when they’re done with it. One part of the project I find especially cool:

Is there any screening process for the books? For instance, do you try to include great works of literature, or perhaps focus on more accessible and popular novels?

I want everything and anything. I don’t have much of a budget, so all the books are donated from people that live nearby and off my own shelves, so everything from Oprah-approved to Jane Jacobs. And obviously as people leave their own books, I’d want the collection to become a record of the interests of that particular site. A next site I have in mind is near a public school, and I’m trying to get a good collection of children’s books.

I’d be interested to see what books kids share without any guidance from adults. School libraries are obviously fantastic, but something about children being able to run their own library really intrigues me.

Make sure to check out the full interview with Locke. Have any of you seen any pop-up libraries around town?

Bookish Birthday Bash

Leave a comment

I have a theory that being in your 30s is awesome. 3 is my favorite number, so I can only assume that a whole decade of 3 is just about the coolest decade ever. And this Wordy Thirty birthday party is just adding more proof.

The hosts used literary references for the food and drink served–from Turkish Delight (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) to fried green tomatoes (Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe) to the Vesper martini (Casino Royale). Pages from books and Scrabble pieces went toward decorations. What a fun idea!

I’m a sucker for costumes, so I’m probably be tempted to ask guests to dress up as their favorite authors or literary characters. If it’s your birthday, they have to agree, right?

Let’s Learn and Explore

Leave a comment

We’re coming up on the end of February vacation for a lot of schools. In case you or your kids are on break and you haven’t seen anything cool yet, check out the National Children’s Book and Literary Alliance’s list of awesome museums across the country. Not a bad way to spend a Friday!

Some of the great museums included are the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in MA(somehow I still haven’t been there yet!) and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

Another on my to-visit list is the MIT Museum, which explores invention and technology. They have robots!

Have you visited any cool museums lately?

Are You There, Oscar?

Leave a comment

Don’t know who to root for on Oscar night? Judy Blume is here to help. Along with being one of the most famous MG/YA authors ever, she’s also a huge movie fan. The New York Times talks with Blume about her picks. For major awards, she’s pulling for The Artist, which I haven’t seen yet but sounds fantastic. The only point on which I have to disagree with Blume is The Tree of Life, which she thought was pretentious and I really enjoyed. It’s not necessarily a movie I’d watch over and over, but I thought it was a compelling look at how we form memories as children and how insignificant personal struggles are amid the universe.

Blume also talks a little about what she’s working on now:

Q. Is it a young adult novel or is it for adults?
A. I don’t know, it’s one or the other. It’s probably both. It’s too soon to know. Did you see that thing with Maurice Sendak and Stephen Colbert, it’s on YouTube. [Bagger’s note: It is really worth watching. Especially when they get to the marker-sniffing.] Colbert says something about, ‘So did you always know you were going to write for children?,’ and Sendak says: “Write for children? I just write, and they decide where it should go.” I will have to decide, but I’m on a first draft of an intricate novel, it’s a complicated story for me to tell.
Glad to see another writer who sees their work for children as just a natural part of the creative process, not a major deliberate choice.
Who are you cheering for at this year’s Oscars?