Grammar Girl to the Rescue!

by | Jul 6, 2011 | Uncategorized

Today (blissful sigh) is a writing day. The kids stayed with their nonna last night, and all is quiet and serene here in the Maison du Blanc. And crazy as it seems, if I don’t dive right in, I’ll waste hours online, LOL. So. Rather than taking the time for an original post, I’m sharing something that’s going up at Go Teen Writers today. Stephanie Morrill asked me to write some guest posts on grammar, and the three-part series begins today, aimed at young novelists. I don’t know if I’ll post the other parts here (they’ll go up Friday and Monday), but to since everyone can use a refresher in grammar now and then . . .

~*~

Faster with a red pen than an errant three-year-old . . .
More apt to spout rules than your high school English teacher . . .
Able to correct commas with a single glance . . .
She’s [insert bugle blare here] Grammar Girl!

Are you imagining me soaring through the clouds with cape billowing behind me and GG emblazoned across my oh-so-cute costume? Excellent. Now let’s begin. =)

Grammar is important. (Stop groaning, now!) Grammar is what helps us fine tune what we say so that it comes out clearly and has the best possible impact. If your words are a sword, then grammar is the sharpness of the blade—an integral part of the words themselves, and that which gives them their shape and power.

I was one of those nuts who was always in the highest percentile in the Mechanics section of the standardized tests in English. I was editing my sister’s college English papers for her when I was 14. My college professors bandied about phrases like “your stylistic prowess.” (Oh yeah, I wrote that one down, LOL.) Am I the best writer in the world? Ahem. NO. But I know my grammar, which means I turn in polished, clean manuscripts.

That counts.

Stephanie asked me if I’d be willing to do some grammar posts, and I enthusiastically said, “YES!! I’d love to! How many? What about? When do I start??” (I told you—I’m a nut.) So over the next ### I’m going to give a crash course in a few rules you should keep handy while you’re writing and check over before you send your work out into the world.

First, if we’re dealing with a manuscript, let’s talk basic formatting. You should always set up your page with 1” margins all around, double spaced, first line of a paragraph indented to .5” through your Format/Paragraph option. Don’t put extra spaces between paragraphs, not in a book. Don’t use hard returns to get to the next page—use a page break (Ctrl + Enter). Keep your alignment Left (not justified) except for chapter headings and section breaks, which are centered.

Okay. Now that your page is set up, you begin writing. Once you’ve written your first sentence, you hit the space bar, right? Be sure you only hit it once. Back in the day when I was in high school, we were taught to put two spaces between sentences, but no longer. So I had to retrain myself, and I still mess that up occasionally. So at the end of a document, I’ll do a Find search for two spaces and Replace All with one.

A few more “always” rules.

Always, a comma comes directly after a word—no space before it, but one after it. Same goes for a period, question mark, exclamation point, quotation mark, and any other form of punctuation. (Now, no rolling your eyes. I’ve seen this mistake often enough to make me cringe, LOL.)

Always, commas and period go within quotation marks, whether the sentence ends with the quotation end or not. (i.e. He barged into the room and said, “Hello,” then left again. NEVER: He barged into the room and said, “Hello”, then left again.) For question marks and exclamation points, they go within the quote only when part of the quote. (i.e. Have you ever heard the saying “eat, drink, and be merry”? BUT: Did she just ask, “Can I join you?”)

Always, each new speaker in dialogue gets his or her own paragraph. (Always, always, always!!)

See, not so bad, is it? I won’t start the real torture until next time. 😉 Check back in for the finer points of commas, quotes, and caps!

And if you have any questions, be they general or particular, bring ’em on! Grammar Girl to the rescue!

Sneak Peek — Shhhhh ;-)

by | Jul 5, 2011 | Uncategorized

Did everyone enjoy a great Independence Day? We did. Homemade ice cream, and the enthusiasm for fireworks that only kids can lend to the day. They got especially excited when the neighbors shot off some really great ones, up close and personal. I’m always afraid those will scare the kiddos, but they whooped and clapped along with the rest of us. 

Now. I spent part of last week toying with a new website design. And since that took up the time I should have spent reading, I have no book to discuss with y’all this week (oops), so I figured I’d talk about this instead. 😉

So, step #1. Go Here.

Step #2. Look around, keeping in mind that full content is nowhere near up yet. I’m just working on overall design before sinking time into transferring my Companion Guides.

     ~ On the homepage, I’m planning on having one of those little feed preview-of-latest-blog thingies under the welcome. (Anyone know how to do that with a WordPress site, when the blog’s on Blogger??)

     ~ In the left sidebar, there will be a page for links (like to ACFW, my Colonial Blog, Go Teen Writers, Christian Review of Books) and then quick links to my books’ pages, maybe an Events page . . . anything else you’d like to see there? Or on the top menu?

     ~ The picture of the book on the homepage will change as new books come out to feature the latest. So soon you’ll see the Annapolis cover there. =) Which has some purple in the sky, so it’ll perfectly coordinate with the site, LOL. Yes, I did that on purpose.

Step #3. Come back here and tell me what you think.

     ~ I’d like some feedback on how the colors work for you, especially in relation to visibility and readability for those whose eyes are sensitive to these things. (Let’s keep in mind that I like purple, so just saying ‘I don’t like purple’ isn’t going to change my mind 😉 Saying it hurts your eyes, however, may.)

      ~ I’d also love your feedback on what else you’d like to see on the site. A newsletter subscription, maybe (which would mean I’d have to start a newsletter)? Should I put up a digital version of my marketing workshop, after I’ve done it (Spirit-Led Marketing, by the way)? Something else I’m totally forgetting?

Thanks! I look forward to your feedback. =)

Word of the Week – Patriot

by | Jul 4, 2011 | Word of the Week

I love being an American. I’m proud of my country, I admire our roots, and I truly believe in the ideals on which we were founded. I will sing “God Bless America” from the top of my lungs! I don’t think my country’s perfect by any means–but it’s mine. I’m a patriot.
But patriot wasn’t always a good thing! It’s an old word, tracing its roots bake to the Greek “patriotes,” which means “fellow-countryman,” which of course comes from “patrios”–of one’s father, and “patris”–fatherland. In the early 1600s, patriot had gained the meaning of “one who is a loyal supporter of one’s country.” But in the mid-18th century, it became a term of derision–it had come to be applied to those whose passion led to divisiveness and disturbance of the government.
So when Americans were branded as Patriots, it sure wasn’t a compliment. But in true Yankee fashion, we took what was meant as an insult and turned it into a badge of honor. Though the word still retains negative connotations in other parts of the English-speaking world, Americans wave the flag of patriotism with truly old-fashioned delight.
Now–for a truly amazing online celebration of Independence Day, hie thee over to the Colonial Quills! Many of us will be showing up in character to talk about what the day means to us. I’ll be there as Lark Benton from Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland, so to get a sneak peek of my upcoming heroine, come on over!

Thoughtful About . . . Taglines

by | Jun 30, 2011 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized

I’m finally giving in. After years of refusing to label myself (and not really needing to), I’ ve found myself wanting a tagline. Primarily because I need to upgrade my website and want something to put under my name, LOL.

But I could use some help. Who’s up for brainstorming?? =)

Here are some things I’ve considered including, themes to all my books, etc.

History/historicals
      The problem with this is that I hope to publish some of my contemporaries somewhere along the way, too.

Shine
      Since I received the word “Shine” for the year from the Lord, I’ve really been loving all the ways this can be used, and it’s definitely a big goal with my writing–to Shine for Him with my words

Hope
      When I asked my best friend/crit partner Stephanie Morrill what common thread ran through all my books, she said it was the hope. So you know . . . common thread . . . good for a tag line, LOL.

Optimism
      Not that this is the catchiest word or anything, but it’s probably my most defining characteristic. Which goes in with the hope. =)

Faith
      All my books are faith-based, Christian fiction. I want all my stories to glorify the Lord

Love
      Though not all meet the definition of “romance,” all my novels are love stories

Depth
      This is a word that springs up often when people are talking about my stories–they’re usually very involved and dig deep into matters and hearts

Intelligence
      Even when I’m writing silliness, it tends to be smart silliness. Those are my agent’s words, not mine, LOL. So please don’t think me pretentious. And I don’t really know I’d want it in a tagline. Just trying to give you a rounded understanding of me and my work. 😉

Emotion
      I like to get really involved in the emotional aspect of a story.

Passion
      I know lots of people with this is their tagline, so I might not want to go there, but I’m definitely passionate about the written word, and I like to write about characters passionate about life, love, and the Lord

So . . . any brilliant ideas? I’ve toyed with these:

History, Heart & Soul (which wouldn’t work with contemporaries)
Fiction that Shines with Hope

But I could use some help finding that perfect phrase. So HEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP! Please. 😉

Remember When . . . The Coins Were Divided?

by | Jun 29, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized

(I cheated today and took part of a post I put up at Colonial Quills for this. 😉  Feel free to stop by the original post too!)

A couple weeks ago, I talked about the British counterfeiting scheme during the Revolution.  Well, after that the dollar was pretty much destroyed. After the war, most people traded in silver coin, using the Spanish silver dollars, which equaled eight reales. And when they needed a smaller coin, they pieced them into half, quarters, etc.

Which meant that folks got so good at dividing these silver circles that they soon had eighths and tenths. But, um, have you ever tried to tell the difference between an eighth of a small circle and a tenth? Yeah. The people of the new United States weren’t all that fond of it either. 
This was the point when independent gold and silver smiths became authorized to create their own money with the approval of the government. You could bring in your pieced silver, hand it over to the smith, and get in return a nice, easy-to-use shilling. Naturally, the smiths got the good end of this deal by coating a less-expensive metal in the silver and so keeping the difference.
One of the most prominent smiths of post-Revolution America was John Chalmers of Annapolis. The Chalmers Shilling was brilliant, in part because of its marketing potential. The front of the coin had “I. Chalmers Annapolis” emblazoned around it, which meant that everyone using the coin knew the name of this one smith.
What I find really interesting is the back of the coin. In case you can’t make it out, those are two birds fighting over a worm, with a snake in the background waiting to strike them.
Keep in mind that at the time there was a huge debate about how big or small the federal government should be, whether authority should remain mostly with the states or be given to the centralized government. Well, Chalmers made his politics known with this image. The birds represent the states, and the image is a cautionary tale–let not the states bicker among themselves. If they do, the federal government (the snake) will be ready to swallow them whole.

And there you have a second installment of the history of early American currency. That’ll be two shillings, please. 😉

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