Thought for the Day:
“Everyone has talent. What’s rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.”
~ Erica Jong ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Tension is so important to keeping your readers engaged. HERE Tiffany Yates Martin has a great post on Writer Unboxed with wonderful examples called Tension, Microtension, and Keeping Your Reader Hooked.
We all want our stories to be believable. HERE Elizabeth Raum has an excellent article in Writer’s Digest on Making Middle-Grade Novels Believable.
Lori Freeman at Writers in the Storm has done a series of four posts on comma usage. I believe I posted one of the series earlier. HERE, the fourth post, is really good. If you missed any of the earlier posts, there are links in this one to them all. They are worth your time.
A couple years ago, I switched from Blogspot to WordPress. My daughter was building a new website for me, and she thought it was a better platform to use. I was fine with it. Once I got used to the differences, it was just as easy to use and it looked really nice. But a few weeks ago, when I had finished building a new post, I clicked on Preview, and I got a message that WordPress couldn’t find that page. I tried over and over and did everything I could think of, but it wouldn’t change. I tried just publishing the post, but it wouldn’t let me do that either. After many hours, I decided to try it on a different browser, and while I couldn’t preview, I was able to publish the post. Ever since then, I couldn’t preview my posts, but I could publish them. Today, for the first time, I could preview. I also cannot “like” anyone’s comments, which I think is what sends a message to them to let them know I have responded. And every time I put a comment in, I have to fill out my information (email address, name, and URL). Every time. It takes me to a sign-in page, and I tell it to remember me, but then when I reply to the next comment, I have to go through it all over again. There doesn’t seem to be any way to have a conversation with anyone at WordPress, so I don’t know how to solve this problem. If anyone has experienced this kind of thing and has any suggestions, I would be eternally grateful.
I have often said, I don’t read fantasy, but the truth is once in a while, a fantasy book will catch my interest. When I saw the title and cover for A Dragon Used to Live Here by Annette LeBlanc Cate on the review list for the San Francisco Book Review, I thought I should give it a shot. Both of those carry a sense of fun that I couldn’t resist. Here is the review I wrote for SFBR.
In days of old when knights were bold and the woods were full of pixies and elves, there had been a dragon living in the castle. At least, that’s how the story goes, the story Meg tells Emily and Thomas, the royal children who visit Meg and the other scribes each day. Meg says she had been friends with the queen when they were young, but, sadly, they had a falling out. Emily and Thomas really like Meg, and they decide to find a way to get them together at an upcoming party. But they have to find a missing trophy and then find a way to get their mother to understand what happened.
Annette LeBlanc Cate has written a really fun story-within-a-story that works very well for setting up the problem Emily and Thomas want to solve. As Meg tells the story of her and the royal couple’s young lives, what happened in the before relates to everything happening in the now. There is a great deal of humor in the book, which young readers will love, and lots of wonderful pen-and-ink illustrations throughout the book to further engage readers. A winner!
Please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.
Rosi Hollinbeck 
Thanks for the weekly chuckle (I’d like to try that line on someone!) and sorry to hear about your word press issues. I use word press too but have never come across these issues, so sorry I have no wisdom to share! I love fantasy (as you probably know!) and I really like the sound of this book, I must watch out for it. Thanks for the review!
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That is a great line, isn’t it? I am making progress with WordPress. Maybe they are paying attention and fixing things. You will like this book. I hope you can find a copy. Thaks for the comment.
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The book look and sound interesting. I love the cover. And my god, WordPress annoyed me so much today! I haven’t been much in my blog for almost 2 years, yes, that long, but today I finally snap and decide to get back to blogging. I only need to dusty up and change a couple of widgets but oh my god used 5 freaking hours just to change a picture because the blocks keep throwing shit! Sorry couldn’t help rant haha 😀 oh and I used to be in blogger too but WordPress have more flexibility with design so here I am.
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There are days I think I should give up blogging. There are no perfect platforms, and it gets pretty frustrating, but I persevere. That is a great cover, isn’t it? Thanks for stopping by.
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I don’t usually have problems, but WordPress has been acting wonky for me the past few days. I know I’m not the only one. There are some sites I visit that I can leave comments on, but when I post my remarks, it says it’s from “anonymous.” It’s curious because about half of the responses on the sites are named while the other half are anonymous.
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I’m not having so many problems with WordPress today. Maybe they are fixing things. Thanks for reading and commenting.
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Sorry you’re having problems with WordPress. It can be so frustrating trying to figure it out when problems arise. It’s the same with Blogger. I hate all the problems people have with commenting and can’t always figure it out. Not all fantasies include humor. This sounds like one I’d like.
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Yeah, there are no perfect platforms. I do think you would enjoy this book. It’s a lot of fun. Thaks for the comment.
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The preview where I create my post has never worked for me. The only way I can preview is by going to my list of upcoming posts and select a pull down list next to the post I want to preview. That is where you find a preview choice. If I come across any other fix, I’ll let you know,
Your fantasy selection sounds quite good and I’ve added it to my list. Thanks for the links. I will get to them closer to the weekend.
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I think WordPress must have heard my cries. Things seem to be better now. We shall see. Thanks for stopping by. I’m sure you will love this book. It’s really cute.
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I love good fantasy books. A Dragon Used to Live Here sounds like a great book for kids! I’d love to win it and share with young friends!
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It’s a lot of fun. No giveaway this week, but you should be able to find a copy. Thanks for reading and commenting.
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Oh, what a fun book! Just the title alone (A Dragon Used to Live Here) inspires lots of creative thoughts. Definitely going to look for this one!
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That is a great title, isn’t it? I think you will really enjoy it. Thanks for the comment.
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This sounds really fun! I’ve added it to my TBR pile–it sounds like the kind of story that will be a perfect for a certain reading mood, and I look forward to it.
My sympathy on your blog woes, and I wish I knew a solution. At the moment I’m still rebuilding my website from a malware attack that kept it down for probably a month. On the upside, it’s given me the push I needed to update but some pushes we’d rather do without, you know? Best of luck resolving this!
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Ugh. Malware attacks. I hope my protection software is enough. Good luck with rebuilding. You will love the book. I hope you can get to it soon. Thanks for stopping by.
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Checking out commas, my constant flaw.
I bl9g through WordPress and now that I am fairly comfortable with the new bloxks and such there are time when everything freezes. I find if I copy the page, close the window, then, if it’s not in draft, I paste . Not perfect, but doable.
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Someone once told me there are 37 comma rules. I don’t know how anyone can keep them all straight. Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll try to remember to copy before I do anything drastic. Thanks for reading and commenting.
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