The Girdle of Melian

appy new year! Medeia Sharif has a new book coming out, and she's hosting a giveaway! VITAMINS AND DEATH by Medeia Sharif YA Contemporary, Prizm Books Release Date December 10, 2014 Purchase from Prizm , Amazon – Vendor sites will be updated on the author’s site. Deidra Battle wants nothing more than to be invisible. After her mother, a public school teacher, engages in an embarrassing teacher-student affair at Lincoln High, they relocate to a different neighborhood and school. Being her mother's briefcase, Deidra joins her mother at her new workplace, Hodge High. Since her mother has reverted to her maiden name and changed her appearance, she thinks no one will figure out they're the Battles from recent news and that they're safe. Neither of them is. Hodge brings a fresh set of bullies who discover details about the scandal that changed Deidra's life. Feeling trapped at home with an emotionally abusive, pill-addicted mother and at school with...

ear-end review of books read -- it's here! First, a side note. We've reached the end of another round of ROW80. My goals petered out at the end. I haven't done much writing and no editing at all in the last couple of weeks. It's been nice to read for pleasure for a bit! Also, join me on 3 December for a birthday toast to Tolkien ! And now...   Annual Books Read Statistics ! Here are the statistics for 2013 , 2012 , 2011 (and the list ), 2010 , 2009 (and the list ). Books read : 113 , of which 84 were novels and kids' books (I count 'em all!), 8 were short stories, 2 were poems, and 19 were essay collections and comics and so on. This is compared to 188 novels and short stories in 2013 (plus poetry), 142 in 2012, 124 in 2011, 92 in 2010, 131 in 2009, and 101 in 2008. That's not counting the thousands of words written and read for writers' houseparties over at the Compuserve Books and Writers Forum, plus other forum writings, and magazines...

ow! I'm five posts away, counting this one, from 900 posts on this blog. What better time to participate in DL Hammons's Déjà vu Blogfest ? I'm posting early, and I'm not sure I'll add my name to the linky list, as I've no hope of catching up on all the comments, though I'm sure I'll make the rounds of all your blogs! I'm also not quite following the rules, since the post I'm sharing is from 2012! (As for ROW80, all I've done lately is read. I hope I don't lose my writing groove from NaNo! I'll need to re-establish a writing and editing schedule for my weekends, perhaps with the next ROW80 round.) It's been fun to scroll back through my blog. My first post featured a To Do list. Later, I discussed how I started writing . I quoted Somerset Maugham on writing with a pen (instead of typing). And I had all sorts of book reviews and contests and writing snips and travel photos and scenes from writers' houseparties an...

ooks! I haven't been keeping up with my ROW80 goals. I still have half a notebook left of Larksong to type up, and I should get back to one of my goals from last spring, which is to read the printout of Captive of the Sea . Instead of writing, I've been reading! Here are a few of the books I've been lost in: Emily of New Moon (and Emily Climbs and Emily's Quest ) by L.M. Montgomery I still haven't visited Prince Edward Island! It's on my long list of places to travel. A Rose for the ANZAC Boys by Jackie French Picked this one up at the book fair of the English Library in Geneva. I can't resist a middle grade or young adult novel set in WWI or WWII. This one was very absorbing. Loved the long author's note at the end too, chock full of information. The Magician by Somerset Maugham Very eerie. Loosely based on Aleister Crowley. Lessons for a Sunday Father by Claire Calman This was a book I'd started r...

congratulations! My NaNoWriMo certificate! But my congratulations aren't just for NaNo winners -- they're for all of you, for all the writing, reading, and other goals you've accomplished, or even just for surviving November! There's no need to feel insecure, right? Especially not on Insecure Writer's Support Group day! Now you can take IWSG advice with you wherever you go, with the recent publication of The Insecure Writer's Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond . I hope I can keep up with writing, and blogging, now that I'm going back to work. Meanwhile, here's a photo! Hope everyone's having an exciting pre-holidays time!