Your Writing Environment

Hello everyone! I'm spending a few days in Colorado with a good friend of mine, so if you don't hear from me in a bit, that's why. Also, I've been devoting a lot of time to NaNoWriMo (which I'm now behind in again since I'm having too much fun).

Speaking of NaNoWriMo, for all of you writers out there (whether it be creative, technical, analytical, or just a paper assigned for class), have you ever paid attention to your ideal writing environment? It's different for every writer. If you find out what works best for you, it can make the writing process more enjoyable and more easily...flowable? That's right. I'm making up words.

The environment in which you write can encompass a few different things: place, music, food, time of day, etc. As far as place is considered, I generally hide away in my room, sit on my lovely padded swively chair, and my computer and I get to work. I've heard of a lot of people liking to write in cafes or coffee shops. Seems like a good place to go, but if you have trouble focusing in that sort of atmosphere, it's probably not the best choice for you.

Music is another thing that varies. The first thing that came to my mind was how Muse was on Stephanie Meyer's playlist when she was writing Twilight. When I write, I try to stay away from music with lyrics just because it can be very hard for me to control the urge to sing along. So for me, I choose to listen to movie soundtracks--and I don't mean Disney movie soundtracks either. Once again, far too distracting for me. Instead I listen to things like the Stardust soundtrack or the Robing Hood: Prince of Thieves soundtrack. I'll also listen to things like Enya, William Joseph, and occasionally, if I can cope with the distraction, I will listen to things like Goo Goo Dolls or whatever else I'm in the mood for. But in general, I stick with the soundtracks.

I like listening to music while I write because it seems to help me focus, especially if I've got my earbuds in. It helps me go into my own world that I'm creating and ignore the distractions around me. Some people might not like to write with music on at all, and that's fine. Just find what works best for you.

I don't pay as much attention to food or time of day. I like to have a water bottle handy, but that's about it, and I'll write pretty much any time of day. The real challenge is just getting myself to do it and not getting distracted by the internet...

Good luck discovering what works best for you. And happy writing!

Just Your Average Little Update Video

The Hangman's Row Enquiry: November Book Recommendation

Alas, Halloween is now officially over. Today marks the beginning of November, which means a couple of things. First, we have now entered NaNoWriMo! You better all be scribbling away! Second, the deadline for our Shakespeare Short Story Contest is drawing near. I hope you will all take some time to submit something. Third, it's time for a new book recommendation! This month's recommendation was submitted by the lovely Beth Adams. Take a look at what she's got to say.


The Hangman's Row Enquiry: A Must Read for Any Mystery Lover

The Hangman's Row Enquiry by Ann Purser is a spin off of the Lois Meade Mysteries, one of her more well known series, and it is the first book in the Ivy Beasley Mystery Series.

Ivy Beasley, a character threaded throughout the Lois Meade Mysteries, is a cantankerous spinster. She wants to be seen as a proper lady, to be in control of her world, and to be able to do things, but now she's been put into an exclusive assisted living home at the insistence of her cousin, Deirdre.

Perhaps the back of the book introduces the story best:

Ivy Beasley may have been moved to assisted living, but she has more interest in assisting her new partners in an amateur-sleuth business. She teams up with Gus, a mysterious newcomer who can't resist a little excitement even as he strives to keep his past secret, and her own cousin, a widow with time on her hands and money in her purse. Together they're determined to solve a local murder...

In one of the houses on Hangman's Row, Gus's elderly neighbor has been found with a bread knife sticking out of her chest. Local gossip has it that there was no love lost between the victim and her daughter, but Ivy and her fellow sleuths soon discover no shortage of suspects--or secrets--in the small English village of Barrington...

All of Ann Purser's books are well developed and contain engaging mysteries. In this particular book, it is a delight to be able to watch these new characters develop friendships and reveal their personalities to the reader as they join together in a common goal to find the real killer. This book is labeled a British Cozy, which makes me think of a good book to read in a cozy little corner on a rainy day whilst sipping my hot cocoa with little marshmallows in it...and maybe a side of toast!

I love this particular Ann Purser story, especially at this time of year, as it allows me to take a much needed  mental vacation in between the hectic moments in preparation for the holidays..

Although this book's plot is centered around solving a murder, there are moments of great humor and camaraderie between the characters. There's cleverness throughout the pages. You're still left wondering about certain characters, such as Gus who never has a full explanation as to why he showed up in the first place (something that will hopefully be answered in later books). But those little mysteries just make me want to jump into the next book of the series and join the characters once again in an engaging, fun, and thrilling mystery.

I love mysteries! I so enjoy the little puzzles you get to piece together along with the characters as you make your way through the story and to the end. What makes a truly enjoyable read, no matter what the genre, is that you end up with friends by the end of the book. Such is the case of The Hangman's Row Enquiry.

I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did!

Beth Adams is the mother of four fabulous children. She's been involved in her church programs, PTA, school board, band and choir, and whatever else her children decided to try out. Her father was in the navy, serving in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars, while her mother was a teacher. She enjoys her life as a stay at home mom. She currently resides on the rainy side of Washington state, where we need to read a lot of books so we can escape the stormy whether and our longing for a bit of sun! Some of her favorite activities include: spending time with family, going on walks, going to the movies, and visiting with friends. She also enjoys a clean house...although she doubts she'll ever have one!


Want to write next month's recommendation?
You can be featured just like Beth! Here's how it works. Send an e-mail to spiral.staircase.books@gmail.com with your recommendation (put it in the body of the e-mail, not as an attachment). Make sure the subject of the e-mail is something to the effect of "Book Recommendation" so I don't mistake it for junk mail. Your review should be at least a couple paragraphs long and should include a short description of the book and why you think others should read it. Then include a short biography of yourself and a picture to go along with it. If you wish to remain annonymous, that's fine as well. I need all entries by November 25th. Depending upon how many entries are received, your recommendation might not show up right away. If I decide to use yours, you will receive an e-mail telling you so. Thank you for your contributions!

Finding Connections With Characters

You know one thing I love about reading? I love how you can make connections with characters. Not just the sort of connection where you're like "Oh hey! I've experienced that too!" but the kind of connection where when you decide to re-read a book for the hundreth time you feel like you're revisiting old friends and catching up.

Am I insane, or do other people feel the same way? Both is also an exceptable answer to that question.

I am currently re-reading the whole Harry Potter series in celebration of the release of part one of the seventh film coming out next month. Yesterday, I finished the fourth one. (I'm assuming all of you have read it yourselves or seen the movie, but if not, skip the next few lines so I don't spoil anything for you.) I was reading along, trying to remember the answer to the sphinx's question during the third task, and then I reached the end of that chapter where Cedric and Harry decide to share the victory and both take hold of the cup turned portkey. You know what happened then? I should probably be ashamed to admit this but my eyes totally started watering and wouldn't stop! I was hoping I wouldn't break out into full blown out crying (I'm proud to say I managed to contain myself), and this was all happening because I knew Cedric was about to die.

After I finished the book, I tried to think about the last time Harry Potter made me teary. I'm sure there must have been some moment in the sixth or seventh books, but the one time I actually remember was when I first read the fifth book. I actually had to put the book down. I couldn't believe it! I'm sure you all know what moment I'm talking about.

Anyway, it just made me appreciate that I can even make these connections with fictional characters. I don't go to the extreme and pretend they're really or compare my boyfriend to Edward Cullen or things like that. It just makes reading so much more fun, enjoyable, and worth while when you can make that connection. I still love Harry Potter even after all these years. And did I mention how excited I am for the movie next month?

Until next time. Happy reading! I hope you can all find characters to love!

Books That Inspired You To Read

The past couple of days, I've been trying thinking about some of the first books I ever read (or in some cases, were read to me). That train of thought turned into another thought: what books or experiences with books inspired me to start reading?

These thoughts came back to mind yesterday when I was talking to my chiropractor and he told me how he never enjoyed reading. He had to do so much reading for school that it just wasn't an activity he wanted to do in his spare time. It wasn't until his wife gave him a copy of The Firm by John Grisham that he truly had the desire to read.

It got me thinking. My mother, on the occasion, noted that certain books fit certain people, and each person individually has to find the right book for them. (I, being the nerd that I am and being very Harry Potter oriented as of late, immediately thought back to that moment in The Sorcerer's Stone where Harry goes to buy his wand. "The wand chooses the wizard." Okay, enough of this side note....for now.)

I certainly belief there's truth to that. Every child has a different reading style, and it doesn't always take the same steps for each child to start reading (let alone enjoy the process). I was also reminded of a YA fiction class I took a while back where we discussed how sometimes children are given certain material too early, and therefore their thirst for reading could be in danger of being quenched permanently! I realize that's a bit dramatic, but in some cases I'm sure it's true. You may recall in an earlier post how I mentioned my experience with J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Here's a brief summary: my middle school language arts teacher urged me to read the book. I did. Absolutely hated it. Thought it was long, boring, no point, dry humor, that sort of thing. Read it again. Liked it a little better. Read it again. Realized it was brilliant. Today it is one of my favorite books ever!

I had a similar experience with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. That same LA teacher that encouraged me to read The Hobbit told me I should read Austen's classic novel. Her language was very difficult for me to understand. I remember going pages and pages without a clear idea of what was happening. I also remember thinking, "Oh that's rather convenient! There's that Mr. Darcy...AGAIN! I mean really... This sort of thing would never happen." (Said the girl who read strictly fantasy if she could get her hands on it.) I read it again about a year ago, and I absolutely loved it. The humor. The tension. The strong female protagonist. Brilliant. Once again, it has become one of my favorite books.

From these experiences, I learned that sometimes I need to give books second chances. There are exceptions. For example (no offense to anyone who loves this book) I didn't care for Blood and Chocolate. For those of you who don't know the story, it's sort of a teen werewolf romance novel. They even made a movie off it in case you're too lazy to read the book. I would actually recommend both so you can see the differences, but that's branching off into another topic that I'll save for later. For me, I just didn't feel a connection with the characters, and I'm still not sure I'm happy with the way it ended. It was kind of sweet, but also kind of weird. But you don't have to take my word for it. The point is, that book just wasn't one for me (it wasn't the perfect wand!), but it can most definitely be the right book for someone else.

So, I want to know what first got all of you into reading. Here's a little of what's been going through my mind the last few days as I've considered my first experiences with the written word.

My dad isn't much of a reader. He'd much rather watch the movie and call it good. (I always get a kick out of the fact that as we are watching movies based on books, he'll sometimes turn to me and ask, "Was it like that in the book?" or "Did the book give more information?" or something along those lines.) Mom, on the other hand, loves to read. Her genre of choice is mystery, a genre I appreciate simply because a good portion of the TV shows I watch are crime based, but I've never really gotten into reading that genre. So, if the love of reading were genetic, that love would come from my mom.

My first memory of reading a book outside of school involved Dr. Suess' The Cat In The Hat. I distinctly remember sitting on my grandfather's knee and struggling to remember what all those letters on the page sounded like. I would read, and he would help as I needed it. I still have yet to add any Dr. Suess books to my shelf, but believe me, it will happen someday.

I remember other children's books from school: Pink and Say, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, My Father's Dragon and the like. Good found memories. But these weren't books that came to my head right away.

Two books that did come to mind right after The Cat in the Hat were Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls and A Wrinkle In Time by Madeliene L'Engle. I can never remember if my first encounter with Where the Red Fern Grows was in second or third grade as I had the same teacher both years. Part of me really wants to attribute my love for reading to her simply because of all the stories I was introduced to and still love because of her. (Thank you!) She read Where the Red Fern Grows to us and it was probably one of the first books I re-read once I found the incentive to go out and find my own books. It was also probably one of the first books I ordered from one of those book orders after she read it to us. For some reason, that memory is very fond to me. If you haven't had the chance to read that book, you should.

When I was in fifth grade, I was of the opinion that although my teacher was a very nice man, he wasn't cut out to teach fifth graders. Ouch. I apologize. But I was only ten and eleven at the time. What did I know really? Well, I knew how to get away with reading a book under my desk instead of actually listening to the teacher. That's how I spent a portion of my fifth grade education. I was becoming so in love with books that I couldn't stop to take time to listen to my teacher! I had to finish the story. A Wrinkle in Time is one of the books I remember doing this with. I believe it was recommended to me by the same friend who got me hooked on Harry Potter in middle school. (Speaking of middle school, I feel it's only right to also thank the teacher who made me read The Hobbit and Pride and Prejudice and encourage me to take Honors English in high school no less! Thank you!)

I really think what it comes down to is a love of story itself. Even young children love a good story. Before I was even gobbling up books as fast as I could get my hands on them, my grandpa used to tell me and my siblings his very own Winnie the Pooh stories before we went to bed. Sometimes he would start telling the story in Spanish. We would all whine, "Grandpa!" He'd laugh and then continue the story in English. Grandpa has always been quite the kidder.

So I suppose there are multiple things that eventually pushed me into my love for reading: great teachers, family, friends, love of story itself, the whole shabang! It's because of all of those people that I have an overstuffed bookshelf quite contently sitting in the corner of my room. Thanks you guys. The books and myself really appreciate it!

Now tell me what it was that first got you into reading? You can leave it in a comment, or, if your story is long as mine turned out to be, you can send me an e-mail. Maybe I'll even feature some of your stories in coming posts, eh? How's that sound? In either case, I loved to hear from you.

Happy Friday!

NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Mo (NaNoWriMo) is an event that takes place every year during the month of November. I first heard of this event last year when one of my friends decided to take the challenge. I didn't take part in it myself as I "didn't have the time" what with school work and other social activities that took up my time (plus I probably spent way too much time clicking the refresh button on Facebook, waiting for something exciting to happen). Although I still have things to occupy my time, I've decided to take the plunge. I just created a NaNoWriMo account, committing myself to at least attempt to reach the goal of 50,000 words in 30 days. I'm going to do it. And you are more than welcome to try it with me :)

Some of you may be wondering what all of NaNoWriMo entails. I'm still learning about it a bit myself, but I'm having fun exploring their website. Well, first off, you can find out all about it under their What is NaNoWriMo? page. As I mentioned above, the whole goal of this event is to spew out 50,000 words in 30 days giving about 175-pages worth of your very own novel. In case some of you think this is an easy-peasy-lemon-squeazy process, let me assure you that writing takes a lot of work and it never comes out perfectly on the first go.

One of the beauties of NaNoWriMo is that you don't have the pressure of writing a perfectly formed ready-to-be-published novel by day 30. It's just to help you get out a draft that you can go back and edit later and then send it out to your hearts content if you so wish. One rule you must keep in mind as you slave away at your typewriter (or laptop as the case may be) is that you can't stop to edit. We all have what is referred to as the inner editor, that little voice inside us that makes us crazy wondering if we wrote everything correctly (is it who or whom sort of madness), and well the inner editor is all well and good, it also can hold us back and keep us from ever finishing a full length novel as we keep telling ourselves that the beginning just wasn't perfect. So set your inner editor aside and produce a novel!

Another great feature of NaNoWriMo is that you don't have to go at it alone. They create an online community where you can discuss and gain support from other NaNoWriMo participants. In some cases, there may also be groups that get together in your area that you can meet with.

The site also gives encouragement and suggestions to go about writing your novel.

During the process, you can upload bits of your writing so everyone can see what your word count is. (Don't worry. They have protection so no one will be able to steal your novel.) On November 30th, you submit your novel for the final word count. If you made the 50,000 word mark, you're a winner!

Take a look at the site and consider joining in. The site is http://www.nanowrimo.org/.

William Shakespeare Short Story Contest

That's right. We are officially holding our first ever contest here at Spiral Staircase Books! Want to get in on the action? Of course you do.

Here's what you can win:
A New Folger Library Edition of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Free shipping on your next order
And your story will be featured on the site

Romeo and Juliet
By William Shakespeare
281 Pages

The play ends on page 243, but the text of the play is only on the right page, so it's really half that length.

Probably one of his most well known plays, Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two young lovers whose families would never let them be together. Thus begins family feuds, swashbuckling action, and the intricate plan of escape that goes horribly awry.

The Back Cover:
Completly re-edited, the New Folger Library Edition of Shakespeare's plays puts readers in touch with current ways of thining about Shakespeare. Each freshly edited text is based directly on what the editors consider the best early printed version of the play. Each volume contains full explanatory notes on pages facing the text of the play, as well as helpful introduction to Shakespeare's language. The accounts of William Shakespeare's ife, his theater, and the publication of his plays present the latest scholarship, and the annotated reading lists suggest sources of further information. The illustrations of objects, clothing, and mythological figures mentioned int he plays are drawn from the Library's vast holdings of rare books. At the conclusion of each play there is a full essay by an outstanding scholar who assesses the play in the light of today's interests and concerns.


Contest Rules
So here's how it works.Write a short story adaptation of Shakespeare's famous play, Romeo and Juliet. Your piece should be no longer than ten pages double spaced. The deadline for the contest is November 15, 2010. The winner will be announced at the end of that month.

E-mail entries to: spiral.staircase.books@gmail.com

Do not send as an attachment. Put your story in the body of the e-mail. Include a short bio and picture of yourself to be included with your story on the site should you win the contest. Make sure the subject is something to the effect of "Shakespeare contest entry" so I don't accidently regard it as junk mail and delete it.

Thank you for your interest and participation!

Here's our little video companion to advertise and explain the contest. Remember to share with family and friends!