Unleaded – Fuel for Writers

SHADOWED SUMMER by Saundra Mitchell

Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Author’s Website: www.SaundraMitchell.com

 This slim book follows a fourteen-year-old girl who finds herself haunted by a boy who disappeared before she was born. The protagonist is young but the mature writing should appeal to the older reader as well. For those tired of wilting heroines and horror gone glittery, this is a down-to-earth ghost story with some real scares and an engaging mystery.

 

Reviewer Kate Marshall writes and reads in a cozy Seattle basement. You can find (much) longer reviews posted weekly at her blog, RevolutionSheep. She rarely actually incites farm animals to riot. Kate will be posting her 60-word reviews here twice a month, so stay tuned!

Living just north of Washington DC, we’ve been caught in the Snopocalypse-Snomageddon-Snozilla that has blanketed the area in almost four feet of snow. The snowfall is finally lessening but the winds are pretty high. The amusing/interesting thing – we just saw somebody’s UNDERWEAR being blown down the street in the snow.

They say that writers can find stories anywhere/everywhere. I have to admit, I’m really wondering about the story behind that pair of panties and their blizzardly escape. Unfortunately, we weren’t quick enough with the camera to get a picture!

J.D. Salinger, author of “The Catcher in the Rye” just died. The novel is considered a classic and introduced us to the rebellious Holden Caulfield , a young man who’s mix of innocence and cynicism would become the standard for the anti-hero we would see in film and books for years to come; some who perhaps gained more notoriety and recognition – James Dean in “Rebel without a Cause,” “The Breakfast Club ,” and of course…Benjamin Braddock of “The Graduate”.Embittered and enraged by the “phonies” and alienated by an adult world he wanted no part of, Holden has come to epitomize teenage rebellion.

With regard to the novel itself, according to Finlo Rohrer the reasons behind the popularity and criticism of the book are because the Catcher in the Rye “captures existential teenage angst” and has a “complex central character” and “accessible conversational style” – while at the same time some readers may dislike the “use of 1940s New York vernacular”, “self-obsessed central character” and “too much whining.”

I have to admit, that I tend to fall in the latter category. I found myself wishing that Holden would just “get on with it.” Actually, very similar to my feelings about Hamlet. But I can at least say that I have some fondness with both because of the fencing.

REFERENCES:

Catcher in the Rye Author Salinger Dies

New York Times – Get a Life, Holden Caulfield

The 3rd annual Dying to Write conference has been cancelled due to lack of interest.

Mystery Writers of America (MWA) Mid-Atlantic Chapter President Laura Durham put up this notice last Friday: Dying to Write Cancelled!
For those of you that don’t know, Dying to Write is a mystery writers conference held in Maryland and put on by MWA Mid-Atlantic. It is a small but talent laden conference that was held (in its first year) in a funeral home.

It’s a sad comment on the atmosphere among today’s writers that such an amazing conference had to be cancelled. With scheduled speakers such as, the ex-CIA head of the spy museum as well as too many authors to count it’s a shame that no one will be able to enjoy it.

Then again, is it all the fault of the economy? Summer vacations? Or was it something else? Could it have been the lack of advertising (on the part of the sponsors and invited guests both) about this conference? Or is it partly the fault of the organizers for not making this conference available to those wanting to attend it?

Wouldn’t this conference be more visible by purchasing dyingtowrite.com? And why aren’t the members of the MWA’s MD chapter handing out flyers, posting blog posts, and encouraging attending authors to put up alerts to their fans? And if they are, why isn’t it reaching the audience it’s striving for???

I personally would never have found out about it if I hadn’t been on their announcements list…and having attended the first I think that is a damn shame! This conference, while small, is intense and worth your time and attention as an author or author-to-be. The people are kind AND accommodating. The location (Bethesda) is nice. The authors in attendance are approachable and available.

I know I will be pounding the drum about this conference next year, and I’m not even part of MWA! And let me encourage you to help keep Dying to Write alive as well! Take a day out of your busy schedule and sign up…I’m sure you’ll be happy you did!

In the meantime, any ideas on how to spread the word would help. Just plop them in the comments.

Well, another year means another word has been selected to represent that year. And while the fun of selecting the word has gone by the wayside, the new way of selecting the word of the year is much more telling of the way the people using Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. So take a listen and let me know what you think.

-Renee

See comments for a transcript of the podcast.

P.S. We are currently experiencing technical difficulties in uploading the audio files for the podcasts. Stay tuned, we hope to have this corrected soon!