By Guest Blogger Cynthia Toney I learn a lot about human behavior from my dogs. Recently, one of my female dogs lay in the sun enjoying…
2 CommentsRelevant Fiction for Body & Soul
Category: My Scribbler’s Heart
I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish (which describes me quite well) for my top ten books in which the setting acts as a character. I worked backwards from my Goodreads list of books read, selecting those whose setting immediately came to mind due to its role in the story. Here they are in no particular order.
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather: the harsh Nebraska prairie (my review post)
Dying for Revenge by Barbara Golder: trendy Telluride, Colorado (book tour)
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: the imposing Manderley estate (my review post)
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I enjoy reading books by contemporary authors, but now and then I like to pick up a classic. There are so, so many I haven’t read. These are three I had been meaning to read for a while. Interestingly, at the crux of each of these vastly different novels is the sin of adultery. And in each case, its ramifications are played out.
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The depth and grandeur of O Pioneers! didn’t catch up with me until the end. I’d read My Antonia in college and Death Comes for the Archbishop a decade ago, and loved both. O Pioneers! only confirmed my appreciation for Cather’s writing.
I was struck again by the beauty of her prose and imagery.
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Stuff We’ve Been Up To Edition
As summer vacation winds to hot, muggy close, I’ve lost the ability to create a cohesive theme. This is stuff we’ve been doing, things pulling me in different directions as we try to savor summer.
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The Mobile Drive-In
Our township has been doing these drive-in movies at the park for several summers. Until last week, the timing and the chosen movie never worked for us. Friday night, I took my kids and one of their friends to see The Peanuts Movie (truly a great little movie) at our park. Our arrival was somewhat delayed by our inability to find where my husband hid our camp chairs, but arrive we did. The whole atmosphere was fun. The park at night, the families, the free Twizzlers handed out. Just as the movie was about to begin, the entire screen deflated. It was a full hour and several attempts at re-inflating and restarting the movie until we began. By 9:30 p.m., most of the little kids present were probably ordinarily asleep, but here we were just getting started. All in my party agreed we’d do it again IF it started on time.
by Guest Blogger Allison Gingras
Scripture. God’s Word. The Bible.
What do those words mean to you?
Do you consider the Word of God as useful in your own daily life? Does it seems strange that an ordinary book on your shelf could be so important to every day decision-making, behavior-choosing, life-happenings?
If I were asked this in 2005, I would have answered with a resounding, “no way, it is just an old book with old guys’ opinions in it.” That was of course before I actually read it;
2 CommentsWelcome to the August 2016 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart AND CatholicMom.com! I was oblivious to the existence of Anne of…
6 Commentsby Guest Blogger Erin McCole Cupp
The beginning of another school year approached, and I was scared. Even with the slowed-down summer schedule, I was not making any headway with my next book. There was virtually no time in which to really write, and when I did get a moment to steal, nothing I wrote worked, because I hadn’t had any time to let the story form in my head so it could flow onto the page. Where on earth was I going to get the time to have a chance at success?
I went to my writing network’s Facebook page and asked for advice.
“Wake up one hour earlier than your kids do.”
Silly me, already waking up two hours before they did.
“Make family creative time a habitual part of your day! Everyone is working on something.”
When the youngest family member’s idea of “creative” is either decorating her walls with nail polish or asking busy people incessant questions?
“Just do whatever works!”
I didn’t type the words, but I wanted to reply, “BUT NOTHING WORKS!”
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Why small success? Because that’s the only kind I know! Even the big ones come in small steps. Here’s my paltry offering for the week:
- Vacation Bible School – For the first time, my three youngest children all attended our parish’s Vacation Bible School. (My oldest son spent the week at Boy Scout camp.) For a brief moment, I envisioned having fifteen glorious hours to myself in the span of five days. My dreams were quickly snuffed out by my friend’s invitation to help out by organizing the snack craft. So much for alone time. And while I missed out on all the things I thought I’d get done while my kids were at Vacation Bible School, I did enjoy helping. Our youth minister does a fantastic job. It’s well-organized and the kids, including mine, love it! I got to spend time with some interesting little people assembling cookies in a jar and doing all sorts of fun things with blue frosting.
Under the Sea Graham Crackers