Category: On Reading

Life Happens, Keep Writing

Diane Ferguson Leave a comment
Eden Mills Writers’ Festival: Pathway to Publication with James Gordon, Barbara Kyle and Jean Mills

Before writing a blog, I review my past blogs to make sure I’m not repeating myself too much, and to assess where I was at and where I thought I was going. My last blog was August 28th and I was all set with my “MFA course”, personalized for a student of one: me. Now it’s a month later and have I made any progress?

Fortunately, I kept my plan flexible, I can adapt what I’m working on as life happens. the truth is, I’ve hardly been home in the past month. Labour Day weekend was spent moving my daughter to Ottawa for school. I was also determined to attend the Eden Mills Writers Festival this year. I hadn’t been in about 20 years! But as an almost empty-nester, and the threat of covid fading (not to mention this is an outdoor festival), and a workshop with Gail Anderson-Dargatz, my former mentor—I wanted to make sure I attended. Read more

Back-to-School?

Diane Ferguson Leave a comment

 

As the leaves start to turn and the geese gather overhead, it’s hard not to think about back-to-school. I loved school. While many were mourning the passing of summer, I was anxious for the start of September, new books, new clothes, new class. So many exciting possibilities. (Yes, the excitement soon waned by mid-October.)

I LOVE learning and I LOVE reading. Two things that school was all about. Of course, seeing all my friends was a bonus too. Since I loved school, I knew I wanted to go to University—didn’t matter what I was learning, as long as I was in school. I decided to become a Chartered Accountant (now called a CPA). This was a path that would take seven years to complete. The culmination of that was a 16 hour exam spread over 4 days with a 50% failure rate. I made it!

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Thursday Afternoon Pedicure Book Club

Bernice Connell Leave a comment

How many times have you been so excited by a book you have read that you could not wait to find someone to talk with about it? You pass it along to a friend with the hope that they will read it quickly so you can share your enthusiasm and discover whether it impacted them as well.

Book clubs are the perfect solution to this dilemma with everyone reading the same novel at the same time and with a scheduled time for discussion. Clubs are as varied as their members are creative. Everything from choosing titles and the structure of their gatherings is negotiated. Rules can be rigid or flexible; don’t attend if you haven’t finished the book, meet at restaurants instead of members’ homes, dress with a nod to the era or characters in the recent read, etc. One group I know of took the last idea to the extreme by attending the club meeting in full Victorian dress for afternoon tea.

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Three Classic Horror Stories

Seana Moorhead Leave a comment
Image by Sandy Flowers from Pixabay

I recently read three classic horror stories: Frankenstein, Dracula and the Haunting of Hill House.  Although I had heard of these books and I had absorbed through popular culture what I understood to be their basic plot line (ie. Frankenstein: mad scientist creates a monster; Dracula: vampire in Transylvania; and Haunting of Hill House: a haunting house that kills.). But I had never read the original books. 

Popular culture does not do justice to any of these stories. I was surprised by how good these books are and how unexpectedly enjoyable they are to read.  

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Searching for COMPS and Writing BOOK REVIEWS

Donna Judy Curtin Leave a comment

One way you can support other writers as an aspiring author, is to write book reviews! Maybe it’s a quick tweet, or a full review on Goodreads or a note of praise on Audible. Regardless, there are writing skills to be sharpened from reviewing books. Not only are you reading, but in writing a review, you hone your critical eye for what readers enjoy. Then you can learn how to apply similar traits to your own work-in-progress to make it shine and someday receive 5 star reviews!

I’m on a journey to find the perfect comp (comparable) titles. (For the reasons why comp titles are important… check out this link from agent, Carly Watters.) So far, my best advice is to START EARLY! It’s shocking how much time goes into researching similar books, acquiring those books, reading them, and then writing summaries for novels that may compare to mine. No doubt, as a writer and reader, immersing myself in books is a-bucket-load of fun… but it sure is time consuming.

While searching for comp titles, here are a few simple rules to follow: Read more

Ex Astris

Andrée Levie-Warrilow Leave a comment

More than one blog posted here at Ascribe has dealt with the importance of reading books. How reading books makes one a good writer. So much enrichment: escape, inspiration, entertainment, information, healing – all the “tools” someone who hopes to one day write a good book needs.
Then there are the books you don’t really want to read, but know you should. The books that tell the stories of the Other, the disenfranchised, the exploited, of terrible events, injustices, of awful lives lived far away, of miseries lived just down the street. The books that teach hard lessons.

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Forget Writing Festivals—take a Book Holiday

Tracey Richardson Leave a comment
Bronze statues of Oliver St. John Gogarty and James Joyce outside the pub of the same name in Temple Bar Dublin.

Ever get tired of those bookshelves of yours bursting with unread books that you just can’t get excited about reading?

At least once a year, I fall into the book doldrums. It’s a reading lethargy that writers will identify with, because it very much resembles writers’ block. It’s where you can’t get inspired or motivated to read books, and I hate when this happens, because I’ve loved reading books since I first learned how to read.

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