Tuesdays with Story

Writers Mail
November 18, 2014

Lisa McDougal (chapter, Tebow Family Secret), read from the chapter dealing with the exchange between Ahna and Geoff at the Chattingham Country Club. Jerry and Pat suggested she need not have so many tags with the dialogue since only two people having the conversation. Jerry wanted to see more action on the part of the two people talking in between the extended dialogue. Group felt that the description of the country club dining room should be noted by either Ahna or Geoff. On the whole, everyone felt that it was a good chapter and moved the plot along.

Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapters 9 & 10). Pat liked the transition to the flashback. Remarked that Uma’s age was not apparent in the beginning of the flashback. Also commented on the sporadic absence of articles before noun, eg. “the”, “a”, etc. On the whole every liked the chapter and thought the plot moved well, descriptions excellent. Can’t wait to see next chapter.

Mike Rickey (No Difference-Poem) Pat loved the phrases “cast moods to the gutter”, “soggy dreams”, “rigid charts”. Asked about “suits”. Mike said it represented people who work in offices. That they are no different from people who work in factories. Pat asked Mike to establish the “voice” of person speaking in the poem. Mike said he feels like the “Observer or Witness”. Everyone liked images and felt that he could do a little tightening up of the poem.

Pat Edwards (Dad Speak, poem). Everyone like the poem. Judith commented on the “poem’s suggestion” that the father’s critical language was like a code or foreign language. Minor changes suggested.

Millie Mader (Life On Hold, Chapter 59) Pat and Kashmira felt that Erin should be more resolute about going to Cambodia/Thailand and not “ask” so many people about it. It was suggested that she end the chapter with telling her mother about her plans. Start the next chapter with her mom’s reaction to her decision. The group like the chapter, but felt that some of the extensive details about the action in Viet Nam be more concise.

Judith McNeil (My Mother, Chap 25 & 26) Pat suggested that there would be more scatological humor between the five men working together at the installation.

Jerry Peterson (Rooster’s Story, Chapter 2). Judith thought that the chapter moved smoothly and quickly. Remarked that she could “see” the action. Pat felt that Doc Schroeder seemed to talk a little too much at the end. Jerry said that he had been drinking and would be more talky, particularly in the stressful situation. Group liked the movement of the story. Judith said she could “see” the action.

“Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.”
– Ezra Pound, poet (1885-1972)

Who’s up next . . .
November 25: Jack Freiburger (???), Rebecca Rettenmund (chapter 5, Lookout), Alicia Connelly-Lohr (chapter 6, Coastie Girl), and Ruth Imhoff (chapter, new story).
December 2: Cindi Dyke (chapter, North Road), Andy Pfeiffer (chapters, The Void), Mike Rickey (poems), Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapter, novel), Bob Kralapp (???), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 1, Rooster’s Story).
December 9:

December 16: Lisa McDougal (chapter, Tebow Family Secret), Cindi Dyke (chapter, North Road), Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapter, novel), Pat Edwards (???), Millie Mader (chapter 60, Life on Hold), and Judith McNeil (chapters, My Mother Savior of Men).

Where will we be . . .
Both groups will meet at the Alicia Ashman Branch Library in December. Start times are 6:45 so we can be out by 9:00 when the library closes.

She’s in charge . . .
Judith McNeil is our Writers Mail editor for the remainder of November. In December, Alicia Connolly-Lohr will take on the job. How about you for January?

Love those insults . . .
No one seems better at dishing out an insult that a writer when attacking another writer. Example: William Faulkner on Ernest Hemingway, “He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”
Here’s a link that will take you to 34 more grand insults: http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/books/35-author-on-author-put-downs#

Great words . . .
Don’t play with your food! All of us have heard that admonition as a child, says Wordsmith Anu Garg in introducing this set of words:
“Don’t play with your language!” Imagine a utilitarian prehistoric cavemom chiding a child. “It’s only to alert about a lion. Or for a similar practical purpose.”
Of course, that’s ridiculous. Language is to communicate: to share, alert, warn, scold, and much more. It’s also to play, make jokes, and have fun.
Here are five words for rhetorical devices, to have fun with the language, to say things in an unusual way.

antimetabole
PRONUNCIATION: (AN-ti-muh-TAB-uh-lee)
MEANING: noun: A repetition of words or an idea in a reverse order.
Example: “To fail to plan is to plan to fail.”
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek antimetabole, from anti- (opposite) + metabole (change), from meta- (after, along) + bole (a throw). Earliest documented use: 1589.
NOTES: There’s a similar term, syllepsis, but the two are more or less synonymous now. You could say zeugma is joined with syllepsis. Or the distinction between zeugma and syllepsis has lapsed now.
USAGE:
“One, Mister Eisenschmutz, gaunt, small, elegant, his head covered with a kepele in embroidered silk, prays with fervor and a French accent (this is a rhetorical zeugma of the sort ‘I’m Hungarian and robbed’).”
– Adam Biro (translator: Catherine Tihanyi); Is It Good for the Jews?; The University of Chicago Press; 2009.

synecdoche
PRONUNCIATION: (si-NEK-duh-kee)
MEANING: noun: A figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole or vice versa.
Examples: “head count” to refer to the count of people or “the police” to refer to a policeman
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin synekdoche, from Greek synekdokhe, from syn- (together) + ekdokhe (interpretation). Earliest documented use: 1397.
USAGE:
“Rome was the heart of Italy, a synecdoche for all that humanity had wrought. Rome bore witness to the fate of republics and empires, faiths and fortunes.”
– Jane Kamensky; John Singleton Copley’s Grand Tour; Smithsonian (Washington, DC); Apr 2014.

epanalepsis
PRONUNCIATION: (ep-uh-nuh-LEP-sis)
MEANING: noun: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated after intervening text.
Example: “The king is dead, long live the king!”
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek epanalepsis, from epi- (upon) + ana- (back) + lepsis (taking hold). Earliest documented use: 1584.
USAGE:
“What’s it called if a word that appears at the beginning of a sentence is repeated at its end? Epanalepsis. Think of Brutus’s speech at the funeral of Julius Caesar (in Shakespeare’s revision, of course): ‘Hear me for my cause, and be silent that you may hear: Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe.’”
– Bryan A. Garner; For the Word Lovers; ABA Journal (Chicago); May 2013.

hendiadys
PRONUNCIATION: (hen-DY-uh-dis)
MEANING: noun: A figure of speech in which two words joined by a conjunction are used to convey a single idea instead of using a word and its modifier.
Example: “pleasant and warm” instead of “pleasantly warm”
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin hendiadys, from Greek hen dia duoin (one by two). Earliest documented use: 1589.
USAGE:“‘One good student and nice is Julio.’‘I compliment you on the superb hendiadys re: Julio.’”
– John Fredrick; The King of Good Intentions; Verse Chorus Press; 2013.

Best Selling Fiction Authors

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_fiction_authors
While a precise number for any given author is near impossible, the list is based on approximate numbers provided or repeated by reliable sources. “Best-selling” refers to the estimated number of copies sold of all fiction books written or co-written by an author. To keep the length of the list manageable, only authors with estimated sales of at least 100 million books are included. Authors of comic books are not included.
For a few authors, including Miguel de Cervantes, Alexandre Dumas, père, Charles Dickens (whose A Tale of Two Cities alone has sold over 200 million copies[1]), Jane Austen, Jack Higgins, Victor Hugo, Jules Verne and Leon Uris, no exact figure could be found, although there are indications that they too have more than 100 million copies of their work in print. They have not been included in the table.
Look at Rowling’s place on the list with only 11 books published!
J. K. Rowling
350 million[22]
450 million[23]
English Harry Potter
11 British

and this guy! who is he?
Jin Yong
100 million[41]
300 million[42][43]
Chinese Wuxia
15 Hong Kong Chinese