Speed-Dating and Blind Dates with Library Panache

What is more important in a library than anything else - than everything else - is the fact that it exists. - Archibald MacLeish

I grew up in the era where libraries were massive buildings (of course, I was much smaller). The pitter patter of feet of all sizes echoed across marble floors. Solid wood shelves soared toward heaven. They were filled with what seemed to be an infinite number of books that gave off a musty smell. A card catalog lined the walls. Librarians were serious people with buns, dowdy dresses and no sense of humor. Simply clearing one’s throat could result in a stern look or a "shush" command.

Libraries, like everything else, have evolved through the years. The library I use now is bright and airy. It is geared toward welcoming children, not intimidating them. The nondescript flooring absorbs noise rather than resonating sounds. Metal bookshelves replaced wood. Computers replaced the card catalog. Librarians look like everyone else and usually have a smile on their faces. I haven’t heard anyone “shushed” in years.

I’m not saying all these changes are good. In fact, when my daughter was studying for the Florida Bar exam, she had to leave a library because of the high noise factor. Her home with a toddler running around provided a better study zone. But to stay relevant change must happen.

A couple of libraries have come up with creative ways to attract more visitors for Valentine’s Day. For instance, one San Francisco library offered the first literary speed-dating event.

"Twenty-five lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender participants, and 38 straight participants the night before, got a chance to find love before Valentine's Day during the library's first literary speed-dating events. The events drew so much interest that the library hopes to replicate them again soon.

"Announced at the start of the year, each free event was designed to accommodate 36 people. Enrollment for the straight night closed at the end of January with a waiting list of 50 people, said librarian Donya Drummond.

"'This is changing the image of the library, showing that it can be a social place and not just a studious place," she said.

"Sharing a book about cooking and a sci-fi novel, 41-year-old Iris Tashjian, who said she came to find "if not love, maybe a book club," walked away with the latter."

Since I've been happily married for over 40 years, speed-dating is not something I’m interested in, but I do like this blind date idea from a New Zealand library.

"Monday's event pairs borrowers with specially wrapped mystery books, chosen by library staff as being particularly deserving of a hook-up with a willing reader, Queenstown library manager Robyn Robertson said.

"'We are choosing books we personally enjoyed or feel passionate about. The books are all gift-wrapped, with only a barcode on the outside, so it really is a blind date with a book and there's no telling what you might get.

"'There's a cheeky mix of fiction and non-fiction, with a nod towards the day that inspired the whole initiative. There's bound to be some romance in there - it is Valentine's Day after all - but there's also a real mix of other genres.

"'Like any date, there's an element of risk. But who knows; it could spark a lifelong love affair with a new author," Mrs Robertson said."

You can read the entire articles here and here.

Do you visit your library as much as you used to? Does your library plan events that are beyond the usual bounds of their normal activities?

Before I go, I’d like to thank The Rainy Day Wanderer for the Stylish Blogger, Write Hard and Pass the Love 2011 Awards. I am a fairly new follower, but I have found her blog is fun to read, informative and full of interesting links. So if you haven’t stopped by yet, I’d recommend a visit. You can also find out more about each award.

I’m supposed to tell seven things about myself for the Stylish Blogger award. In March 2010, I had a hard time coming up with five. Nothing has changed since then, so I will stick to those five. If you missed it, you can read them here.

As far as passing them along, I’ll reprint something from the blog post mentioned above. "I'm supposed to pass these awards along. I‘m doing that by saying THANK YOU to all of you who take the time to visit and to those who go a step farther and leave a comment and/or become a follower. You make the work that goes into blogging worth it and keep me motivated to improve my writing. Please feel free to help yourself to one, two or all three of the awards. Don’t be shy. You deserve them, for without you, writing this blog would be a rather unrewarding exercise of futility."

Happy Valentine's Day and thanks for visiting. I hope to see you again next week.

Tags: Archibald MacLeish, library, Valentine’s Day, literary speed-dating, blind dates, Rainy Day Wanderer,awards,

Late Bloomers

It is never too late to be what you might have been.- George Eliot

Though I've enjoyed writing from my early school days, I started my authoring career rather late in life. Because of my great procrastination skills, I was able to come up with excuses until…well, I simply ran out of reasons not to write.

Going through the writing and publication process with my first novel, I feel older and wiser. I learned there is no such word as fast in the publishing world. It took a long time before I held a copy of The Ride in my hands. The process is no speedier with book number two, Reigning Cats and Dogs.

There are days I chastise myself for not diving into the writing world at a much younger age. However, after reading "Grandma next door" poet a Japan bestseller at 99” on Reuters.com, I’m feeling so much younger and more inspired. According to the article:

“Shibata began her literary journey at 92 when she could no longer continue with her decades-long hobby of classical Japanese dance due to back pain. Her son Kenichi, currently in his mid-60s, recommended she try poetry writing.”

At the age of 99, Toyo Shibata’s self-published poetry book is a bestseller. The collection of 42 poems is titled, Don’t be Too Frustrated.

Here are a few other snippets, but you can read the entire article here.

“Last week, helped by a late boost of publicity from a television documentary in December, the book hit 1.5 million copies in print, said publisher Asukashinsha. Printing 10,000 copies is often seen as a success for poetry books in Japan."

“…Written in what reviewers have termed a down-to-earth style with "sprightly" words, her poems have proven encouraging to thousands of readers.”

"Although 98, I still fall in love. I do have dreams; one like riding on a cloud," Shibata confesses in one poem with the title of "Secret."

"A flower bloomed from a century-old tree, and it's all because of your support," said Shibata, who is writing poems for a new collection to be published ahead of her 100th birthday."

Of course, she is not the only successful writer who started late in life. Harriet Doerr was 73 when her first novel, Stones for Ibarra, was released. The book won a National Book award. Mary Wesley, bestselling author of The Camomile Lawn and Jumping the Queue, began her writing career at age 71. Frank McCourt was 66 when Angel’s Ashes was published.

Did you follow your dreams and passions from an early age or are you a late bloomer, too?

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again next week.


Tags: George Eliot, Toyo Shibata, late bloomers, Harriett Doerr, Mary Wesley, Frank McCourt,The Ride,Reigning Cats and Dogs,

Book Signing Tips

You’ve got to tip an awful lot. It seems like we’re tipping everybody. – Eric Reed

When I stand near a table where my books are arranged in a nice stack, I hope to entice a buyer or two to take a chance on my book. No matter how well-prepared I am, the experience is challenging, intimidating, and exciting.

I try to make my table look neat and interesting. A large poster of the cover of The Ride draws attention to the area. I give away bookmarks and flyers. Sometimes, depending on where the signing is held, I might add a bowl of candy. But I have never thought to include a tip jar on my table.

I realize when someone is a best-selling author, book signings take on a whole different flavor. People know who you are, they recognize your work, and they line up to see you. Whatever the reason—to attract attention, boredom or research for a new book, did David Sedaris go over the top with his tip jar?

According to an article in Canada’s National Post:

“A couple of books ago, I put a tip jar on my signing table and I made over $4,000 on my tour,” Sedaris told the Post. “The problem was then I started hating people who didn’t tip me. I didn’t say anything to them, but I would just sit there thinking, ‘You cheap son of a bitch. I just signed four books and you can’t even give me a dollar?’ And why should they? But I just got so involved in it. I had to stop doing it.”

“I told people it was all for me to spend on candy. They were delighted because it’s funny to give money to someone who doesn’t need it. If there had been a beggar outside the bookstore, at the end of the evening, he might have had 75 cents where as at the end of my best evening in Dallas–[ I had] $530 in tips.”

In reading the article I can see the humor. Still I think I would have been bothered by the sight of the tip jar. It might concern me enough to step out of line or even change my mind about buying his book. After all, I know how to tip hairdressers, servers, taxi drivers, valets and so on. But how much do you tip an author?

Would you consider a tip jar? Have you ever tipped an author? Would you? What is the most interesting thing you’ve seen or done at a book signing to attract attention?

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again next week.


Tags: David Sedaris, Book Signings, tip jars, Eric Reed, The Ride

Mentoring

A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could. – Unknown

January is National Mentoring Month. Though it is something I recently heard of, it’s been an event now for 10 years. Mentors play an important role in every career, but since I write about writing, I thought I’d mention some literary mentors I read about on flavorwire.com.

Sherwood Anderson encouraged William Faulkner to concentrate on novels rather than poetry and to write about the area where he was raised in Mississippi. Faulkner’s novel Soldier’s Pay was, “…eventually published primarily due to Anderson advocacy, and, as a wry thank you, Faulkner later dedicated his 1931 novel Sanctuary to his mentor for “services rendered.”

Willa Cather was mentored by Sarah Orne Jewett. She persuaded Cather to concentrate on fiction rather than journalism and urged her to not hide behind male narrators when portraying female romantic feelings. “Although Cather struggled to have the kind of transparency in her work that Jewett delighted in, she dedicated her breakthrough 1913 novel O! Pioneers to Jewett’s memory."

Henry James wrote to Edith Wharton, “I applaud, I mean I value, I egg you on in, your study of the American life that surrounds you. Use to the full your ironic and satiric gifts; they form a most valuable…beneficent engine.”

Joyce Carol Oates was Jonathan Safran Foer’s, author of Everything is Illuminated, instructor. He “…stated that Oates’ investment in his work has spurred him to want to become a writing instructor himself. ‘I went into her class with no ambition to become a writer, and I left it wanting to be a writer because of the things she showed me,’ he remarked. ‘Ever since, I always thought it would be nice to do that for someone else.’”

For more details and more literary mentors, you can read the entire article by Kirthana Ramisetti here.

My mentors over the years have been teachers, family, friends and members of the writing groups I belong to. Are you a mentor to another writer? Do you have a mentor who has encouraged you to complete a particular project or go down a certain path?

January 25 is Thank Your Mentor Day™. Mentees are encouraged to take the time to honor an important mentor in their life by posting an online tribute or sending a note. You can find out more here.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again next week.

Tags: mentor, National Mentoring Month, literary mentors, Faulkner, Cather, Henry James, Edith Wharton, Joyce Oates, Safran Foer

Banishing a Word of the Year

I like good strong words that mean something. - Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

I found it surprising that an innocuous word like epic made it to the banished and the word of the year lists.

According to Dictionary.com, epic means:
1. noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style: Homer's Iliad is an epic poem.
2. resembling or suggesting such poetry: an epic novel on the founding of the country.
3. heroic; majestic; impressively great: the epic events of the war.
4. of unusually great size or extent: a crime wave of epic proportions.

Banishment seems like a tough sentence to give a poor little word, but Lake Superior State University (LSSU) has been coming up with this list since 1976. They receive over 1,000 nominations annually. Linda Lseszczuk’s has also written a blog about these banished words. Check it out to discover the other words that share this mark of distinction with epic.

So what has this four letter word done to be placed on the LSSU 2011 List of Banished Words? Tim Blaney suggests, "Over-use of the word 'epic' has reached epic proportions.”

Epic is also one of the 2010 People’s Choice Words of the Year. According to Dictionary.com,
“Was 2010 an “epic” year? Many of the people who nominated the word associated epic with the slang phrase “epic fail,” as in a major screw-up. Others nominated the word as a comment on how often they heard the word misused to describe events that clearly were not of an epic nature.”

To my way of thinking both sources are saying the same thing. It can’t be easy being a favorite and least favorite word. It must take a special word to earn these conflicting honors. I wonder if the word of the year award offsets the banishment?

The other People’s Choice Words were:
Discombobulate
Defenestration - I had to look this up - it means the act of throwing someone out a window. (Funny that I haven't had the need to use this word - ever.)

Brouhaha
Love

However, Dictionary.com selected the word “change” as their Word of the Year based on a surge of look-ups over the past year.

I don’t know what qualifies a word for this illustrious list, but the winners are words that have been around for some time. I expected a list of newer, more creative terms.

What word would you nominate for 2010 Word of the Year?

Tags: Louisa May Alcott, Banished Words, People’s Choice, epic, word of the year

Is Zebra Destined to Become Xebra?

The last letter of our Roman alphabet is Z, a consonant that can seem racy and elusive or just plain disadvantaged. – David Sacks

I evidently missed this announcement when it was first released, but it caught my attention when DailyWritingTips.com did the Best of Daily Writing Tips in 2010.

The article, “The Letter “Z” Will Be Removed from the English Alphabet,” by Daniel Scocco caused my mouth to gape in disbelief. “Tell me it isn’t so,” I whispered to my computer.

I happen to like the letters in our alphabet – all 26 of them. And who could not possibly love the Z? Part of the Phoenician alphabet, it’s been around since about 1000 B.C.

The article included a quote from the press release from English Language Central Commission (ELCC) saying,

“After carefully considering and debating the matter for over two years, the ELCC came to the conclusion that the letter “Z” should be removed from the English alphabet. The main objective of this change is to simplify the phonetic aspect of the language, and to unify the American and British spellings.”

According to David Sacks author of Letter Perfect,

“The potential indignity of being the alphabet’s caboose is compounded by one real weakness: Z is, on the average, the least-used letter in printed English. Of the 26 letters, Z finishes last in this race, too, behind Q and X, For every 1,000 appearances by E (our most-used letter), Q appears about 50 times, X 44, and Z a measly 22.

“No wonder Z has been called superfluous, mere excess baggage. In Shakespeare’s King Lear (A.D. 1605), the irascible Earl of Kent insults the fatuous courtier Oswald, calling by the British name for Z: ‘Thou whoreson zed, thou unnecessary letter!’”

Is this how the ELCC felt about the last letter in our alphabet? Is this why they came up with the ridiculous idea of deleting “Z” completely?

Before allowing my blood pressure to climb to a deadly high, I decided to look up this commission. That’s when I discovered that Daniel Scocco is a bit of a jokester.

“Whew!” I said to the empty room. "That was a close one."

I know better than to believe everything I read online. I mean, I wasn’t born yesterday (what an understatement) and I fell for it big time. After all, I read the article on a site I visit often and trust, the press release looked legit, and there were examples such as how zero would become xero and visualize would soon be visualise.

What didn’t register was the date of the original article – April 1. The article was an April fool’s gag. Good one, Daniel!

So rest easy - the letter “Z” has nothing to fear.

Have you ever fallen for an internet gag?

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again next week.

Tags: David Sacks, King Lear, letter Z, English Language Central Commission, alphabet,

Blending Foreign Words with English

Translation is at best an echo. – George Burrows

Kiortame pivdluaritlo (Eskimo). Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! (Welsh). Sawadee Pee Mai (Thai). Naya Saal Mubbarak Ho (Urdu). Kenourios Chronos (Greek). Or as we say in America, Happy New Year! Thanks to TheHolidaySpot.com, I discovered New Year wishes were easily translatable into many languages.

Even though I can only use the terms around my husband, I’ve added a few expressions to my vocabulary from the various international places I’ve lived. It’s fun and sometimes foreign words or phrases express a concept or feeling better than the English equivalent, if there is one.

Pronunciation could be a problem, but recently I ran across more foreign words that I’d like to add to my personal use list. I found them in an article titled “20 Awesomely Untranslatable Words from Around the World” by Jason Wire. This article led me to “20 More Awesomely Untranslatable Words from Around the World.” Since the author did come up with definitions, I am assuming by untranslatable he meant that there is no comparable English word.

I liked all he words he listed, but I only selected five of my favorites. I think these words would be good additions to our English language.

Mamihlapinatapei - Yagan (indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego) – the wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start.

Tartle -Scottish – The act of hesitating while introducing someone because you’ve forgotten their name.

Wabi-Sabi -Japanese –a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay.

Cafuné- Brazilian Portuguese – The act of tenderly running one’s fingers through someone’s hair.

Jayus -Indonesian – a joke so poorly told and so unfunny that one cannot help but laugh.

Do you ever add foreign words to your conversations? Do you have a favorite foreign word or phrase?

I hope everyone’s New Year got off to a great start that only gets better with each passing day. Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again next week.

Tags: George Burrows, New Year, untranslatable words, foreign words and phrases ,