Creative writing Books

Book SynopsisWinner of the 2019 CCCC Outstanding Book Award.In this book, Rebecca Lorimer Leonard shows how multilingual migrant women both succeed and struggle in their writing contexts.Trade ReviewHow is literacy revalued as it moves across borders and boundaries? What forms does literate mobility take? What functions does the process of literate valuation perform? Refreshingly insightful and profoundly original, Writing on the Move offers an indispensable framework for theorizing about these questions and for understanding how competing social and economic forces shape, recognize, and regulate migrant literate lives."" - LuMing Mao, Miami University""Writing on the Move is an important contribution to transnational literacy studies. It not only complicates our understanding of literate repertoires performed in everyday life by migrant women with rich and resonant lives; it also extends our vocabulary of motive by critically examining how fixity, friction, and fluidity inform their literate values. A must-read in a time of great peril for immigrants in the U.S."" - Juan C. Guerra, University of Washington at Seattle

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Book SynopsisThe story behind the writing of the best-selling Blue Highways is as fascinating as the epic trip itself. More than thirty years after his 14,000-mile, 38-state journey, William Least Heat-Moon reflects on the four years he spent capturing the lessons of the road trip on paper.Trade ReviewIn Writing Blue Highways, William Least Heat-Moon offers essential lessons that go well beyond craft: the power of perseverance, the potency of story, and the singular importance of honoring intuition. Students at all levels would do well to hear Heat-Moon’s hard-earned wisdom. An instructive, affirming look at the arduous and sometimes magical process by which an idea becomes a book." - Dinty W. Moore, author of The Mindful Writer: Nobles Truths of the Writing Life"In recounting the prolonged, often painful labour that finally resulted in the birth of his beautifully alive book, Heat-Moon provides far more illuminating detail on what’s required to write (or, more exactly, to write well) than any follow-these-steps "practical" manual....And as readers of Heat-Moon’s books know, one never regrets following his lead. Although Writing Blue Highways takes us on a distinctly different sort of journey - through more a mental than physical landscape - Heat-Moon again proves an expert and companionable guide." - St. Louis Post-Dispatch"Because Writing Blue Highways is a hybrid - part memoir, part how-to, and part cultural history - I think it will appeal to all kinds of readers. These readers will include, first and foremost, Blue Highways fans and readers of nonfiction in general, but I firmly believe this this is a book that should be on the shelf of every writer and widely adopted by teachers of creative nonfiction. It's fascinating, informative, and flat-out fun." - Ned Stuckey-French, author of The American Essay in the American Century"Any writer or writing workshop will find instruction and reassurance in this eloquent back story to Blue Highways, an iconic work of contemporary literary nonfiction. William Least Heat-Moon unfolds his writing process, from concept to reporting, notations to fitful drafts and ruthless revisions, spurred by readers and remembered advice from famous writers, all punctuated by the struggles familiar to any artist - self-doubt, rejection, despair, and determined regeneration." - Beth Taylor, Co-Director, Nonfiction Writing Program, Brown University"Writing Blue Highways: The Story of How a Book Happened is just the sort of text I've been seeking for my creative writing classes. It's a unique blend of memoir and advice, telling the story of a writer's process with wit, wisdom, and useful, often colourful guidance for writers at all stages of their careers. As he documents the development of his American road trip classic, Least Heat-Moon both instructs and inspires, showing how a deep and tenacious writing process can become a path to "resurrection, restoration, a return to a refigured and rebuilt life with rebuilt hopes." - Nancy McCabe, Director of the Writing Program, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford

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Book SynopsisThrough the author's travels, Try to Get Lost explores the quest for place that compels and defines us: the things we carry, how politics infuse geography, media's depictions of an idea of home, the reverberations of the word “hotel”, and the ceaseless discovery generated by encounters with self and others on familiar and foreign ground.Trade ReviewTry to Get Lost is a bold, engaging disquisition on the perils and promises of travel: both cranky and wise, worldly and cultivated, humorous and rueful, its every sentence sparkles. All in all, it is thoroughly entertaining, a sophisticated pleasure." - Phillip Lopate, author of A Mother's Tale"Joan Frank animates her loving and irreverent essays with a vital, unspoken question: How do the human tendencies to idealize, project, rank, divide, and dismiss get in the way of reading the world with accuracy, with complexity? Try to Get Lost is an ongoing act of awe that gives itself permission to roll its eyes now and then. It's necessary. It's brilliant." - Paul Lisicky, author of The Narrow Door: A Memoir of Friendship"Filled with wit, soul, and insight, each of the essays in this radiant collection offers not only a layered and revelatory portrait of the places that enchant and haunt Frank - from Paris to Florence to her hometown of Phoenix with its many ghosts - but also a profound meditation on the possibility of discovery, the inevitability of loss, and the power of both to unmake and remake us." - Jessie Chaffee, author of Florence in Ecstasy: A Novel“Philosophical, sophisticated literary forays that are a pleasure to dwell in.”—Kirkus, starred review“Frank’s rich, imagery-driven prose lends immediacy to her observations. This is a perfect book for readers to take on their travels, even if they’re only going as far as the armchair.”—Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisTo celebrate twenty years of introducing talented new writers to readers and publishing great nonfiction, the founding editors, Joe Mackall and Daniel W. Lehman, have selected their all-time favorite essays published in River Teeth in this stunning collection.

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Book SynopsisThe much-anticipated second edition of The Book of Literary Terms features new examples and terms to enhance Turco's classic guide that students and scholars have relied on over the years as a definitive resource for the definitions of the major terms, forms, and styles of literature.

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Book SynopsisGet your romance (writing) on! Writing a Romance Novel For Dummies is the only reference aspiring writers need to get their careers off to the right start. Fully updated to reflect the industry's latest trends and secrets, this book helps you understand what makes a great novel, so you can hone your craft and write books people want to read. We break down the romance subgenres, give you expert tips on plotting and pacing, and walk you through the process of finding an agent and getting published in today's competitive marketor self-publishing like many six-figure authors are doing. For aspiring writers longing to find success in the industry, Writing a Romance Novel For Dummies is easy to read, highly informative, and a must-have! Refine your writing to craft engaging stories readers can't put downFind a route to publication that works for youmainstream, or self-publishedUnderstand the ins and outs of the romance genre and its subgenresLearn how to get your work noticed in the popular world of romantic fiction This Dummies guide is perfect for beginning writers who want advice on writing and publishing a successful romance novel. It's also a great reference for accomplished writers looking to level up their romance game.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 About This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1: Welcome to the World of Romance Writing 5 Chapter 1: Romance Writing at a Glance 7 Tuning in to the Market 8 Defining a romance 8 Subdividing romances into genres 9 Practicing Your Craft 10 Everything starts with characterization 11 It’s all about emotional tension 11 Plotting, pacing, and point of view 12 Choosing Indie Publishing or Traditional Publishing 13 Exploring the pros and cons of each 13 Choosing your path 13 Best Practices of Indie Publishing 14 Working with editors and graphic designers 14 Marketing and selling your book 15 Submitting Your Manuscript 15 Choosing the right publisher 15 Putting together a selling submission 15 Chapter 2: Romancing the Marketplace: Identifying Your Options 17 Knowing Your Reader 18 Meeting the romance reader 18 Meeting the romance reader’s expectations 19 Starting from Square One: Reading 20 Drawing up a reading list 20 Reading like a writer 21 Getting to Know Your Genre 22 Historical versus contemporary 22 Mainstream versus category 25 Subgenres and niche markets 28 Related women’s fiction markets 35 Choosing Your Subgenre 37 What do you like to read? 38 How do you fit into the market? 39 Chapter 3: Setting Up for Writing Success 43 Finding the Perfect Time to Write 44 Making time to pursue your dream 44 Creating your writing routine 46 Building a Writer’s Tool Kit 48 Sharpening up your office supplies: More than just pencils 49 Stocking the shelves: Your home library 49 Booking it: Accurate financial records 50 Accessing Resources for the Would-Be Writer 51 Joining writers’ organizations — romance-related and otherwise 51 Going where the writers are: Conferences and more 52 Taking advantage of courses and critique groups 52 Online resources 54 Part 2: Laying the Foundation: The Building Blocks of a Great Romance 57 Chapter 4: Creating Compelling Main Characters: Alpha Males and Fiery Females 59 Depending on Your Characters 60 The Key to Every Romance Is the Heroine 61 Drawing the reader into your story 61 Making your heroine feel real 61 Introducing imperfection 63 Naming your heroine 64 Creating Your Hero 66 Heroes are for loving 67 Holding out for a hero: Alphas and others 69 Looking for love in all the wrong places 74 Hello, my name is 74 Keepin’ It Real: Secondary Characters 76 Remembering their roles 76 Avoiding stereotypes 77 Speaking up 77 Naming the baby (and everyone else) 78 Factoring in the future 78 Laying Concrete Strategies for Creating Characters 78 Chapter 5: Crucial Ingredients for Every Plot: Conflict, Climax, and Resolution 81 You Can’t Have a Novel without a Plot 82 Where do ideas come from? 82 Letting your characters drive the plot 85 Suspense: Every Story Has It 86 Using romance to create suspense 87 Other ways of creating twists and turns 88 Making Sense Matters 89 Creating Emotional Conflict and Tension 91 Emotional versus intellectual conflict 91 Internal versus external conflict 95 Personal versus situational conflict 95 Handling Conflict Effectively 96 Keeping them together 96 Letting conflict complicate your plot 97 Taking two steps forward and one step back 98 Using sexual tension to deepen conflict 100 Dreaming of love 101 Saving “I love you” for the right moment 102 And They Lived Happily Ever After 103 Making your reader believe 104 Dark moment: Where all is lost 105 Climax: Timing is everything 105 Resolution: Endings made easy 106 Epilogue 107 Chapter 6: Setting the Scene 109 Deciding Where Your Story Takes Place 110 Following the lead of your characters and plot 110 Joining the real world or living in your imagination 112 Keeping your setting in check 113 Telling Time 114 Using Your Setting to the Fullest 115 Illuminating your characters 115 Making your setting a character 119 Chapter 7: Outlining versus Discovery Writing 121 Identifying What Kind of Writer You Are 121 Outlining methods 122 Discovery writing methods 123 Outlining: Mapping Out Your Story 124 What can an outline do for you? 124 What belongs in an outline? 125 Using your outline effectively 126 Listening to your creativity 127 Discovery Writing: Letting Your Story Unfold 127 Letting the characters guide you 128 Plotting as you go 129 Getting stuck in the rewriting trap 132 Part 3: Putting Pen to Paper 133 Chapter 8: Finding Your Own Voice 135 Speaking Up for Yourself 135 Revealing where readers hear your voice 136 Making the language your own 138 Choosing your words wisely 139 Mixing what you say with what your characters know 140 Putting the Show in Show and Tell 141 Knowing what you need to say, and then saying it 141 Speaking metaphorically 142 Describing your characters 143 Making every word count 143 Talking too much 143 Telling It Like It Is 144 Keeping your writing clear 144 Moving right along 145 Chapter 9: Letting Your Characters Speak 149 Giving Your Characters Voices 150 Making every character unique (and real) 150 Giving every character a consistent voice 153 Meeting the secondary-character challenge 153 Writing Great Dialogue 154 Using dialect and accents effectively 155 Keepin’ it cool: A word about slang 156 Using dialogue to convey information naturally 157 Putting dialogue on paper 158 Choosing and Using Point of View 160 What are they thinking? 160 Knowing whose voice to use 162 Internal monologues and how to use them 165 Chapter 10: Pacing: The Secrets of Writing a Page-Turning Romance 169 Pacing Doesn’t Mean Racing 170 Pacing and Plotting: Two Halves of a Whole 170 Knowing what readers care about 171 It’s not only what happens, it’s when and where 174 Knowing what to tell and what to leave out 177 Avoiding the Dreaded Sagging Middle 178 Recognizing a sagging middle 178 Stopping the sag before it starts 179 Dealing with it 180 Show It, Don’t (Always) Tell It 181 Harnessing the power of dialogue 181 Telling it like it is: Using narrative effectively 183 Finding the balance between showing and telling 185 Prose That Goes and Prose That Slows 186 Chapter 11: Taking It All Off: Writing Love Scenes 189 Comparing Sex and Romance 189 Knowing Where and When 190 Creating sexual tension 190 Deciding when the time’s right 192 Using love scenes to increase the tension 193 Using love scenes to support your pacing 195 Writing the Scene 196 Knowing your market 196 It’s not what they do, it’s how you describe it 197 Part 4: Putting It All Together: Mechanics Count, Too 201 Chapter 12: Starting and Stopping 203 Mastering the Winning Beginning 203 How to hook your reader 204 How to bore your reader 206 The cute meet: Necessary or not? 207 Putting Theory into Practice 209 Finding your starting point 209 Backtracking to the background 211 Opening lines that work 214 Constructing Can’t-Miss Chapters 216 Viewing every chapter as a new beginning 217 Leave ’em wanting more: Effective chapter endings 218 Keeping transitions fresh 221 Moving from Scene to Scene 222 Stringing scenes together 222 Seeing scene endings as mini-chapter endings 223 Intercutting scenes 223 Chapter 13: Getting Your Story Straight: Doing Research 225 Getting It Right: Priority Number One 226 Making Research Work for You 226 Figuring out what you need to know 227 Avoiding information overload 229 Getting Down to Business 230 Timing is everything 231 Organizing like a pro 231 Finding the Facts 233 Surfing the Net: Great information (and misinformation) 233 Supporting your local library and bookstore 235 Developing a nose for news 237 Taking time to stop, look, and listen 238 Traveling for fun and profit 238 Talking to experts 239 Getting Permissions 240 Determining when permission is necessary 240 Filling out the paperwork 242 Chapter 14: Neatness Counts — and So Does Grammar 243 Knowing the Importance of Good Writing 244 Finding good references 244 Using grammar and spell-check programs 245 Taking a course 246 Asking a friend 246 Making a Point with Punctuation 246 Comma placement 246 Using ellipses and em dashes 247 Talking about Dialogue and Narrative 249 Making Thoughtful and Relevant Word Choices 250 Don’t choose a fancy word when a simple one will do 250 Don’t use incorrect synonyms 251 Watch for repeated words 251 Formatting for Success 252 Setting your margins 253 Using the right fonts and spacing 253 Breaking your story into paragraphs 253 Avoiding common formatting mistakes 254 Formatting with indie publishing in mind 255 Checking Your Work One Last Time 256 Part 5: Traditional Or Indie Publishing — Which Is Best for You? 257 Chapter 15: Choosing Your Publishing Path 259 Weighing Your Options 260 Knowing the pros and cons of how you publish 260 Changing course 261 Staying on top of a quickly changing landscape 262 Comparing and Contrasting the Paths 263 Traditional publishing 263 Indie publishing 269 Becoming a Hybrid Author: The Best of Both Worlds 271 Chapter 16: Finding Success in Indie Publishing 273 Defining Your Success 274 Creating a Professional Product 275 Judging a book by its cover 275 Writing a tagline (it’s all in the hook) 277 Writing blurbs 278 Building your website 279 Creating Your Launch Team 279 Sending out ARCs 280 Finding helpful services 280 Forming Your Launch Plan 281 Networking 283 Boosting your sales 284 Building Momentum 285 Building a newsletter 285 Giving away a reader magnet 287 Purchasing an ISBN 288 Registering your copyright 289 Obtaining a Library of Congress Control Number 290 After You Publish 291 Doing market research 291 Paying for ads 291 Understanding the power of free 292 Chapter 17: Selling Your Manuscript: Traditional Publishing 295 Submitting Made Simple 296 Doing your research 296 Writing a successful query letter 297 Deciding Whether You Need an Agent 299 Understanding an agent’s job 299 Finding an agent 300 Sizing Up the Contract 303 Coming up with questions 303 Reading (and rereading) the fine print 306 Getting help 307 Strategies for a Win-Win Negotiation 307 Working with Your Editor 309 Making the relationship work 309 Revising your book one last time 310 Line editing set straight 310 Chapter 18: Handling Rejection 313 What the Rejection Letter Is Really Saying 313 Regarding rejections 314 Revising and resubmitting 315 Understanding the Revision Process 316 Addressing editor queries 316 Using an incremental approach 317 Being timely 318 When great minds don’t think alike 318 Handling the resubmission process 319 Identifying Common Issues 320 Your heroine isn’t as sympathetic as she needs to be 320 Your pacing is erratic 320 Your hero’s too strong/arrogant/tough 321 Your plot lacks the necessary complexity 321 Your characters’ motivations aren’t clear 322 Your characters seem more like types than real people 323 Maximizing Your Chance of Success 323 Keeping a positive attitude 323 Dealing with rejection, emotionally and professionally 324 Dealing with bad reviews 326 Part 6: The Part of Tens 329 Chapter 19: Ten Tropes Every Editor Knows — and Why They Still Work 331 Marriage of Convenience 332 Stranded with a Stranger 332 Runaway Bride 333 Secret Baby 333 Second-Chance Romance 333 Back from the Dead 334 Mistaken Identity 334 Woman in Jeopardy 334 The Dad Next Door 335 Even Sketchier Setups 335 Chapter 20: Ten Tips for Coming Up with a Successful Title 337 Speak the Reader’s Language 337 Know the Long and the Short of It 338 Try Single-Word Titles 338 Match Title and Tone Perfectly 339 Use Keywords 339 Consider Alliteration 340 Coin a Cliché 340 Name Names 340 Make Connections 340 Follow in Others’ Footsteps 341 Chapter 21: Ten Tips for Avoiding Common Writing Mistakes 343 Remember the Reader’s Expectations 343 Don’t Overwrite 344 Love It or Lose It 344 Let Your Characters Drive the Plot 344 Know That Effective Conflict Comes from Within 345 Make Sure You Have Enough Plot 345 Keep Your Story on Track 345 Keep Your Reader Interested 345 Don’t Forget the Details 346 Keep the Story Moving 346 Chapter 22: Ten Questions Every Romance Writer Needs to Ask Herself 347 Should I Write Romance Novels? 347 Why Can’t I Get Started? 348 What Can I Do When the Ideas Don’t Come? 348 How Can I Focus and Stay Positive When Things Go Wrong? 348 When Is It Research and When Is It a Waste of Time? 349 When Should I Publish or Submit My Manuscript? 349 Do I Need an Agent? 350 How Do I Handle a Friend’s Success? 350 When and How Do I Follow Up on My Book’s Status? 350 When Do I Let Go of a Book? 351 Chapter 23: Ten Ways to Beat Writer’s Block 353 Work Your Way Through It 353 Select a Different Scene 354 Look at the Last Scene You Wrote 354 Write a Scene That You Won’t Use 354 View the Scene from a Different Angle 355 Don’t Focus on Perfection 355 Stop in the Middle 355 Analyze Your Outline 355 Re-energize Your Creative Instincts 356 Start Another Project (If All Else Fails) 356 Index 357

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Book SynopsisWriting fiction shifts notions about who is smart

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Book SynopsisThe Poetry Toolkit: For Readers and Writers provides students with the essential intellectual and practical tools necessary to read, understand, and write poetry. Explains the most important elements of poetry in clear language and an easily accessible manner Offers readers both the expertise of an established scholar and the insights of a practicing poet Draws on examples from more than 1,500 years of English literature Trade Review"The Poetry Toolkit: For Readers And Writers by William Harmon, provides students with the essential intellectual and practical tools to read, understand and write poetry." (Writers Forum, 1 April 2011)Table of ContentsPreface vii Key to Symbols xv 1 The Arts of Story-Telling 1 2 The Arts of Character 40 3 The Arts of Sentiment: States of Mind and Feeling 65 4 The Arts of Diction 82 5 The Arts of Sound 109 Appendix A: Simplified Phonetic Alphabet 133 Appendix B: Summary of Prosody 133 6 The Arts of Layout 139 7 The Arts of Reaction 158 Glossary 177 Suggestions for Reading: A Biased Bibliography 217 Acknowledgments 225 Index 227

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Book SynopsisAn essential guide for writers on how to record and use rich detail to enliven their work. The goal of the writer is to live with the keenness of the foreigner. To experience, wide-eyed, the sensations aroused and the events offered up by peculiar surrounds and then to evoke them so brightly on the page that the reader, too, experiences the foreigner's frisson. A time-honored way this is accomplished is through the keeping of a field notebookthrough the faithful recording of the this-and-that of life; the atmospheres and incidents; the bells, the beer, the bread. Based on what accomplished nonfiction writer Sara Mansfield Taber learned in her many years of field notebook keeping, Chance Particulars is a unique and handy primer for writers who want to use their experiences to tell a lively, satisfying story. Often, writers try to turn their notes into a memoir, essay, travel piece, or story, only to find that they haven't recorded enough of the concrete, sensory details necessary to create evocative description. To help writers overcome this problem, Taber has composed a true field notebook for field notebook keepers. Enhanced by beautiful illustrations, this charming and comprehensive guide is a practical manual for anyone who wishes to learn or hone the crafts of writing, ethnography, or journalism. Writers of all levels, genres, and ages, as well as teachers of writing, will appreciate this useful tool for learning how to record the details that build vibrant prose. With this book in hand, you will be able to recreate times and places, conjure up intricate character portraits, and paint pictures of particular landscapes, cultures, and locales.Trade ReviewThe book also looks at the art of good journaling and how one can mine its information to enrich all other kinds of writing.—Y.S. StephenWhat is especially lovely about this book, aside from its accessibility and art work, is the range of texts that are used. There are classic works of literature, travel writing, memoir; the advice provided is always exemplified.—Matthew Tett, Writing in EducationTable of ContentsIntroduction1. Elements of Fine Writing2. Purpose of the NotebookGoal, Quest, Story3. Chance ParticularsUse of the SensesSpecificity, Precision, and Concrete Detail4. PlaceLandscape and NatureTowns, Streets, and Buildings5. PeoplePortraits and InterviewsEncounters, Observations, and Activities6. Facts, History, and CultureBasic Facts, History, and Cultural Observations7. Technical and Other Pertinent InformationInformational Notes8. ChronicleRecord of Daily Activities and Travels9. Personal ResponsesFeelings and Contemplations10. Commonplace NotesQuotations and Thoughts from Experts, Scholars, and Literary Forebears-and Other Miscellanea11. Associations and Figurative LanguageMetaphor and Simile12. ReflectionsThoughts and Musings13. Writing NotesAcknowledgments

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Book SynopsisThis third edition features newwriting samples and new guidance to reflect the seventh edition of thePublication Manual of the American PsychologicalAssociation.Table of Contents Preface Introduction 1. Why Psychology Students (and Not Just English Majors) Have to Write 2. Starting Your Paper: Finding the Thread of Your Story 3. Extracting the Useful Nuggets From a Literature Search 4. How to Write Your Psychology Paper With Style: General Tips 5. Bringing the Audience Up to Speed With Literature Reviews 6. Telling an Original Story Through a Research Paper 7. The Rest of the Story: Title, Abstract, References, and Tables 8. Reshaping Your Story for Different Audiences: Other Types of Writing in Psychology References Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisExplains and expands on practical aspects of the Writers Matter approach, emphasizing a focus on free expression and establishing connections between the curriculum and students' personal lives. This book offers proven ways to motivate adolescents to write, work diligently to improve their writing skills, and think critically about the world.Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments PART I 1 Empowering Young Writers through the Writers Matter Approach 2 Posing Intriguing Themes to Stimulate Adolescents’ Writing 3 Inspiring Students to Write about Their Lives With Erin Bloom and Dianna Newton 4 Building Relationships and Community in the Classroom PART II 5 Building Writing Self-Efficacy through Writers’ Workshops 6 Implementing the Writers’ Workshop With Steve Clark 7 Teaching Revision with Honesty With Dianna Newton PART III 8 Using Poetry and Mentor Texts to Stimulate Personal Writing Reflections With Erin Bloom 9 Integrating Literature and Writing With Dianna Newton 10 Making Deeper Connections through Integrated Learning 11 Integrating History, Reading, and Writing With Francesca Cantarini PART IV 12 Making Community and World Connections through Writing APPENDIX A: Students’ Writing Relating to the Five Writers Matter Themes APPENDIX B: Web Resource for Teachers References Index

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Book SynopsisAmitava Kumar''s Every Day I Write the Book is for academic writers what Annie Dillard''s The Writing Lifeand Stephen King''s On Writing are for creative writers. Alongside Kumar''s interviews with an array of scholars whose distinct writing offers inspiring examples for students and academics alike, the book''s pages are full of practical advice about everything from how to write criticism to making use of a kitchen timer. Communication, engagement, honesty: these are the aims and sources of good writing. Storytelling, attention to organization, solid work habits: these are its tools. Kumar''s own voice is present in his essays about the writing process and in his perceptive and witty observations on the academic world. A writing manual as well as a manifesto, Every Day I Write the Book will interest and guide aspiring writers everywhere.Trade Review“Every Day I Write the Book is a persuasive instance of the sort of rare nonfiction performance Amitava Kumar invokes within its pages; he at once defines and exemplifies a vital modern nonfiction tradition. Full of pragmatic analyses and recommendations, this enthralling, important book will prove to be compelling and useful across many audiences.” -- Robert Polito“Amitava Kumar's Every Day I Write the Book compels a cluster of adjectives—eclectic, ruminative, associative, probing, and personal—all of which, taken together, only begin to describe this unique writing sensibility. Turning the pages we find ourselves riding shotgun through the reading and writing life of a true cosmopolitan intellectual. Kumar instructs and inspires, running on all cylinders.” -- Sven Birkerts"A guide for academic writers that is also relevant to anyone who cares about fine prose. . . . An engaging, perceptive companion for all writers." * Kirkus Reviews *"An inventive essay collection . . . a celebration of 'the value, the ease, and also the excitement of crafting writing that hasn’t been produced to please a committee.' Grad students and tenure seekers will appreciate the support Kumar’s insightful and intellectually nimble book offers, even as they buckle down to the task at hand—satisfying that committee of readers." * Publishers Weekly *"Too often lively writing is taken as a sign of dilettantism. Things don’t have to be this way, and Kumar, who is himself both a critic and a novelist, insists that scholarship should argue and inform but also surprise and delight. . . . The best way to argue that academic books can be formally inventive is to write a formally inventive academic book. That’s what Kumar does here." -- Anthony Domestico * Commonweal *"Kumar’s writing guide/commonplace book is a salve. Reading his newest is like having office hours—no, better; a drink and bookish conversation, in a bar—with your smartest, kindest teacher, or friend." -- John Francisconi * Grandlife *"Kumar sets out to do for the academic writer what writers like Annie Dillard, Ursula Le Guin, Anne Lamott, and Stephen King do for the creative writer in their accounts of their own writing lives. . . . This book will interest scholars in search of alternative models for presenting their ideas and those seeking insight into an academic’s writing life. Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty." -- A. M. Laflen * Choice *"An entertaining ramble through his years of analyzing his own writing process and that of many, many other authors. . . . The most amazing feature of this book is the sheer number of authors and ideas on writing that are collected in what Kumar calls, 'The 90-Day Book.'" -- Gretchen Webster * Publishing Research Quarterly *"Kumar’s work effuses creative associations. Ostensibly a how-to writing guide for scholars, this book is from a different mould, one aligned with the daring and the bold: that is, with the creative. . . . In Every Day I Write the Book, you see a writer and thinker in communion with other writers and thinkers: that is, in communion with the world of ideas." -- Steven E. Gumb * Journal of Scholarly Publishing *Table of ContentsIntroduction. The 90-Day Book 1 Part I. Self-Help Misery 5 Good Sentences 6 Read No Secondary Literature 7 Read Junk 9 Failure 10 Running 12 Sleep 15 Kitchen Timer 16 Self-Help 17 Part II. Writing a Book: A Brief History Rules of Writing 23 In Memory of 24 Out of Place 26 Eyes on the Ground 28 The End of the Line 30 Creative Criticism 31 How to Throw Your Body 36 I'm Feeling Myself 38 Creative Writing 39 Part III. Credos Declarations of Independence 47 In Praise of Nonfiction 54 There Is No Single Way 56 How Proust Can Ruin Your Life 57 Reality Hunger 58 Depend on Your Dumbness 60 Blackness (Unmitigated) 62 Rage on the Page 63 On Training 68 Part IV. Form Light Years 71 Neither/Nor 72 Criticism by Other Means 75 Paranoid Theory 77 Erotic Style 80 I Blame the Topic Sentence 82 The Sound of the Fury 83 In Defense of the Fragment 86 Kids 88 Part V. Academic Interest Diana Studies 91 Examined Life 95 Occupy Writing 96 Academic Sentence 98 Dissertation Blah 100 Your Job Is to Know a Lot 102 Terminology 103 Anti-Anti Jargon 104 Monograph 107 Part VI. Style But Life 111 Sugared Violets 112 Voice 113 Wikileaks Manual of Style 117 Detecting Style 118 Strunk and White 120 A Clean English Sentence 122 Trade 126 Recommendation Letter 128 Part VII. Exercises Bad Writing 137 Prompt 139 Post-Its 141 Revising 142 Editing 144 Performing It 146 Rituals 149 For Graduate Students 152 Not Writing 161 Part VIII. The Groves of Academe Academe 165 Stoner 167 Common Sense 169 Titles 170 Campus Criticism 172 Farther Away 176 Accountability 177 Tenure Files 179 Journals 182 Part IX. Materials Photographs, etc. 187 "Who's Got the Address?" (a Collaboration with Teju Cole) 190 Acknowledgments 197 Appendix A. Ten Rules of Writing 201 Appendix B. PEN Ten Interview 207 Notes 211 Index 231

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Book SynopsisThe purpose of this work is to establish the relationship between the Romantic drama in France of the period 1829-1843 (circa) and the melodrama or "popular tragedy" which flourished in the second-class theatres during the first three decades of the nineteenth century. Since the essence of the melodrama of that period is found in the works of Guilbert de Pixerecourt (a fact which no student of French literature will deny) it has been thought sufficient to concentrate attention on these works and their connection with the Romantic drama, rather than to treat all or a large number of the many authors of melodrama who helped to flood the popular stage at that time.

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Book SynopsisA prolific and award-winning writer, Lee Martin has put pen to paper to offer his wisdom, honed during thirty years of teaching the oh-so-elusive art of writing. Telling Stories is intended for anyone interested in thinking more about the elements of storytelling in short stories, novels, and memoirs. Martin clearly delineates helpful and practical techniques for demystifying the writing process and providestools for perfecting the art of the scene, characterization, detail, point of view, language, and revisionin short, the art of writing. His discussion of the craft in his own life draws from experiences, memories, and stories to provide a more personal perspective on the elements of writing. Martin provides encouragement by sharing what he's learned from his journey through frustrations, challenges, and successes. Most important, Telling Stories emphasizes that you are not alone on this journey and that writers must remain focused on what they love: the process of moving words onTrade Review"[Martin's] own sentences are like bright sun-polished bones on a beach: sparse outlines nevertheless telling their own devastating story. No doubt aspiring writers will appreciate this honesty, and may find many of the writing prompts here helpful, particularly to unclog a blockage. But it is Martin's own literary journey that is most compelling."—Sara Lonsdale, Times Literary Supplement"Martin combines writing tips with examples from literature and his own life and teachings. It's a clever, warm-hearted book for writers of fiction or creative nonfiction. It could be used in creative writing classes or kept on the desk for those days one needs a little shot of inspiration."—Debbie Hagan, Brevity“‘Why shouldn’t good writing be hard? It’s our attempt at salvation,’ Lee Martin says in this exceptional book. Martin, through craft lessons, exercises, and literary examples, helps writers discover salvation one carefully selected word at a time.”—Sue William Silverman, author of Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir “Lee Martin has long been one of my favorite writers of fiction and memoir, and now he’s one of my favorite writers of advice about the writer’s craft. Everyone who writes, or wants to, should read this wise and inspiring book.”—David Jauss, author of On Writing FictionTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Part 1. Structure: Once upon a Time Writing the Opening of a Short Story Juggling Balls: An Exercise for Opening a Short Story Using Mystery to Open Your Story Trouble? I’ve Seen Trouble Making a Scene The Inevitable Surprise Framing the Story Character and Incident I Didn’t Expect That One Way to Structure a Memoir Organizing the Memoir The Layers of Memoir I Was Wearing Them the Day: Touchstone Moments and Details for the Fiction Writer Yogi Berra and the Art of Flash Nonfiction Mad Libs for Creative Nonfiction Enough about Me, Tell Me What You Think about Me Shrinking a Novel Preparing the Final Scene by Avoiding Conflict Here We Are at the End Taking Care at the End: The Art of Misdirection Part 2. Characterization: There Were Three Little Pigs On a Mother’s Birthday, a Writer Loves the World Tightening the Screws: Putting Pressure on Our Characters Contradictory Characters Odd Couples: The Writer as Matchmaker Characterization in the Personal Essay Creating Richer Characters The Art of the Snark Part 3. Detail: A House of Straw, a House of Sticks, a House of Bricks My Mother Gives Me a Writing Lesson Get the Particulars Right Know Your Place That Kind of Place: An Argument for Nostalgia Nostalgia and the Memoirist A Detail and All It Can Do The Places We Know: What Richard Ford Taught Me Daydreaming Your Memoir The Heart’s Field: Place in Fiction Oh, Those Pesky Facts: What’s a Memoir Writer to Do? Memoir and the Work of Resurrection Using Photos in Memoir Ordinary Details in Memoir Connecting Particulars Context Part 4. Point of View: “Little Pig, Little Pig, Let Me Come In” Your Point of View Choice Creates the Effect of the Story The Inner Story of the Writer’s Thinking Finding a Different Lens Memoir and the Future Living Full: Avoiding Sentimentality in Memoir Into the Fire Part 5. Language: “Not by the Hair of My Chinny Chin Chin” Stylin’ The Value of a Beautiful Sentence The Art of the Twerk: Writing the Miley Cyrus Way Communal and Personal Voices Voice in Creative Nonfiction Personae and Tone in Fiction Paying Attention to Form in Flash Nonfiction The Kite The Thing Said: Ten Thoughts on Writing Dialogue in Memoir Alligators and Marshmallows: A Lesson in Humor Comedy in Fiction Part 6. Revision: And the Third Little Pig Lived Happily Ever After Taking Flight: First Drafts Felt Sense: Focusing on Revision More Revision Activities The Doorway between Memoir and Fiction Proverbs for Revising a Novel Part 7. The Writing Life: The Two Little Pigs Now Felt Sorry for Having Been So Lazy and Built Their Houses with Bricks My Mother’s Gifts to Me My Aunt among the Rocks Five Ways We Keep Ourselves from Writing Five Things All Writers Can Control Reading Like a Writer Writing to Preserve Travel and the Writer Slowing Down Our Quiet Places What Fills Us The Books and the Boys of Summer A Writer Writes: A Lifelong Apprenticeship Defeating Writer’s Block Ten Thoughts on the Writing Life Keep Facing the Blank Page

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Book SynopsisThough it is foundational to the craft of writing, the concept of voice is a mystery to many authors, and teachers of writing do not have a good working definition of it for use in the classroom. Written to address the vague and problematic advice given to writers to “find their voice,” Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto recasts the term in the plural to give writers options, movement, and a way to understand the development of voice over time. By redefining “voice,” Sonya Huber offers writers an opportunity not only to engage their voices but to understand and experience how developing their range of voices strengthens their writing. Weaving together in-depth discussions of various concepts of voice and stories from the author’s writing life, Voice First offers a personal view of struggles with voice as influenced and shaped by gender, place of origin, privilege, race, ethnicity, and other factors, reframing and updating theTrade Review"A great resource—writers of all strokes will appreciate this spirited look at the craft."—Publishers Weekly"Through essays and writing prompts, Huber helps writers identify, develop, and experience the many voices used when writing."—Poets & Writers“Voice First is an intellectual tour de force and a work of great generosity. Huber dismantles the myth of a writer’s ‘authentic voice,’ acknowledging instead that all writers have multiple voices, no one more or less authentic than any other, freeing us from an insistence on sameness and opening up for every writer a universe of possibility.”—Sarah Einstein, author of Mot: A Memoir“Sonya Huber brilliantly illuminates the intricate paths writers can take to shape their voices on the page. Huber’s own voice is packed with joy, fire, wisdom, and spirit, and her manifesto offers both indispensable advice and valuable prompts. Voice First is an inclusive, compassionate, and necessary book for writers and anyone teaching the art of writing.”—Dinty W. Moore, author of Crafting the Personal Essay“Huber’s book is a class in itself—a workshop on naming and finding the glorious, the cantankerous, the jubilant, the apprehensive, the mischievous, and the assiduous voices within. . . . I cannot wait to share Voice First with educators teaching in diverse, inclusive settings and their writing students.”—Bryan Ripley Crandall, director of the Connecticut Writing Project and associate professor of English education at Fairfield UniversityTable of ContentsNote to the Reader 1. Listening to Voices 2. The Voice Lineage 3. Voices Live in the Body 4. Mind Is the Source of Voice 5. Time and Place Grow Voices 6. Voices of Challenge and Change 7. Detail Is the Seed of Voice 8. Embodied Voices, Racialized Lives 9. Voices of Joy 10. Voices with Fire 11. A Whisper of a Voice 12. The Voice of Spirit 13. Editing and Revising with Voices A Few Final Words Gratitude Notes Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisAcetylene Torch Songs is a guidebook for writers who want their honesty, social engagement, and intimacy to reach beyond the page and transform the lives of readers with searing, indelible, and unquenchable words.Trade Review"Acetylene Torch Songs reminded me of why I write and motivated me to rebirth some of the more confessional pieces I'd shelved. It made me not just want to be a better writer, but to do the kind of soul work that creates 'writing that burns through, no matter what it finds.'"—Lisa Cooper Ellison, Hippocampus“This wonderful book is unique in my experience: writing advice not from Olympus but from a kind, wise, human guide who has learned how to translate her experience into art and who shows us how we can, too. Beginners and veteran writers alike have much to learn from Silverman.”—Clifford Thompson, author of What It Is: Race, Family, and One Thinking Black Man’s Blues“Silverman reclaims and honors the disparaged term ‘confessional,’ encouraging writers to use their passions, hauntings, and experiences as fuel for quality nonfiction. Snapping with bright fire, this new craft guide is also a guide for the soul: audacious, pulsing with life, and sure to inspire.”—Sonya Huber, author of Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto“Acetylene Torch Songs is precisely what you’d expect from the wondrous Sue William Silverman. This is no mere manual but an essential lodestar for artists of nonfiction, a book with a vision that will be a game-changer for writers who wish to do as Silverman herself does so well: to daringly reveal the ecstasies and darknesses that dwell at the hub of us.”—William Giraldi, author of The Hero’s Body and American Audacity“Sue William Silverman’s Acetylene Torch Songs is a gift for creative nonfiction writers, and a guiding light: offering a holistic and hands-on approach to writing our memories, our obsessions, and ourselves. This is a gorgeous book of body and mind, of heart and soul. In the truest sense it’s also a torch: one we might carry with us as we write, as we dig into the dark corners of our lives, making our stories burn bright.”—Melissa Faliveno, author of Tomboyland“Acetylene Torch Songs will burn its way through everything you thought you knew about craft and seduce you into a spell of curiosity and revelation. This is one of the best books on writing truth as art I’ve ever read. From now on it will be by my side as I open up the world of memoir writing to my students.”—Linda Joy Myers, founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers and award-winning author of Don’t Call Me MotherTable of ContentsThe Hammer Overture Part 1. Lighting the Flame 1. “Body and Soul”: Writing Fiery, Holistic Prose 2. “Thanks for the Memory”: Bringing the Past to Life 3. “Ghost Riders in the Sky”: Writing What Haunts You 4. “Behind the Mask”: On Revealing the Sequined Self 5. “Voices inside My Head”: The Multitudinous Sounds of Voice 6. “The Long and Winding Road”: Some Thoughts on Narrative Structure 7. “Come Together”: Strategies to Craft an Essay Collection Part 2. Feeling the Flame 8. “Respect”: Confessional Writing as Resistance 9. “You Don’t Own Me”: On Writing Controversial or Disturbing Literature 10. “Do You Want to Know a Secret?”: I Love Confessional Writing 11. “Look through Any Window”: Memoir with a View Bonus Tracks Sue’s EZ Rules to Write By On Trifles: Things You Might Not Think to Write About AfterWord Acknowledgments Appendix 1. Deconstructed Essay Appendix 2. Additional Writing Prompts Appendix 3. Strategies to Write a Query Letter Appendix 4. Two Sample Book Proposals Appendix 5. A List of Useful Websites Brief Notes on Chapter Titles Notes

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Book SynopsisIn this book, David Lehman, the longtime series editor of the Best American Poetry, offers a masterclass in writing in form and collaborative composition. An inspired compilation of his weekly column on the American Scholar website, Next Line, Please makes the case for poetry open to all. Next Line, Please gathers in one place the popular column's plethora of exercises and prompts that Lehman designed to unlock the imaginations of poets and creative writers. He offers his generous and playful mentorship on forms such as the sonnet, haiku, tanka, sestina, limerick, and the cento and shares strategies for how to build one line from the last. This groundbreaking book shows how pop-up crowds of poets can inspire one another, making art, with what poet and guest editor Angela Ball refers to as spontaneous feats of language.How can poetry thrive in the digital age? Next Line, Please shows the way. Lehman writes, There is something magical about poTrade Review"What an informative, readable, democratic book! With unassuming brilliance, it both says and demonstrates so much of what is both pleasurable and useful about poetry, and also that poetry belongs to everyone. I can think of no book better to hand to poetry lovers and skeptics alike." -- Matthew Zapruder, author of Why Poetry and Sun Bear"I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to have read Next Line, Please. There's nothing like the civility and geniality of the respondents. I found myself hooked by the prompts, unable to stop doodling with them." -- Jennifer Clarvoe, Professor of English Emerita, Kenyon College, author of Invisible Tender and Counter-Amore

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Book SynopsisAs multisited research has become mainstream in anthropology, collaboration has gained new relevance and traction as a critical infrastructure of both fieldwork and theory, enabling more ambitious research designs, forms of communication, and analysis. Collaborative Anthropology Today is the outcome of a 2017 workshop held at the Center for Ethnography, University of California, Irvine. This book is the latest in a trilogy that includes Fieldwork Is Not What It Used to Be and Theory Can Be More Than It Used to Be. Dominic Boyer and George E. Marcus assemble several notable ventures in collaborative anthropology and put them in dialogue with one another as a way of exploring the recent surge of interest in creating new kinds of ethnographic and theoretical partnerships, especially in the domains of art, media, and information. Contributors highlight projects in which collaboration has generated new possibilities of expression and conceptualizations of anthropologTable of ContentsIntroduction, by Dominic Boyer and George E. Marcus 1. How Do We Collaborate? An Updated Manifesto, by Douglas R. Holmes and George E. Marcus 2. Imagination, Improvisation, and Letting Go, by Keith M. Murphy 3. Ethnographic Reentanglements in the Collaborative Ecologies of Film and Contact Improvisation, by Christine Hegel-Cantarella and Luke Cantarella 4. Variations in the Ways That Collaborations Surround and Effect Ethnographic Research Projects: Addendum to Chapters 1–3, by George E. Marcus 5. Function and Form: The Ethnographic Terminalia Collective between Art and Anthropology, by Trudi Lynn Smith, Kate Hennessy, Stephanie Takaragawa, Fiona P. McDonald, and Craig Campbell 6. Limn: Experimenting with Collaboration, by Stephen Collier, Christopher Kelty, Andrew Lakoff, and Martin Høyem 7. What's So Funny 'bout PECE, TAF, and Data Sharing?, by Michael Fortun, Lindsay Poirier, Alli Morgan, Brian Callahan, and Kim Fortun 8. A Collaborative Ethnography of Transnational Capitalism, by Sylvia Yanagisako and Lisa Rofel 9. Hypernormalization, Collaborative Analytics, and the Making of "American Stiob", by Alexei Yurchak and Dominic Boyer 10. An Account of the Cultures of Energy Podcast as Collaboration—Offered in Podcast Form, Of Course, by Dominic Boyer and Cymene Howe 11. Crafting Lissa, an Ethno-Graphic Story: A Collaboration in Four Parts, by Sherine Hamdy and A. Coleman Nye Afterword: A Conversation on the History of Anthropological Collaboration with Rebecca Lemov

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Book SynopsisBlotted Lines rebuffs centuries of mythologization about the creative processthe idea that William Shakespeare never blotted out lineto argue that by studying how early modern writers faced the challenges of writing poetry, instructors today can empower their students'' approaches to critical writing. Adhaar Noor Desai offers deeply researched accounts of how poetic labor intersected with early modern rhetorical theory, material culture, and social networks.Tracing the productive struggles of such writers as George Gascoigne, Philip Sidney, John Davies of Hereford, Lady Anne Southwell, and Shakespeare across their manuscripts, Desai identifies in their work instances of discomposition: frustration, hesitation, self-doubt, and insecurity. Inspired to unmake their poems so that they might remake them, these poets welcomed discomposition because it catalyzed ongoing thinking and learning. Blotted Lines brings literary scholarship into conversation witTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Style: George Gascoigne's "Patched Cote" Reflection: The Academic Death Penalty 2. Invention: Philip Sidney's "Fear of Maybe" Reflection: Released into Language 3. Revision: John Davies of Hereford's "Rough Hewings" Reflection: Teaching without Judging 4. Editing: Anne Southwell's "Extent of Paper" Reflection: Generous Thinking 5. Performance Anxiety: William Shakespeare's "Perfectness" Reflection: Ars Amateuria

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Book SynopsisJack Kerouac: Tracing the Theme of Epiphany invites readers to survey and analyse Jack Kerouac’s works with particular focus on his constant exploration to discover what it means to live a meaningful life. The text helps readers understand how Kerouac contributed to and influenced American literature, becoming one of the most famous writers of the 20th century.Divided into eight chapters, the book begins with a chapter that examines the historical, cultural, and literary context that gave rise to the Beat Generation, then progresses chronologically through Jack Kerouac’s life from his birth in 1922 to his death in 1969. Dedicated chapters demonstrate how major life events and social and cultural influences—including the deaths of his brother and his father, the Great Depression, World War II, jazz music, his time at Columbia University, the rise of the Beat Generation, and more—significantly shaped his worldview and subsequently, his unique writing style. Throughout, the text demonstrates how Jack Kerouac always sought moments of clarity and epiphany, trying to make sense of the world around him.Jack Kerouac: Tracing the Theme of Epiphany is an ideal supplementary text for both undergraduate and graduate courses in literature and creative writing.

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Book SynopsisWith humor and grace, the memoir of a first-generation Chinese American in New York City. Our Laundry, Our Town is a memoir that decodes and processes the fractured urban oracle bones of Alvin Eng’s upbringing in Flushing, Queens, in the 1970s. Back then, his family was one of the few immigrant Chinese families in a far-flung neighborhood in New York City. His parents had an arranged marriage and ran a Chinese hand laundry. From behind the counter of his parents’ laundry and within the confines of a household that was rooted in a different century and culture, he sought to reconcile this insular home life with the turbulent yet inspiring street life that was all around them––from the faux martial arts of TV’s Kung Fu to the burgeoning underworld of the punk rock scene. In the 1970s, NYC, like most of the world, was in the throes of regenerating itself in the wake of major social and cultural changes resulting from the counterculture and civil rights movements. And by the 1980s, Flushing had become NYC’s second Chinatown. But Eng remained one of the neighborhood’s few Chinese citizens who did not speak fluent Chinese. Finding his way in the downtown theater and performance world of Manhattan, he discovered the under-chronicled Chinese influence on Thornton Wilder’s foundational Americana drama, Our Town. This discovery became the unlikely catalyst for a psyche-healing pilgrimage to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China—his ancestral home in southern China—that led to writing and performing his successful autobiographical monologue, The Last Emperor of Flushing. Learning to tell his own story on stages around the world was what proudly made him whole. As cities, classrooms, cultures, and communities the world over continue to re-examine the parameters of diversity, equity, and inclusion, Our Laundry, Our Town will reverberate with a broad readership.Table of Contents1 The Urban Oracle Bones of Our Laundry: Channeling China’s Last Emperor and Rock ’n’ Roll’s First Opera 2 Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting . . . or Faking It 3 Our Laundry’s Roots in Resistance: Family Reunification Along Flushing’s Fault Line 4 It’s Only a Paper Son: The Chinatown Bachelor Society 5 Addressees 6 Disappearing Acts: That Old-Time Religion 7 Chinese Rocks: Opium, the Chinese Diaspora and Soul . . . and Punk Rock 8 A Sort of Homecoming: But Where Are You Really From? 9 The Bigger Picture, On Screen and Off 10 Trip the Light, Gorgeous Mosaic: Double Happiness, Discovering Playwriting and Activism 11 Commencement Ceremonies: Leaving Flushing 12 Village Pilgrimage for a Marriage Blessing 13 Life Dances On: Our Town in China Epilogue Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisNEW IN PAPERBACK! BOOKS ARE MAGIC 2023 HOLIDAY GIFT BOOK With humor and grace, the memoir of a first-generation Chinese American in New York City. Our Laundry, Our Town is a memoir that decodes and processes the fractured urban oracle bones of Alvin Eng’s upbringing in Flushing, Queens, in the 1970s. Back then, his family was one of the few immigrant Chinese families in a far-flung neighborhood in New York City. His parents had an arranged marriage and ran a Chinese hand laundry. From behind the counter of his parents’ laundry and within the confines of a household that was rooted in a different century and culture, he sought to reconcile this insular home life with the turbulent yet inspiring street life that was all around them––from the faux martial arts of TV’s Kung Fu to the burgeoning underworld of the punk rock scene. In the 1970s, NYC, like most of the world, was in the throes of regenerating itself in the wake of major social and cultural changes resulting from the counterculture and civil rights movements. And by the 1980s, Flushing had become NYC’s second Chinatown. But Eng remained one of the neighborhood’s few Chinese citizens who did not speak fluent Chinese. Finding his way in the downtown theater and performance world of Manhattan, he discovered the under-chronicled Chinese influence on Thornton Wilder’s foundational Americana drama, Our Town. This discovery became the unlikely catalyst for a psyche-healing pilgrimage to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China—his ancestral home in southern China—that led to writing and performing his successful autobiographical monologue, The Last Emperor of Flushing. Learning to tell his own story on stages around the world was what proudly made him whole. As cities, classrooms, cultures, and communities the world over continue to re-examine the parameters of diversity, equity, and inclusion, Our Laundry, Our Town will reverberate with a broad readership.Table of Contents1 The Urban Oracle Bones of Our Laundry: Channeling China’s Last Emperor and Rock ’n’ Roll’s First Opera 2 Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting . . . or Faking It 3 Our Laundry’s Roots in Resistance: Family Reunification Along Flushing’s Fault Line 4 It’s Only a Paper Son: The Chinatown Bachelor Society 5 Addressees 6 Disappearing Acts: That Old-Time Religion 7 Chinese Rocks: Opium, the Chinese Diaspora and Soul . . . and Punk Rock 8 A Sort of Homecoming: But Where Are You Really From? 9 The Bigger Picture, On Screen and Off 10 Trip the Light, Gorgeous Mosaic: Double Happiness, Discovering Playwriting and Activism 11 Commencement Ceremonies: Leaving Flushing 12 Village Pilgrimage for a Marriage Blessing 13 Life Dances On: Our Town in China Epilogue Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisThis title peeks inside the writerly testing grounds of Sue Grafton, Kim Stafford, Maureen Stanton, and others. This collection of essays by well-established professional writers explores how their notebooks serve as their studios and workshops - places to collect, to play, and to make new discoveries with language, passions, and curiosities. For these diverse writers, the journal also serves as an ideal forum to develop their writing voice, whether crafting fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Some entries include sample journal entries that have since developed into published pieces. Through their individual approaches to keeping a notebook, the contributors offer valuable advice, personal recollections, and a hardy endorsement of the value of using notebooks to document, develop, and nurture a writer's creative spark. Designed for writers of all genres and all levels of experience, ""Writers and Their Notebooks"" celebrates the notebook as a vital tool in a writer's personal and literary life.Trade Review"Diana Raab... has done such a sensitive job of gathering these diverse, eloquent, and experienced voices and encouraging their thoughtful, heartbreaking, rambunctious, free flights of testimony and speculation into being. Freedom is a frequent theme in these pages. The freedom to try out things, to write clumsy sentences when no one is looking, to be unfair, immature, even to be stupid. No one can expect to write well who would not first take the risk of writing badly. The writer's notebook is a safe place for such experiments to be undertaken." - Phillip Lopate, from the foreword"

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Book SynopsisPlot must be as much about the emotions of the characters as it is about the events of the story. This book gives this message and teaches screenwriters how to integrate plot, characterisation and exposition to make stories compelling. Using examples from movies, it demonstrates how the plot springs naturally from the characters.

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Book SynopsisStudents thrive when they are exposed to a variety of disciplinary genres, and their lives-and our institutions-are enriched by improving their writing outcomes. Taking account of evolving research, writing in the disciplines, and demographic and institutional shifts in higher education, this volume imagines new ways to improve writing outcomes by broadening the focus of assessment to wider issues of humanity and society.The essays-by contributors from diverse fields, from writing studies to nursing, engineering, and architecture-demonstrate innovative classroom practices and curricular design that place fairness and the situatedness of language at the center of writing instruction. Contributors reflect on a wide range of examples, from a disability-as-insight model to reckoning with postcolonial legacies, and the essays consider a variety of institutions, classrooms, and types of assessment, including culturally responsive assessment and peer feedback in digital environments.Trade ReviewThis book reaffirms why writing assessment at the postsecondary level in the United States is among the most interesting and forward-thinking work in the field." - David Slomp, University of Lethbridge

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Book SynopsisTeaching and learning MLA style is about to get easier.For nearly seventy years, the Modern Language Association has helped student writers choose trustworthy sources and use them to support their own ideas. Now, the authority on writing and research presents the clearest approach to MLA style yet with the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook. The ninth edition works as both a textbook and a reference guide. Focusing on source evaluation, it features a wealth of visual examples and updated advice on punctuation and grammar, footnotes and endnotes, annotated bibliographies, and paper formatting.An all-in-one resource that makes MLA style easier to learn and use, the MLA Handbook includes• Expanded, in-depth guidance on creating works-cited-list entries using the MLA template of core elements that explains what each core element is, where to find it in various sources, and how to style it• A new, easy-to-follow explanation of in-text citations• A new chapter containing recommendations for using inclusive language• A new appendix with hundreds of sample works-cited-list entries by publication format, including books, databases, websites, YouTube videos, interviews, and more• Updated guidelines on avoiding plagiarismAlthough there are numerous websites, apps, reference works, and cheat sheets that claim to help with MLA style, there’s only one truly authoritative resource to help your students on their paths to becoming better writers. The ninth edition of the MLA Handbook is the most comprehensive guide the MLA has ever produced, with an all-inclusive approach to writing, research, documentation, and formatting.Trade ReviewGeared ... to the needs of today’s students and teachers. ...Essential." - ChoiceTable of Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Formatting Your Research Project 3. Principles of Inclusive Language 4. Documenting Sources: An Overview 5. The List of Works Cited 6. Citing Sources in the Text 7. Notes Appendix 1: Abbreviations Appendix 2: Works-Cited-List Entries by Publication Format Appendix Contents Work-Cited-List Entries Index

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Book SynopsisTransnational composition is a site for engaging with difference across populations, economies, languages, and borders and for asking how cultures, languages, and national imaginaries interanimate one another.Organized in three parts, the book addresses the transnational in composition in scholarship, teaching, and administration and brings together contributions from institutional, geopolitical, and cultural contexts ranging from North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Caribbean and covers writing in English, Chinese, multiple European languages, Latin American Spanish, African and West Indian Creoles, and Guianan French. Exploring the relationship among transnational, international, global, and translingual approaches to composition—while complicating the term composition itself—essays draw on theories of border work, mobility, liminality, cross-border interaction, center-periphery contours, superdiversity, and transnational rhetoric and address, among other topics, models of cognitive processing, principles of universal design, and frames of critical literacy awareness.Trade ReviewThe field of writing studies is waiting for this book. I know of no other book that provides such a panoramic, diverse view of transnational composition." —Chris W. Gallagher, Northeastern University

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Book SynopsisConfident or fretful, solemn or sassy, tough or tender, casual or formal: the self you project in writing—your persona—is the byproduct of numerous decisions you make about what to say and how to say it. Though any single word or phrase or sentence might make little difference within the scope of an entire essay or book, collectively they create an impression of who you are or seem to be—an impression that’s sure to influence how readers respond to your work. Thus it’s essential to take charge of how you come across on the page, to craft an appropriate persona for whatever you’re writing, whether it’s a personal essay, a blog, a technical report, a letter to the editor, or a memoir. In this wise and ingenious little guide, noted essayist Carl Klaus shows you how to adapt your self to the needs of such varied nonfiction, by varying his own persona to illustrate the distinctive effect produced by each aspect and element of writing. Klaus divides his book into two parts: first, an introduction to the nature and function of a persona, then a survey of the most important elements of writing that contribute to the character of a persona, from point of view and organisation to diction and sentence structure. Both parts contain exercises that will give you practice in developing a persona of your choice. Challenging and stimulating, each of his exercises focuses on a distinctly different aspect of composition and style, so as to help you develop the skills of a versatile and personable writer. By focusing on the most important ways of projecting your self in nonfiction prose, you can learn to craft a distinctive self in your writing.

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Book SynopsisEnhancing Writing Skills includes conference presentation papers from the Carnegie Writers, Inc. 1st Annual Conference. The anthology provides published and aspiring writers resources for sustaining, enhancing and evaluating their writing skills.The chapter themes focus on genre-based writing, creativity in writing, mechanics of writing, academic writing, and writing as a business. Enhancing writing skills is beneficial to diverse writers as it impacts the community, working, and educational environments.

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Book SynopsisEnhancing Writing Skills includes conference presentation papers from the Carnegie Writers, Inc. 1st Annual Conference. The anthology provides published and aspiring writers resources for sustaining, enhancing and evaluating their writing skills.The chapter themes focus on genre-based writing, creativity in writing, mechanics of writing, academic writing, and writing as a business. Enhancing writing skills is beneficial to diverse writers as it impacts the community, working, and educational environments.

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Book SynopsisMany authors draw from headlines or movies rather than personal experience to write drug-related scenes, and the result may be more fiction than fact. So, how can you craft a convincing scene involving accidental use of fentanyl-tainted pot or a murder attempt with grandma's pain pills?A much-needed resource, The Grim Reader details how to write medical scenarios that result in realistic page-turners. As drug inaccuracies multiply in screenplays, scripts, novels, and audio plays, Dr. Miffie Seideman, Pharm.D. provides writers (and editors) with the background and authenticity necessary to develop plausible plotlines, including: • Pertinent drug facts, tips, and symptoms • Symptom timelines • Tips for developing historically accurate scenes • Common street drug names and slang • Sample scenarios to demonstrate how to weave the information into a believable scene • Writing prompts to provide scene starters and offer practice Combining Seideman's pharmacology knowledge with her love for creative writing, The Grim Reader is the ultimate guide to help authors craft accurate drug scenes and avoid medical mistakes.Trade Review"A manuscript-saving must-read resource—An absolute necessity for every mystery thriller writer. Don't type another word without this!"—Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author"This is the book I've been waiting for! A practical and informative guide for mystery writers struggling to figure out how to poison a character."—Susan Breen, Author of the Maggie Dove mystery series"This is definitely a handy reference for mystery and crime writers. I already feel smarter. Pick your poisons from among the vast array of legitimate and illicit drugs with help from The Grim Reader. Inject reality into those scenes involving your characters and drugs with details on the history of their use and abuse, the nature and duration of their effects, the usual and sometimes bizarre methods of ingesting, inhaling, injecting, and absorbing them."—Mo Walsh, Co-author of A Miscellany of Murder"[This book] belongs on every crime reader's reference shelf. Nowhere else have I found such detailed information on drugs, their effects, and the timeline for their onset and waning. The author, a pharmacist, covers everything available in the broadly contemporary world, a drug's individual history and development, the side effects and their timelines, slang terms for the drug and using it, along with other aspects of the drug world. If you've wondered how long it takes for ketamine to wear off, the answer is here. In addition to the basic information on the substances and how they affect the body, the author includes writing exercises to lead the reader into understanding and applying the information in their own fiction. If you think you've learned all of what there is to know about the drug world, this will change your mind. This is an invaluable reference by a reliable source, a pharmacist."—Susan Oleksiw, Author of Anita Ray Mystery Series"An essential source for any writer contemplating murder by drugs."—Bridget Finnegan, Author of Odette's: A Quality Gentleman's Club"With a breadth of knowledge and a keen respect for our readers' intelligence, Seideman provides an essential tool for authors who want to poison their darlings with confidence."—Connie Johnson Hambley, Author of The Jessica Trilogy"The Grim Reader provides a fascinating read on how to poison. As a writer of historicals, I especially love the facts on what was available when. A great reference for any writer looking to use poison to kill a fictional character. I'll keep it on my bookshelf."—Frances McNamara, Author of the Nutshell Murder Mystery and Emily Cabot Mysteries series."Every crime writer should have a copy of The Grim Reader on their bookshelf. Can you OD on an SSRI? If a character's white wine suddenly looks blue, what's it been spiked with? How much morphine is in the poppy seeds on my morning bagel? (More than you'd think!) The Grim Reader has answers to every drug-related question you never knew to ask. [This is] an absolutely indispensable reference. Congrats to Miffie Seideman on crafting a great new resource for crime writers everywhere."—Robin Facer, Bestselling mystery author

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Book SynopsisThis gonzo guide isn’t for the faint-hearted. In high-octane style, best-selling author John Birmingham provides tried-and-tested tips for writing well – and getting paid. Topics covered include ‘how to slay writer’s block’, ‘what the hell is workflow’, ‘how to write 10,000 words in a day’ and ‘the best apps for writers’. How to Be a Writer is a writing guide with a toughlove approach, written for the internet generation. John Birmingham is lauded as a prolific writer working across multiple genres. Here he shares his secrets.

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Book SynopsisNo props. No music. No costumes. Just you, your words and a mic—you’ve got two minutes to make the crowd scream your name. Miles Merrill, performance poet and founder of Australian Poetry Slam, and award-winning teacher Narcisa Nozica will take you from novice to spoken word superstar in no time. Twenty years after Merrill introduced slam poetry to Australia, there’s a national competition with a live audience of 20,000 people, and it’s taught in schools across the country. It’s been nothing short of a revolution! With tips from stars of the Australian poetry slam scene including bestselling author Maxine Beneba Clarke and hip hop artist Omar Musa, Slam Your Poetry provides step-by-step instructions and exercises that will inspire you to: Write a poem that pops Rehearse like a winner Wow your audience Beat stage fright Run a killer competition for your school Part how-to guide, part masterclass, part manifesto, this book will help teachers, students and wannabe performance poets of all ages slam like a pro.

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Book SynopsisWhen violence breaks out at the stands of far-right publishers at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Beatrice Deft is provoked into action. An alienated Australian high school teacher who finds herself at the centre of the global book industry, Beatrice encounters a cast of characters including the very hot Caspian Schorle (German police officer), Kurt Weidenfeld (left-wing German publisher), and White Storm (a neo-Nazi publishing organisation).Such is the premise of The Frankfurt Kabuff, a comic erotic thriller about the publishing industry originally self-published under the pseudonym Blaire Squiscoll. With The Frankfurt Kabuff Critical Edition, Blaire Squiscoll is revealed as the pen name of Beth Driscoll and Claire Squires, who created the novella in the midst of fieldwork at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Published for the first time as a full critical edition, this experimental, playful work combines critical and creative modes for new perspectives on the publishing industry and creative economies.The Frankfurt Kabuff Critical Edition enriches the novella with an introduction, annotated text, 15 essays by leading scholars and practitioners, and additional creative assemblages. This highly unusual research project offers insights for students, academics and publishers alike.Trade Review“This not-quite-so-hardboiled neo-noir potboiler is your all-access all-in pass to the backrooms and afterparties of the sprawling Frankfurt Book Fair. But Driscoll and Squires’ Kabuff is more than just a cabinet of curiosities: the essays and accumulated ancillary material combine to create a seriously playful and playfully serious exploration of the often inscrutable world of the international book trade, where language, commerce, and cultural capital all collide. With fiction, criticism, and discourses on method all part of the exhibit, all that’s missing is the Prosecco.” – Matthew Kirschenbaum, author of Bitstreams: The Future of Digital Literary Heritage (2021) “The Frankfurt Kabuff Critical Edition is a refreshingly joyful and playful intervention in the book history and publishing studies worlds, showing what can be gained from applying academic tools to an experimental creative literary exercise. The serious purpose of this work is that the experimental techniques open up a way of talking about power dynamics, politics, and identity that can otherwise remain unaddressed. We need this kind of innovation, irreverence, and inspiration.” – Claire Battershill, author of Women and Letterpress Printing: Gendered Impressions (2022) “A remarkable scholarly volume …. It wields the tools of high theory, at the conflux of art and philosophy, to expand the possibilities of humanities and social sciences research. A perfect accompaniment for a glass of wine and a sausage while waiting for a train at the Hauptbahnhof.” – Prof. Dr. Theobald Jürgen Marx-Voss von Adorno, author of numerous books “I have read everything worth reading about the Frankfurt Book Fair and the school named after it. And now I have read this book, too. The Frankfurt Kabuff Critical Edition is a mash-up: Bookfair Murders meets The Russia House meets Dialektik der Aufklärung. A masterpiece!” – a publishing insiderTable of Contents Part I Introduction The Frankfurt Kabuff as Creative Critique ∼ Beth Driscoll and Claire Squires Part II The Annotated Text of The Frankfurt Kabuff: A Beatrice Deft (Comic Erotic) Thriller ∼ Blaire Squiscoll Part III Critical Essays Genesis ∼ Kim Wilkins Unplugging the Circuit: Historical Perspectives on Why Scholars Think Writing and Reading Books is the Easy Part ∼ Leslie Howsam Rectangularity and The Frankfurt Kabuff ∼ Ian Gadd Signature Cocktail: Negronis as Method in The Frankfurt Kabuff ∼ Julie Rak The Frankfurt Kabuff and the Historical Sociology of the Detective Genre ∼ Bridget Fowler Tinker, Tailor, Driscoll, Squires: Book Fairs and Liberal Bookism in The Russia House and The Frankfurt Kabuff ∼ Mark Banks Romancing Book Culture ∼ Sarah Brouillette Politics at Play in the Kabuff: The Buchmesse as a Political Space ∼ Corinna Norrick-Rühl Charting a Path for Social Change, One Negroni at a Time: The Frankfurt Kabuff ∼ Doris Ruth Eikhof A Frankfurt Memoir (inspired by The Frankfurt Kabuff) ∼ Arpita Das OuFiPo: Hypothetical Film Criticism (or Kabuff! The Film Musical) ∼ Elizabeth Ezra How to Take Over a Book Fair: A Bourdieusian Fiction ∼ Roanna Gonsalves Tagging Beatrice: Fanfic as Reader Response ∼ Danielle Fuller Kabuff or Wunderkammer? ∼ Kelvin Smith Teaching The Frankfurt Kabuff ∼ Alastair Horne Part IV Assemblages Original Plot Diagram drawn by Kim Wilkins at the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof Paratextual Elements of The Frankfurt Kabuff Print on Demand Edition “Dear Diary”: An Account of the Production of the Print on Demand Self-Published Edition of The Frankfurt Kabuff Advanced Information (AI) Sheet for The Frankfurt Kabuff Publisher’s Weekly Report on Linksphilosophie Verlag List Launch Conference Abstract: Tante Fran’s Book Club: Solidarity, Slogans and Knitting Needles The Kabuff Joke Book Comic Strip featuring Nunu and Otot Spotify Playlists Map from The Frankfurt Kabuff “The Corona Kabuff” and Other Stories Acknowledgements Bibliography Contributor Biographies

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Book SynopsisErasing Frankenstein showcases a creative exchange between federally incarcerated women and members of the prison-education think tank Walls to Bridges Collective at the Grand Valley Institution for Women (GVI) in Kitchener, Ontario, and graduate and undergraduate students from the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Working collaboratively by long-distance mail, the artists and contributors made the first-ever poetic adaptation of Frankenstein, turning it into a book-length erasure poem. An erasure poem is an example of “found art,” a poem created by piggybacking on an existing text; the words that are not part of the poem are erased or blacked out, and what is left is the poem. This book presents the original erasure poem alongside reflections from participants on the experience.

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Book SynopsisTranslation and Translating in German Studies is a collection of essays in honour of Professor Raleigh Whitinger, a well-loved scholar of German literature, an inspiring teacher, and an exceptional editor and translator. Its twenty chapters, written by Canadian and international experts explore new perspectives on translation and German studies as they inform processes of identity formation, gendered representations, visual and textual mediations, and teaching and learning practices. Translation (as a product) and translating (as a process) function both as analytical categories and as objects of analysis in literature, film, dance, architecture, history, second-language education, and study-abroad experiences. The volume arches from theory and genres more traditionally associated with translation (i.e., literature, philosophy) to new media (dance, film) and experiential education, and identifies pressing issues and themes that are increasingly discussed and examined in the context of translation. This study will be invaluable to university and college faculty working in the disciplines in German studies as well as in translation, cultural studies, and second-language education. Its combination of theoretical and practical explorations will allow readers to view cultural texts anew and invite educators to revisit long-forgotten or banished practices, such as translation in (auto)biographical writing and in the German language classroom.

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Book SynopsisDo you have an idea for a romance story but don't know where to start? How To Write a Romance Novel will show you how to get ideas, shape them into a story that's unique and how to create memorable characters. It also covers two crucial aspects of the genre, emotion and sexual tension. Whether you want to write for Mills and Boon/Harlequin or pen more erotic stories like Fifty Shades of Grey, How to Write a Romance will get you started and help you get published. Susan Palmquist was born in London, England but now resides in the US. She's been writing since the late 80s and is now a freelance writer, short story writer, blogger, and author. Her first romance novel, A Sterling Affair was published by The Wild Rose Press. Her work has also appeared in magazines and anthologies in both the US and UK. Under her pen name, she's bestselling author Vanessa Devereaux. As well as her writing career, she's also a tutor for Writers' News Home Study Courses, and frequently teaches workshops through various chapters of the Romance Writers of America.Trade ReviewI'm pleased to endorse Susan Palmquist's forthcoming book. I recently had the pleasure of editing two of her fiction books written under the pen name Vanessa Devereaux. Ms. Palmquist is a talented and knowledgeable writer with an innate sense of story. I've worked with many romance authors over the years, and Ms. Palmquist impressed me with her flair for language, her ability to get inside her characters' heads and hearts, and her consummate professionalism. I have the utmost confidence in her knowledge and experience as a romance author. --Lynne Anderson, Editor and former editor at Cobblestone Press

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Book Synopsis'Surfing the Rainbow' is for anyone who has tried and failed to create the novel of their dreams. If you have been held back by negative messages from the past, or feel your imagination has gone away, then the exercises in this book will help to guide you back to the path of creativity and exploration. Color code your writing - follow the rainbow until you find the gold.

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Book SynopsisInvestigative Creative Writing is Mark Spitzer's lively and original treatment of creative writing practice and teaching within a college/university environment. The author presents an experiential, discovery-based approach that builds on teaching theories of established writers and scholars as well as current innovators and his own extensive experience as a creative writer, editor, and university academic. Teachers, students, and writers in the fields of English, literary studies, composition and rhetoric, applied linguistics, and education should find this book, written by a prolific creative writer and enthusiastic writing teacher, not only enlightening and engaging, but also useful. Investigative Creative Writing can be envisioned as a practical tool illustrating ways of overcoming hurdles that impede writers from venturing into unknown territory where discoveries take place. In addition to assisting in developing and honing cutting-edge creative writing programs, this book will be helpful for writers in getting to the meat of the matter, generating narratives and dialogue, identifying arguments, fleshing out character traits, discovering direction for plots, and developing a host of other skills that foster and embolden a literary freedom of the imagination. The text includes examples of teaching techniques and assignments from the author's classes which are intended for instructors to adjust according to their needs, along with extensive discussion of his own practices of investigative creative writing and experience in teaching and developing writing curricula.Trade Review"I am pleased that Mark Spitzer, in Investigative Creative Writing, has expanded the call of my manifesto on Investigative Poetry, that poets should investigate and write history, to urge that all creative writers should utilize Investigative techniques and practices." Ed Sanders, author of Investigative Poetry "Mark Spitzer's Investigative Creative Writing is one of the funniest, most charming and most useful books on the teaching and process of writing that you are likely to find. Spitzer shows us that any creative writing can be an investigation, and thus be transformed into "something else" - something that alters the world of both writer and reader. He believes in getting students to participate in the workshopas-event and getting them into the field to connect their writing with the natural world. Mark Spitzer will engage, inspire, and empower you." Joseph Harrington, University of Kansas, and author of Poetry and the Public: The Social Form of Modern U.S. PoeticsTable of ContentsSeries Editor's Preface Introduction Discover Creative Writing Superpowers through Investigative Teaching Techniques Part 1 Discovery-Oriented Basics Chapter 1 Teaching Students to Show Not Tell Chapter 2 The New Weird: What Happens to Creative Writing When the Truth Is Stranger than Fiction Chapter 3 The Ten Commandments of Incorporating Dialogue: For Those Seeking to Inform the Unprepared, the Disengaged, and the Thoroughly Confused Part 2 Investigative Theatrics Chapter 4 Multiple-Personality Pedagogy: A Hybrid Teaching Tool for Varying Voice in the Classroom Chapter 5 Extreme Puppet Theater as a Tool for Writing Pedagogy Chapter 6 May the Farce Be with You: Reflections on Extreme Puppet Theater as a Vehicle towards Something Else Chapter 7 Pointers for Performance of Poetry and Prose Part 3 Programmatic Discoveries Chapter 8 How to Sell a Creative Writing Program Based on the Question "Why Study Creative Writing?" Chapter 9 Ten Recommendations for Growing Creative Writing Programs Chapter 10 Dealing with Diverse Issues in Creative Writing Programs: A Polemic Part 4 Eco-Investigations Chapter 11 Introducing "Eco" to the Homies: A Liberal Professor's Activist Approach Chapter 12 Experience Investigative Eco-Fiction Chapter 13 From Wild People to Wilderness: An Education in Investigating Monsters in Our Midst Part 5 Experiential Exercises Chapter 14 Seven Investigative Group Exercises Chapter 15 Four Investigative Exercises for Individual Discovery Chapter 16 Six Investigative Homework Exercises for Encouraging Literary Citizenship

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Book SynopsisCountry Writer s Craft: Writing for country, regional and rural publications, covers one of the widest marketplaces for writers in the English-speaking world especially in the UK, Australia and the USA. Here we have examples of previously published materials, together with writers exercises to help build up an impressive portfolio from Suzanne Ruthven, who has written on country topics for over 30 years, as well as being author of A Treasury of the Countryside, Hearth & Garden, Life-Writes and Signposts For Country Living.

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Book SynopsisConfidence is essential for any stand-up comic and having confidence in your material is the first step to having greater confidence on stage. It is said that proper preparation makes for professional performance and this book provides the tools to achieve this, offering down-to-earth practical advice and a logical progression from identifying your stage persona, thinking about your audience and the craft of honing comedy material to fit your persona and audience, through to structuring your stand-up set, preparing for when things might go wrong, and last but not least - progressing your career. Get Your Act Together is a book for anyone who wants to be serious about becoming a stand-up comic and wants to do it well.

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Book SynopsisA Practical Guide to Poetry Forms is a practical handbook on poetry forms, giving informative details on the construction of the major set forms. It also includes exercises, all within the scope of the beginner, yet stimulating enough to engage the more experienced poet.Trade ReviewAlison Chisholm's new handbook should be essential reading for all aspiring poets, and many experienced writers will also find her guidance and explanations to be invaluable, as it serves as a refresher course in the technical side of creating poems. ----Stephen Wade

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Book SynopsisThe second most common question a writer is asked is, 'where do your ideas come from?' (The first is, 'Do you make any money from it?') Experienced writers don't go looking for ideas; ideas come to them. An experienced writer just has the knack of spotting what makes a good story or what will make a good story once it's been given the right spin, because none of us, if we're honest, will let reality get in the way of a saleable piece of work. Editors are looking for an element of action, drama or surprise, even in non-fiction. It's what catches their attention and makes them pause to read further; and the key to any editor's heart is originality. Not necessarily a new departure in style or genre, but a refreshing and original slant on a popular theme. Life-Writes helps you to find and develop ideas with editor appeal.

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Book SynopsisUsed along with Writing with Ease, the workbooks complete the elementary-grade writing curriculum. Level Three is the third of a planned four-volume set to accompany Writing with Ease.

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