#4c15 My slides and handout for my talk on Saturday M.05

Hi-

Slides for my talk and the handout are available on the Connected Community part of the CCCC website, but I thought I'd provide them here, too, especially for those of you who don't have access to the NCTE website. Or are just lazy. I get that, too.

Melliferous, the Grammar Dragon makes an appearance in the slide stack. Just so you know, this is a (stock) artist's rendition of Melliferous. No one has been able to get him to sit for a portrait, despite his old mother's pleas for "just one good picture to remember you by."

I'd love to see you all at the actual talk, too. We're session M.05 on Saturday.

Enjoy!

"Knock, Knock. Who's There: Humorous Approaches to Teaching Grammar"
Slides for my talk --Just what it says.
Handout --Resources, links, a reference list, and a coupon for a free ebook.

Not much happening, so I'm writing reviews...

You, loyal reader, may have noticed that I'm writing lots of little reviews these days. I'm writing reviews because it's good for me as a writer to think about why I like certain books, why I admire certain authors, and how I can make my writing better. Reviews help me do this to an extent.

Also, I'm still waiting for my first round of edits on Fuzzy Logic, my romance on an alpaca farm book. Because I know the edits are coming any time (and have been for months), I'm loathe to start any really big projects. I have, anyway (look for a book with Lilith of myth in the future), but it's hard to really get into a project when you know that there's something huge looming in the future.

That's my excuse, anyway. It seems lame now that I've written it down.

If you want some excitment, take a look at my friend Kate Ristau's blog: http://kateristau.com/  Her book Shadow Girl is due out May 5, 2015, and her cover is posted on her blog. She's awesome, and her book is awesome. So awesome.

m

Review of @AimeeBender 's "Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake"

The main character can taste the emotions of the people who make the food she eats. Her brother is trying to literally disappear. Southern California is a wistful, glaringly pastel backdrop for this book about magic so ordinary that it seems to escape the notice of everyone around them.

This book is beautiful, understated, dramatic in a quiet way. It’s magical realism at its most realistic. Just a girl who can taste her mother’s sadness in fresh-baked lemon cake.

(5 stars on Goodreads)

Here's the link to my Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/321315769