Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Books, books, and books

Books #1: Remember how I said I didn't really lose anything in the Computer/Juice incident? Yeah. Somehow I managed to forget my erotic vampire romance, the one I finished back in March. The first three = last chapter are out on sub. The rest...disappeared into the peach juice. WELL, sort of. I have a hard copy. I can retype it if I have to. Please let those data recovery people be able to recover some data!!

Books #2: I have, in the last week, done ZERO on my WIP. Well, no. I've done about 1500 words but it's basically all crap and I know it will be edited out. And now I'm freaking out that by the time I've finished the thing urban fantasy will be glutted and nobody will care. It's been an insecure few days, to be honest, what with stress about the laptop and hubby probably going back to work soon thus leaving me all alone and...well, I guess that's it. I'm having an ebb in my biorhthym, dude. (And I'm aware I probably misspelled rhythm. Oh, wait, that's right, isn't it. Anyway, it's one of those words I can never spell. Another one lately seems to be occasion. Because hubs used to work by a florist's, and on their sign they said, "Great for all ocassions". Which used to drive me nuts every time I drove past it, until I drove past it so many times I could no longer figure out if it was really wrong or not. Now I always have to double-check it in my head.

What's your mental-block spelling word?

Books #3: Aimless internet wanderings led me to this site: Loganberry Books. They do a "Stump the Bookseller" thing and there's an enormous archive of solved and unsolved questions. Basically, you give them a plot or characters from a book you remember (children's/YA books) and they try to name the book. Other people can guess the book, too. I seriously spent like an hour there and can't wait to have enough time to go back and look some more.

Which reminds me as well. One of my favorite books as a youngster, The Diamond in the Window, has been reprinted. YAY! Last time I checked, which I guess was around '99, there were no copies to be had. I had no idea this was part of a series, I just remember not only loving the book, but loving to color in the illustrations, because everybody had red hair. Or maybe I just colored them al with red hair. I had a thing about redheads as a child. And coloring the illustrations in my books. Usually with markers that then bled through to the other side of the page. Anyway. You should order this book. It's exciting, it's spooky...I can't wait to reread it.

Now you recommend one to me. Today is YA--and please, if you can, recommend one from your childhood, not a modern one--but we'll do lots of different genres, at least I hope you guys want to.

14 comments:

Ann Aguirre said...

I was way into Trixie Belden as a kid. Been keeping an eye on ebay to see if the whole set goes on sale. I'll be all over that for my daughter.

Bernita said...

Mental block spelling word?
Make that "words."
The list grows.
After one has seen words mis-spelled x-times on the 'net, they seem to over-write the correct form - and my spelling was never 100% anyway.
Now I find myself checking the most simple words, like "separate."
Also, other languages can interpose if one doesn't watch it. Is it "villain" or "villein?" "Vineger" or "vinaigre?"
~twitching~

s.w. vaughn said...

Oh, man. Laptop woes. I hope they can recover some of your hard drive!

I used to love this series with a little girl named Honey Bunch when I was a kid. I also adored a book whose title has eluded me for years (and no one believes it existed because I can't remember what it's called) -- it was a choose-your-own-adventure book about dragons and wizards, and there was a room full of spiders, and you could make yourself think you were a flashlight...

Oh yes. I'm helpful today. :-)

Knitty Yas said...

wow... having to re-type a manu. that's gotta make your brain cry. it would make mine cry.

okay on to books... I remember being a kid and being addicted to Tales of a 4th grade nothing by Judy blume. :p

but when i was really young, i had this nursery rhyme (my spelling word block by the way) book that was way old. it was beautiful! it had beautiful painted pictures that were very victorian and it was my favorite book. my mom gave it away when i got into junior high, practically breaking my heart.

Anonymous said...

I used to be a really good speller, but I've been using Word at work forever and it has ruined me. I no longer have confidence and have to double check just about everything.

When I should have been reading YA I was sneaking "Forum" from my step-dad's room. One book I remember reading is one called "Superfolks". NOT YA. It was funny and it had at least one sex scene. I don't even remember the author's name. I did like the Hardy Boys mysteries, but I just didn't read that much because I was always outside "doing stuff". -JTC

Stacia said...

I've never heard of Trixie Belden. I'll definitely check those out next time I'm looking for YA stuff--and I have an excuse, bcause I have two daughters so one of these days they'll be reading all this stuff!

The net does seem to infect us with bad spelling, doesn't it? The two I see al the time that make me want to scream are "pregnate" for "pregnant" (if you can't apell it, you really shouldn't be it) and "finace" for "fiance/ee". Which follows the same point, really.

Stacia said...

You should try that website, SW. I bet they'd remember. Actually, we have quite a few Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books, the hubby's got a little collection. I liked an Old West one where you could end up in jail.

Welcome, Yesamin! Yes, it does make my brain cry. I'm just really hoping it doesn't come down to that.
That sucks about the book being given away. Why do parents do that stuff?

Stacia said...

You bad, bad boy JTC! Lol. I think there's a lot more for young boys to read now than there was then, don't you? Although I remember really liking the Great Brain books and this series about a guy named Alvin Furnald, which was really good. Or was it Rupert? I know therewas a series about a boy named Rupert too.



CC Poindexter sounds really familiar, Jenn. I'll have to google that one.

Environmental is a sucky word to type, isn't it? I just tried it, what a pain in the ass.

Robyn said...

My gripe has more to do with grammar than spelling- it drives me hair-pulling insane when people interchange there for their, been for being, your for you're, etc.

My favorite YA was Madeline L'Engle's series Meet the Austins. The second one, The Moon By Night, got me through being fourteen. I liked A Wrinkle in Time, too, but the heroine of the Austin series was the same age as I was when I read the books. I related completely.

cindy said...

robyn, i never even knew about the other series you mention by l'engle. my fave books (i've read over and over and to the bubs now):

wrinkle in time

island of the blue dolphins

a little princess

ballet shoes and dancing shoes
by noel streatfield (she's english!)

Stacia said...

Oooh...Robyn and Cyn...will you guys still like me if I admit that I hated, hated, A Wrinkle in Time?

There's another girl's book along those lines, I believe, and that's the one I liked. I think it's kind of how you either like The Caine Mutiny or Catch-22, but not both.

Erik Ivan James said...

Spelling? HA!
My dictionary has more holes in it from use than my underwear.

Stacia said...

What a lovely image, Erik. You'll have to use that in one of your stories. :-)

writtenwyrdd said...

Five Children & It - E. Nesbitt
All the Mary Poppins books
Both 101 Dalmations books
Madeleine L'Engel's books
Phantom Tollbooth
Narnia books
Andre Norton's books

Shall I continue?