Tag Archives: Book Lover

What Have You Learned from Reading?

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For me, reading is an adventure, which sometimes extends beyond the pages of the books I select. You never know what you can learn from a book of fiction.

I met Mary Higgins Clark at a Book and Author’s Luncheon after reading her second book, a mystery, Where Are the Children? From the story, I learned that an unnoticed child’s shoe was one clue to an unsolved crime. Clark is great at dropping seemingly insignificant clues that the protagonist misses early in the story. This soft spoken, petite author, who didn’t seem like the type of person to “commit murder” even in a novel, encouraged me to pursue my dream of writing.

After reading the first line of Dr. Bertice Berry’s steamy novel, Jim & Louella’s Homemade Heart-Fix Remedy, I promptly purchased her book. Written with folksy humor, the book tells the story of the boring love life of an elderly couple who are helped by Louella’s departed ancestors. Jim and Louella’s improved love life also gives them intuitive powers to help their neighbors with their various troubles. Dr. Berry, a sociologist, inspirational speaker, and author also encouraged my aspirations of writing.

Lee E. Meadows discussed the plot of his Silent Conspiracy, a Lincoln Keller Mystery, at a mystery writers’ workshop. In 1955, the Sentiments, a fictional rhythm and blues singing group disappeared without a trace after a gig in Detroit. The five men haven’t been seen since and Lincoln Keller, a private eye, has been hired to find out what happened to those five men forty years ago. Meadows, while on a book tour, discovered that the real-life disappearance of a singing group happened in another state. Life can be as strange as fiction.

Sometimes reading a book in public leads to dialogues with strangers. We may exchange quick reviews of books and offer suggestions on other book titles and authors to read.

At an airport, a man saw me looking at the book he was reading and asked if I liked mysteries. That’s how I discovered Harlan Coben books, which are intricately plotted, well-crafted mysteries.

While waiting for a lacrosse game to begin, I sat in the stands reading Elmore Leonard’s short stories, A Fire in the Hole. My husband officiates lacrosse, so I arrive early with him and use that time to get in about thirty minutes of reading. A pleasant, soft spoken woman sat next to me and asked if I liked the book.

“Yes, I do.” I said. “This is a collection of Elmore Leonard’s short stories. I like to write and wanted to study his style of short story writing.”

“I’m glad you like it. I’m Elmore Leonard’s daughter,” she said with a smile. “Have you read my father’s 10 rules of writing?”

I promised to check it out. There are so many rules to good writing, that I thought it wouldn’t hurt to check out what he thought was important. Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing were evident in his writing style.

Have you met any authors or learned any useful tidbits from your reading?

 

 

 

 

Dare to Be Different

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“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” – Herman Melville

 

As the only female in my undergrad speech class, I comfortably delivered the speeches required by the professor’s syllabus. Comfortable that is until we received a new assignment, a five to seven minute demonstration speech using props, pictures, or other visual effects. After each presentation, our classmates would make comments about the subject and the presentation.

Testosterone filled the classroom as each student quickly stated what his subject would be. Topics included: how to fix a lamp cord, how to replace a garbage disposal, how to change the oil and oil filter in a car, how to give basketball officials’ signals, and how to use various repair tools.

Still living at home, I was used to my father doing all household repairs. However, he did teach my sister and me the difference between a Phillips screwdriver and a slotted screwdriver, a wrench and a ratchet, as well as vise grips and pliers. He taught us how to use a hammer without damaging a finger, how to clean walls bottom up to avoid streaks, and my favorite: how to jiggle the handle of the toilet to stop it from leaking. I knew a few repair tricks, but I knew I couldn’t compete with the men in demonstrating how to fix anything.

I didn’t pick a topic immediately and chose to be the last speaker in the rotation. What could I possibly demonstrate to a group of men who would give informative speeches showing their expertise in fixing a myriad of things? After much thought, I selected my topic, practiced what I would say, and carefully prepared my props.

On the day of my presentation, I opened my bag of visual effects in front of the class and said, “Today, I’m going to teach you how to make a dress.”

The look of surprise on the male professor’s face was priceless. I held up a large piece of fabric and a simple dress pattern and said, “This is what you start with.”

Putting those items aside, I held up a piece of fabric with pattern pieces pinned in place. I held up a pair of pinking shears and explained that they were preferable to plain scissors because they prevented the cut fabric from raveling. I described how darts are made to provide a smooth fit over the curvy parts of a woman’s body. I showed how I sewed a zipper into the dress.

All eyes were on me as I ended my demonstration speech with, “This is what the finished product looks like,” as I modeled the simple black form fitting dress. The applause that followed was heartwarming, but the positive comments told me that I succeeded.

I dared to be different. When have you dared to try something different?