Once More With Feeling

cj Sez:  I decided I should once again reorganize and clean-up the backup files for my blog the other day, and it turned into a time-consuming exercise, like sorting through storage boxes in the attic. That meant I “had” to re-read every post to determine if it should be archived longer or deleted. 

  I re-discovered the following 2016 post about our dynamic English language that I think is worthwhile repeating one more time.

  …. A friend sent me this quote from journalist Sol Sanders: 

“Perhaps the glory of the English language is that it so expressive. Its remarkable heterogeneous origins have given it an almost limitless vocabulary. And American English, particularly, has used that tool with an enormous flexibility to make it the international means of communication. One is able with a minimum of linguistic dexterity to capture every meaning, or almost every nuance.”

  Mr. Sanders’s comments were part of an introduction to his essay on what today’s journalism and media do with the English language. The gist of his blog was that journalism and media people overcomplicate their sentences with words that muddy their meanings—changing nouns into verbs and, perhaps, calling a shovel a “hand-held, earth-moving tool.” (True. I’ve seen these kinds of descriptions in engineering technical specifications papers also.)

  Yes, as a writer, I use nouns as verbs. Yes, I deliberately obfuscate and happily add the disclaimer that it’s for the sake of telling the story. I am drawn to the syntax, symbolism, and syncopation of a well-crafted sentence that is the hallmark of successful poets and mystery/thriller/suspense novelists. It’s using that “minimum of linguistic dexterity to capture every meaning, or almost every nuance” that appeals to me, and, I think, to readers of those genres. 

  Readers want to try to decipher the code, find the clues, and solve the crime. As a genre writer, I like confusing the issue. That said, I do have a few personal dislikes of changing nouns into verbs. One is the word “impactful”—a noun turned into a verb turned into an adjective by adding “ful” on the end. What the Sam Hill does that mean?

 

  The truth is that English is a living language. It’s constantly evolving as we create new words and new definitions to compliment new technology. Therein lies a conundrum:  The generations cease to understand each other at an almost exponential pace.

  Coda:  IMHO, (that's 'text speak') the gloriously expressive English language is what makes the craft of writing so fascinating.

  I’m still working on my craft. How are you doing with yours?

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  I absolutely love that Calvin cartoon. 

  That's it for this week's post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I'll try to do the same. 

  Raising prayers for a happy and safe summer…with lots of time for reading!

cj

 

Great vacation reads!

  My books are available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore.

Little note: The Haunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  (If she happens to be out, drop me a note--I also have a small stash.) Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s) by any author of your choice.

➜ Follow me on . . . 

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➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

 

Celebrating Father's Day and Juneteenth

 cj Sez: First, I want to wish a Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, step-fathers, grandfathers, adoptive fathers, and father-figures. I hope this day is the start of a healthy and happy year. 

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Juneteenth

   "Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two-and-a-half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. 

  On June 17, 2021, it officially became a federal holiday. Juneteenth 2023 occurs on Monday, June 19. Early celebrations date to 1866, at first involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas."  (Source: https://www.history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth )

   "Given this systematic erasure, the story of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to reach the U.S., occupies a profoundly unique place in the history of the transatlantic slave trade.

  There were roughly 110 African children, teenagers, and young adults on board the Clotilda when it arrived in Alabama in 1860, just one year before the Civil War. Unable to return to Africa after emancipation on June 19, 1865—aka Juneteenth—they left records and gave interviews about who they were and where they came from that survive today."  (Source: https://www.history.com/news/slaves-clotilda-ship-built-africatown) 

   Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis, born Oluale Kossola, and also known as Cudjo Lewis, was the third to last adult survivor of the Atlantic slave trade between Africa and the United States. He was one of the captives brought to the United States on board the last slave ship Clotilda in 1860. 

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  That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy and safe summer…with lots of time for reading!

cj

 

My books are available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore.

Little note: The Haunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  If she happens to be out, I also have a small stash. Just drop me a note.

   P.S. For my local readers, the Mobile Public Library will soon have THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA ready for check-out. 

➜ Follow me on . . .  

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Right brain or left brain?

cj Sez: I’m a visual person (is that a right brain or a left brain thing?), and that shows up like screenplay scenes in my writing. Scenes and dialogue are the least complicated for me to write.

Scenes

  I enjoy working to create details that permit my readers to visualize where the characters are and what they are seeing. I do try to keep my details sparse and incorporated into the flow of the scene’s action. I.E., I don’t tell the reader the office is small and crowded. I’ll let the character do that by having her desk chair bump against the wall when she stands up or spins around to retrieve a document from her printer that’s sitting atop the three-drawer file cabinet near her left elbow. 

  By the by, my scenes also incorporate at least one of the five senses—sight, smell, sound, taste, touch—as well as journalism’s five “Ws” who, what, when, where, and why. I also add the “H”: how. 

Dialogue

  Writing dialogue is another favorite. I especially like it when I can create almost an entire scene with dialogue and need to use only one “said” tag because I’m able to create a movement/beat for the speaker.  This works especially well for me when there are only two characters, and with a little bit of finessing, can also work with three. How do I make it real? I read it out loud.

  Dealing with personal introspection/emotions/internal dialogue is more difficult for me since I “see” the action in my stories, something akin to watching a movie in my head. Narrative doesn’t exist in movies unless there’s a voice-over, so I tend to use very little of it.

  I’ve been told and I do understand I need more narrative in my novel, so I have to work on expanding my use of internal dialogue.

 Okay, I’ve confessed. Now it’s your turn. What is your writing strength or weakness?

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  That's Biscuit over there peeking out from under my monitor, making sure I'm still working.

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Book Review

  I spent most of last week reading best-selling author Susan Yawn Tanner’s Storm Out of Texas —book 3 of her Bellamys of Texas series. I have to tell you, I really connected to the characters, the emotion Susan brings to the story, and the continuous action.

  When the pain of losing his wife still “threatened to bring him to his knees” even a year after her death, Ford Bellamy knows he can’t spend another winter in a place that holds so many precious memories. He pulls up stakes and takes a stage coach Westward through Indian and road bandit territory in search of a new life for himself and McKenna, the infant daughter his wife never got to hold.

  Along the dangerous journey, passengers with their own life stories get on and off the coach, some to stay where they are, some to die. Ford is attracted to the beautiful and betrothed young woman who volunteers to care for McKenna when he must face and mete out death. What he doesn’t know is that the same may be waiting for her and for him at the end of the journey.

  Buy Storm Out of Texas Now

P.S. It’s free on kindle Unlimited… 

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  That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy and safe summer…with lots of time for reading!

cj

  My books are available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore.

Little note: The Haunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  If she happens to be out, I also have a small stash. Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s) by any author of your choice.

➜ Follow me on . . .  

➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page

➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson

➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

 

Mental Floss

cj Sez: For the first time in a very long time, I spent most of last weekend reading best-selling author Susan Yawn Tanner’s Storm Out of Texas, book 3 of her Bellamys of Texas series.

Buy Storm Out of Texas Now

 

   It’s free on kindle unlimited if you’ve a mind to join me… 

 

   I’m not a particularly fast reader, but I promise a review when I’m finished.

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   One of the things about Facebook that drives me batty is when the FB algorithm gets an earworm of a subject, and I wind up getting several iterations of “suggested for you” posts on the same subject, yet all from different sources. The subject might be football, college sports, movies from the 50s and 60s, etc. Today it’s Placido Domingo, whose amazing tenor voice I love, but … Today I’ve hidden about twelve of those FB posts. Hiding them “forever” is never forever. You?

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No reason for procrastination news item:

   All of my local TV meteorologists report that Arlene, the first named storm of the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season, is struggling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.

   I can now testify that the system poses no threat to my home here on the Gulf Coast because it's drifting South. The downside of that news is that now I have no preparations to attend to and no excuse not to get back to editing the story that should have been done aeons* ago. 

  This story has had me bumfuzzled, and I’ve changed the story line and title dozens of times. It’s like, “Oh, look. Maybe I should do that.” I need to discard all 45K words but can’t because I keep thinking there’s a nugget in there somewhere.

(* “Aeon” definition: A period of immeasurable duration.)

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Blatant self- promotion:

  Released in April of 2021, THE DAWGSTAR is a suspense/thriller novel with a touch of romance. And I find that its international intrigue premise is still timely and relevant. I bet you will, too. 

   Amateur astronomer Mirabel Campbell happens upon a mysterious point of light in the night sky and unexpectedly becomes enmeshed in a covert world of international political intrigue where deception and lies are the norm. 

  When friends are murdered, she and the CIA ex-husband she still loves must race to uncover the clandestine threat behind The Dawgstar before she becomes the next to die at the hands of a psychopath.

Buy The Dawgstar ebook now

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   I didn’t find this special YouTube song in time to post it last week. It’s a sentiment I fervently support. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCGS8E41-YQ

§§

  That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy and safe summer…with lots of time for reading!

cj

  My books are available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore.

Little note: The Haunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice.

➜ Follow me on . . .  

➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page

➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson

➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6