poll

we interrupt the regularly scheduled program

… to make a public service announcement. This isn’t something I do lightly, please note, but here is a link to materials I have written that might be of use to those persons who are supporting Howard Dean’s bid for the Democratic nomination, or who are thinking of supporting him. Or for anybody else who is interested. An excerpt:

We can focus on the issues, or we can let ourselves be caught up in hype and trivialities. We can let the media tell us who is going to win, or we can choose the next president. We can talk to our neighbors about the things that matter most to us – jobs, health care, education, the environment, Iraq – or we can talk to them about polls. We can take the country back, or we can reap the consequences of another four years of Bush’s destructive policies at home and abroad. The choice is up to us. It’s up to you.

5. February 2004 by excerpts ? education

obsessive compulsive perfectionist disorder

Cleo

I made that up, but it fits. I spent this last weekend (a) searching for my daughter’s most beloved and currently-still-missing cat; (b) trying to console said daughter (c) trying to read; (d) trying to write; (e) failing everything else, spending many hours tweaking the stylesheet for the various websites. You’ll see that this one looks somewhat different. Of course there’s always something wrong, in this case the spacing between date and entry. Isn’t obsession interesting? I can stand back and look at how ridiculous it is to worry about something like this, and then blithely go back to worrying.

Then there’s the subsidiary reviews & recommendations blog that I’m trying to get to work, with help from Martin at Legends of the SunPig. Thus far, no joy, but you can have a look at it in its less than perfect state, if you like.

I did get some writing done yesterday, and a lot more today.

Also, a Big Discussion is brewing with my editor and publisher, who, it turns out, really really dislike the title for the new book. Thunder at Twilight. Which, I hasten to say, I love. I adore this title. But they don’t. They worry it is too romance-like. Huh? To me is sounds far more military than romance, and in fact it has to do with the launching of the Bonners into yet another war. So the negotiations begin, again, and I’m very sad about this. But I haven’t given up hope completely.

A note: as of today, thirteen of you voted in the Farscape poll thus: Farscape?

You must, all thirteen of you, report after school for tutoring. I’ll bring cookies and milk while you go back through this blog and read all the carefully constructed, thoughtful essays I have written about quality storytelling and support for storytellers.

One more Farscape note: the nominations are now open for the annual Sparkey awards, which brings recognition to the folks who write fan-fiction. There are some really, really good writers of fan fiction, and I’m gonna bring a few of them to your attention. Note: I am not one of them. My own characters give me enough grief.

3. November 2003 by ? romance

You've stumbled across my official website and landed on the front page of my weblog.

My name is Rosina Lippi. I'm a former academic and tenured university professor,  writing full time since 2000. Under the pen name Sara Donati I am the author of the Wilderness series, six historical novels that follow the fortunes of a group of families living in upstate New York from about 1792-1825. A new series based on later generations of the same families was launched September 1, 2015 with The Gilded Hour. The next volume in the new series,  Where the Light Enters, was  released in 2019.

 

Please see the pinned post for an overview of what you'll find on this weblog, and what has been moved to the wiki  (including the FAQ page).

 

Wise Guys

If you are in difficulties with a book, try the element of surprise: attack it at an hour when it isn’t expecting it.

— H.G. Wells (attributed), Sir Osbert Sitwell
See the whole Wise Guys collection here.