Friday, November 23, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Blog Tour--Stop # 11
Today we go way-way-way up north in Alberta to Luci's blog, Quiet Hearts. It was nice having a Canadian on board so we Americans could all spend the day fixing and eating food.
You'll enjoy Luci's post, and the rest of her blog. She has a thoughtful, humourous* touch all her own.
Here it is.
*spelled in honour of Luci.
You'll enjoy Luci's post, and the rest of her blog. She has a thoughtful, humourous* touch all her own.
Here it is.
*spelled in honour of Luci.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Blog Tour Stop 10
Today we head over to Treasured Up and Pondered, a beautiful blog by Beverly. You can read a sample chapter of my book for free, enter the giveaway, enjoy the review.
Right here.
Right here.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Blog Tour #9
Today we go local again. LeAnn is my friend Jean's sister and a writer who tells about her life at W.L.E.N musings.
Connections: lunch together at a writers' workshop once upon a time. She offered me meaningful empathy when I lost a nephew, as she lost a nephew in Iraq. And once upon a time I met her law-enforcement husband when he was um, enforcing the law.
Here's her post.
Connections: lunch together at a writers' workshop once upon a time. She offered me meaningful empathy when I lost a nephew, as she lost a nephew in Iraq. And once upon a time I met her law-enforcement husband when he was um, enforcing the law.
Here's her post.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Blog Tour Post 8
Today we head over to the intrepid Rhonda Schrock's blog. You'll see that she and I have a lot in common. As she says, our "works in progress" text us incessantly and call us "Mom."
Don't forget to comment if you want to enter the giveaway.
Here's her post.
(Sorry, I had the wrong URL here. It's fixed now.)
Don't forget to comment if you want to enter the giveaway.
Here's her post.
(Sorry, I had the wrong URL here. It's fixed now.)
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Blog Tour Stop 7
Today we go to visual artist Lydia Jo's blog for a review and giveaway. Enjoy her review, leave a comment, and then click around to see her photos.
Here:
Lydia Jo Photography
Here:
Lydia Jo Photography
Friday, November 16, 2012
Blog Tour, Day 6
Today's stop is at Crystal's Cliffnotes. She read my Letters from Harrisburg in the RG when she was a child. Have I been writing long enough for a child-reader to grow up and have children of her own? Apparently so.
A fun read, and a giveaway of course.
A fun read, and a giveaway of course.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Blog Tour, Day 5
Today's blog tour stop is IttyBitty Blog.
Darcy is the only blog tour host who reads my column in the newspaper, long before it ever shows up in a book. Thanks, Darcy!
To order a book from me: mail a check for $15 to:
Dorcas Smucker
31148 Substation Drive
Harrisburg, OR 97446
Darcy is the only blog tour host who reads my column in the newspaper, long before it ever shows up in a book. Thanks, Darcy!
To order a book from me: mail a check for $15 to:
Dorcas Smucker
31148 Substation Drive
Harrisburg, OR 97446
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Grammar Gone Wrong
Today we will learn about commas in a list or series.
You learned this in the fourth grade: word-comma-word-comma-and-word.
The flag is red, white, and blue.
Phil, Marcus, and Fred are my brothers.
Today I did laundry, talked on Skype, and washed the dishes.
We note that the series should be a series of similar items. All colors, or all guys' names, or all verbs.
This is called "maintaining parallel structure."
Maybe this illustrates what I'm saying: (Found here)
There is this terrible habit spreading over our great land to start off a series and to do ok with items one and two, but item three goes slithering into the blackberry bushes in a different form altogether.
It drives me crazy.
I started tearing out bad examples from newspapers and magazines and copying them from websites, and in a very short time found these:
From JCPenney:
"We're offering free sitting fees, a free 8x10, and we'll also email you a digital copy."
From the Eugene Mission newsletter:
"'I love it here at the Mission. There is acceptance, no judgment, and I've made a lot of friends.'"
From Bloomberg Business Week:
" Obama: 'I've now dealt with a lot of world leaders, and I think that Chancellor Merkel is smart, practical, and I trust her when she says something.'"
From a Best Buy ad:
"Meet Fitbit Zip. Tracks steps, distance, calories burned and uploads wirelessly to your free Fitbit.com account via Bluetooth 4.0/Smart Ready devices."
From a ShopKo eyecare center ad:
"See more clearly, sharper, and vividly than ever before!"
[this one almost works, but the more you read it, the worse it gets]
From a quilting website:
"A former classmate, Austin Caisse, 17, described the suspect as “brilliant,” and told the Post he was into Japanese culture, anime, and shared an interest in collecting knives."
[baited=earthworm on a hook; bated=restrained]
From an author's website: (yes, an author's)
"Denise is a mother to 3 incredible boys, one GIRL dog, and a wife."
And last but certainly not least, this from a facebook conversation about a home remedy:
"That has helped purge me of a blood clot and my mother in law."
You learned this in the fourth grade: word-comma-word-comma-and-word.
The flag is red, white, and blue.
Phil, Marcus, and Fred are my brothers.
Today I did laundry, talked on Skype, and washed the dishes.
We note that the series should be a series of similar items. All colors, or all guys' names, or all verbs.
This is called "maintaining parallel structure."
Maybe this illustrates what I'm saying: (Found here)
Maintain parallel structure with items in a series.
Items in a series should have parallel structure. You maintain parallel structure when you use equal grammatical units. If the first item is a noun, then the following items must also be nouns; if the first item is a subordinate clause, then so must the other items be.
Nonparallel structure looks like this:
Parallel structure, the correct way to list items in a series, looks like this:Harry spent his afternoon,
.
Harry spent his afternoon playing tennis, returning overdue library books, and then he ate a mushroom and pineapple pizza.
Harry spent his afternoonHarry spent his afternoonHarry spent his afternoon playing tennis, returning overdue library books, and eating a mushroom and pineapple pizza.This afternoon, Harry played tennis, returned overdue library books, and ate a mushroom and pineapple pizza.
There is this terrible habit spreading over our great land to start off a series and to do ok with items one and two, but item three goes slithering into the blackberry bushes in a different form altogether.
It drives me crazy.
I started tearing out bad examples from newspapers and magazines and copying them from websites, and in a very short time found these:
From JCPenney:
"We're offering free sitting fees, a free 8x10, and we'll also email you a digital copy."
From the Eugene Mission newsletter:
"'I love it here at the Mission. There is acceptance, no judgment, and I've made a lot of friends.'"
From Bloomberg Business Week:
" Obama: 'I've now dealt with a lot of world leaders, and I think that Chancellor Merkel is smart, practical, and I trust her when she says something.'"
From a Best Buy ad:
"Meet Fitbit Zip. Tracks steps, distance, calories burned and uploads wirelessly to your free Fitbit.com account via Bluetooth 4.0/Smart Ready devices."
From a ShopKo eyecare center ad:
"See more clearly, sharper, and vividly than ever before!"
[this one almost works, but the more you read it, the worse it gets]
From a quilting website:
"We make quilts, wall-hangings, crib
quilts & specialize in repairs, as well as
finish the quilt top that you have started."
from Lifescript.com:
"You’re educated, well-read and are the
go-to person for solving your family’s and friend’s problems."
From Freshstitches.com:
"Crocheters already know how to tension the yarn, hold things
in their hands, and all they really need to learn (in order to knit) is how to
pass a stitch from one needle to another."
from Nbcnews.com(about the teen arrested in killing of Jessica Ridgway)
"A former classmate, Austin Caisse, 17, described the suspect as “brilliant,” and told the Post he was into Japanese culture, anime, and shared an interest in collecting knives."
I rest my case.
But I can't resist a few more samples of other bad stuff I found.
In a story about moving to Canada if your candidate loses:
"So, as we watch the election results with baited breath,
hopefully none of this information will even be necessary."
[baited=earthworm on a hook; bated=restrained]
From an author's website: (yes, an author's)
"Denise is a mother to 3 incredible boys, one GIRL dog, and a wife."
And last but certainly not least, this from a facebook conversation about a home remedy:
"That has helped purge me of a blood clot and my mother in law."
Blog Tour--Day 4
Head over to Miriam's blog today for a thoughtful review of Tea and Trouble Brewing. Giveaway included. And a list of connections. Connections make me very happy.
Here it is. Enjoy. Win.
Here it is. Enjoy. Win.
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