Language Arts Books

The Fast Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal is a solid, non-nonsense guide. It's gotten me off my rear-end to do my own book proposal, in large part because it makes the steps seem far less daunting.

The author, being a publisher, writes from experience as a person who reads book proposals all the time, and so you can bet that his advice will boost your odds when it comes to pitching your book. While it may be true that publishers will have their own quirky preferences, everything in the book just makes so much sense that it's sure to at least drive your own submission towards the top of the stack -- as long as you have something interesting to write about in the first place!

But we start with that assumption, don't we?

Thanks to Mettee for providing authors with a template for the nerve racking task of how to format a book proposal. Under his guidance I have produced a concise proposal and sent it to publishers with the confidence my book idea will be selected for publishing. A must read for new and seasoned non fiction authors!

As a publisher and publishing consultant, this is the book I recommend to writers and new publishers. It is direct, concise, and engaging. Writers serious about professional nonfiction book projects would be wise to read and use this book.

This is an excellent and concise guide to writing a nonfiction book proposal. The author covers a lot of ground in less that 115 pages and does it in an entertaining and engaging way. In general, the book is very well-organized, has text boxes with useful tips, good cartoons used sparingly and powerful quotes that are offset in the margins.

The organization of the book is broken down into three chapters: 1) First Things; 2) The Query Letter; and 3) The Proposal. The rest of the book contains a sample book proposal, query letter, agency contract, nonfiction book proposal checklist, information on formatting a proposal, a section on author's rights and various references.

In reality, this is ALL you need to start putting out book proposals. In addition to high quaility information, the tone of this book is positive and encouraging. It also contains ALL meat and no FLUFF. You will learn a lot about the basics of getting published and be entertained at the same time.

Another book worth considering that iks also good, but geared more toward scholars is Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing). I have also found Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction. The ideas in this latter book are excellent, but this two-time Pulitzer winner has somewhat of an arrogant tone to his writing. If you can tolerate this, you will save yourself a lot of trouble when you get down to work. (Personally, I have found him to be right with his suggestions, but I would have preferred him to be "right" from a position of more "equinimity."

This short book goes to the heart of creating a book proposal. It includes information not easily available in other books such as a sample agreement from a literary agency, a sample book contract and detailed information about the shape of a query letter. As Mettee says, "The job of a query letter is to get an editor or agent to ask to see your full proposal." As an acquisitions editor, I know firsthand that too few writers invest enough energy into the query letter process.

In many regards, this book is an adequate introduction to the topic of book proposals. For other writers, it will leave you needing more detailed information than contained on these pages. From my perspective, it's important to study every single available resource on this topic. I recommend this book.

In the first book to really cover the online publishers, Penny Sansevieri has done us all a favor. She does list and compare online publishing purveyors such as Xlibris, iuniverse, Trafford, 1stBooks (now Authorhouse), Infinity and so on. She gives their prices and various packages and explains the difference between them and the old-time subsidy presses.
But one caveat: she refers to books published by subsidy online publishers such as Xlibris and iuniverse as self-published books. As a self-published author who slogged through typesetters, printers and distributors and sold over 110,00 copies of a regional guidebook (okay,it was over quite a few years) I hate to see that designation subverted by the subsidized press. Luckily her title calls it the "online revolution" which is a much better way of describing these online "publishing purveyors". And she does show how just anybody can now easily get a book printed. Getting it sold is another matter.
Where the book shines is in its marketing information. Not only does Penny give some really good tips but she also names names and give telephone numbers: the names of talk show and radio contacts and their phone numbers, that is. The woman has plenty of bright, bold ideas and they are quite different from the sort of "insider" publicist information you find in traditional marketing books. She seems to be the postcard queen and has used postcards to target markets quite effectively. Her advice on book signings, radio shows, and how to create a buzz on the Internet is useful to any author, whether published online or not. One other thing I like about Ms. Sansevieri: she keeps her prices reasonable. In a world where publishing gurus sell ten dollars worth of advice for $99.00, it's refreshing to find some really sensible suggestions for frugal publicity at a relatively good price.

Nobody else, not Poynter, not Ross, covers the likes of
Iuniverse and Booklocker.com in such detail. As a book
reviewer I see them all, and Sansavieri's book is one
of my top three for this reason. She gives useful and unduplicated
advice in other areas as well, such as marketing, press releases
etc. All in all this is a must-have book for self publishers.

I've been in the book business for a number of years, yet I learned a lot from reading "Get Published!" This is an enormously useful primer for anyone considering publishing a book by electronic or traditional means. In just a few, friendly and easy to read pages, it provides a thorough and frank picture of all the hats a writer/publisher needs to wear. "Get Published!" itself was published on-line. It is proof that the methods Penny Sansevieri discusses actually do work. This book belongs on every publisher's and writer's bookshelf.

In Get Published!, Penny Sansevieri draws upon her professional experience as a author and e-newsletter publisher to teach emerging writers how to empower themselves to publish and market their own work. With an emphasis for the new print-on-demand (POD) technologies, Get Published! explores a variety of on-line publishers including 1st Books Library, Xlibris, iUniverse, and five others, and offers a practical, comprehensive, "user friendly", step by step guide to the chaotic task of publishing and promoting a book in the competitive and rapidly evolving marketplace. Filled with resources, media contacts, and industry tips, tricks, and techniques, Get Published! is a "must" for any new writer who is ready to move beyond rejection slips to see his or her work in print!

So what is print on demand? Can you really control your future one book at a time? The answer is simply: Yes.

Do you remember your first rejection letter from a publisher? Do you remember the second, third and fourth? I sure do! However, I threw them all away a long time ago and decided to get on with my life and self-publish.

Sometimes the walls built around traditional publishing houses are just not worth trying to climb over. Especially when the walls are covered with thorny climbing rose bushes, ouch! When your book is like your true love, you really can get your heart broken when an editor rejects your manuscript. If they do write and say they actually looked at it, do throw a party! ;>

The freedom you have when you make the decision to just publish your book yourself is beyond description. Finally, you have control over how your book will look and what it will contain. You get to decide! With all this "power" you need all the information you can get so you can make all those important decisions. There are only two books you need and this is one of them!

I once attended a class on the "inside story of publishing" and after asking one question and getting the cold shoulder (for my obvious naivety at the time), I conveniently forgot to attend the second class. Now, if Penny C. Sansevieri had been the teacher, I would have made it to the second class! She actually does offer "Get Published Today" workshops through The Learning Annex and has been featured on talk radio. She is a feature writer for Readers & Writers Magazine.

Her writing is entertaining in that you hardly feel it is an effort to read her book. Once I started reading, I could not put this book down. She feeds your desire to live to see the day you get published. She offers tantalizing tidbits of information we are all craving, but have no idea where to find. Penny also serves up a wonderful sense of humor in her writing. She has "been there!" Through her encounters with other writers, she has also learned from their experiences.

The first section introduces you to the possibilities. What are your dreams? Are you ready to be an author and what will that mean? By the third chapter you will start to see the beauty and originality this book contains. First, each publisher featured was chosen after meeting a set of standards the author felt were essential. The online publisher had to have your best interests at heart. Each publisher is explored in detail and you will know what they offer and why. There are charts showing the package prices, distribution outlets, retail book prices, your rights, royalties, author discounts, hard/soft cover book options and the cancellation policy. This author did her research!

What does it take to produce a successful press release?
What is a media kit?
How do I get my book sold in a Book Club or a Catalog?
Where do I go to get my book reviewed?
How can I get the media to notice my book?

Should I consider Niche Marketing?

Throughout the book you will find answers to your questions, inspirational quotes, marketing tips and notes from authors. The pages of addresses, names and e-mail addresses is information you can really put to work.

While Penny advises you to start working on your Web site after your book is in production, may I say that you might want to start working on it now! Having a Web site ready to take orders the day your book is published sounds like a good plan to me and so that is where I have started! By having a Web site, people will start finding you and last week I was invited to co-host a radio show just because the host found my site! I asked her if I could learn how to breath again and then get back to her. ;> It was quite a shock to have such a request even before I have my book published.

If you are tired of trying to climb over the walls into the publishing fortress, you might be better off building your own castle. ;> Dare to dream! And when you do finish your castle, make sure you wave at the editor in the publishing fortress who rejected your manuscript. lol Wait, no...send them a fresh copy instead. You never know, they might see the beauty after you have done all the work to get it published. It has happened!

"We are the trendsetters for the future. We are erasing old boundaries and delving into areas that were once off-limits to us. Whatever you choose to do with this information, know this. You have, right now, the opportunity to change or enhance someone's life. It is a gift that cannot and should not be ignored." -Peggy C. Sansevieri

Simply the most organized and exciting book on the publishing revolution! You will read each delicious word so you can finally see your publishing dreams come true. This is the ultimate guide to on-line publishing.

~The Rebecca Review

This book by Mr Hubbard helped me to help my child with this sometimes troubling subject of Grammar. He enjoyed it very much.

This is a very good basic grammar book. I used it to refresh my memory, and the children in my home are learning their grammar in conjunction with Grammar House Rock. Photocopy a few pages, and kids will have a fun coloring in the black and white pictures. My only problem with this book is L. Ron Hubbard pads this book with ideas from scientology. This is only so in the beginning and end of the book. Parents, if you do not want your children to learn Scientology, find some scissors and cut those parts out. It is a great grammar book. The illustrations are beautiful, and the characters are diverse. It has pictures of Black, Latino children, and disabled children. There is also an overweight child.

Do not think this book is some kind of odd cult thing. It simplifies grammar, and children will like it because of the pictures. Just avoid the beginning and end parts of the book if you object Scientology. Get your children Grammar House Rock too. Remember to be an active part to your children's education.

I remember the horrors of English 101 when I was in school before this book was written. I use this book while tutoring my students and used it when I was homeschooling my own child. Wow, when kids understand what grammar is and how to use it, do they start to write and communicate! And this goes for adults, as well! My students whose second language was English loved this book because the simple and clearly illustrated examples make it possible to show an idea without words. This is THE grammar book to own and use!

This has helped my son get grades level and above all of his class mates. He is now able to read when before he would not even touch a book! It has also helped me and I am a school teacher!!! Get for the benifit of your child.

This book is a wonderful example of how a complicated subject can be made simple and fan to learn. I would highly recommend it not only for children, but for adult as well! Adults, this one can really improve your communication skills!

My son loves the Happy Baby series! I can't say enough good things about these books. It's hard to find a book that will have my toddler sitting down for a few minutes and sitting quietly reading, but these books do it.

We bought Happy Words to help with his vocabulary, and it didn't take long to see his interest grow in wanting to know the names for things around the house. I know he enjoys the book because he pulls it out nearly every day for me to read it, even more, he's starting pointing to certain pictures asking me to repeat the names, so I know he's learning and taking it in. This book has about 13 full spread pages each with a familiar scene for a toddler- getting dressed, eating a meal, going on a walk, taking a bath, facial expressions etc. What I like most is that these scenes and words included are pertinent to a toddler, they're not just about whatever, but things a toddler needs to know the names of. Last but not least, did I mention my son loves this book??

So, if you're a mom of an infant/toddler or buying these as a gift for one, these are a SURE BET. They are also reasonably priced in my opinion. Other books in this series we own and enjoy are the Colors and ABC's. We'll definitely be buying more too as time goes on. Way to go Roger Priddy!!

I've been on a mission to find a book that meets the following criteria for my 9 month old son:
- Must be a board book (because he chews everything!)
- Mustn't be too long (32 pages maximum because we're dealing with a short attention span here)
- Mustn't be too big (so my son can easily pick up and play with the book)
- Must contain photographs of familiar objects and other babies (because all of his other books only have illustrated pictures of animals for some reason!)

"Happy Baby: Words" fit all of the above criteria perfectly and my son loves it to death. He can actually turn the pages himself and he gets so excited seeing all the baby photographs inside.

Great book!

perfect for identifying objects. bright and cheery, so babies and toddlers love to look at the pages.

I read this to my little one and it has helped increase her vocabulary. She loves pointing to the pictures and saying the words. She is also able to associate the pictures to what she sees in her day to day activities.

Our copy has been through two children. Both of my kids love the bright and clear pictures. We are teaching my son sign language and this book is great for teaching simple words and signs! A well loved book!

My 6 year old is a beginning reader! He is so enjoying this book. He will read it and then read it again. It is a perfect read for him and his facination with bugs!

I acquired this book for my 2-year-old who is fascinated by bugs, especially butterflies. The text is coherent and written in a way a early reader would talk. Some of the Step 1 type books do not impress me, but this one does.

This is a great book for young readers who are just connecting the idea of words having meaning. They are predictable & have good picture context clues. My son loves it & recognized the author from another favorite bedtime story.

Few words per page. Children can reread this story without having yet the ability to decode. Provides early readers with success. Appropriate for English Language Learners of all ages.

This book is a great first book. In fact, it is the first book my son read. *sniff* I'm so proud. :-)

The sentences are short and the pictures hint at what the words may be. I would recommend this to all parents who are helping their children learn to read.

If you read the first book this is an excellent followup to help you increase you understanding of how to build a robot of your own. If you did not a good place is start with the first book Robert Building for Begginers. These books help get you in the thought process needed to build decent robots wather small or big.

The only thing I can say is I bought it for my 16 year old grandson and he said it is awesome.

This review is by my ten year old Robot fanatic:

This book introduces the most common parts (in a beginner type robot) step by step by defining them properly. So far I have made a line following robot almost from scratch. This book sets you up with many different options. It starts with safety and where to obtain parts then moving on to introducing parts. After that you are shown how to setup a solder-less breadboard.

This book (and it's prequel, Robot Building for Beginners by the same author) is extraordinarily good. It picks up where the previous book (which is the best book in existence for the beginning roboticist, in my opinion) leaves off, getting into details of milling parts, microcontroller circuits, and such. A truly wonderful book. If you read the previous book, and then read this book, you will have an excellent grounding in robotics, and have a very entertaining time doing it. Highly recommended!

I am a novice robot builder. I appreciate the thoroughness and practical approach of this book. I have understood and implemented several circuit ideas from this excellent book.

Books like this are refreshingly down-to-earth after reading the usual college text books.

The editor's introduction delivers a very engaging and useful introduction to Burke's work that contextualizes the selections while giving the reader insight on Burke's background and career. The introduction prepares the reader for Burke's style and wit, while situating and commenting upon some of the reasons for Burke's somewhat fringe status in the critical canon and overviews the reception of his commentaries on Shakespeare and their acknowledged and tacit influence in how Shakespeare has been read by others.

Newstock not only did a great job of gathering and situating these scattered essays and bringing together Burke's intent of collecting all of his Shakespearean writings in one place, he also has added a valuable appendix of which offers a nice addition of other prominent discussions of Shakespeare's work in Burke's other writings.

Burke's essays themselves clearly demonstrate his affinity for the works of Shakespeare and to my mind show a level of interaction with the plays that cuts beyond common textual criticism.

Burke throughout draws references to philosophical matters and figures, social and individual psychology, cultural critique, history and also political issues (including biting commentary, such as his asides to the war on Vietnam, as in his King Lear essay). These make his essays even more broadly entertaining and engaging as he is adeptly able to step out of the context of the works in order to bring the Shakespearean works into a broader discussion, and also to play out these external discussions and intellectual considerations in the context of the plays.

Stylistically, Burke proves to be more fun and of broader interest to the non-specialist than one might expect, and for students of Shakespeare, Burke's essays offer a wealth of insight and perspective that will surely spark discussion and reconsideration of the plays themselves.

Kenneth Burke was a restless thinker ever-alert to what makes Shakespeare's plays work. Scott L. Newstok, with admirable bravura in a profession that tends to undervalue the editing of collections, recognized the importance of committing himself to the painstaking project of recovering Burke's writings on Shakespeare. The result is a treasure-trove both of some landmark essays in his career (most notably the 1951 Hudson Review piece on Othello), and also of the bric-a-brac of intellectual history scattered throughout Burke's work from the 1920s through the 1980s. Newstok unearths and reproduces sections that Burke crossed out from a lecture, thus offering windows onto his compositional process. Among other works never fully revised for publication, he edits and annotates the typescript of Burke's response to a graduate student's paper on Troilus and Cressida. As importantly, Newstok gathers what appears to be every excerpt from Burke's lifetime of writing that mentions Shakespeare. The process of obtaining permissions alone is staggering, but it is a further tribute to Newstok' s professional integrity and passion for the project that he gained full cooperation from the Burke estate and the endorsement of surviving family members.
The volume begins with a cogent survey of the key issues and terms (including a glance at Aristotle, "Burke's classical mentor") that played a generative role in Burke's Shakespeare criticism. He ends with suitably terse yet remarkably helpful notes; for example, indicting where precisely in Coleridge's Biographia Literaria we can find the reference to which Burke alludes in passing. Newstok gives sufficient identifying tags of dramatists, writers, philosophers, and artists whom Burke assumed his audience knew, and covers in detail the original settings of the works discussed and, when applicable, where they were printed previously.
This much having been said, the larger question still looms: Do we need so much--indeed all--of Burke's Shakespeare criticism gathered in one place? The answer this volume convincingly urges is: yes. The Editor's Introduction establishes the impressive influence Burke has had on a number of critics and dramatists, as well as on important movements in literary scholarship and dramatic criticism. The claim of kinship to Burke's work is wide and diverse, ranging from Edward Said to Angus Fletcher. In a long note Newstok gives an initial roll call of upward of fifty Renaissance literary scholars who have profitably engaged Burke's work. He goes on to point out that Northrop Frye annexed Burke as one of his antecedents in "the archetypal approach," and Harold Bloom called Burke "my heroic precursor." And yet it is often through indirection that debts to Burke's ideas are acknowledged. Buried in a footnote, for example, Stephen Greenblatt tellingly relates: "As so often happens, I discovered that Burke's brilliant sketch had anticipated the shape of much of my argument."
In part this reluctance to give Burke pride of place in one's own scholarly work is the result of the unmistakably Burkean tone and trajectory of thought to be found in his often idiosyncratic approach. Unlike literary critics who develop systems that others dutifully can follow, Burke does not leave a coherent methodology, notwithstanding his "Pentadic analysis" and his, at times, deeply moving readings of Shakespearean scenes. Rather readers receive insights--the kinds that he left for a general audience rather than a coterie of the initiated. Although he "appreciated the favorable attention from academia," finally he was more concerned with inspiring "others to join his ecstatic readings of Shakespeare, and gain contact with the energy at the heart of Shakespeare's plays."
One example illustrates just how useful having access to these essays can be, especially in a properly edited edition. Recently when teaching Timon of Athens to undergraduates, I turned to Burke's typical mode of beginning an investigation as presented in Newstok's book. It supplied just the heuristic jump-start required: "First, let's force ourselves to decide exactly what Timon of Athens is about." Written originally as the introduction to an edition of Timon, Burke intelligently recounted the main strokes of the play, act by act. He then treated the main characters in turn and examined their function in the drama: "Apemantus serves to keep the play from falling simply into contrasted halves." He also considered relations among the sexes, showing how women in this play function "only in a supernumerary capacity." That there are only courtesans and no mothers, sisters, or wives, fits well with Burke's judgment on Timon as "an almost brutally end-of-the-line character, his life coming to a close in rabid talk of total human rot." The one moment of pity, supplied by the faithful retainer Flavius, is a touch that Burke sees as "quite Shakespearean, at least in the sense that a Shakespearean tragedy has a scene that softens the audience with tears of pity just before the final outbreak of victimage." He compares Flavius speech instructively to Desdemona's willow song, a connection discussed at greater length in Chapter Six, Burke's landmark essay on Othello (another reason why it is good to have all of these essays collected in one volume). When all is said and done, Burke is a reliable and subtle expositor of Shakespeare's plays.
The second part of this essay turns to consider the nature of Timon as a dramaturgic invention. With all of the rigor shown in his Rhetoric of Religion (1961), Burke explores "invective," "lamentation," and "praise" seen as "the three freedoms." Fortunately Newstok restores paragraphs apparently excised by Burke's editor, Francis Ferguson. These are instructive paragraphs indeed, as they make clear why these three are linked and how they help explain the ineluctable humane movement charted out in Timon of Athens. Granting the disputation of authorship, Burke makes a solid case for Timon's "radicalism"--in its usual, literal, and etymological senses--and concludes that, although it "is not pretty," it is "extremely thorough."
Likewise Burke is thorough and radical in his approach to the plays as a whole. He covers all of the chief topical issues and he seeks to dig to the root of things that often remain undetected by virtue of alluring speeches and the fast-paced sweep of a drama's action. Consequently this is a book that should be placed next to The Riverside Shakespeare on one's bookshelf. As a teacher I anticipate returning to it often, especially when sorting out what should go into an introductory lecture on a given play. And it is for this same reason that people outside the academy will want to have ready access to Burke as well: he gets to the bottom of things.

This work gathers together all of Kenneth Burke's writing on Shakespeare, thirteen major essays and a host of notes and remarks scattered throughout his writings. It contains an introduction by its editor,Scott L. Newstok which explains his own work on the volume, and Burke's general approach to Shakespeare criticism. The book also contains on its back cover laudatory words from among others Harold Bloom and Stephan Greenblat, that is from among the most distinguished literary critics working today.
Burke is an original in his approach to Shakespeare. He focuses often on the opening of the play, and is very concerned with the effect of the play on the audience. He again and again shows how Shakespeare is master playwright creating the effect he wants the work to have on the audience. For Burke whose basic view of drama derives from Aristotle 'action' plays the central role.'Character' is if not subordinated then not given the central place in his analysis as it has in the work of arguably the greatest Shakespearean critic of all A.C. Bradley.
While understanding Burke's brilliance and originality I have never been a strong fan of his writing. I have always found it somewhat difficult and academic. His learning is vast and he makes sudden shifts in his discourse which I find hard to follow. I too find often that the kinds of dramatic questions, the questions relating to how the dramatist achieved the effects he did, are not those which primarily concern me.
However the volume as scholarly collection and edition of Burke's work is comprehensive and carefully referenced. It is a real contribution to Burke scholarship and should be made good use of by all those who take interest in his scholarship.

The most valuable aspect of Scott L. Newstok's recent "Kenneth Burke on Shakespeare" is his inclusion of a talk, delivered by Burke, entitled "Introduction: Shakespeare Was What?," which serves as a useful primer to Burke's system of reading Shakespeare. As the lecture establishes, Burke is ultimately concerned with what literature does (i.e. how it functions). Accordingly, Shakespeare is, in Burke's mind, an artist who "spontaneously knew how to translate some typical tension or conflict of his society into terms of variously interrelated personalities." As Burke explains, Shakespeare's ability "was to let that whole complexity act itself out, by endowing each personality with the appropriate ideas, attitudes, actions, situations, relationships, and fatality" (18). Shakespeare, above all other dramatists, constructs plays in which his characters' engagements with each other constitute the play's movement while dictating meaning to its audience. And Burke, perhaps above all other critics, articulates the anatomy of these engagements for us.

Without a doubt, Burke scholars will find Newstok's compilation of additional references to Shakespeare invaluable. While the sections that Newstok provides can't possibly offer full context, the well-versed Burkean will certainly have the texts in question (A Grammar of Motives, Attitudes Toward History, and so on) at hand. An impressive piece of scholarship, Kenneth Burke on Shakespeare will prove to be an essential work for a variety of audiences, including Shakespearians and Burkeans.

An iconoclastic American intellectual, the late Kenneth Burke (1897-1993) was an exceptional and prolific literary critic whose writings and commentaries were respected -- even by those who occasionally disagreed with either his assumptions and conclusions. In the pages of "Kenneth Burke On Shakespeare", academician Scott L. Newstok (Assistant Professor of English, Gustavus Adolphus College, and Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow at Yale University) has gathered together under one cover all of Burke's Shakespeare literary criticism (including previously unpublished notes and lectures) that had such wide-spread influence on his contemporaries. Drawn from a profusion of sources, including literary magazines, academic journals, Newstok has accomplished a truly impressive task of research and recovery. The result is a compendium of analytical commentaries on Shakespearean dramas and comedies. Enhanced with the inclusion of an appendix (Additional References to Shakespeare in Burke's Writings), extensive notes, and 'Index of Works by Shakespeare', and a general index, "Kenneth Burke On Shakespeare" is a welcome and enthusiastically recommended addition to academic library Shakespearean Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

we need to learn how to work with them and how to make them work, this is in part what Colleen tells us here. Very nice book indeed and not the usual one. She doen't promise to become wealty by getting published, yet between the lines I think there is a hope for everyone of us becoming richer in the spirit. And this is why many of us write: to live a fuller life by reflecting on it. This book helps us in both ways - to write for the entertinment of others and for the deepening of one's thoughts - and I'm eagerly waiting for a second and third book with more entertaining tips and insight! Thak you Colleen.

This book is great, will really rev up your writing, and I'm not the only one who says so. The February 2001 issue of Wisconsin Bookwatch has the review : With "Movies In The Mind: How To Build A Short Story", Colleen Rae provides the aspiring writer with compendium of sound advice, techniques, and strategies for writing plausible, believable, resonating fiction. Each informative chapter is a gem of sound, practical, illustrative, and occasionally inspiring instruction and includes: Entering The Storymaker's Realm; Fiction's Building Blocks; Participatory Art; Digging The Clay; Whose Story Is It Anyway?; Unlocking Your Story; How To Birth A Story; and There's Always A Critic. Very highly recommended for anyone seeking to improve the quality of their fiction," Movies In The Mind" is further enhanced with a section of Exercise Pages, a Reading List; and a user-friendly index.

Colleen Mariah Rae's book is a unique approach to learning the art of writing fiction. It's strictly an inside job, and Rae helps you find answers to your fiction writing problems within yourself. Her emphasis on imagery and detail is presented in a straight forward manner that sheds new light on the subject. But her advice on developing a trait continuum for your characters is help of the most valuable kind. I look forward to seeing more books from her in this series.

John M. Whalen, Journalist/Freelance Writer

Before I finished the first chapter of this book, I saw a dramatic difference in my writing. If you want to learn how to connect with the mysterious well where all of our stories come from, if you want to understand what really grabs your reader and connects him/her with your story, read this book! It's not just for short story writers. It's for writers. Period. Look through Colleen Mariah Rae's eyes as you devour this book, and you'll see your creative world in a whole new light!

With Movies In The Mind: How To Build A Short Story, Colleen Rae provides the aspiring writer with compendium of sound advice, techniques, and strategies for writing plausible, believable, resonating fiction. Each informative chapter is a gem of sound, practical, illustrative, and occasionally inspiring instruction and includes: Entering The Storymaker's Realm; Fiction's Building Blocks; Participatory Art; Digging The Clay; Whose Story Is It Anyway?; Unlocking Your Story; How To Birth A Story; and There's Always A Critic. Very highly recommended for anyone seeking to improve the quality of their fiction, Movies In The Mind is further enhanced with a section of Exercise Pages, a Reading List; and a user-friendly index.

Any of Natalie Goldberg's books are to me the ones I grab when I need to be spurred on to put pen to paper. This one in particular is a terrific tool to writing a memior. Her prompts are practical and aside from being funny at times, she knows the needs of aspiring writers. And she never writes over my head. I think I have read every one of her books at least once and even her novel "Banana Rose" which was great summer reading.
Do you want to write about yourself and your life as a memory? Try Natalie.

of a wonderfully readable memoir: That's How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist by Susan Rako, M.D. The title comes from a song by Leonard Cohen: "There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." Rako's book is remarkably candid, insightful, and gracefully written. It's a great read. The writing just flows.

This is classic Natalie Goldberg. I have read most of her work and was not disappointed by her latest look into the heart of writing...specifically a memoir. She is the kind of writer you can and must read over and over again, not only if you aspire to write, but if you aspire to live your life well.

Natalie Goldberg has done it again! As a teacher of fiction and memoir, I recommend this book to all memoir writers. Natalie has prompts that will intrigue and spur writers to put pen in hand or fingers to the keyboard.

By using these prompts, you can't do anything BUT write.

Catherine Alexander
Author and Instructor

This morning at 4:30 I turned on the light to read a few more pages of Old Friend From Far Away. I skipped toward the end and read about how at a celebration for the twentieth anniversary of Natalie's first book, a woman who took her writing class when she was a young student at an alternative school, stood up to speak. The woman told her story of how one Monday Natalie brought in a bushel of rich red apples she'd picked the day before at an orchard near the school. This was a family orchard where a month before the oldest son had been killed in a bizarre gun accident. The woman revealed that this young man had been her first love.

When I got to the part where the woman explained how Natalie's writing class gave her an avenue for expressing her suffering and grief, I found myself sobbing (in a good way) with recognition of the truth of her words.

After the woman finishes telling her story Natalie writes:

"It's a holy thing to be a writer. It is why you want to write your memoir: to remember all of it. The good and the bad. To trust your experience, to have confidence that your moments and the moments of others on this earth mattered... It is a great thing you are doing whatever it is you are remembering. You are saying that life--and its passing--have true value."

I hesitated to buy Old Friend From Far Away since I already have Natalie Goldberg's other enormously helpful writing books. But all the praise from other writers is well-deserved. Every page makes me want to click my heels with delight--even the pages that make me cry. I wholeheartedly recommend this book!

--Suza Francina, author, The New Yoga for People Over 50 and other books for people at midlife and older.

Victoria Nelson's "On Writer's Block" covers the entire territory of writing process, not just the silences inherent in that process.

It's filled with marvelous quotations and wonderful tips. One I loved was: write your own review before the critics to so you'll have something solid to lean against.

This book belongs in every writer's bedside library.

Janet Riehl, author Sightlines: A Poet's Diary

If you are SERIOUS about becoming unblocked as
a writer, then this is the only book you will
ever need. What I most enjoyed about the book is
Nelson's simple methods for helping the writers.
She does not try to belittle the writer and she
writes in a fluid, flowing manner that makes the
book enjoyable and an easy read. Have a
highlighter read because you will mark up this book!


I wish I could give this book six stars!

I have never looked at Writer's Block the same way again after reading this book. She shares wonderful stories of other creative artists, defines a number of common blocks, and best of all, ways out.

It has a very psychological approach to the creative spirit.

The title really doesn't do the scope of this book justice. I picked up this book because I was having some problems with a novel in progress. Then I read it and just sighed....clear insight into the writing process, the good, and useless, habits we form and their impact on our productivity. The book addresses a wide spectrum, such as: "Beginner's Block", Procrastination, Perfectionism, Obsessive Rewriting, and Success. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned professional, this book should be part of your toolbox. It will get you writing....happily.

When I am completely stymied as to why I can't write creatively, I reach for the books at my bedside - The Holy Bible and this treasured paperback - to place me squarely back on track. Ms. Nelson has the uncanny ability to get me to cast away my inner slave driver who ruthlessly tries to force fame and fortune out of every sentence I write. She reminds me that I am a human being in need of TLC and a change in expectations without using cloying, "self-help" speak. I am forever indebted to her for writing such a wise book that comes across like loving advice from a trusted, experienced mentor every time I read a few chapters. My wish is that other frustrated writers come to know her intelligent solace so they can face the blank page truthfully, in peace and with joy. Thank you, Ms. Nelson, for being such a cherished lifesaver.