Litwit Lounge discussion

Just wanted to say "hello" to everyone as lately I only manage to read a post or two. I moved (again) two weeks ago, and my daughter is being married this weekend. The weather has really warmed up this week with highs near 90° -- should be great for the wedding. Hope everyone is well...

Reggia, warmest best wishes to your daughter and her hubby- to-be! Don't worry about not posting much when you're going through a move, and unpacking from one. I've moved often enough to know what that's like, and I suspect the rest of the group members have, too. :-)

Best wishes to the young couple! How stressful--to have a move and a wedding so close together. Take some time to put your feet up when it's all over! :)

A wedding -sigh- (I guess I am a romantic at heart still...) Lots of luck and best wishes for a bright and happy future, for the young couple.

I love moving! Does that sound weird? It's right up there with camping, those few days (sometimes weeks) of being "off the grid" so peaceful and quiet. Good luck with the movie and we'll still be here.

But do you like moving *yourself* or other people, too? ;)

Mostly me, it's a great way to PURGE all the useless crap I like to harbor - I'm not at horder preportions, but it can get bad at times. When it gets like that I systematically go through each room and purge it like it is moving time.

I do enjoy helping friends, the beer and bbq that follows is always a treat.

LOL, yeah, it does help with the purging. Moving is the one thing that spurs me to be ruthless with my possessions. I am not sure I could psyche myself out to pretend I was moving though... although I know how to tuck things away and out of sight good enough. Expecting company can inspire me to the latter. :p

I confess I do still like the adventure of being in a new place as much as always, just getting weary of the physical work.

The wedding itself was beautiful; the weather cloudy yet warm. The next day it was unseasonably cool for this area and rainy (a rare event) which was somewhat of a disappointment for our visitors from colder climes.

Glad to hear there was decent weather for the wedding!
People from other parts of the country can be so funny when it comes to dealing with Southwest weather. They don't realise it isn't sunny and warm 100% of the time.
When I worked for a place that put on a conference In September that attracted attendees from all over, I spent a lot of time on the phone with people explaining New Mexico weather and different climates--reminding people to bring a jacket if they were going up into the mountains, explaining that it does actually rain sometimes....

it does actually rain sometimes....

Surprise! sorry about that visitors. Another day later and we were back to sunny 80s.

Now when I went to California for a visit, I expected sunny and warm, too. But I got cool & drizzle, ditto for Florida. LOL, it happens.

...Could it be that...it actually rains almost everywhere??? ;P

Maybe Reggia is jinxed! Every time we went on trips with our kids when they were little we ended up in the emergency room or had broken handle on pop-up camper or it rained buckets and everything was floating in out tent when we got back or I twisted my ankle in one of those holes for posts and and and......

Oh my, Syra, it seems you would indeed understand jinxed. When living back east, I can hardly remember a camping trip with our kids when it didn't rain. Speaking of camping, I'm supposed to go today but can't figure out how to get son's tent while he's out of town. Oh well, at least there's not a chance of rain. ;-)

LOL, indeed, I spotted it. ;-)

...am now enjoying a beautiful, warm, rainless weekend in Arizona. Of course, I had to move here to heighten the chances of encountering dry days. :p

We could use less wind here in NM. Anyone want it?

Oh, Syra, do we really want to wish our wind on anyone else? ;P

Yeah it blows all the blossoms off the trees and dirt in the house. hehe
I may be gone for a while again. Bad news coming from surgeon and spine clinic. Will miss you guys.

Syra, we'll be hoping and praying for the best for you! Keep us posted when you can.

That sucks Syra, I hope at some point the news will improve for you. Feel better soon.

Thanks everyone.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, Syra.

Thinking of you, Syra, and wishing you some good news soon!

Injuries: Right shoulder tendon torn completely for 3rd time. Not sure how to fix it. Left shoulder tendon torn partially. Got cortisone shot.
Going for spine MRI some time soon.
Spine may need just physical therapy. So some good news.

Keep us posted, Syra! We're thinking of you.

OOOOWWWWW! Syra. So sorry.

I have not really paid attention to the weather elsewhere, but it has been reasonable here (gotta love British Columbia)

Charly, Bluefield, VA (where I live) was spared any damage in the recent outbreak of tornadoes. However, we did have a tornado warning Wednesday night (though it didn't touch down), so Barb and I spent some time in the basement. Elsewhere in southwest Virginia, though, at least five people were killed.

Yikes! Clearly I spend too much time reading and not enough time watching the news!

Election tonight in Canada, hoping for changes, but it is always the party that has big business in mind rather than what children, teachers, single parents and care-takers need... Fingers crossed!

Tornadoes are so terrifying! Glad you're okay.

Gee, sounds as if Canadian politics is almost as bad as American politics. Best wishes, Erin.

Wow. small world. I grew up in Middletown, VA just south of Winchester. Born on Long Island, NY (Amityville Horror). But anyway glad to hear all is ok. I am amazed at Mother Nature when she gets going.

Small indeed. Winchester, VA is where my grandfather lived when I was a young child -- good memory. :)

Tornadoes are horrific; very sad at the destruction closed, life as well as property and hope all our Litwit readers were spared any damage.

Callista wrote: "Tornadoes are so terrifying! Glad you're okay.

Gee, sounds as if Canadian politics is almost as bad as American politics. Best wishes, Erin."

Yeah, the Conservative Party has the majority government... but New Democratic Party has enough votes that if they are able to strike a deal with the Liberals it might be a reasonable 4 years... I am just happy the Green Party won out in my area... an astounding 9700 votes to 7500 (aproximantly) for the Conservatives... it's confusing but it gets more air time than Hockey... Ironically!

TY Charly. Hope your family had a good day and all our friends here. My husband made smoked ribs (dry rub for me and rub and sauce for all the others). Yummmmmmmm

BTW Charly, my father and both grandfathers were named Charles. I've never heard of anyone else having that situation. I also have an uncle, nephew and 2 cousins named Charles. So I didn't use it for MY kids. lol But I like the name.

I agree Charly, though I find my life embarassingly busy these days pre-planning for Summer camp. I get home and I am more interested in reading than chatting most nights... Ironic? slightly...

What makes a book bad?

Most books start off ok or even great but sag in the middle and end predictably or lousy. I had an agent tell me once she could tell from the first sentence or paragraph whether the manuscript was publishable or not. She even proved it at one of my seminars.

I don't know what makes a book bad. I find most "chick-lit" TERRIBLE! I have been so upset about Something Borrowed that it is almost embarassing to admit I paid for it!

I think it is all in the formula, if a book has a standard conceptual formula then it had better have a really fresh take of said formula to really be good.

But I also think that publishers are trained to see a bad novel from the first page... and others are just willing to publish a book simply because someone out there will read it...

And don't forget the vanity presses or self-publishing.

Self-published books may or may not be "bad;" they just aren't vetted by a publisher, so if we don't have some reviews or other knowledge to go on, we're taking a chance on their quality. But the same can be said for books that have been vetted; I've read some of the latter that were real wastes of the trees, too! (And I don't mean just not to my personal taste; I mean poorly and amateurishly written.) On the other hand, some books I really liked have been self-published, or were originally self-published before being picked up by publishers.

Syra, I can't see how the first sentence test can work all the time. Someone could work hard crafting an excellent first sentence--or even chapter--and then go to pieces with the rest.
While I'm as opinionated as (or more so than) the next person about books, I still know it's all subjective.
I do think there will come a day, probably not too far in the future, where self-publishing's going to hit critical mass with too many badly written stories by people too arrogant to know better.

Absolutely (re 2nd paragraph).

First: I sometimes read the first paragraph of a book before I buy it unless it is my usual authors or a recommendation that I trust. But occasionally I am disappointed. Guess it just comes down to individual taste. But the agent's seminar was interesting because she explained what she thought of the sentence and how it showed the author's ability hidden there.

Well, I like to read the first page, too, to get a taste of the style. There are things I cannot abide, and if they're on the first page, it probably won't get much better for me.

Didn't know where else to put this, but I wanted to share. While this is funny, it's also sadly true of many people in real life.
I'm a fan of the show Castle, and I was re-watching an episode from the first season. The scenario is that the main character (Richard Castle, mystery writer, for those of you who don't know) is on the phone with his mother (Martha Rogers, a quite superficial career character actress). She has called him to tell him that she hasn't seen anyone buying his new book while she's in a bookstore.
Castle: Mother, what are you doing in a bookstore?
Martha: Oh, I got hungry, so I came in for a pastry.
(I was just surprised she didn't say she was there for a latte.)

lol sounds familiar. Can't remember all the booksignings I set up and very few ppl showed up.

Of course, mother's are expecting a free signed copy from their children, right?????

"Right back at ya," Charly!

Happy Memorial Day and thanks to all the vets and currently serving service men and women.

Let me join in wishing each and everyone a happy and safe Memorial Day; and thanks to all those who serve.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July weekend!

I have next week off from work, so Barb and I will soon be headed up to the Fulks Run area to spend some time with family. We plan to head out on Sunday morning, very early so as to attend church up there later in the morning. We're looking forward to a major flea market scheduled for July 4! While we're gone, as usual, I'll be offline; but I'll be thinking about you folks.

Thanks for the greetings, Werner. :) I'll be working but hopefully will catch some fireworks at least, which I still enjoy as much as ever.

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

I second that Charly (albeit shyly)