What has 107, 101, 2 and 24 to do with 2009?

Almost the end of 2009, and I am facing it with very mixed feelings. It has been a year when family issues, medical issues and work issues have overwhelmed the literature, radio and friendship aspects of the past 365 days.

From the very start of the year leading up to my major back surgery until today when my youngest son was back in hospital, there has hardly been a day go by when one of the family was not sick or at the dentist, doctors, doing physiotherapist or at the chiropractor.

So let's forget about that part, let’s look at the good aspects of 2009.

What has 107, 101, 2 and 24 to do with 2009?

"107" that is the total reviews my book "Across the Pond" has received at Amazon since it first came out. I am so totally overwhelmed with the words of support, encouragement and the fact that so many people have enjoyed the book. As many writer guest on my radio show have stated, receiving reviews or an email knowing that a reader has enjoyed your work, makes it all worthwhile!

“101” is the total number of “A Book and a Chat” radio shows I have presented this year. I have had so much fun doing the shows, learnt much and made some great friends. Over the year I’ve had guests from central Europe, Australia and England as well as Canada and the US. I’ve had calls from guests parked on the side of roads, half way up hillsides, in restaurants and in the middle of forests. I can honestly say through all the time, I have enjoyed myself and from the feedback and the requests for return visits so have the people so have my guests.

“2” is the number of top ten books for 2009 that “Across the Pond” has appeared on during December, I am so shocked. As anybody knows who has listened to me chatting on the radio either as a host or a guest, I don’t class myself as a writer, I am know literary genius, just a humble story teller.

Locations of top ten mentions:

http://www.pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2009/comments_12/ten_best_arcs_of_2009.html

http://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/give-the-gift-of-reading-this-holiday-season

“24” is a number I’m not quite so proud of. It the meager number of chapters I have managed to write for the follow up to “Across the Pond” a book called “Across the Pond and Back Again”. This would be even less if it was not for the support, encouragement and almost bullying (I need it) I have received from a couple of readers whom I am now proud to call friends. Finally though I seem to be getting back into the stride of things and home to get the book written over the next few months.

My final blog of 2009 tomorrow I’ll be sharing with you all an event I will be running through January, that is my YA RADIO MONTH.

So check out tomorrows blog.

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

Help with Writing Terms

While on a radio show yesterday somebody asked what I publicist does?

My first image was of a person who went from Pub to Pub listing the various beers they sold.

This got me thinking about other literary terms and meanings that perhaps people use all the time, but do not know 100% what they mean, so here are my examples.

Elements of a Story
Now for the technical stuff! Generally speaking, teachers want to ensure that their students learn to write a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Additionally, it's important for students to include all the elements that complete the structure of a story. Chandler lists developed characters, a defined plot with climax and conflict, a descriptive setting, and a theme as the main elements. Here's a more in-depth look at what goes into creating a story:

Genre — A genre is a category of writing that has a particular kind of content or structure, such as narrative, mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. When your child reaches this stage of conjuring his own story, visit Writing With Writers for ideas about how to write in specific genres.

Characters — In general, characters are human, but can also be animals, aliens, and even the landscape!

Point-of-view — The point-of-view refers to the narrator who relates the story to the reader. The narrator, often (but not necessarily) a character in the story, is the eyes, ears, and voice of the story. The three major points-of-view are:

* 1st person, or a story told by "I."
* 2nd person, or a story addressed to "you."
* 3rd person, or a story in which the story the characters are "he" and "she," and the narrator is not usually a character.


Plot — Specifically, the plot is the sequence in which the writer arranges the events for the story:

* Exposition: The beginning of the story, which introduces the characters and setting; also introduces the conflict, for which the action of the story will take place.
* Rising Action: The majority of the plot takes place here. Dialogue, scenes, character interaction, descriptions, building tension, and more occur here. Think of the last book you read — the rising action took up most of the pages of that book.
* Climax: The most exciting part of the story, usually where the conflict is resolved.
* Falling Action: The aftermath of the climax, where the remainder of the story falls into place and the reader's questions are answered.
* Resolution: The end; all the loose ends are tied up.

Setting — Here is where the story takes place. Whether it's grandma's farm, a boat in the Atlantic Ocean, outer space, or simply a backyard, the setting should have plenty of details. It helps a reader imagine what's happening.

Theme — A theme is a unifying motif or "message" of a story.

Key Terms
As your child gets older, you may begin to hear some of the following terms in conjunction with his assignments. Refer back to this glossary as needed!

Allegory — An extended metaphor that presents a subject (a moral, and idea, etc.) disguised as something else (characters, landscape, etc). A famous example is The Allegory of the Cave, in which Plato used a story about prisoners in a cave to interpret ordinary objects.

Abstract — Something that exists in theory rather than reality; can also refer to a quality or condition rather than to specific detail. An abstract description relies on impressions and lacks the specific, concrete detail that a reader can imagine.

Analogy — A figure of speech that compares, often in the form of a simile or metaphor. Often used in explanations, analogy expresses a correspondence, equivalence, or parallelism between two things due to an element that they share. Here's a funny analogy about kids' speaking habits: Her vocabulary was as bad as, you know, like, whatever.

Antagonist — Any character in a story that opposes the efforts of the hero or main character (see Protagonist).

Concrete — A material object or specific tangible detail, rather than an abstract state, quality, or generality. A concrete description is one that contains specific details that the reader can easily visualize or imagine.

Dialogue — A conversation in literature. Dialogue generally refers to anything spoken by a character, even if the character is not actually speaking to anyone or having a conversation. Sometimes the term is broadened to include direct thoughts from a character.

Diction — The use of words, including range of vocabulary, the choice of wording, word order, and style of use.

Epilogue — An appendix to a text or other work intended to wrap up any last loose ends of the plot.

Figure of speech — An expressive use of language, such as a metaphor or pun, used to suggest an image or comparison. In a figure of speech, words are not used literally.

Hyperbole — Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration for emphasis (such as referring to something as "the best ever"), not meant to be taken literally. If used too often, hyperbole loses effect.

Imagery — The sensory detail (not just visual) referring more specifically to figures of speech, which produce mental images for the reader.

Motif — A recurring image, object, idea, situation, feature, or phrase that helps unify a piece of writing. Motif can be also be used to refer to a situation common across many works, such as the "heroic quest" story or the "rags-to-riches" tale.

Oxymoron — A figure of speech combining contradictory words for descriptive purposes. An example: Jumbo shrimp.

Prologue — The preface or introduction to a story.

Protagonist — The main character in a literary work; the hero.

Writer's Block — An unfortunate condition! It refers to when a writer is unable to continue writing because his brain feels "blocked." If this happens when your child is working on a story, encourage him to go outside and play, exercise, or talk to friends until inspiration returns.

Poetry
Fiction isn't the only kind of creative writing! Rhyme your way over to our Poetry Pro glossary to get familiar with poetic terms, and check out these poetry collections for independent readers.


Barry Eva (Storyheart)
Author of "Across the Pond"

Book Site:http://across-t-pond.com
Follow my daily blog at: http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com
Follow my Blog Talk Radio Show at :http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Across-the-Pond
Amazon Reviews: http://tinyurl.com/o7sokp

Book Promotion on a Budget and "no shows"

Today on my book radio show "A BOOK AND A CHAT" my guest did not show. While I'm sure there must be a good reason, I was not as prepared as perhaps I should have been as I did receive confirmation from my guests agent.

So what do you do?

After a brief outline of the guest and her book, hoping that she would dial in eventually, I went through the guests and events over the last two weeks, as well as some sporting items that have been going on today and mentioning my UK Sunday blog which tomorrow will be about "BIG BEN". To tourists this is the clock tower which is part of the "House of Parliament" as well as being one of the best known landmarks of London. However.. you are wrong... that is not Big Ben. Read tomorrows Sunday blog to find out all the details.

Okay so that was ten minutes of the show, so what did I talk about for the other twenty?

The answer is what I intend to blog all next week.

"BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET"

Each day next week I will be talking about various ways you can save while helping your book promotion. I wrote this document earlier in the week working on all the various items I have found since my book has come out. It was suggested I make it into an E Book, perhaps to make some money, but to me that went against the whole idea of why I was writing the document.

So starting Next Monday each day through the week I will be trying to offer help for any author, writer or reader as to ways of promoting your book without spending a fortune.

needless to say I got quite into it on the radio show and you can here some of what will be shared on today's "BOOK AND A CHAT with Storyheart"

PLEASE... if you are a writer, reader, author, story teller etc PASS THE WORD about next weeks blog, it is all to help people by items I have learned and I will tell it as it is. No flowery words, in a language that people can understand.

So FOLLOW NEXT WEEKS BLOG - BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET

SUNDAYS UK BLOG - BIG BEN





Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
"Across the Pond"

Book Site:http://across-t-pond.com
Follow my daily blog at: http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com
Follow my Blog Talk Radio Show at :http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Across-the-Pond
Amazon Reviews: http://tinyurl.com/o7sokpGuardian