mary e. pearson

The Miles Between ARCS are on their way to New York after criss-crossing the country and spending some time in some pretty wild and beautiful places. Thirteen states in all! Hooray road-trip bloggers! Here's a map that shows them all.


visited 13 states (26%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or Like this? try: Fridge Poetry


I also made a map of the states I have visited. I have a lot to go.


visited 19 states (38%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or website vertaling duits?


I regret that I have never been to Arkansas, my dad's home state. My mother, who was from Chicago, says it is absolutely beautiful with so many trees you couldn't walk between them.

So which states have you visited? Post your map on your blog and let me know. Also, which state have you NOT visited that you really wish you could?

I grabbed this from beckylevine

Three jobs I have had in my life:
1. Baker
2. Artist
3. Teacher

Three places I have lived:
1. Lakewood, CA
2. Santa Ana, CA
3. Encinitas, CA

Three TV Shows That I Watch
1. 60 Minutes 
2. Two and a Half Men
3. Boston Legal 

Three Places I Have Been
1.  Down in a sewer chasing ducks
2.  In an emergency room for a black widow bite
3.  In the middle of Lake Powell during their storm of the century

oh, you mean PLACES
1. Austria
2. Provence
3. Matzatlan

Three People Who Email Me Regularly
1. Some fellow in Nigeria who thinks I am so "dear"
2. A pharmacy who thinks I have body parts that I don't have (every freaking day)
3. PW Daily

Three of My Favorite Foods
1. Salads
2. Burritos
3. Ice Cream

Three People I Think Will Respond
1.  I think almost everyone already has.
2.  If you are the lone ranger,
3.  then this is your chance 

Three Things I am Looking Forward To
1.  Paris and meeting the French publisher of JENNA next week!
2.  Beginning a new writing project!
3.  San Antonio and NCTE/ALAN!

I've noticed this for a long time, but New Yorkers, and maybe the rest of the country, seems to spend a fortune on shoes.

This morning on the Today show they were talking about Saks new shoe department that has something like 100,000 pair of shoes--and I'm sure they all cost something equal to a downpayment on a house.

Both of these pair from Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus are over $500. I think I have broken a hundred dollars on a pair of shoes, twice in my life--and then I felt guilty.
Is this an East coast vs. West Coast phenomena? Yes, us Californians do have Payless and flip flops, but even so, when I wear heels I don't lay out that kind of money.

What is the most you've ever spent on a pair of shoes? (be brave--and honest!)

Do you hear voices?
Come on. Admit. You do. Well at least some of you do and it's not because you forgot to take your meds.

A couple of weeks ago I was a guest at the ALAN Book Club chat and someone asked me how I first got the idea for A Room on Lorelei Street, and I explained I heard a voice and saw am image (egads, now I'm seeing things too) and from there I listened to the voice to find out what the character's story was.

I know there are a lot of authors who have worked on stories this way and I think virtually all authors at some point have had to pull over while driving and write dialogue down on a napkin because a whole string of voices started talking when they least expected it.

When I was rereading Art and Fear recently I came across a passage that speaks to this:

"Many fiction writers, for instance, discover early on that making detailed plot outlines is an exercise in futility; as actual writing progresses, characters increasingly take on a life of their own, sometimes to the point that the writer is as surprised as the eventual reader by what their creations say and do."

To which I can add a hearty, yes.

So the question came up from one of the chat guests, "Do you think students can be taught to hear voices, too?" I had lots of thoughts on this both at the chat and afterwards, but my feeling was yes. You can teach students to hear voices. After all, don't we in a sense teach ourselves over time to be sensitive to those whispers?

What are your thoughts? Do you hear voices? Is it possible to teach this approach to writing? Or is it just a matter of either you are a hearer of voices or you aren't?

Here are the results of yesterday's poll about whether you read or skip/skim prologues:

________________________________

Yes, I read them (and a couple of you compulsively so, but I won't mention any names) - 9

No, I skip/skim them - 6

Inbetweeners/Read them but don't like them - 3
________________________________

So, if you bunch the skip/skimmers with the inbetweeners, it seems we would have a tie.

Personally, I have never been a big fan of prologues. I'm not sure why. Maybe I am just eager to get to the "real" story? But I was considering it for my current project because it would solve a couple of problems for me. Kind of what Jo mentioned, stuff that happened before the MC was in the picture. But I think I can take care of it without a prologue.

It seems that most of you agree that teenagers at least, for the most part don't read them. If I were to add one, that actually makes me glad in some ways, because it would only be there for the obsessive compulsive who have to know ; )

Marlene brought up something interesting: that she can't think of any particularly memorable prologues. I know we often focus on the opening lines of books, but those don't usually seem to be prologues, but instead, first chapters.

Can anyone think of any knockout opening lines in prologues, or are they strictly utilitarian?

I am deep in final revisions and a question has come up.

Do you read prologues or skip/skim them?

(and if I don't know you, can you tell me if you are an adult or a teen?)

Every year about this time, I hear someone say, "This has been a bad year for books," or "Slim pickings this year."

Do you think that is true, or are there simply some years that aren't good for that particular reader?