Thursday, February 14, 2008

2 Memes - 10 Ways to Tell I Wrote that Book (the one you rushed out and spent full-price to buy) and a Non-Fiction Meme



Chris of Stuff As Dreams Are Made On tagged me for one meme, "10 Ways to Tell a Book Was Written by Me" and then CJ of My Year of Reading Seriously Tagged me for a "Non-Fiction Meme", so I'm going to knock those out in one whack. And, then, I have to actually get dressed and go somewhere. Imagine that.

10 Ways To Tell A Book Was Written By Me

1. It will either have been written in 30 days or it will be unfinished and will essentially drag on, forever, as a part of my life; e.g.: "that paramedic novel . . . you know, the one I almost finished in 1997?"

2. It will have started with a single sentence and then progressed from there (as opposed to a well-formed idea . . . with a plot) or the idea will have arrived in the form of an astoundingly vivid dream that probably scared the peawaddin' out of me.

3. Someone's going to get hurt. I particularly love bonking my characters on the head, but I'm trying really hard to just trip them or get someone to shoot at them, these days. Laser guns are enormously fun.

4. The dialogue will rock. I've been told my dialogue is very realistic. This is humorous, of course, because I'm so seldom in the presence of other humans. Unless you count my family and we're all a little shy on acquaintance with reality.

5. This will surprise you (no, it won't; I'm kidding): the main characters will always have a sense of humor and tend to either poke fun at each other or do exasperating or weird things.

6. I can't even guess at what genre it'll be. You could end up with a sci-fi, a suspense, a romantic comedy, or a generic paranormal story.

7. It will not be a literary masterpiece. Nobody will use the words "tour de force" (thank goodness; that expression is so overused).

8. It will not have a pink cover. I'd seriously put my foot down on this point.

9. The novel will not be entirely my doing. I'll get a lot of help from people who are experts in whatever subject matter the novel involves.

10. It will take place someplace other than the Deep South because I just cannot get the hang of the way people speak, around here.

Wow, that was a bit more difficult than I expected. I actually had to go ahead and get dressed, run to the Big City, drop off my husband at the dental school, shop, pick up said husband, snatch
some lunch, drive to the school, scream all the way home (kiddo was driving -- oh, baby, we have got to work on those turns), feed the cat, and eat an almond cloud cookie (yes, it was every bit as good as it sounds). And, then I did the meme. Can I read now?

Nope, darn it, I can't because I must go on. Anyone who has managed to read this far and for whom the concept of writing their own version of the meme appeals . . . go get 'em.

Non-Fiction Meme

This one's CJ's doing. CJ was tagged by Guatami, who created the meme and whom I have got to add to my sidebar. Someone remind me.

a). What issues/topic interests you most--non-fiction, i.e, cooking, knitting, stitching, there are infinite topics that has nothing to do with novels?

A better question would be what doesn't interest me. Because, honestly, there are very few topics I can think of that I'm not willing to read about (and sometimes I just ignore myself and read them, anyway). I have books on gardening, cooking, food, animals, science, scuba diving, climbing, sculpture, home decorating, geography, geology, history, numerous crafts, sailing, writing, travel/adventure/exploration, war, politics, photography, architecture, medicine, paleontology . . . geez, you name it.

b). Would you like to review books concerning those?

Oh, sure.

c). Would you like to be paid or do it as interest or hobby? Tell reasons for what ever you choose.

It would be nice to be paid for something before I die, yes, thank you.

d). Would you recommend those to your friends and how?

I recommend books to specific people based on what I know of their interests and I recommend books, here. So, yes, I do and I have. All the time.

e). If you have already done something like this, link it to your post.

A war memoir I gave a 5/5 rating and which I highly recommend to anyone who likes reading about WWII.

f). Please don't forget to link back here or whoever tags you.

Hi Guatami! I linked at the top. Have a happy day!

Who wants to do this one? The following people are obviously aching to join in (and if not, totally allowed to ignore the tagging):

Kookiejar
Andi
SuziQ
The Stephanie who Confesses
The Stephanie who Went to China, recently
Bybee
Book Nook Les
Nik of Keep this on the DL
Nat
Candlelit Amy

This could be really fun. I agree with CJ that we don't seem to discuss nonfiction, around here, very often.

Gotta go. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!!

Mouse Bar, above, came from Art By Cheryl. Sorry, the HTML thing is eluding me. I need a nap.

18 comments:

  1. Oops, actually I didn't tag you for "10 Ways to Tell a Book Was Written by Me." I haven't done that one yet. But I might now!

    Will post my answers to the other one tomorrow at work when I'm being worthless.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Urk. I was afraid of that, Andi. You tagged me for some writerly meme and I never marked it down. No wonder I couldn't remember your answers! Consider yourself tagged. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3:51 AM

    I think I am going to like the book written by you. Sounds like my kind of read. I liked characters to be bonked out.

    As for the non-fiction one, I find that you have a vast and varied interest. I too can read anything which is not technical.

    Thanks for doing the meme!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy Day-after Valentine's! Thanks for tagging me for the meme. Sometimes I steal memes and tag myself.

    p.s. Thanks for tagging me for the you-make-my-day award. It made my day that I make your day. BTW I'll probably tag you right back.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are right, Bookfool, we don't talk about nonfiction enough around here. I accept your tag. Will make a good post for a Friday, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Whew!! Your book sounds right up my alley--I love a little sarcastic humor (or a lot of sarcastic humor).

    We don't talk about a lot of non-fiction--do we read a lot of non-fiction? I don't really. There are lots of things that interest me, but I don't fare well with non-fiction books. I'll probably do this meme this weekend sometime.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Guatami,

    LOL on the "bonked out" comment. I'll let you know when I get published, so you can rush right out to get a copy. :)

    I enjoyed the NF meme. It's not something I've given a lot of thought, lately, apart from observing that I've actually read quite a bit of Non-Fiction, this year. I read NF that is more entertaining than technical, for the most part. Textbooks still put me to sleep.

    Hi Nikki!

    Why, thank you. I hope you had a good day, in spite of your sweetie's absence. I'm keeping you busy with all this tagging, aren't I? You do make my day. :)

    Kookie,

    You said that will make a good post for Friday and I'm so completely out of touch that I had this vague calendar image of Friday, several days away. I need to get a grip. LOL I'll bop over to see if you've posted. I know a little about your NF reading, but not much. :)

    Trish,

    Thanks! I'll let you know when those publishers come knocking at my door, begging for me to write a nice, snarky book without a pink cover.

    Well, some of us read a good deal of NF, but a lot of people shy away from it. Sometimes I wonder if that has to do with the dry textbooks of our youth. I love a well-written, readable work of Non-Fiction, but I remember having to drink cokes, pinch myself and walk around a lot to stay awake for textbook reading in college. My husband said I was in the wrong field, though. There may be some truth to that. I'll look forward to your version of the meme. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous2:54 PM

    Non fiction does get a bad rap.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Carrie,

    You should definitely do this meme. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am planning a double meme day for tomorrow with the same two memes. :-)

    I definitely understand the 30 day time limit. If you let too much time pass, you might have moved onto something else and forgotten where you left off.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have collected a few books of non-fiction but I rarely seem to get around to reading them. Maybe Joy will do another Non-Fiction Challenge this year to get me off my butt where NF is concerned.
    As for your book, I look forward to the day when I can actually read it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh cool. Thanks for the tag!! I have to put a little thought into this one. Until recently, I haven't been a big non-fiction reader.

    I love your answers!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wendy,

    Oh, boy! I'll have to come see your memes. :)

    Well, the 30-day thing refers to NaNoWriMo. I finished my first novel thanks to the extra kick in the patootie that NaNo gave me. I prefer the idea of shutting off my internal editor for 30 days to letting the work drag on, though. I do have that tendency to move on to other ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for the tag! I plan to do this meme and the one Heather tagged me for last month. I'm caught up on my book reviews and have no excuse to not partake in the memes. I also have a few awards to acknowledge... I'm such a bad blogger!

    Hope you survive all those outings with your kiddo. I don't know if it ever gets any easier, though. Mine is 24 and her driving still scares me! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nat,

    I think that's pretty typical -- a lot of people have a minor aversion to Non-Fiction. Yep, that's what Joy's challenge was great for. I didn't join because I regularly read quite a bit of NF, these days.

    Okay, so I'd better get back to work on a book then, yes? Thanks for saying you'd read it. :)

    Stephanie,

    It took me many years to get over my hang-up with Non-Fiction and start actually reading the books I'd collected. There are some great NF books; I think it requires a little care and flipping-through to make sure you're not buying something too dry or that doesn't fit your taste in spite of its appeal. And, thank you! :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Les,

    You're welcome. And, I know what you mean. I find that I often end up with a backlog of memes to accomplish, on top of all the book reviews. I'm actually 6 reviews behind, now, so I'm going to have to go for mini-reviews, I think. Hope you have fun with the meme. :)

    Well, the youngster has crashed and it's raining, so the driving practice will have to wait. Funny, when he was an infant he never slept but as a teenager he needs the odd nap. He's so cute, all sprawled out on the futon. Yeah, Daniel's driving still terrifies me and he's 23. He drives with one hand at the top of the wheel. Shiver.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I enjoyed reading your nonfiction confession. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Why, thank you, Maggie. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog! I use comment moderation because apparently my blog is a spam magnet. Don't worry. If you're not a robot, your comment will eventually show up and I will respond, with a few exceptions. If a comment smacks of advertising, contains a dubious link or is offensive, it will be deleted. I love to hear from real people! I'm a really chatty gal and I love your comments!