Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley Office
For our last Favorite Five day, I thought we’d share our favorite “classic” writers. It begs the question, what makes one classic? I’m not sure I have an answer to that but I’ve taught a year-long class on Classic Christian Literature and another three month class on the devotional classics and I just added those whose work has stood the test of time. I’d put several twentieth century writers in this group as well and I think we could argue for some of our contemporaries but only time will tell.
Here are my five favorites. You can tell that I prefer spirituality for my nonfiction writing.
C. S. Lewis— I know he’s almost contemporary but it’s obvious that his work is in the classic category
G. K. Chesterton— No one comes at things the way he does. I’ve always considered him a good-natured spiritual uncle of sorts.
John Bunyan— I came to know him when I wrote a book, Tinker’s Daughter, about his ten-year-old daughter Mary. Pilgrim’s Progress has still been outsold by only one book– The Bible.
St. Julian of Norwich— this anonymous medieval nun’s writings about our longing for God would be enough to meditate on for years.
Charles Spurgeon— his writings always speak to me.
Your classic writers may not be in the category of spirituality– my favorite. There are wonderful memoir writers, self-help gurus, even cookbook writers (who could forget Julia Child?) who may be among your favorites. So, tell us, who would you choose for your Favorite Five?
By Wendy Lawton on Aug 20, 2010 in Blog, Nonfiction, Reading | 5 Comments
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley Office
This one is a little easier for me since one of our criteria is books that changed our lives. Here are my five:
Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis— This book started me on a quest to read (and collect) every book by and about C. S. Lewis. I found that the things he said resonated with me. In fact, he could put into words ideas I had not been able to express.
Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle— I’ve read and reread this book so many times I’m on my second copy.
Prayer by Richard Foster— This book changed my life. It came at a transition time and opened up a whole new world for me.
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott— This book is filled with rich examples of the Hound of Heaven– the God who pursues.
Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh— Simple seaside devotions to chew on for a lifetime.
I promised when I started on Monday I would not include friends or clients’ books otherwise I would have added Magnificent Prayer by Nick Harrison. I’ve used it twice fror yearly devotions and it never gets old.
Those are my Favorite Five. What are yours?
By Wendy Lawton on Aug 19, 2010 in Blog, Nonfiction, Reading | 7 Comments
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley Office
Yesterday we had such fun talking about our entertainment reading. And that’s not to say that some of those writers are not intellectual or literary– it’s just that those are the books we turn to when we want to escape. Today let’s chose our all-time Favorite Five novels. These are the books we couldn’t stop thinking about– the books that we will read and reread. The books that changed our lives.
For me, this is the most difficult choice. Only five? I could do twenty-five and still not cover all my favorites. and some I just read this year may supplant others on this list (like The Help) but it’s too early to tell. So here goes:
And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer— when this book came out in 1982 it was the talk of the publishing industry. The author was 88 years old and had been writing the book for decades. For me this book was like the Our Town. It gave me, as a young women, my first glimpse of the passages of life.
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett— a masterpiece. Tom the builder is as real to me as many of the people in my life.
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. It’s a story of faith and seeking the lost one.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. No explanation needed.
Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. A southern novel with strong women protagonists combined with a coming-of-age story– all the elements I love most.
So those are my Favorite Fives for right now. What are yours?
By Wendy Lawton on Aug 18, 2010 in Blog, Fiction, Reading | 11 Comments
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley Office
When we’re talking about favorite books it can get pretty intellectual. Too often we feel a kind of literary performance anxiety– like if we don’t name an artful enough book, we’ll somehow end up looking like a lowbrow. I want to get around that in today’s Favorite Five. Before we move on to our five favorite novels I want to choose our five favorite novelists– those writers we turn to when we want a purely enjoyable read or an escape. For me it’s easy, I just look at my iPad or Kindle. They contain the books I purchased when a plane was delayed, I was half brain-dead from a conference, and I wanted nothing more than to have someone tell me a story. (more…)
By Wendy Lawton on Aug 17, 2010 in Blog, Fiction, Reading | 16 Comments
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley Office
Last time I blogged I promised you, dear readers, that for just this once I would refrain from blogging about gruesome realities like Career Killers, Kisses of Death, QueryFails or Worst Case Scenarios. I asked for your suggestions of happy things I could blog about. I considered puppies and babies but I finally settled on one of our favorite things: books.
I love books. Had I lived in Victorian times I’d have been considered a bluestocking for my devotion to books. Happily, we can now indulge in books without society’s censure.
So for this week, we’re going to attempt the near-impossible task of coming up with our Favorite Fives in five different categories. I had to make one ground rule for me– it can’t be a book by one of my clients or one of my friends. So today let’s share our favorite five children’s books. This includes picture books, middle grade and young adult– both current and classic. Yep. Only five. (more…)
By Wendy Lawton on Aug 16, 2010 in Blog, Children's books, Fiction, Reading, Teen books | 24 Comments
Blogger: Rachel Kent
Location: Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers’ Conference, Philadelphia, PA
Many writers write in a specific genre for a specific audience. They’re able to follow the guidelines for writing in that genre well, and it comes naturally. Sometimes authors want to step out of their genre to try something new or to write what’s on their heart at the time.
Do you think a writer can break out of a genre? If so, how? If not, why?
I look forward to reading your comments!
By Rachel Zurakowski on Aug 13, 2010 in Authors, Blog, Marketing & Publicity, Writing Craft | 8 Comments
Blogger: Rachel Kent
Location: Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers’ Conference, Philadelphia, PA
When a writer creates a book that’s outside the boundaries established for a genre, the book can lose its place in the market. But this can be a successful technique in a few, rare cases.
One instance that comes to mind is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This book isn’t a true Jane Austen-style story, and it isn’t horror, but because of the book’s tongue-in-cheek humor, it has sold well. The books that cross genres and do well typically need to have a little something extra to help reach the right audience. In Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, it was the humor and the Jane Austen connection. (more…)
By Rachel Zurakowski on Aug 12, 2010 in Blog, Fiction, Publishers, Writing Craft | 8 Comments
Blogger: Rachel Kent
Location: Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers’ Conference; Philadelphia, PA
Genres establish certain rules for how books should be written. For example, a romance novel should start with the female perspective, and the male and female protagonists should meet in the first chapter. Romances are also told with the protagonists’ viewpoints alternating.
Now, some of these genre rules can be broken, but stepping out from the established formula can have its consequences. The reader of a particular genre has been trained to expect the formula. Surprising the reader can be a good thing, but most of the time it’s off-putting. We’ll be talking about the pros and cons of breaking out of the formula tomorrow.
There’s no way I can cover all of the genre rules, but I’d like to point out some others that I’ve spotted in my reading: (more…)
By Rachel Zurakowski on Aug 11, 2010 in Blog, Writing Craft | 8 Comments
Blogger: Rachel Kent
Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
As you saw from yesterday’s example, the cover of a book alone usually shows the reader what genre the book falls under. That’s one of the benefits of genre; the title and cover align with the story to help the reader identify the genre. This is a “truth” that’s ingrained in each reader. If a reader enjoys a particular genre, he’s going to look for a certain tone on the cover, a fitting title, and even a particular type of font on the cover and title page.
A horror novel should never be called Waterfalls of Love, and a flowing, cursive script should not be used to write that horror novel’s title and author’s name on the cover. Genres demand a certain “look.” Waterfalls of Blood is an appropriate title for a horror novel, and I’m sure you can all imagine the cover. Ew. (more…)
By Rachel Zurakowski on Aug 10, 2010 in Blog, Marketing & Publicity, Publishers, Reading | 9 Comments
Blogger: Rachel Kent (formerly Rachel Zurakowski)
Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Hi, everyone! I’m back. 
Last month Michelle (who is awesome) took over my week of blogging for me while I was on my honeymoon.
This week, I’d like to discuss genre. Have you ever imagined what a bookstore would look like if books weren’t organized by genre? I imagine the books would be alphabetized by authors’ last names all around the store. The store would need little arrows on the ground to point out how to get from A to Z!
Beyond the organization of the bookstore or library, what is the purpose of genre?
Genre allows the reader to find the book he or she is interested in reading. It’s a way of cataloging books so a reader knows what to expect. If you’ve read a romantic suspense and enjoyed it, you’re likely to be interested in more romantic suspense books and so on.
However, genres go beyond just categorizing books; they actually establish rules for the books under the genre. We’ll be discussing those rules this week. A writer and publishing house must follow the unspoken rules to best reach the audience with the book. Breaking the genre rules can have interesting results, and I look forward to discussing the consequences of rule breaking with you as well. Genre is so ingrained in us that, as writers, following many of the rules comes naturally; as readers we’re practically programed to recognize genre. (more…)
By Rachel Zurakowski on Aug 9, 2010 in Authors, Blog, Marketing & Publicity, Writing Craft | 24 Comments
