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This Week's Headlines - 06/23/2010
Attention: WritersNewsWeekly is preparing a series on the impact childhood books have on their young readers. If you’re an author interested in being interviewed, or if you think you have a unique perspective on the topic, contact us at submissions@writersnewsweekly.com.
Is there a writer out there who has the perfect situation? I mean, besides your basic hairdresser/reality TV star/writer?
If it’s not one difficulty, it’s another. There’s the mom whose writing time is constantly interrupted by the toddlers who insist upon regular care and maintenance. Or the office worker who gets up at four in the morning to write-and then gets fired because he falls asleep on the job. And of course, there’s the diligent would-be novelist who manages to sandwich in fifteen minutes of writing a day, including Christmas. Then, when this writer’s decade-in-the-making opus is finally completed, a truck slams into her, just as she’s dropping it in the mailbox. “Save my manuscript!” she hollers from the ambulance. Such is the writer’s lot in life.
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
By Elizabeth Milo
I find it immensely satisfying to read a book that is on one of those “100 Books You Must Read at Some Point in Your Life” lists. If you come across one someday, scan the list for the title The Woman in White. Though it may not be the most recognizable title on the list, it is one you should certainly check off—it’s a classic that just hasn’t reached the same level of fame as its canonical cousins. Wilkie Collins was a master of character voice and plot, and his crowning achievement, The Woman in White, is a very entertaining read. It retains the Victorian charm of its time without sacrificing the modern elements which make it so accessible to a contemporary reader.
The Changing Face of the English Language
Stay-at-home moms and collegiate educators alike are crying out in concern that the English language is decaying right before our very ears. For years there has been a growing panic across the nation that our language is deteriorating into something unrecognizable, and quite frankly, bad. Those who bewail the loudest that the sky is falling are concerned that as slang, “abrevs,” and dangling participles enter the language, English will become something decrepit and twisted. The sensation that is sweeping the nation, though, is founded on some misguided points.
