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What I'm writing in YEAR OF THE DOG

I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
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Grace Livingston Hill

I started a discussion on Goodreads:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/583944-grace-livingston-hill

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DaisyTea said…
The Enchanted Barn is one of the most beautiful stories GLH wrote!
I also really enjoyed Marcia Schuyler, Man of the Desert, Aunt Crete's Emancipation, Matched Pearls, and......oh! so very, very many!
I grew up on Grace Livingston Hill & have most likely read most of them!
Funny thing, I've been in the mood to read those again, too! <3
Mon Jun 20, 09:49:00 PM 2011
Camy Tang said…
I love The Enchanted Barn, too! And all those other ones you mentioned... I just recently got The Enchanted Barn on ebook and read it on my Nook (I bought an edited version, not the free Google Books version because there are too many typos). It was so wonderful! Now I can carry it wherever I go!
Tue Jun 21, 02:16:00 PM 2011
DaisyTea said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tue Jun 21, 09:04:00 PM 2011
DaisyTea said…
:) I haven't started reading books on Kindle or Nook yet, but it's very tempting. I've always just loved *paper* ya know? But the thought of carrying around a whole library is so ... delicious!!!

The thing about The Enchanted Barn - and some of her others - is that I can still "see" the settings and characters, even though I haven't read them for a long time. I'm glad I grew up on such tasteful romance stories. ♡
Tue Jun 21, 09:24:00 PM 2011
Camy Tang said…
It IS delicious! What a great word to describe it! Especially if I'm traveling somewhere, it's so nice to know that even though I might be almost at the end of one book, I have hundreds more to choose from and I will never be without something to read. You know how stressful that can be, right???

Yes, I feel the same way about The Enchanted Barn!
Tue Jun 21, 10:03:00 PM 2011
DaisyTea said…
I **totally** know that feeling! Going through word-withdrawals is no fun when you're on a vacation or airplane or somewhere you cannot easily access a bookstore or library!!!

Tell me, do you have a version of the Bible on your Nook as well? Really, though, I like to have *that* in paper and leather -- I'm an Underliner! :)
Wed Jun 22, 09:45:00 AM 2011
Camy Tang said…
I do have a Bible on my Nook! It's great because then I am always with a copy of it wherever I go.

However, I have more recently discovered that reading the Bible on my iPad is much better. I use Olive Tree Bible software, which has a lot of great features like commentaries, Greek/Hebrew dictionary, NIV Study Bible notes, etc. I also like their highlighting because it looks like a colored pencil rather than a highlighter, and they have LOTS of different colors.

And I can take notes much easier and faster than on my Nook. When I'm in church and I want to take notes on the pastor's sermon, I take notes directly into my Bible next to the passage using Olive Tree. It's great!

However, if I'm just out and about, it's nice to have a copy of my bible on my Nook in case I need to look up something.
Wed Jun 22, 12:45:00 PM 2011
DaisyTea said…
Wow! Cool. I've seen people in church taking out little machines when Pastor says take out your Bible. But I wasn't sure how that worked, as far as taking notes. How can you type fast enough on those?

As far as having the Bible for reference on your Nook, is there actually a way to search for specific verses or phrases? That would be Awesome!
Wed Jun 22, 05:00:00 PM 2011
Camy Tang said…
On my iPad, there's a keyboard that pops up that you can use to type out the notes. It's not as nice as a regular keyboard, but it's pretty good for notetaking.

On my Nook, yes, you can look up verses. You go to the table of contents in the beginning, and then choose old or new testament, then the book, then the chapter and then the verse. On the touch screen on the bottom, there's an up and down arrow to be able to choose. It's not as easy as the iPad, but it's great considering the Nook is carrying all my books in that little thing.
Thu Jun 23, 12:11:00 AM 2011
DaisyTea said…
That's really neat. :) I will definitely have to look at a Nook when it's feasible. One more question...? Why did you choose Nook over Kindle? I don't know enough about either to know that there is any difference...
Mon Jun 27, 11:00:00 AM 2011
Camy Tang said…
I chose Nook because it uses the .epub and .pdb format of ebook, whereas Kindle uses only .azn.

I already had a lot of .pdb and .epub ebooks on my computer and I wanted to be able to manually load them onto my Nook instead of reading them on my computer.

I also buy my ebooks from other places like Fictionwise.com or directly from the publisher, and most of them offer .epub format ebooks.

If you get a Kindle, you can ONLY buy ebooks from Amazon or if the publisher happens to sell the .azn format of the ebook, which most of them do not.

Both Kindle and Nook can read .pdf formats.

I hope that wasn't too confusing!
Sun Jul 03, 02:43:00 PM 2011
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