Biased Review of a Fabulous Essay: From Words to Brain by Livia Blackburne

From Words to Brain by Livia Blackburne

What happens when you read? How does your brain derive meaning from words on a page? My writing buddy Livia, attempts to answer these questions by explaining some of the latest in neuroscience research in a way that will interest science buffs, writers, and readers alike (not that these groups are mutually exclusive :) ).  I may be biased because Livia is my friend (and I got to read and comment on some of the early versions!) but this is a highly fascinating read.

Definitely worth buying.

The link above goes to Amazon, but you can check out other places to buy the essay over at the publisher’s website.

#writinggroup #reading #fromwordstobrain #science #neuroscience #kindle #courtyardcritiques #Medicine #liviablackburne

My Favorite New-to-Me Children’s Books for 2010

Here are my favorite new-to-me children’s books this year, in order by author. Last year, I used Indiebound for this list, but for some unknown reason they deleted my account (?). Since then, I’ve been using Amazon Marketplace.

<a HREF="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&#038;MarketPlace=US&#038;ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fmonpoo-20%2F8001%2F9d0925b2-beb8-4095-9761-ae69f3e5cb1b&#038;Operation=NoScript">Amazon.com Widgets</a>

(Interesting that four of the authors have last names that start with L…)

My reviews: Feed by MT Anderson Going Bovine by Libba Bray Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins The Giver by Lois Lowry Uglies by Scott Westerfield

#bookreview #thegiver #goingbovine #malindalo #picturebooks #suzannecollins #libbabray #middlegrade #scottwesterfield #smile #gracelin #thekingsrose #howlsmovingcastle #uglies #ash #YA #rainatelgemeier #thebossbaby #feed #alisalibby #jayasher #thirteenreasonswhy #loislowry #wherethemountainmeetsthemoon #mtanderson #dianawynne #marlafrazee #bamboopeople #mitaliperkins #mockingjay

What I learned from #NaNoWriMo

All right, so I didn’t “win” NaNoWriMo. I only wrote about 18,000 words during this month (plus whatever I manage to write tonight, if anything). But if you add in the 8,000 words I already had for this manuscript, I have about 26,000 words done! I think that’s pretty good for a part-time writer, full-time mom.

And even though I didn’t get around to the full 50k, I got a lot done. Writing a novel takes a lot more effort than just writing words on a page. Here are a few examples of what else accomplished this month:

1. I researched backstories,

2. sketched several new characters,

3. did some plotting,

4. was crippled by writer’s block,

5. got over writer’s block,

6. filled in more of my outline,

7. realized what the story is *really* about,

8. recognized some key areas that will need further development,

9. and even did a little bit of revising.

So even though I didn’t pound out 50,000 words this month, I feel like I got a lot of work done for one short month and I’m excited to keep going!

#landwalker #nanowrimo #parenting #writing