THE CRAFT OF WRITING — DECEMBER 2023
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
As we come to the end of another year, I want to express my sincere thanks to all the authors whom I interviewed in 2023. Their wisdom and experience light the way for the rest of us.
I also want to thank all the readers who visited the blog this year, and I’m especially grateful to those of you who have added your voices to the Craft of Writing posts. You honor us with your participation.
And I offer very special thanks to my friend and colleague Steve Hooley. Steve has made all the pens that we gave away this year, and the quality of his work never ceases to astound me.
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Today is “Name Your Favorite Book(s) Day!”
Leave a comment below with the titles of the book or books you love, and your name will be entered into the drawing for a signed copy of Lacey’s Star and the special “Wilbur and Orville 1903 Mahogany” propeller pen that Steve made.
Everyone will be eligible to win, even if you won a pen before. (I’ll post the name of the winner by 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 19.)
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Best wishes to you all for a joyous holiday season and a wonderful and productive 2024.
Now it’s over to you. Name your favorite book(s) and tell us why you love them.
That’s almost as hard as asking me who my favorite child is. 😉 Other than the Bible, which is about the only book I ever reread, the books that come to mind are the Black Stallion books by Farley, and the one book that haunts me from my teens—Exodus by Leon Uris.
Good morning, Patricia! I know what you mean — I have many favorite books, but the Bible is in a class by itself. I haven’t read Exodus in years, but I’d like to re-read it soon. Right now, I’m in the middle of Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn by Daniel Gordis. It’s excellent and highly-readable.
Great question, Kay.
The Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis – humor and great author
1984 – we’re there. It’s happening.
The Frontiersman – Allan Eckert – early pioneer novelized history about the area where I live
Lawrence Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr mysteries – humor
Thanks for using my pens. Here’s a link to my website – https://stevehooleywriter.com/
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!
Good morning, Steve, and thank you again for the gorgeous propeller pen as well as all the other beautiful and functional pens you’ve crafted. And thanks for including the link to your website. For those of you who don’t know, Steve’s pens are hand-crafted and unique.
I like your list. I read The Screwtape Letters for the first time recently. Chilling and humorous at the same time. I agree about 1984. Scarily prophetic. I have the Bernie Rodenbarr mysteries on my list, but haven’t read any of them yet.
Have a great week and a fabulous holiday season, my friend.
The Love Comes Softly series by Jeanette Oke.
Good morning, Barbara, and thank you for naming your favorite book series. I haven’t read any of the Love Comes Softly series, but I looked it up and it sounds wonderful. Maybe I can hop into Book 1 in 2024.
Stop back tomorrow night after 9 p.m. to see who won the pen and book.
It’s hard to choose but I would have to say if pushed
The Fear and Meow (A Whiskers and Words Mystery Book 8) by Eryn Scott for book released this year. Just a fun charming cozy mystery with cats to entertain.
Ice station by Matthew Reilly for favourite audio book as there is so much action you can listen to it again and again.
Miss Fortune by Jana DeLeon for all time favourite series. Never fails to make me laugh.
Good morning, Julie, and thanks for stopping by. I haven’t read any of the books on your list, but I’m adding them to my TBR pile. They sound delightful.
Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow night after 9 p.m. to see who won the pen.
Hi Kay,
I always go back to Raymond Chandler who, according to Ross MacDonald, wrote “like a slumming angel.”
Plus memorable children’s books like Charlotte’s Web, A Wrinkle in Time, and Dr. Seuss.
Love the propeller pen! Steve is a genius.
Oops, forgot Dr. Doolittle, Mary Poppins, Sherlock Holmes.
As Patricia said, which is your favorite child?
I love that reference to Raymond Chandler as a “slumming angel.” Your selections of children’s books are right in line with mine.
I agree Steve is a genius. The propeller pen is truly special.
One of my favorite new books of the year was Megan Abbott’s Beware the Woman. Last week, I finished one of Harlan Coben’s early books called Fade Away. It’s hard to surprise seasoned thriller readers these days without cheating by not fairly giving readers any clues (e.g., “Remember that dog you read about out on page 5. Turned out he was an alien mind reader. Surprise!) But wow, Coben is truly a master plotter. He shocked me twice at the end with twists I never saw coming.
Hello Andrew! Thanks for the recommendations. I haven’t read either of those books, but they’re on my TBR list now.
Have a wonderful holiday!
When asked what are my favorite books, I always think of my favorite books from childhood, Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Hello Roxanne! Books from childhood are the most influential. Thank you for telling us about your favorites.
Wow, so cool to see so many favorites in one place! I read the covers off (literally) the Black Stallion books when I was a little younger. Sherlock Holmes (there’s a reason my email is “The Trout in the Milk”) has been my beloved since I was 16. I didn’t discover CS Lewis until I hit 27 (pretty old to not discover the Narnia books till then, huh?) but I’m always quoting from the Screwtape Letters and A Grief Observed. So I guess those are all favorites. And thanks everyone for so many recommendations to add to my own TBR list! But to add to the favorites…
Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier (another one I literally read the covers off). Supposedly this is a biggy in the “gothic romance” category, but to me it’s more about mystery and jealousy.
Gone with the Wind. Not politically correct at all, but a terrific tale of the American Civil War, and as the descendant on my mother’s side from many women survivors of the war as it affected Georgia, there’s a lot that resonates with me.
Just about anything by GK Chesterton. He’s hilarious and scary.
For light modern mystery reading, any of Steven Henry’s Erin O’Reilly stuff. He’s up to 22 or 23 now, and I always preorder the next one as soon as they advertise. The regular “immediate” cast of detectives, family, and Irish mafia is adorable, and the police procedural/K-9 partnership is fun, and the mysteries are good enough to hold up to multiple readings. (Language warning, though. There’s not a lot of language, but some.)
Mel, Thank you for this list! I’ve read many of these books, but never read anything by Steven Henry, so I’m adding those to my list.
And now I know where your email id came from!
Have a great week and a wonderful holiday.
I can’t stop at one book, so I’ll give you four: I loved The Divine Proverb of Streusel by Sara Brunsvold, The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos by Kelly Irvin, Moby Dick, and Where the Red Fern Grows. All of these books made me cry, and I love it when a story grips my emotions.
Thank you for that list, Priscilla! The only one of those I’ve read is Moby Dick. The rest are going on the TBR list.
Check in tomorrow night after 9 p.m. for the drawing, and have a wonderful book-filled holiday season!
I read mostly nonfiction books: History, science, math, woodworking and the like. I guess my favorite fiction is science fiction. My most favorite is the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe series by Douglas Adams.
Thanks for reminding us about The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe, Richard. It’s been years since I read it. I need to revisit it soon.
Hope all is well. Happy holidays and don’t forget to check back in tomorrow night to see who won the drawing.
Oh boy! A chance to win again! Merry Christmas to us! It may sound clichéd, but my all-time favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird. I read it as a child, and it was the story of the adventures of Scout with Jem and Dill and even Boo. When I read it as a young adult, it became the story of the racial injustice that was called out in the 60s. When I read it later in life, it became the story of a writer and an editor and the magic that can happen when neither gives up until the “real” story is found. Harper Lee was and always will be my writerly inspiration. I even have a handwritten card from her (she was a Southern girl after all, and responded personally to correspondence). I keep the card inside a reprinted first edition given to me by a dear, dear friend. This friend of mine, now in her 90s and at the “jumping off” place of life, said I was a Boo kind of friend. I never received a higher compliment. So you can see, the novel, the writer, the editor, the story, all very dear to me. As a writer, my goal is always and forever to give readers a view of the world from Boo Radley’s front porch.
Thanks for your friendship and faithfulness, Kay. Merry Christmas!
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorites. IMO, it’s the great American novel, and I like your different perspectives of the book. And to have a handwritten note from Harper Lee — what a treasure!
So happy to claim you as a friend, Lisa. Merry Christmas to you!
I enjoyed Regency Reunions at Christmas Anthology. It made me smile
Good morning, Debby, and thank you for mentioning another good book. I haven’t read that anthology, but I love “It made me smile.” Anything that makes us smile these days is a winner.
Thank you for being here. Don’t forget to drop by tonight at 9:00 p.m. to see who won the drawing.
I’ve just read A Distant Shore by Karen Kingsbury and enjoyed it so much!
“Sometimes miracles happen not once, but twice…along a distant shore.”
Have a blessed Christmas!
Wonderful quote from the book description, Natalya! Another one for my TBR list!
Thank you for stopping by and letting us know about A Distant Shore.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by and left a comment on the post, and a special thank you to Steve Hooley for supplying the beautiful propeller pen.
Eleven people were eligible to win, and I listed them in the order they commented:
1 Patricia Bradley
2 Barbara Raymond
3 Julie Howard
4 Dorian Box
5 Roxanne C.
6 Mel Hughes
7 Priscilla Bettis
8 Richard Hiller
9 Lisa Simonds
10 Debby236
11 Natalya Lakhno
I ran a random integer generator to pick a random number between 1 and 11. The number it came up with was 1, so Patricia Bradley is the lucky winner of the “Wilbur and Orville 1903 Mahogany” propeller pen! Congratulations Patricia!
Congratulations!
Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you have a wonder Christmas season, spending it with friends and family and in the process making happy memories to cherish.
Merry Christmas to you, Julie!