Reading and Writing Quotations

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“Read a lot. Reading really helps. Read anything you can get your hands on.”                                    J. K. Rowling

 

“I always advise children who ask me for tips on being a writer to read as much as they possibly can. Jane Austen gave a young friend the same advice, so I’m in good company there.”                                         J. K. Rowling

 

https://en.wikipedia.org

“Believe in yourself. Keep writing.”  Neil Gaiman

“Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere you’ve never been. Once you’ve visited other worlds, like those who ate fairy fruit, you can never be entirely content with the world that you grew up in. Discontent is a good thing: discontented people can modify and improve their worlds, leave them better, leave them different.”                                              Neil Gaiman

 

https://en.wikipedia.org

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”            Ray Bradbury

“You must write every single day of your life… You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads… may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”

                                                                  Ray Bradbury

Goodnight Moon – A Staple, Every Year

Please read this excellent post from Jennie, the extraordinary teacher!

A Teacher's Reflections

Before children learn to read, first they must hear the words.  It’s developmental, like learning to crawl before learning to walk.  The auditory piece, including singing, hits both the brain and the soul in learning.  In my preschool class, reading aloud is a top priority, so I constantly read picture books and also chapter books.

So, what is it about Goodnight Moon that is a staple every year?  Yes, every single year.  It’s a book for younger children, yet preschoolers are drawn to the rhyming, the objects in the book, and what happens next.  Oh, this is without seeing the illustrations.  I recite this book before chapter reading.  Children hear the words.  That’s it.

Is it the words?  The routine of reciting it before chapter reading?  Or is it the quality of the book?  Did you know the New York Public Library’s children’s librarian hated Goodnight Moon?  Really hated. …

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Quotations on Compassion

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“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

                                                                     Albert Einstein

(https://pixabay.com)

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”

                                                                    Dalai Lama

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”

                                                                   Aesop

“Compassion, and not brutality, is the true sign of strength.”

                                                                  Charles F. French

Martin Luther King, Jr Day — 2022

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and I would like to offer a few of this extraordinary American’s quotations as a tribute to him. He was one of the finest, most decent, and empathetic people in the history of the United States of America. We should all remember him and honor his teaching, his legacy, and his call for justice for everyone.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

“We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

What Book(s) Are You Currently Reading?

Books are a central part of my life: reading them, enjoying them, teaching them, and also writing them! 

I am currently reading The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield, The Bookseller of Florence by Ross King, Shadow Voices: 300 Years of Irish Genre Fiction edited by John Connolly, and Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella.  I also have many more in my To-Be-Read list!

So, I am asking all of you: what are you currently reading?

The Invasion, a poem

Please enjoy this wonderful poem from Robbie Cheadle!

Robbie's inspiration

Diana from Myths of the Mirror blog has a writing challenge underway. You can find it here: https://mythsofthemirror.com/2022/01/09/writing-challenge-the-teetering-tbr-pile/.

Poets and writers are challenged to write a poem or story about their TBR. I have used poetic license and written a poem about how my TBR came into existence.

The Invasion by Robbie Cheadle

A loud aggressive ring

brought me fast to the door

I opened it innocently

not knowing the score

***

A long line of books

stood like soldiers of yore

each flashing it’s title

like a banner of war

***

“We’re looking for sanctuary”

declared Orwell, leader of all

“You’re a lover of books

so we’re paying you a call.”

***

“But I’ve simply no room”

I replied with a gasp

“We’ll make a plan, dear”

And they quickly marched past.

***

Up the corridor they tramped

Into my library, so full

“Wake up and make room”

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Feathered Pairs~

Here are excellent photographs from Cindy Knoke!

Big Gulp Gull,

swallows his catch, Coeur d’Alene Idaho.

Bald Eagle,

and juvenile, catch grizzly salmon scraps, British Columbia Canada.

Saddle Bill Stork catches a cat,

Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Red Tailed Hawk,

loves rare water, Southern California.

A pair of Yellow Legs multiply in reflection, Salton Sea, California.

Greater Flamingos tango, Tagus Estuary Portugal.

Mated White Storks greet on their nest, Alsace France.

Cheers to you from your feathered friends~

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Beginning of 2022 Self-Promotion Party!

I thought it would be interesting to do a book promotion party by giving not only the name of your book and what it is about but also the opening paragraph.

I offer the following from Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society Book 1 by Charles F. French:

“Lucius Antony Caius exalted in his good fortune. He was in complete control of his destiny, of his place in the world. Not for him was the belief in the three sisters of fate–they would not measure and cut his string of life. Caius, also known as Maledicus, as he was called because of his odd lisping voice coupled with the grating sound of sandpaper grinding on coarse wood and with his personality, believed he controlled the world. And his evil persona caused others to fear him. He didn’t look like the image of a strong Roman–he was short and fat, with little hair, but he was as dangerous as the most powerful general.”

So, if you would like to join the party and promote your book, please offer a quotation!

Have fun, promote your book, and please share this post.

Available on Amazon

Get The Draft Done! is available here: Amazon.com

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

My radio interview:

interview

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon

NH Winter Scenes: December 2021

Please enjoy these beautiful Winter photographs from Elizabeth Gauffreau!

Elizabeth Gauffreau

Christmas Eve Drive

Back Road Stream (Click to enlarge.)

Bittersweet! (Click to enlarge.)

Bittersweet!! (Click to enlarge.)

Arriving in The Lakes Region (Click to enlarge.)

The Lakes Region (Click to enlarge.)

Twilight Field (Click to enlarge.)

Fremont Bandstand (Click to enlarge.)

Fremont Light Display (Click to enlarge.)

The Day after Christmas

Nottingham Neighborhood Walk (Click to enlarge.)

Nottingham Neighborhood Walk (Click to enlarge.)

Icy Branches (Click to enlarge.)

From the Roberto Collection:
San Diego, California

Stormy Sky in December (Click to enlarge.)

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What Are Your Writing Goals For 2022?

I am not a huge fan of declaring resolutions for the New Year, because they often set people up for failure. Too often, large changes are declared, and they may or may not be possible immediately.

I prefer to think in terms of goals, both long-term and short term and to set up situations in which, with discipline, you can achieve these ends. 

My immediate goal is to finish a revision of my YA horror novel; additionally, I want to do two more first drafts this years–one of a novel, and one of a nonfiction book on revision, and I want to revise at least one more novel. My first goal should be done by the end of January, but we will see. The important thing is to keep working and to keep writing.

My question for all of you is this: what are your writing goals for this year?

 

(Photo by Markus Winkler from Pexels)

Thank You and Happy New Year!

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As this difficult and often terrible year is approaching its end, I have been thinking about what I am thankful for. One such thing that I am deeply grateful for are my readers on this blog. You are a disparate group, but you are also unfailingly intelligent, kind, and civil. I have also made several friendships here with people who live far away, and I am deeply grateful for those connections.

To all my blog followers:

Thank you!

Charles F. French

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And I wish everyone a healthy and happy 2022!

Happy New Year!

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