The Colors of the World

A recent study of color photographs came across my screen. And by color photographs I am talking about photographs of a specific color. The images were all blue, or all red, or all yellow. It was really very creatively done and I found myself rather inspired.

Every now and again an assignment at some group or another comes up where the topic is a particular color and I find that people struggle with exactly what is required. The biggest problems are either having too little of that color or too many other colors in it as well. Rich, saturated colors can really make a marvelous photograph., but it requires stronger compositional elements to really pull off.

Here is my take on "color" photographs.

Yellow





Green





Blue





Red





White

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Suzanne
Suzanne Williams Photography
http://web.tampabay.rr.com/swilli41/www
Florida, USA

Suzanne Williams is a native Floridian, wife, and mother, with a penchant for spelling anything, who happens to love photography.

Entries #1 and #2: Dangling Foot

These comments for our Dangling Foot Contest were left elsewhere, and since we're trying to stay anonymous, I'll post them here in one batch. We asked you to create two sentences describing your reaction to someone telling you they saw a foot dangling from the carpet being hauled into your neighbor's house.

Entry #1 - BY RACHEL WINSLETT: Oh my gosh what in the world is that?? I wonder if that foot could actually be a replica of a hobbit foot that was used in Lord of the Rings for the hobbits and if it is, I need to borrow it for my Halloween costume.

Entry #2 - BY CLARKE HINKLE: I sure hope they don't get that carpet dirty, it's a nice rug and I would hate if they got stains on it...

Keep sending your entries - deadline is Friday - for your chance to win The Case of the Bouncing Grandma by our special guest judge, A.K. Arenz.

Check out our NEW Blog Design!

What do you think of the new blog design?

Last Friday afternoon, I discovered Blogger Boutique, and emailed the owner with some questions, explaining what I hoped to do, and asking if she could do it. She could, and put me on the schedule for this week. She started on it Tuesday, and voila! It's Wednesday noon, and she's DONE!! INCREDIBLE!!! Ragan's extremely affordable, fast, friendly, efficient, creative, talented, and a true pleasure to work with. If you want a new blog design, this is THE place to get it done - you won't be sorry!

I love our new Pix-N-Pens home, and hope you do too!

Grammar is Important

Nouns, Verbs, Adverbs and Adjectives

By Debbie Roome

The very mention of nouns, verbs and adjectives may transport us back to school days but a clear understanding of their function is essential when working as a writer. Although many writers have a natural aptitude for grammar and punctuation, it’s always good to brush up on the basics and make sure that we are doing things correctly.

Nouns
A noun is a word that refers to a person, animal, object, place or concept. A common noun tells us what something is and begins with a lower-case letter:

· Pig, chair, hatred, apple, exuberance

These can be further divided into abstract nouns and concrete nouns. Abstract nouns refer to concepts or acts such as hatred and exuberance. Concrete nouns refer to things that can be seen, touched, smelt or felt such as pigs, chairs and apples.

Proper nouns begin with a capital letter and are names of people and places:

· Texas, Robert Smith, The Great Wall of China

A pronoun is a word that replaces or refers to a previously named noun:

· Peter (noun) braked sharply before he (pronoun) came to an abrupt halt.
· The Nile River (noun) twists and turns as it (pronoun) approaches the sea.

Verbs
Verbs are words that show or express an action, an occurrence or state of being. Examples include:

· Be, doze, sprint, shine, exist, decompose

Different forms of the verb indicate when the action took place:

· Will play, plays, played
· Will go, goes, gone

Infinitives are the to form of the verb:

· To run
· To smile
· To walk

Infinitives remain the same regardless of the tense.

Split infinitives occur when a verb is divided by an adverb or other modifier:

· To slowly wander
· To also give
· To loosely tie

Although people often speak like this, it is not grammatically correct and should be avoided when writing.

Adverbs
Adverbs are words that describe, modify or add information to a verb. Most editors hate them and many manuscripts are returned with all the ly words deleted.

· Her injury caused her to swim badly.
· John jogged speedily back to his car.

Adjectives
These are words that describe or modify the noun or pronoun in a sentence. They often precede the noun they are describing:

· She held a silver pencil in her hand.
· Matthew was a handsome man.
· The old woman stumbled as she stepped off the bus.

Adjectives also come in the form of comparative and superlative adjectives. Comparative adjectives are formed by adding er or the words more or less before it.

· The sun was redder than the trees.
· The sun was more red than the trees.

Superlative adjectives are formed by adding est or the words most or least before it.

· Taylor's ball was the reddest.
· Taylor's ball was the least red.

The superlative form is used when comparing more than two nouns.

This is a basic overview but serves to clarify the things we do automatically. Once we have a firm grasp of grammar, it makes it easier to concentrate on the story line rather than the structure surrounding it.

Debbie Roome works as a freelance writer from her home in New Zealand. Current projects include a contract for writing devotionals, contributions to the local paper, editing and production of a community newsletter and compilation of her church’s year book. Read some of her work at Suite 101 and Faithwriters.

Want Drama?

Ahh ... the drama of youth - our featured book this week took me back in time, but then I realized that meant I was old!

Michelle Sutton has written a great novel perfect for any young adult in your life - it has drama, conflict, humor, romance with characters you quickly call friends. Michelle's brand is "edgy fiction" and her debut novel It's Not About Me, with its difficult subject matter and realism, fit the brand well.

Congratulations, Michelle!

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

It's Not About Me

Sheaf House Publishers (September 1, 2008)

by

Michelle Sutton

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Michelle Sutton has lived in Arizona and since 1991 and has two sons and a husband of 18 years. She began writing fiction in August 2003 when God inspired her to write a novel with realistic characters that would glorify Him. In 2004 she joined ACFW - American Christian Fiction Writers. In 2006 Michelle ran for Volunteer Officer on the ACFW Operating board and ACFW members elected her to serve a two year term. She sold her first manuscript Then Sings My Soul (now re-titled It's Not About Me) to Sheaf House and her debut novel was released in Sept. 2008. The second book in the Second Glances series - It's Not About Him - will be released the following fall (Sept. 2009.)

Last, Michelle is Editor in Chief of the new Christian Fiction Online Magazine. The debut issue released in July 2008. The magazine is sponsored by the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance.


ABOUT THE BOOK:


Annie has it all. She's attractive, graduated with honors, was accepted at the college of her choice, has supportive parents, good friends, and a steady boyfriend who loves her. One night an unexpected visitor appears and Annie's safe world is destroyed by a brutal attack. As she tries to pick up the pieces of her broken life, she is torn between two brothers, both of whom claim to love her. She is attracted to both, but which one does she love? How can she choose when her decision may cause a permanent rift between them? And more important, will she give her heart to the One who will sustain her even when human love fails.



"...the exquisitely written spiritual content shows the reader that redemption is available, no matter what the circumstances." - 4 Stars, Romantic Times!


Instead of dealing with timely issues like alcoholism, premarital sex and pornography in a preachy, oh-so-tired fashion, Michelle Sutton's It's Not About Me gets to the heart of the matter with a shocking dose of realism and poignant storytelling. From the first paragraph, Sutton weaves together a thoroughly entertaining story that'll keep readers intrigued for the long haul as they get to know Annie, Dan, Tony and Susie—young adults that probably don't look and sound all that different from themselves. Now that's a seriously refreshing turn for Christian fiction."~Christa Ann Banister~, author of Around the World in 80 Dates, (NavPress 2007) and Blessed are the Meddlers (NavPress 2008)



It's Not About Me is a wonderfully entertaining and deliciously suspenseful read that will keep you turning the pages. Sutton doesn't back away from the drama and with all of the twists and turns, It's Not About Me is hard to put down. I cannot wait for the sequel! Bravo!"~Victoria Christopher Murray~, Essence best-selling author of multiple titles including The Ex Files and the upcoming YA series The Divine Divas


“Annie captured my heart on the first page and kept me enthralled to the very end. This edgy, yet surprisingly poignant story travels the inroads of intimate relationships – man to woman, brother to brother, parent to child, friend to friend. But especially satisfying is the author’s delicate handling of the relationship between a searching soul and the loving Savior who alone possesses the power to work all things out for the good. A terrific debut for Michelle Sutton. I can’t wait to read more from this talented author!” ~Virginia Smith~, author of Just As I Am and Sincerely, Mayla



"Michelle Sutton's gritty writing style will very likely go straight to the hearts of teens, addressing what they deal with every day in what is all too often grim reality for our youth. Sutton is no doubt a refreshing and much needed voice in today's YA fiction."~Tina Ann Forkner~, Author of Ruby Among Us Waterbrook Press/Random House

To read the prologue and first chapter of It's Not About Me, click HERE.