Alliteration

Alliteration - Not to be confused with illiterate, which means unable to read. Alliteration is the technique of repeating a consonant sound in close proximity to others, or beginning several words with the same vowel sound. This device creates continuity and a consciousness of language rolling off of the lips. Read the previous sentence out loud and you will understand it better.

An Example from Literature: Coleridge describes the sacred river Alph in Kubla Khan as "Five miles meandering with a mazy motion."

My Try: No mother knew the tribulations more intimately than Netty, who prided herself in prudence and privacy. To look at her, was to gaze upon the grail of grace and good manners. Behind her front door, however, hid haunting secrets of her other side.

Oh yeah! That's the n to the m to the t to the p to the g to the h. I am alliterate; again, not to be confused with illiterate.

Take a crack at it. Leave your alliterate comment.

(This post is brought to you as part of the April A to Z Challenge.)

April 2nd - Blending

April A to Z

What have I done? What have I done? Let the renting of garments begin. I've committed myself to the April A to Z Challenge: Blogging every day of April except Sundays. Not only that, but I must post blogs in alphabetical order.

What was I thinking? It sounded like so much fun when I signed on, but now, now that I'm faced with actually doing it, I'm faltering, afraid of failure. Even so, I press on.

I've decided to get organized around an overall theme for the month of April. Taking a cue from the writer side of me, I will blog a literary term or device for each day - the definition, an example from literature, and my try at using it.

To make things more interesting, My Try with the literary device of the day will be incorporated into the tale of Netty Duggan, a sweet southern belle with a hidden secret. Even I do not yet know what her secret is, as it will only be revealed through the daily, alphabetical unfolding of her story.

A useful, entertaining dictionary of basic literary devices and terms is the goal. Your input, as always is welcomed. Post your comment with your own example of the literary device of the day. Suggest what you think should happen next in Netty's saga. Take a guess at what you think her secret is (you can do this today, if you like).

I do hope my efforts don't turn into an all out alphabetical massacre of the English language.

April 1st - alliteration. How appropriate.

The Downside of Perfect Parenting

There is a growing trend in America for parents, mainly mothers, to obsess over their children. Parents are seeking perfection by investing themselves heavily in every waking moment of their children's lives. When they're not actively enaged with their children, they fill their adult relationships with stories of their parenting prowess.

Earlier this month, for a forthcoming article in Augusta Family Magazine, I interviewed parenting expert John Rosemond about this topic. This short clip is a must-listen for every parent. Are you the person he's describing? Is yours the marriage he's describing? A real eye-opener:



Don't get defensive. Rosemond is not advocating that we all become Glass Castle mothers. He's encouraging us to quit marginalizing our husbands and crippling our children. Think about how often you correct your husband in his parenting efforts or write him off as unable to do it like you, therefore, as incompetent. Consider whether or not you're willing to let your child try and fail. Do you do his school projects while he reads the rubric to you? Are you quick to step in and handle social skirmishes between your daughter and her friends? There is a happy middle ground between Running with Scissors and micromanagement.

Get great parenting tips and advice from John Rosemond's books, web site and weekly newspaper column. Look for my article coming out in the May/Jun issue of Augusta Family Magazine.

Southern Fried Cyberspace

Photographer: Molly Edmondson, A Good Southern Girl.

Powerful Woman Writer Award

Thank you to Deirdra at A Storybook World for this fabulous Powerful Woman Writer Award. I'm thrilled to receive it.

Does Thinking It Make It So?

I've always been one of those people who could read a list of symptoms for a medical or mental illness and instantly diagnose myself with it. If WebMD says the symptoms for Crow Toe Tensilitis are knotted pinky toes, calloused undersoles, high arches, scaly skin, and long nose hairs, well by-golly I've got the worst case of Crow Toe Tensilitis anyone has ever seen. I get myself worked up about what to wear in the picture they're going to take of me to put on the examining room posters doctors put up to warn patients of maladies they never even dreamed existed. There will be my crow-toed foot right next to the weeping testicle poster, grossing people out so much that they watch their thumbs twiddle to keep from looking at it.

As it turns out, my irrationality is genetically contagious.My 5th grader is convinced he has diabetes.

He jumped in the car after school one day, wild-eyed and jabbering about how I needed to drive him directly to the doctor's office. When he told me his trouble, naturally, I asked him what on earth gave him the idea that he has diabetes.

A kid at school gave a poster presentation on diabetes. A poster presentation on diabetes by a 5th grader who researched it and put it together two nights prior is as good as going to WebMD. "I have all of the symptoms," my child claimed. "He said sometimes your vision blacks out and you have to go to the bathroom a lot and you get really thirsty and drink a lot of water."

Although it was certainly evident that the presentation transfixed my son, he still hadn't provided proof of diabetes ailing him personally. "And you think all of this happens to you?" I asked, completely able to possess logic in the face of someone else's break with reality.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered. "You know when we go on a trip and Daddy buys me a coke to drink in the car and then I tell y'all I have to go to the bathroom and y'all get mad at me? It's because I think I have diabetes."

He's upstairs right now picking out the clothes he'll wear when they come to take the picture of him to put on the doctors' office diabetes poster. It'll hang right next to the one of me and my classic case of Crow Toe Tensilitis.

Writer's Block: Turning Nothing to Write about into Writing about Nothing

Whether a person writes for public consumption or participates in private journaling, she will eventually suffer writer's block. It happens without warning on any random day at any given time. She finds herself plumb out of ideas or inspiration. Both seasoned and novice wirters, alike, experience the doldrums and paralyzing defeat of writer's block. But with some creativity, which writing is all about, a solution is found.

In this clip from my visit with NES Book Club, I share a bit about my own struggles with writer's block:



Need a speaker for your next book club meeting? Invite me as your guest to discuss either of my books, If Mama Don't Laugh, It Ain't Funny or Tuck Your Skirt in Your Panties and Run. Contact me.