Lets get to my Friday Five shall we?

First on my list… Bad Religion ~ Broken

Second…Social Distortion of course and one of the first songs that introduced me to them and cemented my love of their music.

Third is a newer obsession courtesy of my cousin Bryan F… Streetlight Manifesto ~ Would You be Impressed?

Four is Rancid…well because they are Rancid duh.

And to rap up this Friday Five… NOFX ~ Leave it Alone

There is my Friday Five Folks…name some of your top five and lets get to that iTunes Gift Card!

P.S. The winner of Rebekah Purdy’s Interview Contest for the free copy of Cinderella Complex is Bethanne! Thanks to everyone who commented!

Speaking of fairy dust and fairy godmothers, next week I will have some fun things coming your way. One thing I’m willing to divulge is that I will be having the lovely Rebekah Purdy here to help celebrate my new look and her new release The Fairy Godmother Files. Yay! It is a fantastic young adult book that I just can’t wait to share with you! I might just try my hand at a little fairy dust and see what I can whip up for a giveaway or two so definitely come back by!

Now let’s talk writing. The work in progress pile is looming over me and it is quite large to say the least. I need to narrow it down. Currently, I have someone looking over Blood & Moonlight. The second book has an opening and is slowly progressing. I also have a story in the works. First in a trilogy. A contemp western of sorts that will follow three brothers if all goes according to plan.

Excited? I am. Now if I could just find where my Muse ran off to….

1. The Walking Dead

2. Sons of Anarchy

These shows definitely have their addictive qualities. Zombies and Bikers. Two totally opposite ends of the spectrum and I love em both. Talk about action packed and a bit gory. But it has everything. Romance. Betrayal.

We all do it. Authors I mean. Immerse ourselves so deeply in the work that we are unable to see it’s flaws. This manuscript is very dear to my heart. It took about two years on and off to finish. But it is truly my baby. No way could I look at it objectively at first. It took it being rejected and some time away for me to see the best thing I could do for my dear beloved characters and their story, was to allow it time to breathe. Time to vacation away from me.

It’s been eight months. I think I’m ready now. I’ve already begun to mark it up. There will be a new twist worked in. (I have a soft spot for characters with some sort of history no matter how small). Backstory is being cut. Words will have to walk the plank…face the firing squad… go the way of many words before them and vanish from the page. *Beginning to panic. Hyperventilating. Tightness in chest.*

I’m good now. This is all for the best after all. The good of the story must come first. Otherwise the story will not shine as it is meant to be. The brilliance of it will be masked by the wordiness that has consumed my manuscript. Yes I’m humble. Can you tell? Just you wait, you will see the method to my mad ramblings when the time comes. Until then, you like the characters, will just have to wait and see what shall become of them.

Before my hiatus, I had subbed my book to Carina and unfortunately, it didn’t fit their needs. That was a little disheartening until I looked through the book again. Amazing how our closeness to a piece muck up the perception of the piece. With a few months behind me, I picked up the book browsed through it, and started discussing my options with some close writing pals of mine. Kiara and Devlin are getting a slight makeover and hopefully, the end result will be oh so fantastic. That is what I am aiming for. Well, that and a return to a more normal work/writing/life schedule.

The comma is perpetually misused.  Although it’s one of the most important punctuation marks, its seeming insignificance on the page makes it a regularly subject to neglect and abuse.

The most common use of the comma is in coordination with a conjunction to connect two independent clauses (I went to the beach, but David stayed at home).  With short sentences like that, the comma isn’t always necessary.  Sometimes the conjunction alone will do just fine.  But in academic prose, the comma is still advisable.

The comma is also used to separate three or more elements in a series (She went skiing with Noam, Henry, Nathan, and Catherine).  That last comma between the second-to-last element and the “and” is something of a point of contention.  It’s called an Oxford comma, and it’s often left out of periodical publications.  Frankly, it’s up to you whether or not to use it.  We just think it looks classy.

A comma can also be used to separate an introductory element from the rest of a sentence (Writing my book, I discovered how little I missed my old job).  Again, it might be acceptable under some circumstances to eliminate the comma if the sentence seems to flow better without it.  But if in doubt, keep the comma.

Parenthetical elements can be set off by a pair of commas.  These can be appositives (Chances were slim that Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, would face serious challenges) or they can contain linking words to the rest of the sentence (Songkhlanakarin University, which is also known as Prince of Songkhla University or Mor Or, is the largest university in Southern Thailand).  Absolute phrases are also treated as parenthetical (My old life behind me, I tried to assimilate in New York as quickly as possible) as are interjections (Keep in mind, of course, that casino gambling is designed for the house to come out on top).  On a related note, commas can express contrast (Contrary to popular belief, the North Korean juche state is best thought of as a unique construct, not Stalinist, not Confucian).

When one is using multiple coordinate adjectives, commas can be used to separate them (He’s an ugly, mean-spirited kind of guy).  However, they aren’t always used (I have an old French bicycle).

A comma is also a great way to introduce quotes.  One comma is needed to introduce a quote (As Polonius said, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”).  If the quote is being split in two, then two commas are necessary (“I don’t know,” said Lauren, “if the problem is you or me).  For longer quotes, however, it’s better to use a colon.

Perhaps the most common comma error is the comma splice.  This occurs when a comma is used in lieu of a semicolon, period, or conjunction to separate two independent clauses as in “I went to the beach yesterday, it was OK.”  While this is often cited as a common punctuation error, it’s better thought of as indicative of a larger error.  Commas in general are overused, and one is better-advised to be sparing with them.

 

Like I said, a wealth of information. Now you can go on to be a master of comma usage! Have a great day peeps!

Kailani

Hey where's the waves?

On top of that I got to go see Bon Jovi with some good friends and that was awesome! Got to play hostess to a jewelry show. Road in a super cool hot rod. Brainstormed a few story ideas, did laundry, scrubbed a kitchen floor, and washed some dishes. See who says a writers life isn’t exciting? Spring Break is coming up and I know the boys will be dying to be outside and not cooped up in a classroom all day. (Oh and let’s not forget the homework break as well.)

Before I stop my rambling for the day, I did want to remind you all to go play at the Passionate Critters Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. Still lots of time left for you to participate!