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Stacy Ann Nyikos's Blog
November 4, 2009
- Butt Wars By Andy Griffiths Age Range: ? ? ? My seven year-old brought this book home. It was the party favor at a birthday party. She was disappointed. Butt Wars? It sounded so boy boy boy. I was puzzled. Butt in the title...of a middle grade? I had to read it. Right after I convinced her she should at least try it. It was outside her comfort range because of the boyishness. And ...
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November 4, 2009
- Butt Wars By Andy Griffiths Age Range: ? ? ? My seven year-old brought this book home. It was the party favor at a birthday party. She was disappointed. Butt Wars? It sounded so boy boy boy. I was puzzled. Butt in the title...of a middle grade? I had to read it. Right after I convinced her she should at least try it. It was outside her comfort range because of the boyishness. And ...
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October 28, 2009
- I know. I know. Sustainability is actually one of the big millennia buzz words, usually referring to important things like, saving our planet. Recycle. Reduce. Reuse. I get it.But right now I'm really worried about sustaining my hair. It's all because of the gray. Gray changes everything. It makes your hair wiry. And changes the whole styling thing. It pretty much makes you reassess your haircut ...
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October 21, 2009
- Have you ever had a manuscript gain an unsightly number of pages, so much so that you cringe at the cost of printing it out?I am usually a short writer. When I started college, I trembled at the thought of ten page papers. Ten pages? Who am I, Charles Dickens?When I wrote my dissertation and managed a whole 250 (including 25 pages of bibliography and tables), I was flabbergasted. I'd maxed out. ...
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October 14, 2009
- The jig is up. There is no secret handshake. No magic formula. No deus ex machina for writers. Aghast? I was. Next thing you know, they'll be telling us there is no Santa Claus. Yeesh. Leaving the big red guy out of it for a moment, I have to admit, when I started out writing, I was certain there was a secret formula. All I had to do was figure it out and the bestsellers would flow from my ...
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October 6, 2009
- Horns & Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson middle grade I have to say, I've had this book for a while. I picked it up. Put it down. Picked it up again. And then put it down. Finally, last week, I made myself read it. I don't know why I hesitated, but after reading John Gardner (yes, I am haunted by Mr. Gardner), Horns & Wrinkles was the perfect antidote. Funny. Insanely creative. Set up ...
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October 2, 2009
- Mmmm...mmm....mm. Donut with sprinkles. Just thinking about one makes me want to ditch my blogging and find the nearest donut shop.Okay, no. No, I'm a big girl. I can resist the urge (for twenty minutes).But isn't that the effect commercial books have on our brains? Sugar rush pure. By commercial I mean dime store reads that make beach life perfect. I have guiltily indulged in them time and time ...
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September 24, 2009
- The kids are back in school. The dog has gone back to her full time occupation - sleeping on the couch. And I have the freedom to obsess about writing once again. Glee! I've hunkered down with John Gardner the last couple of days. Writer/professor/Breadloaf speaker, most known for his nonfiction works on writing skills - The Art of Fiction and On Moral Fiction. I am in an MFA program. There ...
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September 16, 2009
- The ivory tower is granting me a one day pass to go out and see the real world. The things good behavior will get you!GLEE!I'm being let out to speak at Oklahoma's school librarian conference, EncycloMedia. I'm excited. Thrilled. And a little nervous. Okay... a lot nervous. I'll be out with real people. I have to talk. I have to talk intelligently, in complete sentences, with no editing, about my ...
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September 10, 2009
- I couldn't help but break with my regular, frenetic, MFA writing/studying routine to post about this. I was lying in bed the other night, reading frenetically. Where the Red Fern Grows. A classic I've avoided because it suffers from the painful dead dog syndrome, actually two dead dogs. But, in the name of higher education, I'd decided to tackle it. I was just getting to the good part where ...
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September 2, 2009
- Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata ISBN: 978-1-4169-7566-3 It has been a whole month since my last post. I blame it all on my MFA program. I can't quite seem to eek enough time out of the 24 hours allotted to us mortals per day. Just two more hours! Just two. I could get it all done...I think. Nevertheless, I've taken a break in frantic learning for Barrie Summy's amazing Book Review Club. I ...
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August 5, 2009
- If you are thinking about ending your summer reading with a deep, diverse, moving but in tune with the up-and-coming young adult generation book, look north. Canada north. Ontario, to be exact, where Tim Wynn-Jones’ piece, The Uninvited, takes place (and where the author himself lives).A little bit mystery, a little bit drama, The Univited is the story of three young adults, Cramer, Mimi and ...
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July 31, 2009
- After the hard work of residency, I opted for a little down time before jumping right into my first packet. Hopefully, if any of my advisors are reading this - Tim, Ellen - they won't be upset with me for skipping school those first few days. I had to get some psychic distance, honest!And fulfill a twenty-two year yearning. I'm not exaggerating. It all started with the Sound of Music. Like every ...
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July 27, 2009
- Bless me father, for I have sinned. It has been way too long since my last post. I have a couple of good excuses...I think. First, I spent the latter half of June in Germany picking up my kids. They were going to school there with the children of friends of ours. They got a real taste of German elementary school, and loved it! When school was over, we toured Germany. We went to Bremen to see the ...
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June 19, 2009
- Has your son or daughter ever followed you around the house repeating every single word, gesture, expression of yours? Or have you seen your children do it to each other with the secret desire of driving each other nuts, and, of course, succeeding? Imitation is the best form of flattery, they say. But what about when it's involuntary?You might be a writer if...you're a better parrot than your ...
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