One of my favorite podcasts is Note to Self (formerly known as New Tech City), a show that explores how technology affects our lives. In a recent episode, host Manoush Zomorodi used a recipe generator app to cook lunch with random items from her kitchen. The app suggested that she saute brussels sprouts with avocado. (Have you ever COOKED avocado before? Me either!) With heating, the avocado covered the brussels sprouts with a coating described as “unctuous”.
Please welcome my guest, Jessica Lawson. She has just released her second middle grade novel, Nooks and Crannies. She’s here to talk about secret passages, fun words, and of course, her novel!
I just finished Jessica’s first novel, The Actual and Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher, which is fun historical fiction set in the time of Tom Sawyer. Becky has a unique and humorous voice, and I truly enjoyed her adventures. I can’t wait to read Nooks and Crannies. Don’t forget to leave a comment so that you can enter the giveaway, and please spread the word!
And here’s Jessica:
In terms of a dream home, my husband and I are on the same page: if we had the resources to live in any kind of house, an old stone farmhouse would be our first choice. I’d prefer if it had a hidden passage, but if that’s not in the cards, maybe we could add one (in fact, this being a “dream” house, I’m sure we could).
I love the idea of hidden spaces and passages so much that when I started working on a manuscript featuring an old English manor home, I had to include a few sneaky hideaway spots.
That manuscript became my newest middle grade book, Nooks & Crannies (summary at the end of this post). To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is leave a comment—feel free to share which hidden passage you’d like best from the ones pictured below.
But first, since this IS a word blog, I thought I’d share the origin of the words in my title:
Nook
1: chiefly Scottish : a right-angled corner
2 a: an interior angle formed by two meeting walls; b: a secluded or sheltered place or part- searched every nook and cranny; c: a small often recessed section of a larger room
Cranny
1 : a small break or slit : crevice
2 : an obscure nook or corner
Nook and Cranny:
I’ve searched for it in every nook and cranny, and I still can’t find it.
This metaphoric idiom pairs nook, which has meant “an out-of-the-way corner” since the mid 1300s, with cranny, which has meant “a crack or crevice” since about 1440. Neither noun is heard much other than in this idiom.
-via The American Heritage Idioms Dictionary
And now, here are some hidden spaces/passages that you could have built in your home. Which design do you like best?
Space under staircaseWall/ Wine cellarOpen Room to Hidden RoomThe Traditional Bookshelf PassageFireplace Footer
Given the choice, I’d go with one of the last two options (though bending over to scoot through the fireplace might not be as much fun as I get older).
NOOKS & CRANNIES summary:
Tabitha Crum is a girl with a big imagination and a love for mystery novels, though her parents think her only talent is being a nuisance. She doesn’t have a friend in the world, except her pet mouse, Pemberley, with whom she shares her dingy attic bedroom.
Then, on the heels of a rather devastating announcement made by her mother and father, Tabitha receives a mysterious invitation to the country estate of the wealthy but reclusive Countess of Windermere, whose mansion is rumored to be haunted. There, she finds herself among five other children, none of them sure why they’ve been summoned. But soon, a very big secret will be revealed— a secret that will change their lives forever and put Tabitha’s investigative skills to the test.
Don’t forget to leave a comment! The giveaway is open until Tuesday, June 23.
Jessica Lawson does not live in a fancy manor house, but she does deal with mysteries on a daily basis. Most of those mysteries involve missing socks and shadowy dessert disappearances. She lives in Colorado with her husband and children. Visit her online at jessicalawsonbooks.com or connect with her on Twitter.
I was getting ready to share my copy of Glitter and Glue with my friend Andrea. (She loves creative non-fiction. Check out her site.) Since I’m very fond of Glitter and Glue, I wanted to stick a bookplate in it to mark it as part of the Julia Tomiak library. As I pasted the “Ex Libris” sticker in the paperback, I wondered what “ex libris” means. A Word Nerd ought to know.
To learn more interesting words, join in the Wondrous Words Wednesday meme, hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onion.
Ex libris \eks-lē-brǝs\ noun. Literal translation from Latin: “from the books.” According to Webster’s, ex libris is a bookplate.
I should have known; ex = “out of”
Do you use bookplates? Here are some links to some cool looking bookplates on Amazon. I need to order more!
As I mentioned for Wondrous Words Wednesday this week, I’m busy editing my YA manuscript, and I had to look up the proper use of awhile. Webster’s gives the basic definition of “for a while” and calls the use of “awhile” a solecism, or improper usage.
Before I removed every “awhile” from my manuscript, I consulted Grammar Girl. As usual, she teased out the subtle grammar points. In short, there are three things to consider when using awhile vs a while:
A while is a noun (hint: it’s got the article “a” in front of it); it suggests a specific period of time. If you can replace “awhile” with “a week”, then you should use “a while”. Example: It’s been a while since I’ve had a good burger.
Awhile means “for a time”, and it’s an adverb. You should be able to replace “awhile” with another adverb, like “quickly”. Example: She ran awhile.
If a while is used in a prepositional phrase, as in, “She ran for a while,” you use “a while” because the object of a preposition must be a noun, not an adverb (“awhile”).
It looks like I’ll have to check each use of “awhile” when I go back through my manuscript. Sigh! I hope to be done by the end of the summer!
Word Nerd Workout
Let’s practice. In each sentence, decide if you should use awhile or a while.
Why don’t you go outside and play awhile/ a while?
I’m tired; I’m going to lie down for awhile/ a while.
I’m in the middle of editing my YA manuscript for the ninth time. You read that correctly, ninth. The publishing dream isn’t for wimps. Anyway, Microsoft Word keeps telling me that “awhile” isn’t grammatically correct, so I decided to research the topic. In the process, I came across the term “solecism”.
If you’d like to learn more interesting terms, visit Kathy and her friends for the Wondrous Words Wednesday meme. You can share a new word you’ve learned or one of your favorites.
When I looked up “awhile” in Websters, I found this:
Although considered a solecism by many commentators, awhile is often used in place of a while.
Of course, then I had to figure out what a solecism is.
Solecism \’sä-lǝ-si-zǝm\ noun from the Greek soloikos, speaking incorrectly; literally, inhabitant of Soloi, city in ancient Cilicia where a substandard form of Attic was spoken.
A mistake in speech or writing
An impolite or improper way of behaving
Word Nerd Workout
Can you think of another example of a solecism? The one I see most often in texts and social media is using “your” instead of “you’re”.
I used to dread summer vacation. One year, the thought of all four of my school-aged children home for three months sent me to the basement to weep.
But something has changed me. Perhaps it’s the repeated, gentle reminders of a friend who sends her last child off to college this August. Or my oldest son’s 15th birthday and the realization that in three years I will send him away. I’m over tired and prone to tears. Big on sentiment. I’ve embraced end of year activities with unusual enthusiasm this May because I finally realize these days will end, and I will miss them.
In my spirit of reflection, I dug up quotes on education for teacher cards and gifts. I think you might like them too.
One of my favorite podcasts is Note to Self (formerly known as New Tech City), a show that explores how technology affects our lives. In a recent episode, host Manoush Zomorodi used a recipe generator app to cook lunch with random items from her kitchen. The app suggested that she saute brussels sprouts with avocado. (Have you ever COOKED avocado before? Me either!) With heating, the avocado covered the brussels sprouts with a coating described as “unctuous”.
Don’t forget to visit Kathy’s site to learn more interesting words.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by the blog to enter the giveaway for Jessica Lawson’s new kidlit novel, Nooks and Crannies. I have to tell you, I got this for my 11-year-old son to read for a road trip, and he loved this mystery.
