First, some fun stuff to share then not-so fun writing tidbit.
1. Betrayed was chosen as one of the favorite Books of the Summer by author Kelly Hashway. Not only is Kelly an avid reader, she writes amazing YA stories and children picture books.
I can't wait to read her latest book: TOUCH OF DEATH (You can pre-order it now)
2. The lovely Minnie of Sunsetreaderreview, who also runs Read 2 Review and Author's Little Corner on Goodreads, had her girls read both Awakened and Betrayed and posted their reviews on Goodreads. Here are a few of them.
Conclusion (Awakened):
Bran is a good kisser...Elle said so and Lil agrees
As I was reading this, I didn't really think "oh, this is an angel book" like you sometimes do with vampires or werewolves. It was so seamlessly written in that it simply makes sense... Melanie's Reviews
Conclusion (Betrayed):
Normally second books aren't that great - Hi, New Moon (don't get me wrong, I love the Twilight series, but New Moon was just... not that great) - but Betrayed just blew me away.
I can't believe I hadn't heard of this author before, but now I am a legit fan...Maria Stanica's Reviews.
My thoughts: OMJB! I loved this book, Ednah Walters FREAKING DELIVERED! It was fantastic and it kept getting better from there...Annie's Reviews
3. I encountered the dreaded sagging middle of my WIP, the one I finished a few weeks ago, and needed inspiration to fix it. As any author would tell you, it doesn't hurt to look at the ending of your story and work backwards to fix the middle or check your secondary characters and make them shine.
So I went with the secondary characters and realized why they were so bland. I didn't make them sound authentic enough. How do one go about making mid-western folks sound authentic? Do they have distinct accents like Texans, New Yorkans or Bostonians? Maybe not but their language is pretty corlorful
Rural mid-west people say the darnest things like (Check the whole list here):
-so ugly she had to sneak up on a glass of water to get a drink
-slick as the deer gut on a doorknob
-nuttier than a crapper at a peanut festival
-their INGs have no Gs, walkin', smokin', you betcha
-Top of the morning to yah
- Mad enough to chew horse shoes and spit nails
- Grinning like a mule eatin' saw briar- Grinning like a possum eatin' sour persimmons
-So skinny she had to jump around in the rain to get wet
-Got beat with a ugly stick when she was born
Do you have some more to share. Not necessarily from mid-west
Ednah, you are so very welcome. Betrayed is one of my all-time favorite books now. It's one I will read over and over again. :D
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kelly. Happy you enjoyed it.
DeleteEdnah, your book's gotten so much love, I'll have to put it on my TBR list and see why!
ReplyDeleteLOL, make sure you come back and tell you how you feel about it
DeleteOkay, I'm looking for the rural Midwestern people that talk like that! LOL They must not come into the city often. :) Congrats on the book love!
ReplyDeleteLOL, no they don't. These are country folks...deep, deep country folk
DeleteYep, country for sure. I'm from the midwest, but I only had heard of half that list. Some others to remember are the words we use for things like Pop for soda, shopping cart for buggy. We also push buttons (not mash or hit them). And don't forget that the corn should be "knee high by the fourth of July". :) Have fun!
ReplyDeleteI got the list from another blogger and I believe this is country talk. Thanks for sharing, Sarah
DeleteI love Kelly's blog and think it is awesome that she had such great things to say about Betrayed! Fantastic reviews- you must be so excited. :) I also like your idea of working backwards from the end to make the middle of the ms better. The only other midwest phrase I can think of is: You betch ya.
ReplyDelete~Jess
Thanks. Yeah, Sarah Palin made that one famous. What about top of the morning to yah... I know it's Irish but not sure if it is used everywhere
DeleteLove the glass of water one! That made me laugh!
ReplyDeleteLove that one too. The blogger I got the list from had a lot more colorful ones, which I chose not to share...
DeleteIt's fun to listen around and pick up accents. Don't know about the midwest ones, but I've lived all through the southeast and lemme tell ya, the 'southern' accent has about a dozen variations. I love picking out the subtleties in each one. Those are some awesomely colorful expressions you have listed!
ReplyDeleteI heard Mid-west doesn't exactly have an accent compared to the coastal regions, but colorful expression come from every corner of this geat country of ours
Deletewell, I am from the Mid-west, (Colorado is where i grew up) and we do not talk like that, now Oklahoma, thats a whole other story. I hate tha people lump "Mid-western" with all those states, when each state is so different in their accents, take Oklahoma, that whole leaving off the G's, thats them, and Texas too (lived in both places, I traveled alot, and most of that was the Midwest) Now Colorado, has hardily any accent at all, more normal as I call it, like the way everyone talks in Washington and Oregon, (I live in Washington now) I used to live in Texas, and lived both in the south Texas (Houston and San Antonio) then lived in Arlington (between Dallas and Fort Worth) and even between those cities there is some major differences, and huge difference as you get to the small towns, and closer to Oklahoma, as you head that way, you get more of the Oklahoma slang and accent. A little town in Oklahoma, where my dads family is from. Stigler OK, they have such a slang it makes you want to laugh, the whole leaving the G's off is very noticeable there. But in Tulsa, not as much.
ReplyDeleteAlso, born in Phoenix Arizona, lived there until 9, then went to Colorado, and visited often, the family, and there really isn't a accent there either, not leaving off the G's or strange sayings. Those saying you mentioned, I never heard those uttered outside of b rated movies. I heard the ugly stick one, but said different. Other than that, never heard those others in all the places i had been with these Mid-westerns. Not in this day and age. You will find strange stuff said by the super old people, but not anyone really in this generation. Just my 2 cents worth of my travels and experience of the "mid-west) (I also lived in Utah, California, Idaho, Nevada as well. Pretty much all over the mid-west, even Missouri, Kansas too, as well as Louisiana. Ohio. Philadelphia (which is east I know) it has major slang and accents, as well as New Jersey I noticed, lol, same as when I was in New York and especially Boston, wow, they all talk with major accents, lol. I been all over USA. lol
But those sayings you made are funny though. can see my dads great uncle who is like 89 saying them (he lives in that hick town in Oklahoma, lol)
You are right that educated and young people don't use these expressions, and according to online articles, mid-westerners don't usually have accents persay, but old timers can use colorful expressions depending on their level of education(check the blogger I got the expressions from). The coastal areas, Boston, New Jersey, New York, Texas then you get to hear the accents. Thanks for stopping by.
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