Saturday, January 11, 2025

THE LONG GAME


THIS VIDEO PROVIDES A PICTURE OF BOOKS

FIRST SENTENCE IN A NOVEL:
This all began innocently, although I have been around long enough to be suspicious of what seems to be an innocuous telephone call like the one I received on a sunny June morning as I sat in the office with coffee after breakfast.

I've enjoyed this guy's novels, but this wasn't the way to start a book. It's TOO DAMN LONG! There are 43 words in that sentence.

He could have rewritten this into two or three sentences.

Rewrite: It was a sunny June morning, and I sat in the office drinking coffee after breakfast. Then the telephone rang, disturbing me.

I realize author Robert Goldsborough wouldn't like my version of his first sentence. I'm just writing the same information in a shorter form. It's 22 words, not 43.

The above sentence is from a Nero Wolfe book called Archie Goes Home.

I loved the book, just not the first sentence.

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EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK


ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)

Friday, January 10, 2025

SESQUICENTENNIAL

I just heard the word sesquicentennial on an audiobook. I knew that it meant a 150th anniversary, but I looked it up anyway.

The meaning of SESQUICENTENNIAL is a 150th anniversary or its celebration.

By the way, there's a Sesquicentennial State Park in Columbia, S.C.

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I just found the word factotum in a novel. It means a person having many diverse activities or responsibilities (sounds like a jack of all trades).

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EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK


ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)