Archive for September, 2009

I found this quite informative and funny, courtesy of plainlanguage.gov:

• Avoid clichés like the plague – they’re old hat.
• Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
• Do not use a foreign word when there is an adequate English quid pro quo.
• Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
• Don’t repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.
• Be more or less specific.
• Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.

I am an avid reader, writer, and film-buff with ecclectic tastes. I almost always have notebook and a novel with me, be it a physical book or an ebook on my iTouch. I’m a sucker for book sales and exchanges.

I grew up on the Little House on the Prairie books (and TV show), westerns, and outdoor books, movies, and TV shows (remember the old Walt Disney nature movies and Wild Kingdom?) that instilled in me a love of adventure and the outdoors. I also enjoy crime dramas, a well-written romance, and any novel that can make me want to read it straight through without putting it down.

Some of my favorite books of all time include:

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

The Collector by John Fowler

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

Some recently read books I recommend highly:

The Real All-Americans by Sally Jenkins

The Highlander Series of Romance Novels by Karen Marie Moning

The Dexter Series of Crime Novels by Jeff Lindsay

On Writing by Stephen King

The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King)