Celebrate the Small Things and Grammar Friday!!!

The wonderful Vikki over at Viklit sponsors this weekly meme to help us remember the small things in life. Yep, it's those tiny wonders which happen every single day that make life worth living.

This week, I'm celebrating:

1) Goats. Yep, our new friends on the farm. I mentioned these Wednesday, but thought you'd like at least one picture. This is one of the babies. Isn't it cute?

2) Candied apples! Since the kids are now on school break (YAY!), we have to find fun things to do. So one of our 1st activities was making candied apples. They were delicious.

3) My son changed our spark plugs and wires! It's his pre-father's day present on my husband. I'm so proud of him. Guess those kids do grow up after all.

4) My daughter is finding tons of four leaf clovers. The other day, she even found a six leaf one. Double the luck? She seems to think so. Now, I have a whole tiny vase full of the wonderful luck bringers.



And now, before you go out into the field and search for your own four leaf clovers, it's time for. . .

As you may (or may not) know, we're stuck smack-dab in the middle of semicolons. We know they're used to combine two independent clauses. We know we can use them in lists to help against comma disasters. Is there more?

You can bet your momma's britches there is!

Today, we're looking at a third rule (yep, let those little jiggers of excitement roll through you.) Did you know that semicolons can help you introduce a list into a sentence?

You didn't! Well, then you're about to find out how!


Sometimes, we want to combine two sentences, the second which has a list of things directly related to the first sentence. I know, that sounds awful confusing, but as usual, an example will clear it up.

When George goes camping, he needs to take several things with him. A tent, sleeping bag, food, rope and a flashlight are necessary.

The 2nd sentence is directly related to the first, so I want them to stick together like glue. To accomplish this, all I have to do is add a semicolon and a cute, little introductory word.

Like this:

When George goes camping, he needs to take several things with him; for example, a tent, sleeping bag, food, rope, and a flashlight are necessary.

Notice, there's our buddy, the semicolon! To help him introduce the 2nd sentence, we use an introductory word or phrase like namely, however, therefore, that is, i.e., for example, e.g., or for instance.

These introductory words are ALWAYS set off with a comma.

Got it?

Here's one more example to make sure.

There are many different types of tea. Cylon, Assam and Orange Pekoe are among the most popular.

There are many different types of tea; however, Cylon, Assam and Orange Pekoe are among the most popular.

What about you? What is your favorite type of tea? Do you love to go camping? Going to roast marshmallows? What wonderful things happened to you this week? Is there such a thing as 8 leaf clovers?

What's Up Wednesday

This is a weekly meme sponsored by the lovely Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk. It's purpose? To help us writerly people keep in touch with each other and say 'What's Up?'


What I'm Reading:

Not much. I stopped by the library yesterday and picked up the first book in Rick Riordan's THE 39 CLUES series (THE MAZE OF BONES) and Donnie Lemke's first book in her TONY HAWK'S 900 REVOLUTION series (DROP IN). Both are middle grade. . .see if I get to them this week or not.


What I'm Writing:

I've had some new ideas for my WIP, so I'm pulling leaves off my tree, reshuffling and putting on fresh buds. That also means I'll have to flip things around in my first 10,000 words before I continue, but I always shove and push and erase and change a lot on the first chapters of a WIP before I really know where the book is headed and can dive into it full swing.


What Inspires Me:

Life. Nature. Everything. I love to go outside and breathe it all in. At the moment, everything is so vibrant and full of energy. It's wonderful.


What Else I'm Up To:

This last weekend was C.R.A.Z.Y!!! My brother and his new wife stopped by for a visit, which went really well. . .I guess. His wife is a huge animal person. We took them with us to the goat auction on Saturday (I need goats so desperately to eat all of our weeds!), where we ended up getting 11 goats. Ug! So many more than I planned!

1 mama with 2 babies (so cute!)
1 mama with 1 baby (he's handsome)
4 half-way bottle babies
1 pregnant goat
1 normal goat

I got carried away and now have more work than anticipated. . .especially since one had a cold and infected all the others now. So today, I have to figure out how to treat all of them.

AND another sister of mine pulled a surprise visit, which was really adventurous since she drives a 53 ft semi trailer. She honestly brought it down the dirt road to our house (took half the trees with her, I think). It was quite the sight (and she almost didn't make it out again). At least, the neighbors had something to gawk at.

And what about you? What are you up to?

Celebrate the Small Things and Grammar Friday!!!

The awesome Viklit sponsors this weekly meme to help us remember that it's the small things in life which make the difference.


Lol! I hope this post comes over right because I'm running low on sleep this week - just too many things to celebrate, I guess.


I'm celebrating. . .

1)  A shoe rack for my mud room. I found a cute little shop downtown yesterday with all sorts of 2nd hand treasures, and one was a black metal shoe rack which holds 20+ pairs of shoes. I was pulling out my hair with our massive shoe pile so far, and now, my worries are gone. Yippee!

2) I took an evening walk through our forest last night. Alone. It was so peaceful. I just sucked it in. Umm. . .so did the ticks (I found four crawling up my leg when I got back home), but no harm done. It was still great.

3) Hubs found a job! It's right in town (which is a major feat for one this size), so we'll get to see a lot of him still.

4) My daughter got a summer job too. Not a big one--just mowing a little lawn. But it gives her some extra spending money. Plus, the man wants her to ride his horse 2-3 times a week. She is SO excited.


And now, it's time for. . .

Last week, we learned that semicolons can be used to join two independent clauses. Independent. That's the important thing.

This week, we're going to see how semicolons can bring order into comma chaos! YAY! Think of it as a grammar version of Spring Cleaning!!! (That calls for excitement, doesn't it?)


RULE 2:


Semicolons can be used to separate units in a series, where more commas are used.

Huh?

I know. That sounds totally confusing. But it's not.



Example:

Joe has lived in Denver, Colorado; Detroit, Michigan; St Louis, Missouri; and Phoenix, Arizona.

Look at those semicolons. If we were to use commas instead, it would be a gigantic mumble-jumble! But with the semicolons, it's much easier to see where the breaks in the list are.

Easy?

See, now you can head into the weekend without a headache and a ton more organized!

What have you been up to this last week? Any wonderful little things happen which put a smile on your face? Do you hate ticks as much as I do? How do you handle comma chaos? Any great plans to keep this weekend cool? 

Celebrate the Small Things and Grammar Friday!

The amazing Viklit sponsors this weekly meme to help us remember that it's often the small things in life, which make the biggest difference. Go on over and sign up because everyone could use an extra smile on their face.

As for me, I'm having a pretty hectic week (hence, no Wednesday post), so I'm glad Vikki's making us stop to think. Thank you!

I'm celebrating:


1)  Kittens. We found two baby kittens in our old milk barn. The mother must have carried them in and is still taking care of them. We've been putting out milk and food (which they've been eating) in hopes of bribing them to stay. Every farm needs its farm cats.

(This is right after we found the 1st. We had to figure out what was going on first, but she was set free a few minutes later again. Hope they stay!)

2)  My cows/calves are eating out of my hand and come stampedeing when I call 'Morning, Girls!'. I just hope they always stop their charge in front of me and don't plow me over someday. (would they?)

3) The kids had their book fair yesterday evening. It was so strange to walk through it and say 'hey, this book has been a best-seller for ... many weeks', 'I know that author', 'Oh, I remember when this first came out. It's a series now?' I think I drove my kids crazy. Living in Germany, I watched most of this stuff from afar via internet, and out here, there aren't any bookstores. So this was really a new experience for me. I think I got giddy! The best was when I pulled up a book and said 'Hey, the agent that reps this one has my full at the moment, and this one has been on the best-seller list . ... weeks!'  
Amazing, what a tiny book fair can do for the spirit!



Before we head into the weekend though (and may it be a sunny one!), it's time for another. . .

This week, I'm going to step away from commas and head into a new form of punctuation. Are commas done? Gosh no! But those guys do getting irritating at times, don't they? So, we're taking a vacation this weekend and heading over to. . .

*drum roll*

SEMICOLONS!!!!

Now, isn't that exciting stuff? *hahaha*


Have no fear because semicolons are actually really easy. Honestly, they are. And by breaking it down into a couple week post, you won't feel like you're on brain-overload either.

(Week 1)
RULE 1:

Semicolons are used when combining two independent clauses instead of a conjunction.
The key here is 'independent clauses'. Both clauses must be able to stand alone as complete sentences.



Example:

The tea was hot; I couldn't drink a sip.

The flight landed in New York as scheduled; it should have been no problem for the passengers to make their connections.

So, what about you? What wonderful, little things happened in your life this week? Are you a semicolon fan (I heard that they are in Britain)? Do you like book fairs? Did you ever miss a flight connection (dumb, question; I know!)? Are you going to semicolon through life this weekend?

Cover Reveal!

A fantastic woman is celebrating her cover reveal today, and I have the honor of helping her share her gorgeous new book. I love it when writer buddies get published! So today, instead of sticking to my usual kid book end of things, I'm bending the rules just a little bit, and presenting something maybe more for mommies (although this does still fall under YA).

Ready?

Set?

Here it is!!!

Life’s. Little. Surprises.

The last thing seven-year-old Carrigan "Ace" Casper foresaw was an eight-year-old Heath Lovelly walking into her life the day her mother died. From that moment on, Heath sticks by her side, slowly becoming her strength, her confidant, and her entire world. What she doesn’t know is, she's his saving grace, too.

Ten years later, Ace is handed another crippling challenge that threatens everything in her almost perfect life. Only, this time, she doesn't turn to Heath, hiding the truth instead. But Heath knows Ace too well and won't back down easily. He's ready to do whatever it takes and will stay by her side until she accepts that their love is the kinda love worth fighting for.

Will he be her forever triumph or her unexpected downfall?

Two lives.

One story.

And an unexpected journey to falling in love.

Isn't it beautiful? It was designed by Regina Wamba at Mae I Design & Photography.
This mature YA Contemporary Romance (17+ please, due to language and sensual scenes), will be released on:

AUGUST 15TH!!!

and will be available at:

Kindle | Nook | Kobo |Smashwords |Paperback 

Of course, you can already add it to goodreads (I'm sure Clara (Priya) won't cry if you do!)

Let me guess, you'd like to meet Clara *aehm* Priya?

Priya Kanaparti lives in the beautiful city of Boise, ID. Unlike what most believe about Idaho, it’s more than a sack full of potatoes. When she’s not writing, you’ll catch Priya reading YA and NA books, mostly romance, and enjoying time with her family. She is a proud CW TV addict. She also write Mature YA and New Adult romance under the name Clara Stone. She is published through Reuts Publications.

Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Goodreads | Pinterest

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*** Follow this book's Story board at: http://pinterest.com/pkanaparti/forev... ***

**Mature Content Warning** 17+ for language and sexual content.

GENRE: Mature YA Contemporary Romance.