NEW PUBLICATION

Henrick-Long Publishing Company has just released my latest middle grade biography--The De Leon Family of Texas. The book follows the life of Martin De Leon, the only Mexican empresario to help settle Texas. He and his family established what is today Victoria, Texas. Martin De Leon is a new addition to the Texas social studies curriculum for grades four and seven. The events in the lives of Martin, his wife, and his many children provide entertaining reading for seventh graders taking Texas history while providing an easily-accessed resource for fourth-grade teachers. The story of this fascinating family is set against the backdrop of important events in Texas history.

I AM LOOKING FOR SUGGESTIONS FOR OTHER HISPANICS ABOUT WHOM TO WRITE BIOGRAHIES--PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS.

"C" WHAT'S CORRECT!

The book on which I am currently working features the famous rejoneadora, Conchita Cintron. She started out fighting bulls from horseback and then progressed to becoming a torera, a fighter on foot. Her entire career lasted 14 years, having begun when she was only 13.

Some "C" words that get confused:

chorale (a musical composition) and corral (a pen for cattle)

canvas (rough cloth often used for tents) and  canvass (to solicit votes or to study carefully)

carol (a Christmas song) and carrell (a small cubicle with a study desk and chair)

COMMAS in a series:
A comma goes before "and" in the series unless placing one there changes the meaning. See the two examples:

The letters were addressed to Terry, Mike, and Susan. (There were three letters--one for each person).

The letters were addressed to Terry, Mike and Susan. (There were two letters--one for Terry and one for Mike and Susan together).

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

SWTX-SCBWI SAN ANTONIO CONFERENCE

We invite you to join the members of the SWTX-SCBWI San Antonio chapter at its annual September 17 conference--meet agents, editors, authors, and have a chance to submit to all of these.

Please follow this link to register:

http://swtxscbwi2011.eventbrite.com/

"B" Careful

The homonyms today start with the letter "B." To begin, let's examine the picture. To BROWSE is to read a book casually, looking at only random passages. If we combine the foreheads of both children, we get two BROWS. Some other "B" homonyms are BOARDER (a person who pays for meals and lodging) and BORDER (a margin, rim, or edge).  Finally, we have BRIDAL (pertaining to a bride or to a marriage ceremony) and BRIDLE (the harness fitted about a horse's head).                                               

The grammar lesson today has to do with the difference in punctuating compound sentences and compound parts of a sentence.

A compound sentence is two simple sentences (two independent clauses) joined by a coordinating conjunction: and, or, but, for, yet, nor, and so.

Note: Before placing a comma, be sure that the part of the sentence on EACH SIDE of the conjunction makes sense by itself. If EITHER PART does not, do not use a comma.

Example:

  She did not seem to miss him, and Frost resented her not being as miserable as he was.

Do not put a comma (or any other kind of punctuation) between compound parts of a sentence, such as compound subjects, compound verbs, compound direct objects, compound prepositional phrases, compound adjectives, compound adverbs, etc.

Examples:

He felt good about the poem and believed that he had made progress in his technique. (no comma because this a compound verb. The part after the "and" does not make sense by itself because it has no subject.)

Belle Frost decided to open a private school with her daughter Jeanie and soon-to-be daughter-in-law as teachers. (no comma because this is a compound object of the preposition; the part of the sentence after "and" does not make sense by itself.)

Example sentences were taken from my book Deep Woods: The Story of Robert Frost.

 

Polishing Your Manuscript with Good Grammar

For the next few blogs, I want to share some common grammar errors that make your writing not as professional as it could be. With each blog, I also plan to compare a few homonyms whose misuse also detracts from your writing.

My pet grammar peeve is the confusion of the objective and the nominative cases.

For example, The editor gave Joan and I some tips on improving our manuscript.
This is incorrect. Instead of "I," the writer should have used "me."
Tip: To check your grammar in this situation, remove the proper noun Joan and the conjunction and; then read the sentence without them.
The editor gave ME some tips on improving our manuscript.

Today's homonyms: ALLOWED (permitted) and ALOUD (spoken)
                                 ASCENT (the climb) and ASSENT (to agree)

FALSE BELIEFS DISPELLED

If this is your image of today's Native American woman, you will find that belief quickly dispelled in Deerskin Daughters: True Stories of Native American Women. The manuscript is under contract with Mountain Press and will be illustrated by my friend and colleague, Carolyn Flores. Unfortunately, publishing moves rather slowly these days, and the book is not scheduled for the market until sometime in 2013. I hope you will put it on your future reading list so that you can learn about Maria Tallchief, Wilma Mankiller, Nancy Ward, Mary Musgrove, Emily Pauline Johnson, Rosebud Yellow Robe, Susette La Flesche, Mountain Wolf Woman, and Annie Dodge Wauneka--all highly accomplished Native American women.