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Leave Our Librarians Alone!

7/26/2023

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I am against banning books! I believe no one has the right to tell me what I can or cannot read.
Actually, if a novel with which I’m unfamiliar comes under scrutiny, the negative publicity serves as an open invitation to check it out. I’d have to read it to see what the fuss is all about.

Readers, young and old alike, must have the opportunity to form their individual thoughts on topics such as historical people and events, racial issues, religion, death, gender, or sexuality. There is no “one and only” opinion. Life cannot be censored to suit the views of egocentric bullies.

What really angers me is the latest ploy undertaken by government officials to take this another step into the abyss by passing laws regulating public libraries. In Indiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas, librarians risk prosecution and possible jail time for providing access to banned books to school-aged readers.

Librarians have become targets of those who believe children or teens shouldn’t have access to books dealing with controversial subjects. It’s sad to think these open-minded role models are being wrongfully accused of misguiding children and promoting pornography. Worse, they’re being punished, even though they’re doing nothing wrong.

PEN America found that attempts to ban or restrict access to books from school and public libraries since 2020 have shattered previous records. In addition, over 80% of the 1,648 books banned from schools in 2021 and 2022 focused on or featured LGBTQ+ characters and people of color.

A Washington Post article reported that just 11 people are responsible for more than 60 percent of book challenges in the 2021-22 school. Some of the serial filers were volunteers representing conservative parents groups such as Moms for Liberty. Most of the complaints targeted books about sexuality because “reading books about LGBTQ people could cause children to alter their sexuality or gender.”

No matter how absurd the reasoning, libraries much conform to the new laws, or else face the consequences. Missouri libraries have begun to remove graphic novels and comics, as well as books about art history, the Holocaust, and photography. Disappearing from the shelves are books such as:
  • The Complete Guide to Drawing & Painting by Reader’s Digest
  • Six books about the Holocaust designed for teen readers 
  • Graphic adaptations of classic books including The Odyssey by Homer, Macbeth by Shakespeare, and selected works of Mark Twain
  • The Children’s Bible, adapted by Sally Tagholm
  • A graphic novel adaptation of the Gettysburg Address by Jonathan Hennessey
  • Dozens of superhero comics, including Batman, X-Men, and The Fantastic Four
  • 76 art history books whose subjects include Rembrandt, Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Edward Hopper, and Georgia O’Keefe
This purge is taking place in other states as well. I’m sure it’s excruciating for the dedicated book lovers forced to comply with these mandates.

On a brighter note, Illinois is the first state to propose legislation that will punish public institutions that ban books. The bill states that for public libraries, including those in public schools and universities, to remain eligible for grant funding, they must adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights or their own written statement prohibiting the banning of books.

The Library Bill of Rights was first drafted by library director Forrest Spaulding in 1938 to speak out against the “growing intolerance, suppression of free speech and censorship affecting the rights of minorities and individuals.” One year later, the American Library Association adopted the document as a guide for librarians in serving their communities and protecting the rights of all patrons. It has since evolved to include book banning, race and gender discrimination, and exhibit spaces.

Unfortunately, though, it doesn’t stop the complainers. More than 1,200 challenges were compiled by the association in 2022, nearly double the then-record total from 2021. Liberals targeted some books because of racist language (Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). Still, the vast majority of complaints came from conservatives focusing on works written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community or by and about Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color.

As the hype continues, librarians face increasing pressure to bend to the demands of narrow-minded politicians and parents. However, all is not lost. The American Library Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and more than a dozen other organizations have formed a coalition to fight the nationwide wave of book bans and challenges.

Unite Against Book Bans also includes the publishers Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan, the Authors Guild, and the National Coalition Against Censorship. Their combined resources help community members to draft petitions, develop questionnaires for political candidates, and design graphics for social media.
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Libraries provide a safe haven with no strings attached. Everyone is welcome. Knowledgeable and helpful experts are always willing to answer questions and help you find what you want. I hate to see this institution destroyed by ignorance. We all need to support our librarians. Let them know they are still respected and admired and will be forevermore. 

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Second Chances, the Novel and the Process

7/19/2023

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Second Chances was my debut novel. A rather long learning curve preceded this effort. I had always loved writing, but I never considered it as a potential career when I was young. The first story I wrote was titled “My Name and I.” This came about when my family moved as I was going into the eighth grade. At that time I was called Dannye Sue. Unfortunately, my new teacher refused to call me by my full name, insisting Dannye was a boy’s name. In turn, I refused to answer the roll call until she finally gave in. It so happened that the high school newspaper ran a short story contest for the eighth grade classes. I couldn’t help myself. I wrote “My Name and I” and won first place. It was published in the following issue!

After that sweetly rewarding experience, I wrote poems as an outlet for my emotions or in answer to requests by others. Later, I wrote a manual on Technical Analysis for brokers in the commodity trading industry and various pieces related to other jobs I had. However, in 1997, I sat down to see if I could write a full length novel. I had always been interested in human psychology and for the nearly two decades prior in metaphysics. So, it was natural that these interests would inform my writing in this major undertaking.

It was so exciting! I would quit in the evening and inform my husband, “You’ll never guess what Darian did?” I very much felt like my characters were writing the book. I managed to make my way to the end of the book. Fortunately, it only took a short while for me to realize how much I had to learn. As soon as life allowed, I sat down to do a rewrite and change the title. As you might imagine, my enthusiasm created a massive tale! Unfortunately, my husband and I were in process of creating a 5 CD audiobook and making plans to move out of state, so I put my novel on the back burner. Just as I thought I was ready to make the move to transform my tale into two novels, my husband had a stroke. I was beginning to think that my future as a writer was cursed!
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However, I prevailed and completed my rewrite and edit on Second Chances and on the second half of the tale, The Threads That Bind, which takes place 39 years later. 


Below are some of my earlier reviews of Second Chances.

Sandy Wolters:
Is there really evil in the world? Yes. It goes by the name of Darian. I want to start out by saying that I am a paranormal junkie. This book, SECOND CHANCES by DANNYE WILLIAMSEN, is so much more than your everyday paranormal read. There are no vampires. There are no werewolves, although there is a wolf, Avatar, with a very interesting back story.

Second Chances has a character, Darian, who is so evil, yet the author found a way to write his story that compels the reader to feel sorrow and sympathy for him. The writing in this book was scintillating!

Carol Wyer:
This is quite simply one of the best paranormal thrillers I have read. Second Chances grips the reader from the outset and carries them along in a huge tide of eloquent, flowing style, intriguing characters, and heart-hammering plot.

Centering around two characters: Darian and Fredrika, Dannye Williamsen's novel is not merely about good versus evil. It examines the complexity of human characteristics and demonstrates that fate and circumstance play their part, too. Both characters have substance. Fredrika represents goodness and has a well-balanced strength. Darian is truly disturbing, yet fascinating. He is bent on destruction, but salvation could be around the corner if only Fredrika is willing to accept his conditions and, indeed, him.

Karen Doering:
Dark, deep, and filled with protagonists you can both love and hate, feel sorry for and wish they are defeated, this is the one book I don't think will be easily put aside or forgotten. Once you have read it, you still need time to think about it.

Ms. Williamsen brings her characters to life with depth and dimension. Each character is multi-faceted, coming to life on the page. The narration flows so well it is hardly noticed, and the dialogue is realistic. Beautifully edited and presented, the book is easy to get lost in. I did. I was unable to put it down.

J.T. Kalnay
Dannye Williamsen presents a classic and terrifying battle between good and evil in Second Chances. Fredrika thinks she is losing her mind as unexplained happenings begin to pile up around her. Darian can't explain why Fredrika is so compelling to him. As the mystery and terror grow and grow, Fredrika and Darian identify and then confront the yin and yang of good and evil. The adversaries learn that every heart holds both good and evil, and none of us are willing to destroy any piece of our own heart. Will Fredrika survive her challenges? Will Darian devolve into pure evil? You'll have to read to the very end to find out. And after turning that last page you'll be reaching for the first page of the sequel, The Threads That Bind.

Note: 
You can read more reviews at https://www.dannyewilliamsen.com/second-chances.html .
​It is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Second-Chances-Dannye-Williamsen/dp/097260586X
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So, They Walk into a Bar...

7/12/2023

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• An Oxford comma walks into a bar where it spends the evening watching the television, getting drunk, and smoking cigars.
• A dangling participle walks into a bar. Enjoying a cocktail and chatting with the bartender, the evening passes pleasantly.
• A bar was walked into by the passive voice.
• An oxymoron walked into a bar, and the silence was deafening.
• Two quotation marks walk into a “bar.”
• A malapropism walks into a bar, looking for all intensive purposes like a wolf in cheap clothing, muttering epitaphs and casting dispersions on his magnificent other, who takes him for granite.
• Hyperbole totally rips into this insane bar and absolutely destroys everything.
• A question mark walks into a bar?
• A non sequitur walks into a bar. In a strong wind, even turkeys can fly.
• Papyrus and Comic Sans walk into a bar. The bartender says, "Get out -- we don't serve your type."
• A mixed metaphor walks into a bar, seeing the handwriting on the wall but hoping to nip it in the bud.
• A comma splice walks into a bar, it has a drink and then leaves.
• Three intransitive verbs walk into a bar. They sit. They converse. They depart.
• A synonym strolls into a tavern.
• At the end of the day, a cliché walks into a bar -- fresh as a daisy, cute as a button, and sharp as a tack.
• A run-on sentence walks into a bar it starts flirting. With a cute little sentence fragment.
• Falling slowly, softly falling, the chiasmus collapses to the bar floor.
• A figure of speech literally walks into a bar and ends up getting figuratively hammered.
• An allusion walks into a bar, despite the fact that alcohol is its Achilles heel.
• The subjunctive would have walked into a bar, had it only known.
• A misplaced modifier walks into a bar owned a man with a glass eye named Ralph.
• The past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.
• A verb walks into a bar, sees a beautiful noun, and suggests they conjugate. The noun declines.
• A simile walks into a bar, as parched as a desert.
• A gerund and an infinitive walk into a bar, drinking to forget.
• A hyphenated word and a non-hyphenated word walk into a bar, and the bartender nearly chokes on the irony.

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Have You Ever Thought About How You Read?

7/5/2023

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We’re all bookaholics here, so be honest with me. Have you ever immersed yourself so deeply in a book that your mind’s eye envisioned the story as it unfolded.

Don’t worry. You’re not alone. Most fiction lovers create a mental movie, and getting lost inside a thrilling tale is not uncommon. Actually, it’s entertaining and relaxing to escape reality and imagine living in another dimension and witnessing the action firsthand. 

If you’re anything like me, some evenings you’d rather stay up until the wee hours hanging out with your favorite fictional characters, and then you feel lost when the story ends.

Does Everybody Visualize the Same Thing?
Of course not! That’s the beauty of being unique individuals. What we see when we read is just one of many indicators of how we’re different. We may all look at the same words, but our minds perceive them differently.

Our experiences, education, culture, values, and other factors predispose us to interpret the text in specific ways. Since no two people think alike, our mental images when we read will differ as well. Reading a book is so much more than taking in mere words. The thrill lies in how your mind’s eye decodes that alphabet soup into a picture.

Some writers believe they must include lots of descriptive language to set people’s imaginations in overdrive. The more imagery, the better to help the reader dive into the heart of the story.
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On the other hand, as an author, I prefer to skip sharing my preconceived notions. I believe it’s more important to allow my readers (especially kids) free reign to let their imaginations run wild and imagine the characters and scenes to their liking.

 For me, that’s the beauty of writing – to take the reader on a journey that gets those little gray cells churning madly away painting an accompanying mental picture.

Years ago, I talked with a group of middle schoolers about Gerald and the Wee People. I instructed them to close their eyes and picture the scene in their mind’s eye as I read a passage from the book.

The big reveal was a shocker! The kids came up with images I’d never dreamed possible. A few pictured the protagonists having brown hair. Others argued for black, blond, short, long, straight, or curly. Clothes varied from shorts and t-shirts to jeans to more medieval-era garments to match the setting.

I loved it! The kids were surprised at how different their classmates’ impressions differed from their own. No one was wrong because there were no correct answers. Everyone had their own ideas, making it enjoyable for them and me.

Why don’t you try Gerald and the Wee People and tell me what you think Gerald and Vernon look like? What are your impressions of the Wee People’s village and some of the residents? I’m sure Sean will be everyone’s least favorite character. Yet, who will win your heart? Will Dora’s no-nonsense approach appeal to you, or will Alyson wind up being everyone’s beloved scatter-brained teenager?

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Available at Amazon.com

Print https://www.amazon.com/Gerald-Wee-People-Book-one/dp/1480210617

Kindle and Kindle Unlimited https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/
B004JKMT0Q


Universal link http://viewbook.at/geraldandtheweepeople
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Amazon Author Page 
https://www.amazon.com/Greta-Burroughs/e/B003N3F5AQ

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I will read forever because it lets me visit in my mind the worlds that I will never be able to see; it helps me put away the stresses of the day and relax into the rhythm of the story before me; it lets me bring to the surface and experience without regrets those feelings I hide away; it lets me re-experience the thrill of first love through someone else's eyes; it keeps my mind juiced so that it will never desert me; it is always there for me even when there's no one else. I will read forever no matter whether it is print or digital because the words will always call to me. ~ A Sassy Scribbler