Banned Book Week 2010

Are you aware Banned Books Week started on Saturday? Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. For more, click here .

The trouble with censorship is that once it starts it is hard to stop. Just about every book contains something that someone objects to.
~Studs Terkel

A Texas town has banned the Harry Potter books because they glorify magic, and learning to read.
~Craig Kilborn

There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.
~Joseph Brodsky

"Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it."
-- Mark Twain

"Adam was but human - this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple's sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the serpent; then he would have eaten the serpent."
-- Mark Twain

"All these people talk so eloquently about getting back to good old-fashioned values. Well, as an old poop I can remember back to when we had those old-fashioned values, and I say let's get back to the good old-fashioned First Amendment of the good old-fashioned Constitution of the United States -- and to hell with the censors! Give me knowledge or give me death!"
-- Kurt Vonnegut, author

"The dirtiest book of all is the expurgated book."
-- Walt Whitman

"There is no such thing as a moral book or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all."
-- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891
"The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame." Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

"An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all." -- Oscar Wilde

How many of these books have you read?

When I was it high school, it was Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, and Lady Chatterley's Lover that were making the headlines. I wonder how many of the books I've been reading lately (heck, even the ones I've written) would fare by those standards.

Tomorrow, my guest is writing duo Tia Dani, and they're talking about haunted houses--based on their own experiences. Be sure to come back.

More on Censorship, and Assorted Odds and Ends

Continuing with the Banned Books Week theme, some more quotes on censorship:

"Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it."
-- Mark Twain

"Adam was but human - this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple's sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the serpent; then he would have eaten the serpent."
-- Mark Twain

"All these people talk so eloquently about getting back to good old-fashioned values. Well, as an old poop I can remember back to when we had those old-fashioned values, and I say let's get back to the good old-fashioned First Amendment of the good old-fashioned Constitution of the United States -- and to hell with the censors! Give me knowledge or give me death!"
-- Kurt Vonnegut, author

"The dirtiest book of all is the expurgated book."
-- Walt Whitman

"There is no such thing as a moral book or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all."
-- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

"The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame." Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

"An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all." -- Oscar Wilde

How many of these books have you read?

And, as for what's going on around home:

I've added a new Behind the Scenes entry on my website for When Danger Calls. Sometimes ideas for books aren't so much ideas for books, but rather ideas for things that might happen in books. I tend to think of scenes, or even lines of dialog, and write around them.

For anyone who saw the gorgeous challah my daughter baked (from Tuesday's post), be it known that while she was out, her dog ate the rest of it. Yes, she should have made sure it was out of reach. But she came home and found crumbs everywhere (except in the dog's bed). He left her dessert alone.

After a few days of research, I'm closing in on the end of my current manuscript. I'd hoped to get it done before I leave for Washington on Monday, but since I'm not on deadline, I don't want to sacrifice quality just to get to 'the end.' Although since it's only a first draft, I might see if I can barrel on through. (This is where we give thanks for the hubby who says 'no problem' if I say, 'find your own dinner, I'm writing.)

However, I'm going to 'lose' a whole writing day on Saturday because my RWA chapter is having an all day workshop on characters. As always, I'll try to post my notes, but no promises as to when, since I'll be busy packing. I'm really looking forward to spending the first 4 days of the trip with one of my long-time best friends from jr. high and high school. The kind of friend where distance and time don't seem to make a difference; you pick up as if you'd never been apart.

And, last on today's list:
Want a free e-book? All Romance eBooks will be giving special promotion codes on November 1st. All you have to do is go to their site and register. So, if you've been wanting to try a new author, this is a great chance to do it for free. (And, yes, all my current books and short stories are there -- check my website, find one that interests you, and you can have it for free.)

Banned Books Week

What I'm reading: Ghosts and Roses, by Kelley St. John

What I'm writing: Chapter 28


We're in the middle of Banned Books Week, as evidenced by my quotes of the day.

The trouble with censorship is that once it starts it is hard to stop. Just about every book contains something that someone objects to.
~Studs Terkel

A Texas town has banned the Harry Potter books because they glorify magic, and learning to read.
~Craig Kilborn

There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.
~Joseph Brodsky

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. This year, 2008, marks BBW's 27th anniversary (September 27 through October 4). For more, click here (and please do. It's an informative, interesting, and perhaps unsettling article). And there's more here.

When I was it high school, it was Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, and Lady Chatterley's Lover that were making the headlines. I wonder how many of the books I've been reading lately (heck, even the ones I've written) would fare by those standards.