Val Dumond

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Articles on Writing, Grammar, and Publishing
by Val Dumond

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Val writes articles on grammar, the art and science of writing, and publishing, for budding writers and seasoned authors alike. These articles are not only informative and educational, they're entertaining - written as only Val can. Enjoy this latest of her articles:

Intern, Outtern, Upturn, Downturn, Overturn...
Writers I Admire
by Val Dumond
©2007

When I am involved in writing projects and teaching, I sometimes forget that there are others in the world to whom I owe allegiance. If there is such a thing as an author/mentor, I have a few. Here are some of my favorite authors and their books on American English grammar and language in general.

• Steven Pinker, Ph.D., Harvard University professor, has authored several books on language and the mind (since the mind apparently steers the language). His latest is a combination of those two interests - language and behavior - and is a knock-your-socks-off piece of reading.
  
  The Stuff of Thought has a mesmerizing theme: we reflect our behavior in our language - and vice versa. Now here's the best part: this Harvard professor writes scintillating text with a wicked sense of humor. He discusses the way we name children, the way we describe events, the importance of recognizing past and future, how words affect reality, why we lie, and the seven (and more) words that cannot be spoken on television. All that and more, much much more!
  
  
• Karen Elizabeth Gordon is another of my favorites. She was an English teacher who discovered the whimsy and literacy in grammar and punctuation. And she chooses titles that grab your attention, among other things. Her "grammar book" (what a wilted way to describe this gem) is titled The Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of GRAMMAR for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed. Her book about punctuation is titled The Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed.
  
  Outside of caring for the innocent, eager and doomed, Gordon provides some very handy guides to proper usage of grammar and punctuation while stunning you with outlandish examples of proper and improper usage.
  
  
• Susan Kelz Sperling grabbed my attention with Poplollies and Bellibones: A Celebration of Lost Words. In this book she plays with outdated words, mostly from Middle English, words that can be regarded only as astonishingly logical in the 21st century. She describes herself thus: (she) "received her liripoops from Barnard College and Boston College Graduate School and put in her darg as a high-school English teacher in Connecticut. The author and her aimcrier husband live in a pleasantly purifled, many eyethurled home (a bit larger than a cosh) in the iqueme city of Rye, New York, free from fearbabes, killcows, and ug, where they rixle with storge over their three poplollies - two boys and girl."

Oh my, you should see the red-underlined words in that paragraph, thanks to my MSWord programmer!

What I wouldn't give to write like these word lovers! I'm aiming high to meet some of their standards with my upcoming book about grammar. The new book will replace Grammar For Grownups, my book that finally was pulled from the HarperCollins list after 13 years.

Title of the new book: Understanding American English (Do-Be's, Thingees, Bling, and Glue). Do I have your attention? I like to play too, and I'm attempting to make this language book as easy and fun as possible. Wait for it!

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