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Last month, I began a short series of merit badges for writers. If you missed that blog first time around, click here for another chance to read it. After Sandra mentioned that readers need badges, too, I’ve expanded it to merit badges for writers and readers This week there’s is one of each.
The first one will never be much fun to earn, but like all first aid, some days you'll need it.
Writers' Merit Badge #2: First Aid For Writers
Not for ordinary disasters. This the badge for those worst days of days. Your publisher just declared bankruptcy. The agent you love sent you an e-mail saying she’s seriously ill. Real life has dealt you such a blow that you’re not sure you’ll ever be able to write again.
Stop.
Sit down.
Breathe slowly and steadily.
You are a part of a strong writers’ community. Trust us. We will be there to help.
Here our first badge for readers.
Readers' Badge #1: Extreme Reader
Award yourself this merit badge when you have completed at least 4 of the suggested requirements listed below.Someone has said to you at least once, “Turn off that light and go to sleep. Don’t make me come in there.”
You finished a book sitting in the bathroom because you didn’t want the light to bother a significant other.
You own more than one book light. [I think our household’s current count is 7, but I could probably lay my hands on only 3.]
You left clothes home in order to take more books on vacation.
Your TBR (to-be-read) pile doubles as a piece of furniture.
You’ve left a bookstore or library thinking your collection is more extensive, and better organized.
The first thing you do when moving to a new town is to find the library. Then you worry about non-essentials like schools, grocery stores, gas stations, and fire, police, and ambulance.
The first gift you buy for a newborn is a book.
When the clerk asks for your debit card, you automatically hand them your library card because it’s the most accessible one in your wallet.
You can read a book’s bar-coded ISBN number faster than the scanner can.
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Quote for the week:
Books are like lobster shells. We surround ourselves with them, then we grow out of them and leave them behind, as evidence of our earlier stages of development.
~Dorothy L. Sayers, mystery writer
9 comments:
Sharon, this is too funny! Yes, I've definitely earned that merit badge. The one about reading a book in the bathroom made me laugh. After doing that a couple of times, I went to the store and bought a handful of book lights. :)
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
A fantastic post which makes me feel at home :)
I loved this one especially:
"You finished a book sitting in the bathroom because you didn’t want the light to bother a significant other."
Our son´s motto is: reading stuff is not clutter! - very useful in this family, I can assure you.
I have sooo earned that reader merit badge. Now I'm working on one for the writer.
Hmm, perhaps we should found the Sisterhood of the Bathroom—interestingly enough, in Canada, that room is commonly referred to as the washroom, not the bathroom. I'm not sure I want to design a badge involving where we're actually sitting while finishing all of those books.
I'm proud of these little badges. I did them just like a real graphic comic artist: drew them, inked them, scanned them into the computer, and then colored them digitally. I've been working on learning the basics of these techniques since last October.
Oh, I win! I win! I get both badges!
Sharon, your last merit badge post prompted me to look for my Girl Scout sash with all its merit badges (they go nearly all the way up the back!), and the safari jacket I covered with all the non-merit badges, like the ones from camps, events, etc. Soon to be proudly displayed somewhere!
Leslie Budewitz
www.LawandFiction.com
I cannot count the number of times I've tried to get a credit card scanner to accept my library card!
Leslie, I've been looking for my old ones. Of course, I have the ones that were on my jacket, but I know there are more out there and I can't find them!
Sandra, I also hand the librarian my debit card. She just grins and says, "Thank you kindly, but I'm prohibited from accepting tips."
I once tried to check out books with a Visa card. I got the impression the librarian had seen that many times.
This is such a great idea. I wish I could sew these badges on my shirt. I've earned them! Can't wait to see what comes next.
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