#InkRipples is a themed meme hosted by Mary Waibel, Katie L. Carroll, and me, Kai Strand. We post on the first Monday of every month. If you would like to participate compose your own post regarding the theme of the month, include any of the images displayed on this page, and link back to our three blogs. Feel free to post whenever you want during the month, but be sure to include #inkripples when you promote so readers can find you. The idea is that we toss a word or idea into the inkwell and each post is a new ripple. There is no wrong interpretation.
From the Online Etymology Dictionary.
Blurb:
used by U.S. scholar Brander Matthews (1852-1929) in 1906 in "American Character;" popularized 1907 by U.S. humorist Frank Gelett Burgess (1866-1951). Originally mocking excessive praise printed on book jackets.
Gelett Burgess ... then entertained the guests with some characteristic flashes of Burgessian humor. Referring to the word "blurb" on the wrapper of his book he said: "To 'blurb' is to make a sound like a publisher. The blurb was invented by Frank A. Munsey when he wrote on the front of his magazine in red ink 'I consider this number of Munsey's the hottest pie that ever came out of my bakery.' ... A blurb is a check drawn on Fame, and it is seldom honored.["] ["Publishers' Weekly," May 18, 1907]My, what a long way the blurb has come; from mocking excessive praise to becoming something we writers (particularly those of us who self-publish) sweat over when trying to condense our novels into a few hundred words.
Blurb... sounds like a cross between a burp and blob, something that's urped (urpped? urpt) up on the page.
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Being Thankful
This is my birthday month. I'm definitely thankful for that!
On a lark I thought I'd share some books that were published the year I was born, some which I've read at one point or other.
Pebble in the Sky - Isaac Asimov's first full length novel
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Henry Huggins - Beverly Cleary
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower - C. S. Forester
The Wall - John Hersey
Conan the Conqueror - Robert E. Howard
The Cardinal - Henry Morton Robinson
A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
Kon Tiki - Thor Heyerdahl
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What are you thankful for? Read any of the books listed? Can you guess which ones I haven't read? What do you think of blurbs, wonderful or terrifying to write?
