R&R: Raves and Rants by Multi-Published Author Amanda Cabot

The Affect of a Hoard on Newly-Sprouted Grass

Did you cringe when you read the title? I certainly did when I wrote it, but I wanted to snag your attention for my rant about confused and misused words.

I’ll be the first to admit that English is not an easy language, but the confusion between homonyms and the misuse of words with similar pronunciations is becoming so common that I had to rant.

There are two badly misused words in my title: “affect” and “hoard.” Let’s start with the easier one, “hoard.” “Hoard” is both a noun and a verb. The problem is that as a noun, it’s often confused with “horde,” although the two have very different meanings.

The Nouns

Noun	Definition	Example
Hoard	A supply or fund stored up and often hidden away	The chipmunk had a hoard of acorns hidden under the tree in preparation for winter.
Horde	A teeming crowd or throng	The hordes of rioting citizens broke store windows and began looting.

See what I mean about the two nouns having very different meanings? And, while Spellchecker will flag many errors, the incorrect use of hoard vs. horde isn’t one of the mistakes it catches.

The Verb

Verb	Definition	Example
Hoard	To lay up a hoard	The chipmunk hoarded acorns under the tree.

Note that the verb has the meaning you would expect. It’s the action of creating a hoard. “Horde” is never a verb.

That was relatively simple. “Affect” is considerably more complex. Like “hoard,” it’s both a noun and a verb. Like “hoard,” it’s often confused with another word, in this case “effect.” The similarities end there. “Effect” is also both a noun and a verb. What makes these two words even more confusing is that the nouns and verbs are not as closely related as you might expect.

When you see the word “change,” whether it’s a noun or a verb, you know that you’re dealing with some type of alteration. The same is true of many other words that are both nouns and verbs, including “hoard.” Unfortunately, that’s not the case with “affect” and “effect,” which is one of the reasons why these words are misused so often.

The Verbs

Verb	Definition	Example
Affect	To put on a pretense	He affected an air of nonchalance he was far from feeling.
	To produce an effect	The blizzard affected air travel across the West.
Effect	To bring about	Though she tried, she was unable to effect a change in the company’s hiring policies.

Though both verbs are used in ordinary language, the most commonly used is the second definition of “affect.”

If relationships between these verbs and their nouns were as close as they are for many English words, you might expect the noun “affect” to be something produced by the second definition of the verb “affect,” changing the familiar phrase “cause and effect” into “cause and affect.” That might seem logical, but I never said English was a logical language.

Here are the correct definitions of “affect” and “effect.”

The Nouns

Noun	Definition	Example
Affect	An observed emotional response Note: This is a technical term used in psychology and psychiatry and is rarely used in ordinary speech or writing.	She maintained the same affect throughout her therapy.
Effect	Something that inevitably follows an antecedent, as in a cause and effect	The blizzard had the effect of closing major airports.

It’s only been in the past year or so that I’ve seen “affect” commonly used as a noun, and each time I see it, I shake my head in dismay, wondering why the author chose that word. In many instances, the author used it as a synonym for “appearance,” perhaps thinking that “affect” made her sound more educated. If so, she would have been disappointed in my reaction, because I felt she was like Amy March from Little Women, affecting a level of sophistication she did not possess. (Note that I used the first definition of the verb “affect” in that sentence.)

The good news is that Spellchecker will flag the erroneous use of “affect” as a noun, although it does not distinguish between the correct and incorrect use of either “affect” or “effect” as a verb.

Let’s return to the title of this post. Does “The Observed Emotional Response of a Hidden Store on Newly-Sprouted Grass” make any sense? Of course not. On the other hand, if I’d written, “The Effect of a Horde on Newly-Sprouted Grass,” there would have been no reason to rant, because you’d have had no trouble imagining a crowd causing trampled grass.

Be careful with the words you use. They’re not interchangeable.

~ Amanda

Bio:

Amanda Cabot’s dream of selling a book before her thirtieth birthday came true, and she’s now the author of more than thirty-five novels as well as eight novellas, four non-fiction books, and what she describes as enough technical articles to cure insomnia in a medium-sized city. Her most recent release, Out of the Embers, introduces readers to the fictional town of Mesquite Springs, Texas, where danger just might lurk.”

Her inspirational romances have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists, have garnered a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and have been nominated for the ACFW Carol, the HOLT Medallion, and the Booksellers Best awards. A popular workshop presenter, Amanda takes pleasure in helping other writers achieve their dreams of publication.

Find Amanda:

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Five Secrets From Amanda Cabot

Welcome back Amanda Cabot with a brand new novel A Tender Hope and more secrets to share. Take it away, Amanda.

From the time I was seven, I dreamt of being a writer.  You know how dreams are – not all of them come true, but that one did.  At current count I have more than thirty-five novels, eight novellas, four technical books, and dozens of technical articles that I describe as cures for insomnia to my credit. 

For more years than I’m going to admit I was a director of Information Technology for a major multinational corporation, a job that included collecting a gazillion – well, maybe a few less than that – frequent flyer miles, spending countless nights in hotels, and eating so many restaurant meals that fine dining quickly lost its appeal.  Now I’m a fulltime writer of Christian romances, living happily ever after with my husband in Wyoming. 

Amanda, please tell us Five Secrets we may not know about A Tender Hope or you, but will after today!

1)  My first published book, a short contemporary romance for the secular market was set in the Loire region of France.  My first historical, also for the secular market, was a medieval set in France.  My first book for the CBA market (the one that introduced readers to Thea, who’s the heroine of A Tender Hope) featured characters who’d emigrated from the Alsace region of France, and A Tender Hope itself has a major character who’s spent most of her life in France.  Does anyone see a pattern here?

2)  Having read #1, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that I majored in French and was fortunate enough to have studied in France.

3)  I also had the opportunity to live in Germany and was in Berlin one weekend when shots were fired over the Wall, but that’s another story.

4)  Now, let’s talk about the book.  The original title was Shrouded Hopes. As had happened with all the titles in this series, the titling committee chose more upbeat titles than my original ones, which is why it’s now called A Tender Hope.

5)   When I first envisioned this book, the hero was going to be Warner, the apothecary.  But since apothecaries are difficult to market as heroes, the editorial committee suggested I find another hero.  Enter Texas Ranger Jackson Guthrie.

  

Blurb :

As far as Thea Michener is concerned, it’s time for a change. With her husband murdered and her much-anticipated baby stillborn, there is nothing left for her in Ladreville. Having accepted a position as Cimarron Creek’s midwife, she has no intention of remarrying. So when a handsome Texas Ranger appears on her doorstep with an abandoned baby, Thea isn’t sure her heart can take it.

Ranger Jackson Guthrie isn’t concerned only with the baby’s welfare. He’s been looking for Thea, convinced that her late husband was part of the gang that killed his brother. But it soon becomes clear that the situation is far more complicated than he anticipated—and he’ll need Thea’s help if he’s ever to find the justice he seeks.

 

Buy Links: 

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R&R: Raves and Rants ~ Commas and Compound Sentences

Commas and Compound Sentences

 I’ve never done a formal study of it, but if I had to guess, I’d say that the comma is the second-most common punctuation mark, following the period.  And, as you can see from the number that I included in that sentence, I’m a huge fan of commas.  Yes, I know that there’s a trend toward eliminating them, with some people referring to them as speedbumps, but doing so can create confusion or result in truly absurd sentences.

Let’s start by reviewing the purpose of commas or, for that matter, any form of punctuation.  Punctuation is designed to make sense of the written word and, to a lesser degree, to tell us when to pause.  When we speak, we take breaths occasionally.  The period, the semicolon, and the comma can be viewed as signals to the reader that it’s okay to pause ever so briefly.  And unlike a speedbump, which no one likes, those pauses are good … if they’re used properly. 

This month we’re going to discuss the use of commas in compound sentences.  You probably know the definition of a compound sentence, but here’s a refresher: a compound sentence is one composed of more than one independent clause.  Simply put, there are multiple subjects and multiple verbs, and the clauses make sense if they stand alone.  (Did you notice that the last two sentences were compound?)

There are several ways to punctuate a compound sentence, depending on how the clauses are connected.  We’re going to start with the simplest and most common, the one that’s punctuated with a comma.  The rule is: if the clauses are connected by what some call “simple links” and others refer to by the acronym FANBOYS, you need a comma before the linking word.

What are the FANBOYS?

Let’s look at a couple examples of correct and incorrect punctuation.

Correct

It was the second week in December, and every storefront was covered with holiday decorations.

The snow was heavy and just right for packing, so we planned to make a snowman and then go sledding.

Incorrect

Michelle’s job was to protect the owners’ interests in the matters of schedules and budgetary issues and rotten beams had the potential to affect both.

What’s wrong with this?  Not only is it a run-on sentence, but as written, it appears that Michelle is supposed to protect the owners’ interests in matters of schedules, budgetary issues, and rotten beams.  Yes, you can make sense of the sentence, but the lack of a comma between “issues” and “and” means that your brain had to pause to figure out exactly what the author meant.  This is one case where the pause was unwelcome and unnecessary.

Here’s another example.  Like the previous one, I found it in a published book.

There had to be an inch of dust accumulated but that could be cleaned. It was early April, and warm during the day.

Did you find the errors in these sentences?  The first sentence needs a comma before “but,” since that’s one of the FANBOYS.  The second needs no commas, since it contains only one clause.  In this case, the comma causes us to pause at the wrong time.  That was a definite speedbump.

There are other ways to punctuate compound sentences and a number of other uses for the comma that we’ll discuss in future months, but we’ll take a brief break from them, because I want to start 2019 with Lessons from Little Women.  See you then!

~Amanda

A lifetime of reading and writing, not to mention a host of teachers who believed that good grammar was one of the essentials of life, have given Amanda Cabot such firm opinions about the printed word that I asked her to share some with us in her Raves and Rants posts.  Although her working career was in Information Technology, Amanda achieved her dream of selling her first novel before her thirtieth birthday and is now the author of more than thirty novels as well as a number of books and articles for Information Technology professionals.  

Her most recent release is A Borrowed Dream, the second of the Cimarron Creek trilogy.

Find all of Amanda's books, newsletter info and social media links here.

Five Secrets With Multi-Published Author Amanda Cabot & Her Latest Release ~ A Borrowed Dream

 

I'm so pleased Amanda Cabot is with us again. She's written...well...a lot of books, you'll find out how many in her post below.  And I love how she chooses her character's names.  Read on.

From the time I was seven, I dreamt of being a writer.  You know how dreams are – not all of them come true, but that one did.  At current count I have more than thirty novels, eight novellas, four technical books, and dozens of technical articles that I describe as cures for insomnia to my credit.  

For more years than I’m going to admit I was a director of Information Technology for a major multinational corporation, a job that included collecting a gazillion – well, maybe a few less than that – frequent flyer miles, spending countless nights in hotels, and eating so many restaurant meals that fine dining quickly lost its appeal.  Now I’m a fulltime writer of Christian romances, living happily ever after with my husband in Wyoming.  

  

Hi, Amanda, please tell us Five Secrets we may not know about A Borrowed Dream but will after today!

1) A Borrowed Dream was not my working title for this book.  I’d called it Stolen Dreams, but after the titling committee decided that the first book in the series should be named A Stolen Heart, it was obvious there would be no more stealing in this trilogy.  Instead, we’re borrowing. 

2) When one of my writer friends saw the draft of the cover art, she pointed out that the books looked like antiques, not ones that a schoolteacher would be using for her classes.  I agreed and added a couple paragraphs here and there in the book to explain why Catherine was carrying those particular books.

3)   Do you ever wonder how an author chooses characters’ names?  The villain in A Borrowed Dream, Sherman Enright, got his name from two distinctly not villainous characters in old TV shows.  Sherman was a secondary character in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Enright was the amiable sergeant in McMillan and Wife.

4) A music box plays a small but key role in this story.  Why a music box?  Why not?  After all, who doesn’t love music boxes?

5)   A Borrowed Dream is my thirty-fifth novel.

Blurb :

There is no such thing as an impossible dream . . .

Catherine Whitfield is sure that she will never again be able to trust anyone in the medical profession after the local doctor’s treatments killed her mother. Despite her loneliness and her broken heart, she carries bravely on as Cimarron Creek’s dutiful schoolteacher, resigned to a life where dreams rarely come true.

Austin Goddard is a newcomer to Cimarron Creek. Posing as a rancher, he fled to Texas to protect his daughter from a dangerous criminal. He’s managed to keep his past as a surgeon a secret. But when Catherine Whitfield captures his heart, he wonders how long he will be able to keep up the charade.

With a deft hand, Amanda Cabot teases out the strands of love, deception, and redemption in this charming tale of dreams deferred and hopes becoming reality.

Buy:

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Five Secrets From Multi-Published Author Amanda Cabot

It truly is a joy to welcome Amanda Cabot to the blog once again. She is an incredibly prolific writer with 34 titles to her credit. 

Here is a review of her new book from Publisher's Weekly; "Readers will enjoy the surprising ending as well as the romance always found in Cabot's books...a promising start to the series."

Welcome to An Indie Adventure, Amanda. Congrats on a great review from PW.  Tell us, what inspired you to write your book A Stolen Heart?

I’ve always been intrigued by the secrets we hold and the effect they can have not only on ourselves but also – depending on their magnitude – on future generations.  Add to that the conflict inherent in a Northerner coming to a small town in Texas in the aftermath of the War Between the States and Reconstruction, and I had both the overarching theme of the entire Cimarron Creek trilogy and the primary conflict in A Stolen Heart. 

If you were not a writer, what vocation would you pursue?

A skydiver, a rock climber, a race car driver?  No!  I’m definitely not that brave.  But, if I couldn’t be a writer, I’d love to be a concert pianist.  Why?  Music touches me in many of the same ways that a well-written book does.  Unfortunately, my musical skills do not qualify me for Carnegie Hall.

Do you prefer to read in the same genre you write in, or do you avoid reading that genre?  Why?

I’m a fairly eclectic reader and read in a number of different genres.  No horror and limited sci fi, but I enjoy mysteries, the occasional thriller, mainstream and women’s fiction in addition to romance.  Within the romance genre, I read many but not all subgenres. 

How is your main character completely different than you?

Lydia is a successful candy maker, whereas I …  Let’s just say that no one’s lining up to buy (or even eat) my homemade candies.

If you could live during any era of history, which one would you choose?

Even before Downton Abbey captivated the world, I thought it would be wonderful to live in early twentieth century England, provided – of course – that I was among the wealthy.  That way I’d have servants, so the absence of modern conveniences like microwave ovens and food processors wouldn’t be my problem, but I’d have what appears, at least on the surface, to be an elegant and enjoyable lifestyle.

Give us a brief summary of A Stolen Heart:

From afar, Cimarron Creek seems like an idyllic town tucked in the Texas Hill Country. But when former schoolteacher Lydia Crawford steps onto its dusty streets in 1880, she finds a town with a deep-seated resentment of Northerners—like her. Lydia won’t let that get her down, though. All will be well when she’s reunited with her fiancé.

But when she discovers he has disappeared—and that he left behind a pregnant wife—Lydia is at a loss about what to do next. The handsome sheriff urges her to trust him, but can she trust anyone in this town where secrets are as prevalent as bluebonnets in spring?

Buy Links: 

Amazon |Barnes & Noble | Christian Book Distributors

Bio:

Amanda Cabot is the bestselling author of more than thirty novels including the Texas Dreams trilogy, the Westward Winds series, the Texas Crossroad trilogy, and Christmas Roses. 

A former director of Information Technology, she has written everything from technical books and articles for IT professionals to mysteries for teenagers and romances for all ages.  Amanda is delighted to now be a full-time writer of Christian romances, living happily ever after with her husband in Wyoming. 

Find Amanda:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog