Monday, March 27, 2017

New Jamie Quinn Mystery is out! On free promo! :-)

My 5th Jamie Quinn cozy mystery, "Jeopardy in July", just went live on Amazon, yippee! It will be free starting at midnight tonight through April 1st. Here's the link to download it tomorrow. :-)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XWJK9TP/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1490657531&sr=8-3&keywords=barbara+venkataraman



Review & Jamie Quinn Giveaway! :-)

Check out this great review of "Peril in the Park", my third Jamie Quinn cozy mystery and enter a giveaway for the box set of Books 1-3. Also, be sure to check out all of the other great reviews on this wonderful blog, Literary Flits.  Thanks, Stephanie Jane!



Thursday, March 16, 2017

They should have read "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" :-)

Fellow Grammarians, rejoice! Your devotion to the rules of Grammar, your delight in punctuation used properly has been vindicated! Those of us in the know don't need to be told the power of a comma, its ability to conquer kingdoms. Why, just examine this famous example:

A woman without her man is nothing.

Now, replace the commas where they were so callously removed:

A woman, without her, man is nothing.

Ah! So much better.

In today's grammar news, the mighty comma has rewarded the grammar purists. A Maine court settled a grammar debate over serial commas with a ruling on overtime pay for dairy truck drivers!  

https://qz.com/932004/the-oxford-comma-a-maine-court-settled-the-grammar-debate-over-serial-commas-with-a-ruling-on-overtime-pay-for-dairy-truck-drivers/

For further edification and a load of laughs, I recommend: "Eats, Shoots & Leaves", by Lynne Truss. My version came with a grammar repair kit in the back, a page of stickers that included apostrophes and commas for emergencies.  I immediately used one of the apostrophes to correct a wooden sign in my son's room that read: "Surfs up" Shudder! Now, if I could only climb a 20 foot ladder and correct the sign of a nearby business: "Carls Patio Furniture", my life would be complete.

Love to all! Mrs. Grammar Person