We all have stories to tell about our lives and the lives of people we know. Rebecca Rule and Susan Wheeler help new and experienced writers commit those stories to paper. With a warm, wise, and encouraging voice, they describe the writing process, from the inkling of a subject, to drafts, to specific writing skills, to a final product. Each skill is practical, shown briefly, clearly, with outstanding examples from published as well as student writing to illustrate each point. The book covers critical topics such as:
<ul>
<li> writing not to rehash, but to discover </li>
<li> finding a subject and narrowing it </li>
<li> writing scenes and dialogue </li>
<li> developing conflict </li>
<li> stressing important moments and points </li>
<li> using outstanding details and facts, time summaries and stretches, flashbacks, endings, and more </li>
<li> ways to find meaning and add depth </li>
<li> revising and editing </li>
<li> curing writer's block </li>
<li> giving and receiving constructive criticism. </li>
</ul> As practical as Strunk and White's Elements of Style, but far more warm, detailed, and encouraging, True Stories gives writers everything they need to find their stories and craft them with insight and meaning.

True Stories: Guides for Writing from Your Life

Wheeler, Susan

Rule, Rebecca

Literature & Fiction

Heinemann

In nineteen finely honed, deftly realized short stories, Rebecca Rule crafts with gentle wit and striking clarity a conglomeration of sometimes ragtag but always appealing small-town denizens, each of whom squares off against a nemesis of a singular sort. With an eye for the signature detail, an ear for the rhythms of regional speech, and a strong feel for the nuances of rural culture, Rule maintains a fine balance between humor and pathos that prompted National Book Award winner Thomas Williams to comment, "Cold honesty gleams from every careful sentence."Twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Rule captures the essence of small-town New England life as she paints with a sure hand the fallings-out and friendships, the trials and triumphs of the New England microcosm. In "Yankee Curse," elderly Miranda knits placidly at a town meeting, pondering an amazing string of unspoken invective against an enemy but stopping short at "a curse she would never levy, not even on Mort Wallace: to live too long." In "Minna Runs for Selectman," a middle-aged woman's battlefield is "the strange, incestuous politics of this eccentric little town" but her real opponent is her own insecurity. In "Jim's Boat" a young couple wages a silent struggle over priorities in their marriage; in "Fishing with George" a small girl worries that "there's a hole in our family that gets bigger every time" her parents argue; and in the title story a mother copes with a hated neighbor through a sculpture that "makes her laugh the kind of laugh that doesn't end in a sob." Children and grandmothers, trappers and college professors, lifetime Yankees or transplanted Flatlanders: each finds the truth in Rule's observation that "revenge takes many forms -- some of which can heal."

The Best Revenge: Short Stories (Hardscrabble Books)

Humor & Satire

Univ of New Hampshire

You don't have to claim any particular ethnic heritage, have seven generations in the ground, or even have been born in New England to be shaped by this rough, rocky landscape. "Yankee" is an attitude, built on the bone deep optimism of that old, true saying, "Could have been worse." These stories explore this attitude and many others that contribute to that highly philosophical, peculiar, and often humorous, state of being called "living yankee."

Could Have Been Worse: True Stories, Embellishments, and Outright Lies

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

PLAIDSWEDE PUB.

In nineteen finely honed, deftly realized short stories, Rebecca Rule crafts with gentle wit and striking clarity a conglomeration of sometimes ragtag but always appealing small-town denizens, each of whom squares off against a nemesis of a singular sort. With an eye for the signature detail, an ear for the rhythms of regional speech, and a strong feel for the nuances of rural culture, Rule maintains a fine balance between humor and pathos that prompted National Book Award winner Thomas Williams to comment, "Cold honesty gleams from every careful sentence." Twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Rule captures the essence of small-town New England life as she paints with a sure hand the fallings-out and friendships, the trials and triumphs of the New England microcosm. In "Yankee Curse," elderly Miranda knits placidly at a town meeting, pondering an amazing string of unspoken invective against an enemy but stopping short at "a curse she would never levy, not even on Mort Wallace: to live too long." In "Minna Runs for Selectman," a middle-aged woman's battlefield is "the strange, incestuous politics of this eccentric little town" but her real opponent is her own insecurity. In "Jim's Boat" a young couple wages a silent struggle over priorities in their marriage; in "Fishing with George" a small girl worries that "there's a hole in our family that gets bigger every time" her parents argue; and in the title story a mother copes with a hated neighbor through a sculpture that "makes her laugh the kind of laugh that doesn't end in a sob." Children and grandmothers, trappers and college professors, lifetime Yankees or transplanted Flatlanders: each finds the truth in Rule's observation that "revenge takes many forms -- some of which can heal."

The Best Revenge: Short Stories (Hardscrabble Books–Fiction of New England)

University of New Hampshire Press

Wood Heat

Nightshade Press

Wood Heat: Stories from Up North

Nightshade Pr

Anyone who hopes to visit or has visited New Hampshire, and, heck, even anyone who lives there, will delight in this hilarious guide to the Granite State. Popular New Hampshire storyteller Rebecca Rule provides her interpretation of the state's history, culture, climate, attractions, vernacular, and more.

Live Free and Eat Pie!: A Storyteller's Guide to New Hampshire

Islandport Press

N is for New Hampshire is an alphabet book that introduces children to the sights, landscape, culture, and history of New Hampshire told through stories, anecdotes, verse, and fun facts. However, this is no ordinary alphabet book. In N is for New Hampshire, each letter of the alphabet gets the full Rebecca Rule treatment. A short verse is a little story unto itself, and the text gives weird and wonderful background, delightful anecdotes, and useful information about the topic in a way that only New Hampshire's foremost storyteller can. From Androscoggin to Zealand Falls, N is for New Hampshire will charm readers of any age.

N is for New Hampshire

Children's Books

Geography & Cultures

Islandport Press, Inc.

What do seven kids do on a cold winter day when rain and sleet have created a thick crust of ice on top of the snow? It's so slick and icy that sledding seems impossible”almost. Lizzie and her friends convince her grandfather to let them try to push his old-fashioned travis sled, a long, bench-like sled on runners, uphill so they can fly downhill, down the highest, mightiest, iciest sledding hill off Old Mountain Road. New Hampshire storyteller Rebecca Rule brings her trademark wry sense of New England humor to this delightful tale of a wild sled ride. Connecticut artist Jennifer Thermes's beautiful watercolors are so full of motion, you'll be holding on to your hats and scarves for this one.

Iciest, Diciest, Scariest Sled Ride Ever!

Holidays & Celebrations

Anyone who hopes to visit or has visited New Hampshire, and, heck, even anyone who lives there, will delight in this hilarious guide to the Granite State. Popular New Hampshire storyteller Rebecca Rule provides her interpretation of the state's history, culture, climate, attractions, vernacular, and more!

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rule, Rebecca. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Rule, Rebecca

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rule, Rebecca. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

True Stories: Guides for Writing from Your Life

The Best Revenge: Short Stories (Hardscrabble Books)

Could Have Been Worse: True Stories, Embellishments, and Outright Lies

The Best Revenge: Short Stories (Hardscrabble Books–Fiction of New England)

Wood Heat

Wood Heat: Stories from Up North

Live Free and Eat Pie!: A Storyteller's Guide to New Hampshire

N is for New Hampshire

Iciest, Diciest, Scariest Sled Ride Ever!

Live Free and Eat Pie!: A Storyteller's Guide to New Hampshire