Ken Scholes is Coming to Boise!
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- Category: Blog
- Written by Megan Justice
We're super proud and excited to announce our second author event partnership with Hyde Park Books! Together, we're hosting a reading and signing with Ken Scholes, author of the series The Psalms of Isaak, on June 29th, 2013 as a part of his tour for the fourth book in the series, Requiem.
The reading will be at the shop located at 1507 N. 13th St. Boise, ID 83702 at 7pm. Books, including the first three in the Psalms of Isaak, will be available for purchase during the reading. The reading is open to the public.
We will also host a Writer's Lunch with Ken on Saturday afternoon. Find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @NovelOrchard, and watch right here for details to unfold.
From the publisher:
Ken Scholes's debut novel, Lamentation, was an event in fantasy. Heralded as a 'meszerizing debut novel,' by Publisher's Weekly, and a "vivdly imagined SF-fantasy hybrid set in a distant, postapocalyptic futre" by Booklist, the series gained many fans. It was followed by Canticle and Antiphon. Now Scholes has finished the fourth book in the series, Requiem...The plots within plots are expandinga s the characters seek their way out of the maze of intrigue. The world is expandinga s they discover lands beyond their previous carefully controlled knowledge. Hidden trushts reveal even deeper truths, and nothing is as it seemed to be.
Hyde Park Books has been a hub of community and culture in the North End Neighborhood of Boise since 1983. The shop was taken over by Idaho Native Jem Wierenga from oriinal owners Russell and Rita Barnes in September of 2010. More about their community events and public offerings can be found at www.hydeparkbookstore.com.
Boise's Novel Orchard supports a community of writers through regular workshops, critique groups, and other writerly activities. More information can be found on their website at www.boisenovelorchard.org.
For more information about Ken Scholes's visit, contact Megan Justice at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Pam Houston Here on Saturday, Feb 16
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- Category: Blog
- Written by Megan Justice
Treasure Valley, Idaho - January 24, 2013. Hyde Park Books, in partnership with Boise's Novel Orchard and the Meridian Library District, are excited to welcome Pam Houston, author of WALTZING THE CAT (WW Norton & Company; Reprint January 28, 2013) and CONTENTS MAY HAVE SHIFTED, (WW Norton & Company; Reprint January 28, 2013) among others, to the Treasure Valley on February 16, 2013 for two events.
The Main Meridian Library on Cherry Lane, 1326 W. Cherry Ln., Meridian, will host a reading and signing at 3pm in their conference room. Books will be available for sale with a portion of the proceeds going to the Meridian Library District. This event is free and open to the public.
A second reading will be held at the El Korah Shriner's Temple's Tiger room, 1118 W. Idaho St., Boise at 6:30, doors to open at 6pm. Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door. Ticket cost will be applied to the purchase of a book. Admission is free with the purchase of a book from Hyde Park Books before or during the event. A no-host bar will be available.
Pam Houston is the author of two collections of linked short stories, Cowboys Are My Weakness and Waltzing the Cat, the novels Sight Hound and Contents May Have Shifted, and a collection of essays called A Little More About Me, all published by W.W. Norton. Her stories have been selected for volumes of Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Awards, The Pushcart Prize, and Best American Short Stories of the Century. She is the winner of the Western States Book Award, the WILLA award for contemporary fiction, and The Evil Companions Literary Award, as well as multiple teaching awards. She is the Director of Creative Writing at U.C. Davis and teaches in Pacific University’s low residency MFA program, and at writer’s conferences around the country and the world. She lives on a ranch at 9,000 feet in Colorado near the headwaters of the Rio Grande. Her new book, Contents May Have Shifted, will be released in paperback by W.W. Norton in January, 2013.
Hyde Park Books has been a hub of community and culture in the North End Neighborhood of Boise since 1983. The shop was taken over by Idaho Native Jem Wierenga from original owners Russell and Rita Barnes in September of 2010. More about their community events and public offerings can be found at www.hydeparkbookstore.com
Boise's Novel Orchard supports a community of writers through regular workshops, critique groups, and other writerly activities. More information can be found on their website at www.boisenovelorchard.org.
The Meridian Library District provides a comfortable, safe place where all members of the community feel welcome to come to relax, study, and learn. The Meridian Library provides programming for all ages and many different interests. Location, event, and program information can be found at www.mld.org
For more information about the events, contact Jem Wierenga of Hyde Park Books at 208-429-8220 & This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Megan Justice at 208-407-1506 & megan @boisenovelorchard.org.
Taproot Reading Booklist 2013
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- Category: Blog
- Written by Megan Justice
February -- World War Z by Max Brooks
The fictional war is told through an epistolary style from multiple points of view. Each entry tells a small fraction of the tale, and adds up to an entire war. Though Brooks's book is fiction, he makes use of many non-fiction narrative techniques. From its unique approach to storytelling to the world he creates, World War Z brings readers and writers much to talk about.
March -- Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig
Wendig brings speculative fiction and mystery to the table in the fast-paced novel Blackbirds. With success with both self-publishing and publishing through a large press, this book and author is sure to spark plenty of conversation.
April -- Starforgers by Ken McConnell
The classic space opera takes flight when Stellar Ranger Devon Ardel is thrust into the beginnings of a galactic war. McConnell is a local writer. His novels can be found in paperback from time to time, and are always available as ebooks. This month just might thrust some of you to your first ebook experience.
Taste the Writing
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- Category: Blog
- Written by Megan
Sensory detail draws us in to writing. It puts the reader in the scene, and lets the reader experience the thought, item, or question at hand for themselves. Any time your reader is more involved in your writing, your reader will be more invested, and stay with you longer.
For exacmple, I could tell you that I have an ice cream cone on a hot summer's day. Or I could describe to you the cool, sticky mess dripping from my scoop of ice cream and running down the cone under the blazing sun. I could add in rustling leaves in the wind, and heat waves rising off the cement in the backyard.
All of the details that let you the reader imagine seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, or smelling something brings that experience to life. These sensory details are often forgotten. Sure, we let our readers know what our characters see, but giving the reader another sense, something else to use to experience the writing, opens up more opportunity for the reader to experience and be drawn further in.
Give it a try yourself. Look around you, or think about a scene in your current project, and spend some time bringing in all five senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, and scent). Think about how the senses interact and affect each other. Often, these sensory details will also add to mood.
Got pencil and paper? Good. 500 words (or more). Go.
Seminar 1/11/12: Geographical Voice
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- Category: Blog
- Written by Megan
Setting is a fundamental aspect of literature, especially narrative prose (though setting is not limited strictly to prose - think of the poetry of the Romantics). How is possible to describe events if they don't have a place to occur?
It is this place that concerns tonight. Even within a given state, people from different areas react differently. Think about how someone from the south orders a soft drink, and then think about the rest of the country. If that same Southerner were to order a "Coke" in say South Dokata (or just about anywhere outside of the Southern United States), the individual would get a specific brand of cola. In the south, this person would then be asked "What kind of Coke?" Conversely, someone traveling to the South who was asked "What kind of Coke?" would be confused: he or she would expect the brand, not an offer of a range of soft drinks.
This brings me to my point: setting is created not just by the surroundings of a character, but also the culture of those surroundings. How does the character (or speaker?) react? And the others around the character? In the Coke/soda example above, the differences for the travellers create tension.
Give this a bit of practice. Define the setting of your work in progress not just through the surroundings, but also through the culture - through the actions, reactions, and expectations of your characters (or speakers). What specifics about your setting might someone take for granted but are different? Can you explain them quickly? Or are they complicated? What do the differences add to the story? How do the characters deal with these nuances of life? What do your characters take for granted.
Now go write!
Critique Night 12/28/11
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- Category: Blog
- Written by Sam Justice
We had a few people come out to Critique Night this Wednesday. Here's what a couple of them had to say about the evening.
"All the comments I heard tonight were constructive and helpful. However, there was some disagreement regarding one of the poems we critiqued. . . . my feelings are that a piece of writing is doing something interesting if there is disagreement about it." - Amelia
"I feel that 100% of the advice is helpful. I can relate to what is critical to the contiuinity of my form of writing." - Anon
Want someone to take a look at your work? Critique Night meets the fourth Wednesday of every month.
Help us Help You!
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- Category: Blog
- Written by Megan
We’re getting ready to celebrate four years of writing fun with BNO here pretty soon. Though we didn’t have a name until the middle of 2008, we’ve been writing and critiquing and educating in some respect since the fall of 2007. And we’ve yet to ask for anything other than participation. So, why the change now?
BNO was originally formed to provide a service to the writing community – to create a place where writers of all genres, levels, and interests could come together to help one another out. We feel we’ve been doing a pretty good job of that, and the time has come to expand a bit more, and bring more to you, the writer. To date, everything we’ve done has been offered for free, and has been provided by a volunteer core. Hours of program development, website development, networking, and of course hosting the evenings of writerly activity.
We want to do more than host a Critique Night and a Seminar Night. Last year we brought you Taproot Reading, a book club all about the writing. This year we’re adding in a Writing Circle. This monthly event will round out the regular programming and offer a chance for writers to come together and write, or commiserate, or find inspiration, or just about anything else necessary to help you, the writer, do what you need to do.
All of this isn’t enough though. We want to bring authors to you at these events. We want to open more dialogue with authors and writers across the country. We want to bring you new and different ways of looking at putting words on the page. We want to provide you with workshops and a conference. We want you to have a place to see your words in print right here in the Treasure Valley, every month. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what we want to bring you.
These programs, old and new, cost money. Want to see your favorite author come to town? Or how about attend a workshop online from the comfort of your own home? Put your words in print and see them distributed throughout Boise? Your $40 membership will help make all of this, and more, possible. Join today, and start benefiting immediately with our new Critique Matching Service and have your work critiqued beyond Critique Night.
