Editorial Inspirations

Living in a condominium with neighbors who are thoughtless or rude, there is sometimes no choice but to stand your ground and confront the neighbors.

One of my neighbors constantly parked his cars in my parking space; since each condominium only receives one parking space, this was a big deal. He would not ask permission, simply filling his and my parking spaces with his numerous vehicles. When I would get home from work and one of his vehicles was in my parking space, I would honk my horn repeatedly until he or his white-trash girlfriend came out to move the vehicle.

This matter irritated me even further because they would not apologize, but act as if I was inconveniencing them. They would stroll out of their condo, fiddle a few minutes, then slowly move their vehicle from my parking space.

Eventually, I stopped honking my horn and instead parked my vehicle directly behind theirs, when it was in my parking space. I parked so closely that they were forced to knock on my door and ask me to move my vehicle so that they could get out of my parking space.

One night, the boyfriend knocked on my door and asked me to move my car so his live-in girlfriend could move her car that was not even registered to belong in our neighborhood. I was so angry with him that I began arguing with him. I told him that if I ever caught one of their vehicles in my parking space again, that I would have it towed.

I don’t know if this was the last time my neighbor and his girlfriend parked their vehicles in my parking space, but it was the last time that I caught them in it. Thankfully, they have since moved out, and I now have new neighbors to deal with.

Readers, authors, and publishers will gather at the various annual consumer book festivals, with reading, literacy, and local library systems reaping the benefits. The following book festivals are among the many scheduled to take place through July. Check festival websites for complete author lists and more details on participants, activities, and educational programs.

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA READING FESTIVAL
Ft. Myers, Fla., March 15
239-479-4636
kscholz@leegov.com
Ninth year. Authors: Melissa de la Cruz, Angelo Dundee, Jared Hodges & Lindsay Cibos, Carla Neggers, Wendy Corsi Staub (aka Wendy Markham), Susan Vreeland. Activities: Lunchtime Meet & Greet with Bob Morris; A Night at the Museum with James O. Born; writing workshop with Prudy Taylor Board; book signings; panel discussions; writing workshops; one free ‘zine for every teen; one free book for every child.

BROWARD COUNTY LITERARY FEAST
Fort Lauderdale, Fla., March 23-24
954-357-5954
Nineteenth year. Authors: Tasha Alexander, Gigi Anders, Jeffrey Archer, James Brady, Cecil Hayes, Stephen Hunter, Chip Kidd, Jennifer Valoppi. Activities: Novel Day for Students; Night of Literary Feasts; Lit Live! author appearances.

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS/NEW ORLEANS LITERARY FESTIVAL
New Orleans, La., March 26-30
504-581-1144
info@tennesseewilliams.net
Twenty-second year. Authors: Hal Crowther, Dan Menaker, Lee Smith and more. Activities: staged readings and productions of Williams’s work; master classes; celebrity interviews; theater and music events; food and wine tastings; a scholars’ conference; literary and other French Quarter walking tours; Tea with Tennesse; a Stanley and Stella Shout-off.

VIRGINIA FESTIVAL OF THE BOOK
Charlottesville, Va., March 26-30
434-924-6890
vabook@virginia.edu
Fourteenth year. Authors: Taylor Antrim, Jill A. Davis, Homer Hickam, Adriana Trigiani, Jacqueline Winspear, Martha Woodroof. Activities: Walter Mosley will headline a benefit; Mike Farrell will appear in another headline event; Business Breakfast with Eric Abrahamson; authors reception; fifth annual Links Celebration Brunch honoring the African-American literary tradition; high tea with Jan Karon; Crime Wave Mystery Luncheon with David Ignatius.

APRIL

FAY B. KAIGLER INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL
Hattiesburg, Miss., April 2-4
601-266-4228
catharine.bomhold@usm.edu
Forty-first year. Authors: Vicki Cobb, Gerald Hausman, Kimberly Willis Holt, Loris Lesynski, Pat Mora, James Ransome, Will Weaver. Activities: luncheon with Barbara Immroth; author discussion panels; workshops for educators and librarians.

ARKANSAS LITERARY FESTIVAL
Little Rock, Ark., April 4-6
501-663-4321
festival@arkansasliteracy.org
Seventh year. Authors: Tina McElroy Ansa, Ace Atkins, Kevin Brockmeier, Greg Brownderville, Jill Connor Browne, Carolyn Hart, Cecil Murphey, Sara Roahen, Susan Spicer, Rebecca Woolf. Activities: book appraisals by NPR’s “The Book Guys”; author party; children’s breakfast; “celebrity chef events; Pub or Perish open-mike readings by festival authors and local writers.

ALABAMA BOUND FESTIVAL
Birmingham, Ala., April 12
205-226-3610
lwilson@bham.lib.al.us
Tenth year. Authors: TBA. Activities: a day-long series of programs celebrating Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, featuring an appearance by Mary Badham, “Scout” from the 1962 film; preview of the documentary Our Mockingbird; music from the 1930s.

BORDER BOOK FESTIVAL
Mesilla, N. Mex., April 18-20
505-524-1499
bbf@zianet.com
Fourteenth year. Authors: Perla Batalla, Amy Costales, Alex Espinosa, Cristina García, Xavier Garza, Adalucía Quan, Quincy Troupe, Don Usner. Activities: panels; workshops; al fresco readings and music; a children’s storytelling tent; the 3rd annual Children’s Book and Pet Parade.

SOUTHERN KENTUCKY BOOK FEST
Bowling Green, Ky., April 19
270-745-5016
jayne.pelaski@wku.edu
Tenth year. Authors: Mitch Albom, Marc Brown, Harlan Coben, Kathleen Ernst, Gwynne Forster, Con Lehane, Vickie Stringer, Lizabeth Zindel. Activities: TBA.

NORTHERN ARIZONA BOOK FESTIVAL
Flagstaff, Ariz., April 25-26
928-380-8682
rbyrkit@nazbookfestival.org
Eleventh year. Authors: Sean Carswell, Lois Roma-Deeley, Jill Divine, Greg Pape, Tim Seibles, Miles Waggener. Activities: TBA.

LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
Los Angeles, Calif., April 26-27
800-LATIMES, ext. 7BOOK
Thirteenth year. Authors: more than 450, TBA. Activities: author/panel discussions; children’s programming; poetry readings; cooking demonstrations; music; the 28th annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes with master of ceremonies Gay Talese. Expected attendance: 140,000.

CHILDREN’S BOOKFEST
Fort Lauderdale, Fla., April 28
954-357-7406
Second year. Authors/performers: Diane Ferlatte, Ella Jenkins, Jaime Riascos, Antonio Sacre, Dovie Thomason. Activities: quality children’s performances; free arts and crafts; special storybook character appearances; free face painting; free books to the first 600 children; costumed character Geddy the Gecko; Puppets to Go; Moonlight Tales: Storytelling Under the Stars.

MAY

BOOKS IN BLOOM
Eureka Springs, Ark., May 4
870-423-5300
elderwind@carrollmadisonpubliclibraries.org
Fourth year. Authors: TBA. Activities: author talks, readings and signings, children’s activities, book sales, homemade refreshments.

ANN ARBOR BOOK FESTIVAL
Ann Arbor, Mich., May 15-18
734-662-7407
aabf@aabookfestival.org
Fifth year. Authors: TBA. Activities: literacy symposium; author reception; writer’s conference; book signings; panel discussions; children’s activities; music; workshops.

JUNE

CHICAGO TRIBUNE PRINTERS ROW BOOK FAIR
Chicago, Ill., June 7-8
312-527-8280
bookfair@tribune.com
Twenty-fourth year. Authors: TBA. Activities: more than 100 programs including author readings; panel discussions; cooking demonstrations; Chicago Tribune Children’s Alley; new, used and antiquarian booksellers. Last year’s attendance: 100,000.

NEW YORK BOOK FESTIVAL
New York, N.Y., June 27-28
323-665-8080
NewYorkBookFest@aol.com
Second year. Authors: Michelle Ferguson-Cohen, Nina Malkin, Riley Weston. Activities: book signings; vendors; panel discussions; face-painting; clowns; balloon animals; live music stage; food. Expected attendance: 25,000.

JULY

HOLLYWOOD BOOK FESTIVAL
Hollywood, Calif., July 11-12
323-665-8080
HollywoodBkFest@aol.com
Third year. Authors: Will Clarke, Michele Dominguez Greene, Jerry Heller, Adam Parfrey. Activities: book signings; vendors; panel discussions; face-painting; clowns; balloon animals; live music stage; food. Expected attendance: 50,000.

AUTHOR! AUTHOR! SHREVEPORT’S CELEBRATION OF THE WRITTEN WORD
Shreveport, La., July 18-19
llaird@authorauthorshreveport.com
First year. Authors: Jennifer Baumgardner, Danny Brown, Toni McGee Causey, Shelia Goss, Carolyn Jourdan, Deborah LeBlanc, Carmen Lee, Jewel P. Rhodes, Amy Richards. Activities: separate children’s area with special activities and a brown bag fairy lunch; author panels; keynote speakers; author meet & greet for autographs; fais do-do (Cajun literary ball).

HARLEM BOOK FAIR
New York, N.Y., July 19
212-348-1681
hbf@qbr.com
Tenth year. Authors: TBA: Activities: panel discussions; outdoor stage; Young Reader’s Pavilion; Wheatley Book Awards; BBQ Jazz & Author Lunch; Author Brunch; The HBF Antique Books Roadshow.

The main clause of a sentence, like all other clauses, consists of a subject and a verb. However, a main clause also is a complete thought. A main clause is also known as an independent clause or a simple sentence. Generally, though, the term main clause refers to the independent clause within a sentence that contains other phrases or clauses.

Simple Sentences
I forgot to get the mail.
I asked Dave to pick it up.

Main Clauses in Sentences
I forgot to get the mail, so I asked Dave to pick it up.
I asked Dave to pick up the mail, because I forgot to get it.

As shown above, a sentence consisting of only a main clause is considered a simple sentence. In addition, there are three other types of sentences: compound, complex, compound-complex.

A simple sentence has only one subject and one predicate.

Sally ran across the yard. [Subject + Verb + Object]

A compound sentence has at least two main clauses.

Sally ran across the yard, and Jane followed behind her. [Main Clause, and Main Clause]

A complex sentence has one main clause and at least one subordinate clause.

As soon as Sally ran across the yard, Jane followed behind her. [Adverb Clause, Main Clause]

A compound-complex sentence has at least two main clauses and at least one subordinate clause.

As soon as Sally ran across the yard, Jane followed behind her; at the end of the yard they turned and ran back. [Adverb Clause, Main Clause; Main Clause]

In addition to these four types of sentences, sentences may be classified according to their purpose.

Declarative [Statement]: Sally ran across the yard.
Imperative [Request or Command]: Run across the yard.
Interrogative [Question]: Did she run across the yard?
Exclamatory [Exclamation]: Sally ran across the yard!

Try It!

Find the main clauses and the subordinate clauses in the following sentences. Then, classify the sentences.

1. The sale advertisement showed my favorite items, and I immediately went to the store to make a purchase.
2. The two clouds in the sky make the image of a heart and an arrow, but they dissipate as the clouds quickly move.
3. Though my mother can get on my nerves, I am sometimes glad that she is around; her support has helped me achieve in life.
4. My cat enjoys sitting in my chair beside me; he sits with his legs on the chair and his arms on the armrest, looking like a miniature human.
5. Sally is a chocolate lover; Carl must hide his chocolate if he wants any for when Sally leave, as experience has showed him.