On this day in 1862, Oxford mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson sends a handwritten manuscript called Alice's Adventures Under Ground to 10-year-old Alice Liddell.
The 30-year-old Dodgson, better known by his nom de plume Lewis Carroll, made up the story one day on a picnic with young Alice and her two sisters, the children of one of Dodgson's colleagues. Dodgson, the son of a country parson, had been brilliant at both mathematics and wordplay since childhood, when he enjoyed making up games. However, he suffered from a severe stammer, except when he spoke with children. He had many young friends who enjoyed his fantastic stories: The Liddell children thought his tale of a girl who falls down a rabbit hole was one of his best efforts, and Alice insisted he write it down.
Isn't that a sweet story? Click over to read more and learn how the book got published.
You NaNoWriMo participants should be finishing your novels in the next few days. Now all you have to do is tie pretty ribbons around your manuscripts and give them to people you love. (It might not hurt to make a few copies to send to editors and agents while you're at it.)
My heartiest congratulations to all of you who have finished (or will finish) a novel this month. That's quite an accomplishment, and one you should be proud of.
3 comments:
I've read in more than one place that Lewis Carroll wrote such fine fantasy because he was a coke snorter...and I don't mean the drink.
After finishing NaNo yesterday I slunk back to the site to download my winning tome...And joy of joy there were many others who where also enjoying sharing accolades about their purple badges of courage, so I joined in the revelry!
Oh, I can't wait! I'm at 43,000 words and I'm trying to claw my way to 50,000 in the next few days...
You're in the home stretch, Josie. Good for you!
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