Today I took my students through some Emerson, and one student said, “I feel he’s calling me out! I’m always procrastinating and I just can’t make myself do something it it’s not going to be perfect. He says we doubt ourselves and that holds us back!”
“Well?” I responded.
“Well, he’s right!” she declared, guiltily and angrily.
“And what was true nearly 200 hundred years is true now. This is just human nature, but we can dare to be better.” Then I told them about my great fear and hesitation to make these Youtube videos of me reading very imperfectly my imperfect book chapters, but that I’m doing it anyway. I can’t wait for perfection; I’ve always been a B+ student, and sometimes B+ is the best we can hope for.
And that this process has been immensely fun and going faster than I anticipated.
They claimed they were going to listen to my chapters someday, but they can’t now because none of them are allowed computers in our treatment center. And when they leave our program, they’ll have forgotten all about this and I’ll be safe from their mocking. (Whew.)
Still, this has been so much fun. I’m totally enjoying this. And it seems about half a dozen people are as well. Last couple of chapters should be up this week sometime.
Forestedgebooks.com 
Ah, bless you, because there’s no way I can go back and change the pronunciation in every chapter now!
(It’s kind of like Hermione, right? When I was first reading Harry Potter to my kids as the books initially came out, I was in the “Her-me-OWN-ee” camp like so many others. Then the first movie came out and I was, “Ohhhh . . . oops.”)
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So much fun!! Like your books.
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Or I remember when Terry Brooks came to BYU bookstore for a book signing and laid to rest the proper way to pronounce Shannara–SHAN-a-rah if I remember right! There are so many possibilities with that one. And if I remember right he specified that was how HE pronounced it, so its up to the reader’s imagination.
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Yes, I’m a big fan! Its SO much fun to hear the book come alive, and in your voice. Although I had to adjust to the pronunciation of Idumea! I always pronounced it short i id-ju-me-a in my head. Still default to it when I’m not listening.
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I found about three different ways to pronounce Idumea (an Old Testament name for the Edomites–the people of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob). I couldn’t figure out which was “right”!
So I decided to go with what I liked to say over and over, so that’s the pronunciation.
(I’m sure many scholars are cringing at my way of saying it, but hey–my book my interpretation!)
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That’s right, your book, your interpretation! But once you set your book free to the world its up to the reader! By the way, I like the way you say Idumea too.
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