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How I Spend My Writing Days
Wildly busy and varied, that is! In an effort to share with beginning writers and also interested readers just what one full-time writer’s life is like, I kept a diary of my work days for one week in December. Today, that diary is up at David L. Harrison’s blog. And last week, there was an
Stampede Is a Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award!
Exciting news over the weekend. I got home from a game night Saturday night to find a congratulations email from Joyce Sidman–for Stampede’s choice as a finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards! The other three finalists in this category are Joyce herself, Alison McGhee, and Marion Dane Bauer. Wow. I’m in unbelievable company! I clicked
Quotation Motivation: Deadlines
I’m under a lot of deadline stress lately, so I thought I’d post a quotation that actually looked at the positive side of stress. Here it is: That’s right. There isn’t one. I couldn’t find a single quotation extolling the virtues of stress. Dang. But I did find this about deadlines: A deadline is
Thanks for Nothing, Jon Scieszka!
The new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature will be announced tomorrow, and today, bloggers are taking time to thank Jon Scieszka, the outgoing ambassador. (Outgoing in both meanings of the word.) Here are just three of his books I absolutely love: I could go on and on, but one of my goals for 2010
How Did I Do on My 2009 Theme? Fail!
Each year, besides setting all kinds of concrete goals/schedules/to-do lists, I choose some kind of theme to focus on and work toward throughout the year. How did I do on my 2009 theme? Well, it took me a few minutes to remember what it was. That should tell you the answer right there. Turns out
Lyrics as Poetry: You’re My Home (Billy Joel)
Today is my husband’s birthday! Since I love many song lyrics as poetry, I wanted to share an old-school Billy Joel song that we almost chose to have sung at our wedding (we went with Onward, by Yes, instead). Happy birthday, Randy. You’re my home. YOU’RE MY HOME (Billy Joel) When you look into my
Quotation Motivation: Glittering Eyes
Today’s quotation comes to you courtesy of author/blogger Susan Taylor Brown. She has gathered some of her favorite writing quotations here, and there are many there that speak to me. This morning, this one is calling the loudest: “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are
Poetry Friday: Wounded (an original villanelle)
Last Friday, a group of seven of us, led by Liz Garton Scanlon of Liz in Ink, posted original villanelles. I had wanted to do something other than a nature poem, because those feel like home, and I wanted to push myself out of the comforts of home. So I tried a war poem, written
Poetry Friday: The Villanelle People
OK, you know Liz Garton Scanlon, of Liz in Ink? You know how she’s always so enthusiastic and passionate about stuff? Well, a month or so ago, she emailed our group that wrote the crown sonnet a year and a half ago (that long?). And she proposed that we each write a villanelle, all seven
A Poem for Lee Bennett Hopkins
Maybe you’ve heard that Lee Bennett Hopkins, gifted poet and anthologist, was officially awarded NCTE’s Excellence in Poetry for Children Award the weekend before Thanksgiving? I couldn’t attend the Philadelphia conference because I was in Atlanta for a joyful family wedding, and it sounds like I missed a fantastic event. You can read Sylvia
Do You Have Your Suitcase?
Well, we almost didn’t get to Atlanta. At least not the day we were supposed to. Some of you may remember my “knife at the airport” story. Ack. Then there was our family trip to Washington, D.C., when my husband left his driver’s license in the scanner at home, so my brother-in-law Dack drove all
Poetry Friday Right Here!
Happy Poetry Friday! I’ve been re-reading Words with Wrinkled Knees: Animal Poems, an old collection by Barbara Juster Esbensen (who also wrote one of my favorite poetry collections ever, Swing Around the Sun). Here’s one poem I love: You must read this word under water under wavering nets of cool light A vertical word
On the Road: A Red Balloon Author Event
On Saturday, I did an event for Stampede at the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, Minnesota. Some of you might have seen on Facebook that I was freaking out because I saw online that they ordered a ton of books. A ton. Most bookstore signings (my own and other much better-known authors than me)
Poetry Friday: Picnic, Lightning (Billy Collins)
I felt like sharing a Billy Collins poem this morning, and “Picnic, Lightning” won the Poetry Friday lottery. I really love the tiny dark unmoored ship and the ending images of immersing yourself in the now, the ordinary moments that make live so vivid. Picnic, Lightning “My very photogenic mother died in a freak
Quotation Motivation: Plain and Simple
“There is more, not less intensity in plainness, because simple stuff operates without the safety net of the poetical.” –Hugo Williams, Strong Words, 2000 I’ve been reading many quotations about obscurity, vagueness, mystery, accessibility, etc., and how they relate to poetry. I love poems that I can understand. I want rhythm, imagery, and perfect word
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Are You Looking For?
Go to my Poetry page for:
- National Poetry Month projects through the years
- Small Reads Roundups (poems grouped by topic)
- Introductions to several favorite poetry forms