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[Nonfiction Monday] Art from Water Can Be… and Art/Text Activities
Welcome to Nonfiction Monday! I’m sharing a piece of near-final?art from my forthcoming Water Can Be… (Millbrook Press, 2014) today. A while back, I shared a couple of wonderful sketches from the illustrator, Violeta Dabija. Recently, Carol Hinz, my super-smart Millbrook editor, sent along a piece of almost-final art to look at, and it’s art
[15 Words or Less Poems] Seedhead
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a seedhead from fall. I love how odd and prickly they look!?Here’s what this image?makes me think of: 1)?Brillo pad 2) Spiderweb 3) Hair going grey And here’s my poem first draft: Cinderella’s Beauty? Cracked skin red, rough…
[my life] Happy Anniversary, Randy!
Today, I have been married 25 years to Randy Salas. I met him in my first creative writing class in college (taught by Wyatt Wyatt–that’s right–at the University of Central Florida). What a great class–I found both a new career I loved and a future husband I loved! I know some writers whose families are
[My Writing Life] Books for Breakfast
Saturday morning, after a bit of driveway shoveling and dropping off my daughter for a broomball tournament, I went to Children’s Literature Network’s annual Books for Breakfast event. Twenty-five authors and illustrators give a two-minute peek each into their current work to an audience of 200+ teachers, media specialists, etc. And me. I wasn’t presenting
[15 Words or Less Poems] Glass Ceiling
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s the atrium ceiling from the cruise ship we were on in late December. I love glass ceilings! Here are a few things this one makes me think of. 1)?The carapace of a beetle 2) A fancy necklace 3)
[Good News] “Winter Window”
I’m excited to have a poem in Cricket Magazine.It’s one I wrote a number of years ago, back when we had old double-paned windows with bad seals. Every winter, the hot air from the house would meet the cold air outside and, between the two panes, condense into moisture, freeze into frost particles, and make
[15 Words or Less Poems] Roots
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here are the roots of a cool tree in the Bahamas–I think this was at a beach in Freeport. Here’s what this image?makes me think of: 1)?Knotted shoelaces 2) Mermaid hair 3) Medusa And here’s my poem first draft:
Courage: My Word of the Year
Each year, I choose an annual theme, an idea I originally got from Steve and Vicki Palmquist of Children’s Literature Network. My word for 2012 was Focus. I think I got better at focus last year. I learned to do better at blocking out my to-do list and focusing in on JUST whatever I was
[15 Words or Less Poems] Glasses
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s what this image?makes me think of: 1)?Glasses of juice 2) Sunset 3) Tropical Lifesavers And here’s my poem first draft: Sunrise She squeezed Sun, caught each drop in morning’s clear glass… served the Eastern sky. –Laura Purdie Salas,
[My Writing Life] I’m In the Journal of Children’s Literature!
I don’t think I ever had a chance to share this last fall. The NCTE’s Journal of Children’s Literature featured one of my poems! I was so excited that they wanted to share a poem from BookSpeak! Part of what made it even more pleasing was that the other poem shared in that issue was
[Nonfiction Monday] Colors of Insects and Bug Off!
Paired Picture Books Colors of Insects by me, Laura Purdie Salas Capstone Press, 2011 (signed discounted copies available here– be sure to email and specify who you’d like it inscribed to) I never thought I would like writing a book about bugs, but doing this book really gave me a new appreciation for them (though
[15 Words or Less Poems] Sea Serpent
Just updated my What’s New page for January. If you’re interested in what I’m excited about and what I’m not excited about in my writing life this month, feel free to drop by! And share what’s on your excited/not excited list in your comment:>) Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15
[Poetry Play] A Careerhyme Challenge
I miss taking part in poetry challenges and games, and I’m going to try to do better in 2013. At David Harrison’s blog, J. Pat Lewis has a Careerhymes challenge up. Go read the hysterical examples and try your own! Here’s mine: Why You Can Never Reach a Teacher If you need to chat with
[My Writing Life] Got It Covered
Hi, guys–Happy New Year! It’s good to be back! There was a piece recently in Publishers Weekly about the cover of Steam Train, Dream Train, the follow-up to Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. So much thought goes into figuring out book covers. For my next book with Millbrook Press, Water Can Be…, my editor sent me
[Poetry Friday] CYBILS Finalists!
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate it, and that everybody had a terrific New Year’s. I am sick with the flu and wasn’t planning to post today. But, I’m so excited that BookSpeak has made the shortlist for the CYBILS Poetry category–what an honor! So I wanted to share this list
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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