Have Fun with Poetry After Poetry Month

Poetry Month is coming to a close. I hope you’ve taken a chance and opened your mind and heart to some new verses, explored new poetic vistas, and discovered some new poetic insights.

Just in case you want to continue celebrating poetry, I have some other dates you can participate in!

National Poem on Your Pillow Day! Always the first Tuesday in May, this year it is May 3. On this day put a poem on your spouses or significant other’s pillow, a child’s pillow, your roommate or dorm mate — and give them something memorable, be it fun or deep or even odd.

National Take A Poet to Work Day! Always the third Wednesday in July, this year it is July 20. This is the day you take something of your favorite poet to work, set it beside your phone or calendar, your computer or on your door. Celebrate the day by introducing everything about your favorite poet to everyone else.

Random Acts of Poetry Day! Always the first Wednesday in October, this year it is Oct 5. Leave random bits of poetry in public places — on the bus, on a park bench, on the train, in your spouses’ car, on the school bus, in your break room at work. Make them fun and interesting. Pithy or fun.

Let these be added ways to include poetry in your life, make it fun and introduce poetry to others. No one said poetry had to be dull or hard to understand.

I leave you with a poem I’ve come to love. I hope you’ll share this with your students, your friends, your family, your readers. Let us keep poetry alive long after Poetry Month has passed.

Introduction to Poetry

I ask them to take a poem
 and hold it up to the light
 like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
 and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem’s room
 and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
 across the surface of a poem
 waving at the author’s name on the shore.

But all they want to do
 is tie the poem to a chair with rope
 and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
 to find out what it really means.

—Billy Collins
Introduction to Poetry Billy Collins. From The Apple that Astonished Paris, 1996. University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Ark.

Tomorrow – come by to read an excerpt from the Magic Princess books as we draw National Princess Week to a close! You should enjoy some of PJ’s writing and awaken your inner fierce warrior!

Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter! I’ll be publishing new material and there will be giveaways and goodies for newletter followers ONLY! Spread the word, thank you!

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****The following items will always appear to keep you posted on activities.*****

WIP (Works in Progress): 

– NEW BOOK OF POETRY! – expected release July 2016
– first novel in the Evening Bower series, about vampires and other supernatural creatures
– fictional memoir
– four-part fairy story (part one complete)

On the Desk: (next reading): In Shining Armor  (#4) Elliott James

Off the Desk (book just finished): Soulless by Gail Carriger (#1 in a series)

Coming Soon:  Let’s Talk About Your Writing!

I've Been Busy Being a Writer!

Five months! I can’t believe it’s been that long since we sat down together. I do owe you another apology, and to make up for my absence, let me give you a quick overview of what happened while I was away. I’ve been busy being a writer!

October 26 – I had the pleasure of being on The Ron Shaw Radio Show, a part of Artists First Network. He is a retired police captain, and a prolific author and poet. As a radio host, his show is broadcast to an international audience and I was thrilled to be among truly august company. That hour-long interview is archived for your pleasure if you’re interested. Just scroll down to listen.

I also have new branding! The marvelous Marisa-rose Shor of Cover Me Darling worked up a branding package for me complete with new logos!  Here’s a sample:

 November – National Novel Writing Month kept me very busy. I was the Municipal Liaison for the Charlotte, NC Region and though I didn’t travel as much this year as I did last year, I was writing my own work (a challenge of 50K words in one month) plus tried to work with plenty of other writers. I enjoy meeting so many new, inspired folks but whew! And of course, there were the holidays too, and that’s always a busy time for everyone.

December brought more parties and visits and the writing never stopped. I felt as though I was working on a dozen projects. I confess to an extreme sense of chaos.

January – I started the dreaded task of editing last year’s WIP, and something weird happened. I began hemorrhaging poetry. I mean it wouldn’t stop! I hadn’t been this inspired in years. The poems bleed everywhere all over the house, every day, without warning. I was doing one a day, sometimes up to three or four. And I’m not talking about little four liners either! More on this coming.

Also in January I was privileged to sit on a literary panel at a local library. Another author, two publishers and I fielded questions on “things you need to know about self-publishing” and it was great meeting so many local writers and would-be authors.

February – Still bleeding poetry, editing, and I prepared for and went to the author signing, Book ‘Em Book Fair and Writer Converence in Lumberton NC. While there I sold quite a few books, and sat on one panel (another about Self-Publishing) and moderated another. I had a blast.

March –  I was honored to be featured twice with Focus on Women Magazine’s radio show, La Femme de Prose ( part of BlogTalk Radio) where I discussed my books Midnight Assassin and Paper Bones. Those broadcasts are archived and available if you’d like to catch up:  Miracles and Poems Episode (at halfway mark for me) and Community Love and Poetry (halfway mark about Paper Bones).

April – and here we are. This is National Poetry Month and the poetry that I started bleeding in January has finally slowed and nearly stopped. Because of so much of it, and as I mentioned on the La Femme broadcast, I decided to publish a new book of poetry. This one will be along the lines of Paper Bones, but more raw, more current, and I won’t be pulling any punches. The will cover current events and issues with brutal honesty. July 2016 is the current expected release date.

Sign up for my newsletter to read upcoming sneak peeks and get your chance at an early – perhaps free! – copy! PLUS, be prepared for a sneak peek of a new, upcoming fiction for this year!

So what else is going to happen now that I’m back? Well next week I will have a guest blogger for Princess Week! And I’ll be back to talk to you about writing, of course. Additionally, I’m updating the conference lists because next year I will be traveling. Maybe we’ll see each other, stay tuned.

Finally, National Poetry Month is half over but you still have time to dive into some delicious works by your favorite bard. Don’t have a favorite? Then explore. The poetic world is vast and you are sure to find a style to suit you. Ogden Nash? ee cummings? Perhaps a bit of Billy Shakespeare? I leave it to you.

Until next time, I remain,
Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry

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****The following items will always appear to keep you posted on activities.*****

WIP (Works in Progress): 
– first novel in the Evening Bower series, about vampires and other supernatural creatures
– fictional memoir
– four-part fairy story (part one complete)

On the Desk: (next reading): Soulless by Gail Carriger (#1 in a series)

Off the Desk (book just finished): Burned (Alex Verus #7) by Benedict Jacka

Coming Soon:  Poetry Smoetry! Why should I bother? plus some award news!
And More Guest Bloggers

The Middle of Everything

November 15 is the middle. It is the midpoint of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The middle of November is when sports teams begin assessing their players. Mid November is when teachers prepare tests and look at grades. November 15 promises that Oreo cookie fans may customize packages online (you can Google that). So much happens at the middle. Just ask the “middle” child.

The middle always annoys us.

  • “Can I call you back? I’m in the middle of something…”
  • “I don’t know what happens! I’m only in the middle of the book.”
  • “The middle of the race is brutal. Get ready to hit ‘the wall.’ “

We speak of being in the middle of a mess, the middle child, the middle class, the middle mind, middle age, middle school, middle income, and we always meet up in the middle.

That’s why it’s interesting when writers speak about the – with homage to Jim Butcher – the Great Swampy Middle of their novels. The GSM (for short) is where plots get lost, characters wander off course, the bones of dead and confused are left behind and writers almost always give up. And that is the challenge, to make your way through the Great Swampy Middle and do so without losing the point.

Whether it is your life, or your novel, the GSM can be scary. It’s expansive and full of darkness. Lots of potholes and cliffs. Mountains to climb and sharp things to be avoided. And there are a few simple things that get you through it, safely.

  1. Focus. Do not deviate from your path. Whether you are in middle age, middle of the book, middle of the race, you must keep your focus. Otherwise you will veer off course and lose your way, like so many before you.
  2. Understand. The middle is necessary. Nothing is achieved by starting and finishing without something happening in the middle. Simply accept that this is how things go and don’t fear it. Necessary means ordinary. Make it less scary that way.
  3. Believe. In yourself. Don’t make excuses. Don’t look for a way out. The best way is always through, said Robert Frost (shortest too). Know that you will succeed and you will. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you believe you can, obstacles are smaller. And so is that Great Swampy Middle that looked so immense when you initially began your project, your life, your race, your novel.

I’m participating in NaNoWriMo and I’m deep in the GSM. It feels a bit daunting to be here in a new story but I’m making the trek with purpose and having fun along the way. I have moments of self-doubt and then I ask myself, why? I didn’t doubt when I hit middle age. I’ve never flinched in the middle of anything. So why would I in the middle of writing a novel?

One answer explains it all – fear of failure. Racing, writing, reading, working, living. We fear failing.

Want the truth? The only true failure is the quitter. And that’s not you. And it’s not me. So, Keep Pushing on (Thanks REO Speedwagon) and the GSM will become a memory.

To all the middle children out there, I empathize. I’m first born. Failure is not an option. I’m an Aries, I barrel through. I’m a person, I perservere. I’m a writer.

Do I blanche? No! I am fearless.

Be fearless. Welcome to the Middle. Follow me….

Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry

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****The following items will always appear to keep you posted on activities.*****

WIP (Works in Progress): 
– first novel in the Evening Bower series, about vampires and other supernatural creatures
– fictional memoir
– four-part fairy story

On the Desk: (next reading): Second Olympus by K.A. Stewart

Off the Desk (book just finished): Rogue by Karen Lynch

Coming Soon:  Book Recs, Thanksgiving Musings, and a new Guest Editorial