It's up!

My story Mickey's Baseball Dreams is now available in text, as an e-book, and as audio at http://raenidaystorystation.com/mickeysbaseballdreams.aspx :-)

Submission Opportunity, Thesis Update, and More

Ok, so it's been a long time since I've written here. So, it's about time I do a complete update of everything that's been going on.

I'm finding myself, at this point in my life, much more challenged and entertained by writing for children than poetry. Maybe it's because I work with children and children's books every day. Maybe I was just ready for something new. Poetry has lost its novelty for me-- I no longer feel like I'm a master of it, nor do I enjoy sitting down and reading a poetry book as much as I do a children's book or YA novel. . .

An online friend of mine has created a site for children which includes poetry, short stories and activities. It's absolutely amazing the amount of work that has gone into this thing! She's now accepting submissions from children's writers, so if you are one please check it out at http://raenidaystorystation.com/default.aspx . You won't get paid for your work, but you will have the satisfaction of knowing it's being read and enjoyed by children everywhere.

Anyway. . . I'm going full spead ahead on my "povel" as my thesis. I've been busy reading lots of povels and examining what works and doesn't work about them. I have my proposal submitted and have actually started the manuscript! More about that later, though.

I'm also currently working on a non-fiction piece for children about the invention of the ferris wheel. This paper is the first time I've ever written non-fiction for children, but the topic is interesting and the process has been so much fun!

In other news, the issue of Rectangle (Sigma Tau Delta's literary magazine) with my poetry in it is coming out next month! Yay! Now I have to get my butt moving and submit some more. I want to really start trying to get my picture books published.

Povel?

Have you read a povel today?

I know, you're going "Huh? What the heck is a povel?"

I povel is simply a novel written in poetry form. Also known as novels in verse. Many of them are targeted to the YA audience. When I was first told about this form, I couldn't believe that something like it existed. I couldn't understand how anyone could write an entire novel in poetry. I did some research, and I was amazed as just how many novels written in verse are out there.

I am currently reading Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes (not completely written in poetry) and "Make Lemonade" by Virginia Euwer Wolff. Another author that I heard was amazing was Sonya Sones. I've requested some of her books from the library. If you want to read something new, check this genre out!

I'm also strongly considering doing my thesis as a povel. Stay tuned for more.

Come See Me!

Special event at the Birmingham Bridge Tavern (29th and Sarah, Pittsburgh's Southside) November 30th at 8:00 PM-- it's Most Wanted Writer's Half-Aversary Event!

Yup, hard to believe that it's been six months already since myself, Courtney, Matt, Marissa, and Sarah rocked the house at Most Wanted Fine Arts' first ever literary event!

Come see me, Kate Homer, and Courtney Lora Lang read at 8PM Friday, November 30th!

If you can't make it, you could always go on Friday October 26th at 8PM to hear the following readers:

Stephanie Wielkopolan
Nathaniel Fuller
Jane Fishman

They're all great writers and people, too!

After the November event, the Most Wanted Writers will go on hiatus until February 29th. So, PLEASE COME!

Marc Brown, and a limo (no, not Marc Brown IN a limo)

This past Wednesday, my Writing Picture Books class took a field trip to Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA to hear Marc Brown speak. Marc Brown, if you don't know, is the highly successful author of the Arthur the Aardvark book series, which has turned into what must be a multi-million dollar coperation thanks to the PBS series and merchandising. Brown had a lot of important things to say about the state of early childhood literacy, which I could appreciate thanks to my position with AmeriCorps and Beginning With Books. I'm currently writing an article for the AmeriCorps newsletter based on Marc Brown's beliefs, which I may post here later.

My only disappointments about the reading were that he didn't give us time to ask questions and that it was so crowded that I couldn't wait in line for him to sign my brand new copy of Wild About Books. Wild About Books is a beautiful book about a lady who drives a bookmobile into a zoo. The animals eventually begin checking out books, then writing, and eventually they open their own branch of the library right there in the zoo!

And then there was the limo. We must be the only six people on earth who have ever shown up to see a children's book author in a limo. We're fairly sure Marc Brown doesn't even get limos. . . or if he does, they're certainly not for free with fully stocked bars. haha.

Woo-hoo!

I received some good news via e-mail a couple of days ago. The Rectangle, the literary journal of Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society, accepted my poem "The Bradley Family Secret" for publication! Although I was a little surprised that they decided to publish that one (boy, do I feel like my poetry has matured since I wrote that poem!) out of all five or six I submitted, I am more than happy to be published again, especially in a journal that will be read by students and professors all over the country (including some at Chatham as well as my alma mattar).

Experimentally Unexperienced

So, my goal this past week was to write an "experimental" poem, a poem written in whatever style is experimental to me. Basically, I've been trying to write a poem that goes against my usual style. It hasn't been too successful so far. It isn't so much that I don't want to play around with my style, it's just that I can't come up with a topic that I feel deserves it. Or, I can't come up with a form that's perfect for any of my topics.

So, after two false starts, I was laying in bed last night thinking when I came up with this incredibly complex, interwoven subject. I already had an opening stanza that I loved, so I started building off it. Basically, the poem is a series of numbered stanzas interweaving mother/daughter relationships with my current state as a 20-something girlfriend and the complexities of sexual relationships. Yeah. . .

It's still in fragments and I have until approx. 6:30PM to finish it. I don't know how "experimental" it is, but at this point I don't care much. . . I'm happy just to be writing something at this point, and the fact that it's something I really believe in is a plus.