Poetry Friday

This week Paul B. Janeczko visited Brunswick, Maine. Specifically, he visited my son’s classroom. Now you’d think that a mom who was so involved with poetry, and the children’s book industry, and her child, would know that Paul B. Janeczko– poet, anthology editor, and author was visiting her child’s classroom this week.

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I did not. I knew he was coming but did not know when. Perhaps this is a notice-rumpled-at-the-bottom-of-the-backpack situation. Or it could be a notice-buried-under-the-piles-of-papers-on-my-kitchen-counter situation. Either way I missed it. Luckily, my son was there and here is his ~~brilliant~~ acrostic poem from the visit and workshop.

Enjoys swimming
Tennis too
Has an intrest in math
Also in architecture
Not a nerd

Five on Friday

1. This has been a good week. First of all, my revision is moving along. (Thank you Cheryl Klein!) While I might not be on schedule to complete the next draft by my self-imposed deadline of February 15th (next Wednesday), I’m confident that it will get done. This mood is quite different from the pity party I had for myself a few weeks ago. “Woe is me…” (I said to myself,) “all my writing and for nothing! I may be able to bang out a draft, but a real writer knows that 90% of writing is revision. I’m never going to finish. I’ve let down my family. All my VCFA friends are going to get published and I’m not. I should just give back that stupid MFA.” I know. It’s pretty annoying stuff. Please don’t tell me that I’m the only one that has these pity parties. Please. In fact, write me a comment telling me the silliest negative thing you ever told yourself.

2. I’m busy reading for upcoming Book Review Wednesdays. On deck are Cynthia Levinson’s new nonfiction We Got a Job, and the graphic novel Friends With Boys. I’d love to know… How far in advance do you want to know about a new book? On its launch date? A month before? Leave me a comment and any titles you’d like to know more about. If its on NetGalley, I can try to get it.

3. This is also a good week because Frosty’s Donuts is having a grand re-opening! Frosty’s Donuts are like a piece of heaven, glazed and with a hole. These donuts are so light, so melt-in-your mouth amazing, they are a symphony of sugar and lard. I do not frequent Frosty’s. If I went their frequently, I’d be as round as a donut. Frosty’s closed when June Frost passed away and this week, a new sign appeared. Grand Re-opening in three days. (That was Wednesday.) Now the big day is tomorrow. The place is getting all spiffed up with new paint (no more Jesus pamphlets), but they’ve retained the original baker. You can bet, I’ll be in line tomorrow to support them. Frosty’s donuts. A little less Holy but still amazing.

Frosty’s Donuts from Don Bernier on Vimeo.

4. I’m getting new neighbors!!! Nuff said.

5. We are going to Puerto Rico next week to visit with my parents. Sun. Warmth. Fewer items of clothing. Love. Childcare. Nuff said.

Have a good weekend!

Five on Friday and a Poem

1. The SCBWI Conference was a great break from the studio. I’m back, and working with the ideas from the Revision Workshop with Cheryl Klein. I’d like to report that I’m moving forward at great speeds but that would be a lie. I spent the week writing a letter to myself, processing the good, the bad, and the ugly about the manuscript. I also wrote the flap copy and tried the “summarize your novel in one sentence exercise.” Perhaps I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. I urge my own students to spend time on prewriting to make the writing easier– this is all necessary pre-revision work that will save me time later on.

2. I’d be less hard on myself if I wasn’t aware of all the time I “wasted” this week. As you can see, I’ve moved my blog to WordPress.com in part because of the page building aspect of the site. My website was terribly outdated and I appreciate the ease with which I can change things in WordPress. However, like everything, there is a learning curve (with all of its fumbling, backtracking, exploring, searching) takes time away from writing. Also, most of it goes on when my children are asleep which means I am up too late and tired through the day. This too, slows production and puts me on shaky emotional ground. Yesterday, just before I had to pick up a kiddo I thought I had lost all my work. I rolled up to the school 15 minutes late, exhausted, and weepy. “What am I doing?” I asked my very wise yet young son. “This stupid website is supposed to advertise my writing. If I’m not a writer, what’s the point?!” He patted my shoulder, “Shhh. You are a great writer. You just need a nap.”

3. My efforts with two other members of the Brunswick community to make April 26th Poem in Your Pocket Day is moving along nicely. We have a variety of events that are being planned including a community poetry open mic night, and a presentation by Wesley McNair our Maine Poet Laureate. We are applying for grants to cover the cost of flyers, school visits/programs, and stickers. On April 26th people are encouraged to wear the sticker and carry a Poem in their Pocket to read to others. Please visit our newly minted Facebook page and “like” us.

4. The deployment is officially one month down. I’m humbly accepting Sunday dinner invitations for my family.

5. The triathlon season is just around the corner. First tri, April 15th. Writing down publicly makes it much more real and imminent. Happily, I signed up for a spinning class that fits my schedule perfectly. The teacher said she’d also be teaching a tri prep class on Mondays and Fridays. While I could train on my own, I know that I’ll be much more consistant if I join the class.

A Prayer
by Anna Boll

Oh, Dear Tech Gods,
let technology help me today.
Allow me to be more productive,
not less.
Watch over my computer
do not let it crash.
Keep my documents safe.
May my website, web
my downloads, load
my plugins, plug
my widgets, widge.
As I tweet
and blog
and update
and friend,
grow my platform.
Protect me from hackers
so I may keep my identity
to procrastinate another day.

Happy Groundhog Day- Blog host change…again.

The Groundhog has spoken. — Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter.

Today is Groundhog Day which reminds me of awesome books for kids…

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But it also reminds of Bill Murray…

Who is trapped reliving the same day over and over until he can get it right.

I feel a bit like that today. I stayed up until about one am today moving my blog from Livejournal to WordPress. The change had been coming for a while. I was frustrated by the lack of simple, clean themes on LiveJournal, and I was spending a lot of time deleting spam comments about purses. I also wanted to be able to write posts one day and schedule them to publish another day. So here I am on WordPress.

My website has sort of fallen by the wayside as well and in preparation for the April 20th-22nd NESCBWI Annual Conference, I wanted to revamp it. Wordpress gives me the ability to expand. Over the next few weeks I’m hoping to add links and my portfolio. I’ll still be posting Member Mondays and Book Review Wednesdays. I know. I’ve missed a couple of Wednesday now, but I’ll be trapped here week after week trying to get it right.

I’ll also be adding back in my About Me Fridays in case anyone is interested. It will be more personal, poetry and process oriented. I hope you’ll follow the blog and link to it often in your tweets and facebook updates.

Bundle up. Six more weeks of winter.