Wow! I was totally impressed by the book launch party last night at the Fredricksen Library in Camp Hill, PA. Some great pics at Cate Masters‘s and Don Peschel‘s blogs. As Cate said, it was definitely “A Launch to Remember.”
Great readings, champagne toast (note the mini-champagne bottles–with the book title–they had for the authors), and a booksigning. This was the first time I’ve done a booksigning where it was non-stop signing during the whole event. Absolutely amazing!
Mega-thanks to the library staff for arranging the event and to Ann Elia Stewart, the editor, who has her own novel, Twice a Child, coming out soon.
Come and meet the authors tonight, May 22, 2012, at 7 PM.
BOOK LAUNCH FOR SHORT STORY COLLECTION WRITTEN BY
FREDRICKSEN LIBRARY WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
CAMP HILL, PA — A book launch party for an anthology of short stories, entitled “A Community of Writers,” will be held at the Cleve J. Fredricksen Library, 100 N. 19th Street, Camp Hill on Tuesday, May 22, from 7 – 8:30 p.m. Authors will be on hand to sign the books, which can be purchased at the event, with all profits donated to the library.
The short story collection features twenty-five stories penned by participants in the library’s Natalie D. Craumer Writer’s Workshop, named for the workshop beneficiary’s late wife. The workshop has been a popular staple of the library’s events for the past decade. It is facilitated by Ann Elia Stewart, a local author, teacher and award-winning writer.
“Each story is unique,” Stewart said. “The anthology encompasses literary and genre pieces, including science fiction, fantasy, romance, satire and thriller. It represents the best short stories to come out of the writing workshop throughout the past ten years.
“All the stories were generated from workshop lessons and exercises,” Stewart continued. “The collection is a readable treat to curl up with and enter the imaginations of very talented area writers.”
Published by Sunbury Press of Camp Hill, the book can be ordered as an e-book for both Nook and Kindle as well as in print. For ordering information, visit www.SunburyPress.com.
Do you have a lot of regrets or find yourself saying, “If only…” fairly often? I did two recent blog posts on the topic of turning those If only‘s around. Check them out at Christina Fonesca’s blog and Downtown YA. Make your regrets work for you instead of against you.
OK, so maybe they don’t hate all of them. Some rhyming picture books still get published, but they have to be exceptional.
Many first-time picture authors believe stories should be told in rhyme. Not so. It’s so easy to trip up and make mistakes. The first and most glaring mistake is to use unnatural phrasing to make your lines rhyme. Would your phrases make sense if you wrote them out in prose without the rhyme? Convoluted sentences that lack flow drive editors crazy.
Newbie authors almost always twist word order. The cat on a fence sat is not normal sentence order. If you want an editor to consider your story, be sure it reads the way people speak. For a wonderful example of natural word order, read Alice Shertle’s poems. Here’s an excerpt from one of her poems:
I Am the Cat
I am the cat in the easy chair–
velvet arm, and a cushion where
I scratch my claws and groom my hair–
Mine, alone, is the easy chair.
I am the cat in a puddle of sun–
isn’t a sun puddle wonderful fun?
Doesn’t the light make my dark coat shine?
Isn’t it right that the sun is mine?
Read more samples of her work at the Miss Rumphius Effect blog, or better yet, pick up some of her 40 books. You’ll be glad you did. And if you have the opportunity to take a workshop with Ms. Shertle, do so. I had the privilege of attending a conference breakout session with her, and it was phenomenal. You’ll never look at a poem the same way again. Guaranteed.
So back to editors’ peeves… Another major flaw is choosing words because they rhyme. Often the words make little sense or are unrelated to the story. (And, yes, rhyming picture books do have to tell a story.) Having your giraffe drink from a carafe may fit the rhyme scheme, but not the storyline.
Near-rhyme is another annoyance. Is your turtle wearing a girdle? Close but not quite there. As Deborah Diesen says on the 12×12 blog, “it’s not enough that the words end with the same final syllable sound. Instead, the last stressed syllable andeverything that comes after the last stressed syllable must rhyme.” She gives the example of bunny and chickadee. Both end with the same long e sound, but they don’t rhyme.
After all this advice against it, if you still think you want to write a rhyming picture book, then I recommend hopping over to Diesen’s post for a long list of fabulous tips on editing your poetry. If you follow all her steps, then an editor may just be thrilled to pick up your submission.
So many people let their dreams die because they focus on their limitations. If only I’d done it when I was younger, single, thinner, not tied down. Now I have ____________(fill in the blank). A mortgage, a high-stress job, kids, debts, no time, no energy…
The list of excuses is endless, but for every excuse there’s an example of someone who has conquered those odds.
Some people complain that they’re past their prime. That it’s too late for them to go for their dreams. Recently, I met an 84-year-old man who’d always dreamed of being an entrepreneur. He’s decided not to let his age stop him. He’s attending business classes and writing his business plan.
The Delany sisters published their first book at 100. And Sadie went on to publish 2 more. Her third, On My Own At 107, came out after her sister died.
People go on to be successful in spite of great odds. What’s holding you back? When you think about your dreams, what’s getting in the way?
Chances are it isn’t your busy schedule, your over-committed lifestyle, your lack of money, your family obligations. There are ways to work around all of those things if you choose to do so.
People have overcome seemingly impossible obstacles to reach their dreams. If you think yours are insurmountable, you might want to watch this video.
I thought I’d devote some time this week to promoting a fellow author I admire not only for her writing, but also for her commitment to the environment. Her latest book, Stakeout, was a finalist for the Green Earth Award this year.
Bonnie J. Doerr not only writes green, she lives green. Her home is a log cabin set in a patch of woods in North Carolina. Bonnie has carved out a space for herself to garden. You can see some of her lovely landscaping in this picture, but to truly appreciate what she’s done, you need to look at the before and after pictures of her garden space (see below). It’s difficult to believe that these pictures are of the same place. Bonnie’s hard work and green thumb are evident. In the first picture, she’s hard at work planting her garden.Then in the next picture, here’s how her garden grows. Amazing! Bonnie brings the same dedication and passion to her writing and to her environmental activism. So I asked her to write a blog post in honor of Earth Day.
By Bonnie J. Doerr
During Earth Week I’m reminded more than ever about why my writing took off in the direction it did. A deep appreciation of nature and the need to be immersed in the outdoors on a regular basis has defined my mental health for as long as I remember. I’ve been astounded to learn how many people are missing the gene that connects them to nature. In recent years my astonishment has turned into alarm. This dissociation from nature, I believe, is in many ways at the core of our environmental crisis.
Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods (Algonquin, 2005), defines this as Nature Deficit Disorder. As a result of a lifetime indoors, children have limited respect for their immediate natural surroundings. According to Louv, “An increasing pace in the last three decades, approximately, of a rapid disengagement between children and direct experiences in nature… has profound implications, not only for the health of future generations but for the health of the Earth itself.”
Watch the wonder and delight on a young child’s face when first observing a nest of eggs hatching, a tadpole growing into a frog, or a bean sprouting and reaching for thesky, and you know how much joy children naturally find in nature. We are wired to appreciate nature’s gifts. To nurture that appreciation, before it is lost to modern day society, can be soul saving.
Without first having experienced something, how can we come to care for it? So it seems tragically understandable that a lack of association with the natural environment leads to ecological abuse, or at the very least, taking our natural environment for granted.
I began to write poetry first, then short stories. But by the time I drafted my first novel, the die was cast. Each piece of writing had brought me closer and closer to natural settings, to crimes against the environment, and finally to where I am now—writing ecological mystery/adventures. I realize not every child can visit a wilderness, or explore a National Refuge, but every child can feel like they have when immersed in my novels. Teens can learn how much fun it is to be outdoors, how sensitive the environment is, and how they can set a good example for the adults in their world. They can virtually join other teens as they work to improve the Earth and save its creatures. It’s one small thing I can do to inspire environmental stewardship.
This month the Girl Scouts of USA are featuring Bonnie at their site. You can learn more about Bonnie and her novels on her website and by reading a recent interview. You can also see more about Bonnie’s work on her videos, which are posted at the Leap Books blog. And even better, Bonnie’s books are on sale the rest of this month for 40% off the paperbacks: Stakeout is only $7.79 and Island Sting is only $7.19.
Here’s one video of Bonnie’s work to whet your appetite:
Wow! I was totally impressed by the book launch party last night at the Fredricksen Library in Camp Hill, PA. Some great pics at Cate Masters‘s and Don Peschel‘s blogs. As Cate said, it was definitely “A Launch to Remember.”
