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My thoughts on writing and other random things as they come up. |
| This is a blog where I keep my thoughts and daily comments about writing and WDC. |
| My poetry tutor got info on this contest and passed it along to me, so I am sharing it with you! Poetry Contest  .It's got a super low fee. Looks interesting, I'm going to check it out! Thanks |
| This kindle Ebook is free today. It's by the author that's doing my Just Fiction worskhops. Creating Character .Let me know what you think! Thanks, Sil |
Acceptance of a revised edition of Siren's Call to Sun & Sand Anthology. .That made my day! Getting ready for take a walk along the Missouri River and then we are going to eat some fine Kansas City BBQ. Enjoy the evening! Sil |
| I hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July. Mine was busy. Went furniture shopping with my incarcerated (grounded)14 year old. I have to buy a new couch. Didn't find anything I liked. Long narrowish living room presents interesting design challenges (14 X 17) with two focal points, one (fire place) in the middle of one short end, tv in the middle of the long far wall. Currently I have heavy nail-head reclining sofa, reclining loveseat & recliner chair, and it just takes up so much room. Wish I wasn't so creatively challenged. I think I want high legged sofa and or two high legged sofas that don't recline. Hopefully leather. (My family is too hard on any kind of fabric). Got more rejections. Trivia, Brevity. Still waiting on my rejection from Muddy River & Fiddleback. Getting very discouraged. Just Fiction tomorrow. Can you tell I'm tired and sad? Hope things start looking up soon. |
I really want to get something accepted to Everyday Poets. But I don't know if I have anything that even has the potential. They seem keen on strong imagery. I'm open to advice! Sil |
I'm reading Anne Tyler's Homesick Cafe. It's the third of her books I've read this week. I'm so amazed at skill with language. I wish I could write like that! I also have "Looking for Alaska" on my list of books to be read this week. It's a young adult book, but from what I can see so far - it looks amazing. Sent out a couple of poetry submissions yesterday. I'm a sucker for rejection apparently! What is new in your world? |
A while back, I had this idea for a poem, called "Night Left a footprint on my shoulder." The inspiration: I woke up one morning and saw the sheet had creased my skin, in a kind of puddle. It looked like a strange tattoo, or a footprint from a converse tennis shoe. I started imagining what it might be like if an unseen person had actually stepped on my shoulder and left the print while I slept. In my mind's eye, I have this sort of young male human/ghost type creature, wearing a dark and dusty trench coat, a fedora, and converse tennis shoes. He's running in and out of bedrooms, at night. He tromps across unsuspecting folks as they sleep. His name, of course, is Night. He comes only during the strange twilight time between falling asleep and deep sleep, or the slow waking from a night of dreams. I gave him a bone necklace, (not as anything scary, just something kind of goth and strange), and acrid aftershave, and set him loose in a poem. Nobody really gets it - and I absolutely love the poem. It's fanciful, imaginative, and kind of has a YA feel to it. I'll keep working on it. But I may never find a market for it! Or maybe it needs to be a story... Best Sil |
| You'd think folks could spread out their rejections a little better! Received today: Rejection, Big River Poetry Review (4) poems. Rejection Poetry Quarterly, (1) poem. Hm. Back to the drawing board! Sil |
| There is so much in this article that I love. Interviewer: She got it. At that moment, I felt understood. My relief was so strong that tears gathered in my eyes and trickled down my face... She reached through my darkness to let me know that what I experienced as a personal hell was, in fact, a shared experience. Interviewee Terry Tempest Williams: Time for a writer translates into solitude. In solitude, we create. In solitude, we are read. If we’re lucky, our books create community having been written out of solitude. It’s a lovely paradox. It’s the creative tension that I live with: I write to create community, but in order to do so, I am pulled out of community. Solitude is a writer’s communion. I also really enjoyed the part where she talked about the "sovereign voice." Gorgeous. Can't wait to read some of her work! Best, Sil |
| The incoming president of OWFI has her e-book up free for Father's Day: Murder goes to church .Enjoy! |
| I thought this was a great article. Gonna have to check out this guy! I liked this quote: I try to write a little every day. Most of it is worthless, but I’m a big believer in Richard Hugo’s advice that one is always writing “toward” the next good poem even when writing badly. |
There is a PBS special on Garrison Keillor tonight, for those interested.If you watch it - Let me know what you think! Best, Sil |
Helping out these folks - they have a new journal starting: https://www.facebook.com/RedTruckReview?fref=ts Going to be a fun time! Best, Sil |
| I'm beginning to understand a little bit about what (sometimes) makes writers a bit crazy. To really understand drama and emotion, two very important parts of writing, you have to welcome both and - take them into your body. It's not enough just to watch them happen in someone else. You have to have a sort of extreme empathy, and recreate imagined experiences in your mind. And at some level, your body reacts as if it was happening to you (stress/fight or flight response, and so on). As a writer, you try to walk in your character's shoes - as you subject them to all kinds of horrible things. And - you go down deep into secrets, longings, lusts, and unsavory parts of humanity. You willfully make things happen (to yourself)...things that, if they occurred in someone else, you would watch horrified, all the why thinking, gosh I'm glad that is not happening to me. But in this case - it sort of IS happening to you. And your are doing it to yourself. Or worse, someone (a character) you might love like you do a child. It's kind of like willfully exposing yourself to PTSD. It sure makes me wonder. How much am I willing to sacrifice for my art? .... Sil |
Today on DBW, they commented on the fact that many people have smartphones, and that this is something that publishers and authors should consider when making books available on the Ebook market.I don't know about you, but I don't think I would enjoy reading a book on my smartphone. I would, however, enjoy reading or listening to poetry, especially shorter poetry that fits well on a smaller screen. I think it would be a great way to get more people to see/read poetry - and it's something that is uniquely suited to the device. For example - what if every time your phone went on or came off powersave, there was a new poem waiting for you? Just something to think about. Best, Sil |
I've been rejected by like 3 journals in the last week. Rightly so. Even though I'm trying to do a good job matching my style/voice/poetry to the publication, I'm still not getting it. I'll stick to it though. Back to the drawing board! (Hope you are having better luck). Sil |
Watching the movie: Magic of Belle Isle on my lunch break (Amazon Instant Prime). You can't go wrong with Morgan Freeman. And ...it's about a writer! Best, Sil |
| So - I keep thinking about something my poetry tutor told me. She said that most of the literary magazines at academic institutions have graduate students read what is submitted to them - and then, if something is deemed worthy, they forward it up the chain for someone in the academy to look at. So basically - I have to convince a 20 something that my poetry is worth taking a chance on. That it's worth them sticking their neck out for... The chances that any of my poetry will resonate with a twenty something is... extremely slim. It feels a little disheartening. So - I'm trying to only submit to non-academic journals. Wish there was a category for that on duotrope! Hope you are having a good day. Sil |
Happy Memorial Day everyone! I hope you have a safe and happy holiday. Best wishes, Sil |
I read Sharon Olds' book, Stag's Leap today. I was the first person to check this book out from the OSU Library. (I don't understand why more people don't read poetry...). Stag's Leap won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry this year. I was stunned by Sharon's raw honesty, and her courage. Her willingness to dissect her marriage and share it's demise was extraordinary. I had to put the book down several times, I couldn't face it. I'll have to re-read it. Wow. Best, Sil |
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