tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55738584837994189222024-01-19T11:53:25.659-08:00writercizeexercises to inspire word play, hone the craft of the written word and bulldoze writer's block for authors, bloggers, poets, freelancers, teachers, students, dreamers and writers of all kindAlanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.comBlogger292125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-49207142776641736002018-04-17T14:17:00.000-07:002018-04-17T18:13:55.420-07:00Where to Find Me These Days: Of Love + Light<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Hello awesome writercizers!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I hope you are well, and continuing to write and engage in creative pursuits. I can't believe it's been nearly four years since I last posted here... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I'll keep this quick! As our lives evolve, sometimes we dive deeper into a niche, and other times we expand. I've been expanding as of late, into all things creative. I'm still writing, but what I'd really love to share today is my newest creation: <a href="http://www.ofloveandlight.org/" target="_blank">Of Love + Light</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><a href="http://www.ofloveandlight.org/" target="_blank">Of Love + Light</a> is <span style="caret-color: rgb(72, 72, 72);">a place for uplifting media, creative inspiration, art, nifty creative publications, and storytelling. I also offer editing, creativity coaching, and small business communications planning services. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(72, 72, 72);"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(72, 72, 72);">My vision is that <a href="http://www.ofloveandlight.org/" target="_blank">Of Love + Light</a> will be a place to visit, relax, feel inspired and loved, and share more of what’s good on this beautiful planet. It is early in the creative stage, but I see wonderful opportunities for growth and community. And there will be Weekly Creativity Challenges, that can be interpreted in many ways, from the written word to music to art to food... however you express your creativity!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(72, 72, 72);"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(72, 72, 72);">Please stop by and say hello! I started posting at the beginning of this month, spurred by the awesome A to Z Challenge. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(72, 72, 72);"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(72, 72, 72);">You can also find <a href="http://www.ofloveandlight.org/" target="_blank">Of Love + Light</a> on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ofloveandlightcreative/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Of_LoveAndLight" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ofloveandlightcreative/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and I'll be cross-posting a few stories over at <a href="https://medium.com/of-love-light" target="_blank">Medium</a>. Click any of the above to be taken to your preferred social media and get connected.</span></span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-90876426733645577052014-12-07T02:00:00.000-08:002014-12-08T11:06:33.110-08:00Eric Garner and The Tipping Point in Race Relations<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I grew up believing that the word "racism" was an archaic term that belonged only in history books.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Yeah, I realize how crazy that sounds. I see now that it was silly to believe that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I understand that anyone who reads this blog post will know from that very first sentence what color my skin is. I am white.* </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I
know now that only a white person could make it through the first ten
or fifteen years of life and still believe that racism was an ugly,
distant memory, a relic from the past that only appeared in textbooks
and history lessons next to the first two hundred years of American
life, from slavery through civil rights.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I know now how ridiculous that notion seems. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It took time for me to understand.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It
took life experience for me to see how my coworkers and clients in our
nation's capital were grossly underpaid and overqualified, consistently
offered salaries and positions lower than those with lighter skin.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It
took candid discussions with friends to understand what it meant to
live black*: to have to teach a son to be timid with strangers and the
authorities just to stay alive, to expect to be pulled over at night or
in a predominantly white neighborhood.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It
took getting to know family histories to see that sharecropping, hate
crimes and lynching weren't dead memories; they were alive and a real
part of the personal history and experience in my friends' parents and
grandparents lives. (More recent even than the Holocaust and its
survivors whose firsthand stories I heard at least once a year in school
assemblies: stories of oppression and genocide that took place far
away, outside our borders, filled with stories of American heroism in
the name of equality, justice, freedom. "American" qualities.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It took decades to get it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">But
once my eyes and ears were tuned in to the fact that race is still an
oppressive factor in life in America, I could clearly see the
additional—--almost imperceptible--—layer of both fear and pride in black
parents' eyes as they looked to their children's future. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Still,
it took Eric Garner to shake me awake. It took Eric Garner to peel away
the veil of sixty years of perceived progress and strides toward
equality. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Wednesday
night—Eric Garner—was my tipping point. I watched the decision not to
indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo with disbelief and tears in my eyes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I
first listened to President Barack Obama and I agreed. This case was
about more than race, more than black lives or white lives. It was about
American lives and a flawed justice system. It was about law
enforcement and making sure every single person in our country is equal.
Is valued. The lesson about what had happened had to be more than this
outdated concept of "race."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">And then I went to Target.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">And I realized that once again, I was wrong. The Eric Garner case has everything in the world to do with race.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I was wrong because I had the luxury of being surprised with the grand jury's failure to indict. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">When
I walked into Target at eight o'clock on what should have been an
average Wednesday night, I felt an energy permeating the air that I have
never felt before in my entire life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I felt defeat. And I felt dejection.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I
walked around the store, and I saw men and women in every shade,
processing the news of the day. On white* faces, there was surprise,
confusion, contemplation, frustration, disappointment. But on every
black* face, there was a level of sadness I've never seen. It was a look
that told me that Eric Garner's murder (because that's what the coroner
called it: homicide)—--with the witness catching it on video and the
hands up and the jovial personality—--dug deeper than any wrong conviction
or racist remark or attack ever had.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I
can only describe the energy I felt that night as the pivotal moment
when a person realizes a relationship they'd cared about is over. That
second when you go from the drive to argue and be heard by the person
you thought you loved to the realization that it's just over. The
relationship is not worth the energy or the anger or the frustration or
the sadness. It's just plain done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Anyone
who's ever fallen out of love or known when to walk away from a lover
knows that moment, that pained look of dried-up hope and abandoned
dreams.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It says, quite simply, "I give up." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I'd
never seen that look or felt that emptiness from so many people in my
life. Not after Columbine, not after 9/11, not even after Sandy Hook—and
I say that not to minimize any of those tragedies, but to illustrate
just how powerfully diminished the air felt. I think it's because those shocked us all, but this—--a senseless loss of life followed by an institutionally blatant disregard for the weight of what had happened—--was actually expected by a large portion of our population.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I've been obsessing over the right words for days, and I still can't find a way to adequately explain or describe that night.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">If
I hadn't gone out that night, I probably wouldn't have even seen it. I
would have thought Eric Garner was "just" another case of structural
racism. By the next day, I noticed that the masks were back on and the desperation was hidden behind a forced strength. But I did go out. And I did see it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">On
Wednesday night, while my anger and frustration and sense of injustice
were raring to fight, the faces of those who'd anticipated such stark
disregard for one unarmed black man's life told me everything I needed
to know. It would never be enough. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I
realized the protests in New York weren't only peaceful because people
were tired of violence and suddenly learned order in chaos. They were
peaceful because all the air and all the fight had left the room.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Hands in the air. Race is real. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Every day, I wake up white. Every day, I am perceived as white. Every day, I experience life as white. And every day, that will limit my understanding of what it really means to live in America, because I walk through life presumed innocent.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It's not wrong that I am perceived that way. It's wrong that others are not.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Wednesday
night, at Target, I could see that even deeper and more desperate than
generational or societal American racism, a racial chasm had been
revealed with the Eric Garner case.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This
time, it was different. This time, it was day. This time, there was a
video. This time, the victim was peaceful. This time, there was
absolutely no question. Eric Garner was not supposed to die.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This
time, it was clear that no matter what a person does, no matter how
much a man strives for peace and cares about his community, there will
be a next time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">And how is it possible to explain that? How is it possible to justify that? How is it possible to live with that?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I
can't explain it; I can't justify it. Purely by chance and the "luck"
of the genetic draw, I am not forced to live with a different set of
behavioral expectations related to my every day reality. My children
will not face the same scrutiny as the children of my friends and
neighbors. I will worry about their health, safety and well-being, but
only in the universal motherly sense; my worries will not be heightened
simply due to dark coloring.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">When I checked out, cold meds and stocking stuffers passing by the rhythmic beep, there was the same small talk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Her: "Hi. How are you?"</span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Me: "Fine, and you?"</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Her: "Fine. Did you find everything ok?"</span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Me: "Yes, thanks."</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Blah, blah, blah. Lies. Lies from both of us. </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Eyes were downcast and averted as we feigned a normal conversation. </span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">She was black. I am white. Most days that wouldn't matter. Most days, we'd hold eye contact. Most days, she would have held the same conversation with the woman in front of me in line, a woman who was also black.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">But, this time, you could feel the truth beneath the surface. This time, the cashier and the woman in front of me knew there was really nothing to say. They just looked at each other and sighed, not a word exchanged. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This time, our small talk was thick with unsaid sentiment. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Her: "Hi. How are you? Actually, I don't even care. Did you see what happened today?"</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Me:
"Yeah, and I feel pretty sh*tty and scared about it. But I know not as
sh*tty or scared as you. How are you? It must suck to try to pretend
life is normal and concentrate on scanning items and asking people how
they are when the whole world fundamentally changed a couple of hours
ago. But I feel you... I feel your fear, your worry, your sadness. And
I'm sorry. Really, really sorry. They were wrong. And the thing that
sucks is that it's not just Eric Garner. It keeps happening. The stories
are different, but the same. Your life, and the life of your family, is
harder than mine because you are darker than me. It's not fair. It's
not fair. It's not fair."</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Her: "Yeah. It's not fair. And you won't ever understand just how unfair it is."</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Me:
"You're right. I won't. And for that, I am both grateful and deeply,
deeply sorry. I wish it weren't true. Hell, I'll fight with you. But I
know now it won't be enough. And that's tearing me apart."</span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Yes,
Eric Garner was the tipping point that revealed the decades of civil
rights that I had always thought (perhaps ignorantly, perhaps naively)
we'd moved beyond were just a ruse.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">And
I suppose it shouldn't be all that shocking. After all, Rosa Parks'
journey on the bus was only fifty-nine years ago. The older I get, the
clearer I recognize that's merely a drop in the bucket of human history.
But I really believed we'd learned so much more.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">No
one will ever know for sure what would have happened if Eric Garner
were white, or if Daniel Pantaleo were black. But we all know it'll
happen again. And again.
And again.</span> <br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Unless.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Unless?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>*Note:
See my post Thursday re. my reluctance to use the terms "white" or
"black" to define a person in the first place (and why I use the term "black" vs. "African-American" in the first place). I don't claim to be color
blind, nor would I desire to be color blind. I see our
human shades; I do believe bits and pieces of culture are reflected in
our skin, but those are just one component of the myriad of elements
that make us who we are. </i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>I always notice a person's eyes and smile, confidence and gait, wit and caring, long before color. </i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>I will never judge a person by the color of his/her skin. I will never think a person is "less than" or "more than" another because of tone. </i></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>We are different, and we are the same, and we are richer for our diversity.</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>Whatever shade you are: I think you are beautiful. </i></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">Background</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><a href="http://writercize.blogspot.com/2014/12/life-matters-eric-garner-mattered-you.html" target="_blank">On Thursday</a>,
I posted several long, winding thoughts about the Eric Garner case, the idea that all lives matter and the concept that violence is altogether too prevalent in our society, as I whittled down my point. There are so many concepts wrapped up in this one case that it's hard to pick just one.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The tipping point that I refer to above, though, is the stark realization that while discussions about dignity and respect and violence are also important, it's impossible to arrive at those discussions without first addressing the simple concept that Black Lives Do Matter. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I thought we were so far past that concept that we could move on up the Adapted Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Relations (don't google it; it doesn't exist), but I learned on Wednesday night that we can't. We have to face that seemingly obvious fact first.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Over
the past couple of days, I've attempted to complete the writercize
assignment I gave you. The task proved to be tougher than I thought, as
thousands of thoughts continued to dance in my head. I had more to say. I
had different things to say. But I have to let it go and allow those other
bits and pieces to be a part of the larger dialogue.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Once again, I challenge you to <a href="http://writercize.blogspot.com/2014/12/life-matters-eric-garner-mattered-you.html" target="_blank">the same writercize from Thursday</a>:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Write a column
(opinion piece) that gets to the heart of how recent news stories about
the justice system's response (or: the politicians' response, the
police response, the media response, the public response) to Eric
Garner, Michael Brown in Ferguson and Trayvon Martin have impacted your
world view.</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I
welcome your writercize attempts, and I welcome your comments. This is
the touchiest subject I've ever written about, and undoubtedly to many, I
got some of it—--or all of it—--wrong. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Please,
don't hesitate to share with me what you think. I appreciate different
perspectives and am open to listening to and learning about what you
have to say.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Disrespectful or spiteful comments will be deleted.<b><br /></b></span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-48381586787934875982014-10-17T07:30:00.000-07:002014-10-17T07:30:03.038-07:00Story Sprouts, Heartbeats and More... Oh My!<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Oh goodness, it has been a long time, hasn't it? So, I suppose I should share a little bit about what's been going on, and why I left and why I'm back, and all that catch-up stuff, yeah? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i>(At this point, if you prefer to skip the chit chat and head straight to the point, scroll on down until you see all caps. There's the juiciest newsworthy meat. I won't be mad if you skip ahead. I promise)</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">When I began this blog, I was just starting out in this wild world of writing. I was given the very sage advice by a woman who at the time was a mentor I admired and has since become a very, very good friend, that all writers must have a blog. Long before the final draft and the first query letter, the blog established an author's all-important platform, a veritable requirement in today's literary landscape.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So, I hemmed and I hawed, trying to find what in the world I would actually enjoy writing day in and day out, and what I would actually be willing to share with just anyone. Some might say I am the type to hold my cards a bit closer than most; on Facebook my posts are certainly not public and I struggle with that line of what is enough to share to give strangers a glimpse of who I am, but not enough to bore a follower or appear...what's the word?...narcissistic, perhaps.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I needed something that was enjoyable and useful. And thus, in the middle of a shower epiphany, writercize was born. I could create random writing prompts to hone my writing skills, imagine that others might actually find those prompts useful, and have some variety. I could talk about my day if I wanted, as I often did in the intros and lead-ins to the exercise, I could teach and exercise creativity through writing the prompt, and I could practice right alongside my readers, tossing out all sorts of writing genres and styles and trying them on for size.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In the beginning, nighttime was my only quiet time of day, and I relished in the half hour in which I would sit down at my computer and write, then additional half hour when I could read insights from others. It was a welcome and relaxing part of my schedule.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And then, I began to write more for the newspaper, and I didn't feel as if I needed to practice quite so much. And then, my children got older and I had more free, quiet time during the day (during the school year, at least) and I wasn't pushed to write only at night—my most creative time. And then, I decided that it might actually be nice to get some sleep earlier, as I was getting my alone time else where. And then, I was invited to join the board of the Children's Book Writers of Los Angeles as the Publications Editor, now Director.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And I found that I had developed a platform in real life. So I all but abandoned writercize and allowed it to rest and breathe a bit while I attended to other writing passions and obligations, amidst all the hustle and bustle and beauty of everyday life. And I was okay with that, because I feel that hidden among the 250+ posts that I created here, there are exercises that stand the test of time. Actually, I believe all of them do...I could never write another writercize on this blog, and people would probably be able to find some sort of writing inspiration regardless.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">But then, sometimes I do have news, and it's exciting, and I want to share it with all of you, at least any of you who still arrive at my blog! Or old blogging friends who still blog yourselves and follow this feed. With an average blog life of just two years, I imagine it's a whole new atmosphere compared to when I first started, but...just maybe it gives me a chance to reconnect and share more moments with you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And sometimes I think that it would be great fun to come back and revitalize writercize, even once a week, and I might, just for the joy in writing. When I started, many days, this was the only writing I did. These days, it's rare that I don't have a deadline just around the corner. I'm working on a creative nonfiction. I'm writing for the paper. I write company bios. I'm teaching a workshop next month. I co-edit an annual writing resource and anthology. I am exceedingly fortunate to watch my career grow, bit by bit, from when I began this blogging journey. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And so, I hang on to this site, for the pleasure of sharing past prompts, for the possibility that I will one day wake up inspired to return, and for the platform to continue to share news with you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Since I last blogged about my incredible journey in Benin several months ago, I wanted to share with you two different books that I've participated in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I highly encourage you to take a look, and <b>proceeds from both books go to support charity</b>, so that's a bonus!!</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">HEARTBEATS:</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">VOICES AGAINST OPPRESSION</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Edited by Jax Goss</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LJcUvl6rPZkzhpKplyUVJE8aHR5JLTCtGMZiyaUenYK5lI6o1TW_h3ieTSjQ2pddSKot3xgfasLnWnfxF4pycN2OthpIBWllQpqA9ay2TR6_ly9Tk8e3W4eSyPQFkoCJVqPdkaQSAJJc/s1600/heartbeats-front-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LJcUvl6rPZkzhpKplyUVJE8aHR5JLTCtGMZiyaUenYK5lI6o1TW_h3ieTSjQ2pddSKot3xgfasLnWnfxF4pycN2OthpIBWllQpqA9ay2TR6_ly9Tk8e3W4eSyPQFkoCJVqPdkaQSAJJc/s1600/heartbeats-front-cover.jpg" height="320" width="222" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The first was published June 1, titled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Heartbeats-Oppression-M-Kate-Allen-ebook/dp/B00KPBLIQE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413528597&sr=8-1&keywords=heartbeats+voices+against+oppression" target="_blank"><b>Heartbeats: Voices Against Oppression</b></a>. It is a collection of fictional short stories about human trafficking. I have a story in the book called "Moonlit Memories," which examines four different modern day slaves in four different circumstances around the world: one man and three women, spread out from Dubai to Togo (West Africa) to Italy and the United States. Every one of these countries face serious uphill battles to eliminate trafficking, as do so many others world-wide. It is a problem that plagues developing and developed nations alike.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">All of the proceeds go to the <a href="http://notforsalecampaign.org/" target="_blank">Not For Sale Campaign</a> to fight trafficking; the collection was inspired by the girls in Nigeria kidnapped by Boko Haram. Their story brought attention to a serious, ongoing international problem front and center. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The minute I saw the call for submissions, I felt compelled to write. It was a very, very quick turn-around, but I knew I had to do something. I first became aware of human trafficking—in modern times, in the developed world—after hearing a politician address it during a workshop on campus at the University of Washington. Once I knew about the issue, there was no going back to an ignorant or naive state of mind, and I've followed stories throughout the years about the ugly realities. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Today, there are an estimated 30 million (that's 30,000,000!!) people who are victims of "human trafficking." That's really a kind way to say the truth...men, women and children either sold into modern slavery or robbed of their documentation and forced to work nonstop in the hopes of earning it back. While my "Moonlit Memories" story is fictional, there are seeds of truth in every scene. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Nine other authors also contributed to the book, which was released by <a href="http://solarwyrm.com/" target="_blank">Solarwyrm Press</a> and <a href="http://www.feypublishing.com/" target="_blank">Fey Publishing</a>. It's available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Heartbeats-Oppression-M-Kate-Allen-ebook/dp/B00KPBLIQE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413528597&sr=8-1&keywords=heartbeats+voices+against+oppression" target="_blank">Amazon</a> in Kindle or paperbook form.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">STORY SPROUTS: VOICE</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">CBW–LA WRITING DAY RESOURCE AND ANTHOLOGY</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Volume II, 2014</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Co-Edited by Alana Garrigues </b>(that's me!) <b>and Nutschell Anne Windsor</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Whereas the book mentioned above took a couple days and a few hours of my time, this second book took many months and countless hours. And every last one of those hours was worth it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Story-Sprouts-Writing-Resource-Anthology/dp/0989878724/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1413529009&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><b>Story Sprouts: Voice</b></a> is the second volume of an annual book that <a href="http://cbw-la.org/" target="_blank">CBW–LA</a>, the writing organization I mentioned above, puts together. It's one part writing resource, one part writing inspiration, one part poetry, two parts prose and infinite parts amazing way to highlight writing talent!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Last year was our very, very first volume, and I would consider it our pilot. Indie publishing is quite a rich challenge! Last year was great; this year rocks our socks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The book grows out of a one day writing workshop, aptly named the <a href="http://cbw-la.org/event-1776581" target="_blank">Writing Day Workshop</a>, in which we gather brave writing souls together in one room, feed them a lot, lecture them a bit, and allow their creative minds to go wild. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">They write for a few hours; they turn in their work; I run a lot of line and developmental editing with my co-editor's incredible insight and help (<a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" target="_blank">Nutschell Anne Windsor of The Writing Nut</a> is SO SMART! and that friend I mentioned above about the blogging thing); a pro (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheLanguageDelegate" target="_blank">Pat Stainke</a>) copy edits the whole manuscript; Nutschell manages all the ins and outs of indie publishing and cover design and book formatting and marketing stuff with some of my insight and help, and five months after the workshop...voila! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">A book! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And a big party to celebrate their brilliance and creativity! This post is already super long, but I'll go ahead and post a few party photos sometime next week. Also we talk about the book these days on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CBWLA" target="_blank">Facebook fan page</a>, specifically on Sundays year round. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Featuring quotes from famous authors, one-of-a-kind lessons and insight into the literary device of VOICE (this year's theme), a novella about the first 24 hours after an imaginary shipwreck, short memoirs and vignettes from childhood and so, so, so much more, it is hard to explain but a lot of fun. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I highly recommend it for writers, teachers, writing groups, English classes, and anyone who enjoys new voices and faces in literature and short stories. An Index of Authors and three different Tables of Contents allow any sort of reader to peruse the book in the way that best matches his/her interests.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">If you do purchase a copy (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Story-Sprouts-CBW-Resource-Anthology-ebook/dp/B00NVR5RDY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1413529009" target="_blank">Kindle</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Story-Sprouts-Writing-Resource-Anthology/dp/0989878724/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1413529009&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon paperback</a>, or <a href="http://www.blurtery.com/bookstore.html" target="_blank">.epub on Blurtery</a>), we'd love an honest review on Amazon/<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23271305-story-sprouts" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>/your blog. Seriously, the best way to grow and improve is honesty. Also, if you do purchase a copy, know that you are supporting the CBW–LA and our mission to educate and inspire writers. We offer workshops year-round; weinvite published authors from Picture Book through YA to lecture or workshop as guest speakers; we host critique groups; we inspire writers! CBW–LA is a registered non-profit educational organization fast approaching five years with a five- (soon to be six-!) person volunteer Board of Directors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We do have a limited number of free eBooks available for book reviewers with a proven history of posting reviews, and <b><a href="mailto:alana@cbw-la.org" target="_blank">both Nutschell and I are available for blog or media interviews</a>.</b> Please leave a comment below if you are interested or click the link above to send me an email, and thank you for your support.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">A total of 25 authors contributed to this year's volume, released by CBW–LA Publications, which is available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Story-Sprouts-Writing-Resource-Anthology/dp/0989878724/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1413529009&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a> in Kindle and paperback form and <a href="http://www.blurtery.com/bookstore.html" target="_blank">Blurtery in .epub digital form</a>. Each author submitted a minimum of four pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Visit Amazon or Goodreads for a full list of the authors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i>This year's blurb:</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 22px;"><i>A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A WRITER</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;"><i>Story Sprouts: Voice features the fearless adventures of 25 aspiring and published children's book authors-- gifted writers who spent one day exploring the mysteries and nuanced expression of Authorial, Narrative and Character Voice.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;"><i>Included are more than 60 works of original poetry and prose. The authors composed in less than 10 hours, as they deepened their understanding of literary devices and sharpened their powers of observation and interpretation. Each learned to speak from the heart of a child, from the soul of an inanimate object, and to faithfully represent a character meticulously created from a photograph.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;"><i>Readers will be touched and inspired, but Story Sprouts is also a rich reference tool for teachers and workshop leaders. The book offers prompts and tips, details the specific workshop techniques used, includes handouts and other materials, and cites a wealth of free online resources--all of which serve to strengthen writers as they pursue their craft.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>STORY SPROUTS</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>CBW–LA WRITING DAY EXERCISES AND ANTHOLOGY 2013</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Co-Edited by Alana Garrigues and Nutschell Anne Windsor</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Our first book, <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Story-Sprouts-Writing-Exercises-Anthology/dp/0989878791/ref=tmm_pap_title_0" target="_blank">Story Sprouts 2013</a></b>, </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">featuring 19 authors and</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> holding a five-star average rating on Amazon and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18745210-story-sprouts" target="_blank">4.84 stars on Goodreads</a>, is also available on </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Story-Sprouts-Writing-Exercises-Anthology/dp/0989878791/ref=tmm_pap_title_0" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;" target="_blank">Amazon</a><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> and </span><a href="http://www.blurtery.com/bookstore.html" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;" target="_blank">Blurtery</a><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">. Each author last year submitted two pieces: one on writing, the other inspired by a photo. We embarked on a <a href="http://www.storysproutsanthology.com/the-story-sprouts-january-2014-blog-tour/" target="_blank">fun month-long blog tour in January 2014</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Visit Amazon or Goodreads for a full list of the authors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Last year's blurb:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A WRITER</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;"> </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i>What happens when linguistic lovers and tale tellers workshop together? Inspiration. Wonder. Discovery. Growth. Magic. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i>Brave and talented, the writers featured in this anthology took on the challenge of dedicating one day to the raw and creative process of writing. A rare view into the building blocks of composition, Story Sprouts is made up of nearly 40 works of poetry and prose from 19 published and aspiring children's book authors. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i>This compilation includes all of the anthology writing exercises and prompts, along with tips, techniques and free online writing resources to help writers improve their craft. </i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>LOOKING AHEAD</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>The <a href="http://cbw-la.org/event-1776581" target="_blank">next Writing Day Workshop is open now</a>; it will take place on April 25, 2015. </b>Registration is required; we do anticipate it will sell out. If you're in the L.A. area or fancy a weekend in So Cal, we welcome you!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And so, that's it! All the news that's fit to scroll! I shan't make any promises about how long before I return, but please do email or comment if you have a question or if you'd like to talk about a review or cover reveal for Story Sprouts: Voice and I'll be sure to reach out! Or you can email me at alana(at)cbw-la(dot)org.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Thanks so much! </span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-49915910983057532342014-02-03T13:30:00.000-08:002014-02-03T13:48:52.765-08:00In Africa: Journalism, Adventure and Hope<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I was recently granted the opportunity by <a href="http://tbrnews.com/" target="_blank">The Beach Reporter</a>, the paper I have been freelancing for over the past three years, to write a first-person account of two weeks in Benin, West Africa.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJQ-x-IQi3zNjgfPeOPAcvkWjl8LaOMmRMUrDP4AYCxcw8pWJOJgWrBEmTt2gemlZnC9qItrBNUR9r3nXaYx4PWyR129WkcQ_1xz-HBn8kl59630ZamiKW2R6z2h7RoWWdEUaRjdAxV9D/s1600/IMG_2429.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJQ-x-IQi3zNjgfPeOPAcvkWjl8LaOMmRMUrDP4AYCxcw8pWJOJgWrBEmTt2gemlZnC9qItrBNUR9r3nXaYx4PWyR129WkcQ_1xz-HBn8kl59630ZamiKW2R6z2h7RoWWdEUaRjdAxV9D/s1600/IMG_2429.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alana with "House Mama" Catherine<br />
who cares for six orphans<br />
in Tanguieta, Benin, West Africa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As a reporter who leaves opinion and first-person pronouns out of my stories, it was both a challenge and an exciting opportunity. I traveled to Benin to visit a local nurse named Sarah Chapman who I met during an interview for the paper last year. She was in the process of raising money for her non-profit organization, <a href="http://www.buildabetterbenin.org/" target="_blank">Build a Better Benin</a>, dedicated to improving the health and education of women and children in West Africa.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It is a worthy project, and she is a phenomenal woman, so we've been meeting weekly while she is in the L.A. area to talk about her story and translate her work and humor into book form. Her stories are not generic statistics; they are personal stories of love and struggle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In November and December, it was time for me to travel halfway around the world to see what she does in person and meet the people in the story. I hope to finish the book and secure an agent and publisher within the year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In the meantime, I'd love it if you read my account. It's brief, considering the timeline. Boiling two weeks of nonstop activity down to around 1300 words was difficult, to say the least, but it really speaks to a little bit of what I love about the people I met, the sense of wonder and adventure, and how I see my role as a journalist.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Here's a small tidbit from the article, <a href="http://tbrnews.com/news/hermosa_beach/building-better-communities/article_f9083868-8520-11e3-8e03-0019bb2963f4.html" target="_blank">Building Better Communities</a>:</span><br />
<br /><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"The sky is alive in vibrant red and orange swatches of light, trickling into the deep red walls of mud huts and down to the terre rouge — the brownish maroon of the earth’s surface. The view is dotted with silhouettes of baobob trees and bobbing heads – large groups of children returning home from school, dressed alike in khaki public school uniforms. It is a vision of warmth and beauty, the browns and reds and oranges swirling together in perfect harmony. <br /><br />The sounds of children laughing and goats bleeting punctuate the constant whir of motorcycle engines buzzing along dirt roads pocked with potholes. Dough sizzles in oiled pots along the side of the street, and clapping and song bounce off the walls.<br /><br />This is dusk in Tanguieta, Benin in West Africa, on Thanksgiving night. I am surrounded by 11 children, 200 chickens, a dozen rabbits, goats, baby turkeys, a dog with pink-painted toenails, a nurse from Hermosa Beach, an uneducated “house mama” who cares for six orphans, and the pastor who has vowed to give them a better life. This is heaven on earth."</span></i><div>
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</span></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">PS - For the article that served as the impetus for meeting Sarah, and to learn more about Benin, <a href="http://tbrnews.com/news/hermosa_beach/hermosa-nurse-to-build-orphanage-with-help-from-fundraiser/article_87de2237-1625-5afb-bc26-1c5ba8f3b698.html" target="_blank">click here</a>. To see current projects, visit the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/buildabetterbenin" target="_blank">Build a Better Benin Facebook page</a>.</span><br />
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Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-43877596459986673732014-01-30T10:50:00.000-08:002014-01-30T10:50:00.734-08:00#StorySprouts and The Art of Revision with L. Diane Wolf!<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Hello writercizers!</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #222222;">Story Sprouts is visiting <a href="http://circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com/2014/01/help-its-time-to-revise-story-sprouts.html" target="_blank">L. Diane Wolf at Spunk on a Stick's Tips</a></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> today. The topic is <b>Help! It's Time to Revise</b></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">, and some techniques you can use when it's time to delve into revisions</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">. </span></span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><b style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></b><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Head on over there to visit Diane, my co-editor <a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nutschell Anne Windsor</a>, and me, and share your best revision tips!</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Thanks Diane for hosting!</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">xoxo</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">PS - TOMORROW is the final stop on our Story Sprouts Tour! Nutschell will be visiting <a href="http://www.milojamesfowler.com/" target="_blank">Milo James Fowler</a> to talk about writers and a very special part of our writing routines.</span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-72585059443650774542014-01-29T11:00:00.000-08:002014-01-30T10:48:45.919-08:00Talking about the Five Stages of First Publication with Lynda R. Young<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Hello writercizers!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eefcff;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Story Sprouts is visiting </span></span><span style="color: #888888; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://lyndaryoung.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-five-stages-of-first-publication.html" target="_blank">L</a></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://lyndaryoung.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-five-stages-of-first-publication.html" target="_blank">ynda R. Young with .W.I.P. It</a>: An Author's Journey today. We're talking about </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>The Five Stages of First Publication</b>, and how it feels the first time you put your name in print</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eefcff;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">(Yes, we made up the five stages, but sure you all can relate!) </span></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></b><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Head on over there to visit Lynda, my co-editor <a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nutschell Anne Windsor</a>, and me, and share your own stages of publication!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Thanks Lynda for hosting!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">xoxo</span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-6711967720201370982014-01-28T12:30:00.000-08:002014-01-28T12:30:00.891-08:00Art and Literature! #StorySprouts visits Emilyann Girdner Today!<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Hello writercizers!</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Story Sprouts is visiting <a href="http://bit.ly/1aFwYym" target="_blank">Emilyann Girdner with Anything Imagined</a> today. We're talking about <b>Canvas to Page: Art and Literature</b>. </span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><b style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></b><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Head on over there to visit Emilyann, my co-editor <a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nutschell Anne Windsor</a>, and me, and share the visual cues that inspire you!</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Thanks Emilyann for hosting!</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">xoxo</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">PS - We had a bonus stop over the weekend with <a href="http://mrsmommybooknerd.blogspot.com/2014/01/showcase-story-sprouts-cbw-la-writing.html" target="_blank">Mrs. Mommy Booknerd</a>, who interviewed Nutschell and me with a nice book announcement! Thank you Emily for hosting us! Check it out.</span></span></span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-80146139854251093352014-01-23T08:30:00.000-08:002014-01-23T08:30:01.848-08:00#StorySprouts visits Paranormal Point of View: Ten Reasons to Write for Kids!<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Hello writercizers!</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Story Sprouts is visiting <a href="http://bit.ly/1dS48eB" target="_blank">Lisa Gail Green with Paranormal Point of View</a> today. We're talking about <b>Ten Reasons to Write for Kids</b>. </span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><b style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></b><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Head on over there to visit Lisa, my co-editor <a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nutschell Anne Windsor</a>, and me, and share your thoughts on why you think writing for kids is fantastic!</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Thanks Lisa for hosting!</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">xoxo</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">PS - The tour continues this weekend, with some excellent posts by Nutschell.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Fri, Jan. 24 - The Value of Critiques with <a href="http://haleine-paperbackwriter.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">MJ Fifield</a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Sat, Jan. 25 - The Power of Names with <a href="http://pk-hrezo.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">PK Hrezo</a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Mon, Jan. 27 - Assembling Your Publishing Team with <a href="http://authorstephentremp.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Stephen Tremp</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">I'll be back Tuesday for another round!</span></span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-56864296401467748702014-01-22T09:00:00.000-08:002014-01-23T08:30:34.653-08:00#StorySprouts Tour Continues! Writers and Editors with Annalisa Crawford!<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Hello writercizers!<br /><br />Story Sprouts is visiting <a href="http://bit.ly/19NUCrS" target="_blank">Annalisa Crawford</a> with Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep today. We're talking about one of the most important relationship in a writer's life - that with their editor. The title of the post is MATCHED! I Now Declare You Writer and Editor.<br /><b style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></b><span style="line-height: 18px;">Head on over there to visit Annalisa, my co-editor <a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nutschell Anne Windsor</a>, and me, and share your thoughts on working with an editor.</span><br /><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">Thanks Annalisa for hosting!</span><br /><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">xoxo</span></span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-7512207835179423432014-01-21T08:20:00.002-08:002014-01-21T08:22:53.962-08:00#StorySprouts on Tour - Why Writing in Community Rocks our Socks with Christine Rains!<div class="post-body entry-content" style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 760px;">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Hello writercizers!<br /><br />Story Sprouts is visiting <a href="http://christinerains-writer.blogspot.com/2014/01/story-sprouts-blog-tour-why-writing-in.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #888888;">C</span>hristine Rains</a> today. We're talking about how writers can benefit from <b>Writing in Community</b>.<br /><b style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></b><span style="line-height: 18px;">Head on over there to visit Christine, my co-editor <a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nutschell Anne Windsor</a>, and me, and share your thoughts on what it means to you to write alongside fellow authors!</span><br /><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">Thanks Christine for hosting!</span><br /><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">xoxo</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">PS - This weekend, as part of the Story Sprouts tour, Nutschell visited the ever supportive, blog fest guru <a href="http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-benefits-of-joining-professional.html" target="_blank">Arlee Bird</a> to talk about the <b>Benefits of Joining a Professional Writing Organization</b> and Jamaican award-winning author <a href="http://www.joylcampbell.com/2014/01/story-sprouts-online-marketing-symposium.html" target="_blank">J.L. Campbell</a> to talk about <b>Using Archetypes to Create Your Characters</b>. Check it out!</span></span></div>
Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-51490108044021469942014-01-16T10:00:00.000-08:002014-01-21T08:23:08.702-08:00Today's Story Sprouts Tour Stop: How to Hawk Your Self-Published Book with Shelly Arkon!<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Hello writercizers!</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Story Sprouts is visiting <a href="http://bit.ly/1dgwkVN" target="_blank">Shelly Arkon</a> today. The topic is all about getting right down to </span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; line-height: 21px;">business … </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 19px;"><b>Book for Sale! Book for Sale! Hawking Your Self Published Story</b></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><b style="line-height: 18px;"> </b><span style="line-height: 18px;">and I share a baker's dozen tips about how to get your book into the hands of readers.</span></span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></b></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Head on over there to visit Shelly, her furry companions Sir Poops and Hair Ball, my co-editor <a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nutschell Anne Windsor</a>, and me, and share your thoughts on the best way to SELL a book!</span></span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Thanks Shelly for hosting!</span></span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">xoxo</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">PS - Yesterday, as part of the Story Sprouts tour, Nutschell visited master blogger <a href="http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/2014/01/movies-based-on-ya-books-tv-trivia.html" target="_blank">Alex Cavanaugh</a> to talk about the five movies based on YA book to watch out for this year. Check it out!</span></span></span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-21646070160902735042014-01-14T12:00:00.000-08:002014-01-14T12:00:04.237-08:00Story Sprouts Tour continues with Nas Dean and The Thrill of the First Time!<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Hello writercizers!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Story Sprouts is visiting </span></span><a href="http://nas-dean.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-thrill-of-first-time.html" style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" target="_blank">Nas Dean of Romance Book Paradise</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> today. The topic is a steamy one to fit the romance vibe she's got going on … </span></span><b style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">The Thrill of the First Time </b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">and I'll leave it up to you to visit and find out what the post is all about.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></b></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Head on over there to visit Nas, my co-editor <a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nutschell Anne Windsor</a>, and me, and share your thoughts on the whimsical world of literature!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Thanks Nas for hosting!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">xoxo</span></span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-7804723714264147132014-01-09T08:26:00.003-08:002014-01-09T08:26:54.880-08:00Story Sprouts is Visiting Cherie Reich Today!<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Hello writercizers!</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Story Sprouts is visiting <a href="http://cheriereich.blogspot.com/2014/01/alana-garrigues-on-vampires-fairies-and.html" target="_blank">Cherie Reich</a> today. The topic is .... <b style="line-height: 18px;">Vampires, Fairies and Dragons, Oh My!: Inviting the Whimsical Into Your Story </b><span style="line-height: 18px;">and it's all about a return to make-believe fantasy in your work.</span></span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></b></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Head on over there to visit Cherie, my co-editor <a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" target="_blank">Nutschell Anne Windsor</a>, and me, and share your thoughts on the whimsical world of literature!</span></span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Thanks Cherie for hosting!</span></span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">xoxo</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">PS - The tour continues tomorrow with a four guest posts by Nutschell coming up! I'll be back on tour Tuesday.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Here's what you can read about between now and then:</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Friday, Jan. 10: The Benefits of Free Writing with <a href="http://www.medeiasharif.com/" target="_blank">Medeia Sharif</a></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Saturday, Jan. 11: Story Sprouts Author Interviews with Lena Cox of <a href="http://www.pagecravings.com/" target="_blank">Page Cravings</a></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Monday, Jan. 13: Using Photo Prompts to Spark Your Story Ideas with <a href="http://julieflanders.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Julie Flanders</a></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Monday, Jan. 13: Book Blurb and Promo at <a href="http://literaryrambles.com/" target="_blank">Literary Rambles</a></span></span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-15118104414127499042014-01-08T09:47:00.000-08:002014-01-08T09:47:03.327-08:00Story Sprouts is Visiting Just Jemi Today!<span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Hello writercizers!</span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Story Sprouts is visiting <a href="http://jemifraser.blogspot.ca/2014/01/story-sprouts-and-beauty-of-moment.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #888888;">J</span>ust Jemi</a> today. The topic is .... <b style="line-height: 18px;">The Beauty of a Moment </b><span style="line-height: 18px;">and you'll find a bonus writercize hiding in the post to help you get to the essence of story-telling.</span></span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></b></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Head on over there to visit Jemi and me, and give the exercise a try!</span></span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Thanks Jemi for hosting!</span></span><br style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #eefcff; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">xoxo</span></span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-58484448474939842732014-01-07T08:59:00.002-08:002014-01-08T10:07:34.647-08:00Story Sprouts is Visiting Theresa Milstein Today!<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Hello writercizers!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Story Sprouts is visiting <a href="http://theresamilstein.blogspot.com/2014/01/story-sprouts.html" target="_blank">Theresa Milstein</a> today. The topic is .... <b style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">The Writers' Workshop - From Blank Page to Published in Six Hours!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><br /></b></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Head on over there to visit me and learn more about the process of creating an anthology in a day!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Thanks Theresa for hosting!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">xoxo</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">PS - Last night, <a href="http://moodywriting.blogspot.com/2014/01/choosing-title-for-your-fiction-or.html" target="_blank">Mooderino</a> hosted a guest post from Story Sprouts Co-Editor Nutschell on "Choosing a Title for Your Fiction or Nonfiction Book." Really great tips!</span></span><br />
<br />Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-64781336428156774872014-01-06T09:15:00.000-08:002014-01-06T09:17:41.976-08:00On Tour with Story Sprouts! and a New Year Writercize<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Hey there writercizers!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Hope you all had fabulous holidays. I'm returning to the real world today after six blissful weeks of shirking responsibility - gallivanting halfway around the world in Benin, West Africa with the President and Founder of <a href="http://www.buildabetterbenin.org/" target="_blank">Build a Better Benin</a></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> followed by a lovely holiday break with my family. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It's been an amazing month and a half, but sooner or later, it's always time to return to life. (Oh, and for what it's worth - that trip to Benin was a research trip for a book, so technically I can chalk it up to a work-related life experience. More on that later ...)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So - what better way to return to the real world than a good bit of writing fun? Remember that <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Story-Sprouts-CBW--Exercises-Anthology-ebook/dp/B00G2X3E52/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389028050&sr=8-1&keywords=story+sprouts" target="_blank">Story Sprouts</a> book I announced a couple of months ago? The one with 19 authors, 38 stories, 10 writing exercises and loads of writing tips?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">My co-editor <a href="http://thewritingnut.com/" target="_blank">Nutschell Anne Windsor from The Writing Nut</a> and I are on a (virtual) whirlwind tour around the globe promoting the book and sharing what we learned from the process with bloggers and writers. Very exciting stuff!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As a BONUS - we are donating 50% of the proceeds from November through January to Philippine Relief Efforts. It's a great cause that is very close to our <a href="http://www.cbw-la.org/" target="_blank">Children's Book Writers of Los Angeles</a> board's hearts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Check out <a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/ramblings/announcing-story-sprouts-blog-tour/" target="_blank">Nutschell's intro post</a>, then visit our first two stops - <a href="http://writing-art-and-design.blogspot.com/2014/01/sprout-new-lease-on-your-writing-life.html" target="_blank">Michael di Gesu In Time</a> where Nutschell shares her thoughts on the many, many hats of self-publishing, and <a href="http://www.karen-strong.com/2014/01/03/inspiration-through-quotes/" target="_blank">Karen Strong's Musings of a Novelista</a> where Nutschell ruminates on using quotes in her writing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I'll be back tomorrow with a link to my first stop on the tour, as well as highlight Nutschell's evening visit to Mooderino tonight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>And, for a brief writercize, why not share your New Year resolution as a comment here ... or give one to each character in your WIP? A great way to delve into the mind of your character!</b></span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-44420087935604124732013-11-12T23:32:00.004-08:002013-11-12T23:32:55.242-08:00A Visit with Dawn<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">On Monday, I had the pleasure of interviewing over at Dawn Malone's blog, host of <a href="http://dawnmalone.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Here's the Story</a>, about the release of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Story-Sprouts-Writing-Exercises-Anthology/dp/0989878791/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1384307883&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Story Sprouts</a>. Dawn learned about the book after a writercize post, and was kind enough to interview my co-editor and founder of <a href="http://cbw-la.org/" target="_blank">Children's Book Writers of Los Angeles</a>, <a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" target="_blank">Nutschell Anne Windsor</a>, and me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Please <a href="http://dawnmalone.blogspot.com/2013/11/when-seed-of-idea-grows-into-book.html" target="_blank">take a look at the interview</a>, which reveals the steps we took to publish as a writing group, and some insight on how other groups can do the same!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">If anyone else is interested in an interview or guest post, we'll be rolling out a January blog tour, so stay tuned for details. If you already know you'd like to play host for a Story Sprouts related post, leave a comment here and we'll be sure to get you on the calendar!</span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-33392050197690562582013-11-04T08:59:00.002-08:002013-11-04T08:59:56.935-08:00Story Sprouts Launch Party Photos<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This past weekend, 13 newly published anthology authors and their biggest supporters gathered together at the Torrance Municipal Airport to celebrate the launch of Story Sprouts Writing Day Workshop and Anthology 2013: A Collection of Writing Exercises and the Resulting Creative Works of Fiction by the <a href="http://cbw-la.org/" target="_blank">Children's Book Writers of Los Angeles</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I posted about the book Friday and have a <a href="http://writercize.blogspot.com/p/story-sprouts.html" target="_blank">tab on writercize</a> with more information, so check those out to learn more about the book. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In the meantime, here are a few photos from the launch! Thank you to Maiko and Nutschell (<a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" target="_blank">The Writing Nut</a>) for the pics!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CBW-LA Board Members Angie, Lucy, Nutschell, Alana (that's me!) and Tiffani <br />jump for joy to celebrate a successful launch party!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UR-rOePqqvUcbbuXqcCRkgRxcOLiqsSkNcZA_OUP2mSYM2KRXH2ibtQkVb8EWIinSxHA620xXPug9M4ubA_DYgDAy3_RPXra38mnYpgEW8nJyKwg-XzD4ipfUpttG5BRZWo4EnGEzSlh/s1600/1397927_10151682848416927_2015148067_o-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UR-rOePqqvUcbbuXqcCRkgRxcOLiqsSkNcZA_OUP2mSYM2KRXH2ibtQkVb8EWIinSxHA620xXPug9M4ubA_DYgDAy3_RPXra38mnYpgEW8nJyKwg-XzD4ipfUpttG5BRZWo4EnGEzSlh/s400/1397927_10151682848416927_2015148067_o-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cake. Delicious! <br />Thanks King's Hawaiian for the yummy cake and for incorporating the book cover in the design!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anthology Authors at the Launch Party. <br />What a lovely group of talented writers!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Signed books!<br />Thanks Keela Jacks for the beautiful cover design!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CBW-LA Board Members search for the next "great" idea.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The book was teamwork in the truest sense of the word! Our authors trusted us with a full day writing workshop, knowing that the work they produced would be edited and published in an anthology. (Can you imagine? Nineteen authors willing to workshop and write for publication in one day? Such brave individuals ... and very talented to boot! There are incredible new voices in this anthology.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I edited the pieces for content and grammar and wrote the narrative surrounding the anthology based on a workshop presented by my co-editor, Nutschell Anne Windsor, while she handled the business side of publication, setting up a publishing wing for our non-profit group, called CBW-LA Publications, and preparing all of the minute details that go into producing a book! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Fellow board members Angie Flores, Lucy Ravitch and Tiffani Barth secured donations for door prizes and prepared the food and decorations for both the workshop and launch party. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Every person poured their heart and soul into making this the best anthology (slash) writing resource it could be!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As noted Friday, the book is now available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Story-Sprouts-Writing-Exercises-Anthology/dp/0989878791/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1383582761&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a> (and listed at <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18745210-story-sprouts?from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>) and we are happy to send a review copy to book bloggers and indie reviewers. We'll also be putting together a blog tour, and would be happy to answer interview questions now or during tour dates, TBD! <a href="mailto:alana@cbw-la.org" target="_blank">Send a note</a> if you'd like to review the book or conduct an interview!</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">PS - Today is #StorySprouts Authors and Producers Day! Be sure to check out the link party on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CBWLA" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> for posts from other anthology authors, CBW-LA guest speakers (hey <a href="http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Arlee Bird</a>!), and the people who assisted by formatting, copy editing and designing our book!</span></i></b><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Thank you Keela Jacks of <a href="http://www.garriguesgraphics.com/" target="_blank">Garrigues Graphics</a>, Rachel Morgan of <a href="http://www.morganmedia.co/" target="_blank">Morgan Media</a> and Erin Elizabeth Long of <a href="http://www.bibliotechbooks.com/who/" target="_blank">Biblio/Tech</a> for all that you did for this book!</span></i></b><br />
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<br />Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-54759076882962898152013-10-29T15:30:00.000-07:002013-10-29T15:30:42.825-07:00Hip! Hip! Hooray! Three Cheers for Story Sprouts!<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Hear ye! Hear ye!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I am pleased to announce today is the official release date for </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Story-Sprouts-CBW--Exercises-Anthology/dp/0989878791/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_pap?ie=UTF8&qid=1383085514&sr=8-1&keywords=story+sprouts" target="_blank">Story Sprouts: CBW-LA Writing Day and Anthology 2013</a>, a collection of stories by members of the <a href="http://cbw-la.org/" target="_blank">Children's Book Writers of Los Angeles</a> created during a one day creative Writing Day workshop this past June.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It is a BIG accomplishment for our group, founded in 2010 by Nutschell Anne Windsor of <a href="http://www.thewritingnut.com/" target="_blank">The Writing Nut</a>, and I am so excited. The book comes complete with 10 writing exercises, a bunch of writing tips and techniques, prompts, and - best of all - a glimpse at the talent of 19 published and aspiring children's book authors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We've been highlighting those authors on <a href="http://facebook.com/CBWLA" target="_blank">our Facebook page</a> for the past month, so take a look!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Nutschell spearheaded the workshop and our board members collected the anthology entries, which I then compiled and edited for the book. I also took her fantastic workshop presentation and translated it into a narrative form so that writers could follow along from home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">If you like to writercize, chances are you will be a fan of the exercises and prompts. And if you love to support and discover new talent, this is the place to look. I was floored by the stories that came out of three hours of writing and revising, from story seed to complete product! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Each author contributed two pieces - one poem or short prose "On Writing," and one short story based on a photo prompt and exercise called Shopping for Story Ideas. Our writers played with voice and point of view during revision exercises.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Our Launch party is this Saturday, so if you are in the L.A. area, I'd love for you to attend and support these great writers! (Details at www.cbw-la.org)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>After the launch, we will be going on an around the world BLOG TOUR, so if you are interested in obtaining a complimentary copy for a fair review on your blog, or if you'd like to interview Nutschell or me, please leave a comment here and we'll get in touch! </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Thank you for your readership and support!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And - I will see you tomorrow for a very fun Weekly Writercize! ;)</span><br />
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<br />Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-76583128895675284272013-10-20T16:25:00.001-07:002013-10-20T16:25:55.436-07:00Weekly Writercize Coming Soon: From Regular to Scarce to ... ?<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Hello Writercizers!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It's been several full moons since my last post, and I felt like stopping into say hello.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As always, life has been a whirlwind of busy. Including a ton of time writing, which is always good! I still have a Chicken Soup giveaway to take care of, so watch for that in the coming days. I also have some writing news to share with all of you, and some blogging news to share as well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Writing News first:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1 --- My writing group, <a href="http://cbw-la.org/" target="_blank">Children's Book Writers of Los Angeles (or CBW-LA for short)</a>, is preparing to launch a new book! It will be fantastic for all writercizers out there - as well as English students, aspiring authors, published authors, teachers, writing groups and more! Late last year, we had a concept to create an anthology created out of a one-day writing workshop, complete with writing exercises. It would be a Writing Day Anthology. The idea was all of us have manuscripts we love, but ultimately want to publish as a stand-alone book, so by taking ideas sprouted in the moment, we could encourage our writers to exercise their minds, get published and have some fun.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyn3lo-37zJPICb1CZ2vRHOLtT6r6lGaMcy2lLYeMYevt5ZOrNaq-6S1VtA_Dc2HM_bI1JZZsGKmRNfQpr6QN-mgQYuELfTfUpa7kuA7Oj3Lwe9XTDnxbiiBL-p0pW7_hRINqDp_ZYclAR/s1600/Story+Sprouts+Book+Cover+Poster+-+print+ready+NO+TRIM+MARKS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyn3lo-37zJPICb1CZ2vRHOLtT6r6lGaMcy2lLYeMYevt5ZOrNaq-6S1VtA_Dc2HM_bI1JZZsGKmRNfQpr6QN-mgQYuELfTfUpa7kuA7Oj3Lwe9XTDnxbiiBL-p0pW7_hRINqDp_ZYclAR/s400/Story+Sprouts+Book+Cover+Poster+-+print+ready+NO+TRIM+MARKS.jpg" width="266" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It was a wonderful experience, and very successful! As the group's Publications Editor, I had the honor of compiling the pieces, doing some minor content edits to help the stories flow better, and writing the narrative around the anthology! The book includes ten writing prompts, photos, character types, all the hand-outs from the workshop on four short literary types - Picture Book Manuscript, Flash Fiction, Poetry and Essay - and descriptions and thoughts on the writing craft.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Our authors completed two published works each - one On Writing, and the other a fictional piece based on a photo prompt. There are some outstanding, creative brains in our midst and I am very excited to announce the Anthology, entitled STORY SPROUTS, will be released on October 29, 2013! I encourage you all to buy a copy when it comes out - available on Amazon in digital or print form - and I will keep you posted here with the link and a giveaway. In the meantime, follow <a href="http://facebook.com/CBWLA" target="_blank">our Facebook page</a> for updates. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We are patting ourselves on the back at the moment for a whole new approach to the anthology, so we'd appreciate some pats on the back from you as well. ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And, if you have not met Nutschell Anne Windsor yet, aka The Writing Nut, check out her blog! She is the co-editor of STORY SPROUTS, and she designed the exercises and the workshop. She is also the incredibly smart, talented, creative, resourceful founder of CBW-LA. It has been an honor to work with her on this very important project.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2 --- My creative nonfiction work about building an orphanage in Benin, West Africa is well underway and I hope to have the first draft completed by the New Year. In the meantime, I am planning a two-week research adventure in Africa the end of next month. Wahoo! This will be a FUNNY book, something we've coined the humorous humanitarian, and the critique group response was strong. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Blogging News:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have decided to attack this blog again in manageable spurts, so I would like to post a Weekly Writercize. I am not ready to re-launch the WeekendWritercize competition yet, but I am looking forward to a weekly interaction with the blogging world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So, what day should I post my Weekly Writercize? What's your preference? Shall we make it Wednesday for good alliteration? Over the weekend? First thing Monday morning? I'm up for any day but Tuesdays, so send me a shout-out with your preference.</span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-24712450690326472032013-07-16T17:42:00.000-07:002013-07-17T09:45:58.086-07:0010 Questions with Ian Doescher, Best-Selling Author of William Shakespeare's Star Wars<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6hMANa0oEEONd9lMdiwtTj9qBqcVRJPFvwFlyRJunnhqQhY6NnGg2D8xMOiNQHtZsr23Xe1avcDGl6RE7Wpcng5MO1hYOBc4WHwxHGkRvdWs1MyrxigrwiFcZez96tOoQRqPfLurXrX-/s1600/Ian_Doescher-headshot-200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6hMANa0oEEONd9lMdiwtTj9qBqcVRJPFvwFlyRJunnhqQhY6NnGg2D8xMOiNQHtZsr23Xe1avcDGl6RE7Wpcng5MO1hYOBc4WHwxHGkRvdWs1MyrxigrwiFcZez96tOoQRqPfLurXrX-/s320/Ian_Doescher-headshot-200x300.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ian Doescher, photo by Shan Applegate</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ten Question with Ian Doescher, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Author of William Shakespeare's Star Wars</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Today I am honored to host <a href="http://www.iandoescher.com/about/" target="_blank">Ian Doescher</a>, friend and New York Times Best-Selling Author (!) of <a href="http://quirkbooks.com/ShakespeareStarWars" target="_blank">William Shakespeare's Star Wars</a>. My friendship with Ian pre-dates his writing career, and it has been quite the whirlwind adventure watching his burgeoning writing career! He still maintains a nine to five day job, but he and his family are enjoying quite the voyage around the country this summer to launch his book.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_GVp-5q7GyJZoChdrgYOzk-sa9QEtP8_L5LNb_SKXOKSNNmor5wVm5g3WwXPL2BscooLH5stIEPQmSzzwx3XGGf6SdAyR9nDgtXyZEY5JVEoHbLGbNLRA9mU2e6grgTfQubyuZTK1JvS2/s1600/StarWars_final_72.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_GVp-5q7GyJZoChdrgYOzk-sa9QEtP8_L5LNb_SKXOKSNNmor5wVm5g3WwXPL2BscooLH5stIEPQmSzzwx3XGGf6SdAyR9nDgtXyZEY5JVEoHbLGbNLRA9mU2e6grgTfQubyuZTK1JvS2/s320/StarWars_final_72.jpg" width="208" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Please welcome Ian and feel free to leave a question or comment for him in the comments section! I'm sure he'd love to connect with fans and future readers, as well as all of you aspiring writers and authors who read this blog.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Here goes! </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1. First things first, let's get something out
of the way. My mom taught you in elementary school, I'm featuring you
on my blog, you're married to my childhood best friend, and you now own
my grandparents' house. Let's call a spade a spade. To me, this all
means - my family is directly responsible for your genius. Thoughts?</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>ID: </b></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Definitely. In fact, the idea didn't come to me until al of those
events had happened, so it must be due to the perfect alignment of the
Garrigues planets.</b>(Ha! Thanks for indulging me.)<b> </b><br /><br /><i>2. Kidding! Seriously, you were already a genius. I think. We
just get the honor of knowing the man who married the literary titan of
William Shakespeare with the film titan of George Lucas' Star Wars in
person. Lucky us. :)... So, how the heck did you come up with the idea
to marry the two? Did you just see potential dollar signs dancing in
front of your eyes with the realization that you are taking the world's
two most popular franchises and meshing them into one? This is like
real-life literary Frankenstein.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>ID:</b> <b>There was a lot of serendipity involved. I watched the Star Wars
trilogy with some friends from high school in April last year, then read
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (published by Quirk Books), and right
after that went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with my family. It
was this mix of things swirling around in my subconscious --
mashup-literature, Star Wars and Shakespeare -- that put the idea in my
head. And of course I knew I was picking two hugely popular cultural
icons, so though I can't claim to have had visions of dollar signs, I
will admit to thinking there was a good chance it would be successful.</b></span>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">3. Would you say that conjuring up Shakespeare and Han Solo
was more inspirational or frightening? Big shoes to fill. Did you ever
find yourself crying, "I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!"</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>ID: </b></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>There were definitely moments when I thought to myself, "I'm having a
hard enough time even getting this line into iambic pentameter, to say
nothing of being clever or witty or metaphorical or whatever." I really
have no idea how Shakespeare did it. And I knew I would be watched
closely by every Star Wars fan everywhere for how I handled a few
scenes. So far, so good. I haven't been accosted on the street. Yet.</b></span>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">4. This is your first book. (Congrats!!) What surprised you about the publishing industry?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>ID: </b></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>First of all I have to admit to incredible luck in getting this book
published. I emailed Quirk Books with the idea, they responded and said
they would read a sample, I wrote a sample, and they wrote back and
said, essentially, "let's do it." All just under a year ago today.
It's not supposed to happen like that, and I don't take my luck for
granted. The big surprises along the way are little things I've learned
-- things like how complex a literary contract can be, how early a
final manuscript is needed to hit a certain publication date, and just
how many copies a book sells when it becomes a bestseller (fewer than
you probably think). I was surprised on all three of those, and others.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>5. What advice would you have to unpublished writers?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>ID: </b></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Keep trying. Don't be afraid to email people out of the blue with your
samples. Find an agent. Do it because it gives you joy, not because
you think it will be a career.</b></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">6. What's your next project? Walt Whitman's Avatar? Herman Melville's
Titanic? George Carlin's Simpsons? F. Scott Fitzgerald's ET?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>ID: </b></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>I love the idea of Herman Melville's Titanic -- wish I'd thought of that
one. It would have 400 pages of intense details about glacial
formations, the Atlantic ocean and the ship itself, and then 25 pages of
Kate and Leo's romance. For my next project, I think it would be great
fun to do the rest of the original Star Wars trilogy -- there's more I
can do there, I think. I'm developing a children's book with a friend
of mine, too. So we'll see! I will say that for the last several
months, knowing my first book was coming out, I have felt an intense
pressure to figure out what the next one will be.</b></span>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">7. Who are your literary heroes? (Clearly, we already know one of them.)</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>ID: </b></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Alphabetically -- since I wouldn't dare rank them -- and ranging from
long dead to still writing: Jane Austen, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, David
James Duncan, Tana French, Theodor Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss),
Alex Haley, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Herman Melville, Sena Jeter Naslund,
William Shakespeare (indeed!), Zadie Smith.</b></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">8. Please share your bio in iambic pentameter.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>ID: </b></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Meet Ian Doescher, now age thirty-six,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Who all his life has loved the Star Wars flicks.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In eighth grade he discovered Startford's Bard,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">And for that gentle poet he fell hard.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A Portland native, Ian travelled east,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">And spent twelve years in higher ed (at least!).</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Now back in Portland, he enjoys his life</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">With two great kids and world's most awesome wife.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This William Shakespeare's Star Wars, his first book,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Is something that he hopes you'll give a look!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /><i>9. Please tell me why everyone should buy your book in iambic pentameter.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>ID: </b></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>‘Tis said that William Shakespeare, all his days,<br />Hath written only thirty-seven plays.<br />
‘Tis said, as well, George Lucas never slipp’d<br />To Stratford, so to write his famous script.<br />But what if those two souls had been as one,<br />Their works combin’d as not to be outdone?<br />What if, long time ago in days of yore,<br />
The bard hath written Star Wars, Ep’sode Four?<br />What if A New Hope were young Shakespeare’s work?<br />Would not such an event be thought a quirk—<br />An accident of time and history,<br />And sign of a galactic mystery?<br />
Good souls, to thee my news I do rehearse:<br />Of th’Star Wars story penn’d in Shakespeare’s verse.<br />Hast thou e’er wondered how Luke’s thoughts did run,<br />When he saw Tatooine’s great double sun?<br />Or hast thou heard the dirge that Leia sang<br />
Once Alderaan hath gone out with a bang?<br />How did the knave Han Solo understand<br />His transformation unto hero grand?<br />Upon these answers thou shalt have thy looks<br />In William Shakespeare’s Star Wars from Quirk Books.<br />
The book is at a bookstore near to thee,<br />And always, friends, the Force with you shall be.</b></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">10. Any last words for William Shakespeare, George Lucas or Quirk Books?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>ID: </b></span><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Thank you, thank you, and thank you. All three have have been huge
and very kind to me (in different ways) throughout this process.</span></b>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>BONUS
Question - This interview is coming out just after you learned your
book debuted at #12 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction best selling
list. WOW! Share your giddy joy with the world in a sentence.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>ID: </b></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>The news about the Times list has been unbelievable for me because I'm
just a normal guy who had an idea; I am beyond honored to be on the
list. (I cheated and separated two sentences by a semicolon!) </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ian - Thanks for taking this interview. May The (Sales) Force Be With You!</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>And for
all you writercizers out there, may this interview inspire a
writercize! Pick an author and match it to a seemingly unrelated film,
song or play.</b> See what magic transpires! I always love to see your work, so please share as you are willing in the comments section!</span></i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Comments welcome directed at Ian or in response to the suggested writercize.</span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-79430958435877984432013-05-31T14:31:00.002-07:002013-05-31T14:31:37.483-07:00Happy Dance Time! Here @ Writercize<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Hello all! I'm just stopping in for a quick little happy dance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Fun things happening in my little writing world - I got a couple of emails last week about books I get to preview and share with all of you (HOORAY!), so once I have them in hand I will ferociously read through them and share. One will even be a give-away! (Even bigger hooray for you!!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Keep your eyes open for those reviews coming soon. Of course they will be attached to a couple of fantastic writercizes so that you can get the writing juices flowing along with your reader curiosity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In case you might be interested in an Amazon order without the review or writercize, they are:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Soup-Soul-Inspiration-Motivational/dp/1611599091/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370035548&sr=1-1&keywords=chicken+soup+for+the+soul+inspiration+for+writers" target="_blank">Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for Writers - </a><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Soup-Soul-Inspiration-Motivational/dp/1611599091/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370035548&sr=1-1&keywords=chicken+soup+for+the+soul+inspiration+for+writers" target="_blank">101 Motivational Stories for Writers Budding or Bestselling from Books to Blogs</a> (available now!)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/William-Shakespeares-Star-Wars-Doescher/dp/1594746370" target="_blank">William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher</a> (available July 2, open to pre-orders)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br />I love when fun opportunities fall into my lap!</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Now, the BIGGEST reason for a happy dance?!</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I am delving full throttle ahead deep into my Work In Progress, a creative non-fiction book I am co-authoring with Sarah Chapman, the founder of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SarahChapmanRN" target="_blank">Build a Better Benin</a>, a nonprofit to improve education and health practices in West Africa. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I am ridiculously excited, over-the-moon, happy, happy, happy about this book. We are still in the early stages, but the manuscript is really starting to take shape and I'm feeling good about it. After much hemming and hawing about the first chapter, I had some divine inspiration a couple of nights ago and sat down to pour my soul into it, and it's looking good.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I don't want to give too much away yet, since it is still so early and we don't have representation yet, but ... it's fun. Sarah calls it the humorous humanitarian, which is pretty spot-on. We're aiming for the full range of emotions from belly laughs to crocodile tears and everything in between recounting her story of dropping everything to live alone, in the bush, in a third-world country.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She's spent the past several months sharing her incredible journey with me, and now it's time to translate it into a work of art. Huge feeling of contentment watching the story develop.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I'll continue to check in here as writercizes strike, and to share those book reviews with you, but in the meantime, please to join in the happy dance with me! Cha-cha-cha!</span></span></div>
Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-10847965781418493972013-04-30T17:55:00.000-07:002013-05-01T17:59:03.713-07:00Zee End! - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.26<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Congratulations to all of the A to Z Challenge participants this year! It was a real treat to visit your blogs and get to know you. Nice to reconnect with "old" bloggers and meet several newbies!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have a couple of posts to fill in towards the end of the alphabet, but overall it was a great month of blogging here at writercize. :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Thank you to <a href="http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Arlee Bird</a> for including me on your team and again, congrats to all of the wonderful bloggers who kept up your posts and shared your voice this month!!</span>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-43671163245412390642013-04-22T23:59:00.000-07:002013-04-22T23:59:00.305-07:00Save the Earth - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.19<br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i>Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!</i><br /><br /><b>writercize: It's Earth Day!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Create a public service announcment, children's story with a moral, song or poem about what we can do to help our beautiful planet.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Earth Day is always a favorite inspiration here at writercize. Could be my Pacific Northwest roots, my childhood love of literally hugging every tree on walks around the block or just my feeling of responsibility for my children and the seventh generation.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">For previous Earth Day writercizes, visit <a href="http://writercize.blogspot.com/2011/04/psa-earth-month-writercize-32-to-z-16.html" target="_blank">writercize 32</a> and <a href="http://writercize.blogspot.com/2012/04/psa-earth-day-writercize-185.html" target="_blank">writercize 185</a> 185.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And, if you let me know you stopped by, I will be sure to pay you a visit as soon as I am able!</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />Click "read more" for writercizer sample response - a tale based on a true event from my childhood.</span></span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">writercizer sample response:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Sun beams shimmered in the wet sand peppered by footprints left by two little girls flying kites. Cold wet waves lapped up to the shore's edge, filling moats and flattening sandcastle towers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In the distance, seagulls squawked and dove into the sea, spiraling towards the water and jumping back to the sky with a slithery fish dancing for freedom and escape.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Along the shore, one gull stood alone. His beak moved as though trying to shout to his friends, "Wait for me! I want to dive to!" </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">But no sound came out. He gasped for breath, and his "caw" came out as a painful rasp.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">One of the girls saw the bird, standing quietly out of place and started to walk towards him. Rather than run or fly, the bird stood confused, unsure of how to proceed. His wings were strong, his webbed feet could scurry, but without a voice, he paused in his escape and watched the little girl.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As she came closer, she noticed his head was stuck in the plastic rings from a six-pack. His neck bulged on either side as he struggled to understand his unwanted necklace.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Slowly, the girl walked right up to the seagull and knelt quietly beside him. Reaching towards the back of his neck, she pinched two sides of the plastic rings and pulled them apart, ever so slightly. The bird's neck no longer looked tight and restrained, but he was still stuck in its grasp. Taking care not to frighten the seagull or hurt him, she slid the plastic up over the bird's head and stepped away.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As he took off towards his friends, he let out a light caw and rose towards the sun. The girl waved him off and whispered, "no, thank you," as she watched him fly away.</span></span><br />
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Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573858483799418922.post-44069678388227640732013-04-20T08:45:00.000-07:002013-04-22T09:12:33.129-07:00Round-About - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.18<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>Please
note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a
twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge
through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm
skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time
practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!</i></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">writercize: Bring your writing full circle. Begin and end a story or poem with the same word.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Pick one of the following or use your own:</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></b>
<ul>
<li><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">reindeer</span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">ladybird</span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">memory</span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">angel</span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">queen</span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">crowd </span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">crutch</span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">mat</span></b></li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></span></b>(<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Today's words come from <a href="http://creativitygames.net/random-word-generator/" target="_blank">Creativity Games' random word generator</a>.)</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I
love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so
please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better
yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment! </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i> </i> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">And, if you let me know you stopped by, I will be sure to pay you a visit as soon as I am able!</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Click
"read more" for writercizer sample response. </span><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">writercizer sample response:</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Memory serves no purpose. It is there to tie you to the past, to hold you back, to keep you from focusing on your true potential, your best future. I can help you. I can erase your memory. Try it. Free yourself! In only five minutes, right here, I will erase a month of memories. Imagine your worst experiences gone, no trace of the pain or confusion. Ban memory!" the hypnotist shouted at the "Building a Better Me" seminar.</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Look at this nut job," Melody snickered to her friend. "Erasing memories. Isn't that what causes us trouble to start with? A refusal to remember the implications of our actions based on past consequence? And what about what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? What about being a better person by facing down our memories and overcoming them. And ... How does he do it? With a swinging yoyo and some incense? Oooooh - 'now you remember nothing. You are free!' To forget where you left your car, and your house and your friends... What a crock..."</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Mmmmm," muttered Anja, half-listening to Melody, floating towards the hypnotist, mesmerized by the idea of eliminating the worst days of her life.</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Young lady," he said as Anya approached. "I can see it. I see the darkness of memory. I see what it will do to your future. Are you ready to erase all of it and start anew?"</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Yes," Anya whispered. "Please, take it all away. Take away the memory." </span></i>Alanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07507063858936159161noreply@blogger.com0