One of the perks of being awarded a fellowship is the opportunity to offer free public readings and workshops. (And you have funds set aside for promotional postcards!)
The following are my coming events for October and November, 2016. Some require registration, but all are open to the public. Continue reading “Coming Events and Workshops”
I attended a food truck party this past weekend, an event to support the local arts alliance where I participate in open mics, enjoy exhibits and classes and, this summer, will offer a multi-week course on novel writing.
The party was a smashing success. Despite the drippy skies, we arrived (late) to a parking lot full of students, art patrons, and locals patiently standing in loooong lines to the food trucks. The atmosphere was upbeat. A musician sang. Dogs wagged their tails. Children played around the tents. Even the lights of the firetruck closing off the street seemed festive. It was as much a community block party as it was a fundraiser. Continue reading “The Merry Month of Self-Myths”
On New Year’s Day of 2012, I created the Sacred Writing Time Pledge. The Pledge was born in response to a writing group colleague who bemoaned her lack of organization, willpower, family cooperation, and other reasons (aka excuses) that prevented her from being the steady, daily, productive writer she wanted to be. Continue reading “The Sacred Writing Time Pledge, 2016”
A wheelhouse can be defined in three ways: the pilot room of a steamboat; a batter’s power zone in baseball; a person’s area of expertise or interest.
I have no real interest in steamboats, and all I know about baseball is that there is no crying in it, so the focus of this post is the third definition. What is your area of expertise or interest as an artist? Continue reading “What’s your wheelhouse? A quiz for creatives.”
I took a walk on the wide side this past weekend and wrote a haiku. I also made a handmade book.
A course on haiku and micro-books was taught by my friend and writing colleague, JM Reinbold. Joanne and I go way back, all the way back to this: Continue reading “Inquisitive Adventures”
Last week, my neighbor, aka Walking Friend, went off to a tropical vacation. I stayed home and fed her tropical fish.
My friend is organized. She left out pre-measured cups of fish food, a bag for mail and newspapers, and an invitation to me to eat the strawberries and pineapple in the fridge; to drink any and as much of their liquor as I’d like; and to “stay a little while and write, if you want to!” Continue reading “A Down the Street Writing Retreat”
On an otherwise dreary morning, I ventured into an office supply store determined not to buy all of Aisle 9. I get into trouble around shiny pens and pretty pencils, whimsical sticky notes, glossy-paged journals, and fancy scissors. I would say the siren’s call is worse when Mercury is in retrograde, but it doesn’t matter what Mercury is up to when it comes to my weakness about office supplies. I’m thinking about starting a support group. Continue reading “The 10 Task To-Do List”
In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, and so created two agencies dedicated to the development and preservation of arts, culture, and history in the U.S.
On September 29, 2015, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities will celebrate their 50th birthdays. If you are an artist or historian, you are invited to be part of this celebration.
The NEA has issued an invitation to artists to share how art influences and inspires you, your family, your community. The project is called Tell Us Your Story. You can submit an essay, audio, video, and photos. In September, the NEA will begin posting stories on their website. Continue reading “Tell Your Arts Story”
And on the 7th day, I got depressed.
It’s raining as I write this post, which is a departure from my usual how to, what is, or inspirational ramblings. In the past, a rainy, cold, dark January morning would say “perfect writing day” to me. I’d have lit a candle or two and spent the day in relative darkness, writing away. Not today. A few minutes ago, I strung a length of white Christmas lights across the windowsill in front of my desk. A lamp is shining down on my keyboard. A soothing aromatherapy candle is burning on the shelf to my right. Continue reading “SAD in the Studio”
“What do you need to know before you begin writing a novel?”
This was the question my short story writer friend asked after learning that I—a fellow short story writer—had written a novel. After some thought, I decided on the following 8 basic questions.
Ramona DeFelice Long 