IWSG - November 2024

 

Welcome readers, writers, authors, and bloggers!

We're glad you're here! It's the first Wednesday of the month when we celebrate IWSG Day in the form of a blog hop featuring members and guests of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Founded by author Alex Cavanaugh (Thank you, Captain!) and fostered by like-minded associates, IWSG is a comfortable place to share views and literary news as we record our journeys. Check out the November newsletter here.

The awesome co-hosts for this month’s posting of the IWSG are:  Diedre Knight, Lisa Buie Collard , Kim Lajevardi, and JQ Rose!

 Today’s entirely optional question: What creative activity do you engage in when you’re not writing?

If I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing. I read a lot, too. And sometimes reading takes me places that I just have to write about. I like to think I’m perfecting the art of Literary Excavation for no Particular Reason. Some folks call that rabbiting. Or, fishing without a pole…Others refer to what I end up writing as Case Studies, unsolicited as they may be ;-) I like to think that research, for whatever reason, is a creative activity. Do you agree? No worries if you don’t. I’m still going to do it anyway ;-) I do it not just for my own edification or enhancement. I do it because it’s fun – and challenging. For example, here are a couple of poetry exercises I hope to try by the end of this week (I’ll share later, if I do):

Concrete Poetry: A poem written in a shape representing what it’s about, such as a poem about rain written to form the shape of a raindrop with words.

Or,

Erasure Poetry:  A poem built from the words left in an existing document, such as a newspaper article or a page of a novel, after the poet has blacked out parts of it.  (A friend of mine calls this a Kidnapping Note – ha!)

So, what creative activity do you get into when you’re not writing? I know we have a few musicians. Are there any budding Picassos out there?

Can’t wait to read what you’re up to J

Happy Writing!

October 2021 - The Words I Wear Out

 

Welcome readers, writers, authors, and bloggers!

Happy October! It's the First Wednesday of the month, the day we celebrate IWSG Day, in the form of a blog hop featuring all of the members of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Founded by Alex Cavanaugh and fostered by like-minded associates, IWSG is a place to share the fabulous views and exciting news that occurs along our fascinating writing journeys. So pull up a chair and join us!

Our awesome co-hosts for this month's posting of the IWSG are: 

Jemima Pett, J Lenni Dorner, Cathrina Constantine, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, and Mary Aalgaard!

In observance of American Libraries Day, I didn't have to look very far for one with a sizeable distinction:

McAllen, Texas, is the home of the largest single-story library in the United States! Since 2011 a former Walmart Big Box store has served as headquarters for McAllen's (3-branch) Library System. It features a computer lab, a café, a spacious auditorium –and even a used book store - in addition to 376,310 system-wide items and books for use or sale.

If on your way to an interview you suddenly feel unprepared, you can always duck into the New York Public Library and borrow just the right necktie or briefcase to complement your professional ensemble.

There are roughly 116,867 public and academic libraries across America today. There are more public libraries than Starbucks (can you believe it?) in the country, nearly 100% of which offer free computer access and WiFi.

"The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library" ~ Albert Einstein

One of my personal favorite offerings for Random Acts of Poetry Day:

"Only lovers
see the fall
a signal end to endings
a gruffish gesture alerting
those who will not be alarmed
that we begin to stop
in order to begin
again."  ~ Maya Angelou

As to this month's IWSG optional question: In your writing, where do you draw the line, with either topics or language?

You may recall I was once a Swing Singer before I learned to write. Through trials and many errors (grin), I learned from a young age the power of words, the reactions they could elicit. What I realized in writing is an opportunity to influence those reactions with carefully chosen words. That being said, I don't draw lines, but I do make decisions, much like choosing an outfit for a special occasion. Do I want to entertain or compel? Regale or repel? Desired reactions determine which words I choose to wear out in public (or on paper). I don't always hit the mark ;-)

Does anyone else feel this way? Have you ever been surprised by reactions to something you've written?

Happy Writing!

F is for John Fogerty

Lines of Inspiration

 Melodious expressions, Enduring Truisms

F

John Fogerty

“Rode in on a Greyhound, I’ll be walking out if I go…”

Song Title:  Lodi

 

Songwriter: John Fogerty

The Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival

This four member band out of San Francisco blazed themselves a notable trail through the Roots – or Swamp – rock genre.

At the impressionable age of 11, when ‘Lodi’ turned up on the flipside of “Bad Moon Rising”, I interpreted the song title ‘Lodi’ as a state of mind; “Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again,” Apparently I wasn’t far off the mark, since Fogerty says his inspiration for the song was a downtrodden elderly man he’d seen on a street corner (before ever setting foot in the town Fogerty simply liked the name of). “At the beginning of a good career,” Fogerty went on, “I was hoping that wouldn’t happen to me.”

With that, I offer a piece of a 17^th century phrase my grandma wrote on one of the back pages of my teenage journal:

“Remember me as you pass by,

as you are now

 so once was I”

And just to get your toes tapping:  Traveling Band

So, how about those lines? Do they call to mind a memory? Instill a sense of wonder? Are you familiar with the song, phrase or band?

There’s a whole lotta blogging going on right here!

Lost and Found - for hearts

Hi Everyone! Today I’m excited to be a part of Lost and Found – a special Valentine’s blogfest collaborated by Arlee at Tossing it Out and Guillie Castillo at Quiet Laughter.  Joining them will be Elizabeth Seckman,  Yolanda Renee,  Denise Covey.  and  Alex J Cavanaugh and an entire list of participating bloggers!  

Have fun and enjoy, everyone! Because after all, “there are no limitations when it comes to love…” ~ Arlee Bird

Chains of a Rolling Stone

The riveting roar of the river phoned

And gladly, I went—headlong.

Attaching as moss to a rolling stone

Enraptured by hymns of birdsong

Basking through seasons, we flourished

‘Neath cottonwood canopies; dense

Little was ever discouraged

and everything seemed to make sense

Till sunrays were hindered by branches that swayed

As wind gusted foul-natured scents

from the swell of the river, collecting its prey;

ending our game of pretense.

Oh, still do I roam the kitten-soft banks,

Remains of my haven, my home

afloat with content, and free of the shanks

once chained to a rolling stone.

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” ~ Dr. Seuss

Almost-summer Sunday

On the wind a breath of summer;

and vibrant scents of color

bursting into view

as desert brooms sweep softly,

a sullied sky renewed. 

Too late to slow my soaring heart,

Spring has had its due

and summer fast approaches

in vivid desert hues! 

I know it, see it, feel it;

when clouds have slipped away,

Spring shall not prohibit;

this almost-summer day.

May it be a hopeful Sunday for you, as well!