Alice Osborn: Write from the Inside Out Blog

Check out my new blog!

2009-10-31T00:00:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone!

thank you so much for following me these past several years, and now I have a new blog! Follow me and comment here at

http://aliceosborn.com/blog/

There'll be book reviews, creativity, networking, and writing articles and much, much more!

See you there!

Alice

Flash of Freedom Book Review

2009-10-30T08:42:00.001-04:00

Flash of Freedom by Dakota Lee

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
An impressive first novel by twelve-year-old Dakota Lee, Flash of Freedom is the story of a lonely, introverted teenager whose life is changed forever when she meets Freedom, a damaged, spirited horse.

Tara Chandler has been on the move most of her young life, her parents are house designers and always relocating the family for their work. Moving so often means that Tara rarely has the opportunity to make friends or, if she does, she has to say goodbye to them all too soon. So Tara has decided that in Green River, Tennessee - her latest new home - she doesn’t need friends, she won't try to belong to one of the groups at school; she will be fine just by herself. Until, that is, Tara meets Nicky.

Nicky, a friendly, horse-loving girl who never stops talking, breaks the mold of the "unfriendly local"; she is interested in Tara and welcoming on Tara's first day at school, introducing her to friends Amber, Casey and Lea, and including Tara in their get-togethers. Tara is confused and initially wary of this interest. Why are Nicky and her friends being so friendly? Is this a trick? It must be a fluke, they can’t really enjoy Tara’s company. But their shared love of horses and Nicky’s sunny, open nature disarms Tara and she starts to relax, enjoying the time she spends with her new friends.

Tara is particularly happy to be involved with Nicky’s latest project - helping Nicky's Aunt Fauna settle three horses into the barn on her parents’ property by clearing the barn and paddock of debris and getting everything clean and tidy. The horses arrive and Tara meets Freedom, the spirited eponymous ‘hero’ of the book. Like Tara, Freedom has moved around a lot and like Tara he is slow to trust people. He has been classed untrainable by Aunt Fauna but she unwillingly allows Tara the opportunity to attempt the training of Freedom herself. With patience and love, Tara teaches Freedom to trust again. And with the confidence this mutual trust brings, Tara finally starts to come out of her shell and show a new happiness to her friends and family.

But then the unthinkable happens. Freedom is stolen. And Tara almost loses faith ... until she finds Freedom again in the most unlikely place, and uses the support of her friends and her newfound inner strength and confidence to face down the thief, take back her horse and regain her happiness.

Dakota Lee’s writing in Flash of Freedom is fresh and engaging, the main character sympathetic not saccharine. Tara isn’t a goody-goody, or a cardboard cut-out; she bickers with her brother, is sometimes flippant to her parents and gets caught not concentrating in class. The opening chapter describing Tara's analysis of the boys and girls on the bus with her, allocating them their place in the school "monarchy"- the school nerd, the jock, the "populars" and the "groupies" - is well-written and amusing and introduces the main theme of the book. The dialogue is realistic; the slang and local dialect are introduced subtly without caricature. For example, Nicky “...[has:] so got it in the bag.” Lee's adult characters in the book are perhaps not as convincingly drawn, and their dialogue does not quite ring true at times, but that is a minor quibble.

A moving portrait of a young girl trying to find her place in life, Flash of Freedom is recommended reading for any young adult, not just for girls who love horses.

View all my reviews >>

You Can be Sustainable This Holiday Season

2009-10-15T09:52:00.002-04:00

Being sustainable means that we all do our part to reuse our natural resources such as light, water, wind and trees, by making sure we consider the impact of not turning off the lights when we leave a room, or of not running the water while we brush our teeth. It’s even more important that we remind ourselves and our families to practice sustainability during the holidays, since this is the time more trash is generated, more food is cooked and we’ll host house guests, who will consume more energy than we’re used to.

Steps to Save Energy around the Home

With the holidays, come the holiday guests. You don’t want to inconvenience your guests by setting the thermostat too low or too high, or by telling them to take three-minute showers, but you should have a family conference to make sure everyone knows that you believe in leaving a small carbon footprint.

• Set your thermostat for 68 degrees for the day, but at night, turn it down to 60 degrees. Use a radiator in your bedroom.
• Replace all of your air filters to maximize efficiency.
• Turn off your lights when you’re away from your room and replace your light bulbs with fluorescents.
• Try to flush one less time a day and turn off the water while soaping hands and while brushing teeth.
• Disconnect the phone charger when you’re done charging your cell phone and disconnect the power strip when it’s not in use. If your out-of-town guests use your computer, remind them about turning everything off and unplugging protocols.
• After dinner, fill up the dishwasher and run it using cold water. Also use cold water for your clothes washing as much as possible, too.
• Open and close the refrigerator minimally. Your fridge is your kitchen’s biggest energy hog. Use the right size pan for the stove burner and use the toaster oven instead of turning on the regular oven.
• Encourage your guests to carpool, to take public transportation or to walk or cycle! Convince them that giving up your car for a day is a great way to see your town.
• If you’re leaving on a holiday vacation, be sure to turn all of your appliances off, stop the paper and the mail (you’ll save on the mail carrier or your friend from making an extra trip).
• Commute to work with well-inflated tires and pack a lunch with a reusable lunch and drink container.

Keep Your Holiday Food Sustainable

• When cooking and baking, measure carefully to avoid food waste and use perishable foods before they spoil.
• For those big holiday meals, buy bread that’s fresh from the bakery and not packaged in double plastic wrapping. Be sure to recycle the paper wrapping that it comes in.
• For grocery shopping, take your own bags instead of using the store’s plastic ones.
• Buy the largest can pumpkin filling you can for your pies; same goes for your cranberries, corn and peas. Buying the larger canned item will not only save you money than buying two smaller cans, but will save energy and resources.
• Buy coffee for your guests that’s organic or Fair Trade. Doing so will help sustainable agriculture and will protect the rain forests. Also, don’t use stirrers for your morning coffee; place your milk and sugar in the mug first and then pour your coffee.
• Buy one gallon jugs of milk instead of three separate milk cartons. Take a poll of what milk variety everyone likes and go with the majority or compromise (two people want skim and two people want whole – so buy 1% milk).

Tips on Holiday Giving and Traditions

• Make it easy on yourself and save the environment by giving gift cards, restaurant/concert/theater certificates, movie passes, services like for spa treatments, or a class. You’ll have your giftee deal with less packaging and you’ll buy just what they want.
• Buy toys that aren’t made with plastic, which are petroleum-based and contain toxins. Instead, buy wooden toys that can be passed down to younger siblings. Also don’t buy toys that have a lot of packaging.
• Use real china or porcelain plates at meal times, along with cloth napkins, instead of paper products.
• Use and/or give soy or beeswax candles instead of paraffin wax candles, which are made from petroleum and damage your indoor air quality.
• Buy a living Christmas tree instead of an artificial one. You can recycle the living instead of having the artificial one emit trace amounts of lead into the environment
• Recycle gift bags, ribbons, bows and wrap when possible. Use the Sunday comics for gift wrapping, or better yet, place your gifts in reusable baskets or bags. If you must wrap, find a brand that uses recycled paper. And instead of using new ribbons or bows, use a scarf, dried flowers or natural-fiber raffia.
• Decorate using reused, borrowed, or vintage-shop items. Keep your décor natural, so that it doesn’t involve a lot of paper and waste.
• Buy greeting cards made from recycled or tree-free materials.
• When using holiday lights, opt for the LED (light-emitting diode) lights.
• Entertain the family with DVDs that were swapped using DVD Swap (www.swapadvd.com). Membership is free and all members pay for is postage.
• Instead of buying that new holiday album, download it. If you throw away a CD, it will end up in a landfill. Or better yet, you can swap your CD using CD Swap (www.swapacd.com).
• When dining out, choose tap water instead of bottled water.
• Buy rechargeable batteries for toys and personal electronics.
• Buy a GPS so you know where you’re going and you’re not wasting fuel going in the wrong direction.

Any one of these tips can be tweaked into your life and pretty soon you’ll have formed a sustainable habit that will take you successfully into the New Year!

Tell me your energy saving tips that you use with your families!

Seven Steps on the Writers' Path Book Review

2009-10-07T00:02:00.001-04:00

Seven Steps on the Writer's Path: The Journey from Frustration to Fulfillment by Nancy Pickard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
You know you're going to get inspired with any book having lucky number "seven" in the title (seven days of the week, seven wonders of the world and even seven deadly sins!). An inspiring and candid read, "Seven Steps On the Writer's Path: The Journey from Frustration to Fulfillment" by Nancy Pickard and Lynn Lott delivers wisdom, tips and support for writers at all levels and at all experiences. This book is detailed, funny and unconventional. Right away Pickard and Lott let us know that, "Writing is a path as full of darkness as it is of light, and so the way ahead is hard to see."

The authors not only interviewed successfully published authors and got their insights into creating and publishing, but the authors themseleves shared a great deal of their writing frustrations, their regrets and their successes. This book is not for the faint-of-heart writer who is not sure she wants to put in the time and energy to make the writing happen and that's what I loved about this book. They tell us often, "We warned you -- writing is hard." Nancy and Lynn spared no punches about what the writing life is like. Their bottom line: write because you love it and you find joy in it, not because you want to get published. They offer up seven steps (listed below) but the authors emphasize that one size doesn't fit all: all writers have different styles and different methods of getting their writing done. Writers also have different meanings for success. Success for one writer could be a three-book deal of a mystery series, while for another it could mean privately journaling every night.

There were many memorable quotes along the margins from such greats as Henry David Thoreau, Julia Child, Ophrah, Sophocles and Anne Lamott, as well as from the authors and from John Wesley Powell. Powell successfully navigated the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in 1869. He had to have faith because he couldn't see up ahead -- just like the writer's journey. Here's a good example of a Powell quote: "We know not where we are going...at first this causes us great alarm, but we soon find there is little danger, and that there is a general movement of progression down the river...and it is the merry mood of the river to dance through this deep, dark gorge; and right gaily do we join the sport."

The Seven Steps on the Writers Path compiled by Nancy Pickard and Lynn Lott:
Step 1 Unhappiness -- we're not happy and know we need to write!
Step 2 Wanting -- we really want to write!
Step 3 Commitment -- we're willing to put other things aside
Step 4 Wavering -- we feel paralysis as well as compulsion
Step 5 Letting Go -- it's all about having faith
Step 6 Immersion -- only the writing matters
Step 7 Fulfillment -- you did it!

The Wavering chapter was hard to read because we've all wavered. Wavering is described as being very compulsive as well as experiencing paralysis. Intermediate writers are most susceptible to wavering because they know they can write but they lack a lot of confidence and experience. The authors described one scenario where a woman got into to debt to pay for this conference and her manuscript was harshly critiqued by a prominent author who's workshop she had signed up for. The woman stopped writing for six months, but then got back on the saddle and found great success. The woman didn't have enough experience at the writing game to tell that egotistical fellow to go *&#@ himself.

This book is wonderful for writers who have been on the writing journey for at least a few years. I feel that novice writers might find it intimidating and may quit their writing careers as soon as they read the first few pages. But if you're not a newbie writer read this book if you want fresh insights into why you write and why you're not crazy to have chosen this career.

View all my reviews >>

How To Have a Fantastic Book Club Discussion

2009-10-01T21:25:00.002-04:00

I love reading books and after I finish a good one I love doing my Internet research to find out all I can about the author, his/her creative process and perhaps the historical background of the book. What’s even better is taking this analysis to a book club meeting. Here there are other people who are just as passionate about the book as I am. For the next 90 to 120 minutes, we discuss a single piece of artistic work and really try to drill down the layers of why the author did this and that or why she chose to make her character act like an idiot or a hero. (I also need to mention that I can analyze anything I like to death, which made me a perfect candidate for grad school, and leading book clubs.

In the last decade many people (mostly women) have flocked to book clubs to enjoy camaraderie with other book lovers. I joined a book club soon seven years ago soon after my son was born because I had more time on my hands and I wanted to escape the tedium of diapers, feedings and nightly temper tantrums. This was also the same time that I wanted to get serious about my writing and knew that better readers made better writers.

Now seven years later, I have led two book club groups and have compiled this guide to help you lead a fantastic book club meeting!

• Distribute the reading discussion questions (most books have a reading guide found in the book itself or via Google) a week prior to the book club members so everyone has a chance to prepare
• Offer some kind of food and beverage at every meeting. You can keep it simple and everyone will appreciate the water and cookies. Sugar makes you think better!
• Appoint yourself as the facilitator to keep things moving or appoint the host if you rotate locations every month
• Pick paperback books that are easily found in the library, at used book stores or via friends who let you borrow their books
• Plan out the books for the entire year at a December or January meeting so there everyone knows what the schedule is
• Have everyone introduce themselves at the beginning of the meeting for 30 seconds to a minute. Also provide name tags.
• Do everything in your power to finish the book before the meeting. If you finish the book and encourage others that it’s a good idea to finish, then most folks will comply. No one wants to stay up late, finish the darn book and then show up to the meeting to find out that half of the people there didn’t finish. Can we say, ARGHHH! Now, I haven’t finished every book we’ve read this year in Wonderland Book Club, but I did let my members know and I did finish the book soon after the meeting so the momentum was still there.
• Go around the room or table and let everyone have a turn to share their thoughts on the book. As facilitator, you also have to make sure no one interrupts each other and have personal discussions kept to a minimum. (Ex. “This book reminds of the time when my husband and I decided to sell our house back in the 60s….”)
• Keep an open mind and learn from others who have differing opinions. Listen! Also, try not to repeat what someone else has said – offer a new tidbit!

Here are a few book club conversation Starters from Reading Group Choices (www. Readinggroupchoices.com) if you don’t have the reading group guide on hand.

• Do one or more characters tell the story? Are these characters believable?
• What are the book’s themes? What the main conflicts in the story?
• How does the setting and the time period affect the story?
• Did the story change your opinion of a place, event, time period, etc?
• What do you think will happen to the characters next?

So what did I leave out? Tell me what has worked in your book club to make members come back again and again?

I Saw Rob Thomas

2009-09-28T23:49:00.032-04:00

I went by myself to see Rob Thomas at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre for his September 28 show -- I'd been anticipating the event for 2 months. Right after I bought my ticket in the seated area of the booth (Row M, Seat 19), I did something I don't normally do: I went to Walmart and bought, "Cradlesong," Rob's (I'm going to call him Rob from now on -- we're the same age!) newest album. A few of the songs took me a while to really like, such as "Her Diamonds," "Gasoline," "Someday,""Wonderful," and the title track, "Cradlesong." But "Mockingbird" and "Real World 2009" caught me by the throat immediately. I got to Booth around 7:30 after taking a wrong turn and waited in the rain with other concert goers. There were young teens behind me who later punctuated any silence with "We love you, Rob!"and "I love you!", an eleven-year-old with his mom and dad, a gay couple in front of me and a straight one to my right. I stood up the entire time and so did almost everyone else. Our seats were too wet and the show was too good to sit down for.

Rob's lead song was "Fire on the Mountain" -- not one of my favorites but has a good bridge to it and I love the drums (stay tuned for another blog as I make the case for how similiar in styles Rob Thomas and Phil Collins are). He wore a salmon-colored woven button-down shirt with a T-shirt underneath of the same color with a print on the front. Rob's hair looked really good -- not too short and not too long and he wore jeans. Rob's band consisted of his lead guitarist, drummer, bassist, keyboardist, and two backup singers. They were fabulous, as expected. Rob gave them props and they the keyboardist and lead guitarist had a chance to do a little solo work. "Do you know why tonight's special?" Rob asked the crowd, "Because we get to play music! Our only goal at every show we do is give a great two hours." Rob didn't forget to thank Carolina Liar and One Republic, who were his opening bands.

I admire how Rob emphasizes all of his vowel sounds, both short and long, especially his "i's and his "a"s. All that emphasis takes some jaw work and the man's not lazy at all! So coming into the concert, I knew every single song (OK, except "Sunday Morning New York Blues" that was a wayward release) and even knew what kind of gestures he'd make with each song.

If he was singing about his soul, love, his heart or something along those lines, he would hit his chest three times quickly with his left hand while his right hand held the mic. The only exceptions were when he was playing the keyboards and guitar (both electric and accoustic). He also did tight spinning gestures (all in time with the music) with his finger, waves and flowing moves. At the beginning of the show, Rob twirled his mic stand over his head. You're probably wondering if I have a crazy obsession for Rob Thomas at this point and you're partially right...I'm obsessed with his performance and I want to learn from his techniques when I do my poetry performances.

He told us the back stories on several of the songs. "Little Wonders" from the movie "Meet the Robinsons" was inspired by his dog who was so excited about going on a walk with Rob in Phoenix, while Rob wanted to be somewhere else. Rob said he said "I'm a dick," and decided to look around him and appreciate life "because life was happening all around me." I love that song.

He also mentioned that "It's Getting Late" is a "little ditty about death," and "Sunday Morning New York Blues," is about a married couple that go on a date. "Yes," Rob said, "contrary to popular opinion married people still do it!"

Here's the set list from tonight with the corresponding album:

**Note that the songs do mesh very well together and that Rob played almost every "Cradlesong" song except "Wonderful," "Hard on You" and "Snow Blind"**

Fire on the Mountain (Cradlesong)

Give Me The Melt Down (Cradlesong)

Real World '09 (Cradlesong)

Lonely No More (Something to Be)

Mockingbird (Cradlesong) included long keyboard intro!

Sunday Morning New York Blues - I got into it just hearing it for the first time! it includes strong details and movement

Streetcorner Symphony (Something to Be)

Natural (Cradlesong)

It's Getting Late (Cradlesong) the happy little ditty about death. Included a cool dueling-banjo like performance, too!

When the Heartache Ends (Something to Be)

Ever the Same (Something to Be) -- beautifully done! Rob;s voice shines during the slow songs

Cradlesong (Cradlesong) Rob played the keyboards

Someday (Cradlesong) with a long keyboard intro

Something to Be (Something to Be) lots of audience participation in this one!

Gasoline (Cradlesong) with Bond-like girls on the video in the background who turned into matches

Little Wonders (Disney's Meet the Robinsons soundtrack) Rob on keyboards

Fallin' to Pieces (Something to Be)

Her Diamonds (Cradlesong)

I Am an Illusion (Something to Be)

*** Break for Encore***

Bent (Matchbox Twenty's Mad Season) Beautiful! I wasn't sure what the song was at first, but I knew every word, "Can you help me I'm bent?" Just Rob and his accoustic guitar. Rob wrote the song but I guess he paid Matchbox Twenty for its use during his shows?

Still Ain't Over You (Cradlesong)

Smooth -- the crowd favorite! the guitars had a Santana-like quality. He performed the low-key version

This is How a Heart Breaks (Something to Be) -- the last song! what a way to end the night!

Thanks so much, Rob, for sharing your talents with us! You rocked Cary out!

Open Mic Etiquette

2009-09-18T00:14:00.004-04:00

Since I’ve MC’d a monthly Open Mic night for the North Carolina Writers’ Network since the beginning of this year, I feel I know a thing or two about how to run an open mic. But before I get into the etiquette of one, I need to define what my Open Mics are because there are a lot of you who may think that Open Mic Nights only apply to musicians. They do, but the ones I host bring out writers of all genres: fiction, memoir, poetry, spoken word and more. We’ve had crossover artists, but for the most part we stick to the written word. At these events, we have about 20 readers and about 40 folks in the audience, which is fantastic! Imagine, 40 people decided to get off their couch and listen to other people read their own poetry!

I have some great readers who come out to our Open Mics – they come on time, they read within the 5 minute time limit and they make sure they don’t say or do anything inappropriate. They also RSVP to say they’re coming so I can get them booked on the schedule. At every Open Mic I MC I give participants a program with all of the readers listed. That way, everyone can know each other’s name and the readers know when they are up next. Having the names also provides a talking point for networking and for getting to know fellow writers. All of my Open Mics end up booked because we fill out our max of 20 readers.

Open Mic Do’s
*Let the MC know you are coming at least 3 days in advance of event (especially mine since they are so popular!)
*Practice reading your work beforehand so you know it’s 5 minutes or less
*Remind the MC if you have any specific requests for your introduction
*Keep it PG or PG-13 – sometimes there are children in the audience. And, yes, maybe they watch HBO, but don’t assume that it’s cool to throw F-bombs every which way
*Do try to stay till the end of the open mic and if you can’t, please tell the MC you have to leave
*Tip generously and patronize the bar, coffee shop, or bookstore

Open Mic Don’ts
*This is not the time or place to get on your political or religious soap box
*If the MC has motioned you to stop, don’t take another 3 minutes to finish!
*Don’t shuffle papers or chit chat while folks are reading
*Turn off your cell phone and don't text during the performance (yes, I'm talking to you!)

Most of all, have fun! Open Mics are meant to support writers and give artists a forum to present and practice their words before a live audience. There’s always a special energy in the room during an Open Mic and it’s because people are there because they want to be with other like-minded creatives who don’t think they’re funny because they scribble or mumble in odd places. See you at the next Open Mic!

Oct/Nov Open Mics

OPEN MIC AT FALLS RIVER BOOKS, Cosponsored by NC Writers' Network (NCWN)
Where: Sunday, October 25th
5:30-7:30pm Falls River Books at Falls River Town Center, N. Raleigh

Contact: If you're interested in reading, please e-mail Megan Cutter at megan.cutteratgmail.com or call her at 919-389-6423.

Join us for a Sunday evening of local literary talent following the Authors Showcase. The first fifteen people to sign up with Megan Cutter in advance will be able to read their poetry, short fiction, or memoir. Each person will read for five minutes. Or come out and listen! Enjoy refreshments: wine, cheese, and other assorted goodies along with fellowship with your fellow readers and listeners!

OPEN MIC: Bring your Five Senses To Life!, Cosponsored by NC Writers' Network (NCWN)
A Wellness-for-Warriors Workshop: Bringing Your Five Senses to Life!
Friday November 13th, 20097:30 pm - 9:30 pm
COST: $10 Donation. FREE for military families
Calm and Sense 2603-111 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh NC
Contact: Alice Osborn at aliceataliceosborn.com

Join us for a relaxing, Open Mic Night and treat your five senses to simply feel, hear, see, taste and touch the very essence of our peaceful beings. The first fifteen people to sign up with Alice Osborn at aliceosborn.com in advance will have five minutes each to read their poetry, short fiction, or memoirs, play a guitar and/or sing a song. Let’s just sit back, listen, laugh, lust, linger and love. Enjoy light hors d'oeuvres along with fellowship with your friends and a variety of players, writers, readers and listeners. There will be time allotted for networking; refreshments and raffle drawings. Standing applause for those who attend!

Fear is the Driving Force Behind My Writing by Anthony Policastro, Guest Blogger

2009-09-14T09:17:00.000-04:00

Today I'm so thrilled to present Anthony Policastro who will talk to us about how "Fear is the Driving Force Behind My Writing." I know Anthony through the Write 2 Publish Meetup group and just learned that he has started a new company, Outer Banks Publishing Group, which specializes in e-publishing. And so without further ado, here's Anthony....

Fear is the Drivng Force Behind My Writing By Anthony S. Policastro

Alice, thank you so much for helping me with this blog tour and your support.

Both of my novels,DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM and ABSENCE OF FAITH, both mystery/thrillers, were written out of fear, universal fears that I believe all of us consider at one time or another.

DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM is about Dan Riker, a computer security expert whose family is kidnapped by digital terrorists who take over the power grid and cell phone network and hold the United States hostage. Dan is the only one with the know-how to stop them, but the hackers have his family and he must decide to save his family or save millions of people.

While I wrote this book the fear of losing my own family pervaded my thoughts and I wrapped a plot around this fear using the latest wireless technologies and a lot of imagination. I still have my family and the thought of losing them is unimaginable. This was the fuel for DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM.

Dan's life is well planned, predicted and uneventful like most of our lives and I wanted to see how Dan would react when all of that is shattered in an instant when his family disappears.

Does Dan have the courage to save his family or will he just give up because he never had to face such insurmountable odds? Will he save millions of people whose lives are threatened by the terrorists or will he save his family? The book is not just about technology.

These are some of the questions I addressed in the book and when or if you read the book you may ask yourself these same questions and maybe better understand your own capabilities.

ABSENCE OF FAITH also addresses universal fears when residents in a highly-religious small town have horrible near-death experiences and wake up with burnt skin. They believe they went to hell and that God has abandoned them. Matters get worse when a local Satanic cult emerges and wins over many residents.

My fears of losing all hope and all faith in the face of a downturn in life is what spawned ABSENCE OF FAITH. Again, I was interested in how people would react if you stripped them of all hope and faith. Would they pick themselves up and continue their lives? What would they do when this great fear overtakes them.

These are the questions I address in ABSENCE OF FAITH.

Bestselling author and psychic Sylvia Browne writes in her book, Prophecy, that, "...our beliefs are the driving force behind our behavior, our opinions, our actions. Without faith, without our beliefs, we're lost."

I have always been interested in religion and why and how it has such a powerful hold on all of us and what would happen if it were taken away.

I not only wanted my books to entertain, but I also wanted them to inspire, educate and leave readers with something to think about after they put the book down for the last time. I wanted the books to be relevant to people's lives today and some of the problems we all face in the journey of life. I hope my books are that and more.

Both DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM and ABSENCE OF FAITH are available as paperbacks from Outer Banks Publishing Group, Amazon.com and as ebooks from Smashwords.com and the Amazon Kindle.

Both books will soon appear on Barnes and Noble's new ebook site.

Visit my blogs for tips on writing, publishing, and books, WRITING IS ABOUT PUTTING YOURSELF TO WORDS and THE WRITER'S EDGE.

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Be Patient with Finding Your Perfect Writing Group

2009-09-03T22:41:00.010-04:00

The journey of finding a supportive and productive writing group came up in my Artist Salon Seminar last week. Many of the ladies present were either trying to find a writing group or they were looking for a new group. I thought about how lucky I am that I’m in a wonderful group that pushes me to be the best writer I can be. My fellow members also offer me support, market suggestions for my work and always contribute detailed and focused critiques. We also listen to each other when we need a sympathetic ear (usually not writing-related). However, it took me a while to find my group.

We hear a lot of talk about writing groups being like marriages, and it's true! It's very important to find a good fit with the folks with whom you share your writing, your thoughts, your concerns, and a lot of your life with. Sometimes it’s hard to separate the writer from her work; it’s going to happen that your writing group may turn into a therapy session, and that's occasionally OK. But, if you do this with the wrong group, and/or the energy level is different from yours, then watch out. You may need to move on and find a different group.

Six years ago, I met with my first writing group. I was very new to writing then and was inspired by the NC Writers' Network Conference in Wilmington to find fellow writers. Well, one woman approached me from a historical fiction workshop -- Meagan -- and then she connected me with Sandy, who was completing her second novel. Meagan was writing a memoir on her coming of age which involved a lot of abuse, both physical and mental. And me? I was working on a short story (really creative nonfiction) about a young woman who reconnects with an old flame, who is also dating her sister. Then all three of them get stuck in the sister's apartment during a hurricane which hits Charleston. I thought it was good…at the time.Meagan, Sandy and I all exchanged numbers, e-mails and manuscripts and before long, we met at Meagan's house.

I was a little late because my husband stopped at the gym first and I had brought cookies. I remember Sandy saying, "I don't eat sugar." I never got good vibes on her after that. We didn't talk much about my work (we focused more on Meagan's), but they both gave me suggestions (Sandy wrote all of hers in red ink. Lots of red ink).The next time we met was at my place on a January Saturday at 11:30. My son Daniel was just starting to walk (he was 16 months) and I knew that once everyone got settled, D-boy would go down for his nap at 12:30. In the meantime, I would put on his "Little People" video while Keith was out grocery shopping and got in his workout. I even served Panera bagels. First, Meagan showed up, a little lost, and then Sandy came in with a Hardees bag. The first thing out of her mouth was, "You didn't tell me you were bringing bagels!" Sorry, maybe read your e-mail next time and don’t insult your host for trying.

My short story was first and it was ripped apart before we even got to the 2nd page. Sandy didn't like how I used brand names to describe tea ("Celestial Seasonings") and told me that I write "like Danielle Steele." Then Meagan chimed in with "you write about rich people too much -- show some diversity." I don't remember hearing a single positive comment. Was this how a writing group was supposed to work?

Then we discussed Sandy's story about a talk show host who picks up empathy and starts acting nice. It was good, but the tone was very angry and sarcastic. Meagan's piece was fine, except Sandy quibbled with Meagan till the end of our time about how the speaker would not have folded her clothes that neatly. Meagan responded that she as a troubled young girl was seeking some order in her life. Sandy didn't buy it.Three and 1/2 hours later, Sandy and Meagan left, just as Daniel woke up from his nap. I felt worn out and a little depressed. I recall not looking over Sandy's notes on my story for about a year.

Later that night, Sandy cc'ed me on Meagan's e-mail telling her that she found my home to hold too many distractions for a writing group. I think the "Little People" played for 15 minutes with Daniel being very quiet and Keith's coming in and out for 2 seconds bothered her. I was furious! I expressed my concerns to Meagan, who didn't respond to them, but later one she e-mailed Sandy to tell her she disagreed with her comments.

I never heard from those two ladies again and it took me a positive critique from Greensboro novelist Quinn Dalton at the 2004 NCWN Spring Conference at Peace College to give me some much-needed confidence. A bad group can do that to you, especially to a new writer.

My advice is this: don't jump into a writing group. Get to know the members as people before you meet and then see if your styles and goals are compatible. See if you share a similar sense of humor and see if they are as smart as you or smarter. If not, run for the door. Your writing and your self-esteem deserve better. Also, gauge their level of writing. I was at a lower level than both Sandy and Meagan (at the time), so we were never going to match. Like finding a tennis partner, find a group that writes at your level or better.

I hope you find your way to the writing group that inspires you and makes you feel great every time you see them.

Now tell me about your writing group experiences -- good and bad!

House of Sand and Fog Review

2009-09-03T14:52:00.003-04:00

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I knew going in that "House of Sand and Fog" would be hard-to-put down novel that was vastly depressing since I had seen the 2003 film and still think it's one of the best movies of this decade. But after reading the book, Andre Dubus III makes not only his three main characters (Col. Behrani, Kathy Nicola and Lester Burdon) indelible, he also makes the suburbs of San Francisco and Kathy's Pontiac Bonneville also important characters. Dubos's descriptions of the town are so precise: "We rode quietly through Corona (where the titular house is located on Bisgrove St)into San Bruno, where he (Lester) turned north just before the El Camino Real Highway. Under the gray sky we passed one-story houses with small grass lawns. Behind them was the highway, and I could see cars and long trucks going south for towns like Hillsborough, San Carlos, Menlo Park, Los Altos, and Sunnyvale..." The descriptions are so accurate I thought Corona was a real town, but, alas, it is the stand-in for Pacifica. But no matter, if the town is a stand-in, the emotions in this book are not. As a side note, check out this link to see a picture of the house they used in the movie, which is now for sale.

Col. Behrani used to be a high ranking Air Force officer in Iran in the days of the Shah, but after his family's exile, he knows he can never reclaim his past glory. He moves his wife, son and daughter to Berkeley, where Soriya will have a chance to marry well. They rent an apartment that costs them over $4,000 a month and Behrani works two jobs so that Soriya will find a suitable husband. She does and now Behrani must do something so that his 14-year-old son, Esmail can go to college and the family can be comfortable. Torn by class, money, culture and appearances, Behrani wants to do the best thing for his family and that's buying an auctioned house for $45,000 in Corona on Bisgrove St. where Kathy Nicola used to live only days before.

Kathy was a hard character to like and I did try. She a recovered drug/alcohol addict who is a cleaning lady. She's in her mid-thirties, goes braless and shoeless on a regular basis and is also a manipulator who lets fear take over her life. Her husband, Nick, left her eight months before and she has ignored notices coming from San Mateo County telling her she still owes taxes on the house (SM County thought her house was a business property and accidentally taxed her and both Kathy and Nick got their paperwork notorized saying it wasn't, but somehow SM County didn't get the message).She gets evicted by Deputy Sherriff Burdon, who immediately takes a liking to her. He helps her move and later sets her up in a motel. But what's really going on with him? He's married with two kids and thinks he loves Kathy because she's exciting and lives on the edge.

As a result of their relationship, which quickly becomes a sexual affair, Kathy starts drinking again and Lester threatens the Behranis and later places them all under house arrest. Lester spirals out of control and because of desparate circumstances, we see a tragic ending for all involved.

Dubus's writing is superb, although sometimes his narrative could have been cut back a little, especially when he described Lester's dream life and his past run-ins with Hispanic bullies. But because of Dubos's meticulous work with backstory, we know why these characters act as crazy as they do. Behrani isn't perfect, either. He hits his wife and his violence is seething under the surface. Still, he was for me the book's most sympathetic character.

I also loved the great lines Dubos gave us such as when Behani leaves Kathy's lawyer's office, "They view my face, my suit, the valise under my arm, and as I return their eyes back to them, they look away as if I have come to collect something they cannot pay." I also love Kathy's line, "I felt as connected to the ground as an old newspaper blowing in the street."

Throughout the book the house, the fog, the ocean and nature as a whole plays a large part in the narrative. I love books that make me take out my Atlas and discover a new city. "House of Sand and Fog" did that for me and it also made me wish I could conjure up images and sensory details as fluidly in my writing like Andre Dubos III.

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Keep Your Femininity in the Workplace

2009-08-20T22:18:00.010-04:00

Yes, you can be a strong woman, a powerful professional and still retain your femininity in the workplace. Femininity doesn’t equate to sexuality, nor does it mean you only wear frilly clothes with lots of lace and pink flowers. Femininity means responding to your intuition, to your capacity for caring/nurturing and to your ability to multi-task. Femininity also means you stay true to yourself and that you embrace your authentic self. In other words, don’t try to be like the guys just because you think they will like you more or that you’ll be promoted faster.

Connie Cwik is a corporate coach for 20+ years and when she was working for Microsoft was responsible for building a strong team between Microsoft and GM. As a result, Microsoft’s rating on the coveted GM Strategic Vendor Scorecard from 16th to 2nd – in just 36 months. I had the pleasure of meeting Connie at the Coffee and Contacts Power Lunch at Brio Tuscan Grill on Friday, August 14th where she gave an energetic talk on “Femininity in the Workplace.” Dressed in a pale pink jacket with a bias-cut floral cut and pink shoes before the crowd of over fifty women, Connie stressed to the group, “We as women have a way to connect at a different level than men. When you give up your femininity, you give up your power.”

Connie further emphasized how women need to acknowledge their gifts and their strengths that make them great. “Femininity is not a weak term at all! Being feminine means being a lover to your husband or partner, a nurturer and a best friend to all of your girlfriends.”

I also see that acknowledging one’s femininity means setting boundaries and knowing that it’s OK to not do work (if you work for yourself) between the hours of 4-9pm so you can pick up your kids, make dinner and put the kids to bed. Now if you work in a traditional workspace, you need to know it’s OK to leave at 5 or 5:30 to pick up the kids from daycare and not be made to feel guilty that you’re not sharing your weight. You need to know that you put 110% into your work and that you are productive and focused. Before I had kids I worked for a company that made working mothers feel guilty when they didn’t come in on Saturdays or stay till 7pm every night. A few women were on a flexible schedule (coming in at 7:30 and leaving at 4:30), but their bosses didn’t treat them with respect. No one complained because they were scared about losing their job. Of course no one was happy. Studies show that work places that allow for flexibility increase their productivity and morale. In any case, my old company experienced high turnover because many women braver than myself left to seek better working conditions. Since those dark days, I’ve sought a life-family balance and that includes working for myself and not trying to be somebody I’m not.

But with whatever career path women choose, they need to know that they have special gifts that come with being a woman. These gifts include intuition, nurturing and multi-tasking. Intuition is important so you may attract the best business partners and the best clients for you. Nurturing increases morale and employee retention. Connie gave an example of how she repurposed her employee “Paul” from one job into another, rather than firing him because he was a valuable employee who just wasn’t in the right position for his skill set. Because of her attention to his situation, Paul still keeps in touch with Connie years later. Lastly, multi-tasking makes women more productive and focused and allows them to handle stressful situations with grace and aplomb.

Connie concluded, “The only way we can keep the family-life balance is to be authentic to who we are and that means that we don’t all have to be the same!” I took this to mean that women should stop comparing themselves with other women and pay attention to their own thresholds and pain tolerances. Some moms with three children can do more than some moms with one kid and you know what? And that’s OK! But above all, we need to stop wishing we didn’t have family obligations or emotions so the powers that be could like us better. We need to be who we are (women who care about others and family!), set realistic long-term goals (i.e. not try to be superwomen), and celebrate our feminine powers which set us apart from the guys!

Child of the South Book Review

2009-08-17T23:39:00.007-04:00

Child of the South by Joanna Catherine Scott

My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars
Full of rich language, passion and tension, Joanna Catherine Scott’s Child of the South continues the story of her characters from The Road to Chapel Hill. Her new novel is set in the years immediately following the Civil War told from the point of view of two star-crossed lovers: 24-year-old Eugenia Mae Spotswood, the assumed white daughter of a failed Wilmington businessman and now a nurse for the Freedman's Bureau, and Tom, a former slave who owns a large farm outside Chapel Hill. They initially met as mistress and slave; Eugenia gave Tom his freedom papers and after capture he eventually became a scout for the Union army under the leadership of a dashing mulatto, Abraham Galloway, who taught him the importance of standing up for himself, as well as how to read and write. Galloway is an actual historical figure who died under mysterious circumstances, which Scott fictionalized in her book.

More than anything, Eugenia wants to find her birth mother, whom she knows still lives around Wilmington. This woman was her father's black mistress. Eugenia has a chance to stay in Chapel Hill, but she knows she must find her mother and discover who she really is. Seeing Eugenia as a mixed race person was especially hard for me. We learn that Eugenia has very curly, unruly hair, but other than that, there aren't many clues. No one suspects she could have any black blood in her, not even her Confederate cousins in Wilmington, where she lives for four years after the Civil War. I wanted her to be darker, or at least see something about herself that she knows is different.

Eugenia's story is told in the first person and Tom's is in third person, which is really the only way that all of the historical perspectives can be discussed since Eugenia can't always be in the same place as the decision makers at every turn. However, Eugenia is a catalyst in her own right by balancing historical accuracy. Scott does a great job of making sure Eugenia doesn't go too far beyond historical prejudice between blacks and whites, although at times I was wondering if Eugenia wasn't just a little too liberal. The point of view shifts are divided by chapter so there's no reader confusion and I liked this since I always felt I knew what was coming.

Scott's strengths are with the accurate sensory details of this time and place and with the language. I love how she uses "fell to" a great deal and how she doesn't overdo the African American dialect. Her dialogue is sharp and the details set the tone without being overdone. However, I would have liked to have seen more action and a quicker pace throughout the book and less sitting around talking about the future. Because of the leaps in time there was a great deal of summary, which Scott handled well. However, I would have liked to experience a fight with the Klan or a narrow escape; I always felt that most of the good action happened off stage.

As for the characters, I liked the secondary characters rather than the primaries. Clyde Bricket is an amputee and Tom's former owner and now business partner/fellow farmer and he's very interesting. So is Christopher Clark-Compton, Eugenia's cousin who wants to be her husband. He's not very savory, but he does have his gentler moments. The heroes in the book: Eugenia, Abraham, Tom did seem a little too perfect, but that being said Eugenia had the best voice. We really could experience what 1865 felt like from her point of view. Scott never shies away from addressing post Civil War politics, so we see the great class and race divide that still haunts us to this day.

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Going Above and Beyond Book Review

2009-08-07T16:46:00.000-04:00

Going Above and Beyond by Katharine C. Giovanni

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Going Above and Beyond by Katharine Giovanni surveys lead concierges in the hospitality industry on how to exhibit the best customer service possible in business and in your personal life. This book's audience is entrepreneurs, concierges and anyone else who wants to know more about delivering exceptional customer service.
Giovanni divides the book into fifteen chapters, of which she has eleven interviews which discuss topics such as professional image, handshakes, international protocol and more. Many themes are repeated throughout the book such as being nice to customers, never say no, and do whatever the customer needs. I used to be in retail and many of these concepts in Giovanni's book are not new to me and I wished she could have delved into more detail, especially in the communications and international protocol, which was probably her most interesting chapter. For instance, I didn't know that the British think its rude to talk with your hands in your pockets or that feet are considered unclean in South Africa and India.
I loved it when Giovanni would share her customer service horror stories with us such as when she and her boys drove up to a very rude manager at the Drive Thru or when she received a rude man on the phone who wanted to speak to the boss (Giovanni is the boss, along with her husband, Ron). I could have enjoyed more of these personal anecdotes rather than have eleven interviews which really didn't say anything new or fresh. I also wanted more insight into email, speech, dress, posture and speaking. Perhaps she could have listed 10 things of not to do on a voice mail outgoing message or what not to do in an email.
Overall, this is a quick read that emphasizes how important customer service is to grow and sustain your business. My favorite line from Giovanni is, "I return everyone's email lightning fast, even when I'm on the road...this simple thing has done more for growing my business than almost anything I've done." Great advice how important it is to be nice!

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Women Embracing Creativity Book Review

2009-08-07T14:49:00.001-04:00

Women Embracing Creativity: Unleashing Your Inner Artist by Christina Thompson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Christina Thompson's Women Embracing Creativity: Unleashing Your Inner Artist does an excellent job of bringing together tips on motivation, creativity concepts, fear of success, making room for creativity and more. In one book you can discover how to set time aside for yourself and how to begin your creative practice which can be dancing, fine arts, writing, singing and more! I have so many books in my library that cover these same subjects, but in Christina's there are all in one source and they are built upon and thoroughly investigated. This book is a companion to Christina Thompson's 8 week Creativity Course she teaches several times a year, but it can certainly stand on its own and does. Christina also includes specific homework exercises such as logging your successes, starting a gratitude journal and paying attention to what's around you.

I can't talk enough about how wonderful and encouraging this book can be for emerging artists. Christina weaves in personal stories, academic references and solid results-oriented solutions for when you feel stuck. She encourages her female readers to stop being an Artist-in-Hiding and stop doing everything for your family. Be creative and be yourself! But I like that she doesn't just say be selfish with your needs and totally ignore your family, either. Instead she tells us to communicate with our families our creative needs and make sure everything is out in the open.

I know in my busy life, I have to make sure that I tell my husband what's going on in my week so there are no surprises in our schedule, and sometimes he wishes he wouldn't have to take care of the kids all day or all weekend. But I have to work at my success and at my career and that involves spending time away from home occasionally. I also try to not have two night events two days in a row so I can be there for my family. Sure my writing career is important but not at the expense of my family. All artists have to know how to balance work and family since we live with being an artist all of the time. It's a lifestyle and not something we leave at door like most traditional W-2 jobs.

One of the points Christina stresses is that successful artists must practice. Do you think Rob Thomas just started singing "Smooth" that first time and it was perfect? I don't think so. Or did a beautiful painting emerge from the first series of brushstrokes? No! A masterpiece emerges only from returning to the canvas, or to the page, or to the dance floor again and again. Chistina also encourages emerging artists to find a great teacher/mentor who guides them on their way. The ones who fail are the ones who don't put the work in and stay glued to the world of ideas. Christina also does a great job of breaking down fear and enumerating the excuses artists make when they don't want to get a project going. After all, who wants to start something that you know will not be perfect because you're new at it? Christina stresses that it takes dedication and commitment to follow through on your dreams and nurture the seeds of creativity.

She also talks about how parents tell their kids not to be artists because this lifestyle isn't "safe" and that's why so there are so many would-be artists who haven't found their path yet. This point I could totally relate to and why I volunteer so much with young people who want to be writers.

Thank you, Christina, for writing this book for all artists and artists to-be. This book is must-have reading.

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How to Say No to Fear

2009-08-05T17:01:00.003-04:00

We’ve all had a case of “I don’t wannas” or “I’m too tired” or “I’ll do it tomorrow.” Feeling these impulses as we’re working on any kind project is perfectly normal, but do we push on and complete it? Or do we give in to fear? Don’t you notice that you usually procrastinate when you’re faced with something that you know will be time-intensive or with something that doesn’t yet feel comfortable to you?
I faced a case of the “don’t wannas” this week when I had to work on a new brochure and when I had to create my newsletter. I finished both projects because of my self-imposed deadlines, but I wished I had approached my work with more enthusiasm and had started them earlier. I realize now that I dragged my feet on both the brochure and newsletter since I know I could be judged on my work. Someone might spot a mistake I made and call me out on it. Someone could tell me that I’m not a very good writer/editor if I can’t make everything perfect in my work! But I didn’t let my fear win. I scrunched up my face, turned on Bob Seger and let the work “Roll Me Away.” It’s interesting that this fear of creating anything new can prevent you from completing your project. It’s sometimes called “The Fear of Success,” which is a recognized phobia. According to Michelle Courtney, editor of Triangle B2B.com (business to business) blog, “Usually the people who have this fear the worst have no idea they have it!” Courtney spoke about the Fear of Success at last Friday’s Final Friday Forum, sponsored by Dancing Elephants at the BNC (Business Networking Center) of Cary.
I know that as a creative person I can deal with my fears and conquer them, but this may not be true of others who are just discovering their creative talents. They are undertaking something new and they may fear failure. They may feel that they lack support from their family and friends. Or they may be afraid of making mistakes. Courtney adds, “We’re taught at a young age that failure isn’t a good thing, so we’re not taught to learn from our mistakes. This kind of thinking makes us inert.” And inertia keeps us in place, leaving us unable to achieve our dreams.
Christina Thompson of Summerglen Music wrote this about fear in her new book, Women Embracing Creativity: Unleashing Your Inner Artist.
Just as the pioneers faced attackers on their westward journeys, we may easily be ambushed by fear as we try new things. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to identify fear for what it really is. Here are some common disguises fear wears when it tries to sneak into the lives of creative people:
1. needing to be in control
2. tolerating unhealthy situations and people
3. being resistant to change
4. creating unnecessary clutter, busy-ness or drama
5. making excuses; rationalizing
6. avoiding the problem
7. trying to manipulate others
8. procrastinating
Are you nodding your head at all or any of these? I know that in the past (and probably today, too) I’ll get so busy to avoid dealing with certain things. I’m also trying hard not to procrastinate on projects that aren’t the easiest to start.
So what can you do to lessen your fears? Michelle Courtney and Christina Thompson both suggest you write down specific goals, establish why a goal is important to you and show up every day despite the fear. That means practicing, doing the work, even if it’s not 100% perfect. Courtney says, “Play Devil’s Advocate and ask yourself what’s the worst that can happen?” I say “To Do” lists and concrete deadlines are a God-send.
I know it’s not easy to get out there when we could easily do the same old thing, but don’t you want to be known as someone who is stronger than her fears? I know I do.

The Blind Prophet Book Review

2009-08-04T18:00:00.000-04:00

The Blind Prophet by Dr. Larry Richards

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
REVIEW WRITTEN BY DANA BLOHM

Honestly, I was a little hesitant when Alice asked me to review The Blind Prophet. Considering the extremity of fantasy it might contain made me cautious when I began to read it. However, The Blind Prophet proves to capture the reader, even during the first few chapters. After doing some research, I discovered that Dr. Larry Richards is a renowned author, and Book 1 and Book 2 of the Invisible War series will be coming out this summer.
The Blind Prophet is a fantasy fiction novel about the religious invisible war between Satan’s army of demons and God’s army of angels. However complex it may sound, Richards does a superb job of simplifying the concept without losing his reader’s interest.
The main character, Zaki, is one of few to survive a horrific Babylonian raider attack on his village. After his entire family is brutally murdered, Zaki is left alive, yet blinded. His eyesight isn’t the only thing that is left blinded, but his faith in God is as well. Abandoning God makes Zaki the village’s recluse. Fifty years after the attack, an angel visits Zaki and he introduces him to the Invisible War. They travel together through the spiritual world observing key points of the war. While gaining the knowledge of the war, the angel reveals that God has an important mission for Zaki. As Zaki takes the journey to rebuild his faith, he works to fulfill this mission as one of God’s prophets.
Although this book is a work of fiction, it includes valid information from the Books of Ezekiel and Daniel. Richards gives life to these books, weaving them into his well-crafted novel. I thoroughly enjoyed Richards’s engaging and interesting novel, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for more than your average fantasy novel.

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Keep On Keeping On Book Review

2009-08-04T17:55:00.001-04:00

Keep On Keeping On by Jean Davis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
REVIEW WRITTEN BY DANA BLOHM

When reading the synopsis of Keep On Keeping On, one would assume this book to be your average inspirational story that you hope to pick you up off your feet. However, this is a story of two parents’ and their sons’ journey through addiction and the fight for justice. I was compelled to keep going from the author’s tone, which anyone could relate to. Her simple jargon makes it easy for the average reader to understand, eventhough the content is deep and complex.
This is a story of Ron Davis, a charismatic young man who struggled to beat a twelve year addiction to drugs, only to be brutally murdered at the age of thirty-nine. His parents, Brooks and Jean Davis, born and raised in the South, at first viewed his addiction as sinful. As dedicated Baptists in a small town, it was hard for either of them to comprehend the severity of Ron’s addiction. However, Jean’s unfailing faith shows throughout her writing and in every situation Ron put them in.
Keep On Keeping On goes extensively into the Davis’s family history, pride, and small town reputation. Jean repeatedly says throughout the book, “We had to swallow our pride” in order to help Ron overcome his addiction. This information may seem unnecessary during the reading, but as the reader approaches the end of the book, it is evident that all the little stories about small town life and family history all tie into Ron’s addiction. Family pressures, girlfriend issues, and competition also contributed to Ron becoming addicted to drugs in the first place.
After going through many difficult stages in Ron’s life, including many trips to rehabilitation centers and rebuilding his faith in God, it seems as if Ron was finally going in the right direction. With supportive parents by his side, Ron starts his new life, only to be brutally murdered. As if this tragedy wasn’t hard enough on the family, Jean and Brooks suffered through many years of struggle to gain justice for their son’s sake. This story exemplifies how flawed the American court system can be, and how much Jean and Brooks sacrificed for justice.
Keep On Keeping On is an inspirational story simple enough to be the perfect summer read. I recommend this book to anyone looking for extraordinary pick-me-up book that dives deep into the complexity of addiction and struggle for justice.

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This review was written by my intern, Dana, and you'll see much more from her soon!

The Handmaid's Tale Book Review

2009-07-26T00:06:00.004-04:00

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I've always heard that The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood was one of those books you had to read. I picked it up at my favorite used book store: Falls River Books and nominated it for my book club's July selection. It was haunting, frustrating and I couldn't put it down. I was compelled to keep going from the narrator's first person voice when she tells us that she has to wear red and it's not her color. I thought to myself, here is a narrator in dire circumstances who still has some time to joke -- maybe I'll even like this person.

This person is the 33-year-old Offred whose real name is probably June. She is kept girl, or handmaiden, of Commander Fred and Serena Joy. Get it? She's "Of Fred." The other handmaidens also have male names such as Ofglen, Ofwarren and so forth. They dress in these medieval nun costumes of full head to toe red gowns with white headresses that prevent them from seeing the outside world and from the outside world seeing them. They hardly do any labor except going to the market once a day for their household and they aren't allowed to read. Offred has to have sex once a month with her master Fred PLUS his wife who is lying underneath her in this ceremony that hopefully will produce an heir for the commander.

The U.S. before the Republic of Gilead takeover was bleak: there was massive pornography, pollution, disease and suffering. The new leaders promised a change and boy did they deliver. June (the narrator), Luke, her husband, and their daughter who is never named try to cross the border into Canada, but June and daughter are captured. They are captured because women who is married to a divorced man is a sinner and adultress. We never know what happens to Luke. June is sent to handmaiden school since the government knows she has viable ovaries because she's already a mother and her daughter is adopted by a childless commander and his wife.

The commanders and their wives seem to be in their fifties and the young men are off fighting the wars. The poorer people are left alone and the undesirables (Unwomen) are sent to the Colonies to do toxic clean up detail without benefit of Hazmat suits. Offred's mother is one of the Unwomen since she is an unrepentant feminist.

As the novel progresses, we learn about the goings on in Offred's house and about how the other people in the house feel about her. We know right away there's an attraction between her and Nick, the Commander's manservant. Cora the maid likes her, while Rita the maid thinks she's a slut just because she's a handmaiden. Cora is perpetually afraid Offred will commit suicide because the last one they had did. Serena Joy dislikes her and the Commander sneaks around with her to play Scrabble (one of the funniest parts in the book).

The government hasn't taken everything away from Offred: she still remembers her daughter, her life before, her job, her husband and how it all ended. I was surprised they hadn't blanked her memory. Offred is a passive woman and she'd rather get along than claw her way through to freedom. She wants to live and thinks that if she keeps her head down and doesn't cause much trouble she'll do fine. Unfortunately,this can't be the case. In her small world she runs into Ofglen who is part of the resistance, and she interacts illegally with the two men living around her: the Commander and Nick. Events propel her forward and by virtue of who she is things happen. She is part of the political machine and their agenda for babies wherever she goes.

Unlike 1984 by George Orwell where we got the entire background and history of this dystopia all at once, in this book we get the history in bits and pieces. I liked how this book is like a puzzle and it's not all laid out for the reader. This pattern mirrors Offred's way of receiving information since she can't read and look up things; she has to get her knowledge in bits and pieces, too. By the end of the book, the reader should have a good idea of how Gilead came to be along with its rules and power structure.

Margaret Atwood criticizes both the right and the left in her novel. She's against feminists banning pornography since she feels that's censorship and Atwood's against the right taking arms against society's ills. The theme is that both sides can go to extremes and they do so in Handmaid's Tale.

This novel isn't dated and it still holds up well some 23 years after it was published. It's a haunting vision of what would happen if the people in charge decided to turn back the clock on womens' rights and strip women of their voices. Not only do women suffer, but so do men.

Read this book for Atwood's images, poetry and turns of phrase. Also read it for its well-thought out themes. I promise you, you'll never forget this book.

View all my reviews >>

Here are the discussion questions for this book:
The Handmaid’s Tale Reading Group Guide
1. The novel begins with three epigraphs. What are their functions?
2. In Gilead, women are categorized as wives, handmaids, Marthas, or Aunts, but Moira refuses to fit into a niche. Offred says she was like an elevator with open sides who made them dizzy; she was their fantasy. Trace Moira's role throughout the tale to determine what she symbolizes.
3. Aunt Lydia, Janine, and Offred's mother also represent more than themselves. What do each of their characters connote? What do the style and color of their clothes symbolize?
4. At one level, The Handmaid's Tale is about the writing process. Atwood cleverly weaves this sub-plot into a major focus with remarks by Offred such as "Context is all, " and "I've filled it out for her, " "I made that up, " and "I wish this story were different." Does Offred's habit of talking about the process of storytelling make it easier or more difficult for you to suspend disbelief?
5. A palimpsest is a medieval parchment that scribes attempted to scrape clean and use again, though they were unable to obliterate all traces of the original. How does the new republic of Gilead's social order often resemble a palimpsest?
6. The Commander in the novel says you can't cheat nature. How do characters find ways to follow their natural instincts?
7. Why is the Bible under lock and key in Gilead?
8. Babies are referred to as "a keeper, " "unbabies, " "shredders." What other real or fictional worlds do these terms suggest?
9. Atwood's title brings to mind titles from Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Why might Atwood have wanted you tomake that connection?
10. What do you feel the "Historical Notes" at the book's end add to the reading of this novel? What does the book's last line mean to you?

Don’t be Afraid of Going to the Social Media Party

2009-07-24T09:00:00.003-04:00

Even if you don’t use social networking, i.e.: Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Inside 919 (ning) or other social media sites, for your business, it’s still important to join the social media party because if you don’t, you’re missing out. In fact, this week my mother-in-law just signed up for Facebook because she doesn’t want to miss out on all of the conversations going on between her progeny. And she wants to view all of the fantastic photos I’ve posted from our summer trips. The way the world is working now, people go to social media sites to find out what’s going on via their friends’ links and comments. I found out on Facebook that Walter Cronkite died almost as soon as it was announced and if you use Twitter, you can receive almost instantaneous news. We’re moving away from people going to websites to find out info; instead, users are more passive and are waiting for info to come to them via status updates, blog feeds, e-newsletters and more.
These last two weeks I’ve learned a great deal about social media from two local experts, Deidre Hughey (pictured above) and Eileen Batson, who spoke at my North Raleigh Coffee and Contacts group. Deidre discussed three rules of social networking and several mistakes people make about using this tool. Eileen discussed how to avoid the social media time suck.
According to Deidre Hughey, owner of The Buzz Builder in Apex, NC, social media is a great tool to build relationships and to get more people to know and trust you. Although she emphasizes, “Social media should not replace your marketing plan. It’s a tool like direct marketing or PR. Social media needs to be a part of your overall marketing plan; it’s a piece of a much larger puzzle. Deidre also spoke about not being afraid of filling out your profile block as completely as possible because, “you never know who is going to click on your site right after you fill it out. What if someone clicks and they find nothing there?” To counter the notion that many women think that the crazies will find them on Facebook or other sites, she told us that most people have a reason to friend you and if you don’t want them as a friend there are protection devices in place to block these people. “Have a plan to stay active and top of mind with your connections and commit to thirty minutes a day on your social media sites,” says Deidre.
Eileen Batson of Batson Group Marketing and PR in Raleigh agrees. She told us to set a consistent schedule and even use a kitchen timer to keep track of our time on the computer. “Write down what you need to do and avoid getting distracted,” Eileen says. She also said that you need to spend time where your clients are and if they aren’t using Facebook or Twitter, then you need to find another way to reach them.
This brings to mind running into a friend at Staples the other day where he was getting ink for his printer so he could send out a printed newsletter to his clients. He knew where his clients were and he knew that an online newsletter wouldn’t be as effective as a printed one.
Eileen also told us about leveraging our time with tools that update our status. She mentioned ping.fm. I use Tweetdeck to manage my Twitter and Facebook updates and when I post a video on YouTube, I link that post with Google Alerts, Facebook and Twitter.
Like most of you, I haven’t been on Facebook that long – I believe this month is my first year anniversary. Who would have thought that my entire family is now on it and that I rush to check my Facebook page before my email account? But we also need to bear in mind that Facebook and Twitter might not be around forever and we still need to have a website, blog and a marketing plan in place that’s not all based on social media. We also need to keep in mind that we can’t live our lives on the computer and it’s OK to not check in for a day every now and then.
So, what about you? How are you managing your social media time? Are you getting the most out of your social media networking? How has it benefited you in the last year both personally and professionally? I’d love to hear from you!

Book Review: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

2009-07-17T23:43:00.003-04:00

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I first heard about Middlesex's popularity at my favorite independent bookstore and among the book clubs seven years ago, I wasn't that interested in reading it. I mean, a Greek-American tale of a hermaphrodite? No thanks, I thought. But then Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides came up again when my book club (Wonderland Book Club) was discussing titles to read for this year and I agreed to give it a shot. Well, as you know I don't give many books a one out of five stars nor a book five out a five stars, yet Middlesex made the cut because it has heart, a strong narrative, a powerful unique storyline AND I learned something new. I learned about the Turkish invasion of Greek-ruled Asia Minor in 1922, the Detroit environs and the race riots there in 1967. I learned that the movie "Grosse Point Blank" (1997) came from the suburb, Grosse Point outside Detroit. This exclusive suburb is where our hero, Cal (nee Callie) grows into a teen and Middlesex, by the way, is the name of his house. Of course "Middlesex" also depicts Cal's sexuality. And I learned about hermaphroditism.

This very dense novel which took me longer to read than normal (I didn't finish it bofore book club, but neither did many of the fast-readers in my group) is broken into three parts. The first part addresses the story Cal's grandparents (Desdemona and Lefty) who are (SPOILER ALERT!) also brother and sister. It's a wonderful story of love and risk as the two flee Smyrna, on the Aegean Coast as the Turks (or maybe the Greeks) are burning it down. Because of their relationship, Cal has a genetic mutation on Chromosome 5, so he's born a "girl," with girl parts but is really an XY male with male secondary sex characteristics and a short penis (he calls it his "crocus"). But incest isn't new in Cal's family: many of the villagers from Bithynios were also hermaphrodites because of inbreeding and his grandparents' relationship just manifested things a bit faster. In this section we learn to love Desdemona, who fiercely clings to her Old World values and she and her brother hop on a boat to America and later Detroit, where they are sponsored by their lesbian cousin, Lina.

The second book is about Tessie, Lina's daughter and Milton, Lefty and Desdemona's daughter. This couple (Cal's parents) aren't as vivid, nor as memorable, but we need to mention them in order to get to Cal's birth and the start of his story. Throughout the next, Cal the first person narrator has an open and omnicient point of view. He's a very likeable voice and we want to keep turning the page to see what happens next. His point of view even veers to third person when he nears The details and images in this book are marvelous and we see a lot of play on the theme of air and water. Cal is born a Capricorn, which many believe is both a water and an earth sign -- just like Cal has a dual nature (Jesus was also born a Capricorn, but this is a discussion for another time). Eugenides, especially in Book 3, which is Cal's story, water imagery such as sea anemones, jelly fish and more when discussing what he sees in the girls' locker room at his private school.

For example, "Sea anemones sprouted from between my classmates' legs. They came in all colors, black, brown, electric yellow, vivid red. Higher up, their breasts bobbed like jellyfish, softly pulsing, tipped with stinging pink. Everything was waving in the current, feeding on microscopic plankton, growing bigger by the minute. The shy, plump girls were like sea lions, lurking in the depths."

I loved how Cal reflects on his world and how he knows he's different because of his class and ethnicity from the other girls who are white and whose grandparents weren't off the boat. He tells us about the Charm Bracelets, who are the elite white girls at the school and how his knows that the object of his affection, monikered the Obscure Object is one of them. "Her oxfords were stamped down at the heels so that she could slip into them like clogs. This was something the Charm Bracelets did. Also, she had an antique ring on her finger, with real rubies in it. Her lips were thin, austere, Protestant. Her nose was not really a nose at all. It was only a beginning."

All of Eugenides's narrator reflection really made the book for me. We care about how Cal's life turns out and we understand that he may have finally found Ms. Right at forty-one (the age he is presently writing this book). The novel tied up everything at the end from us learning that Cal never underwent any surgery to change his parts (so he remains "middlesex") and what happened to his parents and brother, appropriately nicknamed Chapter Eleven because he runs the family hot dog business into the ground. However, I was left to find out about how or where Cal finished high school and if he ever saw the Obsure Object again -- we'll never know. This was a great read that was honest, stayed classy, where it could have ventured off into crassness with the intersex stuff, and remained hopeful. Eugenides took seven years to write this book and I guess it might be awhile till we see his next work, but it'll be worth it.

View all my reviews >>

Hiking the Shawangunks in New Paltz, NY

2009-07-13T11:51:00.007-04:00

On Wed. July 8th, my husband Keith and I hiked in the Mohonk Preserve in the Shawangunk Mountains (otherwise known as the "Gunks" -- one of the premier rock-climbing destinations in the world). In these this video we climbed up Bonitcou Crag via a rock scramble and were treated to a magnificent view of the lower Catskills.

Enjoy!

Coffee Shop God Review

2009-07-03T01:35:00.002-04:00

Coffee Shop God by Therese Bartholomew

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Therese Bartholomew's short, yet powerful memoir, Coffee Shop God takes the reader through the journey of a sister's grief of her lost brother. In 2003, two days before Valentine's Day, Therese's younger brother, Steve, was shot in the chest by Karl Staton at a Greenvile, SC-area strip club. Steve and Karl had an argument over Karl's girlfriend and Karl shot Steve in the heart, killing him instantly. The title of the book comes from Therese trying to find Steve so that she can have some hope. While in her neighborhood coffee shop, she meets a man who is also grieving and they comfort each other. She believes this is God's sign to her that Steve is in heaven and that there is a God.

This book is comprised of 10 essays which discuss the moment the family found out about Steve's death, to the days and weeks immediately following the tragedy, and, finally, to discovering the new normal of living in a world without Steve. Therese is a master of funneling the senses we ignore (smell, sound, taste and touch) into powerful word pictures that capture the moment without sentimentality or prolonged trauma. She is matter-of-fact in her delivery, yet poignant and emotionally raw all at the same time. Therese also lets her humor shine through, especially when she acknowleges how much time she spends in her pajamas with "pajamas are my favorite clothes."

Therese describes Steve as her soulmate. She says, "My little brother is alone somewhere, and I need to be there. I need us to be kids again, snuggled in the same top bunk. I need to spend summer hours crouched in our gravel driveway, feeling my palms brush and push the rocks to the side, creating cities and towns and neighborhoods for our Matchbox cars." She later says, "With one phone call, my little brother became a permanent was in my life. I can't grasp the concept of him as past tense -- a phase like bangs or an ex-boyfriend."

Steve was also extremely close to Therese's children, especially Jessica, whom she had while still in high school. She describes Steve as giving her unconditional love and support when her ex-boyfriend stopped returning her calls.

Besides Therese's point of view, we also hear from her parents, her older brother, her niece, nephew and daughter. These voices will be even more fully heard on her upcoming documentary, "The Final Gift," which will be released in late 2009 or early 2010. In this film, she addresses what her brother's killer's life must be like now and how society makes peace with crime.

I had the pleasure of hearing Therese read her essay, "Sisters," from her book at the June Open Mic I facilitated in Wake Forest at Storytellers Bookstore. She commanded the room with her words, especially in passages such as this one where she's in the courtroom bathroom moments before the killer's sentencing. "The door opens and someone moves into the stall next to mine. I flush instinctively even though I've only been taking up this space. A toilet flushes and takes my moment with it. The woman comes out and joins me at the next sink. I look over toward her in that awkward bathroom moment with a stranger."

I wish this book would have been longer so I could have had more opportunity to enjoy Therese's powerful writing. Even though the subject matter is very dark and full of struggle, you finish the book knowing Therese is able to transcend the somber tone into one of hope and forgiveness. She concludes with, "Fear is the truest opposite of faith. I force myself to choose faith every day."

View all my reviews.

Does Your Business Need a Helping Hand?

2009-07-03T00:21:00.002-04:00

This week I welcomed my intern, Dana, into my home. She’s a rising senior and is very interested in pursuing a writing or communications career. As many of you know, one of my many passions is helping young people who want to engage in a writing career. So this new arrangement is a total win-win for both of us! I get to help Dana, she gets to help me, plus I’ll be able to offload some of my marketing work to be more productive and creative.

Back in April and perhaps before that, I was feeling the pinch. You know, it’s a place where you can’t seem to get everything done that you want to do, you’re just barely making your deadlines and you are afraid of going to sleep because if you do, you may not get everything done and folks will be disappointed in you….(just writing that run-on sentence was stressful and made me out of breath!) I wondered how I could grow my business when I was spending all of my time doing small, yet important marketing tasks like calendar posts and newsletter updates. Should I let some of my marketing go? But if I did, then my participation numbers would severely drop, and so would my income.
I asked my business coach what I should do and he told me to get an assistant. I told him I couldn’t afford an assistant just yet. He then looked me in the eye and said something like, “Don’t worry, you’ll find a way.” Two days later I was getting coffee at Wake County Public Schools’ 9th annual Xtreme Beginnings Career Fair McKimmon Center. I had volunteered to participate in a round-table discussion about writing. The purpose of the fair is to give students an opportunity for students to gain exposure to an array of educational and career opportunities. One of the school leaders and I struck up a conversation and then she asked me if I would be able to sponsor an intern. You all know what my answer was!
After a couple months of ironing out the details, Dana started working her six hours a week at my house in the afternoons. She even has her own office upstairs, while I work on my laptop at the dining room table. I know she’s a good fit since both of my kids like her. In fact, 18-month-old Erin gave her a running hug after first seeing her enter the front door and Daniel, my rising second grader, bounded upstairs and introduced himself to her before I could. Already I feel my load has lightened and as she continues to learn more about me and my business, I know that I’ll give her more and more responsibilities. Wow, I could get used to this after working by myself for more than three years. In fact, three years ago, I was someone’s assistant!
As your business grows, you must think about delegating and hiring help, or at the very least, outsourcing work that eats up your time and makes you less productive. You have to ask yourself, “What am I doing on a daily basis that’s not generating income for me right now?” Let go some of that work, so you can get back to enjoying your entrepreneurship. Tap back into your creative energies so you can be prosperous and not tired, rundown and headed for a burnout. Get creative in finding your help. Here in Raleigh I know that NC State has a strong intern program, as does Meredith and Peace. Go for it and enjoy your life’s work again!

On Not Making the Book Club Finish Line

2009-06-25T22:33:00.003-04:00

I have a confession to make: I’m not going to finish my book club book this month. It’s not the first time and probably won’t be the last. The worst part is that I’m the facilitator and should finish the book since I’m the leader and all that. I feel like I’m letting the group down but even if I stayed up all night, I know I still couldn’t finish it. Yes, my fellow Wonderland Book Clubbers, Alice did the best she could, but I didn't make it.

I long for the days six years ago when I’d finish my book club selections months ahead of schedule. Back then when my son was a baby I had more time since I wasn’t working and I wasn’t in grad school. Even while I was in grad school, I still finished my books of the month. That was because I’d have a whole day to read these books – a whole chunk of hours devoted to digesting the plot, theme, symbols and character motivations. I could experience the plot turns and twists and not have any random spoilers hit me on book club day.

Ahh, it was lovely.

Nowadays, I don’t have a whole day to read unless I cram on a Sunday like I did a week ago when I was invited to my friend’s book club as a guest facilitator. I had to finish the book, or it would have been embarrassment all around. Because I had to finish that book, I lost time on finishing my book club book this week. I also had four editing projects the week before. Yes, I know. Excuses, excuses.

Not only do I need to read for book club, I have to read for my book reviews, too. I also read in the car and always have my “to read” book in my tote bag so I can consume a few pages while waiting in the carpool line or at the bank. Since I’m not given any time to read, I have to take my reading time by force. If you happen upon me at the Y, you’ll probably me find me working out on the Stairmaster or the stationary bike with my book.

Because of all the books I’ve had to read efficiently, I’ve learned that I can read about 100 pages in two hours, depending upon the font size and reading difficulty, of course. I’ve learned not to read in bed or on the couch at night – too easy to fall asleep. Instead, I sit at the dining room or in my husband’s office in a straight-backed chair. I’ve sacrificed many nights of sleep to finish books, getting a few hours of sleep from 1-3 am and then witnessing the dawn. It’s a good clue that it’s time to lie down when the words jumble up and I start dreaming the words and sentences.

But you have to know that I do envy the folks who have finished their book club books way before the discussion. Good for them! I don’t like to be defeated by a book, but sometimes I know I must concede defeat. I know that I’m only human and that there’s only so much I can get done in a given day. And I want you to know that I’ll finish that darn book, even if it’s a few days after book club.

OK, so what about you? Have you ever shown up at book club without having finished the whole book? Did you admit it to the others?

Widows of Eastwick

2009-06-22T22:22:00.002-04:00

The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike

My review

rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
The Widows of Eastwick is John Updike's last published book (he died January 27th, 2009 of lung cancer)and just because it was his last book, that in itself is worth the read. I love Updike's short story, "A&P" but haven't had the pleaure of reading any of his novels -- "Widows" was my first foray into Updikeland. I enjoyed his tangents about aging, loss and decreptitude. These are all surely issues that were on his mind as he was sick with lung cancer. The book, however, is mostly a self-indulgent mess without any real plot or point. But, because it's Updike, there are memorable lines such as this one, "We all are swaying on the makeshift rope bridge that society suspends above the crevasse."

Updike spends a unnecessary amount of time detailing two of the witches (now widows) worldwide travels in the Canadian Rockies, China and in Egypt -- when are we going to get on with the story? The plot then reunites the three: Alexandra, the oldest and fattest, Jane, the meanest, and Sukie the sweetest. They decide to spend the summer in their old haunts of Eastwick and share a condo at Darryl Van Horne's old residence (I was very disappointed that Darryl didn't make an appearance in this sequel). They try to start up their old tricks without their age slowing them down -- Sukie meets her old lover, Tommy, and Alexandra makes contact with her almost estranged daughter, Marcy. Their age does slow them down and they know that their powers may be gone soon as well (the youngest, Sukie, is in her late 60s and Alexandra is 74). The antagonist in this book is not so much the town or society, but rather death and how the witches fear it because they know they haven't made peace with what they've done. Alexandra is the most likeable and emotional center of the novel and she knows what she has to do to make the wrongs right, although she may die before she sees anything good happen.

To me this novel was merely OK - 2.5 out of 5. May Updike be remembered for his many other creative works.

View all my reviews.

Elisa Lorello, FAKING IT, My Guest Author

2009-06-12T00:08:00.005-04:00

Today I'm featuring Elisa Lorello, the author of FAKING IT as my guest author.

FAKING IT is Elisa's first novel and after reading the first couple of chapters, I'm hooked! (book review coming soon). Check out the cool cover, too! The premise: What happens when an uptight composition professor and an escort become friends? This is what happens to 34-year-old Andi Cutrone who meets Devin, a handsome escort after breaking up with her fiance. Trouble ensues when Andi begins a long distance relationship with Sam as she grows closer to Devin.

FAKING IT is now available at Lulu.com, Quail Ridge Books and Music in Raleigh, NC, and Baker Books in N. Dartmouth, MA. It is also available on Amazon Kindle for under two dollars.

For more information, go to Elisa's website, or contact Elisa directly.

I asked Elisa several questions and here's what she offered me and my readers:

How did you get started with your writing career?Before I answer your question, I want to thank you for hosting me on your blog today, Alice, and for all the work you do in and for the writing community—we’re so lucky to have you!

So, to answer your question: Do you mean my career as a fiction writer? I’ve been writing for a long time, but there was a time when I didn’t believe myself to be a novelist. I don’t think I got organized in terms of a career until I moved from Massachusetts to North Carolina in 2006. I had written FAKING IT from ’04-05, but wasn’t sure what to do with the manuscript once it was done, or what the process was in terms of getting it published.

When I relocated, however, Stacey Cochran (author of *Claws* and *The Colorado Sequence*) was one of the first people I met. We shared an office at NC State, got to talking about publishing, and he mentored me through the process of querying agents and getting feedback. Then, when he started hosting the panel events for the Write2Publish Meetup group, I attended every single one on publishing, getting an agent, etc., as well as self-publishing. Then I met more and more writers, and started to really get clear on my intentions as an author.

What did you do before you launched your writing career? I was teaching first-year writing (typically known as freshman composition) full time at the university level. Still do, but the course has gotten much more rigorous and academic in nature. I’d eventually like to teach part time. I love being in the classroom, though.

What are some key successful traits of authors?The authors I admire have integrity about their work. They also have quite a bit of discipline. They seem to be focused and have very clear intentions about their goals. They’re also humble about their work and their commercial successes.

When did you know you wanted to write? What made you want to be a writer?I don’t think I ever wanted to *be* a writer – I simply *was* a writer. I just knew that this was something I was good at very early on when I was a child, something that came easier to me than other things such as drawing or music. It was the one constant in my life, no matter what was going on or where I wound up. Writing has always been my friend.

Many things got in the way of making it a career earlier in life, however; namely, fears of not being able to make a living or not knowing how to get published, among other life circumstances/events. I don’t regret the path I took, however.

Going to grad school in 2000 was a major turning point. That’s when I really learned the craft of writing and learned rhetoric and composition theory. I had also fallen in love with teaching and pursued that career path. I already had the idea for FAKING IT, but had put off writing it for almost five years because I didn’t believe myself to be a fiction writer. But the desire for it to be born was just so great that I had to do it, and that’s when the floodgates broke. Ever since then, my desire to write and publish novels has been alive and intense.

What tips can you give authors for getting their work out there and getting published?First of all, maintain integrity about your work, regardless of whether you self-publish or go the traditional route. Get critical feedback. Make sure it’s well-edited. There are a lot of factors involved in getting your foot in the door, but what’s going to determine how far you get is the quality of the work.

But your work doesn’t stop after you’ve written your book. There’s more competition than ever, and even if you get a traditional publisher, you can’t just sit around and expect them to pay and promote you. You’ve got to put in the effort. That means booking appearances to do readings/signings, blog tours, using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, participating in discussion forums, etc. Attend conferences if you can afford to. Know something about the market and about the agents you’re querying. Don’t just send out a form letter—querying an agent is like writing a cover letter for a job. Each has a specific audience and purpose.

Don’t make it all about you. Attend other authors’ readings. Follow other blog tours. Or, if you have your own blog, offer to host them on their tour. So many writers are extremely generous when it comes to helping other writers. I do everything I can to be a part of this generosity. When querying an agent, it’s not about what that agent can do for you; it’s about what you can do for that agent. You want to persuade an agent that you’ll make them money, and that you’re going to help make your book a success.

Finally, be persistent, and be clear about your goals. Just because one agent or publisher says your book isn’t for them, it doesn’t mean there’s not another one. It doesn’t mean there isn’t an audience. I knew without a doubt that there was an audience for FAKING IT once I finished it, and ultimately I decided not to wait for the publisher to come to me. But I will query agents for my next novel when it’s ready.

What tips can you give authors for staying motivated since in this business rejection is the name of the game?I was lucky in that I learned a lot about rejection from growing up with three brothers in the music business. They’re mega-talented, but got a lot of rejections from record companies. And these were the days before CDs and digital media, when there weren’t any other options beside sending demos to record companies and playing at colleges and bars. Thus, I have a really good attitude about it as far as the business goes.

For one thing, I learned that rejection doesn’t automatically signify a lack of talent. I’ve gotten some terrific rejection letters from agents and even an executive editor from a major publishing company who told me that my writing was very good, but the novel wasn’t for them for one reason or another. And those reasons can be very helpful. For example, early on, one agent told me that FAKING IT was very good, but not long enough and thus she would have a hard time selling it to a publisher. As a result, I revised and nearly doubled its word count, which then resulted in a much better book content- and story-wise, let alone length-wise.

Bottom line: rejections can sting, but move on and don’t take them personally. This is a subjective field. What one person doesn’t care for, another person may love. You’ve just got to find that person. It’s a lot like dating, actually (wish I had made that connection sooner—could’ve saved me a lot of heartache…). Each rejection is an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to get better at your craft.

(And by the way, my brothers went on to successful, satisfying music careers even though they never got the record deal.)

What does your typical day look like for you?Depends on what time of the year it is. When school is in session, I have my schedule of classes, office hours, grading papers, meeting with students, and then I come home and decompress from all that, usually with an hour or two of television. Teaching takes up a lot of energy, so even though I try to write or work on whatever manuscript is currently in progress, I don’t get much done. I’m a lousy multi-tasker (I blame this on being Italian). But just because I’m not physically typing doesn’t mean I’m not writing. I’m constantly composing mentally in the shower, the car, the grocery store, etc.

During the summer, however, I typically get into a routine of reading in the morning, writing in the afternoon, some breaks in between, then television, then writing in my journal or reading before bed. Some days the writing is happening mentally (see above).

This summer, however, has been anything but typical because I’m published for the first time. Promoting and selling a book is very time-consuming. I also have this pesky little Facebook addiction, so I spend more time there than I should. I justify this, however, because Facebook has been a huge part of my success in terms of promoting and selling FAKING IT.

I’ve not had a typical day yet since the semester ended; however, I’ve been pretty productive, for the most part. Very, very busy, but in a good way. I love it.

Describe your desk/workspace. I don’t really have one! It’s wherever I want to be, which is usually my apartment or my regular coffeeshop. I have an office on campus, but it’s windowless and I share it with five other people. Not at all conducive to writing. I need a window to stare out of when I’m writing.

I typically start the day at my dining table with my laptop, but eventually I wind up taking it to the couch, the bedroom, or the aforementioned coffeeshop. I would love to have an extra room devoted solely for writing and reading, but I haven’t sold enough books yet. Operative word being *yet*.

Tell me your three favorite books

*Straight Man* by Richard Russo
*Met Talk Pretty One Day* by David Sedaris
*A Walk in the Woods* by Bill Bryson. But I especially love this one on audio, read by Bryson himself. He’s got the best reading voice ever, especially for his own work. I also need to mention that I’m highly influenced by Nora Ephron and Aaron Sorkin as well.

What advice can you give to other writers?That I haven’t already said? READ. Read read read read read.What’s the best and worst part of being a writer?Best part: The ocean of possibilities! There are so many what-ifs waiting to be born. There’s so much inspiration and experience to draw from. That, and the language. I just love the words, the sounds and rhythm of words and sentences, the construction of them, etc. I love the act of creating.

I also love when my writing touches someone else, be it through a character or a storyline. I especially love when my writing makes people laugh.

Worst part: Writers block is no fun. And in terms of being an independent author, it’s sometimes exhausting and overwhelming to wear so many hats. I’m my own agent, editor, publisher, publicity and marketing director, graphic artist, bookseller, you name it. And, like I said earlier, I’m not a good multi-tasker, nor am I well-organized. The Italian thing again.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing and/or working?
Very ordinary things. I’m a creature of habit. For instance, I enjoy watching certain TV shows religiously, but nothing currently running (with the exception of *The Daily Show* and *The Colbert Report*). I’m only now getting into *Boston Legal*, so I’ve been renting the DVDs and watching the episodes in order – fabulous. Before that, it was *Gilmore Girls*. I’ve also watched everything Aaron Sorkin has been attached to, especially *The West Wing*. I watched *The West Wing* constantly when I wrote FAKING IT, and I learned so much about the rhythm of dialogue thanks to Aaron Sorkin.

I enjoy driving home to Long Island to be with family or southeastern Massachusetts to be with friends whenever I can (not as much as I like to). I also play the acoustic guitar (only for myself—never in front of others!), and I know this is so stereotypical of writers, but I really enjoy reading and hanging out in coffeeshops and bookstores!

And I really like to bake. My colleagues at school love when I join their committee not because of my expertise, but because I show up to meetings with an assortment of biscotti, muffins, and brownies. (Yummm!)

Well, thank you, Elisa - you've given us a lot of great advice and insight and I appreciate the time you took with my questions! I wish you the best success with FAKING IT!

Again, FAKING IT is available FAKING IT is now available at Lulu.com, Quail Ridge Books and Music in Raleigh, NC, and Baker Books in N. Dartmouth, MA. It is also available on Amazon Kindle for under two dollars.

Family Tree Book Review

2009-06-10T21:17:00.001-04:00

Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
I first learned about this book while reading a "Reading Group Guide" and I thought to myself that this was an intriguing story: a white couple have an African American baby. The husband is a Boston blue blood (Hugh) and his wife (Dana) doesn't know anything about her father. Well, you all know that I rarely give anything below a "3" for a book rating, but this novel (if you can call it a novel) by Barbara Delinsky was not ready for prime time. In fact, my clients' manuscripts that I'm currently editing are head over heals better. Why was this book so bad? It was almost all expository dialogue, there was too much repetition (this is called chewing the food for the reader), the characters were cardboard cut-outs, the plot skirted deep-seated issues of race and family in favor of taking the easy way out: our couple get together at the end and the wife finds her father and everyone loves the baby and themselves even more with the big "discovery" at the end.

Almost everyone in my book club hated this book and one member said, "It was the Nancy Drew for moms!" Meaning that Dana hustled her newborn baby with her everywhere and was full of energy and zip. However, all of us agreed that Delinsky captured the world of the knitter very well, thus showing what it means to build emotional ties with women. Of course, knitting is a metaphor for mixed blood. Here's a ham-fisted example of Delinsky's dialogue (p. 302):

Saundra fingered the hem of the shawl. "You do a beautiful job. This is perfect wool."

"It's part alpaca, part silk." (Dana said)

"Alpaca for warmth, silk for strength and sheen -- it takes the best from both. There's something to be said about blends, you know?"

ARRGHHH -- give me a break!

Many of the book club members also wondered why Delinsky was pushing so hard to get into the book club market -- who was she really writing for? I want to believe that most readers in book clubs wouldn't like this book, but I could be wrong. It's not literary fiction and it's not a romance. In fact, if it hadn't been our book club selection for May, Family Tree would stil be on my shelf with a bookmark stuck on page 25.

If you've read this book, please share your opinion with me!

View all my reviews.

12 Tips for a Successful Business Expo

2009-06-09T11:10:00.004-04:00

I’ve been to my share of job fairs, trade shows and vendor expos and figured it was time to have my own booth! Last Thursday, June 4th I represented my writing and editing business (“Write from the Inside Out”) at the Women Helping Women Business Expo held at the Wake County Shrine Club. This event was entirely volunteer-run by my women’s networking organization Coffee and Contacts and it was the largest event that Coffee and Contacts had ever organized in the two years that C&C has been in existence.

In the months leading up to the Expo I attended a few vendor fairs/business expos and asked the vendors questions about what makes a booth successful.

Here are a few tips I learned:

Stay at your booth because if you don’t you might miss a perspective customer/client. I know there’ll be times when you do have to leave, but make it as quick as possible! Or you can have a helper (see next).

Have a helper. Having someone help you carry your booth stuff (which may take you 2-3 trips from your car to your spot on the expo floor) and be there when you need to leave for a short break makes all of the different. Next time, I’ll definitely have a helper who knows about what I do and can promote me well if I’m not on hand.

Don’t dump all of your promotional items on the table, just have a few out. I bought “Write from the Inside Out” pens and letter openers from Jonas and Simone Sobral of Victory Trophies and Gifts in Wake Forest. Simone told me to have just a few of my products out so that visitors won’t “grab-bag” my stuff in quantities of 20 or more. Also, having a few things out will make the display less cluttered and more appealing.

Display your wares using different heights by using boxes (such as carry-on file boxes) that you cover with colored fabric (pick some up at Jo-Ann’s Fabrics). In order to give your display height and drama, consider taking boxes from around the house and draping them with bright fabrics. I didn’t have draped boxes this time at the Expo, but if I did, I would have displayed my laptop on top of a box. It’s also a good idea to have a tri-panel to give height and contrast to your table.

Have a fish bowl with registration slips for an “Enter to Win” contest. Everyone loves a contest and with the fish bowl you can collect names for your newsletter or upcoming workshops. I gave away consulting, but a basket of soaps, candles and/or cosmetics would have been more attractive, but that’s not my business.

Display a colorful banner. Bring your own tablecloths and drapes along with a bold banner. I used a whiteboard easel as my banner.

Run a video clip. I figured that showing folks via a video clip of what an Open Mic actually looks like would invite questions and would get people more interested in my booth. It worked! My 3:14 minute video of my last Open Mic was a winner with the song “Say” by John Mayer featured prominently in the background. However next time I’ll figure out how to loop the video so that I won’t be standing there with my mouse punching the start button every three minutes.

Bring snacks and water. Simone also told me to bring snacks and water. This is especially important for a daylong expo. Ours was only three hours, but I still glad I had enough water and a tuna fish sandwich for energy.

Bring your camera. Before the Expo I took several shots of my neighboring tables and had a few friends take some of me with my booth, so I could post them later on my blog and on Facebook.

Chocolate! What would a Women’s Expo be without chocolate! I had plenty of dark chocolate on hand as well as homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Have plenty of handouts/flyers. My most popular items on my table were my Summer Workshop flyers and my upcoming Open Mic flyers. Folks love to grab a colored flyer that has handy information.

And above all, wear comfortable shoes! Since the Expo was only three hours, I figured I could make it in my high heels. I did, since they’re quite broken in, but for a longer expo, I’d definitely wear my clunky, squared-heeled shoes or boots.

I’d also advise aspiring booth vendors to set aside enough time to prepare all of your displays and wares. I kid you not; it took me two working days and nights to pull everything together. I didn’t do anything else for two days except Expo stuff, which included printing, cutting, shopping, stenciling, gluing, and sorting. I’d also advise that you give yourself plenty of time to set everything up so you don’t feel rushed like I did.

And all of this prep work is well worth it when you have folks comment on how nice your booth looks or stop by and linger to learn more about what you do.

Networking Don'ts

2009-05-28T12:50:00.000-04:00

I’ve written a great deal about how to network effectively; I’ve also shared how you can make the most of your networking time when you do meet someone with whom you can share information and referrals in order to grow your business. Business development, as you know, is vital for entrepreneurs and sales professionals. Then I realized that there’s a lot of things that can go wrong while you’re out there networking and connecting with people. I’ve done all of these “don’ts” below and I thought I’d save you the time and trauma when you’re meeting with someone else for the first time to talk about your business.

Meeting at the wrong restaurant or meeting place. There are a lot of Paneras, Borders and sushi restaurants in the Triangle – make sure you’re meeting your person in the right one! I’ve sent folks over to the Borders on Six Forks/550 when I should have said “Borders Inside the Beltline.” It helps to be specific almost to the point where you think you’re insulting your networking colleague, but that’s OK! She’ll appreciate you saving her the driving time. Also mention when you set up the meeting whether you’ll be inside or outside. I can’t say it enough – be specific!
Don’t be late, especially if your person doesn’t know what you look like. No one wants to wonder around shouting “Nancy, Nancy – I have a meeting with Nancy!” in a public place. If you are late, please call. Before you leave the house, make sure you have the other person’s phone number.
No phone number. How can you make the call that you’re going to be late without a phone number? I’ve made this mistake quite a few times; you think you have the number in your cell phone or business card pack, but it’s not there! In order to plan my panic properly, I record my person’s number in my daytimer next to the time I’m meeting them. This tip has saved me so many times!
Not having your business cards or having dirty business cards. You wouldn’t go out in public with a tear in your pants or a big coffee stain on your shirt, would you? The same goes for having no business cards or having cards that look like your two-year-old got a hold of them. Plan your attack by having a fresh supply of clean cards ready to go the night before. Keep your stack in a box or holder that’s separated from the contents of your purse, so no crumbs can attach themselves to the sides of your cards. (Now if your cards are black you may see less of this issue.)
Talking all about yourself. Sure it’s fun to talk about yourself, but you want a conversation, not a monologue. Take turns telling the other person about your product/service and who your ideal clients or referral partners are. If you feel you’ve gone on too long, stop yourself and say, “Enough about me, tell me more about you.” Your new friend will certainly appreciate it!
No follow up. If someone has taken the time out of their busy schedule to meet with you, the least you can do is followup with them on Facebook or Tweet them a message. Better yet, send them an email with a few helpful links, information or contacts. You’re putting yourself in their minds as a thought-leader and you have just made yourself that much more valuable.

Effective networking takes some preparation so you come off looking like the professional you are. Be strong, be bold and try not to make these above mistakes (or at least limit yourself to 1 per week!).

Stacey Cochran, CLAWS, my guest author

2009-05-17T19:10:00.004-04:00

Stacey Cochran is my guest blogger this week. He's the author of CLAWS, his latest novel, as well as the Colorado Sequence. Stacey teaches writing at NCSU and is the organizer of ever-growing Write 2 Publish Meetup group, which promotes authors, publishing and writing in the Raleigh area. To find out more info about Stacey, please visit his website here.

How to Publish a Book Blog by Stacey Cochran

Sunday, May 17, 2009

How to Publish a Book: CLAWS Book Tour Day 3
Day 3 of my 45-day blog tour sees me visiting my good friend Alice Osborn's blog. At her place today, I discuss the background and motivation driving the writing of CLAWS. Yesterday, I was able to line up another interview. This one will be a Skype interview to air at podioracket.com. For those who haven't tried Skype yet (yesterday I made my first Skype call), it's essentially a way to make phone calls using your computer. Basically, you just talk into the internal mike on your computer to the person on the other end and they speak back through your computer's speakers (note: this is the non-technical definition). It's really pretty neat. So what the gals at podioracket.com are doing is an audio-interview call-in show with authors who publish their books at Podiobooks.comIt's an inspiring programming model. 10:30 am est

How the Recession Has Affected Me

2009-05-02T21:37:00.001-04:00

They say it’s not as bad as the Great Depression, but this repression may mean that we’ve lost our jobs, we can’t afford our mortgages, or that we can’t afford that tune up for our car or that dry cleaning this week. I believe I started preparing for the downturn September 29th 2008 when the bailout plan was rejected, the Dow fell 777.68 points, and Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy. I knew then that I had to step up my game and become more aware.

Last year I had a well-paying freelancing gig, and well, that’s gone now due to decreased ad revenues. But thankfully, with my hustling and networking, I’m managing to have one new editing client a week without the steady freelancing income – yay! How did I do this, you may ask? I found a business coach who was offering a 100-day special for one dollar a day. He clarified my goals, made sure I had a business plan, and suggested that I re-set my fees to reflect my value. And, boy, did it work! I redesigned my brochures and social media strategy, and I started to keep track of referrals and I how many people I presented to each week. I’m gaining ground and my 90-day plan includes learning more about video and video editing so that I can help authors with their video needs (I’ve got a long way to go here, but stayed tuned!).

In other ways the recession has affected my volunteer focus. I’m not volunteering as much for Daniel’s school as I did last year because my volunteer commitments are now tied up with my networking, which helps my business. I’m now the organizer of North Raleigh Coffee and Contacts, a women’s referral and business networking group and I’m the Raleigh Regional Representative for the NC Writers’ Network, where I plan open mics and writers’ networking opportunities. I treat my time as my most precious commodity and I calendar block to make sure I’m not spinning my wheels not knowing what to start first.

As for individual cost-cutting, I no longer buy department store makeup, I’ve stopped buying books from Amazon (I go to Falls River Books, a used bookstore instead), and I do my own hair touchups and my mother-in-law Barbara cuts my hair and does my brow waxing. I reworked my cell phone plan and I now use my landline to save minutes on weekdays. I order my prescriptions online. I’ve also learned how to negotiate everything and ask for the special deal. Generally, I’m shy about asking for the better deal, but I know if I don’t ask, Hubby will make me feel very guilty! The gas crunch last year made me really think about my driving routes and if an errand is out of my way, I save it for the day when I’m passing by that location.

Another way of saving money is keeping to my grocery list and buying items that have a coupon and are on sale, which is not the easiest thing to do. I’m excited that the Falls River Town Center Farmer’s Market is almost open since this will be the place to buy fresh veggies and fruit, which my kids and Hubby love. We’re about two minutes from Falls River Town Center and I’ve patronized as many of the merchants there as possible so I can keep my dollars local.

This recession won’t last forever and I think that those of us who are mindful and who are acting lean will be the winners. We’ll be able to emerge from this downturn with strength and we many even be too busy with our businesses, which in my mind is a good problem to have.

The Stone Diaries Book Review

2009-04-25T23:07:00.001-04:00

The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I stayed up all night to finish this book and I can't say that I've done this successfully with many books. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields is well-written, compelling and very sad. In a nutshell, this is a fictional autobiography of one woman's life from birth to death and it is told through witnesses and the subject herself.

I was frustrated that Daisy Stone Goodwill Hoad Flett didn't clearly express herself, that she didn't have a passionate sex life and that didn't like to take too many risks. Daisy didn't know how like so mnay women of her generation (born in the early 1900s -- the same age as my grandmother). She also didn't question her circumstances, although to be fair she did take charge of her life once, which led to her marriage to Barker (who helped raise her). Besides her 9-year run as a freelance gardening writer, her life wasn't very fulfilling. She did have two wonderful female friendships and she was close to her grand-niece at the end, but I never quite felt connected to Daisy as I did to Aunt Clarentine, the neighbor who raised her after her mother died in childbirth and the mother of her future husband, Barker. Unfortunately, Daisy is stuck in her role for society as a wife and mother. She never breaks out of this pattern and I wonder if she ever really wanted to. She has a habit of subsuming herself and pretending she is not as smart as she is, which bothered me. As a result, her family and friends never gave her the credit and respect she deserved and they blamed her birth story for her depression and unhappiness. This book asks, was Daisy a good mother? What was missing from her life? What did she really feel? I think she did the best she could we what she had and she never knew what was missing in her life until after she died and then had access to all of this other information that's in the book. And finally, this book doesn't address her feelings, which she never felt she had the permission to express to anyone.

Shields is a master wordsmith and craftsman. She even adds a fantastic family tree in the book, as well as real photographs (some from her own family). I loved how well she managed the point of view shifts when lesser writers would have bungled it and all of her dialogue was real and even ironic/funny in some instances. I loved how she let her reader read between the lines and how poetic and symbolic she was. This book lends itself so well to book club discussions and my group could clearly say that The Stone Diaries was one of the best books we discussed in the year that we've been meeting.

View all my reviews.

Facebook Etiquette

2009-04-04T17:42:00.001-04:00

Most of us are on Facebook (FB) these days and I bet there’s a good chance we weren’t even using it last year. A friend invited you and now you’re engrossed. Or maybe you’re on FB, but you’re not sure if you’re using it right. Somehow I amassed 350 friends and I’m still learning as I go.
We’ve entered this huge technological sphere and no one has told us the proper rules of the road because everything moves so fast in cyberspace. It still is the Wild West out there! Most of us are going to make social media mistakes, but wouldn’t it be better if had more information and knew about what not to do?
In the interest of community service, I’ve developed…
Eight Facebook Netiquette Rules of the Road
1. Do fill out your profile to the best of your ability. Many women list their maiden name as their middle name so their school friends can find them. Under “Favorite Books” and “Favorite Movies,” go ahead and list what you like. Don’t just say you like everything. And do post a good picture that shows your face and is an actual picture of you. Try not to use a picture with you and your significant since this is YOUR Facebook page and don’t substitute a photo of your cat or dog for yourself. Folks will wonder what you’re hiding.
2. Once you have a few friends, see what they’re posting and how they are using Facebook. Ask yourself if you want to use FB as a social or a business tool or both. Listen! Observe! See what status updates make you want to read more and see what you don’t like (i.e. goofy applications running wild all over your page).
3. Now jump in and comment on other friends’ posts. Comment on their photos. Post photos of your own. Don’t be ghost; stay involved and you’ll get more out FB. Be sure to read your Inbox and respond to your messages. People hate it when they send you a FB message and there’s no response.
4. Don’t write how sick your children are on your friends’ walls because EVERYONE gets your wall post*.Save that for a private message. Walls are for quick comments, not for telling everyone where you’re going to grab that drink after work. *There’s a tool to hide your friends’ posts. I find this particular useful for friends who like to post political invectives.
5. Once you get the hang of FB, see what you can do to be an information broker. Suggest friends for other friends. Don’t know what to post in your status update? Send a useful link, a video, give a tip, tell your friends what you’re reading, what you’re watching, where you’re drinking your coffee, etc. I post where I’m speaking or presenting workshops and usually I get a lot of cool feedback. I also post a lot of photo albums. I add captions as well as tag my friends. I try not to post unflattering pics but if a friend doesn’t like a particular shot, I delete it since I’m praying they’d do the same for me.
6. If you have a side business or a main business that requires a lot of outside sales, DON’T push market, OK? That’s not adding value or helping people. It’s fine that you list your website on your Info page, but don’t solicit.
7. Don’t put anything out there you may regret. That includes bad taste jokes (my hubby has veered in this direction, oops!), curse words, sexually motivated posts…you get the idea. I’ve seen some status updates that have been downright rude…what’s up with that?
8. That being said, you don’t have to connect with everyone who wants to be your friend. If you know a particular person is prone to doing crazy things, you don’t want to be tarred with the same brush. I hate that this is how the world works, but it’s true.
And there you have it. I wish you the best in your Facebook adventures and feel free to friend me!
Social Media Sites I Recommend
Del.icio.us – social bookmarking web service
Facebook – great tool to combine friends and business
Flickr – for posting your photos
FriendFeed – great for linking social media sites
LinkedIn – very business-oriented site
SlideShare – presentation sharing website
StumbleUpon – rates and discovers websites, videos and photos
Twitter– much more current than Facebook
Inside 919 – Great for local businesses in the 919 area code. Very active group that encourages face-to-face meetings, too
Technorati (“claim” your blog at minimum)
YouTube (along with other video distribution platforms: Vimeo, Viddler, Revver, Yahoo video, etc.)
DocStoc – find free legal and business documents
Scribd – embed documents into a web page

For Free and For Fun by Christopher Morrissette

2009-04-04T17:39:00.001-04:00

For Free and For Fun: How To Ask For the Appointment and Get It by Christopher Morrissette

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Chris Morrissette's For Free and For Fun: How to Ask for the Appointment and Get It articulates how to stand apart from your competititors and how to thrive in any economy, tough or not. Chris successfully breaks down what everyone should do in business: help other people and provide value. He provides useful scripts for when you're making that cold call to get that necessary appointment, while keeping an upbeat and humorous tone. I also loved the fact that Chris added specifics on how to manage your time with social media and technology.And throughout the book, Chris includes pages from his workbook, so you can jot ideas and notes and retool your "Helping" script. Chris the author is just like Chris the person and I can attest that Chris is just as smart and goofy as he portrays himself in his book! I carry this book in my purse so I can recommend it everyone I come into contact with.

View all my reviews.

Parking Lot Feng Shui

2009-03-29T17:39:00.003-04:00

I have a thing with parking lots: some are great spaces and others stress me out. Perhaps my issue goes back to when I first started driving and hit a few cars in parking lots and in parking garages. I hate tight spaces in any form! Now give me a tight parking garage space with a parallel-parked car behind me and I’m done for. I have sweaty palms when I cruise down the slope that is the Corcoran Street parking garage in Durham and most Harris Teeter lots give me the chills. And now that I have a newish car (less than two years old), I’m hyper-concerned about where I park. My husband’s the same way. A year ago my husband’s company moved to a new location and Hubby didn’t like this parking lot. “It’s too hilly and the spaces are too tight.” He solved the issue by parking in the back and by parking in the last possible row.

I do the same thing and I really parked far away when I first owned my first new car – a 1996 red Mustang. I used to park it on the side, but then the other employees (and I knew it was them since we hosted very few visitors), but slightly ding my car. I remember taking it to the body shop almost every day. I stopped doing this when the body shop manager thought I had OCD, and instead parked my car in the back next to a Dodge Intrepid. My parking friend also didn’t want his car hit by reckless co-workers who had too many bags and papers to close doors properly.

So what makes a good or bad lot? A good lot has plenty of wide spaces and it’s flat. A bad lot has hills with tight spaces and multiple entrances. In other words, it has bad feng shui.

I think that where you park in a parking lot says a lot about you. You already know that I park far away from everyone else, but here’s a parking lot etiquette nugget I learned from a veteran saleslady when I just entered the job market after college. I was on this extended ad exec interview for a local paper in Charleston (I didn’t get the job) and she told me that we couldn’t park in the front by the store. “Why?” I asked. She said, “Because those spaces are for customers and we’re not buying anything. We don’t want to make the owner angry right off the bat by taking up his spaces.” And she was right. When I later interviewed at Belk for an assistant store manager position, I impressed the security guy who later told the store manager, “She knows something about customer service: she didn’t want to take up your customer spots. You should hire her.” And they did.

I’ve trained my son Daniel to look for spaces at the Y and have told him not to help me find the handicapped spaces. Unlike some kids, he never complains that we have to walk a certain distance to get to the front door since he knows that our car won’t get dinged the further we park and the more hemmed in we are by a median.

Networking for Moms

2009-03-29T17:35:00.002-04:00

Pictured Judy Homer and Christina Hagan
It’s a scary world out there if you’re considering going back in the work force after you’ve been a stay-at-home mom for a while. It’s probably scarier after you’ve given birth to your first child since your identity has changed: you’re a mom now and that’s what some people will only see you as. Some women embrace being called “Kyle’s mom” instead of their given name, but others want to be known for themselves and to carve out a work identity. Of course, this can be very difficult if you’re a mom who has switched careers after the child, or who has taken a long break while staying at home with the kids.

So let’s say you’re a stay-at-home mom who wants to return to the working world as an entrepreneur or as a consultant. Or maybe you want to return to a job like your old one, but without the crazy hours. How do you get back into the swing of the working world before you’re even there? Morning and lunchtime networking groups, that’s how. They are all over the Triangle and some meetings correspond to preschool hours, so you won’t need to have someone watch your child. In these groups there are women who are solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, artists, therapists, and those that are employed with a small business. I’m a member of several that meet on Wednesday mornings. They all run on a tight schedule, and they include introductions and a speaker. Maybe you don’t a job lined up and are looking, don’t know what’s out there, but you want your name to get out in circulation. In this case, networking groups can help. With a women-centered networking group, you can find supportive women you will get to know and trust, which will be especially important down the line, when you need someone in your corner when you’re looking at job possibilities.

But, you say, you don’t know the first thing about networking? No problem. Here are a few tips to get you prepared for your first networking group meeting.

• Go with a friend or know that you’ll meet your friend at that particular networking group. With a friend by your side, you can introduce her to other people and take some of the pressure off of yourself
• Have a goal before you enter the meeting room. Ask yourself, who do I want to meet today? It’s OK to say that you only want to meet one person or have one good conversation. Quality trumps quantity at these meetings since you’re there to build relationships and not to find a job when you walk out.
• Print up business cards and have plenty to give out. Make them simple with your name, number, address and hopefully the name of your blog – You do have a blog, right?
• Once at the networking meeting, be useful. Offer to help someone if they are looking for a name or product that’s within your area of expertise. And then make sure you follow up with that person that same day if possible.
• Work on how you’ll introduce yourself. If you’re not working say, “I’m a graphic artist looking for opportunities.” No one wants to hear that you have no money and you’ve been pounding the pavement for eight months without success.

I’m so grateful for my networking groups because they’ve provided me multiple chances to work on my introductions, to work on my presentation skills (I’m now a sought-after speaker), and to work on my people skills. If you go into these groups knowing that friendships and business relationships take time to develop, you’ll be joining for the right reasons, and you’ll have a net when you start your own business or make a career move.

What Gets Measured Gets Done

2009-03-29T17:27:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of being a guest at the last seminar of Rick Grandinetti’s Succeed Inside the Box five-week series. I learned a great deal about perception, goal-mastering and customers, and I also met some great business leaders at the event.

If you crossed a preacher with a business coach, you’d get Rick Grandinetti. Sharp, dynamic, always moving and always entertaining, Grandinetti, the founder and CEO of Morrisville-based VisionPlanning, Inc. uses the Socratic Method of rhetorical questioning to hone his points and persuade his audience to make changes in their life and in their business.

For 2009, Grandinetti is on a new mission to make individuals and, therefore, their businesses succeed even in this weak economy. For fifteen years, this former broker, sales expert, speaker and trainer, has focused on changing corporate paradigms and culture. His talent has solved problems for GlaxoSmithKline, Roche Laboratories, Qwest Communications, Andersen Windows, Public Broadcasting Service, and Ericsson, just to name a few. Besides corporate consulting, he’s presented thousands of keynote speeches and seminars. Now he’s using his expertise to fashion a series of public workshops called Succeed Inside the Box and will have a book by this same name out shortly.

Cary, North Carolina, was the first market for his Succeed Inside the Box seminar, which could be described as the most productive fifteen hours of MBA school squeezed into five weeks. The intensive series ran once a week for five weeks at three hours a piece. Twenty-three business owners and sales executives gathered at round tables to share information, success stories, and challenges. In order to meet and discuss with new people each time, participants rotated tables at the beginning of each session.

Grandinetti often reminded his participants to not blame the weak economy, to set oneself apart from the competition, dream big and to measure everything. Grandinetti stated, “I have the antidote for companies in either a good or a bad economy…because of this economy we’re forced to be business people. You need to distinguish yourself from the competition and do the opposite of what people don’t like about your competition.”

He continued, “I believe in making vision statements a reality. What gets measured gets done. Most people aim too low and hit it. If you don’t have a vision you’re going nowhere. Our vision statement is to make your vision statement a reality.” He then asked the participants what their BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) was to drive his point home about measuring everything. He emphasized, “This slow economy simply exposes a company’s many weaknesses that they should have corrected years ago.”

He also wanted the participants to recapture that “First Day Feeling.” He stated that many times entrepreneurs forget that first day feeling after they start their new venture since they get so bogged down in the daily minutiae of running a company. Sometimes they forget their passion and why they got into business for themselves in the first place. He challenged business owners to recall that initial motivation “and remember how good it felt” and carry it through to their next challenge. Morrisville Mayor Jan Faulkner remembered that first day of being mayor. She said, “When I won the election, I was thrilled, excited, and vowed to increase regional partnerships…I need to go back to Day One…that’s where I need to focus.”

Of course the conversation drifted back to the economy. Rick Grandinetti doesn’t blame the weak economy; rather he blames lame excuses from companies who aren’t examining their sales strategies. The same can be said for business owners who aren’t focused.

He shouted at the group, “It’s not like the Great Depression. We’re not even close. As soon as we seen negativity, we let go. Don’t subscribe to the recession; you’re just hurting your family. You’d protect your family at all costs, right?”

Then he focused on what companies can do to retain and gain customers with three points: solving their problems, retooling the selling process, and feedback. “You need to make your customers’ business better and ask yourself if you have the capabilities to solve customers’ problems. Don’t sell the way you like to sell. Sell to people the way they want to buy. Usually they don’t see how what you offer will make their life better. In addition, you have to get feedback from your customers. Really listen to your customers to find out what they want.”

Judging from the excitement and talkativeness of Rick Grandinetti’s Cary participants, his message of accountability and intention was a breakthrough for many. Grandinetii often stated, “I consult with companies who want to go from ordinary to extraordinary.” The same could be said of how his students, or followers, felt after capping their pens and pushing back their chairs. As they exchanged business cards, the I saw the particpants jump up to form their own Rick Grandinetti-inspired groups to get their weekly or monthly dose of motivation and focus. And even though I just attended one class, I already made three strong connections with my fellow participants.

On Chesil Beach Book Review

2009-03-29T17:21:00.001-04:00

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was drawn to this novel from the opening line, "They were young, educated, and both virgins on this, their wedding night, and they lived in a time when a conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible." Now if that doesn't pique your interest and/or set up the story's conflict, I don't know what will. I'm a fan of Ian McEwan, having read Saturday and Atonement, and I knew that I would be in for a ride with his latest book. It's much more compact and taut than the other books of his I read since it only focus on one night and two main characters, Florence and Edward. Like his other works, he focuses on a single moment and how that moment can have lifelong consequences for all of the parties involved. I gave this book a five out of five because in only 200 pages, I felt I knew these two characters, their social situations and what brought them to this moment in time on Chesil Beach in June 1962. If Florence had been more sexually aware, would the night have gone better. Or what if Edward had been more communicative? We can only guess. Or were these two young people even compatible with each other? They seemed so different and only met because they were both didn't want to be where they currently were.

On Chesil Beach is a short, fast read, yet McEwan's prose and the rich details he employs will linger with you long after you set the book back on the shelf. My book club really enjoyed it and we all felt deep sympathy for these two characters who were lost in their time.

View all my reviews.

Howling on Red Dirt Roads by Sara Claytor

2009-02-16T11:34:00.000-05:00

In Howling on Red Dirt Roads, poet Sara Claytor takes her readers on a Hermes-like journey from the land of the living to hell and back. It’s a journey on red dirt country roads crowded with bone and fire images, vibrant colors and memories, some tender and some still raw. Race relations, the Wizard of Oz, sex, snakes and the Bible are all explored either through tight, imagistic poetry or mini-prose narratives that sing with humor and sass. Claytor could be called a "Southern" poet because she's from the south and immerses her words in the land and people of the South, but she's more than that. She ponders cannibalism in "The Last Taboo," a murder that takes place in her former apartment in New York in "New York in the Those Days," and witches in "Salem Pyres."

Claytor uses her memories from childhood to create her "Miss Lottie Jenkins" and her "Miss Ginny May" linked poems — these are tales of eccentric small town women, one the Sunday School teacher and the other the town lesbian — who carved out their own lives amidst piety and sin, and faith and deception. A natural storyteller, she has the gift to inhabit other lives and treat the reader to the drama of a human life told in under forty lines.

In “Flesh from Bone,” we learn there might be a reason why Lottie’s favorite Bible story is Jezebel. Once Claytor paints the scene in the opening stanza, you know the poem will shift into darker territory:

Miss Lottie Jenkins
Lived alone with four cats,
taught Sunday school 39 years to 8-year-olds,
Her fervent Bible tale, Jezebel, wicked queen, thrown
from her balcony for wild street dogs to rip flesh from bone.
Blue eyes glazed when she described screams and growls,
Jezebel’s tiny white hand left intact.

***

Few happenings in a small town, occasional Saturday night brawl.
Murder seldom graces the scene. Only secrets of the past
Or family gossip rattle a placid surface. Miss Lottie’s father
Died at the kitchen table, slumped in his underwear,
Face buried in a bowl of potato soup. Some said heart attack;
Others said he drowned. His left hand was missing.

***

When he died, Richmond cousins found her daddy’s clothes
still hanging in an upstairs bedroom, the pants’ leg slashed.
Perhaps Miss Lottie’s soul dried up, too, grass into pale straw?
We mused & mulled, finally decided Jezebel’s evil a minor sin.
Who ever knows what’s being weighed on the scales of the night?

Another place Claytor shines is in her "Julia" poems, fragrant with Clorox and starch. The titular red dirt roads and bone images emerge in all eight poems to symbolize the enduring love between Claytor's and her "black mother.” In “Julia’s Invisible Fences,” Claytor writes, “You didn’t know pain from your belly from me or a stretching/of the thighs; no one told me about invisible fences/separating mother loves”.

Claytor often steps out of her mini-narratives into more abstract territory that creates a certain distance between the speaker and the reader. These darker poems celebrate our human frailties and limitations, yet they also invite a simple acknowledgment that not everything is within our control. In “Contained,” Claytor ponders the concrete and theoretical world of boxes.

Boxes define life’s parameters
Box of cigars at birth; box of candy for love;
box of memorabilia for old age; box of ashes
for death — chose a casket or a urn.

***
We crowd into small-minded boxes,
elbows banging walls, fingernails scraping,
breaking on the edges. We are lonely in boxes,
Our cells, our punishments, our purgatory.
No matter what red dirt road we travel:
We are boxed in or boxed out.

Claytor is talented poet not afraid to show her vulnerability on the page and takes risks with her verse when she could play it safe. Even though many of her poems deal with her journeys through life, Claytor’s hometown in Warren County, North Carolina is never too far away. Be on the lookout for more Sara Claytor poetry books packed with haints, harlots and photographic memories.

Devil in the White City Book Review

2009-02-03T15:46:00.000-05:00

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is the story of how the 1893 Chicago World's Fair (aka The White City) came to be and how a serial killer (best guess is that Holmes killed at least 200 people) used the fair as a replenishing resource of young women new to Chicago and its dangers. Erik Larson relies on the facts to carry out his ambitious project, for not only does he focus on the chief architect of the fair, Daniel Burnham, he also spends time with Dr. H.H.Holmes the serial killer, as well as the forces and culture of late nineteenth century America. What I found fascinating about this book was all of the "Forrest Gump" moments, meaning all of these great people (Buffalo Bill, Frank Lloyd Wright, Susan B. Anthony, Archduke Francis Ferdinand) converged on the fair at the same time and new innovations (spray paint, the Ferris wheel, AC/DC current, Shredded Wheat) were introduced at the fair. What was also neat was learning that Walt Disney and L. Frank Baum used the White City as inspiration for for their creative worlds.

"Devil in the White City" was my book club's first book of the year and although we mostly gave it 3 out of 5 stars, we felt that Larson adopted too much of a newspaperly tone, rather than a narrative one. We were expecting this book to read more like a Jon Krakauer book, but instead we got more of a history textbook. Now it wasn't dry in all places and Larson definitely has a sense of humor, but this book should have provided more invented dialogue and less direct quotes to give it more of a flow.

View all my reviews.

Book Review: Going Back to Work

2009-01-06T12:33:00.003-05:00

Going Back to Work: A Survival Guide for Comeback Moms by Mary W. Quigley

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This excellent resource is for women who have been stay-at-home moms for one year to fifteen years and want to go back to work. The co-authors, Mary Quigley and Loretta Kaufman constructed the book through 100 interviews and 1000 survey responses. They cover issues about balancing work and family, finding the right career (or job) for you and starting your own business. They even cover not getting lost on the information superhighway and managing guilt. My only problem with the book was that it could have be formatted with more white space in between topics and could have included less personal stories -- 100 people is a bit much to keep track of. However, I plan to use this book as a resource for my "Working Mom, Happy Mom" seminar series this fall. This book is used by Garla Smith and Michele Yanik in their Smart Moms business, which helps employ moms in part time admin jobs.

View all my reviews.

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

2008-12-30T23:13:00.000-05:00

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
Of the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, Club Dead (Book 3) was definitely better than Living Dead in Dallas (Book 2), but lacked the believable (or semi-believable) plot of Dead Until Dark (Book 1). Instead of action sequence after action sequence, Harris slows down the pace and lets Sookie think about her surroundings and what she wants: Does she want Bill or Eric or Alcide? Sometimes Harris has her thinking about people and consequences way after I thought was appropriate, but Harris usually never left anything out -- which was good. However, she failed to let us readers know WHY Bill left Sookie for Lorena in the first place and if he was even upset that Sookie staked her (a pitfall of 1st person point of view). But this is explained within the first pages of Book 4. I can tell that Harris doesn't like Bill much -- she's making him more and more flat and gives Alcide and Eric all of the juicy lines. (Eric: "You are speaking of my future lover. Be more respectful.") Alcide comes across as a real person, through Harris's very clear details, but Sookie forgets about him as soon as he's out of sight.

Sookie was less annoying, but she is so stubborn that she doesn't want anyone to give her anything, yet she's hoping Bill will give her a present or money (yet she doesn't want to be a kept woman). Talk about sending mixed messages. Sookie is coming from a lower class background and is very insecure financially. I'd like to see more of her insecurity explored in the next book. I also couldn't buy into all of the book's violence, which is getting too much for me. How many beatings (and a rape) can this girl take? I hope this trend ends soon. But at least the violence broke up the boring setting of the bar and the situation of the girl getting ready to go out on the town. Sookie's outfits are dated and Harris seems to think that Sarah McLaughlin's "Good Enough" has a beat -- no, it doesn't. It's weird -- some parts of the book are very authentic, such as the food (biscuits, gravy, furniture), but the clothing descriptions seem off to me. Women usually don't wear formal cocktail dresses to a night club -- that's the domain of beaded tanks and leather skirts.But Harris is funny -- even more funny than in Book 1. I especially liked Sookie mentioning her "vampire cleaning crew" which made me think of Sandra Boynton's "Birthday Monsters" (I guess you have to have kids to get this one).

The ludricrous plot of the computer vampire directory that's in Bill's possession felt forced and contrived, but it made it possible for the reader to know more about Weres. I'm so tired of Bubba and so relieved that Alan Ball never considered using him in the HBO Series. I also wished Harris would trust her reader's intelligence and stop repeating facts that we should know about Sookie (i.e. her telepathy, her not going to college, her Word-of-the-Day obsession). I suppose the author must balance repeating old information vs. valuing the memories of loyal readers, but Harris could have done a better job.

On the plus side, Club Dead was a fast read and I didn't get bored like I did with Living Dead in Dallas. Harris is a strong writer when she wants to be and I hope that the rest of the series will be worth my time. At least it'll tide me over till "True Blood" returns in June.

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Storyteller's Open Mic Night

2008-12-12T23:50:00.000-05:00

Storyteller's, an independent bookstore owned by Dr. Drew Bridges in Wake Forest, NC had its first Open Mic night tonight (Fri. 12/12). I organized it along with Drew's and Megan Cutter's help. It was a brilliant success! We had 14 readers who read memoir, flash fiction and poetry. Everyone had a great time. Stay tuned for more Storyteller's Open Mics.

Here are a few photos of Tim, Dave, Megan and Barton.

Pedestal Magazine Poetry Reading Event

2008-12-12T23:44:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday, December 7th, John Amen, founder and editor of The Pedestal Magazine, organized a poetry workshop with the NC Poetry Society and a reading that included 10 NC poets. My son Daniel and I attended and I read with the group. Here are a few pictures Daniel took of John Amen, me and Jaki Shelton Green, our new Piedmont Poet Laureate. This event was held at Market St. Books in Chapel Hill's Southern Village - it was all about poetry, selling our books, networking, food, drink and fellowship! What fun on a Sunday afternoon!

2008-12-07T22:30:00.000-05:00

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
I was glad to start "Living Dead in Dallas" as I was in the middle of "True Blood" on HBO since the series introduced many characters in Book 2 who will also become regulars in True Blood's Season 2. Creator Alan Ball has also mentioned that Season 2 will take a lot of inspiration from "Dead in Dallas," but I hope he improves on the novel.

The novel opens with Sookie finding the dead Lafayette in Andy Bellfleur's patrol car. She then has an encounter with the maenad (Marianne Forrester in the show) and then she and Bill head to Dallas to help Stan the Dallas vampire chief find his missing nestmate. Here in Dallas we meet the Fellowship of the Sun -- which I believe will be an important antagonist in Season 2. Sookie gets beat up a lot from beginning to end and after she and Bill survive two lovers' fights she helps Andy find who killed Lafayette. She kisses Eric the vampire and likes it and Bill doesn't seem to be all that jealous. This novel is full of plotholes (now, really, Bill doesn't know how he's related to the Bellefleurs and he hasn't looked at the family Bible since he's been living in Bon Temps?)and swift summaries -- like Harris knew she was going to go back and elaborate on her scenes, but never did. Perhaps she was bored with them and needed filler. Most of the cat and mouse scenes in Dallas reminded me of a Nancy Drew mystery and I couldn't finish this book long after I started it. But after Sookie and Bill leave Dallas the action picks up. In fact whenever Eric, Sookie and Bill are in a scene together (pick Eric/Sookie or Bill/Sookie) the writing is full of energy and is extremely enjoyable to read. Why can't all of the book be this way?

As some of the other reviewers have stated, I found Sookie very annoying in this book because she's written like a selfish bimbo. She is looking to pick a fight with Bill and seems to totally forget he's a vampire - Hello?!

I prefer everything about the show to the books, so far, but I like the books for the background information since the show throw's so much information at you to digest right away. All I can say, is Harris is a good writer, not a great writer, and she gave Alan Ball plenty to work with.

View all my reviews.

Dorianne Laux

2008-12-04T08:52:00.000-05:00

This fall semester I took Dorianne Laux's MFA (Master of Fine Arts) poetry class at NC State. Yesterday was our final class and we met at Dorianne's home to recite memorized poetry. I think the only way you can really know a poem is through recitation. I recited Yusef Komunyakaa's poem, "Facing It." We also heard Walt Whitman, Mary Oliver, Pablo Neruda, Wallace Stevens and more. Throughout the semester I learned so much from Dorianne about other poets and styles, as well as from my very smart classmates.

I Did It!: I wrote a novel in 30 days through NaNoWriMo

2008-12-01T09:54:00.000-05:00

Last month I took on the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. My friend Beth has done 5 of them! She was my inspiration to sign up for this NaNoWriMo this year. The 10th annual National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo for short, starts every Nov 1st and ends midnight Nov 30th. You're supposed to not have done too much research before starting your book and you need to keep up a good pace of 1,667 words a day (that's 50,000 into 30). I was very inconsistent in my daily word count, but did write almost every day. I believe I skipped 4 days out of the entire month. I was most productive this last week since I have my in-laws with us so they could occupy my kids and I had an entire Wednesday to work on my novel. In fact, I started this week with a mere 27,000 words, knowing that I had to have 50,000 by Nov 30th.

Whew! All I can say is that keeping the daily word count, no matter how small, is the key to success. I also loved all of Chris Baty's (the NaNoWriMo's) emails and the supportive emails coming from my Raleigh-Durham WriMo Region. I never attended an official write-in because of the lack of time, but I still read everyone's email and advice. It was all good.

Now I just have to revise my raw (very raw) book. But at least I have something to work with! If you've ever wanted or dreamed of writing a novel, please consider doing NaNoWriMo next year!

Meet the New Piedmont Poet Laureate: Jaki Shelton Green

2008-11-23T15:25:00.000-05:00

On Saturday November 15th at the NC Writers' Conference in RTP, the Raleigh Arts Commission, the Durham Arts Council and the Orange County Arts Commission revealed the 2009-2010 Piedmont Poet Laureate, Jaki Shelton Green. Jaki is famous for her personal poems, most recently compiled in Breath of a Song. Jaki teaches creative writing to marginalized populations such as the homeless, the newly literate, the incarcerated, and the writer-as-survivor. In 2003 she received the North Carolina Award in Literature. Here's the link to a story about Jaki's new role.

I got to know Jaki when I served on the board of Carolina Wren Press. I sold many of Jaki's books at her Breath of a Song launch in 2005. If you don't her, she's warm, funny and dedicated to her craft. I can't think of a better poet to represent Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.

After he read this blog posting, Thomas Pearce, reporter for the Daily Tar Heel, wrote this piece on Jaki's new position this week.

The Glass Castle Review

2008-11-23T15:19:00.000-05:00

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Glass Castle is a book whose images and characters you'll have trouble getting out of your head. Jeannette Walls's has said in her interviews that she had to face the demon, which was telling people about her poverty-stricken childhood. Her parents moved her family around a lot when she was under 10 to avoid the landlord and the bill collectors. Sometimes the children went without food and these kids were never supervised. She feared that once her New York friends found out about where she came from they'd leave her at worst, or laugh at her at best. Neither fear materialized. The Glass Castle stayed on the New York Times Bestseller List for a year and her book encouraged her readers to tell her about their difficult childhoods. There'll soon be a Glass Castle movie.

To me, the "Glass Castle" represented her parents, Rex and Rose Mary's, lost potential. Rex was brilliant in math and science, but was an alcoholic and Rose Mary could have made a living as a artist, but she lacked discipline. Rose Mary told the kids that they'll learn from their mistakes, but they never did. At one point, they even owned a house outright, but still moved anyway to face more poverty.

Jeannette had to survive being tossed out of a car, a dark, bumpy ride in the back of a U-Haul, bullies, explosions, child molesters and cockroach attacks. And there's more. I can't imagine having to live without running water for seven years or hearing your mother saying it's OK to eat maggotty-ham.

The amazing thing is that Jeannette's early experiences made her stronger and she still loved her parents despite everything they put her through. One of the sweetest moments of the book was her dad giving her $950 to finish school.

Please read this book even if you don't normally read memoirs. You'll find a true example of unconditional love and forgiveness.

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The NaNoWriMo Handbook

2008-11-14T21:48:00.001-05:00

No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a great book to bolster your courage if you are attempting "National Novel Writing Month" in November. I've had this book on my bookshelf for a couple of years and finally pulled it out. After reading as much as I could (Chris Baty tells readers not to skip ahead to the "Week 2" before you start your novel) I believe I have the faith and stamina to pump out a 50,000-word tome. Baty also includes sidebars about where to go to write your work, shares his experiences and those of other winners and also (this was interesting for me) mothers and fathers share their experiences on how they managed writing with their young children during the month. A great resource!

I'm now at the 16,000+ mark on my novel and pray that Baty gives me more inspriation in Week 3~ This is hard but I will kill the chicken!

View all my reviews.

Kill the Chicken

2008-11-14T21:06:00.001-05:00

This post is also at Christine Kane's blog. Christine Kane is a singer/songwriter and creativity coach.

Whenever I hear the word “chicken” I suddenly think of doing something I’m afraid to do. I think of my doubts and insecurities. I think about looking stupid. But I’m a writer and I’m always insecure, always trying new things, always pushing my writing skills and jumping before I’m truly ready. So, what does a reasonable person do? I kill the chicken. Yes, I kill the chicken of doubts, realize my value, and conjure up the faith I have in myself.

When I first became a serious writer, I was so enthusiastic and happy to be out of my old career I wasn’t afraid of anything. I placed my efforts in the right spots, I made up business cards, and I started a writing group. But the more invested I became in my work, the more I felt the presence of the deadly chicken. I’ve decided my chicken likes to come out during a full moon and when I have a deadline.

I felt my chicken roost when I was halfway through writing my thesis and my deadline was coming in three days. I had to write at least 50 more pages and add to my research. I’d been getting a total of ten hours of sleep in two days. My thesis advisor wanted more depth and I had to deliver, or else. The chicken told me, “So, Alice, it’s okay if you don’t finish. You need your sleep. You can finish your thesis later. If you don’t finish you won’t have all of this horrible stress.” And I really wanted to stop and take it easy. But if you stop and take it easy, you won’t get anything done and you won’t be anything! I couldn’t walk away from my thesis writing after all of my prior work! I did a few sit-ups, stretched my legs, and pushed through the chicken to get my thesis completed.

Same thing happened when I had a freelance assignment. I couldn’t get my words to work. I kept hitting the blank screen of white death. I heard that chicken. So I went to bed at 11pm, and got up a few hours later to finish my writing. Maybe I fooled my chicken my taking a short nap and recharging, but I didn’t hear from her again.

I coach emerging writers and so many of them make excuses to not get their writing done. They know writing is hard and revealing, plus who wants to do something painful when they can watch The Office or clean their bathtub? They tell me, “It’s too overwhelming and why try, anyway? Who’d want to read my work?” I say to them: Take it one step at a time. Set some time aside, say fifteen minutes and write. The next day revise what you wrote the day before. Keep adding to your writing time and you’ll see. You’ll see. Above all, I tell my clients to take themselves seriously as writers. If they don’t take themselves seriously, no one will.

So the next time you feel doubts creeping up and that old voice inside of your head is telling you to drop a creative project, please kill the chicken. You’re bigger than her anyway.

Warmly,

Alice

True Blood Book Review

2008-11-02T18:46:00.000-05:00

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I'm now a big fan of HBO's True Blood - in fact, I look forward to the repeats! But the first episode of True Blood didn’t hook me until Vampire Bill presented at the night meeting of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead (Episode 5). Poor Bill Compton, make a vampire only when he was trying to find a safe haven after the Civil War ended. When I found out that True Blood was first the Sookie Stackhouse series, I got the first book in the series right away. It's told from Sookie's point of view and she's a likeable voice -- intelligent, a little corny and very brave.I got the book with the "True Blood" photo on it and it's a lot better than the original cover.

If you’re familiar with the HBO Series, then I’d recommend reading Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse “Southern Vampire Mystery Series.” Harris is a competent writer, although she’s no Alan Ball, the series’ writer and creator. What I mean by that is that Ball uses clever foreshadowing, objects as emotional connections (Sookie’s grieves over Gran’s death by slowly eating her pecan pie and Bill grieves over his human loss by throwing an antique toaster into the fire), and fine characterizations to give as much weight to this series as it can hold. Both the book and series have humor, but the series’ humor is definitely dark without being silly. Without Ball’s fine touch, True Blood would descend into a cheesy drama found on Fox that probably would have last 3 shows. But to her credit, Harris sustains a very quick pace throughout the book, never slowing down too long for personal reflection or to smell the flowers. Her Sookie is a character who is quick to anger, naïve, and assumes the worst in her boyfriend Bill. Sookie (the book is told in first person) has to tell the reader exactly what she’s wearing – one of the dangers of using first person, but at least she doesn’t look in mirrors all of the time. Because of its fast pace, Sookie doesn’t have a chance to grieve over Gran’s death and minor characters aren’t given the chance to develop like they do in the show. Sadly, Jason, Arlene, Rene, Sam and especially Lafayette are one-note characters. Andy Bellfleur, surprisingly, is fairly well-drawn and we know more about him in the book than in the show. Perhaps Tara makes an appearance further in the series, but she’s nonexistent here. Dead Until Dark is sometimes serious and sometimes goofy, but always entertaining. I couldn’t put it down and finished it within a week as I worked on other reading and writing projects. That said, I loved Harris’s characterization of Bill and his love scenes with Sookie were well-written. They were neither quick and pat or X-rated, ala Anne Rice. She writes this line using a strong sensory image as Bill and Sookie are about to consummate their relationship, “My hands began to rub his arms helplessly. Strangely, I thought of a pan of caramels my grandmother had put on the stove for a candy recipe, and I thought of the melted, warm sweet goldenness of them.” Bill’s phrasing is just like in the series — he sounds both old fashioned and modern, depending upon the situation. When Arlene’s kids find out he doesn’t give Sookie flowers, he tells them, “I must mend my ways.”

I’d like to read more of Harris’s vampire series, one because I like Sookie’s voice, and two, because I now care about the characters, which is more a result of the show True Blood than this book.

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The Memory Keeper's Daughter

2008-10-25T11:25:00.000-04:00

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Like many of you, I saw The Memory Keeper's Daughter on Lifetime back in April -- I knew the basic plotline that a doctor in the 1960s delivers his own twins and he sends one of them away because she has Down Syndrome. Well, the movie truly touched me and I was a heap of tears when my husband came home from work that night. I can still even remember the images of Norah burning the photos after David's death, Caroline fighting for Phoebe in the Board of Education hall and the final reunion. Usually books are better than the movie version, but not in this case. The book felt too heavy in some places and too light in others. Kim Edwards went overboard with describing sycamore trees and hands, but she didn't spend enough time with Paul after he learns he has a twin sister. Edwards places far too much emphasis on David's turning point (p.17) when he chooses to give Phoebe away ("The silence was so deep and encompassing that he felt himself floating to a new height, some point above this room and then beyond, where he was one with the snow and where this scene in the room was something unfolding in a different life"). Could a dead baby really cause this much guilt? Could Norah have lied to David about birth control and had another baby? Could Norah have dug up Phoebe's "grave" on Dr. Bentley's property. (by the way, did Dr. Bentley know the secret?)

As a first novel, The Memory Keeper is pretty good, but there were some plot holes. My book club and I were wondering why didn't David not tell Norah they had twins -- why say anything at all? She didn't know she was carrying twins and she didn't remember much of the birth. Also, I found it so false that Norah couldn't find Paul in Europe after David died -- come on, now! and Paul didn't seem as affected that he just lost his dad.

Edwards uses 3rd person point of view with 4 viewpoints: David, Norah, Caroline and Paul. David is by far the most complex and well-drawn. He does evolve as a character and realizes all of the wrong he did, when he thought he was doing right. Also, Edwards did a very nice job of characterizing Phoebe and not making her a stereotype, although she did say she was chubby quite a few times.

Many times the novel took turns that no one could predict and there were places where the characters could have committed suicide (Norah with the car exhaust, Paul with the train, David with the cliff), but nothing horrible happened. I also felt the plotline of Rosemary and Jack was superflous -- the movie cut them out entirely, as they did with Doro and Leo.

This is a memorable read and an excellent book club book when you discuss it with enthusiastic people! 3 out of 4 stars.

View all my reviews.

Reading with the Kakalak Poets and Artists

2008-10-21T22:45:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, 10/18, I brought my family to the Kakalak Reading in Greensboro in the Barnes & Noble in the Friendly Shopping Center. Over 50 people showed up and it was great fun finally meeting Richard Allen Taylor, one of the co-editors who had told me earlier this year that my poem, "Domestic Duties" had been selected for the 2008 Anthology. Poets read their contribution in the book and artists presented their work.
My son, Daniel, (he's 6) took over 40 photographs of the event and here's a good one he took of me reading my poem.
Richard and his team have one last reading in Charleston, SC at the Blue Bicycle Book Shop on King Street on Nov. 1st -- wish I could go, but it's too far. I'll be in Charleston in January, though, researching a story I'm doing for Sandlapper magazine.

West End Poets Weekend

2008-10-16T12:48:00.000-04:00

Here I am performing my poetry last Saturday

(Oct. 11) at the West End Poets Weekend Festival in Carrboro, NC. I performed with Joanna Catherine Scott, Maureen Sherbondy and David Need. Thank you so much to Allie Hansen and Kim Andrews, from the Carrboro Rec and Parks Dept, who made the Festival happen. We performed at the DSI Theater in the Carr Mill Complex off of Weaver Street. It was the first time I had been there and it was a great space!

Hope to come back to the Festival next year!

Alice Workshops

2008-10-16T12:40:00.000-04:00

Here I am giving a presentation on "How to Be a Perfect Workshop Leader (or perfect workshop participant) a few weeks ago at my Coffee & Contacts: Power Networking for Women group in N. Raleigh. We meet at the Stone Wolf Coffee Shop in the Health Trax Center off of Six Forks Rd.
I spoke on the planning, PR, registration, presentation and follow-up skills needed to conduct a perfect workshop, as well as how to make yourself an invaluable workshop participant. Number one thing? Get to the workshop on time!!

I'll do more of these workshops either in November or in the spring for different groups. Stay tuned!

The Shack Book Review

2008-10-16T12:39:00.000-04:00

The Shack by William P. Young

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
My favorite nun, Sister Mary Margaret Weber, recommended this book to me and then the very next day there was a story about William P. Young and his book in our paper, the News and Observer. Sister Mary Margaret and I work together on programs for her center: A Place for Women to Gather and on Monday she held a book discussion about The Shack. What I took away from this book was the idea of forgiveness. God tells Mac, the main character, that he needs to forgive his daughter's murderer, but not forget what he did. I liked this, since this concept still makes the wrongdoer accountable. Another idea that I gleaned from this book was the idea of relationship and the absence of hierarchy. God wants to have a relationship with us -- it's not one-sided. Lyn, one woman in the group said, "It's like chips and salsa in a Mexican restaurant: you don't ask for them, but they are always there. And when you eat them all, the server brings you more." This is a great analogy describing God's love and presence. Another idea that I will carry away is the notion of God's image. I guess I don't have an image of God. To me, he or she is like the Force in Star Wars -- a Spirit, always moving, kind, caring, forgiving, creative and with a strong sense of humor. But to others who have a strong sense of God's or Jesus's image, The Shack may shock you a little bit.

Young says some smart things in the book when he discusses the evil in the world and how it emerged from man's independence after the Garden of Eden. We also learn that evil, as well as good, is subjective.

I was curious about this book since it was first a self-published book and as an editor, I wanted to see if it was "ready for prime time." I'd say mostly. The middle part of the book could have bit cut down and the campsite scenes needed to be scenes so we were there in the moment. Instead, they were told in summaries.

Read this book to affirm your beliefs or to learn a different spiritual point of view -- you'll be glad you did.

View all my reviews.

Zero Degrees at First Light Review (Poetry Book)

2008-10-07T16:55:00.000-04:00

Zero Degrees at First Light by Christine, Potter

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Every poem in Christine Potter’s first book of poetry, Zero Degrees at First Light, contains some form of light or some object that is fused with light from the moon to windows to chandeliers. Her poems evoke nature, music, family, a 200-year old house and high school teaching. She also has a gift with sounds, especially ending vowels. All of her chosen poems evoke her world and we see the magic in each of the small moments she creates with craft and care. Her skills lie in her remarkable first lines, which then take her leading narrative into fresh paths and angles that the reader is not expecting. She strikes a mostly serious tone in her poems, but then flashes of her humor are evident her two sonnets, one about the closing of her favorite sushi restaurant: "On the Closing of Ichi-Riki, Nyack, NY (Where I Have Eaten for Twenty Years" and the other about teaching 9th graders: "On Teaching Romeo and Juliet for the Sixteenth & Final Time."

For instance, in the poem, “To My Husband, Who Dreamed of Tidal Waves as His Father Was Dying” starts off with

I think of your father born, instead,
in a hospital I have never visited: bright high windows,

Then the poem moves in another direction as old age is likened to a sunset, and not to waves and we discover, “Everything but light lies.”

The poem ends on the image of stars, “silent as new ice and perfect, perfect –”

She also believes in the circuitous nature of time and she interprets time effectively in her poem, "Developing Prints, Age 13"

Ruth,
when I'm twenty-two, I will meet you on a commuter train
and you will be married to a bullfigter and tell me
that giving birth feels like having your heart pulled out.

As a reader we're in the present and then we're whisked away to the future, so we possess a fuller picture of the speaker's emotional journey.

She also jumps around in the time in the poem, "Chintz Couch":

Years later, in antique stores, I will find couches
like the one we cast off, but they will be strangers
who whisper the ends of stories I can't imagine,
prayers with the wrong words, from strange religions.

Another example of her time folding is in "Sleeping in an Empty House"

We don't know yet the chimney leaks creosote behind the walls,
how the wiring, too, could lose us this place.
We haven't seen the single, perfect beam, half-covered with bark

I look forward to reading more of Christine Potter's poetry complete with her pitch perfect ear and boundless imagination.

View all my reviews.

Ahab's Wife Book Review

2008-09-23T16:39:00.000-04:00

Ahab's Wife: Or, The Star-gazer: A Novel by Sena Jeter Naslund

My review SPOILER ALERT!

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ever since I glanced at Raleigh's News and Observer book review on Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund, I knew I needed to read this book. In fact, I didn't want to read that review too closely for fear of a spoiler. About four months ago, someone came up to me and suggested my book club should read Ahab's Wife -- I thought that's a great idea, not realizing that the book was 666 pages. But, I finished the book just in time for leading my book club and felt every second of reading Ahab's Wife was time well-spent.

I enjoyed joining Una's journey of discovering her spiritual destiny, while she ponders the questions of nature vs. Christianity. The book also throws us into the life of a whaling ship (for a cabin boy and cook, not a regular sailor), a lighthouse keeper, a castaway/cannibal, and a well-to-do Nantucket lady. Naslund is an expert writer and every word and sentence has been finely crafted. She is also a poet and she makes use of her skills with her words. (Una says her first word was "s" for sad: "the letter looks like and sounds like a snake, and s begins both sad and snake.") She also likens the curl of wave, which looks like a "c", which also reminds her a cave. Both waves and caves are symbols of male and female parts in the book. Naslund is clever and subtle with her themes and symbolism and doesn't mash the readers' brains in with the stuff like William Golding did in Lord of the Flies. She also uses hands as a symbol of creation, which is important for both writing and knitting (both skills Una succeeds at). Hands also characterize Captain Ahab (his are hard and rough) and Kit (soft and feminine).

My favorite parts of the book occur before we lose Ahab (doesn't everyone know what happened in Moby-Dick?) when we meet Giles Bonebright and Kit Sparrow -- two young men who take Fresnal light measurements for Una's uncle, who is the kind lighthouse keeper near New Bedford who stands in for Una's father. Una is sixteen and falls in love with Giles, although she is intrigued by Kit's creative thinking and imagination. She follows them both aboard the whaler, Sussex, disguised as a cabin boy. I felt these two characters, along with Ahab, to a lesser extent, lept off of the page and I could see them as real people. Una, Giles and Kit all have lost their fathers at an early age and grew up close to their mothers. Giles and Kit (her first husband) teach Una how to love and prepare her for Captain Ahab, as well as Ishmael (her 2nd & 3rd "husbands" -- she actually doesn't legally marry any of them).

Death surrounds Una, but she's a survivor and doesn't let trauma take away her joy. We know straight away that her first born and mother die within days of each other and so we're plunged into her adventurous life after page 13. After her mother's death, the narrative drags until we meet Kit and Giles and then the narrative drags again between Ahab's vists to Nantucket. Some of the book could have been paired down to let's say, 400 pages, without destroying any of the themes or plot. Naslund likes to riff on spirituality and the meaning of life, which did become weighty for me, and there was a sense that Una was a female Forrest Gump who stumbles into all of the important happenings of the time while meeting key people such as Frederick Douglass, Margaret Fuller, Emerson, Thoreau and Maria Mitchell. However, Naslund did such a fantastic job of letting us into Una's sharp mind, I didn't let extra passages on her spiritual awakening get to me.

The novel made me think how much Una's life was directed by men and how would have been normal in the 1830s-1850s. Also, Naslund is very realistic about communications and how hard it was to reach someone and how arduous travel could be (her mother freezes to death after her buggy turns upside down on the coldest day of the year.)But in this day and age, how much of our choices are made by men? Our fathers may help us get into a college, help us with an apartment/job, or we may follow a boyfriend to another city. I was relieved that at the end of the novel, Una is using her own skills as a writer and is not caring for everyone else at the expense of her own needs. A very modern concept, perhaps, but Naslund makes us believe Una is a modern, Victorian woman.

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Into the Wild Review

2008-08-18T15:45:00.001-04:00

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is a fine companion to the 2007 Sean Penn movie. After seeing the film, I wanted to know what made Chris McCandless tick and what made him so angry. As a mother, I can't even imagine my son going off and not telling us where he was for two years. And then when he's found, he'd dead. What a horrible thing to have happened to Walt and Billie McCandless, Chris's parents. Through Krakauker's fine details of the landscape of Chris's travels, his interviews with those that knew Chris and his descriptions of other bold and tragic adventurers, we gain a clear context of what made Chris escape his late 20th century life in favor of being alone in the Alaskan wild.

Not only does Krakauer tell us why men must risk all to climb mountains and venture into the wilderness, he shows his vulnerability through his own personal narrative. When he was 23, he was determined to climb Skikine Ice Cap in Alaska -- alone. He made it, but it humbled him. From these experiences, he's the perfect author to understand Chris and give readers an idea of who Chris McCandless was. From this book, I know he was stubborn, arrogant, loyal, super smart, entrepreneurial and highly ethical. The people he briefly met on the road fondly remember him and feel that Chris positively touched their lives. He marched to his own beat. I made up my mind that Chris was born in the wrong century and just couldn't fit into postmodern America. My sentiments were echoed in the book by Andy Horowitz, one of Chris's close high school friends.

While reading I felt two connections to Chris: he graduated from high school 4 years before I did from Woodson HS (I went to Robinson Secondary, about 6 miles away) and we both grew up in Annandale, VA, about 5 miles from each other. I, too, found NOVA a stifling place and couldn't wait to flee from it the first chance I got. Like Chris, I never went back after graduating from Virginia Tech. We were also both competitive runners and I understand what makes someone good at long distance running: sheer will and raw determination. Chris had these in great quantities.

Yes, he didn't go to Alaska prepared, but he did survive for 111 days using his wits and living off of the land. Although it cost him his family and his life, McCandless lived his dreams and I believe he found redemption at the very end of his life. This books amply provides more of the answers and background information for fans of the film version.

View all my reviews.

The Short Fall From Grace

2008-08-15T10:51:00.000-04:00

THE SHORT FALL FROM GRACE by Stewart Florsheim

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars

This review was mentioned in Fran Moreland Johns's posting of "Old Words, New Words" in The Red Room

Stewart Florsheim is bold and brave in his poetry collection, "The Short Fall From Grace." His memoir poetry flings itself into the topics of family turmoil (witnessed between his mother and father), coming of age sex, and a near escape from a pedophile -- Florsheim flaunts his vulnerabilities and I applaud him for this. So many poets and writers only want to reveal bits and pieces of their inner lives and experiences, which leaves their work sounding false.

Growing up in New York City, Florsheim is the son of German/Jewish refugees. His father was a butcher and his mother frequently lashed out at her husband, condemning his simple tastes and quiet nature, calling him "stupid" to his face. Besides Florsheim's ventures into his past, he also masters the ekphrastic poem, joining such notables as John Keats, W.H. Auden, William Carlos Willams who also wrote poems based on art. In his interpretations of classic and early 20th century art, his subjects come alive, so we feel these characters jump out of their oil paints. My favorite poems were these art poems, including "The Jewish Bride" (based on the same name as Rembrandt's painting, 1667) and "The Best Bread in Montparnasse" (after the painting Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe, by Manet, 1863). He choses paintings that involve relationships between men and women, which build upon the narrative's conflict and complexity.

He references events and themes in several poems. For instance, when he was 5 he tells us that he decided to stop eating and he mother would parade his naked body around in front of her neighbors to show them how much he resembled a concentration camp victim. To make sure he fattened up, she would mix egg yolks into his chocolate milk. This incident is mentioned in five of his poems: "Thirst," "Rappel," "Survival," "December, 1999," and "Retribution."

There's also humor woven in with the hurt of a little boy lost, which make these poems accessible to readers. Florsheim is a master of the narrative form, especially in his art poems. I'll close with a few lines from the poem "Unseen," which speak about a truth of human nature:

We are compelled by what we can't see
so that we might be surprised
by the things we already know --

The one thought we prey upon,
not unlike the way a bat stalks a grasshopper,
swoops down, then misses.

View all my reviews.

Tomato Girl Review

2008-08-14T09:46:00.000-04:00

Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jayne Pupek's "Tomato Girl" was a book I couldn't put down. Well-paced, funny, and authentic with vulnerable and memorable characters, Pupek throws the proverbial rocks at her protagonist, 11-year-old Ellie Sanders throughout the book -- Ellie's troubles never seem to relent, except when she lets them go at the end. Beginning in a circular fashion with her mentally ill mother("a lily caught in a hurricane was how Daddy described Mama. If we calmed the winds around her, she would be fine") having a breakdown at the outdoor food market in town, Ellie recounts the events that led to her father leaving the family with "The Tomato Girl" a 17-year-old, fragile epileptic incest survivor. Then Pupek rushes furiously to the end where Ellie is taken into foster care and is told to let go of her troubles by Clara, a clairvoyant who saves Ellie's spiritual soul.

The heart of the book takes place during Holy Week. Ellie's pregnant mother, Julia, falls down the cellar steps trying to retrieve an onion (Ellie believes this is her fault because she wanted to rush to her dad's store and pick out a new Easter chick instead of getting her mother that onion). Rupert Sanders manages the general store in town and has gotten close to Tess, the tomato girl, who sells him her produce. After Julia falls, Rupert has Tess come home with him (to help out his wife), which leads to tragedy for everyone involved. Ellie is now caught in the hurricane of her father's creation, as she struggles to help her mother, compete for her father's love with Tess, and witness her mother attack Tess and her father, both verbally and physically. She manages to hold on because of her two constants: Jellybean her baby chick and Mary Roberts, her know-it-all best friend, but these two don't remain by her side as the narrative unfolds.

I loved how Pupek named all of her chapters: "Market Day," "Bad Letters," "Spoon,"The Gun," which allowed some clever foreshadowing. Pupek is also a poet and her taut verbal skills shine throughout the novel, especially when she uses analogies ("She (Julia) buys cabbages as twisted as a man's fist. Red radishes the size of a doll's heart.")without ever going overboard. Her images are grounded in the real world so I always could picture myself in the scene with smells, tastes and texture.

"Tomato Girl" is sad, yet hopeful and is the book that should have been "The Secret Life of Bees". It's one of the best books I've read all year and I'm rooting for it to be a big hit.I'm writing a much longer review on "Tomato Girl" for The Pedestal Magazine's August issue, please stay tuned.

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Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

2008-07-25T09:32:00.000-04:00

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

My review

On the surface, "Kindred" by Octavia E. Butler is a fantasy thriller, but it's so much more than that. It's an examination of gender, power struggles, race, history and socioeconomic divides. This book is also a memoir -- Dana resembles young Octavia. Both Dana and Octavia's fathers died before they knew him, both worked in menial jobs and both grew up in Southern California. As usual, Butler creates a strong, yet sensitive heroine that readers can root for. Dana is a modern day intellectual black woman who is a writer and she is married to another writer, who happens to be white. On her 26th birthday, she time travels back to 1815 to save Rufus, her white ancestor from drowning. As the story progresses, she returns to this era for over a year in her time, but over the span of 21 years in their time. In every visit she faces more danger and increasing violence. Butler doesn't lecture the reader about the psychological effects of slavery on both blacks and whites, but we discover how slavery leaves mental/physical scars on master and slave. She also examines through her first person narrative and characters how black women had to negotiate a space in this culture in order to survive. All of her characters are complicated and I think this is one of Butler's strengths in all of her fiction. Her plot is tight and suspenseful and she doesn't over foreshadow -- she gives just enough dread for you not to stop reading. The only quibble I had with the book was that there was too much unattributed dialogue between Dana and her husband Kevin at the beginning of the book. We didn't see these characters talk or experience their actions -- it was just straight expository dialogue. However, the writing got a lot stronger twenty-five pages later. Butler's short, imagistic descriptions and Dana's thoughts made me quickly forget about the shaky beginning. I also loved the ending which I won't give away. After you've read this book check out "Parable of the Sower" and "Parable of the Talents."

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Lots of New Workshops for Summer and Fall

2008-07-16T14:52:00.001-04:00

I've just posted several new workshops I'm offering in fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry for July through October. Please check them out! Three of them are taking place at the NEW Storyteller's Bookstore in downtown Wake Forest, which has its local opening this Friday, July 18th, starting at 2pm.

Where Does A Story Come From? A Fiction Workshop
Location: At the NEW Storyteller's Book Store100 E. Roosevelt AveWake Forest, NC 27587
Cost: $30
Time: Sunday July 27th 2–4:30pm
One of the hardest jobs for a writer is coming up with story ideas that are believable and that hold the writer's interest. Sometimes writers come up with great ideas, but then have trouble fleshing them out. In this workshop taught by experienced workshop leader, Alice Osborn (www.aliceosborn.com) , we'll tap the powers of your imagination, observation and memory so that you'll leave the workshop with the beginnings of at least one story and the beginnings of many more possible threads. All writing levels are welcome.
To register, please call Storyteller's Book Store at 919-554-9146

Creative Journaling to Find Your Inner Child
Location: Unity Church of the Triangle, Downtown Raleigh, corner of Person and Hargett Streets,Choir Room
Cost: $20
Time: Tues. Aug. 5th 7-9 pm
Active journaling will help you become more mindful of the world around you and will bring you closer to the Divine and to your Inner Child. Through journaling, you'll build self-awareness and compassion, and feel closer with the child you once were. All writers at all experiences are welcome to join us. Please bring a notebook and your favorite pen.
To register, please email Alice at www.aliceosborn.com

Sharing Your Life Story
Location: At the NEW Storyteller's Book Store100 E. Roosevelt AveWake Forest, NC 27587
Cost: $30
Time: Sunday, Aug. 17th 2-4:30pm
We all have a life story inside of us, but many times we feel that what we've experienced is not relevant or important. In this workshop, you'll learn how you can harness the power of your stories for future generations and that what you've learned over a lifetime is a treasure that must be shared! In class writing exercises and feedback from Alice will help you generate memorable prose and you'll also learn techniques to keep up your writing practice after the class concludes. All levels are welcome.
To register, please call Storyteller's Book Store at 919-554-9146

Writing Poetry from the Inside Out
Location: At the NEW Storyteller's Book Store100 E. Roosevelt AveWake Forest, NC 27587
Time: Tues. Aug. 26th and Tues. Sept. 2nd 7-9 pm
Register by calling 919-554-9146
Cost: $35
Writing poetry can help connect with the Divine as it helps us center ourselves within the world around us. Poetry allows us to heal, reflect and meditate and in this workshop, we will explore several classic and contemporary poets who write about the sacred and nurture the present moment in their language and imagery. We will also find poems within us through Alice's guided writing exercises and by listening to our inner voice. All writing levels are encouraged to attend.
To register, please call Storyteller's Book Store at 919-554-9146

Journaling From the Inside Out
Location: A Place for Women to Gather, North Raleigh8380 Six Forks Road, Suite 201Raleigh, North Carolina 27615Phone: 919-846-3601
Cost: $45
Time: Sat. Sept. 6th 9:30 am-12:30pm
Active journaling will help you become more mindful of the world around you and will bring you closer with the Divine. Through journaling you'll build self-awareness and compassion vital traits for any kind of writer!

All writers at all experiences are welcome to join us. Please bring a notebook and your favorite pen. Light refreshments will be served.

Please register at 846-3601

Write with Confidence — How to Consciously Communicate with Clarity and Conciseness
Location: Cameron Village Library1930 Clark AveRaleigh, NC 27605
Time: Monday, Sept. 8th 6:30-8pm
Cost: FREE This is a not-to-miss seminar for small business owners who spend a great deal of time communicating with the public and with clients. In this 90-minute seminar, you'll learn how to position your tone and topic towards your audience and how to create memorable copy for your website/blog/newsletter. You'll also receive a quick grammar refresher and revision review to ensure that your writing includes focus and precision.

Make A Living As a Writer with Alice Osborn and Sharon McCormick
Location: Bishop's House, Duke Campus, Rm 102 Durham, NC
Cost: $75
Time: Sat. Sept. 20th from 1-4pm
Can writers make a living? Sure they can! In this seminar, Sharon and Alice will walk you through the details of making a career as a writer. (and what to do while you're waiting for that at big writing break!)

Writing Poetry from the Inside Out with Alice Osborn and Jane Andrews
Location: A Place for Women to Gather, North Raleigh8380 Six Forks Rd., Suite 201Raleigh, NC 27615
Time: Wed. Oct. 22/Oct. 27 7-9 pm
Cost: $45 for 2 sessions or $25 for 1 session
Writing poetry can help connect with the Divine as it helps us center ourselves within the world around us. St. Thomas Aquinas said, "All knowledge begins in sensations." Poetry allows us to heal, reflect and meditate and in this workshop, we will explore poems rich in sensory experience that will invite your readers to participate not only with their imagination, but also with their hands, nose, mouth and ear. All writing levels are encouraged to attend.
Register by calling A Place for Women to Gather at 846-3601. All checks made payable to "A Place for Women to Gather."

Journaling Your Memoir Class at Sertoma Arts Center

2008-07-10T20:19:00.000-04:00

Here are more pictures from our Sertoma Journaning Class -- July 9-July 30th 2008!

Last night the first session of my "Journaling Your Memoir" class met at Sertoma Arts Center from 7-9 pm. The Arts Center is adjacent to Shelley Lake, near the intersection of Leadmine and Millbrook Roads in N Raleigh. We had a lot of people show -- 7 women and 1 very brave man, James. James just decided to take my class that day when he called me up to see how he could get his writing together. Go James!

The class read a short memoir of 750 words to get a feel for what a memoir is supposed to look and feel like and then we did several writing exercises. In between these exercises I provided some guided instruction on the craft of memoir. I also provided caramel oatmeal squares. I always provide some sort of yummy treat at all of my workshops and book clubs.

Speaking of which, my next book club meets Fri. July 25th at 10am at Cameron Village Library. Our book this time is Kindred by Octavia Butler. My book club, the Wonderland Book Club, is now on Meet Up and Good Reads after heeding the advice of several of my Web 2.0 friends.

Till next time!

Alice

Natalie Goldberg's Latest Creation

2008-07-07T16:23:00.001-04:00

Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir by Natalie Goldberg

My review

As a fan of Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, I want to read her latest "how-to" book. I own the audio version of this title, but would like to experience the updated print version. A review from this month's The Writer (Aug 2008) wasn't too positive, so I'll need to judge "Old Friend" for myself.

I'd like to use this book as inspiration for my upcoming "Journaling Your Memoir" class I'm teaching Wed. at the Sertoma Arts Center in Raleigh off of Millbrook/Leadmine at Shelley Lake. The class runs 4 sessions in July, so there'll be plenty of time to use some Natalie.

View all my reviews.

The Kite Runner

2008-07-07T16:18:00.000-04:00

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Although Hosseini's images and characterizations were beautiful and mesmerizing of Afghanistan, I didn't like Amir (the main character). I thought he was selfish and weak and not much of a hero. There were some contrived plot elements, too, and Hosseini was very heavy-handed with his themes of redemption and loss. However, besides these flaws, Hosseini didn't mess up the book's ending. I did get a copy of A Thousand Splendid Suns and look forward to seeing if it's a better book than this one.

View all my reviews.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

2008-07-07T16:07:00.000-04:00

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sylvia Plath's novel was deceptively fun to read, despite the heavy themes of death and depression. So many of her character's experiences (really her alter-ego) echo the experiences I've faced and that many young women face today. That's amazing, considering that this book was set in 1953! Now I want to get all of Plath's poetry books.

View all my reviews.

Storyteller's Book Shop in Wake Forest

2008-07-03T21:41:00.000-04:00

Tonight I attended Neeley Bridges's CD launch party at Drew Bridges Storyteller's Book Shop in downtown Wake Forest, which will be officially opened to the public on Fri. July 18th. Drew is Neeley's dad and she is a singer/songwriter/actress in NYC. She sounded beautiful -- think Norah Jones's style of jazz and blues. Her local band was also very pitch perfect.

A few days ago I helped shelve Drew's poetry and historical fiction and it was so much fun being part of something before it opens to the world. Drew has invited me to offer creative writing workshops at his store, so stayed tuned!

It's April!

2008-04-01T22:32:00.000-04:00

I have to say spring isn't my favorite season of the year. For one, it's still cold, there's pollen (Ah choo!) and it's tax season. My hubby is a CPA and what that means is that I don't see him weeknights and weekends for about 6 weeks. Weeknights aren't so bad, but I have to make sure there's enough activity for my son Daniel on weekends. On Sat we head to the Y and Sun is church. Mornings are fine, but around 5pm, things get slippery. Last weekend was OK; Easter weekend was hard -- I got a speeding ticket after the N&O ran a quote on me saying that I don't like folks who go too fast -- how ironic! Here it is the article that ran last Thurs. 3/27: www.newsobserver.com/news/growth/traffic/gas/story/1014639.html

Last week I also found out that I need to find a new teaching post for next year. So I'm applying for different freelance jobs and even turning down jobs that would be too much work. I'm trying to find that delicate balance between work and home so both don't suffer and my error margin is slim! Most of all, I need a job that allows me to write and still teach workshops, because life's not worth it otherwise!

My 5-year-old son, Daniel, took this picture of me working on my husband's computer. He's good, isn't he? I'm wearing my "writing costume". Blue REI fleece jacket, long sleeve shirt and you can't see them, but they're black fleece Patagonia apres ski pants. My NCSU water bottle koozie is also in the background -- can't leave home without it!

more soon,

Alice

It's a New Year!

2008-03-03T11:10:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know it's been a while since I blogged -- I've been busy! Trying to finish my first semester of teaching, preparing the house of the new baby, Christmas stuff, etc! Well, Baby Erin arrived on time Christmas Eve and I finally had a chance to relax in the hospital while my whole family stayed in my house. My son Daniel couldn't have been more thrilled to be a big brother and he's still thrilled 2 months later. His schoolwork and focus in kindergarten have even improved!

I returned to work at Raleigh Charter a month ago, when Erin was 6 weeks old. It wasn't too hard, actually since I drop her off around 9 and pick her up at 4pm everyday. During my leave I managed to get in some writing and I sent work off -- I just received word that the Kakalak 2008 Poetry Anthology accected my poem, "Domestic Duties" which was a poem I wrote while I was in Iowa last summer. Yay!!

I'm also facilitating a poetry teleconference this Thurs 3/6 from 8-9pm for http://www.reenchantplanetearth.com/. Should be a good time -- my students who want extra credit may join in, too.

I'm one of the poetry judges for the Wake County Libraries Teen Poetry Contest and I'm giving a free poetry workshop at the West Regional Library in Cary Tues. April 22nd -- more details to follow!!

This week I'm staying wonderfully busy and I'm so glad I had the morning off to write this and send out work!

Alice

My Mustang is Sold

2007-11-21T22:24:00.000-05:00

Since we're going from a three-person to

a four-person household in a matter of weeks, my husband convinced me that my Mustang had to go. [We're expecting a baby girl Christmas Eve] I didn't like the idea at first, but there was no way I could safely put two kids in the back of that car. Besides, the car is twelve years old and had 149,200 miles on it when I sold it on Sunday, November 4th (Thank you, Craigs List). Lots of memories from this car, but I don't miss it, but I do think fondly on those good old days from the last years of the twentieth century, just me and my Mustang...

Fall Workshops

2007-11-21T22:08:00.000-05:00

This fall I taught poetry, creative nonfiction and journaling all across the Triangle: Wake Forest, Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Durham! The picture on the top is from my journaling class at A Place for Women to Gather in North Raleigh Sat. Sept. 8th, the second picture is from free poetry workshop held Sept. 9th at Market Street Books in Southern Village in Chapel Hill. The last picture is from my "Telling Your Story" workshop series at the Morning Glory Center for Creative Healing in Wake Forest, which took place every Sunday afternoon in August. Notice Houston the cat on the far right -- he's the best therapy cat ever!

Your Creativity Questions Answered

2007-08-05T21:27:00.000-04:00

Matt Mullins, talented poet and prolific blogger, is currently running a series of "Ask a Poet 5 Questions" on his blog, Unstable Euphony. Here are the answers I supplied Matt to his 5 questions. Also check out the responses from Tom Lisk, Mark Smith-Soto, Sarah Bartlett, Chris Salerno and more!

1. Can creativity be taught?

Yes – an emerging writer can learn many how to’s from reading literature, poetry, and well-written articles in established magazines and journals. The student can also learn under a good writing teacher who gives the student writing prompts, deadlines and appropriate feedback. Once the new writer has acquired this creative tool kit, then she will have an easier time generating new work instead of feeling like all of her good ideas flow through her like a sieve.

2. Do you write the majority of your poems in one sitting?

Yes, I draft my poems all of the way through in one shot, but my revision process has been known to take me days, weeks, and years. Additionally, I use my poetry critique group to help me revise my poems.

3. Do you read more than you write?

Right now, it’s about 60/40, with 60 being the reading which includes books, writing magazines, writing books, newspapers and other magazines. In the weeks when I can’t find time to squeeze in my own writing, I find that I can draft poems and fiction as my students do their timed writing exercises in my workshops.

4. Is it possible to live off of being a poet anymore?

After my book, Right Lane Ends was released last year and after getting several poems published, I was given more opportunities to conduct writing workshops within the Triangle community and I was also invited to judge several poetry contests, most notably The Independent Weekly’s contest. I was also invited to help Cary Academy with their poetry slam event. During all of this poetry productivity, I received a grant from the United Arts Council and I gained several new writing/editing clients. I also believed I’m now teaching English at Raleigh Charter High School because of my poetry and writing workshops. My writing business is now making money and I’ve only been in business a year. So to answer your question – yes, you can make money as a poet if you market yourself vertically, which is what I’ve done -- and be willing to teach.

5. Is today’s poetry lackluster compared with “classic” poetry?

No. I’d say today’s poetry is more accessible to the general public. There’s also so much choice out there. For instance you can choose to read language poetry, narrative poetry, experimental poetry, etc. For me, I prefer the narrative poets such as Ai, Yosef Komunyakaa, and Frank O’Hara Robert Lowell. I also enjoy the so-called confessional poets such as Dorianne Laux, Robert Lowell, and Sharon Olds. I also enjoy and try to emulate the rich density and details in the poems of Federico Garcia Lorca and Lisa Jarnot.

Linda Greenlaw of Perfect Storm fame is a novelist, too!

2007-08-05T20:56:00.000-04:00

Linda Greenlaw, former swordboat fisherwoman and the last person in contact with the doomed Andrea Gail, is on tour for her first novel, Slipnot. In this murder mystery set in fictional Green Haven, Maine, the protagonist, Jane Bunker, is a marine insurance investigator and former Miami detective who tries to solve the murder mystery. Here I am with Linda, Friday, August 3rd at Quail Ridge Books.

I met Linda three years ago also at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh when All Fisherman Are Liars was published. She has also written the NY Times bestseller, The Hungry Ocean, The Lobster Chronicles and a cookbook with her mom, Martha Greenlaw, entitled, Recipes from a Very Small Island.

Of course I'm fascinated by Linda's story because of her maritime knowledge (I'm currently working on a novel about a female solo racing sailor) and because she's a creative nonfiction author and I mainly teach creative nonfiction!

I wish Linda the best of luck with her tour and we'll get to know Linda Greenlaw the novelist better since she's been contracted for two more books!

Alice

How to Publish Panel at the Regulator

2007-07-08T21:07:00.000-04:00

(Left to right: Alice, Henry Hutton and Alex Sokoloff)

(Left to right: Alex Sokoloff, Stacey Cochran and Alice)

7/7/07 How to Publish Panel at the Regulator Bookshop

Last night, Stacey Cochran (Colorado Sequence) moderated a panel discussion titled "How to Get Published: Traditional Publishing and Self-Publishing" with Alex Sokoloff (The Harrowing), Alice Osborn (Right Lane Ends), and Henry Hutton from Lulu.com at the Regulator Book Shop on Ninth Street. We had a full crowd of fiction, nonfiction and poetry writers. Alex, who is from L.A., and was a screenwriter for 10 years, was asked many questions about how to acquire an agent and the benefits of traditional publishing, I was asked questions about why I did self-publishing and its advantages/disadvantages and Henry was asked many good questions about the Lulu.com's self publishing business model. It was great how Stacey made the crowd remember Alex's and my books, "OK, everyone," Stacey asked the crowd, "What' s the name of Alex's book again?" and he got a laugh when he announced that anyone who bought two of his books would get a character named after him/her in his next book.

The reason I self published Right Lane Ends was because as a poet, I know who my audience is and how I can get my words and my book before them through my various poetry and creative nonfiction workshops, as well as through my readings. I also am a good marketer and know what I need to do to get noticed by my audience -- (it's my Right Lane Ends T-shirts! -- thank you man at Kinkos who purchased my book on Friday when he saw me wearing my T-shirt -- I didn't even get your name) If you want to go the self publishing route, you need to know your target audience, how to reach them and be comfortable carving out a space for yourself as a lit star!

Till next time,

Alice

Poetry with Juliet

2007-06-23T11:53:00.001-04:00

Here are the women (Rob, Patricia and Susan not pictured) of Juliet Patterson's class "Density, Details and Lists: Exercises in Poetry."

Back Row: (left to right)
Tonja, Alice, Sally, Selene

Front Row: (left to right)
Pat, Niki, Juliet, Jane, Angela and Amy

I felt honored to be in a room with so many talented poets ready and willing to share their words with stangers (well, not strangers by the end of the week).

I wrote about 12 new poems and now just have to revise them and rework them -- it feels great!

Thank you classmates, Juliet Patterson, the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and my generous grant from United Arts of Wake County Regional Project Grant for making this week possible for me!

Alice

Prairie Lights Bookstore -- an Iowa City Destination!

2007-06-23T11:45:00.000-04:00

During my week in Iowa I attended two readings at Prairie Lights, Iowa City's premier bookstore. All of the reading sair on Saturdays from 8-10 pm and on Sundays 7-8 pm on WOI 640AM or on Sundays from 5-6pm on KSUI 91.7 FM.

We were the live studio audience!

On Monday, Susan and I listened to Judith Strasser and Anne-Marie Cusac (Silkie), two journalists who have recently published poetry books. We missed Anne-Marie's readings, but Judith's reading of The Reason/Unreason Project was extremely personal, ironic and witty. Here's a taste from "Cancer Dream":

They're running IV's on women in turbans.

Jaundiced patients are having blood drawn.

In a barbaric contraption topped by a vial

of Nembutal, someone's hanging upside down.

I survived cancer.

I take long bike rides.

I am anemic.

I am the dreamer.

I am terrified.
****

On Thursday night, a crowd of us dodged the rain storm to listen to Jim Autry (in above picture) give his reading on Looking Around for God: The Oddly Reverent Observations of an Unconventional Christian. The book is a collection of essays with titles such as, "Sex and Sunday School" and "God at the Track Meet." He also has several poems included as well. Jim was a fighter pilot, a Fortune 500 executive and is motivational speaker and consultant, among other talents.

Jim and his wife Sally Pederson (former Lt. Gov of Iowa) have a 22-year-old son, Ronald, who has autism, and I found the essays around the couple's experiences with their son very moving. I spoke a long time to both Jim and Sally about autism research and told them a little bit about my experiences with Daniel, who at 2-years-old was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We got Daniel in school-sponsored intervention programs and I told them how far he's progressed so he'll be ready for kindergarten.

Sally and Jim live in Des Moines.

Iowa Week: June 17-22

2007-06-22T11:40:00.000-04:00

Iowa City, Iowa.

This week I studied poetry with Juliet Patterson (The Truant Lover). The name of the class was "Density, Details and Lists: Exercises in Poetry." And boy, did we do some exercises! We had readings and poetry writing homework every night and I tried to write more poems that the required amount, since I know my schedule when I get back to Raleigh. I had dinner with friends in Jane Mead's "Advanced Poetry" class most nights, went to two fabulous Prairie Lights readings (Iowa's premier independent bookstore famous around the nation where all of the readings are podcasted before us, the studio audience), and then worked on my writing till about 12:30 or 1am every night.

Juliet instructed us on the NY School of Poetry, Federico García Lorca, the ecstatic school and much more. We would study a poem, say, William Stafford's "Things I Learned Last Week" and then use that title to jumpstart our poems. I worked on trying to use my imagination more and take leaps.

Everyone in the class has so much talent and it was a pleasure to hear and share their work.

The classes at the Iowa Festival are from 2-5 pm, leaving a lot of room to work, eat, sleep, visit museums, chat, drink coffee, shop and run. I loved the flexibility. I ran in the mornings, visited the art and history museums, listened to the 11 am "Elevenses" Lectures on writing, craft and literary mag submissions. On Friday, for the Elevenses the faculty shared their work. We had an opening reception on Monday night with wine and cheese in the Old Capital Museum, an Open Mic on Wednesday night and several "unsanctioned" Open Mics behind the Iowa House/Student Union where I and the majority of Festival participants stayed. As we read our poetry, we had a perfect view of the Iowa River at sunset. I made some good friends after these Open Mics and I even sold quite a few of my books!

I don't know if I can get back here next year, but I highly recommend this experience to you out there -- you'll write, network, learn and will be inspired!

Thanks again to United Arts of Wake County, Regional Artist Project Grant Award Program, which made this week possible for me!

Alice

Getting to Iowa, Sunday 6/17, Happy Father’s Day

2007-06-20T13:44:00.000-04:00

Saturday night and I knew it wasn’t a good sign when I couldn’t find my flight out of Raleigh to connect to Chicago, which would then take me to Cedar Rapids for the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. It was to depart from RDU at 9:45 on Sunday morning. I first checked with US Air, and found the second flight on United. I went downstairs to share my confusion with Keith, who remained extremely calm. I wasn’t calm. We called the US Air Help Desk and they said that my flight did exist, but we still couldn’t print out my boarding pass.

The next day Keith and Daniel dropped me off at RDU, neither early nor late at Terminal A, where US Air is located. There were four people in front of me and the agents took at least ten minutes to process them. When it was my turn, the agent said I was in the wrong terminal, since my flight was a United one and it would leave out of Terminal C.
“What! Will I make it?” my temperature rose.

He said, “You can hope that the plane will be late.”

My suitcase and I rolled down the stairs and through the parking garage. Upon arriving, I recognized a couple that been in Terminal A and they had had the Terminal A agent on the phone for at least ten minutes. I slid in next to them, while a quick, bald agent asked us if we were headed to Chicago. I piped up and my bag was checked after another agent had to verify and verify that I was indeed on this flight. My original flight was wiped clean by United and I was given another flight in its place. I hate United (and I’m on two United flights bound for home).

Turns out that Chicago flight was oversold and maybe it wouldn’t have mattered if I had made it through the security line in thirty seconds or less (I had to take off my belt and bracelet), as well as unpack my laptop. As I ran to the furthest gate possible, clutching my fanny pack like a football and only dropping my cell phone once, I squealed to a halt at the gate agent desk, with a few other folks waiting to see if they could fly standby. No luck for any of us. I didn’t have priority since I was behind the other ticketed passengers who had assigned seats and printed out boarding passes. I had neither. Our plane rolled away. Have you ever seen the plane you were supposed be on fly away? Lucky for me, I got another flight with American at 2:40, which meant that I would be late for the Iowa Registration/Welcome dinner, but I would still make the first class and orientation if I arrived in Iowa City at 7:30 pm.

At least I got a free lunch from United at any of the food places in Terminal C. After picking up my dry sandwich, chips and chocolate milk for Daniel, Keith picked me up. “Hi, again!” and we had lunch together and later I lathered Daniel up with sunscreen and got him ready for their pool date later that afternoon. I printed out my new boarding passes and made certain I had assigned seats.

Then everything went like clockwork. I insisted on getting to the airport early. My number came up in the security line and I had to be patted down, but at least I left plenty of time for this, right? We left Raleigh on time, made it to Chicago and then to Cedar Rapids. I had to wait for the shuttle for a half hour, but then we were soon on our way. Boarding the mini van was a lady in her forties with a cane and a shoulder sling who sat next to me. She immediately spoke to me and I found myself relaxing. Turns out Susan, my new friend, was headed not only to the Festival, but she was in the same poetry class as me! Unfortunately, her mother-in-law had recently passed away, so she had to leave for Dallas on Tuesday, missing most of her writing week. She also was missing her bags since a woman in California (where she’s from) had picked them up by mistake. Susan’s travel days were much much worse than mine. I told her things can only get better and then they did.

Next: a summary of Iowa Week with pictures!

Alice

Homer Hickam at Quail Ridge Books

2007-06-17T00:02:00.000-04:00

Homer Hickam, author of noted works such as Rocket Boys and Torpedo Junction (and fellow Hokie) , spoke to our writing group at Quail Ridge Books yesterday, 6/15/07. He was in town promoting his new WW II, Josh Thurlow novel, The Far Reaches. Amidst wine and cheese in the back of the store, Homer discussed his writing process, how he got his big break with Rocket Boys, and a couple of memorable anecnotes about blurbing and editors that weren't so funny at the time. I loved the fact that he lives with several cats and he and his wife rise early to take care of Batman, the diabetic, and that when he runs every afternoon he gets all of these grand ideas that sometimes work.

Before we knew it, it was 7pm and Homer had to start speaking. There was a big crowd for a Friday evening and all I can say is that I'm glad I got a good space in the signing line, or I would have been there till close. Homer's warm, personable and is so generous with aspiring writers.

You rock, Homer!

My next posting will be a dispatch from the Iowa Summer Writing Festival!

Alice

Three Talented Poets Read in N Raleigh

2007-06-11T21:55:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, June 10th, three notable local poets read from their works at the new North Regional Library. From left to right: Bruce Lader, Dave Manning and Maureen Sherbondy.

Maureen introduced Dave, Bruce and herself to the good-sized audience for a hot Sunday afternoon. She read from her latest collection published by Main Street Rag, After the Fairy Tale. Many of her poems dealt with loss, family and what happens when the "fairy" tale gives way to reality. "Honeysuckle" and "Existential Golidlocks" ("The everyday sameness / of life nudges her into a state of yawn and nap") resonated the most with me, but they were all excellent. Maureen does an outstanding job with rhythm and internal rhyme and gives you a little punch at the end. Speaking of punchy ends, Dave Manning's "Modus Scriptori," which likened his creative process to blue fungi received thunderous applause ("My lines spread like blue fungus / up a shower-stall, not fast, but unstoppable"). He read many poems from his latest chapbook, Detained by the Authorities from Pudding House. Dave's poems address love, the past, and poets who need to be taken down a notch. After Dave, Bruce read from his collection, Discovering Mortality, which dealt with sons and fathers. I enjoyed his poem about his father who served in a German internment camp in the Southwestern US and the poem imagines what the relationship was like between the two men.

Be sure not to miss Maureen, Dave and Bruce the next time they read!

Alice

More Photos from National Poetry Month

2007-06-05T21:21:00.000-04:00

Karen Michelle Raines (Poetically Correct) and I read at North Regional Library on Sat. April 21st.

Here I am at Quail Ridge Books on April 1st reading with Michael McFee and Ellen Bush. (photo by Michael Graziano) This was my first reading for National Poetry Month.

More Press 53

2007-06-05T21:11:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday Kevin Watson of Press 53, along with Joseph Mills and Doug Frelke, read from their work at the Cameron Village Library in Raleigh. There was a good crowd and Kevin's book bag was definitely lighter than when he and Joe left for Raleigh from Winston-Salem.

First, Kevin gave a brief overview of Press 53, which is his favorite number. He also read a short story from his collection, "You Can't Meet Jesus Wearing Sneakers." Then Joe read from "Somewhere During the Spin Cycle," his poetry collection and the audience laughed after each of his punchy poems which all end with a flourish. Doug closed out the show with excerpts from two stories from "Croatan," his most recent book. It thundered several times during his talk and always when he paused, so we never missed a word!

I support Press 53 whenever I'm able since their mission is to publish quality literature that might be passed over by the big publishing houses in New York. So check them out next time they're in town!

Alice

Press 53 and Me

2007-05-31T15:13:00.000-04:00

Here I am with the Press 53 poets and co-publisher/co-editor, Kevin Watson, while we read at the Borders in Winston-Salem, Thurs. April 19th.

from left to right
Joseph Mills, Valerie Nieman, Alice, Kevin Watson and Beebe Barksdale-Bruner

Alice

Book reviews and no time for reading

2007-05-31T15:02:00.000-04:00

This year I've had several book reviews published in the Independent Weekly -- here's my latest review:
The Marines of Montford Point Book Review

The funny thing is that I don't have time to read anymore except if it's "work." Most of my free time is taken up by my editing projects, meeting new editing clients, preparing for my workshops and reading/critiquing my students' stories. I also spend a lot of time e-mailing folks and marketing my work. I do remember a time when I would read for Book Club or I would check books out at the library and actually read them! Now what's on my nightstand has been sitting there for over a year!

My magazines are also piling up. The Writer and Allure are the two I always read and I do read the newspaper and Newsweek to keep up with the world. But sometimes it takes me the entire week to read Sunday's paper.

I hope to have more time to read and to even write when I go to Iowa for a weeklong poetry class at the Iowa Summer Writing Workshop in 3 weeks. After I return to Raleigh, I will attend Meredith College's Focusing on Form for the fourth straight year. This year I'm taking the weeklong fiction class with Louise Hawes. I also have a new laptop which will ensure my mobility and hopefully not make me less productive (I need to shut off my e-mail from time to time).

Till next time,
Alice

Dorianne Laux at NC State

2007-04-11T01:34:00.000-04:00

I had the priviledge of meeting Dorianne Laux when she came to NC State to judge the 2007 NCSU Poetry Contest. I'm happy to say my poem, "Ghostcards," made it to the top 5 out of 793 entries! And I got to meet Dorianne to boot. She's an excellent reader, she's warm and genuine and you're automatically pulled in. Plus, she lives in Oregon, where my husband once said to me, "This is a town full of Alice's!"meaning eccentric, REI-wearing types like myself. All of Dorianne's books sold out - lucky I snagged "A Poet's Companion" (she's the co-author) before everything was gone.

Alice

Alice Osborn and Friends Read at Cameron Village

2007-04-09T17:29:00.000-04:00

Here we are, Poets Extraordinaire! Me[RIGHT LANE ENDS], Bob Rogers [STAIGHT, NO CHASER] (he's the one looking at me), Tom Lisk [THESE BEAUTIFUL LIMITS], and Chris Salerno [WHIRLIGIG] (with the snazzy glasses) all read our poems Tuesday, April 3rd at Cameron Village Regional Library in Raleigh, NC. We all read both poems from our books and new poems.

We had a great turnout and I made new friends. We had a very responsive audience. Special thanks need to go to Erik Sugg, Library Assistant/Reader Services, who pulled this whole event together.

Please check out Matt Mullins's review here:

www.unstableeuphony.blogspot.com

Tom even had a heckler! Who knew, a heckler at a poetry reading? Also, Chris is leading a discussion at Cameron Village next Wed. on Walt Whitman at 6:30pm -- check it out! It's National Poetry Month!

Cheers,

Alice

Marketing, the Necessary Mistress

2007-03-06T22:36:00.000-05:00

Here I am at my computer checking e-mail and sending e-mail. If my writing life was a pie chart, I think e-mailing would be 70% of my work. Sounds high, doesn't it? But, it's my best and cheapest way to get the word out about my classes, workshops and readings. It does take a lot of time though, but if I didn't do it, then no one would know what I was up to and no one would come to my workshops/classes/readings, etc. I've been sending out a gazillion e-mails because April's National Poetry Month and I'm reading or have read in 6 venues around Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and even Winston Salem. Check out my link "Appearances" on my website.

It's a balancing act, though. I don't want to waste all of my creative energy sending out e-mails, so I try to limit myself to one group send around 3-5 every day and then I leave it alone. Or it controls me. Sometimes I feel that me sending out these posts doesn't matter since no one on my list responds. However, folks do respond to me in person and that's always nice. It's good to know that all of my shouting down the well and waiting for the echo is worth it (Thank you, Jane, for this image).

Till next time and please don't delete my e-mail until you've scrolled to the bottom!

Alice

The First Writing Workshop of the Year!

2007-01-18T18:06:00.000-05:00

On Wed. Jan 17th 10 writers gathered to share stories, coffee, laughs, fellowship and encouragement. The Free Prompt Writing Workshop was held at Write More Educational Resources in N Raleigh off of Old Lead Mine and Lead Mine roads. It's a good sign when you see folks hugging each other at the end of the night (and they didn't know each other before the workshop!)
Thanks to everyone who came out! The next free prompt writing workshop is Wed. March 14th from 7-9:30 pm at the same location.
till next time,
Alice

Alice Graduates!

2006-12-26T14:30:00.000-05:00

I graduated from NC State with my MA in English December 20th 2006 and boy am I happy!

My husband, Keith, and friends Jane, Beth and Nancy were there to cheer me on, and later that day I picked up my son from daycare wearing my cap and gown. Daniel kept saying, "I'm so happy!" echoing my feelings.

So I made it happen. I managed to balance family, work, school and graduate on time. I think the key to my success was enjoying my work in English and having the necessary support to make it happen. For instance, if Daniel had not been in daycare/pre-school full-time, I would never have made it, because I hardly did any schoolwork on weekends, if that's any indication.

A Long Time Goal

Ever since I was out of college back in the pre-Internet days, I wanted to go to grad school. I remember this phone interview I had the co-owner of the Moultrie News in Mt. Pleasant, SC (near Charleston) about a job as an account exec and he asked me what my 5 year goal was. Naturally, I said grad school. He then told me that was the wrong answer. The right answer was that I should want to own a home in 3-5 years. Why? I thought. I wanted education and a chance to be in front of my career. Much to my disappointment, my dad agreed with this fellow, but that's another story (and, no, I didn't get the job). Now, I didn't know what I wanted to do in grad school, only that I wanted to go. Not until 5 months after Daniel was born did I position myself for an MA in English and then I decided in June '04 that I wanted a concentration in Rhetoric/Composition. Some folks may say, why didn't you go for your MFA, since that's my focus. Well, I didn't have a good enough writing/English background for the MFA back in 2004 since my undergrad was in Finance, not English. The MA was perfect for me and maybe someday I'll go for my MFA...

Looking Back...

Fall '05 sucked. 11 credit hours, 6-7 tutoring center hours a week, 3 sessions of speech therapy/OT for my son. And I took all hard classes in rhetoric and critical theory. I think French was the easiest. But, I sure did learn about Plato, Aristotle, Foucoult, Zora Neale Hurston and many, many others. My classes were Tuesday and Thursdays from 1:30-4 and I had my rhetoric class which was a night class from 7:30-9. I worked from 10-1 in the tutoring center. M, W, F were speech therapy days and I also worked the occasional Friday for Lancome makeup, too. It seemed that I never had enough time to read my assignments. I would fall asleep in my critical theory book at 11am and then wake up at 3am and keep on going. I pulled an all-nighter for my 2-credit research class. And Keith and I mashed in a vacation in late October, so I missed all my classes for a week. It turned out that things actually got better for me after the vacation (I think I had about 2 hours of sleep the night before we left so I could get some work done ahead). I sure rejoiced when that semester was over and I had managed to survive it with all As and an A-.

Journaling Class Photos

2006-12-04T13:50:00.000-05:00

My "Journal from the Inside Out" workshop series met Nov. 1, 8 and 15 (all on Wed) at Ideas! Coffee House in Durham. We shared our entries, reflected upon our lives and experienced great fellowship! My next workshop is FREE and it's Wed. Jan 17th in the Greystone Office Park in N Raleigh on 901 Paverstone Way, Suite 8 from 7-9:30. We'll be prompt writing and making the creativity flow!

Pictured: (from left) Deborah, Alice and Carol

Right Lane Ends at the 2006 Writers Conference

2006-11-13T16:39:00.000-05:00

Beth Browne, Alice Osborn and Jane K. Andrews -- all part of the Right Lane Ends phenonmenon!

The three of us wore our RLE T-shirts to generate enthusiasm and excitement for my new book of poetry, Right Lane Ends -- it worked! I sold many books and now more writers know where to find me. I also gave away 4 shirts.

I think this year's conference held at the Sheraton in RDU (Raleigh-Durham) was one of the best North Carolina Writers' Network Conference I've ever attended!

If you'd like a T-shirt -- contact me via www.aliceosborn.com -- there's only a few left!!!

Check out these writing blogs!

2006-10-30T00:41:00.000-05:00

I've gathered a few fellow womens' writing blogs. Please check them out and feel a part of the writing community -- we all go through the same things (i.e. finding the Muse, writer's block, rejection and sometimes success!)

Peggy Payne: www.peggypayne.com
Author of NY Times Bestseller, Sister India
Blog: http://peggypayne.blogspot.com

Christy English
Blog: www.christyenglish.com

Therese Fowler
Blog: http://theresefowler.blogspot.com

Ideas Coffee House Reading

2006-10-22T09:23:00.000-04:00

Here are a few photos from my reading/signing at Ideas Coffee House on Friday, October 20th .
To open up the night, we had talented singer/songwriter La'wren'ze perform, followed by Alice Osborn reading from selected poems from her new book, Right Lane Ends.

Launch Party Pictures

2006-10-15T12:04:00.000-04:00

Photo by Michael Graziano

Here are a few pics from my Right Lane Ends Launch Party held at the Royal Bean Coffee House, Friday the 13th of October.

Prompt Writing Workshop

2006-09-28T23:08:00.000-04:00

Thank you everyone who came out to my free Prompt Writing Workshop at the Royal Bean Coffee Shop Wed. Sept. 27th. We had a great turnout, as you can see (photo by Michael Graziano). We did 5 timed writing exercises, made new friends and collaborated!

Why Be Normal?

2006-09-25T10:35:00.000-04:00

I’m complicated. When I was younger, no one could figure me out. How could I like Phil Collins and Nirvana? How could I love cars, yet couldn’t drive? How could I major in engineering and be learning dyslexic in math? How could I bake scrumptious brownies, yet not be able to fold a T-shirt to save my life? How could I live in Myrtle Beach and not have a tan? Let’s say I confused others and myself for a long time. My favorite question these days is how could I major in finance and now pursue my master’s in English? But, why not? Why can’t a business major switch to writing if that’s what she’s been doing her whole life anyway? I wrote newsletters when I was eight and decided to be a novelist when I was nine. Then something happened: I wanted to get a “real” job when I graduated from college and I didn’t even consider teaching or writing as a career. But, I still wrote on the sly for my high school’s paper and my college’s yearbook, and then later on for my sailing club’s newsletter. I became a shadow artist — I admit it. According to Julia Cameron of The Artist’s Way, a shadow artist doesn’t admit she’s an artist, but wants to be around artists in the worst way. No wonder all of my dates were photographers. After college, I worked for Belk Department Stores, first in their advertising department, then in store management, and lastly in the buying office. Near the end of my career with them, I remember buying a book on writing your first novel and thinking I still needed to do this. Then, life happened when my son Daniel was born four years ago.
The fact is, I love change and complication and am not afraid of it. Change is good and it wakes up the soul. For without change, I wouldn’t be a writer, I wouldn’t have a new poetry book published, and I wouldn’t be within inches of earning my M.A. I’d probably still be in retail management, still believing that Saturdays are the worst day of the week. However, before we can change, we need to let some things go to free up the space for new people and experiences. Daniel made me realize that I’d done a lot of things over the years to please my parents, but once he was on the way, my parents decided to break off our relationship. Of course, I was disappointed and it still saddens me that Daniel has never met my parents, but if I think that my parents left a vacuum for me to change and grow, and now I can see their estrangement in a positive light. When they let me go, I was forced at twenty-nine to define who I was and where my life should turn. My husband and I got married, I kept my name and my 1996 red Mustang, and released myself from my retail career to find out what I really wanted. When on maternity leave, I signed up for correspondence course writing classes at UNC-CH, became more active in my book club, joined a writers’ group and plunged into motherhood — the hardest job on the planet. Slowly, but surely, I wrote bad short stories and sent them off to contests and then took advantage of all the North Carolina Writers’ Network conferences. I also read writing books and novels to study the craft and improve.
This summer I learned a lot and opened myself up to new experiences that were a little scary. I designed and uploaded my website. I published my first chapbook, Ghostcards. I wrote a blog and learned how to upload photos onto this blog. I created a MySpace page and think it's a great networking tool. I read poems and wrote poems, getting two of them published in literary journals (I’ve only started writing poetry since February). I taught a free writing workshop with fifteen participants. Then, I taught a fee-based workshop on creative nonfiction, and that was also successful. My first perfect-bound book of poetry, Right Lane Ends, will soon be hot off the presses and I can’t wait to keep my first dollar from the first sale. I should have started writing earlier. Maybe. But, the time wasn’t right and I didn’t have anything interesting to say. Now I do.

More Pictures from Write from the Inside Out Class

2006-09-15T15:57:00.000-04:00

Write from the Inside Out was a course designed to create creative nonfiction in a supportive environment.
The workshops were all held at the Edible Art Bakery on Hillsborough St in Raleigh across the street from Meredith College. All of the classes took place on three consecutive Wednesdays from 7-9:30 pm. All of the participants received a workbook and gourmet dessert and coffee with each session.

Here are a few more photos from the workshop.

Alice

Write from the Inside Out Workshop

2006-09-14T21:55:00.000-04:00

Thanks, Nancy, Conrad, James, Ida, and Suzanne for making Write from the Inside Out -- CNF (creative nonfiction) be such a great experience!

Alice