My personal journey in the writing seas

Good Morning Everyone! How are you today? Thank you for your participation in my blog site. I feel that as a new member of the writing seas, having been a writer for the majority of my life, I come up against obstacles, choices, conversations that make me ask questions on if I am making the right decisions in certain situations. I have a wonderful group of artists in which I network with on a daily basis, hence today, I am blogging more because I have the worlds SMALLEST FONT on facebook-can you imagine? How can I get any work done on facebook today when my font is size 1? So here I am with you wonderful people? :)

My struggle some days is this-which book do I work on now and do I go back to my novel? I have written 26 children's books and 11 have been edited so far and awaiting publication and illustrations. So I continue to write, yet I am not able to draw more than a stick figure, so with that being said, I really cannot help my illustrator at all! If I did, I highly doubt any of my books would be published.

Journey of a Starfish #1---

Journey #1--AGENTS--If you need one, you should not be paying them a penny. Do you know why? Because you are talented and they have the money and the means, if they are legitimate, to get your published. Research your agent, check blogs, check who they have worked with, get their CV, make calls, and then, decide. I would recommend taking at least 6 months to make a decision on an agent. That is just my personal recommendation. Why? Because an agent steal  from me personally, found me on my space, and used the money I gave her to publish herself. True story. I will never release her name, because it simply doesn't matter anymore. Lesson learned? Definitely! Will I ever make that mistake again? No way! Should YOU pay an agent to do anything for you-NO WAY! I would have had 15 books published by then. How did I find out she was not legit? A website people created that she had stolen from appeared after a multitude of research and many non-returned phone calls from her on business. Did I try to get my money back? No. Why? Because it was energy that I put towards something more positive. Self Publishing and getting a Business Partner and a Creative Team together. That was my next journey.I went from guppy fish to fish at that point in the deep seas of writers.

Journey #2---I then went with self-publishing-spent thousands on self-publishing in which they could not even get my book title right when my book went live for purchase on a Nationwide site-talk about your embarrassment, right? It got fixed after several hula hoops that I jumped through, and then, my next book came out and guess what happened? Yes! The same thing-an entire page missing when the book arrived via Fed Ex to my front door. It took me ten calls to get it taken care of and it took weeks for me to get the real copy, meaning the copy that I could actually show people. So that was my journey in self-publishing. Did I learn from it? Yes-absolutely! Will I do it again? Never. Why you ask? It is simple. Because time is valuable and you should not have to pay anyone for a service, a fee, that is astronomical. And it was astronomical! I had to get published and I knew that. I had a radio show the next month that was Nationwide. So I paid for express payment. Take a guess at how much I paid and how much money I lost in the process? I will leave it at that, folks. Still a guppy fish.


Journey #3-Get business cards, no matter what, because you never know who you will meet.
I was at Staples. I was getting my very first business cards. It was exciting. I had a table being featured where I had been volunteering for a few weeks locally. It was Career Day Tomorrow. My first official table for poetry and writing prompts with 4th and 5th graders was May 28, 2010. May 27, 2010, changed my life. I was at Staples and all the systems behind the desk shut down for nearly 30 minutes, so it was like an MVA line. There were only three of us there. I was exhausted and had been working on my Career triWenger at Staples and now, I am Co-Writing and have been editing for Dr. Win Wenger, the 1% of the smartest people in the world of Mensa since May 2010. He is a dear friend of mine and quite humble. We will be Co-Writing a book on listening together in 2010.

Journey #4 and Journey #5 will be upcoming tomorrow....Thoughts? Comments? Feedback? Post away my friends! :) Today, enjoy your journey as a new fish in the deep blue seas...we will travel it together on this site! Beware of sharks-some do bite! :)

My live post on Angie's Diary this week

http://angiesdiary.com/poetry-and-lyrics/poem-stories/fast-writing-poetry/

Writing Prompt on GOT POETRY

Nancy Denofio

This prompt is for the poets here on Got Poetry who want to tackle something other than what you may be used to writing. This prompt is instructional, and tells you what to do and how to do it. Please follow the instructions. <s>

Imagine yourself being in a place the day after a disaster and you have no idea what happened the day before. So use ordinary people. For some odd reason you could walk into a place where you feel alone in a crowd? Perhaps, walking on a beach - and how will you learn about what happened? Remember this is poetry - and the tone and pace is important. Read it aloud, once you are finished, listen to the words, all the words should move as if in motion.

USE real people, no one famous. Pick somewhere, anywhere. You know nothing, and you are faced with a mystery, how will it end? Ordinary REAL life - something like this can happen.

This one should be interesting to write - and to read. Thanks Nancy

Meg Collins writing Prompt on Dec. 8, 2010

I was walking along the beach

the same beach I walked on yesterday

I think it was around 1pm

the beach was swarming with people

children playing

many bright colored buckets of sand and

water and sandcastles were being made

and children digging for sea crabs

remember those tiny little guys in the bottom of the sand?

children playing merrily

digging and digging for sand crabs

laughter and smiles and

the ocean waves crashing amongst the

many granules of sand on the oceans shore

the life guards were watching 

wearing their zinc oxide on their noses

I remember there were ten stands

20 people total in the stands

and a vendor selling food and drinks because

it was 90 degrees

many umbrellas

 mostly blue and yellow and green

I walk the beach today and

the sands are there

the seas are roaring

louder than I have ever heard before

people are scattered, buckets flying to and fro and

lifeguards running

the beach is empty now

it is me

and the ocean

and the sea of blue angry waves

roaring

growing bigger

and bigger

and bigger than I have ever seen before

i am alone

but am I?

I see buckets yet no people

 no sand crabs

stands

but no guards

I walk the beach of the roaring seas

no smiles

no laughter

no people

buckets

blankets

picnic baskets left behind

and a net up for volleyball

and the castles

the sand castles that I viewed before

in the contest

there were 15

they are all gone!

who am I by this sea?

do I matter?

and if I do matter..

why did all the people run

and where do I stand now

among a world of silence

and roaring seas

with no smiles to see today

only that of the angry and roaring seas

only the roars

where did you go?

and why,

why did you leave me here, all alone?

First Christmas without William....by Larry Humphries

First Christmas without William...

Is it William or Bill?

I don’t know William,

and, I suppose, neither do you.

William R. Foster, Jr, died on Saturday, August 28, 2010.

Home going service will be at House of Day Funeral Service,

Tuesday, August 31, 2010.  Wake hour at 10 a.m. with

funeral hour at 11 a.m.

I noticed this on the obituary page

filled with life stories,

only because it’s one paragraph.

A lifetime in 36 words.

It’s not enough.

Perhaps it was written to catch my attention.

I see his mother holding him at birth.

Lovingly naming him for his proud father.

Does he have a wife?  Children?

Are his parents now heartbroken?

Who will attend the wake?

Will I?

Probably not.

Will I think of Bill on Tuesday at 10 a.m.?

Probably not.

But, we’re thinking about him now.

L. Humphries

© August 2010

Graham Nash-- Poem--Creative Utopia

In the moments I find happiness

Transitory gifts of enchantment

From sweet kitten play to prominent prose

Divine happiness is truly in the moments

More and more frequent they appear

Inviting me to willingly bathe within silent pools of wonderment

Beckoning glittering reflection of myself

Bringing enlightenment

Realising potential

Delivering future of what once seemed past

In the moments there is truth

Within each one is limitless hope

Endless possibilities of realisation

Eager to be woven into a grand tapestry

Dressing my life in regal flair

Adorning my crown of scarlet ribbons

Displaying my crimson cloak of serene fulfillment

In the moments you will find me

Pure in essence

Rejoiced in reassurance

Blessed in self contentment

Naked reality laid bare for all to see

No hidden complexities

Mother Natures barefoot daughter

In the moments I am free

To run free

To laugh and whoop with glee

To be me

To be the me that I am

To be the me I long to be

In the moments.................

Audrey and Gray 2010 

Wings by Peter Doyle

Wings

I am going bush

to make some wings

from tallowwood.

The chainsaw stays at home today;

they must be hewn by hand

or the angels will not wear them.

I will find the tallest tree,

then, begging mercy,

fell it blow by blow;

hacking from the living heart

interlocked and wavy grain

of greasy yellow-brown;

hard as unforgiveness,

heavy as regret,   

riddled with      

the black-lined burrows

of Ambrosia beetles.

(Did I specifically mention    

the black-veiled sorrows       

of the locust and weevil,

left over from past plagues?)

Measuring by eye

I will cleave them

with my naked hands,

scrape them smooth with brokenness

and burnish them with prayer.

There on an altar

of rounded, mossy stones,

to offer them until the fire falls

and smoke arises,

carrying to heaven

every hint of bitterness.

Peter Doyle  20/07/2010

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Poem By Anthony Lodesto

As the snowflakes fall

And the cold settles in,

Jack Frost’s bitter chill;

Brushes against cheeks

Adding a peppermint rose glow.

The mistletoe is hung high,

As the dreams of babes

Turn to a man flying by.

Gingerbread smells,

The ringing of golden bells,

Aromatic, tinseled glow

Of the evergreen pine,

Dressed to impress

Shaded presents lie below

Marked hers and mine;

There’s only one gift

Where one wonders about,

When love and holiday come together

Sparked by a scented candle’s glow,

Cherry Chap Stick lips

Meet in the falling snow

Consented underneath the mistletoe.

The Eve of dreams

Are alive and sweet

Making the kissers

Light on their feet,

The one gift

Not wrapped nor topped with a bow,

The magic of the holiday spirit

Brings the truest of gifts

That of the Christmas kiss.

Anthony Lodestro