Memoirous

for a friend You are not gone from here We just saw each other the other day Standing at the corner, at the Shop N’Save You are not gone from here I passed you on the sidewalk On the way to Unique, by the mango man You are not gone from here Running over Cricket Hill There was someone just like you You are not gone from here I stopped by your door and read The note, Out and about You are not gone from here

The conference I attended in the Pocono’s in eastern Pennsylvania, okay I’ll say it: Highlights Foundation, the Whole Novel Workshop . When dealing with an icon it is hard to get people to revision—or see it differently. Highlights. Do you see Goofus and Gallant? Picture yourself in a doctor’s office? The dentist! Or perhaps hidden pictures! It’s hard, isn’t it? (I could usually find all BUT ONE item in the hidden pictures!) In fact I was reluctant to tell people where I was going, because immediately my friends went to the icon. As well as assumptions. It’s kid stuff (code for easy). Simplistic. Didactic. Educational (code for boring). I’ve been to MANY writer’s conferences and each has its own flavor. Most, though, have been for writers of general literature (code for adults—except not XXX). Language is riddled with code. Language is code. We have to work hard to get around stereotypes, prejudices, clichés. This applies to both our attitude and our writi...

Many of my followers (Thanks! Both of you) might be wondering why the cyber silence this week.   I’ve been away at a writer’s conference dedicated to the WHOLE novel. When I read about the workshop on-line I couldn’t believe it. Someone will read my whole ms and give me comments? So I wrote for and received a grant from the Illinois Arts Council and a scholarship that GREATLY underfunded the workshop tuition. Before leaving for the week I received a 3-page critique letter. And immediately felt like running out into traffic. Obviously I am not a writer. So I left for the workshop carrying a backpack of doubts. But since here, I have been showered and encouraged and more than affirmed that indeed I am a writer. This is a YA (young adult) novel ms. A lot of people tend to think there is some writing that is easier. The truth is: there’s nothing easy about writing. To write for young people is just as difficult as writing for an adult audience. We still need to engage our r...

I’ve often dreamed of having a patron, someone to champion me and my work. There have been many famous mentorships between established artists or those prominent in the field and those struggling for recognition. Even within social networks (I’m not referring to Twitter here or Facebook) such as the New York School, the circle of poets and visual artists who met socially at taverns and each other’s apartments or summered on Fire Island together, there was mutual encouragement and camaraderie. But to be honest, I sort of fail big-time at networking. It’s like I just can’t step over a perceived hump. What might help is becoming inebriated or high, but that also isn’t in my personality make-up. So I stand there like a lug, the proverbial observer. Not a bad thing for a writer—just not helpful in promoting one’s work. So yes, I sit around fantasizing that one day my prince will come. To be discovered. Of course, and this goes back again to networking, you have to put yours...