For Chuck

I was supposed to use the word Equilibrium in my poem today, but I’ve saved that for tomorrow.  An old college friend of mine passed away last night, at much too young an age!  I didn’t feel like writing a silly poem today.  Instead, I wrote the following poem for my friend, Chuck.

You graduate from college, leaving treasured friends behind.

You keep them in your heart and yet, they fade out from your mind.

From time to time you’ll hear their names and memories rush in.

But then your life gets busy and they fade away again.

We think we’ll always have more time, to spend with our old friends.

We put off making phone calls; we write notes we never send.

It’s years since I last saw you - though, at times, it feels like days.

It broke my heart to hear the news - that you had passed away.

The wounds of time and distance have left scars upon my heart.

I hope my memories heal them, even though we’re far apart

To say you were my favorite guy at Mac may sound trite or insincere, but it's the truth.  You truly were the sweetest, most genuine guy there – and nobody made me laugh the way you did – especially with your Jewish old man impression!

I wish I had said all these things to you sooner - before you passed away - before you got sick - before three decades had passed.  

 I loved you, Chuck Bernard!

My roommate was the editor of the yearbook and I swiped this from her files :-)

Bogged Down by Blogging

I was just beating myself up (figuratively - it's had to really beat yourself up because it hurts!) about breaking my promise to Elaine Kiely Kearns, of KidLit 411 fame!  I told her I'd blog more regularly and that was almost 3 months ago - sorry Elaine!!  I thought about why I hadn't blogged more often this past year and I realized, it's because I've been busy blogging - on other people's sites!  


Here are some of the blog posts I've written in the past year:

~ I'm a regular contributor to a group blog called Word Disco - an Unexpected Party.  I wrote five posts there last year. The other amazing author/posters are: Jenni Bielecki, Meg Fleming, Renee Gian, Betsy Pritts Ickes, Megan Maynor, Stephen Shaskan, Trisha Speed Shaskan, Catherine Urdahl and Heather Zenzen.

~ I'm also a regular contributor (though I'm late a lot - sorry!) to Nancy Viau's wonderful blog for kids, WIT - Writing Info & Tips.  The other contributing authors are: Alisonn Formento and Margie Gelbwasser.

In addition to my series guest posts, I've also done one-time posts on a variety of other sites:

~ I did a post on Genres for Donna Martin's series, Writerly Wisdom.

~ I've contributed a few times to Marcie Flinchum Atkins' series, We're All in This Together.

~ I wrote a post and writing prompt about Rhythm  on Shannon Abercrombie's series, Start The Year off Write.

~ I contributed a Dot to Peter Reynold's Celebri-dots for International Dot Day, held on September 15th.

So, instead of beating myself up, I should be hoisting myself on my shoulders (definitely harder than beating yourself up) and patting myself on the back (that I can do!) for writing so many posts in the past year!

You can expect to see a lot more posts from me soon - 30 to be exact!  I'll be writing a poem-a-day in April for Poetry Month, as I did last year.  In each poem, I'll use a word suggested here or on my Facebook page.  I stole borrowed this idea from Ed DeCaria's March Madness Poetry Contest.  I made it to round three this year, with the words Protean, Rapturous, and Quotidian!  Next year I'm going all the way! 


If you know of anyone else participating in April Poetry Month, please share their info here for other poetry lovers!!   Also, please suggest words for my poems and come back in two days to read the first one! 

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KIDLIT 411

I can't believe I haven't posted since July!!  Well, really, I can since a lot has happened since then: 


~ My son got married in September, so the summer and early fall were packed full of wedding planning, showers and dress shopping!   


~ I went back to teaching full-time (I had been part-time teacher / part-time lead teacher for four years) so I have twice the number of students this year.  

~ On the writing side - I've been trying to find time to write and edit my picture book manuscripts; I joined my second critique group; I've done several guest posts on friends' blogs; I'm still a judge for Rate Your Story and submissions have skyrocketed; I've been doing a lot of critiques from my critique service; and I've been preparing for the May 13th release of my new book!




~ And, to be perfectly honest, I've wasted a lot of time on social media!

So, what does this have to do with KIDLIT 411?  I discovered this amazing new site and I contacted its founder, E. Kiely Kearns to tell her how awesome the site is and to ask if she'd add me to the list of critiquers.  She said she would and she'd link to my blog too if I started posting more regularly.  That's when I realized I hadn't posted since July!!  

So, I want to thank E. Kiely Kearns for creating her amazingly helpful and informative site and for the big nudge!  I just want to ask her one thing - where were you when I was getting started?  Oh yeah - in grade school :-)

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The Next Big Thing Blog Tour

I was tagged a while ago, by Sallie Wolf, to be a stop on The Next Big Thing Blog Tour.  Sallie is the author of: The Robin Makes a Laughing Sound: A Birder's Journal; Truck Stuck; Peter'sTrucks and her upcoming picture book, THE MYSTERIOUS CARGO.   

I forgot all about doing this - so sorry Sallie!  As it turns out - it's a good thing I forgot because now I have the cover to share!  Didn't Deborah Zemke do an amazing job?  Anyway, back to the NBTBT.  I had to answer the following questions about my soon-to-be-published (Spring, 2014) picture book.  So, here I go . . .

1) What is the working title of your next 
     book?
    The title of my upcoming picture book 
     is COCK-A-DOODLE OOPS!

 2) Where did the idea come from for  
     the book?
     I originally wanted to write a "Boy 
     who cried wolf" type of story, but 
     with a rooster. Then it morphed into
     a story where the rooster goes on vacation          and the other animals try to wake the farmer, 
     but are unsuccessful.

 3) What genre does your book fall under?
      It's a rhyming, humorous picture book.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your 
    characters in a movie rendition?
     It would have to be animated and there are eight animals and the                        farmer who all have pretty equal parts, so I'd have to think for a while about      how to cast it.  I'd love to have that problem.  :-)

 5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
      When Rooster leaves for a week's vacation, the other animals try their best       to crow, but they can't wake the farmer from his deep sleep.

 6) Who is publishing your book?
      Creston Books

 7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the 
      manuscript?
      Once I figured out the rhyme scheme and knew I was going to have a                 different animal for each verse, it went pretty quickly.  I worked a long               time on the ending - I just couldn't figure out how to wrap it all up.  But,   
      persistance pays off because I love the ending!!

 8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
      That's a tough question too because it kind of reminds me of Click Clack         Moo but it's in rhyme and that isn't.  I know there must be other books with       the same rhyme scheme as mine, but I can't think of any off hand.

 9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
      I honestly don't have an answer for this question - sorry!  I will say that I           am constantly inspired by my author and illustrator friends!!

 10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
        It's a funny story with a lot of word play and a few twists that will surprise         you!

Next up on the Next Big Thing Blog Tour is Miranda Paul, who has not one - but two - next big things!  I'll let her tell you all about it!  Take it away, Miranda!

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Poetry Month - Day 30: Hooray!!

I'd be lying if I said I'm sad to see Poetry Month come to an end.  I'd also be lying if I said it wasn't a lot of fun!  I know my poems weren't the greatest poems ever written - not even close!  But I'm proud of myself for getting them done - and on time!

A fellow writer, Marcie Flinchum Atkins, started a series on her blog called We're All in This Together.  For the series, she asks writers to share their experiences to help other writers.  Last week, Marcie asked us to share how we find time to write.  I didn't submit anything because I couldn't think of anything to write.  

But, in reflecting on this month's writing challenge, I thought of my answer - I find time to write when I have an obligation and limited time! If I hadn't publicly announced my goal of writing a poem a day, I would have let myself off the hook on several occasions!  There were nights I'd realize it was 9:00 and I'd forgotten to write my poem!  I'd have to get it written before going to sleep and I'd have to work in the morning.  If not for the possibility of public humiliation (ok, I'm being a bit dramatic), I may have gone several days without writing.

So, here is my last poem of the month, using a word I chose for myself - well, three words really:

In thirty days and thirty nights
were thirty poems I vowed to write.

For every poem, a friend would choose
a random word I'd have to use.

To write a verse and rhyme the word,

which sometimes made my poems absurd!

I tried to make the poems funny.

Sometimes I was on the money.

Other times, my poems weren’t great,

but none of them were posted late!

And now my April challenge ends

So thanks again to all my friends!!

I’m finished now.  Tomorrow’s May!
Until next year . . . Hip Hip Hooray!!

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