Category Archives: books

A NEW SCENE FOR WRITERS

   Over a period of ten years, I attended the Annual International Women Writers’ Conference of Remember the Magic at Skidmore in Saratoga Springs, New York. Each year I came away with writing ideas and guidance that had never entered my mind. I also attended A Writing Retreat weekends in Ohio where the same thing happened. I came home filled with enthusiasm and different approaches to writing.

Changing where you write is something that enhances your writing, gives a fresh new look to something you may have been working on for awhile. Writers need writers. It’s absolutely fulfilling to sit and talk with other writers. There is something about it, not quite like looking into a mirror but a sharing of struggle, accomplishment; of maybe sharing the same talent. An ending you’ve been scratching around for; some little pocket of information that has escaped you.

With that said, let me introduce you to an opportunity that may be just what you need:

DSCF3607 Two books by Jyoti Wind; one written and one edited

The Revolution of Writing
A Women’s Writing Seminar
What if a group of women gathered to write, to express themselves, voicing thoughts and feelings that would have been heretical 150 years ago, let alone the conversation and dress. What if this innocuous writing group was a front for a different model, a present day model of revolution.

Using Fairy Tales, Guided Meditation, Labyrinth walk, and writing prompts, we will have an opportunity to share heartfelt experiences, enhance our writing agility, and open mind-doors to other ways of perceiving life.
Move away from the harbor where you presently are and journey down the coast of our collective evolution.
Please join me for this 2 day Writing Seminar in beautiful Boulder, CO this Summer on July 18 and 19, 2015. Saturday and Sunday, 10-4PM. $200. Each day we will have a 1 ½ hour break for lunch. Lunch is on your own.

Exact location given on registration and payment.

Consider coming ahead of time or staying afterwards to enjoy what Boulder and the surrounding mountainous region has to offer. For hotel and dining info: http://www.gocolorado.com/Boulder/Hotels

Jyoti Wind has been a writer of poetry and prose since childhood. She has facilitated women’s writing groups for 12 years, led workshops on self-publishing, been a member of The Poetry Society of Colorado and the International Women’s Writing Guild. She also edits manuscripts and coaches those stepping into the self-publishing field. Jyoti has self-published 8 books, including 4 anthologies. Her work has been published in Elephant Journal, Crone Magazine, and various blogs and newsletters.
jyotiwind@gmail.com Payment through Paypal or check to: 2635 Mapleton Ave. #9, Boulder, CO 80304 303.541-9106

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Filed under anthology, books, wormen writing

WHERE DO YOUR POEMS HIDE?

DSCF3479While nosing around the ‘net, I find a subject that I can fly from and create a writing prompt for my writing friends. Where do you find your poems? Do you make a list, write from one, leave the others for another day? Can you just go on and on, allowing the list to continue expanding like I do? And isn’t poetry just fascinating now that all those rigid rules have been removed? It is for me, anyway. Please enjoy.

WHERE POEMS HIDE
A brilliantly colored leaf falls from a tree
gently floating down
letting me know, autumn is in slow motion

deer that come out of the forest to forage
as I watch quietly
holding my breath; not to scare them away

words of my father flow through my hand
as they touch paper
words that I never chanced to hear him say

re-reading cards sent to me over the years
softening my heart
touch me again as I picture who sent them

peace of home fills me with warmth
thoughts overflowing
head to heart to hand, filling me with love

a pot of tea complimenting the scent
of freshly baked cookies
filling the kitchen with memories of long ago

the table covered with books of blank pages
lay sprawled out
their voices calling me, waiting to be filled
the fireplace crackling, warming my heart
memories of moments

so precious that I re-live them over again
poems hang in the air waiting to be plucked
brought to life
written down to share with the world © 2014

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Filed under anthology, books, general, writing group poetry

Sitting with a Drunken Sorceress Anthology

DSCF3180   It’s been a year now that we at WAM (Warren Artists’ Market) published our first anthology, Sitting with a Drunken Sorceress. Many Warren County stores (Hardware Café, Friends Two, InTown Boutique, Brain Freeze, Mary Sherwood Lake Living, Ace Hardware at the Lake,) have supported us by continuing to offer the book for sale. We are grateful to those who believe in our mission to provide a platform for the artists in Warren County and beyond. We have a few copies left in our stockroom that we are offering at the clearance price of $10.00 each, plus $2 shipping. Order yours now-they are great for reading on these cold wintry nights and for giving as a gift. Send a check or money order to WAM in care of: bythebookNC, P O Box 348, Macon NC 27551.Start your new year by reading.
More WAM news—Our First Fridays are returning to the FoodWorks, 108 So. Main St. in Warrenton, NC on the first Friday-February 6 beginning at 7 pm. North Carolina beers & wines are offered along with bites to eat from locally grown foods. We will continue our First Fridays there each month. Join us! Bring your poetry, stories, songs, or bring someone else’s that you would like to read. Or just come out and applaud those who do! You are welcome!

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Filed under anthology, books, First Friday, Poetry, warren county nc

Writing in Cookbooks

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Here’s a question for those who love to spend time in the kitchen and there are still many of us out there, fortunately. How many times have you come across hand written notes in a used cook book you bought? Or one handed down from mother to daughter to granddaughter or thankfully, today to sons, etc.? Have you written adjustments to a recipe to suit your own tastes? I know I have. The first time I try it their way. After that, I’m doing it my way, altering their recipe and sometimes my own to accommodate a healthier recipe.
Think about the way our Moms cooked 40 years ago and how we cook today. Especially if you have changed Mom’s recipes for healthier ones. That is how tastes evolve, restaurants stay at the top of the list; by tasting, adding more of this, less of that, and changing this ingredient or seasoning for that one. It’s like exploring without leaving the kitchen!
We are lucky here in America where immigrants bringing their herbs and spices with them when they came, introduced us to new tastes; even their fish and meat unknown to us as children. I was 40 before I ever tasted goat and 60 before I tasted kale. We definitely have a melting pot of ethnic foods and I have definitely altered cookbook recipes to suit my own taste. Try it……

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Filed under books, cookbooks, general, opinion, Uncategorized, writing

Writing in Margins

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This kind of writing in books is so very different from writing inscriptions. It was appalling to me to find that people actually wrote in margins, crossed out printed text of the author’s, and put their own words in their place! Sacrilege! This is the very last kind of writing in books that I learned to do.

These past few years I began to follow suit, but only in books I have bought, not borrowed books, be them library or a friend’s. My reading habits have changed, too. I’m reading more non-fiction books, many that require major thinking. So this is the place to respond…..in the margin. Because the word is printed does not mean I have to agree with it. Sometimes I agree with a passion and just have to take note! Placing my small, printed notes in the margin will attract my attention when I read that book again. Who knows? My opinion may change the second time I read it.

I’m not likely to re-read a novel, except for a few chosen classics that have different messages for me as I’ve grown and understand more.
As for buying a used book with notes in the margin……I love the chance to read what someone else has thought about the author’s words. However, I cannot abide a book with underlining or highlighting!!! That, for me, is strictly for studying and I don’t want to read someone else’s book that is so corrupted. Of course I do it myself now as the photo shows you. My writing group is working its way through the Artist’s Rule by Christine Valters Paintner. I find sometimes I do not agree with her statements and sometimes I am very impressed by them.

These books are kept on my shelf and will not go to the used book store or be donated to the library. They are not intended for re-use for others. It would feel like giving my fingerprints away.

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Filed under books, Uncategorized, writing

More on Writing in Books

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My hardcover copy of The Crofter and the Laird by John McPhee, first printing in 1970 is also inscribed. To Mary Scoville with affectionate good wishes, Frances Haynes, it states. Somehow I feel that Frances had chosen this book especially, over many other books, like a good friend who really knows you would do. Maybe Mary has a Scottish heritage or spent a lovely visit to Scotland. The name Scoville originated in Cornwall, England and has a registered coat of arms. Peoples of the United Kingdom tended to move around from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and England so it is easily possible.
The inscription makes the book personal beyond what the author accomplished. A treasure is created by the mere touch of a pen that reveals thoughtfulness. It is an addition that doesn’t come with the buying of a new book. It is also a good writing prompt. Can’t you just create a great story around the inscription inside a book?
James Graves has black and white sketches depicting scenes McPhee wrote about. Remember when publishers did that? It gave an artist a helping hand in getting their work and name into print. The reader benefitted, too. I still remember the pleasure my Nancy Drew books, with pictures, gave me when I was growing up. My Nancy Drew books came from the school library but I wonder how many an Aunt set a reader on fire with an inscribed Nancy Drew book.

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WRITING IN BOOKS

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DSCF3335Were you taught to not write or mark your books when you were growing up? Teachers especially stressed that the books loaned to us for class had to be reused the next year and the year after that. Strong words were spoken about the love and care of books.

That love and care of books remains with me today and the memories of those teachers. Yet after decades of keeping my books pristine has changed drastically.

In the 90s I came to appreciate and to buy mostly used books. Often I would open a book to see a personal note written on the flyleaf by someone gifting the book. This brought me into the scene of the giver and receiver. A privilege; almost like being invited to share a confidence.

Pictured here, the John Woolman, American Quaker by Janet Whitney book, a first edition published in May 1942, is inscribed, To Cousin Gertrude, a Direct Descendent of John Woolman, with love and best wishes, from H…. Hutchinson Cook. The dots replace the writing I could not read. The first initial could be an H or a TH. I wonder about the relationship between these two cousins. I imagine the delight she felt with receiving this gift. He sounds happy to have found this book for her to read.
The original price in the book is $3.75. It is listed online for $33.00 to $85.00. For serious book collectors the inscription would lower the value of the book. I think of it as adding value.

More on this subject in the near future.

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Filed under American History, books, general, opinion, reflection, writing

The WAM Maya Angelou Tribute

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Thomas Park of the Warren Artists’ Market (WAM) declared the First Friday Poetry Night in June to be a tribute to the memory of Maya Angelou; a great idea for a great lady who influenced many people in her lifetime. Several folks read a poem or two of hers. I had just recently taken “Maya Angelou: The Poetry of Living” by Margaret Courtney-Clarke out of the library, so I brought it along. In the book there are over a hundred pages of comments from people whose lives she touched, along with a few comments of her own.
To accent my chosen readings from the book, I added two poems that touched me especially. “Alone” was one and the other “Touched by an Angel” surely she had personal experiences with both.
Sterling added some soft jazz in the background and gave us all a special treat by playing a recording, bringing Maya Angelou’s voice right into the room with us! A delightful experience!
Maya cooked with words of all varieties. She also was a kitchen cook. Reading her cookbooks, The Welcome Table and Great Food, All Day Long, etc. that sit on my cookbook shelves, are filled with recipes for elegant dining, the best recipes for leftovers, and a running conversation. They make me feel as if she is in the kitchen with me. A blessing and a comfort, indeed.

I hope she got her cool drink of water before she died.

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Filed under book review, books, Poetry, women, writing

a forever feeling

from: Sitting with a Drunken Sorceress
It is nearly here, books are expected to be available in a week or two.
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a forever feeling

Words written
have a forever feeling,
a deeper meaning
that goes on and on
that outlives the writer
a word written on paper
is etched in stone
to be found centuries later,
read and enjoyed or wept over.

The word spoken
is thrown out
to the wind
to carry it away
can leave a scar
to be remembered
but it doesn’t last forever,
a word spoken softly
to soothe and caress
may be felt for the moment
but flies away into the air
soon forgotten by the speaker.

Ah, but the word written
remains
to enter our dreams
to carve us,
yearning
brings a tender tear
overflows
falls upon the breast
soaking into the heart; it stays.

A word written binds
like your washing of another’s hands,
gently, caressing
as the soap cleans; scents the skin
seeping into the flesh
to stay as the memory
of that other touch rubs deeply
into that space in you
that no one knows is there.

The written word can be revisited
again and again a treasure
to tease,
to awaken a sleeping moment,

Arlene S. Bice (C)

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Filed under books, Poetry, writing

Guest poet Deanie Carter -If I Can, with Love

Today is a day for a guest to have her poetry featured on my blog. Deanie Carter was born in Skippers, Virginia. She is a double jointed contortionist that at 61 years old, performed on television. She has won gymnast competitions and is a cancer survivor who has been writing poetry since she was eight. When she won the Golden Poet Award in 1987, she traveled to Las Vegas to receive it.

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Her poetry has been published in Quail Books, Coming Home Magazine, other publications and lately featured in Listen Up! a chapbook that is the result of writing sessions at the Warren County Senior Center, sponsored by the Warren Artist’s Market (WAM). We’re talking North Carolina here.

If I Can, with Love

If I can touch your life with love on this day
Maybe I can be blessed in another way
If I can bring a smile to you
Maybe you’ll be forever blessed, too
If I can bring joy in reaching out to others
Then I will give a message to my
Sisters and brothers
If I can bring words to relax the mind
Maybe you will be glad to see me most anytime
If I can give words of inspiration this day
I know God would want it no other way
If I can do a favor without pay
Maybe I can rest in heaven someday
© Deanie Carter

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Filed under books, Poetry, writing