Stretching (poetically speaking)

I have not been writing nearly as much this summer as I'd like - not poetry, stories, or even blog posts. Sometimes it's nice to get a wee kick to restart the process or, for that matter, just to inspire me even when I'm writing a lot.

So, thinking some of you might be like me, I want to send you over to the Miss Rumphius Effect where Tricia puts up a new poetry stretch every Monday.

You don't have to share what you write (I rarely do... but that doesn't mean I don't use 'em), but if you want to, you can add them to the comments or post them on your own blog. On Thursday's, Tricia also shares the results of the stretch on her blog (which, for some, might work as accountability).

I also like poetry stretches because I never hurt my hamstrings while doing them yet still keep my (writing) muscles limber. So head on over and stretch!

Sneaking in a link!

Sure, it's already Saturday in much of the world, but here it's still Friday, so I feel okay in sending you all over to Andromeda Jazmon's a wrung sponge for this week's Poetry Friday roundup. As always, a lot of good stuff... from videos, to reviews, to original poems to some Jefferson Airplane.

Go on and check it out!

A Post-SCBWI Conference Sorta Wrap Up Post

With the great coverage of the Conference by the SCBWI Team Blog and all the folks tweeting, there's little I can add that hasn't been said already. But that never keeps me quiet :-)

One key thing I took away from the conference: the picture book might not be dead, but it's still a soft market. Sigh. I'd also note that NO ONE spoke of poetry books that I heard. Double sigh. Still, children's books in general aren't hurting as much as other areas of publishing during the economic downturn.

There were more agents at the conference this year than in any prior year... and a bit of a sense in general that it helps if one has an agent. True... or simply a reflection of the attendees? It's unclear. Still, what was clear is that there are some mighty savvy, smart and funny agents out there.

There were cookies with morning coffee, something that made me feel very adult. I ate them BECAUSE I CAN DO THAT. The ratio of female to male attendees was around 7-1. Attendance this year was a record high. And the coffee was drinkable!

One of my jokes was a winner - the first time that has happened in a couple years. The last time I won, it was actually my friend Dan Hanna putting my name on one of his entries since he'd won so much (note: he's funny!) already.

As usual, it was the people who made the conference great. Everyone - faculty, staff, attendees - meshes together in a rather remarkable way for four days of community at its best. I miss folks, and I mean lots of folks the moment the conference is done.

I probably have an anecdote or two left in me for the days ahead, but I do highly encourage you to go to the SCBWI Conference blog and do some reading, if you haven't already done so. It'll make you feel like you were there... and then I'll miss you, too!

Overload!

Heading off for the last day of the SCBWI Conference... and as usual, it's total overload.

One of my favorite tiny bits so far came via author Karen Cushman. I will paraphrase (though it might be an exact quote, actually, but since I'm not sure, I call it a paraphrase!).

They say write what you know. If I did that, it would be

I woke up.
I made stuff up.
I went to bed.

Instead, I say write what you want to know.

Indeed!

Conference Time!

Tomorrow starts the SCBWI Summer Conference - four days of learning, fun, and fun learning (plus food and fun and schmoozing and fun and some fun, too). I have literally just gotten back to town and can't imagine being ready by morning, but I know when I check in and start seeing familiar faces... well... it's gonna be a blast!

If you're there, be sure to say hello! I hope to put up some updates, but this year you can check out the SCBWI Live Blog and also try tracking the #SCBWI09 hashtag on Twitter (and yes, that's a zero not a capital O).

Now, it's time to sleep (after shopping and unpacking and and and....)

Boogie Boarding - a beach poem, a Fib, a boogie boarding poem

Boogie Boarding
by
Gregory K.

Waves
Break
I zoom
On white foam
‘Til I glide to shore
Then the ocean roars, “One more ride!”


Today's Poetry Friday roundup is at Sylvia Vardell's fabulous Poetry For Children. Why not go check it out?

If you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Carnival Time

Over at Melissa Wiley's Here in the Bonny Glen (which, by the way, you should check out on a regular basis), you can find the most recent Carnival of Children's Literature. This Carnival encompasses two months worth of goodies, rather than the normal one, and now that I've nabbed some net access and read it over, I can heartily recommend it. Sure, there's no fried Twinkies, but it's still a party!

Mellow days here at GottaBook....

I expect to be on a slightly reduced posting schedule over the next week or two, as I take some summer time off... then get to see many of you at the SCBWI conference here in L.A.

Not that I'm disappearing, mind you, but if there's a longer than expted lull, just picture me writing poetry on a secluded beach at sunset. It won't be the case, but I like the image!

Awful Library Books

Oh, my... this site cracked me up enough that I felt a need to post simply to refer you there:

Awful Library Books


I have many favorites but Do-It-Yourself Coffins ranks mighty high on that list.


A Twitter hat tip to BookwormBites for the link!

A Poetry Re-issue: I Threw a Baseball - a baseball poem

This poem originally appeared here in April of 2006 (and the post contains one of my fave comments (at number five)).

I THREW A BASEBALL
by
Gregory K.

I threw a baseball into the air.
If fell to Earth I know not where.
And so you see, I can't explain
What happened to your window pane.


You can check out the Poetry Friday roundup over at the wonderful A Year of Reading. For more baseball poetry (hey... there was a perfect game tossed yesterday, so baseball's on my mind!), hope on over to Bardball.

If you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Another Reason Not to Judge a Book By Its Cover

I encourage you all to go over to author Justine Larbalestier's blog to read her post Ain't That a Shame.

The post is about how the US cover of her book Liar does not reflect the content of the book and, in fact, could undermine the story for some readers. The cover, you see, features a long-haired, white female... yet the protagonist of the book, per the author, "is black with nappy hair which she wears natural and short." That the character is also a nearly pathological liar creates even more disconnect with the cover and the story within.

Justine's written a very thoughtful piece on race, imagery, publishing and much, much more. There are many important issues here, and I highly recommend you read the post... and I'll be curious to hear your thoughts.

The Fib Review #4 is Up!

For those of you who've been here awhile, you've seen me mention the Fib Review before... and now you get to see me mention it again. The fourth issue of this online journal of Fibonacci poetry is now up and available over at R.G. Rader's Muse Pie Press site.

If you click on the Writers tab on this Fib Review site, you'll see the talented poets contributing this time around (including at least one who contributed Fibs here early on!). And if you want to submit for the next issue, you can do that, too.

I love seeing what folks can do with the Fibonacci form, and if you do, too, I highly recommend a trip to the Review.

Next #kidlitchat - Tuesday, July 21st at 9P Eastern/6P Pacific

Yes, #kidlitchat is coming back this week, but we're trying out Tuesday night. There were 40 of us (!!!!) chatting last week, but we were in some conflict with two other chats that attract writers (#WNW - Wednesday Night Writers, and the rather self-expanatory #editorchat). If Tuesday flops, we can move back, but for now, Tuesday evening is our home unless/until we announce a change.

So, please join me and Bonnie Adamson for...

What: #kidlitchat
Where: Twitter
When: Tuesday, July 21st at 9:00 PM Eastern/6:00 PM Pacific

You can find last week and future transcripts posted here at the Happy Accident, at least until we have a happy home for the chat and info elsewhere.

Looking forward to seeing you at the chat!

Poetry Post Squeeze

Sure, every week you can get a poetry stretch over at the Miss Rumphius Effect, but today I offer you a poetry post squeeze. Yup, Poetry Friday flew past me, yet here at a couple minutes before the end of the day, I'm squeezing in a post.

First off, the roundup of Poetry Friday posts is over at Becky's Book Reviews. As usual, it's great reading. And...

I also want to single out a post today by Laura Purdie Salas about her experience the Poetry Blast at ALA this past week (AND it includes a poem each by Lee Bennett Hopkins and Rebecca Kai Dotlich!). I would have LOVED to be in the crowd at the Blast to hear Laura and all the other amazing poets who were there. Ah well. Another year.

A New Twitter Chat - all about children's literature!

Bonnie Adamson and I are excited to announce a brand new Twitter chat that we'll be co-hosting. The first chat will be Wednesday night, 7/15, at 9 PM EDT/6 PM PDT, and we're using the hashtag #kidlitchat for now. Neither time nor tag are set in stone, by the way, but we wanted to get up and running sooner rather than later.

We hope that ANYONE with an interest in the craft and/or business side of writing for children, from board books through YA, will come join us.

The initial plan is that each chat will feature topics from a range of craft and business areas (hopefully suggested by all of us chatters!). We also hope to incorporate special guests in future chats. This first one will also include a focus on what we all would like to get out of a children's literature Twitter chat - be it community, knowledge, specific topics, a recreation of an SCBWI schmooze or...????

If you have any ideas, questions, or want more information, please leave a comment here or find Bonnie or me on Twitter.

Hope to see you there... and look for updates here and there as the chat evolves!

Why wasn't I informed???

What? There's a new Harry Potter movie coming out this week? And there are seven of those books???? Huh. Who knew?

And speaking of movies from children's books (nice segue, eh?), do any of you have an opinion on the odds of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs living up to the fun of the picture book? I'm sure the special effects will be good enough to eat, but you could say I'm a bit nervous here. Am I alone in that feeling?

Father Goose Blogs!

Charles Ghigna, aka Father Goose, is now blogging! Ooooh... and he's posting poetry. In a word, "yay!"

Charles was one of the participants in 30 Poets/30 Days here at GottaBook, and since it's Poetry Friday, it's a fine time to re-link you to his "A Poem Is..." contribution to that project.

And finally, don't forget to go check out the roundup of Poetry Friday posts over at Jama Rattigan's alphabet soup. Good times, indeed!

It Was a Dark and Stormy Contest

Over at her blog, Brooklyn Arden, Cheryl Klein is having a contest! It's fun. It's silly. It's baaaaad.

Inspired by the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, Cheryl's asking everyone to submit a really bad, totally made up opening sentence to a children's book. Actually, you can submit up to three times. The contest ends July 17th, and already the competition's steep.

Still, I have confidence that you GottaBook readers can do bad as well as anybody else, so go on over and try your worst!

Crash Into Me

Today, Crash Into Me, the debut novel by YA author Albert Borris hits the shelves. Normally as an author, when your book comes out, particularly your first one, you're telling everyone you can to help spread the word. But back in December, Albert Borris suffered a massive stroke which has left him currently unable to write or say words in the order he wants them to be in.

You can read more about Albert's story here on the blog of the Class of 2K9, of which Albert was co-president. This would be frustrating for anyone, of course, and must be terribly so for a writer and teen counselor like Albert.

Crash Into Me has gotten strong reviews in Kirkus and in the blogosphere (for example, at The Reading Tub), and the fellow authors in the Class of 2K9 have been helping spread the word. Now I am doing the same (here's a tweet of mine you can feel free to use/retweet/modify) ... and encourage you to join in, too.

For more information, click on any of the links above. And thanks!

One month to the SCBWI summer conference!

August 7-10 is the 38th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference here in LA (which is, admittedly, two days more than one month away but this is a poetry oriented blog, not math oriented).

So, who amongst y'all will I be seeing there?

Already looking forward to it... and even without waiting for answers, I know I'll be seeing many of you there!