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Networking 2 Mastermind and Support Groups

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Yes at that conference the lady sitting next to you became your best contact. She had lots of ideas that you needed to hear. (Please read the previous blog)…now on to point 2)

Yep, its tourqoise

Yep, its tourqoise

A confernece can be great because it takes you away from aroutine, you meet many people and can connect with top professionals in your field. They are relatively short and intense.

2) Mastermind and support groups. These groups require an on-going committment. You may need to optimize your highest listening and communication skills. They are an on-going more time intensive investment. Unlike a 12 week class (which is also good for networking) you may not be able to hide as easily.

These groups offer many benefits and take a variety of forms. I will expand on these ideas at a future date. The matermind group ideally will be comprised with at least one person with more experience than yourself, and others focused on similar tasks at you are. Everyone will be somewhat task oriented and homework: project assignments are a must. Thus each week everyone will be accountable for reporting back on progress.

Everyone won’t necessarily succeed every week, but everyone will create habits that move them along clearly, and hopefully tangibly toward their project completion.

Support groups usally function quite differently. THey may include a mix group of people from many fields. They may be more feeling oriented and concerned with your process. Be careful not to underate the power and what you will learn from these groups. The informal nature and personal committment to you may provide the comfort zone you need to approach many projects in your life. SOmeone there too may know the perfect person for you to professionally connect with. They may help you feel more confident so that you are ready to move ahead. They help you relieve stress or writing blocks.

Choos a group that is right for you. You don’t have to met every week, once a month may fit what everyone can do. Find multiple ways you can network and do them often. You will be glad you did.

I would love it if you leave comments and add resources here. Thanks!

What if 1 letter earned you $5000 (not IM marketing)

Monday, August 3rd, 2009
fish and turtle rock?

fish and turtle rock?

Many writers have trouble publsihing. They many have finally completed the novel. They may had the book professionally edited. They may even have a reputable agent.

At the time they could be posed to enter a successful venture, they experience rejection, or fear of moving forward when their first choice publisher refuses their book. Ever been there?

I found an old motivational tape that a good friend had lent me several years ago. I decided to play it. It was a tape by Les Brown.
He discussed how when a basketball pro hits a slump and can’t make the hoops that he doesn’t give up, instead he goes onto the court and shoots hoops. Over and over again to regain his ability and to improve his skills and shots.

This struck home for me as I reflected on all the times I procrastinate, or temporarily give up. To use Brown’s phrase, “How wimpy can I get?” That next letter may get you a small project or contract, it may not even be the book you are working on, but it may become income. Another letter may get someone to read your book, and another letter may get you a referral or lunch with the publisher who will publish the novel.

The point is none of ever know when the next letter will be the letter that earns us the $5000 or even more, and so we need to keep writing those queries, keep contacting publishers, keep writing (start work on the next novel too) so that you do indeed succeed in your publishing.

Noteworthy Recipes from the Ravinia Festival

Thursday, July 30th, 2009
Hope dwells within the heart

Hope dwells within the heart

By now you know I love cookbooks. picked up Noteworthy by editor Joan Frehling, published 1986 by Notworthy Publications. I just realized I found a first edition for $1.50! As I did not know anything about the Ravinia Festival, I have included some information for you.

This collection of 600 recipes can be found on many sites including:

http://www.ravinia.org/AboutUs.aspx

There are several Noteworthy Books following the first and all were collated for fundraising for the festival. It’s a lovely book. Get a copy. Now the learning here is if you wantt o create a smashing success for a fundraiser…browse Noteworthy and see what they did. Also if you write cookbooks then perhaps you can obtain a contract towork with the favorite charity of your choice. Enjoy!
Noteworthy: A Collection of Recipes from the Ravinia Festival more books like this

by Ravinia Festival Womens Board

$16.29

(used hardcover, see detail)*

add to wishlist
This award-winning cookbook was brilliantly orchestrated by the Ravinia Festival Women’s Board as a way to raise money for music scholarships and the venerated music festival. This harmonious collection of more than 600 recipes is the result of three years of collecting, testing, tasting, collating, and indexing. These dishes stand the test of …

Since 1904, Ravinia has been Chicago’s “sound of summer,” a place where you can meet up with your friends, have a wonderful time and hear some of the greatest music in the world. We’ve got stars on the stage and stars in the sky, and it’s all within your reach. But there’s more to Ravinia than merely the world’s greatest music. For as many people who walk through Ravinia’s gate each summer, there are just as many ways to enjoy what we call “The Ravinia Experience.” For some, it all starts with a picnic picked up along the way, followed by a hop on the train and greeting your friends at your favorite spot on the lawn. Gradually, day turns into evening, and from the comfort of your perfect lawn spot, it culminates in a great concert by candlelight as you gaze at the stars above.

Music Venues
Take a tour of the Pavilion, the Martin Theatre, Bennett•Gordon Hall, and the lawn.

History of Ravinia
Read about the fascinating history of Ravinia.

Information / FAQ
Get more information and see the Frequently Asked Questions.

The Ravinia Family
Learn about the people behind Ravinia and job opportunities.

Picnicing
Get the details about Picnicing at Ravinia.

Creating True Prosperity Workbook

Thursday, July 30th, 2009
Tell me your story  Photo by Mary MacIntyre

Tell me your story Photo by Mary MacIntyre

Ceating True Prosperity workbook by Shakti Gawain gives you nearly 200 pages with exercises and ideas to do the work: your setting up true prosperity for your self. Published in 1998 by New World Library, Gawain offers you a complete course.

Now are you warming up? Read more… hmm a technical difficulty above??? Here’s a link…

http://www.shaktigawain.com/booksandmore_title.php?ISBN=1-57731-170-1

Buy
External link to New World Library
ISBN 1-57731-170-1

Paperback

192 pages

$12.95
Creating True ProsperityNew Paperback Edition
This practical handbook presents Shakti Gawain’s definition of prosperity, one that places importance on the fulfillment of our real desires rather than the amount of money we have. Most people equate prosperity with money — if they only had more of it, they would prosper. In this new, innovative look at self-fulfillment, personal-growth pioneer Shakti Gawain shows us the pitfalls of such thinking — how people, regardless of their wealth, eventually find money fails to offer true contentment. Shakti Gawain presents a new definition of prosperity, one that places importance on fulfillment of the heart and soul rather than on monetary gain. She dismantles the cause-and-effect relationship most people construct around money and happiness, without ignoring the important role money plays in our lives. She challenges us to pay attention to our deepest longings, and yet to discard false desires. Shakti shows us how to create true prosperity, which includes satisfying relationships, happiness, and fulfillment. Her unique method of self-examination helps readers recognize the paradoxical relationships they establish with money. Instead of either denying its value or giving it too much importance, Gawain shows how money can be used to teach people to identify where they need more balance in their lives, freeing them to pursue fulfilling relationships and personal satisfaction — the main ingredients of true prosperity. She speaks with authority and warmth as she sheds new understanding on a subject that concerns us all.

“While embracing the reality that finances are an important aspect of personal prosperity, she shows how money can be used to teach people to identify where more balance is needed in their lives and ultimately, achieve the freedom to pursue fulfilling rel

Focus on Women Magazine

Learn more about her books and work. If you really want to do some personal prospertiy work, get the book which is still in print.

Interview with Dana Lynn Smith: Marketing Maven

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
imagination circles and rocks

imagination circles and rocks

If you are a writer who wants to learn, write, and learn more, than these podcasts are worth millions. Take a shortcut to the biz side of marketing and receive a bounty of free tips from these gals.

Join Yvonne Perry, Owner of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services (WITS) as she hosts the Book Marketing Maven Dana Lynn Smith on WITS Podcast this Friday, July 17.

Dana Lynn Smith specializes in developing book marketing plans for nonfiction books, and she is the author of the Savvy Book Marketer Guides series of e-books for authors and publishers. Dana has a degree in marketing and 15 years of publishing experience. Dana will be discussing her two newest e-books in the series of The Savvy Book Marketer’s Guides, which were edited by Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services.

Did you know that nearly $2 billion worth of books are purchased by U.S. libraries each year? Learn how to tap into this potentially lucrative market with The Savvy Book Marketer’s Guide to Selling Your Book to Libraries. This valuable resource is packed with practical advice, and the 22-point Action Plan will guide you through the process of marketing your book to libraries, from start to finish. You’ll also get contact information for the top public and academic library systems in the U.S. and major wholesalers, distributors, book review journals, and library associations.

The Savvy Book Marketer’s Guide to Successful Social Marketing will help you harness the power of viral marketing and online community to sell more books. You’ll learn to use a variety of social marketing tools, including:

• Social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter
• Reader communities, like Goodreads and Shelfari
• Social bookmarking and news sites, such as Digg and StumbleUpon
• Media sharing sites, like YouTube and Flickr
• Online forums and blogs

This 210-page guide includes hundreds of clickable hyperlinks, numerous screen shots, an online marketing glossary, and Action Plans designed to jump start your social marketing activities. The Savvy Book Marketer Guides are available at http://tr.im/k3Qh.

For free book marketing tips, visit Dana’s blog at http://www.bookmarketingmaven.com/ and also sign up for her Savvy Book Marketer newsletter there.

Listen to this interview on http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com

Poets found at Writers in the Sky

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

My first writing adventure was in second grade when Miss Dorothy introduced us to poetry. I thought I was a “natural”. At seven years old I began to write. I’ve always felt an affinity for poets. If you too want to hear contempoary voices (go to youtube to really hear poets read) and go to www.writersinthesky.com and read back issues for a plentitude of poems. Do you see yours there? If not submit them. Churn your words and enjoy these. Mary
www.writersinthesky.com

Like a Canvas

The canvas stands bare
waiting to be given life.

Calming pastel colors,
soft clouds floating in
a happy sky of blue.

Silver moon leading
stars though the night,
hope for tomorrow,

or a dark, raging sea,
tossing waves about,
no peace to find.

Life is like a canvas.
You the artist hold the brush.

Gail Livesay’s passion is writing poetry but she also writes plays, fiction and non-fiction short stories and is currently revising her autobiography about growing up with undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Gail has been published by Poetry as Prayer, Appalachian Women Speak, Breath and Shadow, a selection of her work was used as part of a production by New Mummers Group, USAdeepsouth, Oncology Times Applachian Women’s Journal, Women on Earth, Appalachian Connection, Helium, Writers in the Sky E-zine, and LaChance publishing.

Part of the Promise

I was her friend before she was his wife.
They had a little baby; they had a great life.
We used to go line-dancing; we played golf.
We used to go to movies; we hung out.

Part of her promise to him was not running with me.
But sometimes here was where she wanted to be.

Then he got a little problem,
getting stoned and getting high.
We had to get him in re-hab. At least we had to try.
I cashed a pay check; handed the money to him.
Take it, dude. Do you want to owe me or them?

Part of his promise was to understand her and me.
He wanted to be well, he wanted to be clean.

It worked; he’s better. One day at a time.
Some days are good; some, not-so; mostly, he’s fine.
We can start to stop worrying;
we’ll get it back some day.
When I see their baby smile, I know we’re okay.

Part of his promise to me was being back in their life.
He knows I’ll always be her friend;
he knows she’ll always be his wife.

Janice Bossing
Joelton, Tennessee

I Read the Last Page First

I was lost
Couldn’t find my way
Then I opened the Good Book
I read the last page first
and knew I would be found.

No need to fret and worry
The answer was there
for all to see.
I read the last page first
and knew God would help me.

So when you are unsure
which way to turn,
take the short cut back home.
It’s on the last page
and he’ll be there for you, too!

Irene Brodsky from Poetry Unplugged

Like Drunken Cowboys

There’s a place inside my head where hurt never filters in,
A place to heal, where I can know I’m my own best friend,
Sometimes find it easier than facing reality,
Like drunken cowboys living without a dream.

Call me crazy; call me a fool, for shutting out the world.
I just need time to contemplate the way my life’s unfurled.
Wouldn’t want to take it out on everyone around
Like drunken cowboys tearing up the town.

I don’t want to think about forever,
Trying hard to make it through the storm.
Toughening my feelings into leather
Til it just doesn’t matter anymore.

Take a step back to a time when
Life was a free-for-all,
Where disagreements could always be settled
in a barroom brawl
Where consequences and concerns were not a high priority
Like drunken cowboys living wild and free.

Dennis S Martin
Web site: www.iwritesome.com
Blog: www.iwrtiesome.blogspot.com

Edgar Allen Poe: Drama and Horror: LIsten and heed…

Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Tell me your story  Photo by Mary MacIntyre

Tell me your story Photo by Mary MacIntyre

The dead still teach us beyond the grave. How easily we forget and neglect the power of their word, or fragmented pictures of what they endured and saw in their lives. Be us the writer today, it may behoove us to listen and reflect upon these words. Words, visions, and structure can provide each with a springboard for them to fly off into the ethers, that the jumper may experience or transcend what already has been demonstrated.

I am listening to a video about MArianne Moore whilst also listening to Annabel included here. I beg you to experiment. I included these two videos to speculate on what can be inspired from old scripts. Oh Raven come now share your secrets with me and any who will listen.

Write and capture our lives now in your song, and let the muses fill our verse with everlasting meaning. TRy this listening to two at once. Behold the metaphor dancing in our words. Write!
Edgar Allan Poe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
“Poe” redirects here. For other uses, see Poe (disambiguation).
For the attorney general of Maryland, see Edgar Allan Poe (Maryland attorney general).
Edgar Allan Poe

1848 daguerreotype of Poe
Born January 19, 1809(1809-01-19)
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Died October 7, 1849 (aged 40)
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Occupation Poet, short-story writer, editor, literary critic
Genres Horror fiction, crime fiction, detective fiction
Literary movement Romanticism
Spouse(s) Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe

Signature

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, and is considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.[1] He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.[2]

He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; his parents died when he was young. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but they never formally adopted him. After spending a short period at the University of Virginia and briefly attempting a military career, Poe parted ways with the Allans. Poe’s publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to “a Bostonian”.

Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move between several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In Baltimore in 1835, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin. In January 1845, Poe published his poem “The Raven” to instant success. His wife died of tuberculosis two years later. He began planning to produce his own journal, The Penn (later renamed The Stylus), though he died before it could be produced. On October 7, 1849, at age 40, Poe died in Baltimore; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents.[3]

Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe

Marianne Moore: Voices and Visions

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Do We Remember?     Photo by Mary MacIntyre

Do We Remember? Photo by Mary MacIntyre


I never knew Marianne Moore, a famous midwestern poet. Then one day, mentor and colleague, brought me a book of poems for me to consider for a Women’s Poetry class that I was taking. He tricked me by reading one her poems. His reading was wonderful and so I was hooked. Read about Marianne Moore here, and there’s more via the link. Leaarn how Marianne Moore approached her writing and her famous notebook assignments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvzlQAjbcT0

Marianne Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was a Modernist American poet and writer.

Contents [hide]
1 Life
2 Poetic career
3 Later years
4 Selected works
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Life
Moore was born in Kirkwood, Missouri, in the manse of the Presbyterian church where her maternal grandfather, John Riddle Warner, served as pastor. She was the daughter of construction engineer and inventor John Milton Moore and his wife, Mary Warner. She grew up in her grandfather’s household; her father having been committed to a mental hospital before her birth. In 1905, Moore entered Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and graduated four years later. She taught at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, until 1915, when Moore began to publish poetry professionally.

[edit] Poetic career
In part because of her extensive European travels before the First World War, Moore came to the attention of poets as diverse as Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, H.D., T. S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound. From 1925 until 1929, Moore served as editor of the literary and cultural journal The Dial. This continued her role, similar to that of Pound, as a patron of poetry, encouraging promising young poets, including Elizabeth Bishop, Allen Ginsberg, John Ashbery and James Merrill, and publishing early work, as well as refining poetic technique.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf85YP4FOpo
Photograph by George Platt Lynes (1935)In 1933, Moore was awarded the Helen Haire Levinson Prize from Poetry. Her Collected Poems of 1951 is perhaps her most rewarded work; it earned the poet the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Bollingen Prize. Moore became a minor celebrity, in New York literary circles, serving as unofficial hostess for the Mayor. She attended boxing matches, baseball games and other public events, dressed in what became her signature garb, a tricorn hat and a black cape. She particularly liked athletics and athletes, and was a great admirer of Muhammad Ali, for whose spoken-word album, I Am the Greatest!, she wrote liner notes. Moore continued to publish poems in various journals, including The Nation, The New Republic, and Partisan Review, as well as publishing various books and collections of her poetry and criticism. Moore corresponded for a time with W. H. Auden and Ezra Pound during the latter’s incarceration.

Her most famous poem is perhaps the one entitled, appropriately, “Poetry”, in which she hopes for poets who can produce “imaginary gardens with real toads in them.” It also expressed her idea that meter, or anything else that claims the exclusive title, “poetry,” is not as important as delight in language and precise, heartfelt expression in any form. She often composed her own poetry in syllabics. These syllabic lines from “Poetry” illustrate her position: poetry is a matter of skill and honesty in any form whatsoever, while anything written poorly, although in perfect form, cannot be poetry:

nor is it valid
to discriminate against “business documents and
school-books”: all these phenomena are important. One must make a distinction
however: when dragged into prominence by half poets, the result is not poetry

[edit] Later years…. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Moore

Raw Food Books for the Family(plus videos)

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Yep, its tourqoise

Yep, its tourqoise



If you are curious about Raw Food, or if you are shy and about to tst the waters, never feel alone in your adventure for eating raw food. Recipes and tips galore. Don’t get bored, find the cookbook right for you! Please use the urls for more information or material for a good google search. Thanks Eve for publishing a great and useful article.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/top-raw-food-recipe-books-for-families.html

Top Raw Food Recipe Books For Families
Are you finding that your raw recipes aren’t working for your family? If you’re looking for specifically family friendly raw recipes, then look no more.
1. Rawvolution

Matt Amsden has written and illustrated this very inspiring yet simple to use recipe book. It contains highly useful information, such as ‘Stocking Your Kitchen’, which details not only the basic equipment needed, but also basic ingredients for making raw food preparation easy. ‘How To Eat Raw While Traveling’ is fantastic for school and work with recipes for foods the raw foodist can proudly take anywhere. Examples are Veggie Cakes, Felafel and Onion Bread.

2. Eating Without Heating. Favorite Recipes from Teens Who Love Raw Food.

Sergei and Valya Boutenko are the teenage children of the famed raw Boutenko family. Clearly, they love eating raw and have beautifully put together their favourite raw recipes. Examples are Italian Rawsage, Nori Rolls and Sergei’s Amazing Truffles. Both teenagers and parents will find this book a real treat to have.

3. Green For Life.

This ground-breaking book by Victoria Boutenko was an Independent Publisher Award Finalist. She clearly and simply explains why we should be feeding ourselves and families more dark leafy greens in the form of raw green smoothies. Over 17 delicious green smoothie recipes are given, making it easy to consume these otherwise bitter nutrients. Examples are Raspberry Dream and Summer Delight.

4. Eat Smart Eat Raw.

Kate Wood has written this wonderful and practical cookbook, having successfully tested the recipes on her own husband and children. Even the most resistant husband or child will love tasty delights such as Pasta Sauce and Calcium Candies. And each recipe has measurements in both metric and pounds. A must for any family’s raw food chef.

For lots more on natural living for all the family get ‘Secrets Of Natural Living In The Modern World’ FREE at http://www.youfeelgreatnaturally.com

By Eve Zhu
Published: 3/25/2008


She has cookbooks too.


Yvonne Perry invites you to submit work

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Opportunity: Ready and waiting for you

Opportunity: Ready and waiting for you

http://writersinthesky.com/writing-newsletter.html

This will be short and sweet. Yvonne Perry’s Writers In the Sky Blog is widely read. Here’s a fun opportunity to share some work for many to see. Have fun…read on…and share!

It’s time to submit your book reviews, articles, poems, and announcements about anything related to writing, editing, publishing, and book promotion.

If you wish to contribute anything to Writers in the Sky Newsletter for July 2009, please review the guidelines on our Web site: http://writersinthesky.com/writing-newsletter.html.

Hurry, the deadline is June 24, 2009!

Yvonne Perry
Owner of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services

About Writers Unbound

Writers Unbound aims to be your one-stop shop for the writing business. Whether you’re a veteran or a newbie aspiring to publish your first works, we want to be your resource. We’ll share success stories in publishing, tips from working writers on style and craft, and keep you in touch with developments and changes in the publishing world. We’ll cover fiction, poetry and nonfiction. We’ll also profile different publications who offer pay for content. Looking for a network? We plan to provide information about professional networks that may be of benefit to you. We invite you to email us with questions about writing—we’ll feature some of those in upcoming columns. Meanwhile, check out Writers Unbound each weekday. We promise you a lively journey into the world of words.

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