My Interview on A Room to Write

For any of those readers out there who would like to discover any more of my “juicy secrets,” pop over to children’s writer Denise Stanley’s blog. A Room to Write. She posted her interview with me this morning.

Does that sound like self-promotion? Well, I supposed it is in some respects, but it’s more to the question of where to have promotion confined for the moment. Denise does good interviews. She asks great questions and goes a bit further to get good answers. Then again, I like to talk. It worked out well for both of us.

I’ll be stopping by there off and on for the next couple of days for those who wish to comment or ask another question.

Now, back to my poetry. I’ll be posting this afternoon to the Poetry Asides prompt and here, as usual. If you get a chance and really like poetry, stop by Robert Brewer’s site on Writer’s Digest and sit back with a large cup of whatever. You’ll be there a while. Poets from around the globe congregate there every day.

Enjoy,

Claudsy

© Claudette J. Young 2012

Mounting Month’s Challenges

Is it a matter of scheduling, I ask myself. Does it matter in what order I work within the framework of the challenges I’ve accepted for this month? By the looks of today’s desk load, order has little to do with writing this month.

Yesterday I played with PA’s poetry prompt challenge: communication. When I left there, I moved over to Poetic Bloomings to see what havoc I could wreak in that venue. The Apr. 1 prompt there was “Superheroes and Capes.”

Still feeling a bit on the obstreperous side, I posted this specially written offering to the world of superheroes. Remember, definition is a matter of perspective.

A Sigh of Sound

Susurration slides past those unintended,

Targeting sweet young ears with soft meaning,

Teasing, taunting, telling of bliss to come.

Whispers waft on a tongue’s breeze, seeking

Vulnerable minds to influence with knowledge

Untrue, compelling a change of heart with power.

Soon his soft whispers would secure those within reach,

Taking control where none was needed, rousing

Testaments to his wisdom, while groveling for pats.

Whispers waft on a tongue’s breeze, seeking

Power from those without special gifts or

An invisibility cloak to shield one’s presence from view.

After an hour’s respite from verse, I took up the third challenge for the day: Robert Brewer’s Author Platform Development Task-A-Day Challenge. I know, I’m a glutton for these things. In this case, though, I will heap praise and appreciation on Robert  in coming months for doing me such a great favor.

For the first time, after four years, I’m settling down to doing this major task for my future’s sake. I’m being given the tools to do it—for free. How much better does it get than that?

I’ve managed to complete the first two days’ worth of tasks. They weren’t onerous, by any means, but they did need thought and honesty with myself about goals, aspirations, skills developed, etc. It’s one thing to tell yourself and others that you can do something. You’re corralling a different animal when you ask yourself how confident you are about each of the items on your list.

I got through it, and along the way I discovered forgotten skills that I haven’t used in a years, but which I can still draw on for future needs. That reaffirmation was definitely worth the time and effort that went into the definitions and lists I created yesterday and this morning.

When I finished with the platform challenge for the day, poetry claimed my attention. The PA Poem-A-Day Challenge for today was the prompt: Visitor.

The aspect of prompt writing that I thoroughly enjoy is that the writer/poet can approach the writing from whatever perspective lies within the body of the prompt. If detailed restrictions aren’t given, the prompt is completely open to interpretation. That’s when the fun roars through the mind, taking the writer with it.

Since “Visitor” has so many possibilities, from so many perspectives, I decided to begin small and work my way up. Here’s what I did this morning. Later today, I’ll add another.

Simply Natural 

Nature surges behind

Walls assigned to ads,

A silent lure to the viewer,

Without words, without money,

Always available to see,

To experience, to awaken

Dulled senses to the world.

I hope you enjoy these prompt responses. To change out the mix of poems, here is another, though not written to prompt other than my own urgings.

Jesus Loves

I came upon this phrase I loved,

That appeared at ease,

Poised, a silhouette on the page,

Etched against the white,

Waiting for my adoration,

Innocent of guile.

Its voice called to me,

A siren song heard within breath

Expelled softly, slow

As time upon Earth’s diurnal

Turning, face to sun,

Willing life into creatures here.

Would that allusion came to me

As effortlessly,

To capture the mind’s attention,

To create a vision

Powerful, subtle, within notes

Built of supreme joy.

Have a marvelous week, everyone. Please stop by each day to see what I’ve  added to the collection being created here.

Related articles

• (inter)national poetry month ~ April 2012 “B” better late….. (haikulovesongs.wordpress.com)
• A poem a day begins (lisachebyblog.wordpress.com)

Whether–April Showers with Words

April will soon control the calendar and some writers’ lives—at least for 30 days. The favorite month of Parisians will take on a poetic ring on many websites across the globe. April is National Poetry Month, giving poets of every stripe impetus to fling words to passersby at every opportunity.

Robert Brewer’s Poetic Asides, an uncommonly good poetry blog operated through Writer’s Digest, issues a challenge each year to poets. The poets are set the task of creating a poem per day to a specific writing prompt. Many manage to post several poems per day, escalating the tension for others to “try to match this” on the blog.

Oddly enough, camaraderie is the norm here, with poets commenting on each other’s efforts, supporting and encouraging rather than critiquing. “The Street,” as the blog is known by regular contributors, fosters its patrons as community members with something to say and value to add to the whole. Not many blogs can claim that ability.

Along the same lines, other poetry blogs across cyberville also have their own challenges on a regular basis and will be cranking up the thermostat to get words on the screen and rhyme into the heart.

One of these sites is Poetic Bloomings, operated by Marie Elena Good and Walt Wojtanik. This daily blog has much to offer both poet and reader. Sunday’s writing prompt challenge might visual, emotional, or situational. It could be fiction/non-fiction. Each day has purpose and is filled with contributor participation. It’s a marvelous site all around.

Whether you wander over to The River or go to see the Sea Giraffes, you’ll find poetry everywhere at the click of the mouse. Of course, these sites have poetry all the time, but it gets accentuated at this time of year. Enjoy it.

I’ve chosen to take up Brewer’s gauntlet this time around again. I couldn’t participate last year since I was on the road, but this year will give me a chance to write enough to fill out a nice book of poetry with an eclectic flair, but themed nonetheless. I’m looking forward to it.

Brewer also issued a second challenge this year for those who felt their platforms needed reconstruction work done or those who hadn’t yet built their platforms. It consists of a task per day for the writer to build a viable, effective platform. The goal is a power platform by the end of the month of April.

Yep, you guessed it. I’m signing up for that one, too. Is it just me or does it seem like I just can’t leave a challenge lying on the table without at least giving it a shot? I hate not knowing whether I can do something or not.

Whether April has me showering words across specific blogs or in submissions to publications, I will be part of Ares’ madness come the first. That Fool’s Day could be the beginning of something very good or simply exhausting, but I will learn from it and that’s worth my time.