Poetry Friday

So I was at Starbucks last night for my writing critique group. Only two of the four ladies from our group could make it, so we decided to have a writing night. I've had a bit of a writer's block this week probably due to my anxiety about querying (see post below), so I thought it worked out well that I could force myself to sit and write. I haven't subbed to any magazines for a few months, so I wanted to work on some short stories and/or poetry.
I love parodies (also see post below). I have already written a Halloween picture book with parodies of nursery rhymes and songs. I decided to write a few Valentine's Day parodies for Poetry Friday today. As I was writing, this lovely song drifted over the speakers. I'm not really a sap or romantic, but I do think this is a beautiful song. The heart shaped light bulb went on over my head, and I decided to choose these lyrics for Poetry Friday today.

Here are the lyrics to "Love" by the talented John Lennon

Love is real, real is love,
Love is feeling, feeling love,
Love is wanting to be loved.
Love is touch, touch is love,
Love is reaching, reaching love,
Love is asking to be loved.
Love is you,
You and me,
Love is knowing,
We can be.
Love is free, free is love,
Love is living, living love,
Love is needing to be loved.

(Lyrics property of artist and label.)

Hear the song and watch the (PG13) video HERE.

Enjoy Valentine's Day with your loved ones. Mine will involve going to a birthday party with my daughter at a ceramics place then to my son's basketball game. Not very romantic, but I will certainly be with my Valentines.
Lee Wind is hosting the Poetry Roundup today! Go check out some more awesome poetry!

Won't You Be My Agent?

Can you guess what I've been doing this week? Yep, I submitted to agents for the very first time, though to only a handful. It made me nervous. It even made me sweat. It's still making me anxious. So I needed to do something fun to blow off some steam. Here it is.
It's a good thing I'm looking for a literary agent and not a talent agent...


Here's even a super short blooper! Watch the background.


Any suggestions for me on how to not lose my mind while I wait for replies? :)

Poetry Friday

Ahhhh, February. Love is in the air, and chocolate is in my stomach. Gotta love it. What are your favorite gifts to give (or receive) on Valentine's Day? Mine are chocolate covered cherries and chocolate covered marshmallows shaped like a heart. I also love the homemade cards from the kids and my husband.
Chocolate covered marshmallows remind me of an amusing story in college. My two roomies were off to take a run like they usually did, and they asked, "Do you want to come with, Kel?" knowing full well that I wouldn't. I remember once responding while laying on my stomach on my bed with a chocolate covered marshmallow Easter egg dripping out of my mouth (that I bought myself), "Nope, because I'm a fat (expletive) pig." Then I think I napped. (One of my nicknames in college was Sleepy.)
I know, you had to be there. But we had to repeat my response often for the rest of college, and we always burst into a fit of giggles. In that year of the marshmallow treat, I was actually in the best shape of my life, because our sorority house was on the outskirts of campus, so I had to walk a long way to my classes. Those girls still think of me when they see chocolate covered marshmallow treats (and they both still run half and full marathons!). I obviously don't (but I do walk/run on the treadmill now!).

Speaking of treats, my poem "Sweet Things" is in this month's Stories for Children magazine.
Read it HERE, ya sweet thing!

This week's Poetry Friday is hosted at Great Kid Books. Stop by for more poetry links.

Rockin' with Critter and Grammy Awards Wrap Up

Critter is in DA HOUSE!

Critter is a traveling work of art by illustrator/artist Ian Sands. Christy from Christy's Creative Space started Critter's trek in blogland. He's been to North Carolina, Texas, South Korea, Massachusetts, and now he's here with me in Illinois! Of course I had to take him out on the town when he arrived.

Saturday night I took him to see my favorite local band, The Awful Truth. They were playing at a benefit for a burn camp called I Am Me. Critter schmoozed with the music lovers and took advantage of some photo ops (I swear that was the only time I had that dumb look on my face all night. I was singing along with the band or chatting with my rock posse, Ginny and Beth, the rest of the night). My husband wondered how I earned those beads, and it was because I made a donation to the charity (really!). Critter, my posse, and I rocked to some of our old time faves like "Under Pressure" and "Dancin' With Myself" plus new tunes like "Shake It."

For their second set, The Awful Truth came out dressed like Van Halen - wigs, spandex and all! They played a full set of VH tunes. My faves were "Panama" and "Hot for Teacher." Critter's fave was "And the Cradle will Rock" (he thought they were singing "and the Critter will rock").

Here's Critter crowd surfing.

And here's Critter getting a close up view of the band and hangin' by the speakers...

Rock on.

Grammy Wrap Up

Of course I watched the Grammy's on Sunday. But even a music lover like myself could not sit through it for four hours straight. I watched and fast forwarded through the first three hours on Sunday, then rewatched parts of it with my children Monday night and finished the rest of it when they went to bed. My kids recognized a lot of musicians and enjoyed seeing them perform. I am raising them to appreciate the art of music and the art of headbanging...

Here's my Grammy's Wrap Up. See the list of winners here. I am not going to list them all, who do I look like, Martha Quinn?

RANDOM THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING THE GRAMMYS
1. I liked the Elton John/Lady Gaga collaboration. Except Elton forgot to wash his face before performing...
2. Excellent! I did not even know that Stephen Colbert was hosting!
Here's a few funny quotes from Mr. Colbert
"I did not even know they were dating," regarding Elton and Lady Gaga.
"I ran into the Jonas Brothers backstage, or I ran into one three times. I don't know."
"You may be the coolest people in the world. But your industry was saved by a 48 year old Scottish cat lady in sensible shoes." (Susan Boyle)
3. My kids could not decide who they wanted to win "Song of the Year." They liked Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Lady Gaga. Beyonce won with "Single Ladies." She always has a cool performance, and she didn't disappoint tonight.
4. Pink is so not shy about her body. What did they dip her in (and I wonder who was splashed below)? What an amazing, beautiful, graceful performance! Highlight of the night! My 7 year old daughter did wonder if they wrapped her in toilet paper though...
5. Norah Jones looks awesome, love her dress! And there's Ringo looking cool for an old chap.
6. "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon (who were a little drunk) won Record of the Year, which was one of my Nine of '09! See I actually do know my stuff...
7. SLASH! Now there's a rocker!
8.Justin Bieber looks like an eight year old next to Ke$ha. (who is 6'1", I looked it up after seeing her on stage).
9. Green Day wins Best Rock Album for "21st Century Breakdown." I have an old CD of theirs called Dookie.
10. Chris O'Donnell in all black. That conservative boy looks cute all rocked out.
11. Like the Taylor Swift/Stevie Nicks combination, though Taylor was a bit off key. My kids sang along to "You Belong With Me," so I enjoyed that!
12. The 3D tribute to MJ was cool, but would have rather seen old footage of him instead.
13. His poor kids, how hard this must have been for them to speak. The boy did well, but the poor girl seemed confused and nervous.
14. Bon Jovi played an oldie but goodie "Living on a Prayer" (I like to sing it on Rock Band), not my favorite band but a band that has stayed popular for twenty years!

15. The In Memoriam inexcusably left out The Rev, the drummer of Avenged Sevenfold, a platinum selling band, but had some other obscure performers mentioned...

16. Taylor Swift is one accomplished 20 year old.

Did you watch? What was your favorite part of the awards show?

My Work Area and a Book Launch!

Anita Laydon Miller declared today to be "Post a Photo of Your Work Area Day," and I do what Anita tells me so here it is! If you watched my vlog last week, you saw me in action in my work area, the family room couch. There's my laptop, my thesaurus, my rhyming dictionary, my refreshing beverage, my notebook and my pup, Daisy. When I'm writing, she likes to curl up next to me with my other dog, the Goof. I'm slightly embarrassed to showcase my beat up furniture. Last year my hubby told me we needed new coffee table set, I told him that ours just looks weathered and has character. Now that I look at this picture, I realize that ten years of beat downs from my three kids have taken its toll...he was right! Do you see my Coca Cola glass? I got this at Steak n Shake with a $15 purchase last week. I'm way more excited than I should be. I have said, "I love my new glass!" ten times in the last two days.

Another reason I was excited this weekend was that I was able to go to an author launch party!

Here is Tina P. Schwartz with her newest book, Writing and Publishing, by Scarecrow Press.

When I started attending local SCBWI meetings four years ago, Tina was co-director of our chapter. I have to say I was a bit nervous at first at meetings, as I was so new and naive about the writing business. She was always so supportive and friendly. I ended up taking an online writing course with her (which she still offers), and she walked me through many different aspects of writing for children. In this class, I completed my first picture book rough draft and wrote a short story that ended up in Stories for Children magazine last year (among other assignments).

Writing and Publishing: The Ultimate Teen Guide is Tina's third book (her other titles: Organ Transplants: A Survival Guide for the Whole Family and Motocross Freestyle). Here is Tina and the illustrator, Conrad Locander, also known as Professor Whimsy at our chapter meetings, before Tina was interviewed by a radio station.

I enjoyed being able to congratulate Tina on her big day, and I also got to visit with Lori Degman, who won the Cheerios New Author contest last year. Her rhyming picture book, 1 Zany Zoo, will be in Cheerios boxes in March and the hardcover will be released in July!

Congrats to Tina, Conrad, and Lori!

A Positively Kreativ Post or a Kreatively Positive Post!

What a wonderful week in Blogland it has been. Why you ask?

I'll tell you why.

1. I received some awards from fellow bloggers!

Wendy, aka Quillfeather, gave me the Kreativ Blogger award! Per the award requirements, my seven things are listed right HERE! Thanks so much, Wendy, my new New Zealand friend!

Paul Michael Murphy gave me the Silver Lining Award which is all about being positive so this post will be bursting with positivity! Thank you, Murph for the mention.

I bestow this honor to

Anita - She is a fab blogger/reviewer and cheerleader of mine (one of her posts was called An Ode to Kelly Polark - how awesome is that?). She is a positively wonderful (and wonderfully sarcastic), loyal blog buddy.

MG Higgins - This talented illustrator/writer somehow managed to blog after an earthquake and a beloved pets passing, plus she is punny!

Shelli - Shelli always has great interviews or fab links to help market us unpublished and published authors at Market My Words.

Elana - I recently discovered her blog which is packed with fun and great writerly advice! And I want to steal the cool background at the top of her blog!

Donna - Donna has uplifting posts and recently posted a poetry contest where she and another blogger critiqued each entry plus gave out a prize! See her at Word Wrangler!

2. I get Critter next! You may or may not know that Critter, created by artist Ian Sands, has been traveling around the world visiting different bloggers. Christy from Christy's Creative Space started this lil guy on his merry way and Nandini at Notes from New England is sending him to me! I will show Critter the marvels of the Midwest. I may even have to take him to a concert and teach him to headbang. We will see... Plus after Critter's visit here, I will have a contest to see where he goes next (it could be your home!).

3. I noticed I have some new follower friends! Thank you for adding my blog to your busy life! (and thanks to my regular bloggy buds too!)

4. I am having my query critiqued by my writing group tonight, plus Elana had great tips this week on her blog about queries too! I'm so happy to get my query finished this week, and I hope to send it out in early February! I'm happy and nervous...

5. Anita Laydon Miller has declared February 1 "Post a Photo of your Work Area Day." Join us on that day and post a pic of your writing workspace. Details here. And if you are really brave, don't tidy up before taking the picture!

6. I got my personal best score on Word Bubbles yesterday! Go Words!

7. I finished The Lightning Thief. I loved it! It was jam packed with action. Can't wait for the movie which opens February 12!

8. I had two great, fulfilling days as a substitute teacher at the grade school my kids attend this week. I'm so glad that I have a vocation I can ease back into. Days like these confirm why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place. And I got to have lunch with my daughter one day!

9. My pup hasn't peed on the upstairs carpet once this week! :)

10. I hope your week is happy, too! Tell me one great thing that happened this week!

How Writing is Like Dancing

When I am not listening to music or spending time with family, I am writing. I like to write. I also like to dance. And writing is a lot like dancing. Think about it.

1. Practice. Practice. Practice. I started writing for children about four years ago. I look back at what I wrote in that first few months and shake my head. Could you do the zombie dance from the Thriller video the first time you tried it? Me neither. But man, I practiced and now I can thrill you more than any ghoul would ever dare try.
2. Yes, classes do help. I have taken a writing class and a poetry class in the last few years that have led to tighter writing and a few acceptances. Assignments also force you to try styles of writing you might not otherwise. When I took dance classes long ago, I learned shuffle-ball- change, a pirouette, and much more. Should I try the hip hop class next?
3. Keep hydrated. You need to be alert. Get that Starbucks coffee or in my case, fountain pop Coke from McDonald’s or better yet, a nice tall glass of ice water. Now that you are refreshed, get to that writing. Take sips in between paragraphs, and keep going! When it is time to dance, you also need hydration. Ice water is best here, too, but sometimes a margarita is much more effective to get those hips shakin’.
4. You will fail, and you will succeed. Yes, you have had rejections from publishers. But you tried and tried again. And received an acceptance. That made you dance. Then you tried to do the lambada* with the cable guy. Rejection again. But then you did the hokey pokey with your five year old. Success!
5. Once in a while, let loose and freestyle. Don’t outline. Don’t plan. Just let the words flow. You can revise later. Then turn on the music and move. Shake it, baby, shake it! Just move! You can put ice on your sore muscles later.

*Author’s note: No, I really have never danced the lambada with the cable guy. The Macarena, yes. But not the lambada.

Well, looky here. This is how I write.

And this is how I DANCE!