* Intuitive Mentoring *

I did it! About an hour ago, I submitted my story for the Chicken Soup for the Soul book, "Say Goodbye to Stress!" The deadline is tomorrow and I didn't want to be stressing about getting it sent in time. I spent a lot of time on this one, so it probably won't be accepted. Sometimes you can write a story to death. I don't think I did that to this one, but the buzzards were beginning to hover.

That was my third submission to Chicken Soup in two weeks, which is indeed a record. I don't know what's happened to me, but whatever it is, I'm hanging onto it with both hands. I can't wait to begin working on another submission and/or chapter in my memoir. I swear I have never been this enthused and motivated and had such a desire to write.

It would be too much of a coincidence if I didn't consider the Intuitive Mentoring Package I received the end of June, from Eliza Fayle at Silver & Grace. As I've gotten older, I've become more open to new and different ideas, especially when it has something to do with figuring out things about myself. And because of that, I'm truly grateful I won the "A Good Old Rant" package. Ever since then, I have been writing with this new drive and energy. Thank you, Eliza! You are a fabulous mentor.

Please click on the links to learn more about this very neat lady.

"Self-esteem is a huge piece of my work. You have to believe it's possible and believe in yourself. Because after you've decided what you want, you have to believe it's possible, and possible for you, not just for other people. Then you need to seek out models, mentors, and coaches." -- Jack Canfield

* I WONDER *

I Wonder: I wonder if I can get all the things accomplished that's on my "List of Things to Do", between right now and Sunday night. At the top of the "List" is writing! Writing my memoir, writing for Chicken Soup for the Soul, writing for another anthology, etc. etc.

And because I'm in such a Mojo-Mode of Muse...I'm wackier than ever!


http://boscafelife.wordpress.com/bos-cafe-life-contests/

http://www.penwrights.com/Home

http://www.writing-world.com/index.shtml

http://www.tennesseewilliams.net/article.php?story=2012-1actplaycontest

http://www.bookcatcher.com/

I found these various Writerly Links in the past few days, and I apologize for not explaining what they are, but you'll find out as you click on one after another and arrive in a new place!

Happy Friday, everyone! 

 

" The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." -- Ayn Rand

* Writerly News *

* I guess my newest contest give-away was a bit too complicated, because there was only one entrant; Susan of Writing Straight from the Heart. Susan and I cooresponded and she was so gracious, asking not to be the winner, soley by default! So, the prizes will go back into my office closet until they are needed. Thanks to all who commented on Susan Bono's Two-Part Interview. I really enjoyed learning more about her.

* Calls for Submission: Bylines Calendar: By, For and About Writers is now accepting submissions for their 2013 desk calendar. Click on Guidelines for information. Publisher/Editor Sylvia Forbes is a delightful woman. I look forward to purchasing the 2012 calendar. ** I forgot to mention that Bylines website is a bit out of date. It's in the process of getting renovated. Sylvia really is taking submissions for the 2013 calendar! **

*This is a really cool calendar, especially for writers!* The website also features tons of links for various websites of interest to .....you guessed it: Writers! (In past years, I know that the lovely Cathy C. Hall and C. Hope Clark both appeared in it. In addition to having a snippet of your writing featured, so is your photo...one of which you provide!)

* Once again I feel I must apologize for not getting around to all the blogs I want to visit. I've been spending much more time actually writing which is a very good thing! So, if you don't see me often, that's the reason. And the same goes for e-mails. If I owe anyone an e-mail and haven't replied in a "normal" amout of time, please contact me. Maybe I didn't receive it or maybe forgot!

"Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?" -- Winnie the Pooh

Thoughts on Another Hot Monday

This is the 7-Day Forecast for the St. Louis area.

It's approximately the 17th day in a row

of an Excessive Heat Advisory.

(courtesy KSDK TV Channel 5)

Iced tea is my favorite drink in the summer time,

and especially this year.

The pitcher is too dark in this photo, but I wanted

to point out the green grass in the backyard.

This was taken on June 27, 2011.

Our grass now is dry & brown & non-existent.

"What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance." -- Jane Austen

* Nostalgic Sundays *

It's time for another Nostalgic Sunday

I wasn't sure what I would write about today because I had quite a few ideas popping in and out of my head...which is an ongoing occurrence.

(courtesy: google)

But I finally decided to write about ironing. Yes....ironing.

I don't know if spray starch was available when I was a little girl, because if it was, we didn't use it.

I remember watching my mom and older sister take the dried clothes from a clothes basket, lay them flat out on the kitchen table, one at a time, and sprinkle them with water. They ususally used a plastic bottle that I assume was made just for that little task. Then after each item was dampened, it was rolled up like a jelly roll and placed to the side. This continued until every piece of clothing that required ironing was drizzled. All were placed inside a small plastic bag and put in the refrigerator for a certain amount of time, and then voile', they were ready to be ironed. 

*For any young readers, back in the Old Days, clothes were primarily made from cotton and needed to be ironed. Polyester and nylon either hadn't been discovered, manufactured, or used for clothing yet.*
Addendum: Thank you, Marydon for the info about nylon! I appreciate it!

(courtesy: google.)
(I'm assuming it's okay to use this, since Life Magazine is no longer around.)

I hadn't thought of that routine for eons until just this morning. (It's a long story why ironing popped into my head, so I won't bore you with that! Aren't you glad?!) Then, another long ago memory materialized....Soon after my parents split up, money was very scarce, and for a while my mother ironed other families' clothes. I think someone would drop them off at our little apartment and mother was paid 'per piece'. I know it certainly wasn't much. Probably something like 25 cents maybe? I think the term for that was "taking in ironing", and considered a lowly job. Does anyone else remember this?

One last thing. I LOVE to iron, but only a couple of things at a time. Then I'm tired and ready to quit! Unless I'm watching something really good on TV like the woman in the photo, then I'm okay. (Also, I much rather iron MY clothes, than The Ronald's because his are at least twice the size of mine!)

Also welcome to my newest follower: Randi! I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! Thank you!

My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint. -- Erma Bombeck

I'm eighteen years behind in my ironing. -- Phyllis Diller

* I WONDER *

Today's "I Wonder" is all about writerly things!

First of all, the hugely talented Mr. Robert Brault has a special request. If you don't already know who he is or what he writes, then do not hesitate....run, hop & jump right over to his blog by clicking on the link below. 

 I Wonder: How many hundreds/thousands of letters can we generate?

http://www.robertbrault.com/2011/07/appeal.html?showComment=1311909485319#c5676262546187323761


On July 8th, I posted about trying to write two stories for Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and have them submitted by the 31st. I am very pleased to report that I have indeed sent two stories and have a third one that will probably be ready to submit before August 7th, which is the deadline.

 I Wonder:  How many of you will submit a story or more? If you're afraid....don't be! You can't be published, if you don't submit something!

Addendum: I just checked the website (7:20 am CDT) and quite a few new books have been added! I don't think they were listed yesterday, so the site has been updated with a few deadlines having passed.  Click HERE to go straight to the page of new books, new deadlines! Good Luck!

2nd Addendum: It's now 1:30 pm CDT and I recently received a new Call Out for Submissions e-mail from Chicken Soup concerning the deadline for the Caregiver book. It's been extended until August 31st. That is a good sign for those of you wanting to send something, because it means they haven't rec'd enough quality stories. So sharpen up those pencils, crack those knuckles and get going!! ☺
I also noticed that Thin Threads  has Calls for Submissions on their anthologies. I highly recommend them, too. Look at the two books below with the nearest deadlines! Oh my gosh, I just have to write something for the Pets & Companions book! I'll be burning the midnight oil Saturday night, I think!

Thin Threads of Pets & Companions - July 30th, 2011
Thin Threads of Babies & New Parents - September 30th, 2011
 If you go to their website, you'll find other upcoming books that don't have deadlines yet.

I Wonder: How many stories can be written in a few days? It depends on the author! It takes me many drafts just to write a short 900 word essay! Others can think, type, and submit within mere hours!

"Failure? I never encountered it. All I ever met were temporary setbacks."-- Dottie Walters

Contest & Susan Bono Interview Part 2

First of all, Happy Birthday to my son, Scott! If you've been visiting my blog since last summer, you'll remember that while in England on business last June, his appendix burst and he spent about a week in a hospital there. I was a nervous wreck, as you can imagine, until he came back home, although he still had problems for quite some time after he was back. So, I'm especially joyful to wish him another Happy Birthday! (Link below is from last June)

http://beckypovich.blogspot.com/search/label/Scott

OKAY....Now promised in yesterday's post, below are the final questions and answers in Susan's interview.
Remember to read both days of interviews because you'll need to know information from them for my newest Contest/Give-Away! .....*Rules posted at end of this blog post.*

4)      Do you have a set writing schedule?

I wish! The only writing I am devoted to is my postcard-a-day project, which I’ve kept up with for 2 ½ years, and even then, I don’t write one every day. I usually end up doing 7 or 10 cards at a time. But I love that I’ve used up at least 800 postcards collected over the years. It’s a reminder that you can move a mountain one pebble at a time.

5)      How often do you participate in Open Mic events, seminars, etc?

Remember how I confessed to wanting to be a celeb? Teaching my weekly writing workshops in my office fulfills some of that longing to be a big shot. I also co-host a quarterly literary evening at a local coffee house, and am looking forward to introducing presenters at the upcoming Mendocino Writers Conference and Sonoma County Book Festival.  I will go just about anywhere to be on a panel!  I get to co-facilitate an annual writing retreat at Point Reyes every spring, and there’s a weekend at Spirit Mountain in Idyllwild with my friend Joan Zerrien coming up in October. I’m over the moon about pairing up with Sheila Bender and taking writers to Istanbul next May! Life doesn’t get any better than that!

6)      Are you a bookaholic? Do you have stacks and stacks of books in your home? Some you can’t part with?

Remember that I’m someone who managed to save over 800 postcards? I’m that way with books. My house and office are full of them, and I was seriously planning to build more bookshelves when my parents died and I suddenly had another house full of books to deal with. This got me thinking about the books I am holding onto so greedily. Am I really going to need them? What am I leaving for my kids to clean up? My oldest son Lucius and I talk about doing a variation on “The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written” (I have a set of those leather bound books from Easton Press that I inherited from a family friend). What if you made a collection of YOUR 100 greatest books? And any time you wanted to add a new one, you had to get rid of an old one. I don’t think I’m ready to do that yet, but I have started forcing myself to give books to new homes. I like the idea of growing less encumbered as I get older.

7)      What are your thoughts on how the publishing industry has changed in the past 10 years? 5 years? ONE YEAR?

The dinosaur stands blinking in her dying kingdom—I feel like nothing is the same as it was 10 years ago, or even a year ago. I wish I had recorded all the voices saying “There will ALWAYS be hard copy books!” because I know that isn’t true. I’m not sure how long it will take, and I’m in no hurry for it to happen, but like my grandmother, who saw the end of the horse and buggy and the gaslight and the gramophone, I’ve already lived long enough to see entire libraries that could fit into a shoebox. What hasn’t changed is people’s hunger for connection and story. I think the audiences are going to get smaller for every book out there, but those circles will be warm, loyal and loving—more tribal in nature. That’s what I keep trying to remember as I whine about having to change with the times—the thrill I got when my teachers praised me all those years ago—with the right audience, that feeling can always be mine.

Thank you again Susan for allowing us to get to know more about you! And readers, don't forget to check out the Tiny Lights website.

Contest/Give-Away Rules:  (note: although sometimes I don't require people to be followers, I am doing so this time.)

1)  Be a follower. If you already follow my blog, please remind me!

2) Leave a comment or question directed to Susan, pertaining to something specific she said. (It will be my decision as to if it's "specific" enough to apply.)

3) Post something on your blog about this contest.

~~ Sorry, open to US residents only. Postage is outrageous out of the country. Sorry! ~~

I think it's pretty simple, and hope y'all will, too. I'm not asking for you to post about it in a zillion places and then you get more chances, etc. Nope....Just all three are required for one chance in the random drawing on August 2nd. I'll post the one winner on August 3rd.

What is the prize, you ask? Well.... How ab out prizes? How about 20 things??

 The above photo shows everything the winner will receive! There are 12 colorful folders, a package of 2 magnetic list pads that coordinate with the folders, 1 set of pink floral note cards, 1 small hardcover book called "Tea Among Friends". It's adorable! It doesn't have any recipes, but wonderful little stories about tea and friendships. Then there's a small burgundy color mini notebook with pen (magnetic closure). Then a cute matchbox folder that also coordinates with the folders and list pads. And finally 2 paper back books: "Of Mice and Men", purchased at Main Street Books in St. Charles, Mo. And "Rosie" by Anne Lamott.....Yes, that same fabulous Anne Lamott, author of "Bird by Bird"....a book all writers should own and read dozens of times. (And yes I have it and yes I do....and no, it's not included in this give-away!)

I chose these items because I believe there's a little bit for everyone!

I look forward to reading everyone's questions for Susan!

Also welcome to my newest follower: Life's Beautiful Path! I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! Thank you!

"Can you imagine a world without men? No crime and lots of happy, fat women." -- Nicole Hollander

(This quote doesn't really have anything to do with today's post, but I think it's hilarious and I had to post it!)

* Interview with Susan Bono *

I am delighted to post my interview with the fabulous writer-editor-teacher-speaker Ms. Susan Bono.


I met Susan, online, through one of my favorite writers, Judi Ryan Hendricks. Judi's website listed Susan's as one of her favorite sites: Tiny Lights A Journal of Personal Narrative. To make a long story short, I checked out Tiny Lights, submitted something, Susan and I really hit it off......and the rest is history!

I'm dividing the interview into two parts, only because Susan gave such awesome answers. Today is questions one through three. (I particularly love her first few sentences in answer number one!) Tomorrow will be four through seven.

Thank you again, Susan, for taking the time to let us get to know a little more about you.

1)      When did you know you wanted to be a writer? Did you receive any encouragement from any teachers? Other mentors?

I’m not sure I ever wanted to be a writer! I’ve always just want to be a celebrity author, accepting major awards and appearing on TV talk shows, like Truman Capote and Gore Vidal did way back when. Writing is so much work!  On the other hand, as a kid  I ended up writing a lot, starting in 6^th grade. A very artistic classmate of mine illustrated a story I wrote about a girl and a talking mouse. I was self-publishing in 1966! The book made a hit, even though I think it was really more about Peggy’s drawings. As the years went by, writing got me more praise in school than anything else I did. In 7^th grade I even weaseled out of a mid-term math project by writing a bunch of bad poems about how much I hated working with numbers. 

Looking back, I don’t know if being allowed to avoid the hard stuff by running around trying to be a creative writer was such a good idea, but it kept me writing, mostly poetry. Fortunately, in high school I had some fantastic English teachers who forced me to think and write with some degree of precision.  I went on to major in creative writing at a time when there were only a handful of those programs scattered across the nation. That’s hard to believe, given the popularity of that major now! I had good teachers at San Francisco State, and I got good grades, but I knew I didn’t really have what it takes to be a serious poet or short story writer. I knew I could never write a novel, and there were no classes in creative nonfiction back then! The term didn’t exist, and I suspect that column-style essay writing wasn’t even offered in the journalism program.  No one ever suggested that I might look into editing or publishing, so  I began to think about using my love of literature and writing in a more “grownup” way by becoming an English teacher.

I ended up in a really amazing grammar class (Believe me, it had to be a nearly mystical experience to get me to pay attention to misplaced modifiers!), got into a challenging credential program at UC Davis, and ended up teaching high school  for about 7 years, if you include the agony of substitute teaching.  For some crazy reason, I thought staying home with my kids would be easier than teaching, so when my first son was born in 1985, I left the public schools and found out what real work was. I tried to write during those early years at home—but I really didn’t know what I was doing. I muddled along in a writing group for quite some time before  I answered an ad in the paper for a features writer for a wonderful local paper called the Petaluma Weekly News. Writing for them taught me a lot about having a point and sticking to it.   In 1994,   I took a Sonoma State college course on writing personal essays from Gerald Haslam and that’s where the picture shifted. I learned a lot more about essays, thank goodness, but what I really discovered was my talent for editing other writers’ work. I began to see teaching and editing as my true calling. Since then,  I’ve tackled many kinds of projects and teach various genres, but I really love memoir and personal essay.

2)      When and why did you create Tiny Lights?

In Gerry Haslam’s fateful class, I got in touch with my desire to teach, but with my own kids approaching adolescence, I did NOT want to go back to high school!  I wasn’t qualified to teach at the college level. What to do? Somehow I got it into my head that I could start a magazine (??!!?) and thus combine writing, teaching, and editing. And I would pay for its cost by running a contest with a $5 entry fee. This was in the days when you advertised for an event like this by making flyers and putting them up around town. I got very lucky and the Petaluma Weekly News did a story about my plan, so I got about 50 people to enter. I managed to cover prizes, printing and mailing costs, and I still think the material I got to publish was incredibly good. I got some other lucky breaks in the early years, too, like having a son who created a website for me at the dawn of the Internet Age, and a friend who has a bulk mailing house so I get a better rate for postage, which has gotten OUTRAGEOUS. I feel like a dinosaur these days, not having made the transition to electronic submissions and downloadable content, but I also realize that with the way things are now,  no ordinary individual can afford to start a hard copy magazine like I did. It’s just too expensive. I would never go back to the dark times before email—I typed every single word that went into the magazine and literally pasted the illustrations where I wanted them to go.  But I miss the slower, more meditative pace of editing and publishing back then. It was more like making a quilt, when now it’s kind of like an endless game of Sudoku.  

3)      How much time would you say is required to “put it all together”?

This question had me laughing so hard I almost fell on the floor! Tiny Lights keeps getting bigger, but I’ve never added any staff. So the work associated with the hard copy editions, the online postings and the monthly e-letter is mine, all mine! I stopped feeling like I had it all put together about 6 years ago! It’s just a rolling ball of semi-controlled chaos. I feel terrible when I fall behind deadlines (like now!), but I’m trying to see the situation as an opportunity to finally learn to prioritize.  I’m one of those people who puts out fire after fire, never getting to the true  source of the blaze. If I could gaze down at the whole scene, I’d probably end up laughing about that, too. Look! She’s dousing those teeny fires while the river’s rising, the sky is falling, and all the horses, cattle and sheep are running out the barn door and escaping to the next farm!

Please come back tomorrow to read Susan's other four answers. My upcoming contest will pertain to both days of Q&As!

 "I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars."--Og Mandino