Good Morning Emily - thank you for your encouraging and inspiring message.
Just what I needed this morning - especially when my head is filled with
Who do you think you are? Writer!
with your message this morning I can answer YES YES YES
#8 i will remember i am a writer always and no one can take it away from me.!!!
Emily, I have started a group in the Chicago area - The Master Alliance of Women Writers.
The focus of the group is encouragement and accountability - re: helping each other go to the next level with our
writing -
Would you consider including information about in your e mails -
THE MASTER ALLIANCE OF WOMEN WRITERS
CONTACT; GLORIA VALENTINO - 708-246-5528
WE MEET MONTHLY
Thanks and I look forward to your messages - always inspiring.
Cecilia (aka known as Gloria Valentino)*
Saturday, January 31, 2004
Publication news
It's always wonderful to pass on news of some else's success. This in from
a student of mine, Barbara Traynor.
"I just leaned that my Op-Ed piece Inject Common Sense into Political Campaigns will be published in this week's (appearing on newstands 1/30) edition of the Litchfield County Times. Very happy (and getting paid too!).
Also got this from Melissa Mosley, Editor, Life Circle:
"Barbara, your poem will be published some time in February via the www.lifecircleent.com poetry newsletter. Please tell your friends and family members so they can view the poems and enjoy the other newsletters and books on the site. Any questions, please e-mail me. Thanks Melissa"
Take care,
Barbara
a student of mine, Barbara Traynor.
"I just leaned that my Op-Ed piece Inject Common Sense into Political Campaigns will be published in this week's (appearing on newstands 1/30) edition of the Litchfield County Times. Very happy (and getting paid too!).
Also got this from Melissa Mosley, Editor, Life Circle:
"Barbara, your poem will be published some time in February via the www.lifecircleent.com poetry newsletter. Please tell your friends and family members so they can view the poems and enjoy the other newsletters and books on the site. Any questions, please e-mail me. Thanks Melissa"
Take care,
Barbara
Writing doesn't have to be torture
Hello, Emily.......thank you so much for rule #1: writing doesn't have to be
torture. (ed. note, see Emily's other blog for New Years 2004) I have a visceral reaction to the standard rule in many classes
that writing involves endless revision. Thanks for being an "official"
writer who disagrees. Carries more weight than when I say it.
Marcia
I'm still writing short pieces sporadically. Maybe someday there will be
enough to collect into a book. I think I'll attach one of them here. A
brief memory item, triggered by some rather hackneyed advice at a writing
discussion at Barnes & Noble on writing for young people. "Try to think of
some situation that is embarrassing and write from that point of view." So,
always being the contrarian.......I rebelled and this came out...a refusal
to be embarrassed.. Hope you chuckle.
torture. (ed. note, see Emily's other blog for New Years 2004) I have a visceral reaction to the standard rule in many classes
that writing involves endless revision. Thanks for being an "official"
writer who disagrees. Carries more weight than when I say it.
Marcia
I'm still writing short pieces sporadically. Maybe someday there will be
enough to collect into a book. I think I'll attach one of them here. A
brief memory item, triggered by some rather hackneyed advice at a writing
discussion at Barnes & Noble on writing for young people. "Try to think of
some situation that is embarrassing and write from that point of view." So,
always being the contrarian.......I rebelled and this came out...a refusal
to be embarrassed.. Hope you chuckle.
Dear Blogger
Enjoy your input ---or is it output?
I am following up on some of the ideas you advanced because, who knows, somebody might present me with a solution for my altogether different problem. I don't have little voices telling me I can't write. I know I can write and I love to write. Only sex is better than writing, and sometimes not even that. I am 77 years old and still menopausal---but that's neither here nor there. What I want to say is that I am still a dynamo. I have published three books and all kinds of articles both here and in translation abroad. Some of my non-fiction stuff has wound up in German literary anthologies. Go figure.
I am a gifted, powerful, eloquent, elegant stylist writer. I know that. I need no reassurance on that score.
So what's my PROBLEM?
My problem is the fact that I have chosen (or have been chosen by) the topic from hell. It has been my bliss, my calling and the monkey on my back for the past quarter of a century, with no end in sight.
To clue you in, the titles of my books are:
1. PRISONERS OF RITUAL,
2. A WOMAN'S ODYSSEY INTO AFRICA: TRACKS ACROSS A LIFE
3 SECRET WOUNDS.
If all of that still leaves you in the dark, this is what I do. I am a pioneer that trekked and backpacked alone across Africa for six years and wrote three books about it. The first two were published by a University Press. I am presently updating and giving a new name to SECRET WOUNDS, which is making a rather slow start. The proposed second edition will be entitled CHILDREN'S GENITALS UNDER THE KNIFE: SOCIAL IMPERATIVES, SECRECY AND SHAME. ( I warned you that this is the topic from hell)
Here is what I write about:
Genital mutilation of non-consenting children in the larger part of Africa.
Totally unnecessary, non-religious circumcision of male infants in the United States.
The carefully buried medical history of clitoridectomy performed on untold numbers of little girls in the United States from the early part of the 19th Century until well into the 20th, to prevent them from masturbating.
The current situation in regard to Female Genital Mutilation of infants and little girls in sub-Saharan Africa, efforts to cause abandonment of these millenia old customs,: what works and what doesn't.
Non-consentual, surgical modifications on children born with ambiguous genitals---generally to their detriment.
Are we ok so far here? If the topic is not too revolting to investigate further , check out my web-site
http://www.klein.com/lightfoot. Or simply click on Google Hanny Lightfoot Klein for 1,500 plus references to my work.
My problem is that contrary to Germany, where both my topic and my person are of considerable interest, I have had very little co-operation or response in the USA. For that matter, after I had accumulated 83 rejection slips for SECRET WOUNDS, I said "OK. That's enough!" and self-published.
The only problem with self-publishing is getting word out about this book. So if there is anybody out there who might be of help, whatever its nature, I would really like to hear from you. And please don't tell me that I should get on Oprah's program, unless you also supply me with a strategy that will work.
thank you thank you thank you
Hanny Lightfoot-Klein
I am following up on some of the ideas you advanced because, who knows, somebody might present me with a solution for my altogether different problem. I don't have little voices telling me I can't write. I know I can write and I love to write. Only sex is better than writing, and sometimes not even that. I am 77 years old and still menopausal---but that's neither here nor there. What I want to say is that I am still a dynamo. I have published three books and all kinds of articles both here and in translation abroad. Some of my non-fiction stuff has wound up in German literary anthologies. Go figure.
I am a gifted, powerful, eloquent, elegant stylist writer. I know that. I need no reassurance on that score.
So what's my PROBLEM?
My problem is the fact that I have chosen (or have been chosen by) the topic from hell. It has been my bliss, my calling and the monkey on my back for the past quarter of a century, with no end in sight.
To clue you in, the titles of my books are:
1. PRISONERS OF RITUAL,
2. A WOMAN'S ODYSSEY INTO AFRICA: TRACKS ACROSS A LIFE
3 SECRET WOUNDS.
If all of that still leaves you in the dark, this is what I do. I am a pioneer that trekked and backpacked alone across Africa for six years and wrote three books about it. The first two were published by a University Press. I am presently updating and giving a new name to SECRET WOUNDS, which is making a rather slow start. The proposed second edition will be entitled CHILDREN'S GENITALS UNDER THE KNIFE: SOCIAL IMPERATIVES, SECRECY AND SHAME. ( I warned you that this is the topic from hell)
Here is what I write about:
Genital mutilation of non-consenting children in the larger part of Africa.
Totally unnecessary, non-religious circumcision of male infants in the United States.
The carefully buried medical history of clitoridectomy performed on untold numbers of little girls in the United States from the early part of the 19th Century until well into the 20th, to prevent them from masturbating.
The current situation in regard to Female Genital Mutilation of infants and little girls in sub-Saharan Africa, efforts to cause abandonment of these millenia old customs,: what works and what doesn't.
Non-consentual, surgical modifications on children born with ambiguous genitals---generally to their detriment.
Are we ok so far here? If the topic is not too revolting to investigate further , check out my web-site
http://www.klein.com/lightfoot. Or simply click on Google Hanny Lightfoot Klein for 1,500 plus references to my work.
My problem is that contrary to Germany, where both my topic and my person are of considerable interest, I have had very little co-operation or response in the USA. For that matter, after I had accumulated 83 rejection slips for SECRET WOUNDS, I said "OK. That's enough!" and self-published.
The only problem with self-publishing is getting word out about this book. So if there is anybody out there who might be of help, whatever its nature, I would really like to hear from you. And please don't tell me that I should get on Oprah's program, unless you also supply me with a strategy that will work.
thank you thank you thank you
Hanny Lightfoot-Klein
Announcement “The Write Stuff: Effective Ways of Publishing and Marketing Your Book,” In Pasadena, California, Sat. Feb 28
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, UCLA Writer’s Program instructor and author of two award-winning books, This is the Place and Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered has assembled and will moderate “The Write Stuff: Effective Ways of Publishing and Marketing Your Book,” ranging from traditional publishing to print-on-demand publishing. The 1:30 p.m. panel will be part of The Call to Arts! Arts, Music & Entertainment Expo & Festival, Saturday, Feb. 28, in the Pasadena (Calif.) Conference Center.
Other panelists include Rolf Gompertz, also a UCLA Extension Division instructor and author of three iUniverse books include two biblical novels and a spiritual self-help book, Amy Ferris, author of a young adult novel called A Greater Goode published by Houghton Mifflin, Leora G. Krygier, author of First the Raven and a superior court judge, and self-published author Alexis Powers.
Admission to the expo, a $30. value, is free to authors. Howard-Johnson has arranged for free admission for authors to her seminar as well.
For more online details about the expo/festival, please go to: http://www.calltoarts.artistshelpingartists.org/expo.htm . For more information on Howard-Johnson or the panelists, please e-mail: HoJoNews@aol.com
Other panelists include Rolf Gompertz, also a UCLA Extension Division instructor and author of three iUniverse books include two biblical novels and a spiritual self-help book, Amy Ferris, author of a young adult novel called A Greater Goode published by Houghton Mifflin, Leora G. Krygier, author of First the Raven and a superior court judge, and self-published author Alexis Powers.
Admission to the expo, a $30. value, is free to authors. Howard-Johnson has arranged for free admission for authors to her seminar as well.
For more online details about the expo/festival, please go to: http://www.calltoarts.artistshelpingartists.org/expo.htm . For more information on Howard-Johnson or the panelists, please e-mail: HoJoNews@aol.com
Reader Exchange and Inspiration!!
Dear Emily,
Thank you for continuing to keep me in your loop even though I don't respond to your amazing blog page. How well I relate to ICK! You've coined a word, a feeling that viciously traps all of us in different stages or professions in our lives, not just as writers.
I absorbed your penetrating thoughts after returning from an invigorating evening at an IBI Global presentation -- in short, an organization that puts together the best creative minds and advisors so that you can find the best support for you passions and/or projects. It could be seen primarily for creative business builders. However, for writers, it is interesting to note that Mark Hansen and the "Chicken Soup for the ______" was founded in the their rooms, also "Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars." It would be an understatement to say that it was a powerful evening for me.
For several years now I've put aside my writing to focus on building a business that will support my writing habit and I'm not attaining my goals as fast as I would like to. WHY? ICK! If only I could get out of my own way! I was hoping to find advice about my business, when I found myself talking passionately about my book, "Walking on the Edge."
Chris, a business entrepreneur (Ethnomusicologist) shared how he had realized his dream and found funding for a new video tool -- a program that teaches anyone (mainly children) to play the piano with a video game. Truly inspired and revolutionary. He developed a partnership with Yamaha. He looked at me as I spoke about my life, my drama (my book) and his eyes electrified as he commented, "I never prejudge anyone or an idea anymore when I hear someone's ideas. . .but other people in our rooms can say, ". . .but yes, of course it would work if we approach it this way. . . " (instantly, another spin is put on it or the person is connected with a funder with deep pockets). . .perhaps a vision the original owner never had." I sat nodding my head in agreement, when he quickly said. . ."I bet there's never been a "Chicken Soup for your book's slant on life! WOW!
Thanks, Emily, for your faith and belief in me -- in all of us who gather with you and the Turtle Weavers for Wisdom and Support. I'm coming back, slowly. My ICK has found ways to cover all of my desks and writing area full of piles and piles of garbage so that I cannot find anything important to me. It's extreme, I know. Excuse me, I need a little time and encouragement to get out of my own way before I drown.
Marcia Lang
Thank you for continuing to keep me in your loop even though I don't respond to your amazing blog page. How well I relate to ICK! You've coined a word, a feeling that viciously traps all of us in different stages or professions in our lives, not just as writers.
I absorbed your penetrating thoughts after returning from an invigorating evening at an IBI Global presentation -- in short, an organization that puts together the best creative minds and advisors so that you can find the best support for you passions and/or projects. It could be seen primarily for creative business builders. However, for writers, it is interesting to note that Mark Hansen and the "Chicken Soup for the ______" was founded in the their rooms, also "Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars." It would be an understatement to say that it was a powerful evening for me.
For several years now I've put aside my writing to focus on building a business that will support my writing habit and I'm not attaining my goals as fast as I would like to. WHY? ICK! If only I could get out of my own way! I was hoping to find advice about my business, when I found myself talking passionately about my book, "Walking on the Edge."
Chris, a business entrepreneur (Ethnomusicologist) shared how he had realized his dream and found funding for a new video tool -- a program that teaches anyone (mainly children) to play the piano with a video game. Truly inspired and revolutionary. He developed a partnership with Yamaha. He looked at me as I spoke about my life, my drama (my book) and his eyes electrified as he commented, "I never prejudge anyone or an idea anymore when I hear someone's ideas. . .but other people in our rooms can say, ". . .but yes, of course it would work if we approach it this way. . . " (instantly, another spin is put on it or the person is connected with a funder with deep pockets). . .perhaps a vision the original owner never had." I sat nodding my head in agreement, when he quickly said. . ."I bet there's never been a "Chicken Soup for your book's slant on life! WOW!
Thanks, Emily, for your faith and belief in me -- in all of us who gather with you and the Turtle Weavers for Wisdom and Support. I'm coming back, slowly. My ICK has found ways to cover all of my desks and writing area full of piles and piles of garbage so that I cannot find anything important to me. It's extreme, I know. Excuse me, I need a little time and encouragement to get out of my own way before I drown.
Marcia Lang
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