unlike the baby birds...

It's been a while since I posted. And I've been reminded of the fact that, unlike my feathered friends, I cannot fly. Not that I tried (I didn't!). I merely had an up close and personal conversation with my local sidewalk, following an attempt to walk and do something else at the same time. The good news? I yanked the family Klutz Queen crown back from my daughter, AND I have a nifty (although heavy) purple fiberglass cast. How cool? Take a peek!

Inspiration

From the mouths of babes

My 7 year old was making pretzel art yesterday...chewing designs out of pretzels. Besides the typical glasses, he had things like a ballgown, a duck, etc. I asked him how he did it. He answered, "you just see what it is you want, then get rid of everything else."

I've been feeling annoyed recently, by the ridiculously early morning chirping of the birds. Sure, the early ones get the worms (who wants to eat those slimey things?!), but do they have to get up at 4:30? And when they do, can't they be quieter? I mean, if they have their beaks full of ground-up worms, you'd think that would muffle the sound.

But a few minutes ago, my kids came in saying, "Mommy! We just saw the baby birds in our garage! Their fuzzy little heads poked out, and they were so cute!" To catch you up, birds make a nest year after year in the vent near our garage roof. They can only access it from the outside, so whenever I write, I see purple finches flitter in and out.

THEY LAID EGGS AND THE EGGS HATCHED! I'M AN AUNT! Awww, let the little buggers chirp at 4:30 - they're hungry!

Sometimes all we need to do is change our perspective.

Let's call this Susan Boyle week. The Scottish singer who has YouTube running to catch up to the number of hits from her performance on Britain's Got Talent has been an inspiration to us all. Which one of us wouldn't kill for Simon Cowell's change from smirk to lifted brows? Who among us could stand to see again that talent rises to the top, given perseverance and the right circumstances?

I'm taking a reminder lesson from Susan: put yourself in the right place, keep working your craft, know that a great voice will leave your audience breathless, and wow them.

Happy Spring! This is not a shameless plug for friends and events, but there are some phenomenal things coming up in these parts. If your writing needs some get-up-and-go, get up and go!

Later today, Laurie Halse Anderson heads to Santa Monica for her Wintergirls book tour (4:30 at the main library, 7:00 at Barnes & Noble). Not only is she an exquisite writer, but she's inspirational, so go if you can. She'll be in Pasadena over the weekend.

April 18th is SCBWI-LA's Writer's Day. Check out the line-up at www.scbwisocal.org. We've got something for everyone, including that nudge to get you going!

For those of you who asked, the class visit on mask poems was so much fun - the kids were enthusiastic and came up with some fun poems. They especially liked my props...I brought 2 different textured cookies for each of them, so they'd learn about details in writing. Hey, I was scheduled for AN HOUR with 7 year olds. It went by very quickly, and I heard that I was "awesome" -phew!

Mask Poems

As I was preparing for my Monday morning stint on mask poems for my son's second grade class, I realized something. I've never (that I can remember) written a mask poem myself. So, I decided if it's good enough for the goose...or is it I should take my own medicine?

I started by reading lots of mask poems. There's a fun picture book anthology called Dirty Laundry, in case you want a good sample. Then I played. I wrote poems as feet, as toes, and oranges on my neighbor's tree. There's something refreshing about stepping outside yourself and writing from a totally different perspective.

Sure, you say, we write from our characters' POVs all the time, but I challenge you to write a mask poem - now, here! - as an inanimate object and tell me it's the same feeling.

So, tune into ALL of your senses, then ready, set, write!