Shawn L. Bird

Original poetry, commentary, and fiction. All copyrights reserved.

Monday Meme in Newfoundland August 18, 2014

Filed under: Monday Meme,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 10:38 pm
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The return of the Monday Meme!

On Facebook, one of my former students, all grown up and living in Newfoundland, posted this photo of her daughter  that just cries out to be a Monday Meme, and so, with her permission, now it is!

The rules:

  • You use this photo as a prompt for some writing.  Poem, story, memory, it doesn’t matter.
  • Copy the photo onto your site, leaving the text.
  • Link back to this post AND submit your link in the comments below.

Note:

While I post the photo on Mondays, you don’t have to post your writing on Mondays.  You can post whenever you choose.  If you enjoy this one, click ‘Monday Meme’ at right, and respond to any of the old posts.

MondayMeme2014-08-18Alison

 

reading-5 ways to help an author August 12, 2014

Filed under: Reading,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:45 am
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Most of a publishing house’s marketing budget goes to its most popular, A-list authors.  You know: the ones least in need of the promotion.  If you have found a mid-list or new author whose work you enjoy, you can become a crucial, and very appreciated, part of his/her success.  What’s more, your enthusiasm may encourage him/her to keep writing!  Here’s how.

1. Leave honestly positive reviews everywhere you can:  Goodreads, Amazon, Kobo, your library, iBooks.  Tell people what you really liked about the book’s characters, themes, setting, style, and the genre on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, and anywhere else you can think of.  Reviews are key for a new reader to take a risk on an unknown author.

2. Tell your friends!  If you have a friend who likes the genre, recommend the book.  But, do the author a favour.  If your friends read romance, don’t recommend a horror book, because it will probably lead to a one star review somewhere.  Some people shouldn’t read the book.  The more often someone sees a name, the more likely they are to eventually pick it up, so talk about the book on social media, and link to the author’s profile.

3. Submit a book acquisition request at your local library.  This can often be done on your library’s website.  When the book is in, take it out, and encourage your friends to take it out.  Personally recommend the book to strangers in the library.  If you see it hiding on the shelf, turn it facing out, or set it on a table where it will catch the eye of someone who might otherwise not notice it.

4. Offer to be part of the author’s street team or to be a beta reader for future projects.  You may get early release copy of future books in exchange for your review.  There may be other perks, like a mention in the acknowledgements of the author’s next book.  If you’re doing the 5 things on this list, the author would love to know who you are, so be sure to introduce yourself on social media.

5. Give the book as a gift!  Buy several copies of the book to share with people you think would love it like you do.  If you know the author, get the book signed for your friends or relatives.  Author signed books are cool birthday or Christmas gifts.  If you are far away, some authors (like me!) will mail you signed book plates to put into your copy or are on Authorgraph so you can download a pdf.

It’s all about sharing the book love!  

 

poem-the switch August 6, 2014

Filed under: Poetry,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 4:45 am
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Trying to type
Fingers feel
unattached to hand.
Eyes blur.
Stomach rocks
Head dull.
It’s so hard
to rejoin
the diurnal world
.
.
Thursday I have to be in a workshop at 8 a.m. my time.  I need to be alert and absorbing information.  I’ve been going to bed between 4 and 7 a.m. the last few nights, working through the greatest heat.  My plan was to start last Friday, moving back an hour each night, but it didn’t work.  It was 4:30 on Sunday and 3:30 on Mon, despite pharmaceutical aid.  (I can stay up for hours after sleeping pill.  My body relaxes, but my brain just keeps plugging along…)  Wish me luck getting to bed at midnight tonight, with all my packing and preparations in order!
Yawn
 

poem-ten thousand June 12, 2014

Filed under: Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 5:43 pm
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“No one

in the publishing industry

takes a blog seriously,”

said the presenter

“until it has at least

ten thousand followers.”

I thought about my three hundred

loyal followers and sighed.

I would never manage that.

For six months I thought

about her words, knowing what

WordPress said to do,

and how I wasn’t doing it.

So one April, two weeks

before I gave a social media workshop,

I tested their theories.

In two weeks, 444 followers

became a thousand.

Hmm. I thought.

If I keep doing this,

I could have ten thousand

in a year or so.

So I visited other blogs,

commented, and liked their work.

Introducing myself, and noticing others.

It’s the old mantra

‘the only way to have a friend

is to be a friend.’

and here we are!

14 months later,

ten thousand people

see my posts, leave their comments,

share my words, welcome me into their world

laugh with me

offer suggestions,

and make every day

interesting.

I send ten thousand

thank yous to each of you.

I’m grateful you’ve joined my journey

that you share your lives and your time.

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you.

 

 

poem- peacock poets June 7, 2014

Filed under: Poetry,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:16 am
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She writes in peacock blue ink

Turquoise words like an  equatorial sea–

exotic and dramatic–

vivid colour for vivid dreams,

beyond pedantic black or

boring blue

so dark it’s a black wannabe.

In gatherings of youthful poets

peacock ink predominates.

While pedants declare it’s

a colour coded affectation,

peacock poets know

ink encapsulating sky and sea

makes mere words ethereal–

their metaphor of fundamental creativity.

 

 

poem- waking May 19, 2014

Filed under: OUTLANDERishness,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 11:24 am
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I woke this morning

pleasantly foggy and

imagined my day.

What workshops will I attend?

Yes.  That one. This one.

Then I stretched my mind

into clarity and realized

conference is over;

everyone has gone home.

It was a melancholy moment,

before the smile,

savouring memories.

.

.

.

.

A memory like this one.  My dear husband, grinning broadly with Diana Gabaldon beside him outside the conference banquet.  This is the first time he’s met an author whose work he admires.  I’m laughing because I just had to sprint down the hall to get into the photo.  Despite being with Diana all weekend and snapping many photos of her with/for other people, this moment was the only one I had taken with her myself this year.

John-Diana-Shawn1crop

P.S. The counter says that this is my 1400th blog post.  Nice to celebrate with two of my favourite people! 😉

 

poem- ending May 18, 2014

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 5:22 pm
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The skies weep on the airport

bidding melancholy farewell

to the time of aggregation.

On my return drive, troubled skies glower,

containing their tears while

eagles, ospreys, and hawks wheel

on rising wind born of wistful  anamnesis.

At home a beam of sun light

glows at my door, grateful

illumination:

recollecting joy.

.

.

It is always bittersweet on the last day of a gathering, as participants return home.  Graduation celebration, weddings, funerals, conventions, conferences, camp.  The greater the anticipation of the event, the more melancholy the ending.  

I will treasure fond memories of Word on the Lake 2014.  43 hours of conference, anticipated for 572 days = 1.2 days of anticipation per hour of experience! 🙂

Sometimes, the ending remains a clear memory, while the middle disappears.  Do you have any poignant endings that you hold in your heart?

 

 

 

poem- opportunity May 16, 2014

Filed under: Poetry,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 10:55 am
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You need imagination

to grab opportunities.

You have to be open

to the unfamiliar.

You have to trust that

something new could be great

and that all learning

has worth.

You have to be willing

to be out of your comfort zone

to have faith in yourself

~alone~

that every experience

will enrich you.

You have to accept opportunities

to empower your imagination.

.

.

”

Risk for writers: “If it doesn’t kill me, it’ll make a great story!”

As teachers we wonder why our students don’t grab at the amazing opportunities that are available to them. I was just pondering this today.

 

poem- tribal longings May 3, 2014

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:28 am
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I miss my tribe.

The house is full of pessimistic

scientific thinkers.

I can’t coax them into poetry.

“I just can’t appreciate it,” says one.

“Poetry.  Yeah.  Whatever,” says the other.

They analyze and ruminate with

cold logic.

They don’t hear the wind’s song,

or feel the blackbird’s call.

I am a lone poet boat tossing

on their scientific sea.

But soon, my tribe will come.

I will be immersed in the language

of verse, pressed into prose.

I will know the companionship

of a crowd of like minds,

feeding on the energy to

fuel our words,

until we come together

again.

.

.

Just 2 weeks until Word on the Lake Writers’ Festival here in Salmon Arm, BC

I’m looking forward to learning from Diana Gabaldon, C. C. Humphreys, Gary Geddes, Ursula Maxwell-Lewis, Carmen Aguerra, Carolyn Swayze, Howard White, and more!  It’s always a fantastic weekend for a bargain price.  You should come.  Seriously.

 

 

poem- imagination trumps reality April 26, 2014

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 6:19 pm
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“How can you write

about being drunk

if you’ve never been drunk?”

the boys ask, grinning.

I shrug, and hand them some papers.

“You tell me.  Did I do it?”

They read,  groan, gasp and sigh.

“I didn’t see that coming,” one mutters.

Finally they look up at me with muted faces.

“Well?” I ask

“Oh, yeah,” one grunts.  “You did.”

The others nod and grunt in agreement.

“But how?” asks another shaking his head.

“I could imagine what it’s like to be drunk,

and so I never needed to drink.

I could have fun without needing to dull my senses

or find artificial courage.

I don’t drink.  I’ve never done drugs.

I don’t need to, because

I have imagination.”

“Huh,” they say,

and class begins.

.

.

.

I know that my experience is not at all common.  My parents were social drinkers, but I never saw either of them intoxicated.  I didn’t like the taste of alcohol, and felt no need to drink to be cool.  If I went to a party, I was disgusted how the drinkers all turned into idiots.

My high school friends didn’t drink. We went out together, had a great time, and the next morning we remembered what happened and we didn’t have a headache!  We had a remarkable amount of common sense! 😉

I have addicted relatives.  They are also a good lesson of how lives can be destroyed.

I am routinely astonished by students who have never met *anyone* who doesn’t drink.  They think all adults drink.  Many of the adults in their lives only socialize in an inebriated stupor and they don’t know there is another way to interact with people. I have never tried marijuana or other recreational drugs either.  I don’t need to medicate my emotions or do weird things.  I need all the energy I have, so I can’t afford to send my motivations up in smoke!   I can’t imagine just taking some pill off someone at a party.  That’s not fun, that’s just stupid (and dangerous).

I don’t presume to tell anyone else what to do, and I actually support legalization, to remove the criminal component. I consider it a health issue.

One thing about my clean life style- it frees up room in the budget for my Fluevogs! 🙂

PS. I’ve linked to the snippet that they read.