Mandy Webster – Page 10 – Write on the World

Blue and White afghan blanket with tulips — Tulip afghan I finally finished last night.

I don’t get much time for crafting, so when I finally finish a big project, I feel like I’ve really accomplished something. I started the center panel of this afghan somewhere around five years ago. It was originally going to be a long pillow for the hard hearth step in front of my fireplace where my dogs loved to lay in front of the fire. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish it before we moved out of our house, and that center panel ended up in my huge plastic tote full of projects that need finishing.

Several weeks ago, I was looking for something to work on while watching TV (because I’m such a workaholic, I feel guilty about sitting in front of the TV without simultaneously DOING something productive,) and I came upon this panel. It was too pretty to let it lay in the container any longer, so I decided to pull it out and turn it into a blanket. Continue reading “Finally finished my tulip afghan” →

AWP, Conventions & Conferences, Education, Writers on Writing, Writing Programs, Written Communication

AWP 2012 | Creative Writing in the Real World

April 2, 2012 Mandy Webster

Is it April already? I meant to write a ton of compelling blog posts about all of the sessions I attended at the March 2012 APW Convention in Chicago, but I didn’t get past describing the first session. Although I’m a bit behind, I think a lot of the lessons I learned at the convention are essential. So today, I’ll take a peek backward and tell you about the second session I attended, titled, “Out There and In Here: Creative Writing in the Real World.”

This session was presented by Abby Bardi, Rick Kemp, Janice Meer, and Adeena Reitberger in the Astoria room of the Hilton Chicago. The AWP’s official description of the session follows: Continue reading “AWP 2012 | Creative Writing in the Real World” →

Finance, Random Rants

My tips for winning the Mega Millions jackpot (hint: I don’t have any)

March 29, 2012March 29, 2012 Mandy Webster

With the Mega Millions lottery jackpot at half a billion dollars, everyone is talking about how best to win. So, I thought I’d write my own little list of tips. However, unlike every other blog post or news article you may have read on the subject, I will not be giving you tips on how to win (per se.)

I hate to break it to you sunshine, but all those tips you’ve been reading in the news are B.S. The lotto is, by nature, a crap shoot. The lottery is not designed for you to win. It is designed to generate revenue for the government.

#bettingonthegovernmentisalosinggame

The lottery is a game. Like any game, there is a good, clean, fun way to play. There is also a horrible, bad, spend yourself into the poorhouse way to play. (Don’t play that second way.) In case you don’t know the difference, here are my top 5 tips for playing the lotto. Continue reading “My tips for winning the Mega Millions jackpot (hint: I don’t have any)” →

Domestic Violence, Essays, Purple, Random Rants

Purple is for Independence

March 24, 2012March 23, 2012 Mandy Webster

My purple bedroom, complete with Hannah Montana stickers — Here's my purple independence quilt, specially made for me by my mommy.

I never used to like purple. It was always way too girly for me.

When my older son was little, he insisted (much to his father’s chagrin) that his favorite color was purple. My son was about 3 years old when we bought our house. We asked him what color he wanted to paint his room, and he said, “Purple.” His dad threw a fit.

We asked this question again and again, and always the answer remained the same. We eventually painted the poor kid’s bedroom Buzz Lightyear Blue. He was happy enough with the new color, but once in a while, he would confess to me that he really wished it was purple.

Although my son eventually outgrew his purple fetish, the color had begun to grow on me. The fact that my brave little boy could stand up to his dad and keep asking for purple knowing that it would only get him in trouble was a symbol of hope for me. My son had a voice of his own, and he was not afraid to use it. Continue reading “Purple is for Independence” →

Education, Flowers, Uncategorized

I can’t seem to get my homework done

March 22, 2012 Mandy Webster

The hyacinths in my garden are calling my name. "Don't stay inside and work," they say. "Come outside and hang with us."

I’ve been working on this week’s homework for two straight days, and I just can’t seem to get it done. I think it’s a combination of the subject matter (Narratology) and the weather. I’m not knocking Narratology, but this may very well be the most painful English course I have ever taken. We are studying Seymour Chatman‘s Story and Discourse, and I swear I have to read each sentence at least 3 times to make any sense of it.

This week, I have to take one of the theories of character Chatman discusses in Story and Discourse and summarize it in layman’s terms. I spent at least 4 hours on this yesterday and so far have only written 4 paragraphs of gibberish that I am quite certain don’t make a bit of sense. Continue reading “I can’t seem to get my homework done” →

Education, Mount Mary College, Sigma Tau Delta, Uncategorized, Writing Programs

2012 Sigma Tau Delta induction

March 20, 2012 Mandy Webster

Yesterday, I officially joined the International English Honor Society at the 2012 Sigma Tau Delta induction ceremony which took place in the beautiful Caroline Hall student lounge at Mount Mary College.

According to the Sigma Tau Delta website, “Candidates for graduate membership must be enrolled in a graduate program in English, or one of its specializations, have completed six semester hours of graduate work or the equivalent, and have a minimum grade point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale.”

I lured my children to the induction ceremony with the promise of food, and they were actually very well behaved throughout the ceremony. Perhaps it was the promise of a slice of the huge cake sitting on a back table that kept them in line. My boyfriend came along as well to keep an eye on the kids and man the video camera (he kept the camera trained on me for pretty much the entire video!) Continue reading “2012 Sigma Tau Delta induction” →

AWP, Conventions & Conferences, Education, Novel Writing, Uncategorized, Writers on Writing, Writing Programs

AWP 2012 | Now That’s a Novel Idea: Marketability (Gasp!) and Creative Writing Programs (Part 4)

March 15, 2012March 12, 2012 Mandy Webster

Novel & Short Story Writer's Market — Image via Wikipedia

Welcome to Part 4 of my blog series on the 2012 AWP Conference session titled, Now That’s a Novel Idea: Marketability (Gasp!) and Creative Writing Programs. I’m assuming you’ve at least read my introductory post, so I’ll just jump right in today and talk about the panelists’ views on query letters and agent-hunting.

First of all, what is a query letter, and why do you need one? Well, these days most publishers do not want to see your entire novel manuscript if they don’t already have a working relationship with you. In most cases, they want nothing more than a query letter, and possibly a short synopsis. The publisher will then use that information to decide if they think it’s worth their time to request a copy of the full manuscript. So, it’s important to write a query letter that really sells your manuscript.

Our session panelists provided the following tips for writing an effective query letter: Continue reading “AWP 2012 | Now That’s a Novel Idea: Marketability (Gasp!) and Creative Writing Programs (Part 4)” →

AWP, Education, Short Story, Uncategorized, Writers on Writing

AWP 2012 | Now That’s a Novel Idea: Marketability (Gasp!) and Creative Writing Programs (Part 3)

March 14, 2012March 12, 2012 Mandy Webster

Welcome to Part 3 of my blog series on the 2012 AWP Conference session titled, Now That’s a Novel Idea: Marketability (Gasp!) and Creative Writing Programs. I’m assuming you’ve at least read my introductory post, so I’ll just jump right in today and talk about the panelists’ views on submitting and submitting and submitting and…

One of the main lessons stressed by all of the presenters on this panel is that you should submit and submit often. One of the presenters says there is no better time to submit your work than today because, “It’s best to begin the process of being rejected” sooner rather later.

Don’t avoid submitting your work because you don’t think it’s good enough to be published yet. Instead, submit everything and accept the fact that you will be rejected. Most of us would rather be rejected by a lover than by a publisher, but we have to remember that rejection is just a part of the writer’s life. Continue reading “AWP 2012 | Now That’s a Novel Idea: Marketability (Gasp!) and Creative Writing Programs (Part 3)” →

AWP, Conventions & Conferences, Education, Novel Writing, Writers on Writing, Writing Programs

AWP 2012 | Now That’s a Novel Idea: Marketability (Gasp!) and Creative Writing Programs (Part 2)

March 13, 2012March 12, 2012 Mandy Webster

Hilton Chicago (Photo credit: Diorama Sky)

Yesterday, I began my discussion on the 2012 AWP Conference session titled, “Now That’s a Novel Idea: Marketability (Gasp!) and Creative Writing Programs.” Today I’d like to share some of the panelists’ advice on approaching the early stages of writing a novel.

Before I start, I should tell you that I arrived at this session late after getting lost trying to find my way to registration upon arriving at the conference. So, I missed out on the introductions and am unable to attribute some of the quotes I wrote down during the session. (Thankfully, I’m no journalist; otherwise I would probably be in big trouble!) I’ll do my best to give credit where credit is due, but if I get something wrong, please tell me so I can fix it.

One of the speakers at this session recommends that you write a synopsis of your novel early in the process to make sure you have a clear picture of what your novel is about. The synopsis will also help you sell your story to potential buyers (agents, editors, publishers, etc.) Remember, they won’t be interested in your novel if you can’t sufficiently tell them what the novel is about. Continue reading “AWP 2012 | Now That’s a Novel Idea: Marketability (Gasp!) and Creative Writing Programs (Part 2)” →

AWP, Conventions & Conferences, Mount Mary College, Writing Programs

AWP 2012 Overview

March 7, 2012 Mandy Webster

This looks exactly like some of the rooms where I spent last weekend! | Chicago 8 (Photo credit: penmanila)

I had to miss class Saturday morning to make it to the 2012 AWP Conference and Book Fair in Chicago. My Narratology instructor encourages students in our professional writing program to attend such events, so he was okay with a few of us missing class just this once. However, he asked that we each write a review of the conference and discuss what our biggest takeaways were so we could share the experience with our classmates who couldn’t make it.

I thought my review, with a few revisions, would make a good blog post for today considering I’m always short on writing time on Wednesdays (I teach 2 classes on Wednesdays.) Enjoy… Continue reading “AWP 2012 Overview” →

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: