Author Interview

Author interview with J.L. Mathews, prolific writer and president of the St. Louis Writers Guild

Jessica Mathews published her debut picture book, The Old Man and the Pirate Princess, in 2017. Since then, she has published more than twenty seven books, including picture books, early reader chapter books, and several adult works under her pen name J.L. Mathews.

Mathews began writing stories for children at a young age. Her father would write down all of the stories she told him, and they would read them together at bedtime. She hopes her books will inspire others as much as her favorite books inspired her when she was growing up. She wants her work to motivate others to create something of their own to share with the world.

Jessica is the current president of the St. Louis Writers Guild. She recommends every writer join a literary organization to network with other writers and find their people, reading as much as you can and doing what you love. Jessica lives in St. Louis with her two cats, Storm and Knight. She also recommends adopting as many cats as you can.

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Author Interview

Author interview with poet Angela Chaidez Vincent

It takes a rich and diverse mind to excel at both math and writing poetry, and author Angela Chaidez Vincent has just that sort of mind. I was lucky enough to share a table with her at the Louisville Book Festival this year where I learned that she is also a really fun person to hang out with!

Arena Glow author Chaidez Vincent’s background is in mechanical engineering, mathematics, and instrumental music performance. Her work is infused with numerical winks and a collagist impulse that seeks to join vigorous dreaming with the subterranean and overlooked. She has an MFA in Poetry and keeps her tech side smiling by teaching precalculus and computer science. Angela resides in Fresno, California with her wife, Lisa.

Q: How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

A: There was such relief (and a fair amount of amazement) in knowing that I can actually see a major literary undertaking through to completion! I feel much more confident in my ability to do it again. 

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Book Reviews, Poetry

Guest post: This poetry reading and author discussion panel at LBF made my friend cry

Today I bring you a guest post from my good friend and author, Erika Berglund. Erika is the author of two novels, Winking at Pomona and Mountain Grove Monarch, both of which I highly recommend! Erika joins us today to discuss her experience attending a poetry reading and author discussion at the Louisville Book Festival a few weeks ago. Welcome, Erika!

Guest post

I hate poetry.

Or at least I thought I did. Turns out I was just scared of it—scared of the intimacy, scared of the power, and scared of the empathy it invokes that can lead to so much pain.

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Author Interview

Author interview with poet Shadrin Lee Schneider

Shadrin Lee Schneider grew up in Pekin, Illinois. As a graduate of Graham Hospital School of Nursing in 2009, Shad now works as a nurse and a deputy coroner. To relax, Schneider enjoys writing, traveling with his wife Susan (the editor of his books), listening to podcasts and music, walking, and brewing beer.

The cover of a book of poems and shorts titled, "Perpetually Eating Multicolored Sprinkles" by Shadrin Lee Schneider.
Shadrin Lee Schneider is the author of two books of poems and shorts, “Perpetually Eating Multicolored Sprinkles” and “Nobody Likes Pants,” as well as two children’s books, “Crunchers” and “Don’t be a Wiggle-Wop.” His books are available on Amazon.

Q: When did you first catch the writing bug? What drove you to persist?

A: As a registered ER nurse, I started watching less TV and started writing poetry as a way to relax during Covid. I found it very therapeutic, so I kept writing throughout the pandemic, sometimes during a quiet evening, sometimes while out walking. I would even challenge myself to write a single poem during the time it took while waiting in line when shopping. Creative writing definitely helped me survive that challenging time as a healthcare worker and has stuck with me since.  

Q: What/who were your early literary influences, and how do you think their writing has shaped you as a storyteller today?

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Essays, Writing Prompts

Call for submissions: As Good as a Feast

I am currently seeking submissions for an essay/poetry anthology that I am compiling titled, “As Good as a Feast.” I will be paying for up to ten of the essays that will appear in this collection. Any additional accepted submissions will still be eligible for publication in the anthology. However, there will be no monetary compensation for these.

typewriter

I am currently accepting submissions via eLance through July 25, 2015. If you miss this deadline, you may still submit via the Elderfly Press website through August 30, 2015. However, monetary compensation is available only for those essays submitted via eLance.

Submission Requirements

Fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie book series will no doubt be familiar with the expression, “Enough is as good as a feast.” Ma Ingalls often uttered this phrase as a reminder to her children that as long as they had “enough,” they had all they needed. Continue reading “Call for submissions: As Good as a Feast” →

Blogging

Wordle your blog

Here’s a cool blog post topic you can feel free to steal from me. I was playing around with Wordle this morning and thought it might be fun to see what words it would pull from my blog. Here’s what I ended up with:

wordle made from my blog url on 12-18-2014

 

Some of the words that showed up in my wordle were expected (write, writer, writing, trashy,) but there are a few of them that I don’t remember ever using on my blog. There are also a couple of words I thought would take some prominence that didn’t show up at all (somehow, I got “cows” but no “CAT?”) Continue reading “Wordle your blog” →

Poetry

National Poetry Month Collaborative Twitter Poem

Poetry
Poetry (Photo credit: V. H. Hammer)

Well, here we are. It’s April 1st, and once again time to celebrate National Poetry Month. I haven’t really been writing much poetry lately, so I thought it might be fun to do a collaborative Twitter poem challenge.

For this challenge, I am going to give you a one-word prompt/Twitter handle. Next, you come up with a poem – either one short poem that will fit into one 140-character Tweet, or a longer poem that you can split up, posting one verse per Tweet – and share it on Twitter using the provided hashtag. I am starting the challenge here today, and then I would love it if some of you would volunteer to host one or a few additional prompts on your blogs throughout the month of April. Continue reading “National Poetry Month Collaborative Twitter Poem” →

Poetry

Another “damn rape poem”

I came across this on tumblr this morning and had to share.

“The Rape Poem to End all Rape Poems” by the Rutgers University slam team:

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Holidays, Poetry by Mandy Webster

Spring is coming

Spring is coming,
we’re halfway there.
Days grow longer,
Tho’ the weather’s unfair

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Poetry

How much space does your body occupy?

I saw this video of Lily Myers reading her poem, “Shrinking Women” on UpWorthy and had to share. I have watched it like eight times and cried every time. She totally exposes the truth about what it is to be a woman in our society.

 

It seems to me that, while some women shrink to make room for the men in their lives, others unknowing expand in order to be seen, to prove their existence. Continue reading “How much space does your body occupy?” →