It's April!

I have to say spring isn't my favorite season of the year. For one, it's still cold, there's pollen (Ah choo!) and it's tax season. My hubby is a CPA and what that means is that I don't see him weeknights and weekends for about 6 weeks. Weeknights aren't so bad, but I have to make sure there's enough activity for my son Daniel on weekends. On Sat we head to the Y and Sun is church. Mornings are fine, but around 5pm, things get slippery. Last weekend was OK; Easter weekend was hard -- I got a speeding ticket after the N&O ran a quote on me saying that I don't like folks who go too fast -- how ironic! Here it is the article that ran last Thurs. 3/27: www.newsobserver.com/news/growth/traffic/gas/story/1014639.html

Last week I also found out that I need to find a new teaching post for next year. So I'm applying for different freelance jobs and even turning down jobs that would be too much work. I'm trying to find that delicate balance between work and home so both don't suffer and my error margin is slim! Most of all, I need a job that allows me to write and still teach workshops, because life's not worth it otherwise!

My 5-year-old son, Daniel, took this picture of me working on my husband's computer. He's good, isn't he? I'm wearing my "writing costume". Blue REI fleece jacket, long sleeve shirt and you can't see them, but they're black fleece Patagonia apres ski pants. My NCSU water bottle koozie is also in the background -- can't leave home without it!

more soon,

Alice

It's a New Year!

Yes, I know it's been a while since I blogged -- I've been busy! Trying to finish my first semester of teaching, preparing the house of the new baby, Christmas stuff, etc! Well, Baby Erin arrived on time Christmas Eve and I finally had a chance to relax in the hospital while my whole family stayed in my house. My son Daniel couldn't have been more thrilled to be a big brother and he's still thrilled 2 months later. His schoolwork and focus in kindergarten have even improved!

I returned to work at Raleigh Charter a month ago, when Erin was 6 weeks old. It wasn't too hard, actually since I drop her off around 9 and pick her up at 4pm everyday. During my leave I managed to get in some writing and I sent work off -- I just received word that the Kakalak 2008 Poetry Anthology accected my poem, "Domestic Duties" which was a poem I wrote while I was in Iowa last summer. Yay!!

I'm also facilitating a poetry teleconference this Thurs 3/6 from 8-9pm for http://www.reenchantplanetearth.com/. Should be a good time -- my students who want extra credit may join in, too.

I'm one of the poetry judges for the Wake County Libraries Teen Poetry Contest and I'm giving a free poetry workshop at the West Regional Library in Cary Tues. April 22nd -- more details to follow!!

This week I'm staying wonderfully busy and I'm so glad I had the morning off to write this and send out work!

Alice

My Mustang is Sold

Since we're going from a three-person to

a four-person household in a matter of weeks, my husband convinced me that my Mustang had to go. [We're expecting a baby girl Christmas Eve] I didn't like the idea at first, but there was no way I could safely put two kids in the back of that car. Besides, the car is twelve years old and had 149,200 miles on it when I sold it on Sunday, November 4th (Thank you, Craigs List). Lots of memories from this car, but I don't miss it, but I do think fondly on those good old days from the last years of the twentieth century, just me and my Mustang...

Fall Workshops

This fall I taught poetry, creative nonfiction and journaling all across the Triangle: Wake Forest, Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Durham! The picture on the top is from my journaling class at A Place for Women to Gather in North Raleigh Sat. Sept. 8th, the second picture is from free poetry workshop held Sept. 9th at Market Street Books in Southern Village in Chapel Hill. The last picture is from my "Telling Your Story" workshop series at the Morning Glory Center for Creative Healing in Wake Forest, which took place every Sunday afternoon in August. Notice Houston the cat on the far right -- he's the best therapy cat ever!

Your Creativity Questions Answered

Matt Mullins, talented poet and prolific blogger, is currently running a series of "Ask a Poet 5 Questions" on his blog, Unstable Euphony. Here are the answers I supplied Matt to his 5 questions. Also check out the responses from Tom Lisk, Mark Smith-Soto, Sarah Bartlett, Chris Salerno and more!

1. Can creativity be taught?

Yes – an emerging writer can learn many how to’s from reading literature, poetry, and well-written articles in established magazines and journals. The student can also learn under a good writing teacher who gives the student writing prompts, deadlines and appropriate feedback. Once the new writer has acquired this creative tool kit, then she will have an easier time generating new work instead of feeling like all of her good ideas flow through her like a sieve.

2. Do you write the majority of your poems in one sitting?

Yes, I draft my poems all of the way through in one shot, but my revision process has been known to take me days, weeks, and years. Additionally, I use my poetry critique group to help me revise my poems.

3. Do you read more than you write?

Right now, it’s about 60/40, with 60 being the reading which includes books, writing magazines, writing books, newspapers and other magazines. In the weeks when I can’t find time to squeeze in my own writing, I find that I can draft poems and fiction as my students do their timed writing exercises in my workshops.

4. Is it possible to live off of being a poet anymore?

After my book, Right Lane Ends was released last year and after getting several poems published, I was given more opportunities to conduct writing workshops within the Triangle community and I was also invited to judge several poetry contests, most notably The Independent Weekly’s contest. I was also invited to help Cary Academy with their poetry slam event. During all of this poetry productivity, I received a grant from the United Arts Council and I gained several new writing/editing clients. I also believed I’m now teaching English at Raleigh Charter High School because of my poetry and writing workshops. My writing business is now making money and I’ve only been in business a year. So to answer your question – yes, you can make money as a poet if you market yourself vertically, which is what I’ve done -- and be willing to teach.

5. Is today’s poetry lackluster compared with “classic” poetry?

No. I’d say today’s poetry is more accessible to the general public. There’s also so much choice out there. For instance you can choose to read language poetry, narrative poetry, experimental poetry, etc. For me, I prefer the narrative poets such as Ai, Yosef Komunyakaa, and Frank O’Hara Robert Lowell. I also enjoy the so-called confessional poets such as Dorianne Laux, Robert Lowell, and Sharon Olds. I also enjoy and try to emulate the rich density and details in the poems of Federico Garcia Lorca and Lisa Jarnot.

Linda Greenlaw of Perfect Storm fame is a novelist, too!

Linda Greenlaw, former swordboat fisherwoman and the last person in contact with the doomed Andrea Gail, is on tour for her first novel, Slipnot. In this murder mystery set in fictional Green Haven, Maine, the protagonist, Jane Bunker, is a marine insurance investigator and former Miami detective who tries to solve the murder mystery. Here I am with Linda, Friday, August 3rd at Quail Ridge Books.

I met Linda three years ago also at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh when All Fisherman Are Liars was published. She has also written the NY Times bestseller, The Hungry Ocean, The Lobster Chronicles and a cookbook with her mom, Martha Greenlaw, entitled, Recipes from a Very Small Island.

Of course I'm fascinated by Linda's story because of her maritime knowledge (I'm currently working on a novel about a female solo racing sailor) and because she's a creative nonfiction author and I mainly teach creative nonfiction!

I wish Linda the best of luck with her tour and we'll get to know Linda Greenlaw the novelist better since she's been contracted for two more books!

Alice

How to Publish Panel at the Regulator

(Left to right: Alice, Henry Hutton and Alex Sokoloff)

(Left to right: Alex Sokoloff, Stacey Cochran and Alice)

7/7/07 How to Publish Panel at the Regulator Bookshop

Last night, Stacey Cochran (Colorado Sequence) moderated a panel discussion titled "How to Get Published: Traditional Publishing and Self-Publishing" with Alex Sokoloff (The Harrowing), Alice Osborn (Right Lane Ends), and Henry Hutton from Lulu.com at the Regulator Book Shop on Ninth Street. We had a full crowd of fiction, nonfiction and poetry writers. Alex, who is from L.A., and was a screenwriter for 10 years, was asked many questions about how to acquire an agent and the benefits of traditional publishing, I was asked questions about why I did self-publishing and its advantages/disadvantages and Henry was asked many good questions about the Lulu.com's self publishing business model. It was great how Stacey made the crowd remember Alex's and my books, "OK, everyone," Stacey asked the crowd, "What' s the name of Alex's book again?" and he got a laugh when he announced that anyone who bought two of his books would get a character named after him/her in his next book.

The reason I self published Right Lane Ends was because as a poet, I know who my audience is and how I can get my words and my book before them through my various poetry and creative nonfiction workshops, as well as through my readings. I also am a good marketer and know what I need to do to get noticed by my audience -- (it's my Right Lane Ends T-shirts! -- thank you man at Kinkos who purchased my book on Friday when he saw me wearing my T-shirt -- I didn't even get your name) If you want to go the self publishing route, you need to know your target audience, how to reach them and be comfortable carving out a space for yourself as a lit star!

Till next time,

Alice

Poetry with Juliet

Here are the women (Rob, Patricia and Susan not pictured) of Juliet Patterson's class "Density, Details and Lists: Exercises in Poetry."

Back Row: (left to right)
Tonja, Alice, Sally, Selene

Front Row: (left to right)
Pat, Niki, Juliet, Jane, Angela and Amy


I felt honored to be in a room with so many talented poets ready and willing to share their words with stangers (well, not strangers by the end of the week).

I wrote about 12 new poems and now just have to revise them and rework them -- it feels great!

Thank you classmates, Juliet Patterson, the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and my generous grant from United Arts of Wake County Regional Project Grant for making this week possible for me!

Alice

Prairie Lights Bookstore -- an Iowa City Destination!

During my week in Iowa I attended two readings at Prairie Lights, Iowa City's premier bookstore. All of the reading sair on Saturdays from 8-10 pm and on Sundays 7-8 pm on WOI 640AM or on Sundays from 5-6pm on KSUI 91.7 FM.

We were the live studio audience!

On Monday, Susan and I listened to Judith Strasser and Anne-Marie Cusac (Silkie), two journalists who have recently published poetry books. We missed Anne-Marie's readings, but Judith's reading of The Reason/Unreason Project was extremely personal, ironic and witty. Here's a taste from "Cancer Dream":

They're running IV's on women in turbans.

Jaundiced patients are having blood drawn.

In a barbaric contraption topped by a vial

of Nembutal, someone's hanging upside down.

I survived cancer.

I take long bike rides.

I am anemic.

I am the dreamer.

I am terrified.
****

On Thursday night, a crowd of us dodged the rain storm to listen to Jim Autry (in above picture) give his reading on Looking Around for God: The Oddly Reverent Observations of an Unconventional Christian. The book is a collection of essays with titles such as, "Sex and Sunday School" and "God at the Track Meet." He also has several poems included as well. Jim was a fighter pilot, a Fortune 500 executive and is motivational speaker and consultant, among other talents.

Jim and his wife Sally Pederson (former Lt. Gov of Iowa) have a 22-year-old son, Ronald, who has autism, and I found the essays around the couple's experiences with their son very moving. I spoke a long time to both Jim and Sally about autism research and told them a little bit about my experiences with Daniel, who at 2-years-old was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We got Daniel in school-sponsored intervention programs and I told them how far he's progressed so he'll be ready for kindergarten.

Sally and Jim live in Des Moines.

Iowa Week: June 17-22

Iowa City, Iowa.

This week I studied poetry with Juliet Patterson (The Truant Lover). The name of the class was "Density, Details and Lists: Exercises in Poetry." And boy, did we do some exercises! We had readings and poetry writing homework every night and I tried to write more poems that the required amount, since I know my schedule when I get back to Raleigh. I had dinner with friends in Jane Mead's "Advanced Poetry" class most nights, went to two fabulous Prairie Lights readings (Iowa's premier independent bookstore famous around the nation where all of the readings are podcasted before us, the studio audience), and then worked on my writing till about 12:30 or 1am every night.

Juliet instructed us on the NY School of Poetry, Federico García Lorca, the ecstatic school and much more. We would study a poem, say, William Stafford's "Things I Learned Last Week" and then use that title to jumpstart our poems. I worked on trying to use my imagination more and take leaps.

Everyone in the class has so much talent and it was a pleasure to hear and share their work.

The classes at the Iowa Festival are from 2-5 pm, leaving a lot of room to work, eat, sleep, visit museums, chat, drink coffee, shop and run. I loved the flexibility. I ran in the mornings, visited the art and history museums, listened to the 11 am "Elevenses" Lectures on writing, craft and literary mag submissions. On Friday, for the Elevenses the faculty shared their work. We had an opening reception on Monday night with wine and cheese in the Old Capital Museum, an Open Mic on Wednesday night and several "unsanctioned" Open Mics behind the Iowa House/Student Union where I and the majority of Festival participants stayed. As we read our poetry, we had a perfect view of the Iowa River at sunset. I made some good friends after these Open Mics and I even sold quite a few of my books!

I don't know if I can get back here next year, but I highly recommend this experience to you out there -- you'll write, network, learn and will be inspired!

Thanks again to United Arts of Wake County, Regional Artist Project Grant Award Program, which made this week possible for me!

Alice