Category: Guest (Page 42 of 44)

SCBWI Poconos Conference 2011

April 25, 2011 / Katie L. Carroll

Every year at the Eastern PA SCBWI Poconos conference I learn something new. I always enjoy this conference, but there wasn’t a single speaker or session I attended that disappointed. Here’s some insightful nuggets that resonated with me not only as a writer but as a person (these are not written with quotation marks because I often paraphrase when I’m taking notes, but I think the ideas the speakers intended are all intact):

Even when you think something isn’t relative right now, write it down. You will change. Something extraneous now may be exactly what you need later.
There are no secure boxes. Do whatever you want to do, and do it wildly, purely, uncensored, even regrettable. Do it as hard as you can. ~Donna Jo Napoli

There are so many things out of our control, and we, especially children, are trying to figure things out and how to control our lives.
Write what you want to know. You’ll experience what you never imagined. If you take the chance, something will change, not just your manuscript…you! ~Suzanne Morgan Williams

Don’t worry about how long it takes, worry about making it right.
Nothing can make you feel worse than to compare yourself to someone else. It’s important not to beat ourselves up. We all have our own journey, we should celebrate our own journey.
Never give up because you might be on the one yard line, and you just don’t know it. ~Donna Gephart

Part of the fun for me is when I get to go out with my giant turkey head and do book signings.
They told me you probably shouldn’t show so much penguin butt. ~Lee Harper

This year I also learned that no matter how childish an idea seems (like going on the swings on a lovely spring day), never be too ashamed to share it with others (especially if you are at a conference full of people who create books for children). They might just want to join in on the fun, and you might make a friend in the process.

I think the most important thing I took away from this conference was to live and write with more freedom. As an adult, I think I’ve gotten away from expressing my true self. There isn’t one reason for this that I can pinpoint, but I blame some combination of worrying about what others think of me, trying to follow all the “rules” of society, and in general just being too self-aware.

It’s time for me to let go a little. To do and not think. To write drafts with more abandon. To be more relaxed when I send query letters. To not be afraid to let my true personality show through. What have you been working on lately?

A Lonely Anniversary

April 16, 2011 / Katie L. Carroll

Another year has passed since I last marked the anniversary of my sister’s death. Recently I was feeling very lonely and I couldn’t quite figure out why. I have a lot of people in my life who love and care about me, but there was an emptiness inside of me that wouldn’t go away.

Then I realized I missed my little sister. I wanted to talk with her, but she wasn’t there to answer back. And, no matter how many friends or loves I have in my life, no one on this earth will ever be the sister or the friend she was to me.

Kylene was only here for 16 years, but she filled those years with so much life. She wrote the poem below, and though the sentiment is beautifully written, I don’t think it is a true reflection of who she was. She may never have graduated high school, gotten married, or had any children, but there wasn’t a wasted moment of her life here on earth.

Wasting my time
Killing my time
living this life like I should
Not like I could

I learned from a book
I learned from a teacher
but what about life
What about the Experience

I’m sitting inside
going through the motions
While life turns outside
passing me by

Tomorrow’s but today
Just like any other day
I throw my life away
It slips down the drain

~Kylene Laraine Carroll

Magnetic Poetry: translucent desire

February 22, 2011 / Katie L. Carroll

The infamous magnetic poetry kit has been quiet of late (maybe because the winter has caused me to be something of a recluse and I haven’t invited anyone over lately). I’m hoping a new crop of words (a gift from my cousin) will spark the creativity of any future guests.

In the meantime, here’s a few lines of magnetic poetry that have been hanging out on my refrigerator:

beneath a translucent desire is fear genius & beauty (umm…I think I need more time to think about this one…it’s very deep)
black monkey chicken naked in the night (you always have to look out for the black monkey chicken…especially when it’s naked)

whisper bosom talk s sweet idea s of mind & shadow (and you should talk back to the whisper bosom with your trumpet bottom)

take me (like all good poetry this is short and to the point, but at the same time it has multiple layers…and it’s also what she said!)

spring is like the sweet flower that time leave s behind (a little too cliched for me, but I can appreciate the sentiment)

Thanks to all who contributed. And if you’re ever at my house, please take a few minutes to create your own piece of poetry.

Party Magnetic Poetry

September 14, 2010 / Katie L. Carroll

We had a little cookout and backyard fire over Labor Day weekend. My refrigerator is now kind of famous at these little shindigs because of the magnetic poetry kit.

(So this picture isn’t really from my backyard (you think!). That’s way more fires and way more people than would fit on my .2 acres. It’s from a recent trip to the WaterFire Providence.)

The party-goers were in rare form, and there was one line of poetry I’m not going to include in full…just to give you an idea of its flavor, the poet put the tiles “an” and “al” together and it also contained the tiles “long,” “green,” “pickle,” and “spurt” (somehow it always turn dirty…that’s what she said!).

i am an old bald devil dog who has a free soul and love s to eat (nice to see the old bald devil dog is enjoying life)

speak wrong mind but think from heart (ahhh…very wise, grasshopper)

pour some wine and soon you must table dance as hot as a random spider genius (the “a” tile is actually “at” with the t covered…I have such clever–and demented/drunk–guests)

if i vacuum a precious monkey chicken it will release a black bosom tremendous ly naked (well, you better not vacuum the precious monkey chicken then)

sweet night whisper e d her light poet r y to my howl ing brain (I hope the night’s poetry was better than the magnetic poetry…really, I kid because I do love it when people make poetry on my refrigerator)

Thanks to all who created a little fun on the fridge!

Magnetic Poetry: Birthday Party Edition

July 10, 2010 / Katie L. Carroll

The party-goers have been at it once again! They were at my house celebrating a certain occasion (I’ll never tell what, but there are some not-so-subtle clues in this post and the actual date of the cause of celebration is July 12th) when they decided to have some fun with the magnetic poetry kit.

Here’s what the fearless poets came up with this time:

manipulate explore and burn (possible instructions for covering up crime?…maybe my brain went there because The Godfather is on)
puppet confess rhythm howl work too girl pour a s (my little nephew, who turned four earlier this month, came up with this one…it has a certain rhythm to it all right)
silent voice time (we could all use a little of this)
prostitute s love to create pleasure for naked obedient expose d chicken monkey s (it wouldn’t be magnetic poetry without the good ol’ prostitute and her crazy exploits with the exposed chicken monkey)
investigate who vacuum es up beauty (grammar issues aside–it seems all the S’s were already being used–i suspect this somehow involves the crimes committed by the first poet)
suck sex (c’mon, you know what comes next…say it with me, “That’s what she said!”)
why dance funny like the strange spider with the precious old pickle (why, indeed)
imagine every dream be ing sweet (my personal favorite, probably because my dreams tend to be anything but sweet)