10/10 Book-Lovers and Creative Folks Agree...
Books and prompts make the BEST holiday presents.
Get a jump-start on your shopping with one of my three AWESOME books and some prompt cards to boot. Hey, stockings also have to be filled, right? ;) I’ll be happy to sign the books with any inscription you’d like. :)
Peruse these classics, make your list, and no need to stand in line or check twice! :) Just break out your gift wrap and surprise them with these inspiring treats:
For the writer of fiction or nonfiction in your life: In a Flash: Writing & Publishing Dynamic Flash Prose. (New to my shop this season!)
For the poet in your life or your favorite poetry workshop or classroom (sponsor a classroom with this lovely book— guaranteed to make students from middle school through grad-school smile and make a teacher’s day): Poetry Power: An Interactive Guide for Writing, Editing, Teaching, and Reflecting on the Life Poetic. (New to my shop this season!)
For the history-buff, teacher, poet, deep-thinker, and/or librarian in your life, there’s this wonderful historical poetry collection: This Passing Fever: 1918 Influenza Poems. (New to my shop this season!)
For the journalers and writers in your life. Makes a perfect gift for Secret Santas or to tuck into a care package for your favorite college student. Renewed: 30 Affirmation Cards.
Does your friend, love, or family member prefer the ever-so-thoughtful and personalized? I’ve got you covered. Commission your own poem. Le voila! Meaningful Poem Art—Typed.
My Prompt Cards make the perfect addition for inspiration for any traveler, writer, teacher, student, or creative in your life. Also, a great stocking stuffer.
Image courtesy of freestocks.org at unsplash.com
Catching the Send-Off Train
Looking up a link to my themed chapbook, Catching the Send-Off Train, that was published in 2013 to share with my poetry class this afternoon, I stumbled across a beautiful review on Goodreads by a reader I don't even know. [Open hanky, commence weeping.]
"Wow! This powerful chapbook of poems, following a woman whose husband is called to duty in World War II and her son dealing with his absence, speaks of and for those left behind. Pathos without maudlin sentimentality is present in every line, making this little collection speak as if set in any war, for any family."
What a moving, unexpected experience for an author on a paperwork-clogged, rainy Monday. Our writing makes a difference in this world; never forget it! :)
By the way, this collection, called Catching the Send-off Train, is still available for free for anyone interested in reading the poems and/or using them in your classroom(s) or workshops. Kindle editions also available. With Veterans Day around the corner, this book might be just the thing. #authormoment #pinchme #writerdreammoment #thiswritinglife #writeon
Another, earlier review of the poems in this collection : “Terrific book…. Firm language, and tremendous suggestive facility with visuals. This book often tells more by what it is not directly said.”
Photo by Alfred Eisenstadt, April 1943
(first printed in LIFE, February 14, 1944)
November News: Poetry and Photos Published :)
New month, new publication news! As the leaves do their twirl-dance from treetops, I have some new work dropping as well.
The Australian journal, Meniscus, is featuring a poem in their current (volume 6.2) issue.
Also, six of my photos were published in the current issue (issue 5) of And So Yeah literary magazine.
It's Publication Day! :)
It's my book birthday! Welcome to the world, Poetry Power!
Photo courtesy of Kyle Head at unsplash.com
My subtitle says it all: “An Interactive Guide for Writing, Editing, Teaching, and Reflecting on the Life Poetic.”
Write poetry? You know you need some new prompts. Teach? Your students will thank you for this advice and for the publishing tips. Have some poet friends in your workshop or writing group? I hear that their birthdays and the holidays are just around the bend.
Signed copies available (pm me).
Ebook and tactile copies available at Amazon and Vine Leaves Press.
That Holding-First-Copies Feeling
Look what arrived, straight from my awesome publisher at Vine Leaves! I had to commemorate the moment with my new photo backdrop. ;)
I couldn’t be happier with the text and cover of my new craft book for poets, Poetry Power! One month and counting until publication day! #oct26thlaunch
More details at: Vine Leaves Press, Poetry Power . (The Amazon link for ordering in the States and abroad is at the site as well.)
What reviewers are saying: "Reading Poetry Power by Melanie Faith--chock-full of humour, personal asides, and sensible, doable suggestions to improve one's writing--I felt a continual urge to write and revise my poems. A perfect guide for the poet who wants a refresher course in the basics of this 'little genre' (and a few photography hints) from a new point of view and who needs a nudge to live more deliberately, Faith's book reminds me of an intimate conversation between two engaged introverts for whom layers of complicated interior depth--juxtaposed in the 'nooks and crannies' of dreams and fragments of memory--hold the key to discovery and development of a unique, artistic voice that rings with universality." Helen Losse, author of Every Tender Reed
"This is the definitive book on, for, and about poetry. Melanie more than delivers on the promise she made in the Introduction: This book is meant to reach you where you are and to withstand multiple readings as you explore your individual writer's path. Indeed! I find that no matter what funk I'm in, I open Poetry Power and I discover my next step on my poetry journey. I know my fellow poets will too!" Mari L. McCarthy, International Best-Selling Author of Journaling Power: How To Create The Happy, Healthy Life You Want To Live!
What reviewers are saying: "Melanie takes her readers by the hand and walks them through the whole process of writing, publishing, editing and loving poetry. Little personal vignettes scattered throughout Poetry Power made me feel like Melanie was a friend. It was as if we were in a writing group together and she was sharing her writing secrets. Each chapter ends with a Try this Prompt that are easy and exciting to try. They range from something that might take a few minutes, to others that were more involved. In my second, third, and so on readings of Poetry Power I will jump into the prompts with feet, hands and heart. I am already making a list of the people I will be purchasing a copy of Poetry Power for--and they include writers from all genres, not just poets. This is a book that all writers will benefit from reading." —Tricia L. McDonald, Writer and CEO Splattered Ink Press
Poetry Power: Update!
Hurry, fall! Next month, my poetry craft book will be released.
Super excited to share this volume packed with prompts and real-world writing, editing, and publishing advice with poets, teachers, writing groups, classes, and more.
My book birthday: October 26, 2018. You know you want one for you and the writing friends in your life.
Announcing a Fun New Project: Got Poem? ;)
This project's got wabi-sabi (the art of perfect imperfection) written all over it and plenty of heart.
What do you get when you combine a Royal manual typewriter, an MFA word-nerd in poetry, and a zest for all things celebratory?
Poem Art, of course!
Poems from My New "Self-Portrait of the Author as..." Series Published
Wonderful news. I have two poems from my new series appearing in two literary journals this summer.
"Self-Portrait of the Author as a Silent Movie" appears on page 28 of The Meadow's annual issue, and "Self-Portrait of the Author as a Paperclip" was published on page 69 of Fredericksburg Literary and Art Review (FLAR).
FLAR
The Meadow
