Empowerment Project--Breaking Rape Culture

I just love this drawing by Eve Yl.

Her heroine should have a series of graphic novels, don't you think?  Including a feature film spinoff and other product tie-ins. That's my vote!

Thank you so much, Eve, for letting me post your gorgeous and empowering sketch!

Empowerment Project--Concrete Giants

This artwork and accompanying poem are by *Willow.

 

Hovering tall above me

All around me

Concrete giants

Providing shadows for the scum

I can still feel the sun

As it rises above the rooftops

Healing my broken soul

And making it whole

Chasing away the monsters

And dangers

Providing safety with it's light

And destroying the night

And the hearts that don't beat

The ones that don't sleep

The damaged, the dying

Their tears are now drying  

I'm drying my own tears, now. Thanks so much Willow for sharing her inspiring and beautiful work!

(*alias used to protect the artist's privacy)

Plush Duck and Media Training

You win again, Teresa! :D

As much as I love these caption contests, I'm going to finish out this month and then give everyone the summer off.   I think we all have plenty of outlets for our creative energies and summer is when mine get  tapped out.  Soooo, three more weeks to go. I'm gonna enjoy it while I can!

This past weekend I went to an SCBWI Media Training workshop in Nashville, Tennessee. Mimi Bliss presented, and she offered loads of valuable tips. One of the most simple, but one that I'd never considered, was that it is actually okay to pick up the phone and call a reporter (start local) with an offer of a story or interview. Who knew? I guess I lumped reporters in with literary agents: don't call us, we'll call you.  It makes sense, though. Reporters want news and if you have a solid offering, pitch it politely, and make their job easy they may jump on it. 

Mimi also taped some practice interviews with some of us, and sent us home with a DVD of the experience. Being interviewed was nerve-wracking, even while surrounded by an audience of supportive writers.  I'd need a lot of practice before I could do it for real, but it made me feel confident that I could handle it if the opportunity ever arose.

While I was in Nashville, I was lucky enough to share a hotel room with a two amazing writers (one an author/illustrator) and we stayed up swapping stories, advice and family pictures far into the night.  It was the cherry on top of a fun, enlightening and worthwhile experience.

Minutes after I got home on Sunday, my husband passed the kid-baton and headed up to Chicago for a conference.  This week our kids are on spring break so it has been a whirlwind, to say the least.  A fun whirlwind. We've played with lots of friends, some new and others we haven't seen in ages, and, just today, my five-year-old learned to ride a bike! Daddy came home and got to see.  We're very proud. :)

I appreciate those of you who stopped by and held down the fringe while I was away.

Your comments make this bloggy thing worthwhile. <3

Monthly Winner! And a Fluffy fluff

I'm so excited to announce that Irina G. is the winner of the monthly drawing!  Irina, you can choose between a signed copy of Martimus at Midnight, or a prettified coffee mug, tote, or t-shirt boasting a winning caption.  Let me know what you would like and I'll send it right out!

I'd like to thank you all once more for your sweet and hilarious contributions to the caption contests!  Another drawing will happen next month. In the meantime check out the fantastic captions that have resulted so far. :D

Here's the first round pic for April. My sister's new puppy!  Care to caption?

Gecky on "The Rock"

The entries for this round were all so fabulous and every one of them made me laugh out loud!   I chose the winner because I loved how it incorporated the name of the vino for added fun. Congrats, Tara, it's just fantastic. :D

Tomorrow the monthly prize-winner will be announced! If you've ever played, your name is in the hat. Be sure to check back and find out if it's YOU.

Empowerment Project--This Smile's a Mask

The following poem is by Arielle.  I think this is one that everyone can relate to on some level. So beautifully stated.





This Smile's a Mask

This smile’s a mask
To cover the
Splinters of my heart

Shards of fear and pain
Define me now
Run so deep
My bones are filled with it

Distorted reflections of myself
Are reality now
Never ending judgement
Turns me against myself

I fake so much
Pretend the ugliness
Doesn't exist
Doesn't burrow deeper everyday

A parasite lives in me
Everyone would turn away if they could see
So I built walls
Closed off my heart

Masks I wear
A safety net
Against the cruel world
Against the tsunami inside me

So alone, adrift in silence
Words bursting to rush out
Stifled, locked away
I want to scream them all

Suddenly, a hand slides into mine
Breaks through all my barriers
Guides me to warmth
Sees all the darkest parts of me
Shows me the light
Bright and strong

It hurts
It heals

A flood of tears
Pieces of me slowly
Finding their way
Back together

This parasite so strong
Was weak after all
Truth destroying distorted perceptions
Of reality, of myself

My reflection’s clear
Bright and hopeful
For the first time
My smile’s not a mask



I feel a lump in my throat again, re-reading that. In our exchanges about the poem, Arielle said the following and I asked to share it with you:

"This poem kind of spilled out of me a couple days ago while I was laying in bed (I always get inspired right before I want to go to sleep, of course) and I had to type it out on my iPod. I usually write darker stuff but this time I wanted to show the light at the end of tunnel, that healing can happen, that healing hurts sometimes but it's worth it. After awhile it's like the mask takes over who you are, and you forget that there's something wonderful underneath, just waiting to shine again. It's hard to describe everything I wanted to express through my poem but I guess it's really kind of the journey I went through, and that I'm still going through"

We're all at various stages of that journey, aren't we? And the writers (and other creative types) here can all relate to the random grip of inspiration when your drifting off to sleep, I'm sure. 

Arielle also let me know that she's been inspired to try to put together "a book for survivors by survivors", similar to the Empowerment Project, as a way to help others.  I'd love to see that happen! For now she is focusing on school and just mulling it over, which makes me very proud. :)

Thank you so much for sharing your evocative and wonderful poem with me and with the world, Arielle!

Caption Contest--Meet Ze Gecko

A new entry for your captioning pleasure, and my caption reading pleasure. :)

If you're new here, please click the "rules" like above for how the caption contest works. This round ends March 28th, midnight EST.  Thanks for playing! <3

Popcorn Faerie

Thanks so much for the entries to the caption contest! I love the way you think.

The winner was chosen because I found it quite likely to have happened. ;)  I apologize that I couldn't manage to include the entire entry.  I hope you don't mind my shortening it to fit, Teresa! I actually love the way it turned out.

New picture, coming tomorrow!

Photo Friday--Air Popped and Everything

This pic is of me making popcorn in the olden days.

I wonder what I was thinking about? (And what's in my hand?) Care to guess?  Caption me up!

And if you're new here, please check out the "rules" link above for how my caption contests work. Thanks for playing!

You Shall Not Pass. . .

Thanks so much to everyone who participated! It was so fun to see new faces and catch a glimpse of your imaginations! All of the captions were fantastic, and it was tough to choose, but in the end this one struck me as the truth of the matter:

Congrats, Gale! I love it. <3

A fun new photo will be posted tomorrow, so be sure to check back and caption it up.  There are only two more weeks until the big drawing!