Welcome to THE WRITER'S WHIMSY - My online journal!
This delivery just arrived:
It makes me so happy to see and hold these copies of GONE FISHING. And Matthew Cordell's artwork makes me happy, too. Next Tuesday, March 5, 2013, is the release day. Receiving these books is a very good way to end the month! Thank you Houghton Mifflin.
That's all I have for today.
02.28.2013
Today I’m feeling lucky. Not in the rat packy: run to Vegas and blow my savings kind of way, more like: the winds of good fortune are blowing in my direction. I have faith in a kind and forgiving God, hope, joy, peace, a supportive, loving family and circle of friends, safety, good health (knock on wood) and met needs, beauty around me every day, I am passionate about my work and I enjoy the companionship of a rich and diverse writing community. And my first book is about to release into the world and another is on its way next year. Lucky indeed. It hasn’t always been this way, and I know it won’t always be this way. Life, like our stories, gets messy, it can be unpredictable, and is often unpleasant. We suffer. But in this very moment in time, for me, life is going well and I am grateful.
In reverence to this moment, I’m attempting a poetic form inspired by Adelaide Crapsey’s cinquain stanza pattern of five lines with each line having a set number of syllables: two, four, six, eight, and two. My form is based on a septet stanza. Each of the seven lines has a set number of syllables: one, three, five, seven, five, three, one; 25 total syllables. I don’t know if this form has been attempted before. If it has, I’m not aware of it, so if you know of it please let me know, too. It might have a bit of a haiku feel, along with an old Irish blessing, and, because I centered it, the shape of a diamante poem. It’s what arrived on this auspicious day, and I felt like sharing. I hope you enjoy.
Gratefully yours,
Tamera
Blessing Septet Number One
Blessed:
Me. This day.
Winds of good fortune
Warm my skin. A calm embrace
From above. I am
Gratefully
Yours
© 2013 Tamera Will Wissinger
Poetry Friday is being celebrated at Sheri Doyle’s Blog
Verseday yesterday was celebrated at Read in a Single Sitting
02.22.2013
Not long ago I was awakened from a deep, early morning sleep by a glorious; “whoo WA whooo,” the call of a mourning dove. It’s a sweet, sad, unmistakable song that reminds me of pine trees and maple trees, dappled feathers, sunshine and childhood; not a bad way to start the day. I lounged and listened as I woke up. You can visit All About Birds if you want to hear a sound very similar to what I was hearing: MOURNING DOVE SOUNDS
This particular mourning dove was perched on the railing just outside my bedroom window as the sun came up and he was so intent on his singing that he didn’t even stir when I started to snap photos through the window from less than ten feet away:
“What,” I wondered, “could cause such focus?” Well, the good people at All About Birds had an answer to this question. Here’s what they say: You can often hear paired males give the three-parted “nest call” while nest-building: a coo-OO-oo, highest in the middle. Females sometimes call ohr ohr while sitting on the nest.
It turns out that, despite its melancholy name, this male bird was content. He was part of a pair, nesting, and calling to his mate.
All About Birds say that the female returns the call with a short ohr ohr. I did hear a female call back on this particular morning, but I didn’t see her and eventually the male on my railing flew away, presumably to meet the female at their nest. And so in honor of this happy mourning dove couple, and in celebration of Valentine’s Day, I wrote a slightly anthropomorphic poem:
EPIGRAM FOR MOURNING DOVES
The early morning mourning dove
Sings: whoo WA whooo, up here, my love.
An echo back: whoo whoo, down here.
Come help me build our nest, my dear.
© 2013 Tamera Will Wissinger
Happy Valentine’s Day love birds and bird lovers alike!
For Verseday #7, Gabrielle Prendergast is featuring Tim Sinclair, Australian verse novelist and poet, who is talking about poetry and real love at versenovel.com
Also featured today is Marci Atkins, who, for Valentine's Day, is offering a printable annotated list of her favorite Haiku books at marcieatkins.com
And tomorrow Poetry Friday is being hosted by Linda at teacherdance.com
02.14.2013
I wanted to share my recent good news: One of my picture books sold! It’s a counting concept book called THIS OLD BAND, and it’s with Sky Pony Press, currently scheduled for a 2014 release. This is my first picture book contract, so I'm pretty excited.
If you're interested in Sky Pony Press, click on their logo to link to their site:
Stay tuned - more details to come soon!
02/12/2013
A few years ago my mom gave me a chocolate candy bar that has spoiled me for any other chocolate. It was just that good. It’s the Chocolove candy bar made in Boulder, CO with Belgian chocolate. If you’re a life long chocolate lover, what I’m about to say won’t compute: I used to not like chocolate very much – to me it was a ho-hum treat. Now, I realize that what I don’t like is waxy bland chocolate-like stuff that is the ingredient in many candies. But Belgian chocolate? Oh My Goodness! My taste buds sat up. And that’s not all, the Chocolove people have a hidden treat: On the inside of every wrapper they have printed a classic love poem! POETRY AND CHOCOLATE, people! Honest. (No, I am not a paid spokeswoman, just a fan.)
The poem on the wrapper I’m looking at right now is an excerpt from Elegy XVI: On His Mistress by John Donne:
By our first strange and fatal interview.
By all desires which thereof did ensue,
By our long starving hopes, by that remorse
Which my words’ masculine persuasive force…
Mmmm Hmmm. There's more, but you get the idea. It’s dark and mysterious, and like the Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate candy bar that it was wrapped around before I ate it, delicious. There are many other varieties. My favorite:
Admittedly, the poetry is for mature audiences, and the chocolate may not be to everyone’s taste, but the good people at Chocolove started me thinking. Love poems and chocolate are such a sweet team. For Valentine’s Day, is there someone you just LOOOOVE who would just LOOOOVE a sweet treat and a poem written by you? It could be a Chocolove bar, a box of chocolate, or even a homemade treat to go with your homemade love poem.
Here is a poem starter for any age that’s kind of an ode (celebration), list poem that uses anaphora (the repetition of a word or phrase for emphasis.) Not essential, but if you want your poem to have a specific rhythm and rhyme, you could fill in the blanks using iambic rhythm, and rhyme line two with line four, and line six with line eight. You don't have to call it an ode, and you don't have to start it out this way. And if love is too strong a word, like or admire could also work. You can write your love poem any way you like! Here you go:
ODE TO ____________
I love the way you ____ ____ ____
I love ____ ____ ____ ____
I love ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
I love ____ ____ ____ ____
I love ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
I love ____ ____ ____ ____
But most of all, I love
____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
Happy Poetry Writing, and Happy Valentine's Day Week!
Poetry Friday is being hosted by Tara at A Teaching Life
Yesterday for Verseday, Gabrielle highlighted verse novels and poetry books that she picked up at ALA Midwinter – including a copy of my soon-to-be-released novel in verse: GONE FISHING! You can take a peek here: versenovels.com
02/08/2013
Tamera WIll Wissinger