This place is for a few things. I wanted my own blog to write about writing and the dirty-job-but-somebody's-gotta-do-it occupation I pursue as a poet and writer of YA fiction. I wanted a place where people could get hold of me in a less public way than upon The Facebooger to request my presence as a writing workshop leader, or for a poetry reading. I wanted an easy way for people to buy an inscribed copy of one of my books directly from me.
April is coming, hard as it is to believe after this crazy Northeastern winter. And April is National Poetry Month. Now seems to me like a great time to put this website online. So, like I said--voila!
I taught poetry and writing for many years in the Clarkstown, NY public schools. I miss doing that sometimes, and I'll be doing a quick visit back to Clarkstown North on March 20th for their annual Sticky Notes poetry fest. I'm putting together a workshop about memory poems for the high school students I'll be meeting that day. I'm super-excited about it. There's nothing that makes me want to come home and pound the keyboard like a day with the crazy, inspiring energy of teenagers. And there's nothing that gives me a bigger smile than listening to "my" kids read their poetry aloud at the end of a workshop. Except maybe when they get published. Or when they grow up and become teachers of poetry themselves. I've been lucky enough to see both things happen.
I've worked with grade school kids, too--and in tiny, private workshops for just a few teens or 'tweens in my own house, and also with elders. I'd love to run an adult or teen workshop out of a church or temple, or as a regular thing in a library or senior center. Need somebody to do any of those things? Clicky-click on the Contact button just above here. We'll talk.
The Store button is where you can get your own autographed copies of my books. Feel free to clicky-click there, too!
I'm also shopping around a YA novel--Time Runs Away With Her--that I finally feel is complete. I'm considering going the indy-press route with it, but as Rachel Maddow is fond of saying, watch this space. Here's to beginnings!