Inspiration

Dreaming the Dream

/ still a dreamer / 3 Comments

Dreams are very important. Not only do they assist and protect our physical and mental health, but they tell us things. Things we need to know.

Last night I slept an uninterrupted 8 hours for the first time I can remember in a very long time, and had a dream. It is a dream that comes to me at certain points in time, and always has something to tell me. The overall setting of the dream is more or less the same, but the elements and how they relate to my life situation at the given moment are different. I woke up this morning knowing what the dream had to say, and it was all good.

For many months I have been in strictly survival mode, dealing with one ailment after another, none life-threatening, but continually draining me. All my creativity was funneled into my design business and my web business, both at their peak of activity at Christmas, (what there was of it.) At the end of the day, I just faded. My dream of writing and illustrating children’s books was gathering dust in the corner.

And then came the bright spot, helping me pick the dream up, dust it off, and sit it right here next to me, it’s little face beaming with hope again. That bright spot was a meeting with my fellow facilitators of my local writing and illustrating group, HCCWIG. Although it was not my turn to be critiqued, the company of these creative, funny, warm and intelligent women infused my dream with life again, and I believe, helped me to also have that wonderful dream.

So today, I raise my (coffee) cup in a toast of cheer to (in alphabetical order — drum roll please) …. Cathy, Felicia, Laurie, Leeza and Sheri (and yes, even Little O) … for being the inspiring group they are. My dream is wriggling with excitement for when we can next sit down together and create something magical in children’s books. Thanks, guys!

The moral of the story: If you are a writer (or illustrator) feeling the need for support in your craft, be sure to seek out and find a local writers’ group — many are often listed on the SCBWI site. So check out and join SCBWI, too!  Reach out and find fellow creatives that share your dream, and who will be happy to hold its hand through the tough times and celebrate in the good.

Bones

/ still a dreamer

Although I wrote this poem December 4 and had made a few edits, I intended to tighten it up further and submit it before the deadline to children’s book author David Harrison’s blog. He has a poetry contest each month, writing to a specific topic. December’s was “Bones.” I’m guessing with the holidays, my intentions got lost in the shuffle as I missed the deadline, so I’m posting it here. If interested, David’s topic for January is “Time.”

BONES

In violet, indigo and dusky blue,
they shadow their bones
across silver snow
in the sharp morning sun.

They bare their essence
and nod in silence
to admiring passersby.

Standing tall
in their most primitive selves
they are visions
of grace and pride.

I am Oak.
I am Ash.
I am Poplar.

Soon enough
Spring will come
cloaking their branches in
effusive greens,
in camouflage,
and playful disarray.

But for winter …

I am my bones.

Jeanne Balsam
December 2009

New Year’s Intentions

/ still a dreamer

Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? You’re not alone; many people do. I used to make them, too, until I realized I pretty much knew what it was I had to do, commit to, change. But then, recently, I came across something in a local metaphysical-type publication called natural awakenings. It was an article about setting New Year’s intentions.

Tony Burroughs talks about how New Year’s intentions are infinitely more powerful than resolutions and how they put the laws of manifestation to work. He talks about how positive and powerful words, serving the highest and best of the Universe, will manifest not only the greatest good for ourselves, but for all mankind. Understanding that our thoughts, words and actions create the future  and that we use them for the highest and best will bring us the joy we seek.

I visited Tony Burroughs’ web site and found it to have a lot of information about how to buy books and DVD’s or to join Intenders’ circles. But The Code itself has its own page, and here are the Ten Intentions for a Better World that inspired me to write this post. Check out The Code: Ten Intentions for a Better World and see if they resonate with you as a way to start 2010.

Happy New Year!

NJ SCBWI First Page Session

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

In our, (and I speak for all my fellow aspiring children’s book writers), desire to be published, or to expand our horizons in terms of who we know or wish to meet, there are plenty of things we can do. One of the best is joining the SCBWI. I belong to the NJ SCBWI, which is a phenomenal chapter.

The NJ Chapter, headed up by Kathy Temean, Regional Advisor, has more exciting events on an ongoing basis than any chapter I’m aware of. This weekend, there is an Illustrator’s Intensive, a Picture Book Intensive and a Novel Writer’s Intensive, all conducted by luminaries in their field, E.B. Lewis, Sudipta Bardhan,  and Agent Scott Triemel. However, I’m writing about one of the smaller of the SCBWI events, a First Page Session.

I attended one of these in Princeton, our Chapter’s usual hosting location, this past Wednesday. We were 22 attendees with two editors – Shauna Fay from G.P. Putnam and Lindsay Winget from Atheneum. For those of you not familiar with First Page Sessions, you submit your manuscript anonymously and properly formatted to fill one page, indicating only your title and genre. Each first page is read aloud and the editors spend their time critiquing it.

While this is not as in-depth as a one-on-one critique received at a mentoring workshop or other event, the input by two editors/agents on just one page can provide great information as to whether your story has a good hook, a good title, appropriate language for the targeted audience, good rhyme scheme, an original theme and so on. Ms. Fay and Winget did a great job of enlightening us to the strengths and weaknesses of our submissions. (One of them even got a little choked up when mine was read, and I am so flattered!) Most definitely worth the very modest price  – for SCBWI members – of only $25. For an additional $25, for members only, you can stay for a delicious dinner and sit and chat with the editors. Another advantage for all attendees is that you may submit a MS to these editors for a limited time period and they will look at your submission as a priority vs. being sent to the bottom of the slush pile.

The humble First Page Session is not only a means of getting a lot of information about your work-in-progress, but also a connection with two editors/agents .. and, if a member, a really good dinner for what today is a pittance. Not an SCBWI member? Check out the NJ SCBWI page for upcoming events and other goings-on – if it looks good to you, click on the kite link up top and join the SCBWI!

Just an Old Folkie at Heart

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

FolkGuitarSometimes in the middle of the work, sometimes in the middle of the stress and nonsense, something just keeps shining through. And for me, that is music. Does music do it for you, too?

I love many forms of music, and certainly have several favorites, but what always feels as comfortable as a pair of old shoes, a cozy easy chair, is acoustic folk. No doubt growing up in the 60’s and 70’s in the whole folk scene has a lot to do with it, but what could be better while working to suddenly hear Jesse Colin Young, Bob Dylan, James Taylor? The sweet voices of Sarah McLaughlin, Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Raitt? Acoustic guitar music and folk span decades – it just never gets tired.

And the best of all … it comes streaming through my computer in iTunes. How wonderful is it to have access to hundreds and hundreds of radio stations playing whatever music you feel like hearing on any particular day? Just the best. Thank you, Apple! (and yes, I am on a Mac.) The folk stations that serve up the best, if you folkies out there are reading and are unaware of this gem on your computer, are Radioio Acoustic Cafe, Folk Alley, Grassy Hill Radio and GotRadio-Folk Lore.

Sometimes it’s the seemingly small joys in life that become the rich tapestry backdrops to the rest of our lives … when is there not music?