Smoke Signal

Hi Folks.

I'm alive and looking forward to our move to North Carolina after 8+ years in P.R. For the first time in almost a decade I miss "the four seasons," and I can no longer stand living without quality libraries. I miss fleece. And sleeves. So, packin' up the animals and my guy, and movin' on. Heading to the mid-west to see family in December, then NC in January '10 to ring in the new year.

I will continue my freelance work with "Express Yourself!" and am looking for a position, ideally in "student services," at one of the univerities, colleges, or even secondary schools in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area they call "The Triangle." I'd like to find an interesting, laid-back coordinator position (in service learning, community service, diversity, study abroad, students with disabilities, career center, admissions, ?) that provides stability and community, yet leaves room for creativity, writing and fun. Dream job!

Know someone in NC I should meet or contact for an "Informational Interview"? What's up with the rest of you alums?

Lonely Little Alumni Blog

Does anyone come to this blog anymore?

Call for Submissions

Just in case anyone comes to this blog and skips the original MFA blog for current students, I am producing an anthology. This inspirational and motivational collection of nonfiction essays and articles will focus on stories about women and their "press pause moments," those points of transition when they have decided to take a different path, pursue a passion, or go after a goal or dream.
For more information and complete submission guidelines please go to The Press Pause Now Anthology Project.

Moving Forward - Skinny Toe Style

The last two months have seen some interesting growth to Miranda Literary Magazine and some new prospects. It started when I was running a free program based on on-demand applications. After I finished my program, not only had I convinced people that on-demand publishing is feasible, I wanted to use it as an extension of Miranda Magazine. By offering a print version of the magazine, we began to draw appeal to an audience that wanted print as part of their publishing experience. Our first issue was a success, due in large part from the contributing writers who felt that they not only were part of a Miranda first, but also very happy with our first print experience.

It sparked the idea of having an anthology series where a theme or topic is introduced and a body of writing would be assembled. My choice, because it is a passion of mine, was to focus on "The Sea." We began getting a few submissions. We were soon included in a few list serves and now, not only have we received a large number of submissions - numbers spiked on Miranda. The anthology slated for publication in August is moving forward. A design meeting will take place next week. A process of selection and a contract will be created. A few writers like Tim Weed from the MFA program will be part of the anthology.

If good things, don't spark more good things, I am considering our first book publication that will be published under Miranda's publishing moniker Skinny Toe Press. My hope is that this year will take our quarterly to a new level. A kind review from New Pages helped push us along and give us some exposure. I am hoping to begin seeking out editors to take on their visions of an anthology topics. More importantly, I have been impressed with the network of writers and support that we have recieved. Not only are the writers excited and very generous with their resources, they are poducing very inspiring works of art. As we move forward into print publication and perhaps our first published book title under the Skinny Toe label - I must admit that I have stepped forward beyond my own expectations, beyond my own vision, beyond my own hopes. Simply put, I never thought I would be in a position to publish a book never mind sustain a magazine.

When I started the magazine as an enrichment project, I was hoping to last a year. I admit that we had a few false starts with branches and places to move forward. Miranda Film, while still a strong idea, needed more resources and direction. Podcasting is another avenue that is just too time consuming to do well without more resources. What we can do well is publish good writing. And that is what we will continue to do. I wouldn't have done this without the gudience and the support of the MFA program, my peers, and the writers who have contributed to the magazine from the beginning. I am very excited about the next year. And while creating a website that has brought writers together, it is also a privlege to allow them to hold their work in their hands. And so we move forward.

Poetry Outloud

Hi Folks! Haven't posted in a long time so thought I'd stop by and say hello. Hello!

Looking forward to the upcoming days of 2009 as many projects, desires and dreams (long in incubation) begin to spread their wings. I will keep quiet until I have concrete news on my new happenings, but I will share one exciting tidbit.

I have been invited to be a "state" artist-in-residence of sorts in a national poetry recitation project, POETRY OUTLOUD, for Intermediate and High School Students in the U.S. (Puerto Rico is technically the U.S.) Check it out: Poetry Outloud.

Will post more when I have more news. Cheers to a creative, healthy and prosperous 2009!

NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up

I'm not sure if anyone reads this blog anymore. But I felt an obligation to wrap up the National Novel Writing Month posts. NaNoWriMo takes place in November; the goal is to write a rough draft of a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. A number of us "alumn" participated. I won't speak for them, but I think we shared similar thoughts about the experience. Here are mine:

-I'd never done anything like this before. I tend to write and edit as I go along. Beneficial in my shorter works; difficult for a longer manuscript. The idea of stream of thought writing, just getting a story down on paper, not worrying if it all ties together quite yet, was an important learning moment for me.

-Doing this confirmed that to write and finish writing projects you have to write - every day. Whether you set a word count goal, time your writing sessions, write three times a day, early in the morning, before bed, whatever - you have to write.

-I made it to 50,000 words...50,003 to be exact (not that I was counting - much!)I haven't even read what I wrote yet. I did share the manuscript with two trusted writer friends to give me feedback. But what I know I have is a story, in its entirety, something raw to work with, not just think about.

-I was amazed at how my plot developed and my characters developed as I wrote without pause. New characters appeared I hadn't thought of before. Back stories became evident as I went along. New twists and turns emerged. I found I wanted to get back to it and write more just to see where it was all going.

Bottom line? As a writer I found the NaNoWriMo experience exhilarating and a learning opportunity. I'm hooked and plan to make participating an annual gift to myself.

I'd welcome any other fellow NaNoWriMo-ers to share their thoughts. Who knows, we may be the only ones reading these posts -- and we already were emailing each other -- but it would be nice to capture here!

Cheers -
Anne

Freelance Jobs

Have you guys heard of this website? I just followed the link from an RSS feed called Daily Writing Tips. And it looks pretty cool.

So how are the novels coming? I passed my 25 page mark yesterday. 8300 words and 27 pages now. It's coming along pretty well, but I KNOW if I ever do anything with it, it'll need a TON of editing. Pretty rough.

Keep writing!

Kir