Ignoring My Last Post

In Friday's post I wrote about making writing a priority and saying no to others. However, if I had followed that advice I would not have attended the outstanding Foster Friends writing workshop yesterday. And that would have been a severe loss, indeed.

The Foster Friends network of NC is sponsoring an art and essay contest for children in the Foster Care system in our area. First prize is a $500 savings bond. I was asked by a friend in the program if I would facilitate the 2-hour writing workshop held yesterday. I said yes, and a friend from my writer's group, Daniel, who used to teach Jr. High English, went with me. Thank God. Daniel is a teaching whiz and quickly connected with the kids. For example, to demonstrate the importance of using specific language, he did this marvelous peanut butter and jelly exercise where he had one student instruct him how to make a PB&J sandwich. When told to take the bread out of the ziplock bag, he ripped at the opposite end of the bag that had the zipper. When told to put the peanut butter on the bread, he stacked the jar on top of the bread. And, when told to "squish together" the pieces of bread that had the peanut butter on one and jelly on the other, he left the jelly side up and squished his hand into it--to the great delight of the kids.

The kids were... brilliant. Open and communicative and serious about writing. Ages ranged from 8 to 16, yet the room jelled. I came home and told Blair only half-kiddingly that there is now an 8-year-old boy out there I want to adopt.  The 8 year old boy came with 2 paragraphs already written for the contest which Daniel read over and helped him with. A 10 or 11 year old girl asked me to read the 2 and 1/2 pages she'd written. The essay is private so I won't share the contents here but... oh my God. Simply but beautifully written, heartbreaking, honest. It was an honor to spend time with these kids. I never would have wanted to miss the chance to work with them.

So I guess the lesson is... be careful what you consider saying no to or you might miss out on some really special opportunities in life.

Reflections of the Heart, Foster Care Art & Essay Contest

It's amazing how the world has a way of circling back around. About 5 or 6 years ago, when I had my first itchings toward being a writer, I became friendly with a woman who was a volunteer at the Women's Resource Center. She wrote for a newspaper and when I told her I wanted to write but was nervous about the interview process, she let me shadow her on an interview and showed me how to structure an article. She edited the very first newspaper article I ever wrote (about the Women's Resource Center) and we've stayed in touch on and off through the years, more off than on recently.

Still, I was delighted when she tracked me down a few weeks ago and asked if I would be a facilitator for the Foster Friends of North Carolina's first ever art and essay contest. On a weekend in February, I'll meet for two hours with kids ages 10-18 and lead them through some creative writing exercises and hopefully help them mold an essay for the contest.  Volunteers from the Greensboro Jr. Women's League will be on hand to sit one-on-one with the kids and assist them, if needed.

They also want me to talk about being a writer and what it's like to write a book and the opportunities that can present when you learn to express yourself on the page. I think the day will be a lot of fun but I must admit I'm a little nervous. I'm going to work to find some fast, fun exercises that I hope will get the kids engaged and thinking/laughing.  I just don't want them to be bored or feel overwhelmed. I'd love for them to keep trying the writing exercises even outside of the workshop.

I'm hitting up my writer friends for ideas, but if any of you reading this have any ideas on what might work with the kids, please don't hesitate to post here or e-mail me at ddharris@triad.rr.com.  I've got about a week and a half to figure out what I'll be using in my workshop.

If anyone wants to read more about the contest, log onto www.FFNC.org.

NC Writers' Network Fall Conference

Back to the land of the living. I have been running at full speed since Saturday morning but it's all been worth it. My friend Pam Cable and I presented a 1 1/2 hour workshop on Saturday at the NC Writers' Fall Conference. Our topic was "Publicity, Promotion, & Pulling Your Hair Out." We had 25 attendees and received great feedback. So good, in fact, that at the Saturday night dinner in front of the 500 attendees, the conference director actually gave a special call-out to Pam and myself for some of the advice we'd offered during the workshop.

Although I enjoy teaching, there's also a little nervousness there as you're never quite sure what you're going to get in terms of attendees. Luckily, we had a room full of eager listeners who participated, asked questions, and contributed their own knowledge. Pam and I both left the room feeling great about what had taken place.

Aside from that, I got a lot out of the conference itself. I have it on the top of my to-do list to contact an agent who was there. I didn't attend her session but apparently she was on a panel and made the announcement that she was desperate for an author to write a "crazy cat book."  Uh... hello? People were coming up to me all weekend saying, "You have GOT to meet Bess." I agree. Bess, Bess... where are you? I could never find her so I'm shooting her an e-mail today.

I'm also pleased to announce that my Lessons In Stalking books sold out at the conference. The Barnes & Noble woman running the table (who was reading my book on her breaks) said people would buy one and then come back and buy 3 more. That just warms a cat authors heart.

Other news:

• I went running at Salem Lake on Sunday and managed to trip over a rock and fall before I even hit Mile Marker 1. My left knee is now this huge skinned, bloody mass. Really attractive. I'll be sure to wear a lot of skirts in the next couple of weeks. It doesn't hurt much, other than at night when it comes in contact with the sheets.
• My running group had their farewell dinner last night. I've spent all summer with these people. Lots of laughing and reminiscing. ("Less talk! More run!") It's encouraging to see the huge leaps of improvement everyone has made.
• I had a quick two-minute appearance this morning on Fox 8 Morning News. Talked about my story in the Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul book. Cindy Farmer is warm and wonderful but is it really worth all the time spent on hair and make-up for the brief appearance? (Answer: Yes, of course.)
• We're having our front porch repainted. So when our relatives arrive on Thanksgiving, there should be lines of yellow tape crisscrossing the front of the house, warning them not to enter. Let's hope they take the hint.

So much for the glamorous world of public speaking. I've lost the kickin' boots and stylish clothes and am back in t-shirt and sweat pants, ready to re-enter the realm of the written word. Back to work.

Stand Up Comedy

Last night's speech to about twenty women went very well. Two comments in particular delighted me and I thought I'd share them with you. The first was from a women who came up after my speech and said, "Have you ever thought of doing stand-up comedy? You are so funny."

I love that. I love laughing and having a good time during my speeches and it's rewarding to know I'm not up there laughing by myself (always a possibility...) So I appreciated her saying that.

The other comment had nothing to do with my speech but is cherished, nonetheless. As I was walking down the aisle toward the door, a woman stopped me and said, "This may sound like an odd question, but are you by any chance a runner?"

My surprise must have showed on my face. "I am," I said.

She nodded. "I used to do a little bit of running and I was looking at you during your speech and I just thought you look like someone who has a runner's body."

Oh people... how happy am I? NO ONE has ever said I have a runner's body. In fact, NO ONE has ever told me I have any form of athletic shape whatsoever in my entire life. I thanked her, we chatted about running for a few minutes and then I floated on air out the door. Happy, happy camper.

On a slightly sour note, I managed to leave my flip chart stand behind. That usually wouldn't be a big deal except that I must have it for a presentation I'm giving tomorrow. So I resigned myself to driving 45 minutes into GSO and back to pick the thing up only... the library can't find it. I can't blame them. It's my fault for leaving it behind. I think they're conducting a half-hearted search of the premises, but looks like I'm going to have to send Blair out on a Office Depot run for a new portable chart holder.