Writing To Be Read

September has been a hard month for me. Not only was the 21^st the anniversary of my son’s death, but the 9^th was his birthday, as well. Needless to say, I feel like the Green Day song, Wake Me Up, When September Ends. I tried to figure out a way that I could just sleep through the entire month, but I wasn’t too successful. Actually, I was lucky to sleep at all, as Michael has been heavy on my mind. Then, I was  so tired all the time that my concentration is off, making it hard to get anything else done either.

September doesn’t seem to have the same effect on everyone else though, so I am still expected to meet all of my obligations. Easier said than done, I’m afraid. For example, I was going to write a piece on September, which would have been more appropriate at the beginning of the month, but since I did not get it done before, I am doing it now. Better late than never, right?

Although it is a difficult month for me, September is a month for literary celebration. That’s why I had planned to write an article about it. Those that enjoy writing, and reading should know that September is Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month. I don’t know who thinks these things up, but I’m glad that someone thought to recognize the hard work of all the editors and writers out there. I imagine we all need to know that our work is appreciated occasionally. Even best selling authors, who sell oodles of books and are famous, like to hear from their fans how much they’ve enjoyed their books. For writers like myself, who are not even in the same league with those authors, checking each day to see how many hits I’ve had on my sites can bring a smile to my face, even on the glummest of days. I hope someone thought to make a (Be Kind to Loyal Readers Month.) So, even though the month is almost over and I’ve been so terribly tardy in getting this information out, before the month is out, send flowers or candy to your editor, or just drop your favorite writer a note or an e-mail, telling them that you enjoy reading their work. There’s still a little time left to make September a great month.

Other September dates to take note of:

• September 2 – e.e. cummings died
• September 4 – Richard Wright’s birthday
• September 6 – Henry David Thoreau left Walden Pond (1847)
• September 9 – Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Tolkas move in together in Paris (1910)
• September 11 – D.H. Lawrence’s birthday
• September 12 – Publisher, Alfred Knopf’s birthday
• September 13 – Ronald Dahl’s birthday
• September 15 – Agatha Christie’s birthday
• September 17 – Ken Kesey’s birthday
• September 21 – Stephen King and H.G. Well’s birthdays
• September 24 – F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birthday
• September 25 – John Steinbeck received Nobel Peace Prize (1962)

                                      Shel Silverstein and William Faulkner’s birthdays

• September 26 – T.S. Eliot’s birthday
• September 28 – Herman Melville died

Now You Walk With Angels

It has been a year now

Since you were taken from this life.

Our family now is broken.

Your death has caused such strife.

You were a very special person,

An old soul, if you will.

You had a whole life ahead of you

Since you left us, time stands still.

Now you walk with angels,

Perhaps soaring on new wings.

We cry and miss you oh, so much

We can’t go on to other things.

It feels like only yesterday

That you were still right here.

We long to hear your voice once more,

To see your face, so dear.

It’s not right that you were taken

When you were still so very young.

You were whisked from life so brutally

Before your song was fully sung.

Now you walk with angels,

Perhaps soaring on new wings.

Someday we will be with you, but for now,

We can only wait, to see what fate will bring.

We miss everything about you

Your smile, your hugs, your voice.

The potential stood before you

To create the destiny of your choice.

What hurts the most, is knowing we won’t

Watch you grow into a man.

To know what fate held in store for you

It seems God had other plans.

Now you walk with angels,

Perhaps soaring on new wings.

Through our tears, we long to hear

The music you now sing.

Copyright ©2009  Kaye Lynne Booth

Hello. I guess I haven’t written anything for this site in awhile. I have been busily pumping out articles. Between the writing and the research required, I haven’t even had a moment to breathe. I believe I mentioned in my post, Building A Portfolio, that other reasons to write, besides the minimal amount of money that I make, building readership and references, as well as web exposure. Well since then I have discovered some other perks in writing for Examiner.com.

My position as Southern Colorado Literature Examiner can also be used as a form of networking. Now I am not talking about the kind of networking that is aimed at building readership, (although it does). I am talking about making connections with my fellow writers, authors and other professionals in the writing and publishing fields. Since I do author profiles, I usually contact the authors and ask them to answer a few questions, so my profiles will be accurate and also so that I can include some direct quotes and information that you won’t find anywhere else on the web in my articles. At first, I looked at this as just a necessary step in getting the story, but to my surprise and delight, many of these authors have joined my Windows Live Network and/or correspond with me regularly via e-mail or Facebook. Believe it or not, friendships with other authors and writers are blossoming from my article seeds!

These friendships are the kind that both parties can benefit from, too. For instance, authors that correspond regularly keep me updated as to their activities, and I write about anything they are doing that is newsworthy. As a result, they get their name out there and several authors have asked to link to my profiles and/or reviews on their websites, which in turn brings traffic my way. One author even shared information about the Southern Colorado Literature Examiner with her writing group, which brought me several new readers, as did contacts with members of The 5^th Monday Writers in Chaffee County. Both the authors and I benefit from these connections and I become more and more of a professional in my field every single day. Let me tell you, it feels great!

In order to do reviews, you have to read the books that you are reviewing. Since most (not all) of the books I review are either getting ready to come out or have been just recently published, I foresaw difficulties in getting my hands on these books. Another pleasant surprise was that most of the time, if I just contact the authors and request a review copy (or ARC), they are delighted to send me one. Again, this is an opportunity for them to get some press, so they have no problem in sending out the materials to be reviewed. So reading the works has turned out to be much easier than I had anticipated, and has in fact, turned out to be another fringe benefit of the job.

While it is true that these benefits are probably niche specific and if I had opted for another area to write in, I would be looking at different advantages, I would bet that every topic area has a few. Entertainment or celebrity examiners probably make connections with celebrities, rather than authors, and relationship or domestic examiners may make contact with counselors or social workers, but I would bet that the connections are being made, no matter what the area of expertise. The point is that there is more to this writing business than just making money. While I would love to make enough to write full time, I see this to be a slow uphill climb, and these little perks just make it easier along the way.

(If you would be interested in writing for Examiner.com, please leave a comment here or contact me at angelslight34@hotmail.com, and I’ll show you how to apply.)

To Be A Cat

To be a cat wouldn’t be so bad

Lazing around all day in the sun

Sharpening my nails on the scratching post

Maybe teasing the dog just for fun

Of course, there’s all that fur to clean

The hairballs must be horrendous

And eating mice doesn’t sound so good

Trying to catch them would be stupendous

Then there’s always the possibility

Of being chased by a dog

And you wouldn’t be very fast, you see

Because you’ve lain around all day like a log

On second thought, I really don’t think

That I would want the life of a cat

There has got to better things to do

Than to lay around and get fat

 Copyright ©2009  Kaye Lynne Booth