Artwork by Evy Morelli

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Summer is officially over today.  The last time we posted was in June.  We get the irony that September 6 was "Fight Procrastination Day." 

Bloggers who post on a daily basis, or even a weekly basis, have our utmost respect.  They must be super-disciplined, or really exhausted.  Either way, it's amazing.

Our hectic summer ends with the Cuesta College Writers Conference, and this year's program was another successful one.  Nothing is more inspiring and confidence-building than events like these.  Certain folks are just fun to hang with.  That list includes writers, animal lovers, and musicians.  They seem to have an attitude of "Not only am I gonna stop and smell the roses, but I'm gonna do it with my dog and my iTunes, and then I'm gonna write about it."  Thank you, Cuesta College and SLO-Nightwriters!

What's New:
*Evy has a new little book, "Oriental Brush and Verse," which is a combination of her simple techniques in Sumi-e painting and her own original haiku.  She discovered that haiku is very much like painting--both activities are meditative and the results can be very satisfying.  And they don't eat up your time!  A bonus!  Contact Evy for questions about painting and information about obtaining her booklet.

*Diane printed her three volumes of "Ruthless Readers of the Central Coast do Aesop," a collection of Aesop's fables done in play format, updated and infused with humor.  They're part of a series of Middle Grade Readers suitable for reading and performing in both small and large groups.  Diane continues this labor of love, including scripts in the areas of American Folklore, Fairytales, Greek Myths, Norse Myths, Egyptian Myths and Jataka Tales.  Eventually, she has plans to tackle such biggies as Beowulf and Gilgamesh.  She's crazy like that.  If you are a teacher and need a play adaptation of a piece of literature, contact Diane.  The library of literature taking up space in her brain is a terrible thing to waste.

*Diane also put together a pocket book called "Editor in my Pocket."  It's a culmination of all the cheat-sheets she provided for her students over the years, including helpful hints about grammar, spelling, punctuation and such.  It even includes an impressively long list of "Other Ways to Say Said."  Ask her about how you can get the book or have one custom made with your own photo as the cover.  (Hers is her dog.)

Enjoy your "roses" (and hope for rain)!

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