Day 10 - Postcard Poetry Project - Second Honeymoon

I thought writing a short poem would take the pressure off, but in reality, shorter poems can be much harder to write. In any case, below is what I cranked out for Day 10.

On a side note, I see that this whole "project" is actually called the Postcard Poetry Fest. Oops! I have made a mental note and all future references will be to this name instead of Postcard Poetry Project.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Day 9 - Postcard Poetry Project - Smashed

This is my Day 9 postcard which I glued one of my favorite drawings onto. I know this style is not everyone's taste, so hopefully the recipient will like it. To me, it is an accurate representation of the woman in the poem.

Drawing by Linda G Hatton

Smashed by Linda G Hatton

I haven't decided whether or not to continue posting these on my blog. I really need to start sending submissions out again. Time will tell! Thanks for stopping by.

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Day 7 - Postcard Poetry Project - (Un)Lucky Girl

Day seven of the Postcard Poetry Project is devoted to the girl who seemingly has everything. If you look past the surface though, you may see that she does not.

(Un)Lucky Girl by Linda G Hatton

Collage Art by Linda G Hatton

More to come!

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Character Sketch - Do Not Disturb

Recently I participated in WriteOnCon (thanks to Sarah Turnbull for telling me about it!), a "FREE Online Children’s Writers Conference (rated MC-18, for Main Characters under 18 only)" where one of the participating writers, L.L. Tisdel, who is also an artist, offered her skills to sketch the main characters from the books of any writers who were interested. 

Now despite the conference character age rating, there was a New Adult Fiction category on the site, which is why I decided to join in. New Adult Fiction is a developing genre of fiction that contains main characters between the ages of 18 - 25. My main character is in her early twenties and still figuring out her way in life. 

My work-in-progress, Do Not Disturb, is about a young woman/hotel maid, Sherri Mason, who steps into the center of secret packages, murder, & her late father’s ghost story after she moves back to her hometown in hopes of uncovering the mystery of why he abandoned her when she was a child and how he died shortly thereafter. 

This is the sketch of my character:

I love it! Tisdel is super-talented and did a great job. I hope you'll check out more of her work at her website.

Anyway, I've had some difficulty determining what genre to place my book into. It has elements of a cozy mystery, and there's also that ghost theme, so the supernatural genre has occurred to me. After reading through various feedback though, the thriller/suspense genre seems to fit.

It was a good learning experience and I recommend it for next year to all you children's book through new adult authors out there. 

For now, I still have a blog hop to answer to, so that's one of the things on my to-do list. Read about what I got tagged for at funny lady, J.B. Everett's Mobyjoe Cafe. Also, be sure to visit her at Momaiku, where "Behind every good mother is a child pushing her buttons."

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Day 6 - Postcard Poetry Project - Pigeon Hold Her

Day six of the Postcard Poetry Project flowed naturally. I'd just spent a wonderful day with my son at the science center where we had lunch surrounded by pigeons. I loved the way he interacted with the birds. And so this poem was born.

Pigeon Hold Her by Linda G Hatton

Pigeon Kiss

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Postcard Poetry Project - Day Five - Feeling Figgy

This poem was inspired by a lovely one I received about figs written by Nessa Jay Merakithat. Thank you, Nessa!

I could not format this poem on the postcard, so I decided to type it in how I wrote it, although looking it over now, I see it could use some (more) editing. 

Fig-Mented

She wrote about figs, meaty
fruits resembling lusty
body parts when cut
open. She let them
rot in her drive-
way. She let them
steal her drive
away. She stood there,
she let them, watching
helplessly, writing about how
she could not
touch them. How
she could not
let them touch her, those meaty
fruits resembling lusty
body parts.

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Postcard Poetry Project - Days Three and Four

So far I'm doing pretty well at keeping up with the Postcard Poetry Challenge. It's the other things in life I'm struggling with. For instance:

• Maybe my work-in-progress needs a new title.
• Maybe it should just be thrown into the fire.
• Maybe I should not worry so much? (It's just a phase, dahlinks. Just a phase.)

Below are my Postcard Poems for days three and four. Yes, Dad has been on my mind. In the first postcard, there is a message to her dad written on the picture. I guess that's why I was drawn to the photo.

Day Three Postcard

Day Three - Pushing Up Daisies by Linda G Hatton

Day Four Postcard

Day Four - Home Movies by Linda G Hatton

I'm learning some things through this process, such as how hard it is for me to write clearly with a pen anymore. I used to have the best handwriting. I imagine it's like riding a bike though. If I revert back to handwriting my journals the way I used to, it will come back to me, right?

Also, a couple of the postcards I've received had been postmarked over the top of the poems, so I'm trying to write mine farther down from the top edge now. 

Since I've been using a felt tip pen on some, I wonder how they are holding up through the mail. I hope they are not getting wet and then smearing. 

I think I might even like to continue with this when August is over. We'll see how I am at the end. 

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2013 Postcard Poetry Project - Day Two - Missing You

The goal was to write a poem based on the postcard I had received in the mail before sending this one out. I had not yet received one yet though. And since this one was going to Australia, I decided not to send a handmade one (for fear it would not hold up).

I bought this one on my recent trip:

Missing You by Linda G Hatton

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2013 Postcard Poetry Project - Day One - Left Behind

Thanks to my friend, Linda Hofke, for telling me about the Postcard Poetry Project, scheduled for August, 2013.

In preparation, last month I began making collage postcards out of recycled materials. I'd been dissatisfied for several weeks with the poetry I was writing, but I decided to carry on anyway since I'd already made the commitment.

This is the one I sent out for Day One:

Day One - Left Behind by Linda G Hatton

Collage Art by Linda G Hatton

    

It's turning out to be quite a challenge for me to come up with a poem I can hand write on the back of a postcard. My hands have gotten so used to typing.

This project and some advice from my wonderful group of writer friends at Wordsmith Studio have helped to pull me out of my writing difficulties. What a relief.

More to come!

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Do You Dog Paddle When You Skinny Dip?

Did that title get your attention? Well, I am writing about water after all.

It was an un-explainable summer. It started weird, became wonderful, and then got weird again. I won't go on about the strangeness. The recurring numbers. The messages. My interpretations.

Instead, I'm starting over from this moment, trying to let everything fall behind me. I had a wonderful time with family, but I feel backed up and dissatisfied with most of my writing from the past several weeks.

Driving is meditative for me. I had my best brainstorms while I was darting in and out of traffic. Unfortunately, I let those thoughts slip away like water over my fingers. Even the one below would not flow. No. Not even when the theme was water.

Invitation to Escape

Drowned

Water droplets inviting
yet off-limits, clarity sinks
inside overheated
emotions, streaming
thoughts pour, melding
with forbidden pool
below, too far
from reach, sub-
merged under tears,
uncertainty


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