Today, the first verse of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", also known as "America" - written by Samuel Francis Smith in 1831 and used as a de facto American national anthem until the "Star Spangled Banner" was formally adopted in 1931.

My country, 'tis of thee ( Read more... )

Today's quote comes from a letter Jane Austen wrote to her sister, Cassandra, on Friday, May 31, 1811.

I thought to provide you with the lyrics to "Here we go 'round the mulberry bush", or perhaps "Mulberry Fields" by Lucille Clifton, which is brilliant, but a bit too dark for what I wanted ( Read more... )

I was on Twitter the other day when Neil Gaiman made mention of a particularly interesting/motivating rant by Kevin Smith. And sure enough, I went over to ThatKevinSmith's Twitter page and found inspiration. Here are a few pieces of what he said:

Sometimes, you gotta believe FOR everybody else - and sometimes, you do it by yourself for a long time ( Read more... )

I love the movie The Princess Bride, so it probably comes as no surprise that I also liked Jael McHenry's online article, "Publishing and The Princess Bride: What Aspiring Authors Can Learn From Florin".

Here's a sample:

Is this a kissing book? If I had a nickel for every writer I'd heard say "But my book doesn't FIT any established GENRE!", the ( Read more... )

Tomorrow, my interview with Jenn Hubbard and then a post about tonight's poetry reading. But before too much time elapses, here's my wrap-up about this year's NESCBWI conference in Fitchburg, Mass.

Friday: Angela De Groot (angeladegroot) and I visited my Aunt Martha (patroness of the arts extraordinaire) on our way from Waterville Valley to Fitchburg. She ( Read more... )

I've got a review of one of my fave poetry books from last year up at Guys Lit Wire today. It's a review of Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali by Charles R. Smith, Jr., illustrated by Bryan Collier, and it includes a wee bit of my SBBT interview of Charles Smith. I hope you'll all check it out, and also check The Guys Lit Wire site ( Read more... )

Because I'm heading off on a writing date first thing on Thursday, I'm posting this a bit early. This is part of the Thursday Summer Blog Blast Tour, and the schedule at the bottom is designed to work accordingly.


( Read more... )

The quote in today's icon is the first line from "Across the Universe" by the Beatles.

It's Sunday, and although I didn't post last week, I've not forgotten about quoteskimming. And as this week marks the second annual Summer Blog Blast Tour (SBBT), organized by blogmistress extraordinaire, Colleen Mondor, over at Chasing Ray, I'm combining the ( Read more... )

When I was a kid, boxing was in one of its golden ages. Reigning champs were Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. I watched Ali fight on TV, and talk smack on TV, and make political points on TV. And he wasn't just on TV - he was talked about on the radio, too. Back then all the good music was on AM radio, and before channels that are now ( Read more... )