Writing Unleashed with Laura M. Harkins

blog.larrybodine.com I received some exciting news last week. I found out I got the position as Online Courses Coordinator with Pennwriters, Inc . I’ve been busy orienting myself with the position and setting everything up so the position is low-maintenance. This way I can still do my own personal writing. My email and other social networking sites’ contact lists are growing. And slowly via the blogosphere I’ve been getting connected to my fellow bloggers. As I get more settled into my writing life, I have more time to devote to meeting new people. And through writing conferences and workshops I’ve learned the importance and reaped the benefits of social networking. So, I decided I would like to reach out to other bloggers and writers I’m not yet connected to by using today’s post as a networking social function. My social networks are listed below. Leave me a message with your networks. We can all help each other meet new people and make some great professional contacts.  ...

News Book Burning Ian Crouch discusses the heated debate over Canadian writer Lawrence Hill’s novel, The Book of Negroes. Dutchman Roy Groenberg plans to express his outrage towards the use of the word “negroes” in the title by burning the book . Should racist and prejudicial words be eliminated from our language, or is the fear of the word give it more power? Defending “Darkness Too Visible” Meghan Cox Gurdon responds to the black lash of her essay, “Darkness Too Visible,” that discussed the dark topic and themes in today’s YA literature. Are we opening a door to more darkness by allowing our children to read   dark and painful novels?     arabicfiction.org Spreading Your Literary Horizons Many say that if you want to travel, just pick up a book. With all the media coverage of the Egyptian uprising earlier this year, you would think we would know more about this culture. Unfortunately, most bookstore shelves are light on quality Egyptian writing. Thank Pa...

* Lifted up my eyes. Last week, my days at Tinker Mountain Writing Workshop began on a large Southern porch. Bird songs, reminiscent of the “moment of nature” from CBS Sunday Morning , the only sound in the background while I swayed in a Kennedy rocker reading excerpts of Diane Ackerman, Twain and Robert Bly's writing.  Main Building Somehow, the six and a half hours I traveled on a Sunday to Roanoke, Virginia transported me back seven years to my undergraduate study at Penn State. An uncomfortable spring mattress, thin walls, an I.D. and keys on a lanyard around my neck, walking everywhere, cafeteria food and making new friends.  The longing for a personal bathroom started back up the minute I needed to put on shower shoes, carry shampoo, conditioner and other accoutrements to fight over the one shower that didn’t suck, again. Although living on Hollins Unive...

News Grieving Loss Through Memoir The past week I spent in Roanoke, VA learning, reading and critiquing memoir and other non-fiction forms made me stop and take a longer look at Meghan O’Rourke’s blog post at Huffington Post. She interviewed her father about the grieving process after his wife and her mother passed away to mark the publication of Meghan’s book, The Long Goodbye: A Memoir . What memoirs have you read that helped you understand the world better?       blackcelebkids.com Bullying Novel from 50 Cent Julie Bosman of The New York Times tells readers about rap artist Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s novel about bullying , Playground , due out in January of next year. He used his life growing up to inspire and provide material for the novel and hopes it will not only help his teenage son, but many young adults.        Do you think 50 Cent’s explicit lyrics will affect the public response to his novel? Literary Traveling NPR helps you...

Hey all! I just wanted to give everyone a head's up that my regular blogging schedule will resume next week when I return from Tinker Mountain Writing Workshop at Hollins University. This is my third day here, and I couldn't be happier. The entire campus. The campus is nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains in Roanoke, VA. The smell of sweet magnolia trees floats in the air and I'm surrounded by wonderful Southern company. The Tinker dorms house the majority of us, bringing me back to my days at Penn State. Love it! I begin my mornings on the big Southern porch of the Main Bldg. in a rocking chair, reading. If I wasn't brought up better, I would totally throw one of the rocking chairs in my trunk on the way out of here on Saturday. Oh well. The temperature is a perfect, breezy 80 degrees. I spend my days reading, critiquing and talking craft. The writing community is small and intimate, giving me the opportunity to know everyone. My memoir workshop is made up o...

A poem I wrote in response to Timons Esaias's poetry prompt from his seminar, "Your Life is Poetry," at Pennwriters Conference in May 2011.  Present the emotion, reaction.                                     Don’t necessarily have to tell the object or thing.                                                                                                     ...

passthepolicetest.com I’m running a bit behind this week. The hot weather and I don’t mix well. One word: cranky. And I’m planning my weeklong Tinker Mountain writing workshop in Roanoke, VA next week. Today, I am bringing you the last installment in the Pennwriters Conference Series, discussing a few things I picked up from Kathleen George’s class on Researching the Police . Kathleen shared her experiences and stories gained from researching her novels, and gave the group several tips to follow with our own endeavors. 1.      Let your potential research contacts know you are taking your writing seriously and you have a few questions regarding your plot. 2.      Keep in mind: People usually want to help you out. Just ask. 3.      When contacting the police, send an email explaining your intent. Then, follow up with a quick call; possibly leave a message, to give the individual you are trying to reach a heads up abou...

Today, I want to share Born Magazine with you. The blurb from their website below does better than I ever could to explain their initiative.  Born is an all-volunteer project that brings together writers, artists, and others from diverse fields to create storytelling artworks. Our name reflects the creative process nurtured by collaboration and the bringing together of traditional and new forms of art and literature, diverse media, and emerging technologies. As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Born is dedicated to the emergence and continuing evolution of art forms that bring together different creative genres. So, take a moment out of your busy Saturday to feast your eyes and ears on the smash-up of Paul Gibbons's poem and Dyon-Rivest's film titled   Like Wings Abandoned from Some Future Score .   Born Magazine