Writing Unleashed with Laura M. Harkins

News Source An Inspirational Montana Poet Laureate Kristen Inbody writes about Sheryl Noethe , Montana’s new poet laureate and her amazing work with the Missoula Writing Collaborative. The non-profit organization provides under privileged students trained writing professionals to inspire their creativity and encourage self-expression through written and spoken word. Do you think all schools could benefit from this kind of teaching? Source Interview with Haruki Murakami Enjoy Haruki Murakami’s interview as The New Yorker’s fiction editor discusses his novel 1Q84 (hitting U.S. shelves in late October) and the excerpt, “Town of Cats,” available online and in print. The setting of 1Q84 is 1984, and Murakami struggled with the lack of technology. Have you faced similar challenges when dealing with settings in your stories ?     Source Poetry Fighting Back Seth Abramson from Huffington Post lists 10-poetry mus...

Source Two weeks passed without a post on my blog. Two weeks of hiding. Two weeks of avoidance. The dark hole that swallowed me felt like falling down the long throat of some enormous whale. A bit frightening, yet comforting knowing no one could see me. I've since found a rope, tied a knot creating a loop at one end and lassoed it around anything stationary in an attempt to climb back into the warm sunlight. All part of the writing journey. Darkness and light. Grey skies and the tail end of Irene's distruction met me this morning, so I buried my face in a novel,  Erin Hart's False Mermaid .   The unforgiving winds finally died down, the water is receding back to the Delaware, and the Internet is back. I leave you with a passage from the very beginning that triggered memories of my own: She did remember a few things: hiding in the closet, face pressed into clothes of rough wool and soft fur, the thrill of being discovered, gathered up and rocked by someone with ...

News Source The Future of Print Books Emily Witt of The New York Observer discusses indie publisher Melville House’s attempt to secure print books in the future . The innovation HybridBooks will utilize Quick Response (QR) barcodes in the back of print books, giving readers access to free supplemental material. Will the QR barcode help print books maintain relevance? Source Need Help Focusing on Writing?  John Briggs from The New York Times breaks down three text editors that provide full-screen views, cutting down on internet distractions . Briggs also features an “app that turns off your network connection for a set amount of time.” How do you avoid distraction while writing?     Source Experience Leads to Inspiration For all my nonfiction writers and passionate procrastinators. Travel with A. Igoni Barrett on his flight home to Lagos, Nigeria while he reminiscences about his fellowship at the N...

Hey, all! My crit group buddy, Alex, gave me a blog award. She's awesome! Check her out over at Magpie Writes , and follow along on her journey to land an agent for her YA fantasy novel, BookEnd.  The goal of the award is to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers. The rules of the award are: 1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you. 2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog. 3. Copy and paste the award on your blog. 4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers. 5. And most of all - have bloggity-blog fun! Here is my top five favorite blogs:  1. SF author Heidi Ruby Miller is one of the sweetest people I know and fellow lover of Neil Gaiman.  2. Like ninjas? Who doesn't? Head over to  the Dojo  and meet Ali Cross. Join the writer ninjas and gain an amazing writing support group. 3. Josh Hoyt helps writers with t...

Source News Famous Mystery Writer Surfing Skills Revealed Sam Jones from the Guardian delights readers with Agatha Christie’s passion for surfing . What special skills do you have outside of your writing life? Source Jennifer Egan and Girl Crush Zine Daniel D’Addario reports on “ Thessaly LaForce , web editor of The Paris Review , and Jenna Wortham, technology reporter for The New York Times ” collaboration on a homemade magazine, Girl Crush . Jennifer Egan will contribute to the one-time publication celebrating strong and respected women. Who do you have a crush on?     Source 2011 and Still Banning Books Alison Flood reports on Missouri school districts decision to ban Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five for its profanity and Sarah Ockler’s YA novel Twenty-Boy Summer for its topics of teenage drinking and promiscuity.   Does book banning work or are parents and educators avoiding important topics by pre...