Ask the Author: Pamela R. Anderson-Bartholet
Answered Questions (7)
Pamela R. Anderson-Bartholet
My poetry chapbook--"Just the Girls" A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies; A Drift of Honeybees"--includes poems that are many years old AND many new poems, including a short series of yoga-themed poems. The idea of the book came about when I decided to write a poem for each of my nieces and my daughter...as a Christmas gift. I spent a year writing those poems. And then I wanted to assemble them into a book that I could have bound at Kinko's so I could present each of them with this little "collection." I took a good look at everything I had written and just knew that this book "needed" (wanted) to be completely female centered, and that's when I added the older poems and the yoga poems. After that, I decided to submit the collection which--very happily--was accepted by The Poetry Box Press for publication (I submitted the collection to this press, partly because the publisher is a woman AND because I personally like her writing). The final "touch" came with my asking my daughter and niece-in-law (both featured in a poem in the collection and both artists) to co-create the cover art, which I absolutely love. Obviously, the entire "thing" was a lengthy process.
Pamela R. Anderson-Bartholet
I have been writing for so long that I cannot remember a time when I DIDN'T write. I think it helped because I come from a family of readers, driven by my mother's passion for reading and books. Basically, my sisters and I could "get out of" any chore...IF we were in the midst of a good book!
Pamela R. Anderson-Bartholet
My husband and I are collaborating on a series of blues music-inspired poems. He chooses the artist and the music...we watch videos of the song being performed in live settings...he writes a short "bio" of the artist...and I create a poem based on whatever song we have chosen. For example, we recently finished a piece based on ZZ Top's "Blue Jean Blues." During the pandemic, following this trail of music has been fun and inspiring.
Pamela R. Anderson-Bartholet
Read.
Read what you love.
Connect with other writers...online, on Zoom, or wherever you can find your community.
Write. Write about what you care about...make it as small as you are but as big as the world.
Read what you love.
Connect with other writers...online, on Zoom, or wherever you can find your community.
Write. Write about what you care about...make it as small as you are but as big as the world.
Pamela R. Anderson-Bartholet
Dealing with writer's block.......hmmmmm.
I write letters to people I love. I organize my space (clean away clutter, which also clutters my mind). I find inspiration in music, particularly blues music. I forgive myself my "bad" writing as I search for my sweet spot. And I walk...and think...and write as I wander.
I write letters to people I love. I organize my space (clean away clutter, which also clutters my mind). I find inspiration in music, particularly blues music. I forgive myself my "bad" writing as I search for my sweet spot. And I walk...and think...and write as I wander.
Pamela R. Anderson-Bartholet
The Shire! I would spend time with Hobbits...in a little pub with lots of singing and dancing...a slower paced time and place. Thank you J.R.R. Tolkien for creating this world.
Pamela R. Anderson-Bartholet
I typically read 2 to 3 books at a time, depending on the format I want at any particular moment. I always have a book of poems at the ready (right now...Mary Oliver because I want that connection to nature at a time of a worldwide pandemic...I want to remember that the world is a good and welcoming place)--The Dutch House (Patchett in book-book form) because my book club "assigned it"...this is my second read, and I'm enjoying it--The Splendid and the Vile (audio book) because Churchill and the Holocaust remain a deep fascination for me. And I'm about to begin The Daughters of Erietown (Connie Schultz...book-book)...
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