Irene Latham's Blog, page 174

LOVE POEM WITH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

For Christmas Eve Poetry Friday, I thought I'd share a video. Check it out! Then head on over to A Year of Reading for roundup!



and here it is in print:

Love Poem with Christmas Lights
That first Christmas without
your mother, I watched you unpack

a box marked Decorations.
First you unfurled the crumpled garland,

straightened the plaid ribbon
and worked to reshape the swag

into something resembling evergreen.
Then you set about repairing

the broken hooks on plastic ornaments,
broken plastic attached to intact hooks.

And when the Christmas lights failed
to blink, even after you removed

the busted bulbs and twisted
new ones in their place, you shook

your head and said, I can't fix this.
Then you gently placed the lights

back inside the box, gathered wrench
and ratchet, began to build our son a bike.

- Irene Latham

from THE COLOR OF LOST ROOMS

EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT

...and her name is Ruby!

OVERLOOKED BOOKS

Every year there are really excellent books that don't get stars from reviewers or achieve NYT Bestseller status or find the audience who would certainly adore them.

And when you consider these statistics (provided on the listsrv by our new Southern-Breeze co-RA Claudia Pearson), it's not all that surprising that great books slip by unnoticed:
"According to Table 1 /American Book Production, 2004-2009, on pages 484-485, in 2009 the number of children's book titles published was 21,878, and the number of young adult book titles published was 4,644.
These are preliminary numbers and do not indicate how many were work for hire texts."

The market is so big that only a small number can rise to the public's attention. (MOCKINGJAY, anyone?) It's enough to break a book-loving girl's heart. When I read a book I love, but no one seems to have heard of it, it gives me that shout-it-from-the-rooftops feeling. I want everyone else to share my joy. And there's something American about it too -- rooting for the underdog.

So here's two of my favorite books from 2010 that you may not have heard of:
SEA by Heidi R. Kling (contemporary YA, romance, exotic locale)

BIRTHMARKED by Caraugh O'Brien (dystopian, first of series, amazing world-building)




Did YOU read any overlooked books this year? If so, give 'em a shout-out!

POETRY GIVEAWAY!

As we move into 2011, I am thinking POETRY! Of course I am pretty much always thinking poetry, but you know. I'm thinking it extra right now. And as there are a number of poetry books with giveaways at Goodreads -- THE COLOR OF LOST ROOMS among them -- well, it seemed worth of a blog post.

I am SO EXCITED to deliver this book to the world... would love for one of my faithful readers to win. Good luck!



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Goodreads Book Giveaway













The Color of Lost Rooms




by Irene Latham

Giveaway ends December 31, 2010.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

GINGERBREAD AND SUGARPLUMS

How 'bout this sweet little gingerbread village?? Adorable, and so much fun with some sweet girls in my life:
Vonda, who awarded prizes that had us howling!
Lisa, whose cute ornament I was so very happy to win in the ornament exchange. It's now sparkling on my tree.
Randee, who decided to decorate a wee village we all thought belonged in the Appalachian foothills.
Lori and Trina, who teamed up to create this charmer... talk about curb appeal!
Martha, who got out of the ghetto this year! Here she is being all Vanna White.
And the Grand Dame of the Party, Phyllis, who brought lace and buttons and little blinky candles! She was SO CUTE when she dashed over to add a sprinkle of powdered sugar for a lovely snowy touch.

To Carol, Sally, Julie & Rhonda: we missed you!! Looking forward to next year. :)

LIFE IS A SERIES OF PRESENTATIONS

So, in my effort to continue to be the best presenter I can be, I read this book by Tony Jeary.

I sort of wish I'd read it a long time ago. As it is, I found it validating, in that I already do a lot of the things recommended here. Like scope out the room early to reduce the "surpirse" element, involve the audience, keep a "Presentations Arsenal" of quotes, stories, statistics, visuals, etc. to enhance your presentations.

But I did pick up a few new tips:

Tell the audience "why" your message is important. This focuses not only you, but the audience.

Start with a bang and get right to the meat of your message because "most audiences spend the first 3 minutes of the presentation sizing up the presenter."

Use "breathing spaces" to allow your audience an oportunity to reflect on what you've just said. This can be taking a sip of water, whipping out a great prop, asking for audience participation.

Make people feel smart, not stupid. In other words, don't ask them questions hoping they won't know the answer. Frame your information in a way that reduces that discomfort. "When possible, set your audience up to win."

Use an evaluation tool to not only help you improve your presentation in the future, but also to provide a takeaway to reinforce your message.

Happy presenting, all!

THE CHRISTMAS CARD YOU WON'T BE GETTING

Ummm, yeah. Youngest son was not feeling the Joy at the tree farm this year. And now we have this picture to remember the day FOREVER.

Thanks, Eric, for making us laugh. A lot.

We love you even when you're grumpy. :)

SOMETHING JESUS SAID

So I was reading this article in Ode Magazine by Rabbi Rami called Standing Barefoot before God about the "agony and ecstasy of writing as a spiritual practice."

Rabbi Rami cites the Gospel According to Thomas:

"Don't cease seeking until you find. When you find you will be troubled. When you're troubled, you will marvel. And when you marvel, you will reign over all."

I wish there was a cyber link to this article. Instead I guess y'all will have to go out and buy the magazine instead!

Or, even better: GO OUT AND MARVEL.

Speaking of marveling...the lovely spiderweb photograph is by my amazing sis Lynn Baker. We are producing some postcard swag for THE COLOR OF LOST ROOMS that include her photo and my poem "The Faith of Spiders."

Stay tuned!

THE BEST PART OF THE ZOO

Not the flamigos, although Stella in my new book DON'T FEED THE BOY really loves them -- and they are gorgeous.
Not the gorillas, although I do love the story of the Birmingham Zoo's Babec, who is no longer with us except in spirit.
Not the macaws, although wow were they talkative this visit! And colorful, as ever.
Not the zebras, which were way too busy enjoying their hay to pay us much attention.
Not even this guy, who posed just for me.
THIS FELLA. He's the one.

So, yes, part of our Thanksgiving holiday included a trip to the zoo. I'm so excited about TRAILS OF AFRICA, coming Spring of 2011. Meanwhile, I do believe it is still National Family Stories Month. Which means I have a prompt for you:

Share a story about an encounter with a wild animal (human or otherwise!).

Tell your story.

IN THE KITCHEN WITH GRANDMA

This is one of my treasures: a favorite recipe written out for me in my grandmother's own handwriting.

I love the way she made the recipe her own and noted her changes.

I love every stain on the paper, because it shows how well-loved this recipe has been by my family all these years.

I love how my youngest son lists this recipe as his very favorite and made sure I was making this year, even though I am not cooking a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

And this year, the first Thanksgiving Grandma Dykes is not with us, I especially love the many ways she injected sweetness into my life.

Notice I've made her recipe my own as well: balls instead of logs.

Now. In honor of FAMILY STORIES MONTH, I offer you the following prompt:

Share a story about a memorable family meal.

Tell your story!