Sarah E. Morin's Blog, page 6
August 21, 2017
Vote for Your Favorite Cat Poem
Elusive, sleek, mysterious–am I talking about a poem or a cat? Our feline companions lend themselves to pithy poetry, so I had to answer the call for cat poems when I saw Brick Street Poetry’s contest announcement. My haiku is one of 9 finalists. (Get it – 9 finalists, 9 lives?)
You can read all the entries on their site. Then vote for your favorite through a donation to FACE Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic.
Visitors can vote for their favorite poems through Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017.
You’re also invited to a cat poem reading at 7pm, Saturday, September 9, 2017, at Nine Lives Cat Cafe, 1315 Shelby Street, Indianapolis.
Out of courtesy to the contest organizers, I won’t post my poem on this site, though you are welcome to read it on theirs. But I will show off Lucy, my feline muse for most of my cat poems.
As you see, Lucy was an extremely touchable long-haired cat.
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Even the picture makes me want to pet her.
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Know the feeling, cat lovers?
Lucy was not the brightest cat I ever owned by she was definitely the sweetest. Well, except for her habit of playing with plastic bags in the morning til I got up and fed her.
Here’s a great parody book cover my friend Sherry made of my cat and her dog:
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I am not sure which is pride and which prejudice.
Have your pets made it into your writing? Tell me how in the comments.
June 29, 2017
Wanted – Fairy Tale Illustrator
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Image courtesy of Supertrooper at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I have received a grant from Indiana Arts Commission to self-publish my poem, “Rapunzel the Hairbrained.” It is a humorous twist on the classic tale that imagines what would happen to Rapunzel after she ends up with her prince. What happens when the only thing you teach a girl is to obsess over her hair? The book will accompany a workshop for girls about positive self-image.
I am open to any medium that can be color-printed and conveyed clearly in a high resolution digital file format. The style should be kid-friendly but ironic or tongue-in-cheek, since 3rd-5th graders will not want to feel it’s a “baby book.” The book will be a total of approximately 32 pages. Sketches will be due mid-October, and final artwork Dec 31. We will launch the book in April 2018, just in time to partner with Nickel Plate Arts for their popular Fairyville event. I have been involved with Fairyville for the past 5 years – check it out!
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The artist will receive $1000 total payment for their work as well as the option to promote their work through occasional public appearances and social media focused on the project. I will consider artists of any experience level based on the quality of their work. Special attention will be paid to budding artists in central Indiana, but other artists are welcome to apply.
The artist would grant me permanent rights to republish artwork done for this project, in any format. Beyond that, they would retain rights to republish any of their own artwork created in association with this project. The artist will also have the option of purchasing copies of the finished book at production cost, for their own use or resale, at any time during the grant period.
If interested, please contact Sarah E. Morin at sarahemorin1836@gmail.com with the following information:
Name
Address
Phone
Website
Relevant experience
Attach 5 samples of your work or link to a site that shows your artwork
Put RAPUNZEL in the subject line
I am happy to send you a copy of the poem so you can see if we are an artistic fit for each other.
Deadline August 30.
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Wanted â Fairy Tale Illustrator
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Image courtesy of Supertrooper at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I have received a grant from Indiana Arts Commission to self-publish my poem, âRapunzel the Hairbrained.â It is a humorous twist on the classic tale that imagines what would happen to Rapunzel after she ends up with her prince. What happens when the only thing you teach a girl is to obsess over her hair? The book will accompany a workshop for girls about positive self-image.
I am open to any medium that can be color-printed and conveyed clearly in a high resolution digital file format. The style should be kid-friendly but ironic or tongue-in-cheek, since 3rd-5th graders will not want to feel itâs a âbaby book.â The book will be a total of approximately 32 pages. Sketches will be due mid-October, and final artwork Dec 31. We will launch the book in April 2018, just in time to partner with Nickel Plate Arts for their popular Fairyville event. I have been involved with Fairyville for the past 5 years – check it out!
[image error]
The artist will receive $1000 total payment for their work as well as the option to promote their work through occasional public appearances and social media focused on the project. I will consider artists of any experience level based on the quality of their work. Special attention will be paid to budding artists in central Indiana, but other artists are welcome to apply.
The artist would grant me permanent rights to republish artwork done for this project, in any format. Beyond that, they would retain rights to republish any of their own artwork created in association with this project. The artist will also have the option of purchasing copies of the finished book at production cost, for their own use or resale, at any time during the grant period.
If interested, please contact Sarah E. Morin at sarahemorin1836@gmail.com with the following information:
Name
Address
Phone
Website
Relevant experience
Attach 5 samples of your work or link to a site that shows your artwork
Put RAPUNZEL in the subject line
I am happy to send you a copy of the poem so you can see if we are an artistic fit for each other.
Deadline August 30.
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April 16, 2017
Talking about Fairies on TV
The early bird…gets to be on TV.
Yesterday morning I went to Fox59 with Aili McGill of Nickel Plate Arts to talk up Fairyville on the morning news segment.
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Fairyville is a 4-day event (April 19-22) where  community members build tiny houses for fairies. They set them along a trail in Noblesville. The event also features crafts and Friday night festivities.
I’ve been involved with Fairyville for about 5 years. I started out reading my fairy tale poetry there and in 2015 launched my unruly fairy tale novel Waking Beauty, there. For the last couple years I’ve co-planned and hosted the tea parties.
The theme this year is Fantastic Fairies and Where to Find Them. Here’s a blurb I wrote up to describe the program:
Are fairies hiding in your backyard? In downtown Noblesville? Weâve seen a few, and weâll teach you how to be the perfect fairy host! Play the right music, serve the right food, learn what makes a fairy feel right at home. If weâre lucky, we may draw a couple fairies out of hiding for games and teatime.
Participants will learn âfairy cultureâ through games, activities, crafts, and music. They will interact with life-sized fairies and enjoy a tea of light snacks and beverages. After completing their lessons in fairy etiquette, the fairies will sprinkle participants with fairy dust and make them honorary fairies. This program teaches a subtle message of inclusiveness, but mainly provides a chance to indulge in fun and whimsy. No specific attire is required, but come in your wings if you have them!
Aili invited me to plug Fairyville with her on the morning news. I was so worried about being on time I got there 40 minutes early. But let me tel you, the staff at Fox59 are gems. Everyone offered hospitality, from the security guard to the news anchors. I began to think they were guest service professionals instead of newscasters!
I asked Aili if I should wear my queen costume,
A. because it’s my uniform for the tea parties, where I am “Queen Sarah” and
B. Because any morning you spend dressed as a queen makes the whole day go well.
Although I feel like I spent most of the interview Smiling and nodding and nearly missing Aili’s cues, it wasn’t nearly as noticeable on camera as it felt at the time! Side note about Aili McGill – she used to be my supervisor at Conner Prairie Interactive History Park. In fact, early in our careers there we both interpreted together. She is excellent at throwing people cues. Study her technique – this is a conversational skill we should all develop!
View the video here.
4 minutes on TV flew by! (Pardon the fairy pun.) It was a delightful opportunity and I thank Aili and Fox59 for including me. Now, who out there will join me in trying to entice fairies to visit us at teatime?
Seats still available April 19-22 at Nickel Plate Arts.Â
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April 11, 2017
Published in Indiana Voice Journal
Happy to announce three of my poems were just published in the April issue of Indiana Voice Journal:
Marilyn Unwrapped
I am a Woman of Many Complexities
Eulogy for a Slinky
Read the entire April issue here!
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As a bonus to go along with these pieces, here’s a little behind-the-scenes scoop on each poem:
Eulogy for a Slinky
One day as I was walking home from the library, feeling steeped in literary musings, I cut through a neighborhood and nearly stepped on a Slinky. I have rather a phobia about stepping on dead animals. As a kid I once stepped on a fish a fisherman had caught and stashed on the riverbank for a moment. So this Slinky took my breath for a moment, as though I had run upon an animal corpse. It was half on the sidewalk, half in the dry sizzling grass. If you’ve ever owned a Slinky, you know that over time they get kinky and uneven. This one sprawled everywhere – it would never be able to walk down stairs again. There was something both tragic and amusing about the sight.
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By Roger McLassus via Wikimedia Commons
Marilyn Unwrapped
I keep a list of remarkable but flawed women, whose complex characters or situations fascinate me. These women aren’t necessary ones I want to emulate, as I would my heroine Susan B. Anthony, but I love studying the details of their rich lives. Marie Antoinette made this list, as did Marilyn Monroe, especially after watching the TV show about her, Smash. Joe DiMaggio’s song about the scene she films for The Seven Year Itch was especially powerful. It hits upon her celebrity and sex appeal, but also its cost.
In my poem, I wanted to also capture the excitement of her stardom in that iconic moment, but more of the hollowness and vulnerability that goes with it. Not exactly from her perspective, but as though I were talking to her.
And of course, there are lots of food references. Because I love putting food in my poetry – it’s so evocative.
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By Trailer distributed by 20th Century Fox. via Wikimedia Commons
I will always have a soft spot for Marilyn Unwrapped because it marks the first time my artistic partner-in-crime, Alys Caviness Gober, and I ever collaborated together. Alys painted a piece entirely in textured white to accompany the poem. We exhibited together at Nickel Plate Arts in 2015. You can check out her painting on her website.
I Am a Woman of Many Complexities
This poem was inspired simply because I wanted to try a new form, the Bop.
The Bop was created by Afaa Michael Weaver during a summer retreat of the African American poetry organization, Cave Canem. The Bop consists of three stanzas, each stanza followed by a refrain.  You can learn more at the Shadow Poetry website, a great resource of poetic forms.
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By Gemmaterra via Wikimedia Commons
Ready to read the poems? Check them out!
January 15, 2017
Poems On the Closing of Ringling Bros.
So Ringling Bros. Circus is closing down after 146 years.What will happen to these highly-specialized performers, geniuses of a dying art form? The history nerd in me hates this, and the kid in me hates this even more. A little slice of childhood wonder, gone. I feel like my parents just told me I’m too old to go trick-or-treating.
How do you describe your feelings when the fair or circus leaves town? It’s the burst of cotton candy on your tongue-spun sugar, spun stories, spun magic-that vanishes before you even have the chance to chew. And you are left with a hollow ache in your belly and sweetness on your blue and pink tongue.
Maybe the best way to describe my feelings is through two poems I previously wrote on the subject:
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By ÐаÑвенковÑкий (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
THE FAIR FOLK
A big top springs up in the glade oâernight:
A mushroom cap of red, orange, green, blue, brown.
And in its shade, the Fairy Folk alight,
Enchant the town.
There brightly colored pixies frolic âround.
Theyâre clowns. Theyâre gymnasts, wingless, yet in flight.
The Fair Folk cast their spell as sun goes down.
Now gone the gypsy dance and pagan rite,
Now just three fairy rings upon the ground.
Mementos of one cotton candy night
Enchant the town.
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Georges Seurat [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
CARNIVAL WORLD
When the carnival left
the fairgrounds bore
the alien imprint
of crop circles in the grass.
The merry-go-round
left the round ghost
of the landing site
of a flying saucer.
Where are the inhabitants
of this fleeting world
that still smells of deep-fried adrenaline?
Where the monuments they erected
of metal bars and canvas?
What means their last message:
the trampled echo of calliope music?
They flew away
through colorful stars
Ferris wheel galaxies
and left behind the litter of
a space, a time.
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This beautiful painting was created by my friend, Alys Caviness-Gober, for Carnival World
October 27, 2016
Booktoberfest at Fishers Library
I’m pleased to be included in this group of talented authors! I’ve met many of them personally and feel certain you will enjoy chatting with them, too. Please come on out Saturday, November 5!
Chris Clouser
Pamela Jackson
Sarah E. Morin
Francesca Quarto Francesca Quarto
Bob Schmidt
M.K. Scott
Wherever known, I have included links to their sites.
More info about Booktoberfest, call the Fishers Library in Fishers, Indiana:
(317) 579 – 0307
September 6, 2016
Exclusive Book Release Info: Caldera
Jason Pennington
End Times Thriller
5 Stars
And yes, I am the VERY FIRST to blog about this newly-released book, Caldera. Get the book and spread the word!
After her service in the US Special Forces in Iran goes terribly wrong, Alicia just wants to move on with her new life as a civilian. She refuses to revisit the past, even for her old war buddy, Jake. But on the very night Jake shows up at the diner where Alicia works, she is viciously attacked. When she receives no justice, again, she and Jake take justice into their own hands. America must pay.
But are their new allies really allies? Are their enemies really enemies? What are the consequences when everyone does what is right in their own eyes?
Caldera is an End-Times thriller with a wealth of intriguing characters, each wrestling with their own inner demons in a world about to explode. The characters’ dialogue pops, especially the sassy Southerner, Sherwyn. I fell in love with the banter between several key characters, namely Mark and Ben. The memorable characters are a highlight of the novel. There are as many of them to keep track of as there as in Games of Thrones, but I am now totally invested in what becomes of each of them. The political intrigue of the book, as relationships form and break, are exciting and engaging.
Full disclosure here – the author Jason Pennington is a friend and the husband of my old college roommate. So while I can’t be 100% objective, I do have the advantage of knowing what is coming next in this series. It is so hard not to give spoilers. Let’s just say that while the violence level is higher than I usually read, it is completely there for a purpose. This book is not afraid to challenge the reader to look at the darkness in society and themselves. It is intended for mature audiences, but there is nothing gratuitous. And as the series moves along, you will understand a deeper message and symbolism behind everything, a truth made more beautiful because of the darkness that came before. Rarely will you find a series that is so gritty but offers such hope.
A behind-the-scenes detail I CAN tell you with no spoilers – Jason has the most fascinating way of outlining his novels as any writer I know. He used a computer program to illustrate key scenes and set them to music. Every time I visited there was a new music video to watch. Is it possible to get attached to characters out of context, just from seeing a picture? Absolutely. The action, poses, and music evoked tone and personally that made me want to know more. Jason did this for a full year before setting pen to paper. Would you call it a form of storyboarding? Book trailers? Any of you other writers out there use this method?
August 13, 2016
Review – From This Moment
Elizabeth Camden never disappoints. Her novels are well-researched and full of nuanced details of specific historic times on the cusp of change or momentous events. In From This Moment, it’s Boston, as the subway is installed. There are several allusions to changes in technology, and they are easy to work in since our hero and his cousin (a female one – yea!) own a scientific magazine. There’s also a heroine out to solve the mysterious drowning of her sister, conspiracy in the government, and legal injunctions that shut down the magazine, illicit romance, corruption, explosions, and more. The stakes are so high in this novel, I can’t even list them all without giving away 5 spoilers. The funniest stakes are those of fashion – our hero and heroine both have an eye for style. Shopping for the right buttons can be a mission in and of itself.
Strangely, the romance between the two main characters, Romulus and Stella, was the least compelling part of the novel for me. I loved them both as individuals, but they were so busy battling their individual demons instead of working as a team, I didn’t really care whether they wound up together as anything more than feisty friends. However, two secondary characters provided a more realistic and touching romance. You could just as easily write the back cover as:
Evelyn is the financial brain behind the scientific magazine she runs with her cousin. She’s been estranged from her engineer husband for years, but now the Boston subway has brought him back to town. When a catastrophic event occurs, will it sunder the final thread that binds them together, or heal the breach?
That said, the book easily earns 5 stars. It is an adventurous and busy novel. You never know who to track, but that’s okay because there were at least 8 fascinating and well-defined characters. I loved hearing about every one. And Camden writes strong women and men who aren’t afraid to love art. Kudos.
July 16, 2016
NICE Creativity Workshop July 23-24
Adult artists of any medium and experience level are invited to our NICE Creativity Workshop July 23-24! Gather with your fellow creatives at Logan Street Sanctuary to brainstorm about great works of literature, and we want YOUR creative ideas!
What is the NICE Creativity Workshop, July 23-24?
NICE stands for Noblesville Interdisciplinary Creativity Expo. It is a signature event at Logan Street Sanctuary, but participants need not live in Noblesville to contribute their art. We are delighted when people from out of town are involved, as long as they or someone they delegate can be present at our main event to show off their art.
My partner in crime, Alys, and I picked 4 quotes from classic pieces of literature. The works this year are Macbeth, Rebecca, Alice in Wonderland, and Wynema: Child of the Forest. Wynema is not as well-known but it’s the first novel written by a women of Native American descent (in the late 1800s). We wanted to hear voices from a range of authors. Artists of ANY medium (music, painting, cake decorating, textiles, poets, writers, dancers, ANY medium) create works of art inspired by these quotes, or the works as a whole. The idea is we use the quote as an entry point to explore great works of literature through art.
Our NICE main presentation will be in the Fall, Sept 30-Oct 1. This is when artists present or display their finished works. The workshop on July 23-24 is so artists can begin to prepare their works. It is intended to be a 2-day workshop (4 hours Saturday, 3 hours Sunday), but it is not required anyone attend both days.
Day 1 will focus on the quotes by themselves. Day 2 will focus on the quotes in context of the work or play as a whole.
Among the things we will cover:
On Day 1:
Take a tour of Logan Street Sanctuary http://loganstreetsanctuary.org/, a local artists venue and registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Discuss what makes a timeless literary classic and how we can use a quote as an entry point.
Learn several brainstorming techniques for drawing artistic inspiration from a literary quote. These will involve balloon outlines, theater improv games, musical “conducting” using our favorite words from each quote, and. All the brainstorming techniques are designed so ANYONE can participate regardless of skill level in that particular art. We want to be a safe place for artists to experiment and exchange ideas. Our exercises will include movement, writing, rhythms, and color.
“Free play” – We encourage participants to bring their art supplies with them – anything from pen and paper to paint to knitting needles – whatever your thing is! During free play, you can start to create your work, continue brainstorming, or even collaborate with another artist.
On Day 2:
Learn the history of each work as a whole, characters, plotline.
Participate in collaborative visual art.
Discuss major themes in each book.
More free play. Our goal by the end of the workshop is that most participants will be ready to submit a proposal form for our NICE event on Sept 30-Oct 1. The work does not have to be finished for the artist to submit a form – but they should have a clear idea of what they will be creating and how it fits one of our literary works. We also hope at least some artists will be inspired by each other and wish to collaborate. We would love some cross-pollination of the arts – a musician writes a piece for a dancer, a poet writes a poem and a painter writes it on canvas with illustrations, etc.
We would love to have you come! Adult artists of any kind and any experience level are welcome. The workshop is a great value – just $15 for both days, and there is a group rate of $10 per person for groups of 4 or more. More info at: http://loganstreetsanctuary.org/nice-noblesville-interdisciplinary-creativity-expo or like our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NICE.Noblesville.Interdisciplinary.Creativity.Expo/?fref=ts.
