Kelli Russell Agodon's Blog, page 103

We're Flying Over to Twitter on Sunday Eve!

Here the 7 of us are in our Twitter form

I copied this from Deb Ager's Facebook Status, but I wanted to share the news in case anyone wanted to join us (9 pm EST, 6 pm PST)--





 If you're on Twitter, join Deborah Ager, Kelli Russell Agodon, January Gill O'Neil, D.A. Powell, Collin Kelley, Susan Rich, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil for a Twitter poet party. Follow the #poetparty hashtag. Ask questions. "Listen" to poems. Sunday, October 24 @ 9 pm ET.

_______________

Some notes:  I have never been part of a Twitter party, nor a Twitter Poetry Party, nor tried to party with so many poets online in any way.

But I'm kind of excited to see what happens.  Or to see what I screw up.  

I cannot tell you how long it took me to get a *basic* understanding of Twitter.  Maybe I was invited because they thought I'd be the poet with the lampshade on her head by the end of the night.

Watch me miss a letter in our hashtag of #poetparty and be hanging with Tell-Tale Heart fans all night--  The PoeParty.  Or miss two letters, and I've gone sci-fi with ETparty.

Either way, I'll be there.  #poetparty

If you want to follow me on Twitter my handle (seriously, I cannot think of a better name to call it--  and I know this is so B.J. & the Bear -(I've linked that to Wikipedia if you have no idea what I am talking about)) it is "kelliagodon" - Yes, very unique and creative, I know.

Hope to see you Sunday night.





Tweet.

Life Imitating Art or Vice Versa...

My husband noticed a coincidence on my desk yesterday.  He said (of a small broken vintage ceramic figure), "That woman looks like your book cover."  



And I realized she did.



What's interesting is that a couple years ago, either my cat, my daughter, or myself knocked down this ceramic item breaking the head off.  (For awhile we used to keep her head in the small ceramic tray in front of her...until that broke off too.)



Here's a photo of the woman from the back and then a photo of my cover image.  There is a resemblance--





































By the way, this is the back of the figure, the front says, "Where is the Friend?"

Thankful Thursday-- Yum! What we made today...

Recipe for Emily Dickinson's gingerbread cake - The Boston Globe

Here's a link to Emily D's gingerbread cake. My husband recently made this, but said it was too thick for the mixer and hand-mixed it. He said he wouldn't recommend it because of that, but I would as I thought it added to the charm of it. Of course, he did all the work.
Here's the original recipe..
Recipe for Emily Dickinson's gingerbread cake - The Boston Globe

Confession Tuesday on Wednesday...

I confess when I sent that quick email of my nightstand last night, I knew it wasn't enough, it was half-arsed confession Tuesday, but I confess, I was so tired I needed to sleep.



I confess like an 96 year old woman, I've been going to bed earlier and earlier these days.  And actually, I'm sure a 96 year old woman could outlast me at a party.



Some things I've noticed by getting more sleep--



1)  I'm nicer

2)  I'm not as anxious

3)  I'm happier

4)  I feel better

5)  I have a stronger immune system



Now, I'm sure most of you are aware of these benefits, but it's taken me X number of years to figure them out.  The less-anxious part is truly shocking to me.  I feel like a different person when I have a full-night's sleep.  Imagine!



So this is my second confession Tuesday because I confess taking a photo of my nightstand (and you didn't even see the stack of Oprah magazines I'm behind on!) wasn't really as good as you deserve, more of a lazy confession, which is exactly where I was last night.



So I'll confess more.  I'll confess how I just spent $20 on a "hotel pillow" and I've never spent that much on a pillow and now, my perfect pillow isn't so perfect.  Its perfection lasted about a week and now it's as if I've rested my head on a lump of playdoh.



If you have the perfect pillow, please let me know what it is and where I can get it.  I've been searching for it for years!  (And yes, I've even tried going pillowless...not for me).



Also, in the shopping department of the confessional, I confess I just spent more on clothes last Thursday than I have in 5 years.  (Okay, you'd probably think this would be a ton of money, but since I shop at consignment shops, it's really not that much.  I'm almost embarrassed to say because I know that some of you might have spent this much on one dress or coat or _______________ - fill in the blank).  For me, and my $ is my pocket is > than new clothes, it was kind of hard to do.



I'll be honest, I hate shopping and I have set prices in my head for how much I should pay for something.  



I have become someone much different than the 20-something I was who would spend $140 on a Benetton sweater without blinking an eye.  My Ralph Lauren sweatshirt for $85.  My Coach purse for $320 including the leather kit to care for said Coach purse.



Maybe it comes with having a child or realizing that I'd rather spend my money on experiences than things.  (Of course, I want to look good, so I do appreciate picking up a few key wardrobe elements every so often.  I'm thrifty-- thrifty and vain, I'd say.)



Maybe this wanting to spend less on clothes is also because I don't have the full-time corporate job and money (like it did in my 20's) doesn't arrive weekly in check form in an envelope with my name on it.  It's an interesting place where I am--waiting to look good, wanting quality clothes, but not wanting to pay retail prices.  I still have not read  The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life (by Cecile Andrews - my live simply Bible) this year as I do every fall.  Had I read it, I bet I would have only bought 1 sweater instead of 3, 1 pair of pants instead of 4.  But alas, I guess the good news is I have options now and well, 3 of the pants still have tags on them, so I can always take them back.



One last confession-- I confess I've been not-so-good at responding to your comments, but know, I read every one and appreciate seeing them.  Thank you and amen.

Confession Tuesday - the Nightstand Edition

My Favorite Photos from the Poetry Reading, Oct. 17th 2010 at Open Books in Seattle

Here are three of my favorite photos (2 taken by Susan Rich & one by my husband) from my Open Books reading in Seattle yesterday.  Susan also took another incredible photo of my daughter and me that I just treasure.



From an emotional level, the reading was magical. I was ridiculously stressed before it began, way more than normal, but the positive is that much of that nervousness allowed me to work to create a reading I felt the audience would enjoy.  I came prepared and I was glad about that.



I did have a few things for the audience--a vintage key attached to a small section of a poem with ribbon, chocolate, and the recipe for Emily D's Black Forest Cake.



Looking back, the only thing I'd do differently is to tell the audience that after the reading I'd be by the podium signing books as I know a number of people I didn't know bought books, but left without getting it signed. I think I could have made sure people knew I was available and happy to do that.  I know readers/poets/writers can be shy about such things, and if you were in the back, it was quite a crowded narrow path to get to me.



But if that's the only thing I'd change, then I guess I feel the reading went well, which is good to say because Open Books is my all-time favorite bookstore and is owned by two of the most wonderful people and poetry-lovers around.



As I've said, Susan Rich has a great rundown on her blog about the reading if you're interested.  I'm just going to enjoy the feeling I have right now of finishing it and just enjoying the space I'm in.  Ahhhhh.  Poetry.

It's 2 a.m. - Do you know what your manuscript is doing?

It's currently 2:04 am and I'm awake from a mixture of too much chocolate mousse, too much excitement from my reading and just enough poetry.  But since I am awake, I want to tell you one of the most important things I learned while preparing for my reading that I think might help you if you're working on a larger manuscript -- the paragraph of explanation.

P.O.E.  (Paragraph of Explanation):  A paragraph that explains the main ideas, topics, concepts, and or subject(s) of your manuscript.

Now while I did this for my poetry manuscript, I'm thinking this would also be useful in preparing a memoir manuscript as well.  Maybe a novel, but it's too early in the morning to think about that...

Because I was so nervous for this reading, I did something I do not normally do in such detail-- I sat down at my laptop and wrote out every word, thought, idea that planned to say at this event.   The interesting thing that happened is that while I wanted to explain how my collection came about, what all the poems meant as a whole, what was my underlining idea or concept in putting together this manuscript and what was I trying to achieve, I learned a few things about this process and about my manuscript.

And in doing this, I was realizing how helpful this would have been to me at about year two of the manuscript.  (This is really something to do when you find you have a good manuscript, not at the beginning stages when the work is just being created.)

Around that time, I could see a manuscript coming together.  I could see how I wanted the poems ordered--  what I didn't understand is what I was trying to do in the manuscript.

Writing everything out, from why my sections are sectioned the way they are to why the order of the poems helped me in a deeper understanding of my manuscript I could have used early on in the revising-part of manuscript process.

I realized things I already knew, but in much a much greater view, like how much Alice in Wonderland, Emily Dickinson, and certain images or ideas appear in my work.  I can see it now, and saw it later as I was putting the manuscript together, but when my manuscript was young, I did not see all these connections, the bigger picture of what I was trying to share or explore in my manuscript.

Sometimes if you apply for a grant, you have to deal with this early on.  Usually when you apply for a grant they want to know exactly what will you use the money for and what is your manuscript about.  It makes you stop and think and to really pinpoint your main ideas.  While I don't feel a manuscript needs to be a small pinpoint in a night of stars, I do think writing out your thoughts as you move deeper into writing and revising your manuscript can be helpful.

Here are some things you might want to ask yourself--

1)  If someone were to ask me, what my manuscript is about, do I know?  How many sentences does it take to answer:  What is your manuscript about?   If it is only a collection of your favorite poems you've ever written, know that.  If it about the idea of loss based on an experience you had, know that.   It doesn't matter what the answer is here, you just need to understand for yourself, why you have chosen the poems you have chosen.

2)  Why have I ordered my manuscript the way I did?

Ideas for ordering a manuscript:Narrative arcEmotional arcAlphabeticallyBy theme/subjectBy emotional/theme subjectSome completely different wayA few of the ways above combined

3)  Why do I have the sections that I have?



4)  Why did I choose my title?



5)  What do I want to reader to take away from this collection?





These are the main questions I think of at 2 am--  What is manuscript doing?



If you don't know, I'm not sure your reader will know.



~



So those are my 2 am thoughts after a wonderful reading tonight (er, yesterday).  I think I will pretend my creative non-fiction/memoir based book I'm working on is already published and pretend I'm giving a reading on it and try to explain what I am doing.  I will definitely do this for my poetry manuscript, probably once I think I have a strong enough manuscript and have made it through the *creation* part (a part where I'm not sure too much knowledge is good), but during the revising part when sometimes writing our thoughts out can help us connect things in a stronger way.

My big book release reading was yesterday at Open Boo...

My big book release reading was yesterday at Open Books.  I will confess (even though that it's not Tuesday) that I was really nervous.  Open Books is only one of two poetry-only bookstores in the country (and I'm not 100% sure if the other poetry-only bookstore is still in business).  For a poet (and especially a poet in the Northwest), it's a big deal to read here.

For the best photos & documentation of the event, check out Susan Rich's blog.

I'll post more emotional, detailed thoughts on this later, but just wanted to share the news that I feel my book is officially launched!

Where I am Right Now- Lost on a Cornmaze