New Friends, New Books

 

My daughter LaDawn, and I met several new friends at the Bloomington Writers Festival & Book Fair last week where one hundred writers networked with one another and with twenty three vendors such as publishers (traditional and self-publish), editors,audiobooks and more.  Several workshops provided a wealth of info for writers and the general public.

I would like to introduce you to two of them.



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Marly Cornell is an artist, writer, ghostwriter, and manuscript editor from Minneapolis.  She has worked for thirty years in the corporate nonprofit service in healthcare, behavioral services, mental health law, and physician recruitment.

In her book, The Able Life of Cody Jane, Marly candidly tells the courageous story of her only daughter. Cody was born with spina bifida (myelomeningocele) a nervous system dysfunction. She had  multiple other  physical disabilities as well.  She faced insurmountable barriers, and yet, Marly says, "Cody was a person of joyful spirits and infectious humor."  Marly adds, "Cody knew the complete inability of circumstance to deflect greatness of spirit - a reminder that each day of life is best engaged with a sense of celebration.  Cody died at age 32.

Marly's other book, Seeds for Change, documents how Suri and Edda Sehgal, refugees who each escaped dangerous and difficult circumstances as children came to America as young adults (from India and Germany respectively), met and fell in love.  They went on to have  extraordinary experiences as talented and visionary business leaders and generous philanthropists.  As a crop scientist and agricultural visionary, Suri became a respected and pivotal figure in the development of the global hybrid-seed industry.   The personal history of Suri and Edda is a chronicle of an enduring lifelong commitment to helping others.  www.marlycornell.com
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Another friend I met at the Book Fair is Rosanne Bane, from Mpls. and  author of Around the Writer's Block - Using Brain Science to Solve Writer's Resistance.  In addition to being a writer, Rosanne conducts classes at the Loft Literary Center.  She can give you or your writer's group or professional organization the encouragement, information and tools you need to keep writing.  In her book, you will discover the tricks that your brain uses to keep you from writing—and how to beat them.  Rosanne asks,
"Do you:
* Want to write, but find it impossible to get started?
* Keep your schedules so full that you don’t have any time to write?
* Wait until the last minute to write, even though you know you could do a better job if you gave
    yourself more time?
* Suddenly remember ten other things that you need to do whenever you sit down to write?
* Sabotage your own best efforts with lost files, missed deadlines, or excessive self-criticism?"
www.Baneofyourresistance.com

I hope you enjoy a post-mini visit to the Bloomington Writers Festival and Book Fair as much as I did.

Rita Kroon

Where Can Wisdom be Found?

While my husband and I spent time in Arizona this winter, I discovered a creative writers' group that met weekly.  One of the exercises we did was to write down a word or phrase on a pieces of paper, toss them into a hat and then, we would write for a specified time - three to ten minutes - on that particular word or phrase. We had to write  continuously without taking our pen from the paper.  No time to think, imagine, or plot.  Just write.  Another exercise was  to write a poem - rhyming or not.  I wrote this poem adapted from Job 28.

"Where Can Wisdom be Found?"

Where can wisdom be found?  And where is the place of understanding?

Man does not know its value - nor is it found in the land of the living.

The deep says, "It is not in me."  The rolling sea says, "It is not with me."

Pure gold cannot be given in exchange - nor can silver be weighed as its price.

Diamonds or sapphires cannot equal it; coral and crystal cannot acquire it.

Where then does wisdom come from?  And where is the place of understanding?
Mann cannot comprehend it - it is hidden in the land of the living.

There is a mine for silver - there's a refiner to purify gold.

Rocks are a source of sapphires, and its dust contains gold.

The path no bird of prey knows - the falcon's eye caught sight of it.

Where can wisdom be found?  And where is he place of understanding?

It is concealed from the birds of the sky - it is hidden from the eyes of the living.

God understands its way - He knows it place.

He looks to the ends of the earth - He sees everything under the sun.

He said to man, "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom!"

And to depart from evil, that is understanding!"

This was a fun writing exercise that taught me that when I hit a writer's block, if I pick a word or phrase and just write whatever comes to mind for a set amount of time, it breaks up the writer's block like dynamite blows apart a mountain.

So,no more excuses for not writing because of writer's!

Rita Kroon