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I'm a 6th generation Missourian. My multi-great grandparents were some of the first settlers in the area. Not too far from my home in Springfield, there's a church that was established by the same settlers. They're all buried in the cemetery out back. The slippery elm trees curl all around it. My cousin still works the neighboring farm. His cows are sometimes along the fence at the back of the cemetery when we visit, watching us with their enormous brown eyes. It's a peaceful place. One of the most peaceful I've ever been. It's the only place I've ever stood in life and been unable to hear the ..read more

 by Charlotte Bennardo The theme this month is 'rooted'. For over a week, I've been 'rooted' in my bedroom/en suite because of a right hip replacement. My world was limited to how far I could use my walker between bedroom, bathroom, and my office (all on the same floor). The same path, trod over and over, was my world. Photo by Felix Mittermeier: https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-tree-photo-1080401/ Now in week two, I can slowly, carefully, negotiate stairs. I took a walk on the driveway and into my backyard. My world has expanded; I'm no longer rooted in the same, small, circular pa ..read more

Stephanie Burt writes in The Poem Is You: 60 Contemporary Poems and How to Read Them (Harvard University Press, 2016), “[A task] still best fitted to poetry” [is to] let us imagine someone else’s interior life.” [Poems] “project a voice and embody a compelling or attractive individual consciousness, which we can then hear, or speak, or sing, or try on, or try out, as if it were our own.” As someone who writes both poetry and fiction, and often a blend of both in verse novels, I have a strong reaction to this quote. Perhaps imagining another's interior life is a task best fitted to poetry but s ..read more

  Welcome to Smack Dab, Aaron! I have to admit, the tag for your book (“Inspire kids to protect the planet with “climate-fighters” superhero series “) snagged my attention immediately. Please tell us a bit more about The Climate Diaries. Thanks!   As a climate-tech industry guy and a concerned father, I set out to do something about it. As a first-time author, however, I’m a little new to book publicity! With this series, I set out to tackle the social, scientific, and existential discussion surrounding climate change head-on, in a way that kids could relate to, that will leave the ..read more

  Fiction is primarily an emotional exchange. The reader stays connected to the hero because they feel the story. The reader wants to see the character succeed, or at least wants to see what happens next, because of this connection. The debate whether a story is character-driven or plot-driven is outdated, even cursory. The truth is characters drive the plot, and the plot molds the character. The relationship is intimate and inseparable.  And at the core of this connection is the heart – the emotion -- of the story. Remember how you felt when you read Wilson Rawls’ Where the Red Fe ..read more

 With this month's theme of rooted, I can't help but think of trees. Especially the ancient ones that have survived for thousands of years. I am currently reading a fascinating book that describes some of these natural wonders found in the USA. IN SEARCH OF THE OLD ONES talks about the redwoods, the sequoias, bald cypress, and the quaking aspen trees that have been here since indigenous people roamed the continent. Trees that have survived earthquakes, floods, fires, tornadoes, and other disasters both natural and man-made. The quaking aspen in Fish Lake, Utah is a single tree that spa ..read more

The family story goes something like this.  In an attempt to save money and to feed their love for root beer, my grandparents, one spring, took a stab at making their own. They did whatever one does to brew it, then they stored all the bottles in the cool basement.  The thing about cool basements, especially in un-air-conditioned Midwest homes, is that they are not immune from summer heat. You can guess the rest. There came the day when my grandparents heard a huge pop. Then another. Another!  In the heat, the carbonation took on a life of its own. The bubbles became too much f ..read more

 Today I'm chasing the total eclipse of the sun. This photo of me staring at the sun through my welder's glass was taken at the 2017 eclipse. I also saw the one in 1991. But I'm not saying, okay been there, done that. Instead, my family has been planning for months to see this one on April 8. We want the best chance for clear skies in that narrow strip of the zone of totality. Why have we spent so much time and effort and money? The sun and the moon hang around us all the time. We take them for granted like old friends. But today those heavenly bodies will align in an unusual way AND ATT ..read more

  Irene Latham Hello and Happy National Poetry Month! This month we are riffing off the word "rooted." The first thing that comes to my mind is one of my daily Mindfulness Affirmations: I am rooted in this present moment. There have been times in my life when I've agonized over this question: What's my PURPOSE? All these stories, poems, words...what are they FOR? I mean, we could spend decades on those questions! And the answer may shift and change directions from year to year... One thing I've discovered since my first book for children was released (2010) is that when I am root ..read more