Calling All Poets! Teach Fiction Writers a Thing or Two

Image courtesy of Morguefile free photos

If you’ve followed this blog a while, you know I have great love and respect for poetry. To improve my fiction, I remind myself to tap into poetic description, and I encourage other prose writers to do the same.

In case you aren’t aware of it, April is National Poetry Month, and I’d like to honor all you poets out there.

Poets who write for their eyes only, to release their emotions and comfort themselves.

Poets who write to soothe or inspire readers like me.

Poets who address difficult subjects in a lovely way.

Poets who condense the world into a digestible, single-sitting format.

Poets who create verses and stanzas more memorable than prose.

Poets who write greeting cards.

Poets who write song lyrics.

Did I forget anyone?

If you are a poet, thank you.

If you are a classroom teacher, librarian, or bookstore owner, you can request (free) this year’s beautifully designed poster from the Academy of American Poets.

Let’s remind people we know–even those who claim to hate poetry–how it enriches our lives. Find your favorite poem and share it this month with someone you care about.

As a poet, what would you like to share with a prose writer? As a prose writer, what would you like to know about writing or appreciating poetry?

 

 

Bird Face Series Book One Cover Design

 A while back, I mentioned acquiring a new publisher that offered me a contract for the first three books of the Bird Face series. This is the cover for Bird Face Book One, coming September 2015! What do you think?

The publisher and I wanted a cheerful look that incorporated a bit of the turquoise color used in the original edition’s cover. Each book of the Bird Face series will have a turquoise strip across the front that tells the name of the series and the book’s number. The font chosen for the cover’s text will also be repeated in subsequent covers.

The titles of the first three books are 8 Notes to a Nobody, 10 Steps to Girlfriend Status, and 6 Dates to Disaster, the third one being a working title at this point. Each story is told from Wendy’s point-of-view, with characters from preceding stories either gaining prominence or receding temporarily into the background until the next story.

Although a few details in the text have changed, book one’s story has not. So if you’ve read the original Bird Face, you’re all set to read book two, which will release shortly after book one. I’ve written book two so that you don’t necessarily need to read them in order. But I believe the reader’s understanding of Wendy’s state of mind the summer after eighth grade in book one will make book two, when she’s in her first semester of high school, all the more enjoyable.

If you’re an educator or member of a book club, a free updated Book Club or Teacher’s Guide PDF for book one will appear on my website very soon at http://www.cynthiattoney.com. The website must undergo some changes by the time the new books are published, so please bear with a temporary mix of old and new information over the next few weeks. If you previously downloaded and printed the original version of the Guide, it’s still viable for use with either edition of book one.

Thanks for following. I look forward to hearing from you–concerning the covers or stories, the Guide, or questions about writing YA novels and getting them published.

Cynthia T. Toney