Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Halloween and Dolls and antique Wax Models for Ana...

The Bathory Chronicles, Volume I, won a prize!

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Halloween and Dolls and antique Wax Models for Ana...: One of the things I enjoy is posting on Pinterest. I have a Holidays Board and a Doll Collection Board; both contain images of Halloween an...

The Bathory Chronicles Wins a Prize!

And so did two of my other books! Children Recognized Author Winners a to z and how it came to be by Jane Knigge A Walrus Ate My Right, Blue Shoe by Lori Spencer Around and Around the Seasons We Go! by Jennifer Leonard Buried Treasure in Olney by Thomas Renk Clara and World War II by Ellen Marie Tsagaris Emma Finds Her Voice by Estelle Sobel Erasmus Halloween Night by Kaylee Hamelink If Trees Could Dance by Theresa Stucky Jake and Lilly’s Mom Works by Erin Rhinehart Lovebugs by Shera Dalin My New Mommy by Ronni McNabb Railroad Train by Mariecor Agravante Sit With Mama by Mary Flanagan Malbasa The Magic Shoes by Janet Ruth Heller The Unhappiest Girl in Town by Susan Lutz FICTION CATEGORY GRAND PRIZE WINNER Flight to Destiny by Sarah Byrn Rickman Fiction Recognized Author Winners A Cowboy in Savannah by David Osborne Bronk by Max Oliver Cheron’s Choke by Frank Mabry Eli’s Lullaby by Perry Jurick Laura of the Woods by Steven Bussell No More Yellow Buses by Geoffrey Steele Shadow Mountain by Max Oliver SWEATIN’ by Kim Kendall The Gun Trail by Tom Alberti Toe-rag by Ruan Wright Fiction Silver Lining Winners The Bathory Chronicles Liz Volume I by Ellen Marie Tsagaris The Wild Horse Runs Free by Ellen Marie Tsagaris

What to do at a Reading

I did a reading tonight with some friends at our local library.  There is a community program done every year called Read Local.  Tonight, I read with three other women.  As is often the case, a theme runs through the poetry.  Tonight was autumn, Sylvia Plath, women accused of witchcraft, law, and religion.  I read from With Love from Tin Lizzie about masks and automatons and from my chapbook, Sappho, I should have Listened.  Poets were reading their title pieces, so I read the actual poem “Sappho, I should have Listened.”  We read poems from different parts of our writing careers, and gave an idea of the structure of our books.    For women falsely accused of sorcery, I read “The Blood Countess/ For Erzebet” 

 

I note that those who wrote historical fiction had a few notes about the history that inspired them. Others, including me, gave brief biographies of the women they wrote about and why they inspired them.  I think a little background whets the audience’s appetite.  We also brought copies of our books to display, exchange, and sell. 

 

Students of writing often introduce themselves, eager to join groups and get ideas.  Ironically, a local poets group was meeting across the hall from where we did the reading.  Read Local is a good way for local writers to become aware of each other.  There are programs like it everywhere, and LinkedIn features groups for writers of all types.  You can join as many groups as you want online and commiserate and get ideas.

 

On another note, I picked up some magazines to read at the library, and one 2003

Doll Reader had an article by our friend Shirley Holub, on doll hospitals.  She writes the Doll Hospital series for Scholastic Books. 

 

For those who write memoir, there are several new biographies and memoirs on the shelves, including one by Shirley Jones, where “Mrs. Partridge” allegedly tells all.  Now is the time to get out those holiday ornaments, photos, and old cards.  You never know what might trigger a memoir.  You might also try a historical prompt, “Where were you when…..” and include a significant historical event that affected you.