3KD

It's my 100th post.

I feel like I should do something special.

so, on a whim...your prompt is this:

Prompt #100: email me at karen(at)karenegreene(dot)com and tell me why you'd like to have a copy of my poetry collection Three Thousand Doors. I will randomly pick a winner and announce next week.

sometimes you just gotta DIY...

I see nothing wrong with tooting your own horn once in awhile. pat yourself on the back. high-five yourself. give yourself kudos.

Because we all need a cheerleader now and then, and we shouldn't always have to rely on others to BE that cheerleader - though I will admit that there is a rather giddy feeling that explodes out of my skin when someone I love tells me I'm awesome!

So, why am I feeling particularly awesome today?

Because, dear friends and readers, I have almost COMPLETELY completed the November PAD (Poem a Day) challenge with Robert Lee Brewer!

I have participated in this challenge (and the April PAD challenge) for the past several years, and though I usually come out at the end of the month with about 15-20 new poems, I've never completed a challenge where I've written a piece for every prompt.

and I am VERY close to doing just that!

I currently have 26 new poems written - plus a few non-prompt poems I've written this month - and let me tell you, this feels great!

So, I'm going to start compiling a second collection and start looking to publish. I mean, why not? Three Thousand Doors needs a follow-up, right? (my Mama likes to joke and tell me my next collection should carry the title "Three Thousand MORE doors." ~shakes head~)

Prompt #83: I'm going to work on compiling another poetry collection. What are you gonna do?

roller coaster, yo-yo, angry vortex...release...

I don't tend to share a lot. my emotions are mine to swaddle and smother and keep locked away.

except when writing poetry (which is probably why I had a huge panic attack when Three Thousand Doors was sent off to the printer last year.)

Oh gawd! I'm going to throw up...
it's like...opening up my journal (if I kept one) for all the world to read...f$@#.....

yep. those are pretty much the thoughts that went racing through my head, one after the other, repeatedly.

panic. vomit. journal. swear.

rinse. repeat.

that said, it's been a rough year. stumbling through changes, jumping off emotional cliffs, building wings while falling, tearing my wings to shreds on twisted branches, tumbling through frantic waves of emotion.

tears. panic. uncertainty. frustration. anger.

it took awhile, but I finally found myself brave enough to admit (slowly...to myself at first...and then out loud to a few precious friends) that I was broken, lost, upside down...and I needed to find my own way back. build new platforms. recharge. reconstruct.

it reminds me of a line from an article I read years ago..."I don't care who you are, at some point, life will bring you to your knees." (I wish I could remember who or what the article was about, but it was more than a decade ago)

the thing is, when you're on your knees, you have to take a deep breath, and somehow...find your footing again.

Prompt #59: how do YOU fix broken?

Happy Anniversary!

It's officially the one year anniversary of The Absinthe Road. I had intended to announce the winners of the giveaway today and give away two copies of Three Thousand Doors...but no one entered. so...

instead, I'm saying Happy Birthday to The Absinthe Road. my toddler...if you will.

Prompt #53: This week, I'd like to hear from you. Tell me what you like about this blog, or what you don't like. Tell me what changes you'd like to see in the next year, what you'd like to see more of.

A is for...

So it's almost the one year anniversary of The Absinthe Road.

I gotta say, folks, I'm pretty proud of myself. (pats self on the back. Good job, self!) A full year of weekly prompts. I've posted every Monday. This is a big deal! I've been sticking to a schedule!

May 3 is the official one year mark. I'm going to do another giveaway. Here's how this one will work...

My current followers, I have an "assignment" for you:

Prompt #50: I'd like you to introduce your friends to The Absinthe Road. Each new follower needs to leave a comment and tell me who sent them. On May 2, I will draw the name of one new follower. New follower and their sendee will each receive a copy of my poetry collection, Three Thousand Doors. Pretty easy prompt this week, yes?

Because I have to...

Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals. ~ Don Delillo

several years ago, the editor for the Abilene Writers Guild asked the question, "Why do you write?"

that question prompted me to write a piece, which she printed in the newsletter, and later, that same piece became the introduction to my book Three Thousand Doors

an excerpt from that piece:

...I write because if I do not
I feel I am no more than a leaf
trapped in the brush at the waters’ edge.
Aimless, worthless;
stagnant and decaying waste... ~ me

Prompt #48: Why do YOU write?

survey says...

~ ding ding ding ding ding ~

I had a pretty great signing today for my poetry collection Three Thousand Doors.

My best friend sent flowers...from North Dakota. Honestly, if no one had shown their face at my signing today, I would have been happy because I had flowers from Kaci. because she loves me.
Lucky for me though, I also sold what I think is a decent number of copies. 

Now here's the thing...I've been to several signings in the past three years. My publishing firm has 13 titles available, we've had local signings for about 10 of those titles. Signings are weird creatures. Sometimes we sell a lot...sometimes we sell a few.

The thing all four partners agree upon is this: every signing gets our name out there (as individuals AND as a business.)

Positive thinking? Yes, I believe so.

Prompt #26: What are your expectations? Are you disappointed if events don't meet those expectations? Or do you have the capacity to think positively, and be proud of the efforts made?

Sand and Sea...

well...rocks and Puget Sound. 

photo copyright keg. Edmonds. Marina Park.

I'm in Seattle. This means I go down to the water as often as I can.

Saturday and Sunday we went to several beaches and shot hundreds of photos. Water, rocks, driftwood, seagulls (sorry Kaci,) ferry boats, clouds and sky. We sifted our fingers through rocks and sand looking for perfect stones, shells, sea glass.

photo copyright keg. Downtown Seattle.

We're adventuring again today. North. Oak Harbor.


Prompt #19 - write about the rocks and the water, the seas and the sands, the first time you saw the ocean. or, if you've never been to the ocean, think of your favourite place and write about it. 

~ Announcing the Winners of the Three Thousand Doors drawing~

Tammy over at Message in a Bloggle: The Art of being broken

and

Scott Horn of Scornphoto

Tammy and Scott - 

drop a note (with your mailing address) in a bottle and toss it in the sea. 

I'll collect it from the Puget Sound!

(or - send me a message on Facebook)

a little patience...like, NOW!

So I'm waiting on my book. waiting waiting waiting...

My book! The one I've spent the last 20 or so years working toward. I've compiled a collection of my poetry, Three Thousand Doors, and my copies are not here yet! The universe is testing my patience.

Oh sweet patience, I do not know you very well. I do not care much for you, you usually interfere with what I want and I can't have that kind of interference. but. you do like to pretend sometimes that you are the boss.

so. I'm trying. to be patient. (psst...it's not working very well) I've yelled at the UPS tracking screen at least three times today because the STUPID website will NOT give me any information. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zip.

Bupkis.

sigh.

writing prompt #17 - Patience. what are the things that challenge your patience? 

~ don't forget to leave a comment to win a copy of  

Three Thousand Doors 

(if UPS ever delivers my stock.) 

The drawing will be held and winners announced on September 6, 2010 ~