Kreativ Blogger Award

Elena Caravela recently honored me with the Kreativ Blogger Award-- which I didn't even know existed! In order to accept, I in turn most nominate six other blogs and tell you 10 things you might now know about me, and leave a comment on one of the blogs. So, here I go:


1. Joyce Hostetter's blog, "This Blog is history." With a subtitle like that, how can you go wrong? I have learned so much from Joyce: her passion for communicating the details of history in a  kid-friendly manner, her giving back to the writing community, her passion to use the right word for the right job.


2. The Write2Ignite blog brings together Christians who care about writing quality materials for children and young adults.


3. Barbara Younger blogs at Friend for the Ride. Since most of the blogs I follow are about writing, it is refreshing to follow someone who takes a humorous and informative look at menopause and the "mid-life roller coaster."


4. Becky Levine's writing blog. I draw upon her blogs repeatedly in my writing classes at Central Piedmont Community College.


5. Joy Acey's blog is aptly named Poetry for Kids Joy. Subscribe to this blog and you'll get a fun poem almost everyday in your inbox. 


6. Lori Baldwin's blog. Yes, she is my daughter so I am biased. But her blog, The Unmeasured Cup, is all about recipes she concocts and are gluten free. On top of it, her photography is excellent! Oh, and did I say she's a good writer to?

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Now, for what you may or may not know about me:


1. I like digging in the dirt- planting flowers, tomatoes, or herbs.
2. I used to have a golden retriever named Pax. He was very unlike his name (Pax is Latin for peace).
3. I was widowed when I was 27. Remarried at 32.
4. Sometimes I eat peanut butter with cottage cheese on bagels for breakfast. A college friend once told me it was complete protein. Try it sometime-- you might like it!
5. I have my Bachelor's degree in Mental Health and my Master's in Counseling. 
6. Half-Truths (my WIP) started out as a picture book...many years and revisions ago.
7. My first published book was, "Friendship Counseling: Lay Counseling in the Church." It was translated into Chinese in 1998.
8. I like to swim laps.
9. I believe strongly that good communication is indispensible for building good relationships.
10. We are a family of females: I have 2 step-daughters, 3 daughters, there granddaughters, and one grandson (so far!).

Wild Onions, Orange Popsicles, and Truth

Yesterday Joyce Hostetter and I brainstormed our upcoming workshop for the Write2Ignite conference. We have presented “Using Life Experiences to Inform Your Writing” at other venues, but we like to tweak it each time to make it fresh.

We introduce ourselves by each reading a passage that springboards from our own life experiences.  Previously, I have read from an article for adults in which I show my father’s story-reading influence upon me as a writer. Joyce challenged me use a childhood memory that has impacted my current work in progress, Half-Truths.

We always begin this workshop by providing sensory stimuli to help prompt memories.  Participants build upon these experiences in two different writing activities. Yesterday Joyce and I chewed over how to help writers get to the essence, or “truth” of those memories.

Joyce and I embracing the book sculptures on The Green
in Charlotte, NC

After our conversation, I e-mailed Joyce and asked to clarify what she meant about the discovering the truth of an experience. She replied,

“In the shed scene in BLUE, I refer to the smell of oil and dirt and how that reminds Ann Fay of her Daddy.  But for me, the smell of dirt and oil reminds me mostly of summer days when I would go to the garage and take an inner tube down from a pole on the wall and go to the pond to swim. 

“I could describe my own experience in the book – I could talk about hearing the screen door slam as I left the house, running to the garage to beat my siblings to the biggest inner tube, smelling the mix of dirt and oil on the old garage floor, and looping the inner tube over my arm with my towel as I walked to the pond.

“Instead I took a smell that has good memories and applied it to Ann Fay’s daddy and her longing for him. The trick is using details to give life to our stories without simply writing a fictionalized memoir— in other words— pulling nuggets from our lives to inform our writing but not to dictate a scene."

I read Joyce’s email and then went outside to do yard work.  As I raked and weeded I thought about Joyce’s challenge: to see if a nugget from my past could inform my work. I dug up wild onions, smelled them, remembered their odor, and wondered if one of main characters would ever sniff wild onions. I came inside and wrote this poem from Kate Dinsmore’s perspective.

Image courtesy of ppd.purdue.edu

Wild Onions

The smell is pungent and my eyes sting when I hold them to my nose.

My nose tingles. The earth is springy and brown.

Lillie and I wash our hands after weeding and we both smell like onions.

The same color of muddy water washes down the drain.

I end up with white hands; hers are only slightly darker than mine.

Yet she has to sit at the back of the bus.

She goes to a school where the books are used.

She has to worry every time she walks through Myers Park if someone is going to accuse her of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She is always looking over her shoulder.

Wondering, if she will ever measure up to some white standard of beauty. Actually, never feeling like she will measure up.

Now my eyes and nose tingle, not from onions, but I am sad for my friend.

And yes,

She is my friend.

This poured out of me and left me in tears—the poem and process both surprised and delighted me.

What about the orange popsicles? I think I’ll tuck that taste and memory into my pocket and save them for another poem.

Upcoming Events

I wanted to share two events on my calendar that might interest you.

On March 13 I begin a 6 week class on Tuesday evenings from 6:30-8:30. Crafting Characters that Connect will meet on the main campus of Central Piedmont Community College. The course focuses on the basic principles involved in writing compelling, three-dimensional characters for short and long narratives. Students will examine character depth and growth, write dialogue, learn to identify a character’s wants and needs and complete a character’s autobiography. For more information and to register, go to the CPCC website. 



On March 16-17 I will be participating in the fourth annual Write 2 Ignite Conference in Greenville, S.C. On Saturday I have the privilege of being one of the keynote speakers; you can find  more information about "Humility in the Marketplace" here.


There are a number of great workshops to choose from.  Among them, Joyce Hostetter and I will co-lead a workshop, Using Life Experiences to Pump Up Your Writing on Friday evening and on Saturday I'll be leading a mini-version of my CPCC class and cover the highlights of Crafting Characters that Connect. 


Write 2 Ignite is holding a special contest until January 31st. Check it out for the opportunity to win a critique as well as Terry Burn's book, A Writer's Survival Guide to Publication.  And if finances are a problem, make sure you check out the scholarships which are being offered. 


If you have any questions about either of these events, feel free to leave me a comment or write to me at cbaldwin6@carolina.rr.com. 


Hope to see you at one of these events!

Write 2 Ignite News

The annual Write 2 Ignite conference registration is now live. Click here to get updated information on the speakers, registration, and how to receive a manuscript critique. 


Jean Hall graciously asked me if I would give one of the keynote addresses and lead two workshops. Click here for a preview of my keynote speech, Humility in the Marketplace. Here is a listing of all the workshops. 


Mark your calendars for March 16-17, 2012. I hope you plan to join us for an outstanding time of learning about writing and fellowship with other Christian writers.