Renee is Writing

Next Sunday, July 20, 2014, I will be reading some poems from "I am My Mother's Only Poem" and perhaps one or two sneak previews of poems from my forthcoming collection "Ripe Peaches." I will also be signing and selling copies of "I am My Mother's Only Poem" and my short story collection "Looking through Windows." There will be two baskets raffled off and blank note cards with my art work on them will be for sale as well. All this is being graciously hosted by Chris and Mark Tobin at Mattebella Vineyards in Southold on the Nort Fork of Long Island. I hope you will all come along and share a fun and inspiring afternoon surrounded by the vineyards, fig trees and Chris' magnificent flowers.The roses are lush, red and gorgeous. In preparation I have designed business cards, book related postcards and out together packets of note cards tied with ribbon. I am also in process of choosing poems to read and creating some snippets of backgr...

This has been an interesting week. I met the other night with a friend who clued me into a newsletter that announces poetry events on Long Island and in NYC. I never knew there was so much poetic energy right here where I live. I'll definitely have to seek these out and meet some more poets. Today I am going to a poetry workshop and reading at Walt Whitman Birthplace in Huntington where I can network and get to know other local poets. So looking forward to it and to next weekend's book signing at Mattebella Vineyards in Southold. Yesterday I was happy to have taken the day off. I typed up all the poems I have so far for my new collection, "Ripe Peaches." I know it will take some time to put this one together and I want to send it to small presses rather than self publishing so I have to keep up a steady flow of new poems. Today's workshop should generate a few. I have a class with Lorraine Mejia online and that is producing some new work too. Melanie Fait...

I have loved poetry since I was two years old and heard my first nursery rhyme while sitting on my mother's lap as she read from the pale green first volume of "My Book House Books" series. I imagine I was even younger but memory slims as the years speed by. I know I was entranced by the musicality of rhythm and rhyme and the flow of descriptive and emotional words as my mother spoke them, and later as I recited them again and again from memory. It wasn't long after that when I picked up a lemon yellow number 2 pencil and began to scribble swirls, curves and straight lines across blank papers. I came to love the sound of language and the look of words on the page as my scribbles slowly transmuted into letters, words, sentences and eventually poetic verses. Once I was able to read by myself I discovered the treasures that sleep in the pages of books lined up back to back, exposing their titled spines to my hungry eyes. I read these rhymes over and over and th...

I've been taking an online class on how to improve my author presence. For the past week I've played around a lot with my two blogs, weaving in and out and changing templates, design and layout elements, and adding new gadgets. This is all new and confusing to me and I am still trying to decide if it's better to let these blogs go, get a website that has a blog linked to it, and thereby feel more like a professional writer. I have two published books, several published stories, poems and essays, have done book signings and I'm working on two new books even as I write this. So, a few decisions to make. In the meantime I played around with the blogs and now I'd love my readers' opinions on the changes I made to Renee is Writing. I need to add some pages to this blog but still working on that.

There are so many books out there for writers it can become quite confusing. There are craft books for every genre, guidebooks that literally tell you what to write in each chapter of a novel or each line of a poem, and then there are motivational and inspirational books that just keep you going when you lose momentum. Here is a list of some of my favorites. Bird by Bird by Anne LaMott Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg On Writing by Stephen King Escaping into the Open by Elizabeth Berg Then there are three by Kelly Stone that help you create time to write, a schedule for writing, and goals to get you where you want to be. Highly recommend these three as well as any of her online classes. Time to Write Thinking Write Living Write And two by Heather Sellers Page after Page Chapter after Chapter Go ahead, read them all and enjoy--then for heaven's sake go get writing!!!

On Sunday July 20th I will be selling and signing both my books at Mattebella Vineyards in Southold on the North Fork of Long Island. This is a special event and I am pleased to be having it at the Vineyard as my husband Frank and I go there often and have come to know the owners, Chris and Mark Tobin, well. These two people are gracious hosts and the vineyard is a relaxing and wonderful place to go on a summer afternoon. The grounds are beautifully decorated with roses and other flowering plants. They have a quaint little tasting room and a glorious patio as well as picnic tables and two gazebos under which you can hide from the shade. They also grow their own fig trees. The red wines are rich and bold with the perfect lilt of tannins and the whites are smooth and buttery. Tastings come with several snacks that enhance the flavors of the wines they are paired with. Chris makes her own fig jam which is sweet and tasty and her brownies are delish. At the book signi...

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Through-Windows-Howard-Cassese/dp/1500129623/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404233661&sr=8-1&keywords=LOOKING+THROUGH+WINDOWS Proud to say my new book is out. "Looking through Windows" is a collection of short stories about women and children in dire situations who come out better and stronger in the end. These women have to make some tough decisions and in some cases are still in the process of deciding at the end of these brief stories. I've posted before about attempting to write novels and memoirs, but as a poet I love the intensity of writing short and the feeling of accomplishment at finishing something in a few days as opposed to a few years. I also like the idea that I can "get away with" poetic prose, masses of metaphors, scintillating similies and visual imagery when writing flash fiction. One of the enduring comments I hear when my novels are being critiqued is that I use too many of these poetic devices, s...