Poetry Friday: My Demon

My brother surrounds himself with exotic sculptures and imagery. I took several photos on my recent visit, and I hope to use these as points of reference for Poetry Friday. So here goes. Um. I managed to scare myself here..

My Demon

Caught in the shaft of sunshine
my demon halts
in a pouncing pose.

Teeth sever air,
claws click ,
wings rustle
as he waits for me to turn
or the sun to slip.

In the falling haze,
he molts,
flickering colors of hope,
until he leaps
and devours me
in darkness.

Lorie Ann Grover, 2009

Catch the full roundup at Mommy's Favorite Children's Books.

Dancing Snail Mail

Is there anything better than snail mail fan mail? Really. It's so encouraging to hear you've connected with a reader, and they've taken their time to let you know so.

This recently happened with a teen reader in Iowa. Without naming names, I wanted to share the photo she sent that is so beautiful. The funny thing is, we held the same roles in the Nutcracker! The first photo is hers and the second is mine at 15!

How amazing to connect regardless of time, place, and age. Here's to fans who take the time to snailmail, dancers who have bloomed into Nutcracker flowers, and good books that dance new friendships into our lives!

Poetry Friday: Blue

Still thinking of Cancun. It's not hard, folks!

Blue

A vivid blue swath frames the bed.
Blue-green shallows frame the beach.
A cobalt sea frames the horizon.
A powder-blue sky frames me
in a tapestry of azul.

Lorie Ann Grover, 2009

Catch the full roundup at The Holly and the Ivy!

TBD '09 Trailer

I'm psyched to get to post our TBD '09 trailer by Holly Cupala! She rocked this piece. And I love Andrea Wittgen's music. Thank you, ladies! And here we go! Press release is coming soon. Consider this a sneakity peek. And please feel free to repost it everywhere. Thanks!

Anagram Site

When my daughter Ellen comes across fun sites, she shares them with me to pass onto readergirlz. But I thought to bring this one to my blog as well.

Check Internet Anagram Server to anagram your name. What do the letters of your name spell if repositioned?

Eek! Here are four of mine out of the 1,000 I scanned:

Ever Roaring Loon (Um, probably. Depends on who you ask.)
A Governor Liner (No, idea.)
Leaving No Error (Certainly, my aim!)
Gain Novel Error (Ha! Those do happen in my writing.)

So, what are your anagrams? It's worth a giggle!

Upcoming Literary Lions Gala

Can't wait to go to this at the fantastic Bellevue Library! Thanks to Susan Wiggs' The View from Here for the content. I'm taking my mother-in-law for the celebration. Pictures to come!

Literary Lions Gala

When: 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, 2009

Where: Bellevue Regional Library

1111 – 110^th NE, Bellevue, WA

425.450.1765

http://www.kcls.org/brl/bellgen.cfm

(for directions to library)

Why: 1. Celebrate the contributions of 30 talented Northwest authors.

2. Raise awareness and funds for literacy outreach programs that help create a community of readers.

What: A rotating array of authors at your dinner table! See the list below. How can you go wrong with this crowd?

After the program, take advantage of your final opportunity to bid on items before the silent auction closes. And enjoy chocolates, coffee, and champagne while you stock up on more books and chat with the authors.

Who: Our 2009 Literary Lions!

Greg Atkinson – West Coast Cooking

Chelsea Cain – Sweetheart

Deb Caletti – The Fortunes of Indigo Skye

Dia Calhoun – Avielle of Rhia

Janet Lee Carey – Dragon’s Keep

Jo Dereske – Index to Murder

Robert Dugoni – Wrongful Death

G.M. Ford – Nameless Night

Lorie Ann Grover – Hug Hug!

Michael Gruber – The Forgery of Venus

Thor Hanson – The Inpenetrable Forest

Peg Kehret – Stolen Children

Julie Larios – Imaginary Menagerie

Kirby Larson – Hattie Big Sky

Skye Moody – Washed Up: The Curious Journeys of Flotsam and Jetsam

Cynthia Nims – Rover’s: Recipes from Seattle’s Chef in the Hat

Nancy Pearl – Book Crush: For Kids and Teens

Julia Quinn – Mr. Cavendish, I Presume

George Shannon – Rabbit’s Gift

Jennie Shortridge – Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe

Garth Stein – The Art of Racing in the Rain

Indu Sundaresan – In the Convent of Little Flowers

Susan Wiggs – Just Breathe

For more information, please contact Claire Wilkinson at cwilkins@kcls.org or 425-369-3448.

Shout out: Jamal Malik and William Wilberforce

I saw these two amazing movies over the holiday. The storytelling of both is crafted elegance. It raises my aspirations in many ways:

* to keep hope
* to keep persevering despite pain and resistance
* and to rejoice in providence

Quotes from http://www.imdb.com:

Lord Charles Fox: When people speak of great men, they think of men like Napoleon - men of violence. Rarely do they think of peaceful men. But contrast the reception they will receive when they return home from their battles. Napoleon will arrive in pomp and in power, a man who's achieved the very summit of earthly ambition. And yet his dreams will be haunted by the oppressions of war. William Wilberforce, however, will return to his family, lay his head on his pillow and remember: the slave trade is no more.

Jamal Malik: Maybe it's written.

Here is to peaceful men and women, who act for compassion and change.

Shout Out: Claudia

I have the need to give a shout out to my sister-in-law, Claudia. She's such a beauty and brought so much care and compassion to our family. Working for the Miami Dade Public School System, she's got it going on.


Each year she and my brother host an exchange student as well. This year they've welcomed Antong from China.

And, of course, there is Auntie's sense of humor.

Brava for fab sister-in laws! Do you have one?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Make your own hearts. Happy Valentine's Day! xox

Poetry Friday: Beachcombers

Beachcombers

Thatched umbrellas
lift their skirts
as the tide sweeps close
about their thin legs
perched in the sand.

Lorie Ann Grover, 2009

The roundup is at Big A Little a!

The Prodigy Advertising Team

I wanted to share photos of the people behind the resort poetry project who are working hard to bring the collection to life. These are also the peeps who designed our rgz website and logo gratuitously, as well as my gorgeous website.

Leading Prodigy Advertising is the older of my two younger brothers, Dale:

There are the ladies of amazing talent and awesomeosity, Claudia and Roxana:


And Dale's longtime friend, computer wonderman, Mike:


On my team, there was Ellen.


And Emily, who was critiquing the day's writing each evening. (Stuck at home with midterms and tech week.)

After the writing was nearly complete, we cut up the poems to visually see the flow as we talked through Dale's photo illustrations. Poor guy has to go back to Cancun to shoot for a couple of days. *sigh*

All in all, it was a great group to work with on a fun project! Woohoo! Thanks once again, Prodigy!

Montage of Miami Food!

Oh, the food in Miami. With a warning to my vegetarian friends, take a gander:

Happy B-day, Dale!

Before going out we don our fancy shoes. That's me glowing. :~)


This Brazilian restaurant was the highlight for certain:

Dale and Kevin treated the group!


Left to right: Antong, Dale, Brian, Claudia, me, Kevin, and Ellen. Friend Claudia was kind enough to take the photo.

So it works like this: waiters come by with skewers of meat such as sirloin, tenderloin, chicken hearts, lamb, chicken legs, sausages...you get the idea. It's sliced from the skewer onto your plate.


If you'd like a portion, you flip the piggie to "yes please."


And then you make a piggie of yourself.


Monster-sized desserts of flan and mousse follow, of course.

And then you basically have to sleep sitting up because you can't lie down for hours.

But then there's always room for morning grits!

My, we were treated to a feast the entire week!

Resort Poetry: NH Riviera Cancun

Just wanted to share customer photos from the NH Riviera Cancun. This is the resort my daughters and I were writing about for a poetry collection.

How easy is it to write about such a beautiful location? Even the colors and textures of the rooms are evocative. Let alone scenes like these:

Believe me. It was a joy to imagine! I want to sit in those submerged lounge chairs in the infinity pool! Or under a thatched umbrella.

Here's to sweet brothers who think to ask sisters to work with them. I have the best!

North of Beautiful

Okay, I'm home but have to post in order of the events. So I'll start with last Sunday. The launch party for North of Beautiful was amazing!

I may have a snippet of a video to post, but in the meantime, here's Justina speaking about true beauty.


Miss Erin and her mother surprised everyone by driving over to attend the event. And then Miss Erin sang for Justina!


It was a crying moment for certain. So, sweet!

Many thanks to Brenda Gurung for hosting as Justina signed for over one and half hours!

The week has brought amazing things. Not only was North of Beautiful on the home page of Barnes and Noble, the novel has now garnered 3 starred reviews! Everyone is cheering!

At the same time, the Find Beauty Challenge is underway. Here are the deets from Justina's blog:

"Tell the world what you find to be Truly Beautiful! Just upload a 90-second video describing what real beauty means to you...and you could win yourself an iTouch! PLUS, for every uploaded video, I'll donate $10 (up to $1,000) to Global Surgical Outreach, an amazing group that helps kids with cleft lips and palates in the third world.

Here's what to do:
1. Record a 90-second video essay about what's truly beautiful to you!
2. Upload the video onto YouTube.
3. Then...send a link to north@marthabee.com. (Martha Brockenbrough--tech guru and my friend of much wonderosity--will link your video to the North of Beautiful YouTube channel.)
4. Tell all your friends to RATE your video."

Here's to good friends, true beauty, and beautiful book launches! Brava!

Poetry Friday: Garden

Still in Miami writing poetry for the resort in Cancun. Here's a poem my daughter Ellen is contributing:

Garden

Palms burst
with fresh energy,
and exude enthusiasm.

Magenta leaves reach
elegant sheaves
to the sky.

My fingers slide
through the round fountain’s
cool cascade.

by Ellen Grover, 2009

The whole project is really coming together. Can't wait to share
photos from the trip! More soon!

Catch the full roundup at Wild Rose Reader.

Shout out: Cloudscome

Does everyone know of Cloudscome?

She writes for A Wrung Sponge and frequently posts poetry and photos. I'm telling you, the poetry is beautiful and the photos are AMAZING. Check our her flickr in the sidebar for a visual delight. Or click for her flickr photostream directly. I wander through her images and find myself so uplifted.

Thanks you, Cloudscome for bringing beauty to the world!