Carolyn Howard-Johnson Poetry Great Idea for Gifts

Poets Suggest The Real Thing Should Compete with Greeting Cards
Award-winning poets Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball have developed a new concept for inexpensive holiday gifts--an idea for poetic greetings apart from greeting cards.

They suggest a real chapbook of poetry and have released the first two in a series in time for the holidays. So far the series includes Cherished Pulse (for anyone you love) with artwork from California artist Vicki Thomas and She Wore Emerald Then (for mothers on your gift list) with photographs by May Lattanzio. New booklets are coming for Father's Day and for Christmas 2010.

The small books, a tradition in the poetry world since Elizabethan times, are priced to compete with greeting cards. The poets' idea is that, in general, cards from the rack seldom say what we'd like and that a small book of poetry would be more thoughtful.

Cherished Pulse may be ordered from Amazon at www.budurl.com/CherishedPulse and She Wore Emerald Then at www.budurl.com/MotherChapbook .

This us the second edition of Cherished Pulse. The first may well have been the first e-chapbook of poetry. This edition comes in paperback with a newly-designed cover; Ball and Howard-Johnson felt issuing a paperback essential considering the popularity of the e-book version. That e-book was offered by online gift-giving giant of 35 years, Celebration Express to its clients in 2007.

Magdalena Ball runs the highly respected compulsivereader.com review site. She is the author of the poetry chapbook Quark Soup, which won a 2006 "Noble" Prize from MyShelf's Back to Literature site, and a poetry book Repulsion Thrust, due out in December 2009. Her novel Sleep Before Evening, published in 2007, was a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson's poetry appears frequently in review journals. She is listed in Poets & Writers and her chapbook of poetry, Tracings (www.budurl.com/CarolynsTracings ), was given the Award of Excellence by the Military Writers Society of America. She is also an award-winning novelist and short story writer and instructor for UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

For more information on any of the chapbooks in this poetry series, contact maggieball@compulsivereader.com.

Celebration Express can be found at: http://www.celebrationexpress.com.au

Learn more about Howard-Johnson in the media room at www.howtodoitfrugally.com . And more about Ball at www.magdalenaball.com .

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Connie Gotsch www.conniegotsch.com Host Write On Four Corners KSJE FM, Farmington NM www.ksje.com Author two award winning novels Snap Me a Future and A Mouthful of Shell available www.dlsijpress.com

Always in Print ‘Cuz They’re Print on Demand!

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How to Write and Illustrate Your Children's Book
Fee: $79, 4 classes
Saturdays, 12:00 noon – 2:00 p.m.
September 19 – October 10
Don't put it off for another day! Now is the time to learn the basics of how to write, illustrate and submit your children's book idea. Join in the fun of creating lively stories, poems, picture books and longer work for kids birth to 12. Learn about story formatting, manuscript submission, dealing with illustrations, handling copyright and many other details as you enter into the exciting world of children's literature. Aimed at first-time writers, with lots of support for beginning authors and illustrators, this class will give you the courage to write for children


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Fee $79, 4 classes
Saturdays, 12:00 noon – 2:00 p.m.
October 17 – November 7
After the recent meltdown in New York publishing, more and more authors are looking into the pros and cons of self publishing. In this series, you'll learn whether it is realistic, economically viable, and within your capabilities to successfully produce and promote your title. We will look at options like Booksurge, iUniverse, Publish America, Author House, Trafford and other production resources including local printers and desktop production. Editing, book doctors, dealing with illustrations, copyright, ISBNS and other details are included in this comprehensive overview of the dangers and delights of being your own publisher.

Teach Your Child to Read - YOURSELF
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Saturdays, 12:00 noon – 3:00 p.m.
November 14
Reading is the most important skill your child will ever acquire. Learn how to teach it yourself in one session without expensive kits, television hyped materials, or pedagogical puffery. For parents of kids ages 2 to 12, this class gives you everything you need to get the job done.

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Fee: $39, 1 class
Saturdays, 12:00 noon – 3:00 p.m.
November 21
If the thought of fending off the Christmas Gimmies makes you want to stick your head in the oven, come enjoy this class and learn lots of ways to decommercialize your holidays. Based on the ever-popular book by Jo Robinson and Jean Staeheli, this workshop will put the curl back in your elf-slippers and even a ho ho ho in your heart.


To register, please contact
Fort Lewis College
Continuing Education
315 Reed Library
Durango, CO 81301
(970) 247-7385


Connie Gotsch www.conniegotsch.com Host Write On Four Corners KSJE FM, Farmington NM www.ksje.com Author two award winning novels Snap Me a Future and A Mouthful of Shell available www.dlsijpress.com

Always in Print ‘Cuz They’re Print on Demand!

Coming in 2009, Belle’s Star,’ a youth novel from Artemesia Press at http://www.apbooks.net