There Goes the Top of My Head

Lessons Learned from NaNoWriMo

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:09:08 PST

Writing 50,000 words in 30 days was a tremendously positive experience for me. Over the last ten or fifteen years, I had come to think of myself as a poet ONLY. I dabbled with fiction for a few pages at a time, dreamed about maybe one day trying my hand at it again, but never gave myself permission to take the time and to put in the effort to follow a set of characters for an extended period of time. Now that I have stuck with this cast for 30 days, I believe in my ability to do so again and again. A door for creativity has been opened to me.

Now I know that an hour or even 30 minutes a day is plenty enough time to work on a scene, to get some dialogue flowing and to keep momentum going forward in an initial draft. I was amazed how by sitting down for a solid hour in the morning I was usually able to crank out 1,600 words without strain. I won’t claim they were great words or even okay words, but for a first draft, I’m not supposed to worry about that at all. It’s more a matter of learning who the characters are, who they want to be, what they want to do, and where the plot is going. The first draft is only an exploratory journey and a get-to-know-you period, if you will. I’m excited to know that it doesn’t take a major change in my daily schedule to foster that process.

I learned that I can write under terrible conditions, or at least what I once thought were terrible conditions for writing creatively. During the week of Thanksgiving, I had four house guests. That is to say, I had six people total in my little house that only has two bathrooms. The “office” where I usually write had a guest staying in there on an air mattress. He happened to be the latest sleeper too, so I wasn’t able to get access to my home PC in the mornings. During the day the PC was usually tied up by another guest who was doing Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping. Good thing I had borrowed a laptop from work! I was able to sit on the floor of my bedroom and write whenever I could squeeze it in. Sometimes the time was stolen in the mornings or in the late afternoons. One time everybody else was watching a movie I’d already recently seen, so I took those 2 hours to write in bed. This experience taught me to look for those tiny pockets of time and space to write. I don’t need to wait for the ideal situation. Every little amount of writing you can do adds up.

Lastly, I want to underline something I alluded to earlier in this post: FIRST DRAFT WRITING DOES NOT HAVE TO BE HIGH QUALITY! This is a lesson about turning off the internal editor. I found myself bored a few times when I was creating scenes. I also had a few days when I caught myself saying that the book was a flop, that it was hopelessly boring and dull. It very well might be, but when writing the first draft you have to set all those opinions aside. That’s the joy of revision. You can take a sorry story and throw in a few twists and turns and turn it into something wonderful. But you never get that opportunity if you don’t jot down the first round of garbage and let your characters explore options. Outlining doesn’t seem like a viable option to me. I could come up with an outline that says what the characters should do, but that doesn’t mean that they will show up and do those things. It’s only by muddling through the exploration of storytelling that your characters announce where they are going and what is going to happen. You have to trust that process and work the process and tell your editor that he/she needs to shut up until needed later.

50,000 Word Goal Has Been Met!

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 07:46:12 PST

Current Word Count!

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 08:01:34 PST

Midway Point Novel Status Report

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:29:48 PST

Today is the 16th of November. Yesterday was the halfway point in the 30 days, and I achieved getting past 25,000. At the end of the day yesterday, I was at 25,750 words.

This morning I wrote 917 words and I hope to write more later.

The writing continues to go well, obviously. There have been times when I felt too tired or too drained to write. A couple times recently I caught myself wasting time on internet browsing when I ought to have been writing. There have been a couple mornings where I stayed in bed later than I should. On these “reluctant” writing days, I’ve gone ahead a written eventually. Typically these were days when I had no idea what scene to write next. The best I could do was to ask myself, “Which character do I have the most interest in today?” I’d pick that character and write some kind of scene that was suited for that character. A few times the scenes didn’t advance the plot much, but at least helped with the word count. In a couple cases, I learned something new about the character that might come in as important later.

Dialogue seems to be going the easiest. I get two characters talking and it goes and goes and goes. Usually I try to have the characters at odds about something, so they’re not just being nice and sweet to each other. I know that in my earliest attempts at fiction writing my biggest problem was lack of tension and conflict. So even if the conflict is minor (someone is angry because the kitchen is messed up), I try to keep the characters in tension.

Lastly, my other successful option has been bringing in new characters. Whenever I introduce a new character to the mix, my writing takes off again. I realize that I can’t add characters all the way through. Being at the halfway point, I actually probably need to stop. So my last major character was introduced this week and he is a lot of fun. He’s comic but also crucial, and he’ll probably grow in the story to the point of being mature and highly valued. I think.

So that’s how it’s going!

Wanna Help Me Write a Novel in 30 Days?

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:43:19 PST

[This post has been edited after the "suggestion period" expired. I've stipped out the details so there are no spoilers for anyone who gets to read this novel SOMEDAY!]

I’m asking all my creative and imaginative friends to help me write my novel this month. I’d like to hear any ideas you have based on the following characters and situations. Feel free to brainstorm wildly. You can suggest anything, and I mean anything! Don’t like one of the characters? Suggest that character die in some awful and bizarre way. Want to add complications? Have someone win the lottery or steal a car. Truly anything goes!

While I can’t possibly promise to use every idea, I’m hoping to incorporate those that surprise me and advance the story in a way that the characters will go along with. I’ve not yet solidified how this will all turn out so you might have a huge influence on the direction of the story.

Here’s the basics of what I’ve developed so far:

Main Characters & Their Situations:

Margery Adams: 3rd grade school teacher whose life is turned upside down when she takes in a little, neglected girl.

Sharon: 3rd grader, the neglected girl with the swollen eye.

Audrey: School nurse, mastermind of a secret vigilante operation against inept or otherwise incapable parents.

Mitch: former cop, son of Audrey, the muscle and pain inflictor of vigilante effort.

Lakeesha: Sharon’s mom, sends her daughter away with a black garbage bag of clothes (and hidden in the clothes, a gun).

Denzel: unemployed, wants his gun back.

James: “jack of all trades” and self-professed healer.

Final Instructions:

Let your imagination have a field day here, since you don’t have to actually write the novel—I do! For instance, if you want one or more of these characters to be abducted by aliens or ninjas, go ahead and suggest that. Or if you want a flood to strike and destroy the school or someone’s house, that’s okay too. Just go nuts!!!!

2nd Weekend Update on Writing a Novel in 30 Days

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:21:19 PST

I’m at 21,287 words (the goal being 50,000) which is exactly on target for finishing on Nov 30th. This is thanks to Christi, since she’s the one who gave her blessing to write in the car this weekend. No, I wasn’t driving while writing! Christi was driving, but she gave me permission to write in the passenger seat while she drove. Since I was already ahead on my word count going into this weekend, I was able to keep up with the daily average requirements even though I wrote a lots less on Friday and Saturday in the car. We were in the car due to our trip to Atlanta for the Johns Creek Poetry Festival, where I did spontaneous poems again--so even more writing!!!!

I’m starting to wonder about an ending for the novel and have a few ideas, but don’t know whether the characters are going to cooperate with those. I’ve gotten my last few scenes from pure character surprises, writing to find out what they were going to do. Man, I never saw that cue stick coming for the back of that guy’s head. Nor did I know that a sermon would change the lives of two of my characters. So I’m hoping for more surprises like that.

And I'm hoping for more surprises like my friend Todd's latest poem. Check out his poetry at “Sentient Force Field.”
--it rocks!

NaNo Novel Writing Update - Day 9

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:20:28 PST

At the beginning of day 9, I’m at 14,352 words on my novel. The goal is 50,000 by November 30th.

Here’s a day by day summary of how I got this far.

Day 2

I’m up to 4382 words so far. Today was rougher than day 1 due to a poor night’s sleep, but it’s early in the game, so if I’m not as productive now, I can catch up.

Day 3 -5

I wrote steadily each of these days, gradually losing my cushion of extra words, but not falling behind.

Day 6

Wrote this to Mom:

The novel thing is going steady for me, but not stellar. Today I had time in the morning to write, but I stared at a blank page for a while and then decided to do some devotion time instead. If I don’t write today, I will fall behind on my daily word count. But I might let it go for today, in hopes that something great will occur to me for tomorrow.

Yesterday I wrote a scene with a new character that could potentially change the whole direction of the book. My original idea doesn’t seem to be working very well even though I’m telling myself not to worry about it and not to judge it.

We’ll see if the day off gets the juices flowing again. I might look at some fiction writing books tonight to see if I find any advice there.

Additionally I keep feeling the tug to write a book about what and why I believe, something I could give away to friends.

I’m praying for God’s inspiration and direction for my writing and for whatever else He wants me to do.

Later that evening I sent Mom this email:

I ended up grabbing some writing time this evening after all.

What I wrote was different angle on a scene that had been alluded to in a conversation, so I didn’t move the story ahead very much. I only visualized the scene in more detail and from a different POV.

I got 1418 words out of this exercise.

Since this novel in a month thing allows for exploratory stabs at a novel, I think I’m keeping to the intended goals.

My hope is that the action will move forward some more tomorrow. I might have to get my character into an accident or find a stray dog or bump into an old flame. Something to stir up some sparks of action.

Day 7:

I got 1,428 words today.

Had to write in the morning and in the evening to get up to that number.

I ended today on the verge of a pivotal scene, so I would have something exciting (I hope) to write tomorrow morning.

This is by no means the novel I set out to write, but I’m following the characters and the plot ideas as they come, so it is organic at least.

Day 8:

Having a “pivotal” scene to write in the morning was a good strategy. I got 1362 words out of the scene this morning.

I really need to squeeze in more writing time if I ever want to get ahead, but at least I’m not behind for the 30th deadline.

As write through this second week, I need to keep looking for pivotal scenes, keep the characters in “action” where at least they are doing something to effect each other, and toward the end of the week I need to start dreaming up an ending of some kind.

Day 9:

Another day, and what do I do?
Waste my novel writing time updating my blog!

The Odyssey Known as NaNoWriMo 2011

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:37:29 PDT

Today I started the odyssey known as NaNoWriMo 2011. Basically for those who don’t know what that is, I’m writing a novel in a month. The total word count must reach 50,000 by November 30th.

The morning session went very well indeed. I knocked down 2000 words in about an hour and forty minutes. The prep leading up to this morning was fairly intense.

I’ve completely changed my evening/morning routine. For years, I’ve always taken my shower in the morning, usually after breakfast and Good Morning America. But in anticipation of needing the writing time in the mornings, I’ve moved my shower and shave time to evenings, right after Christi who has always taken an evening shower.

Also I’ve taken to setting up my coffee maker the night before as well, so all I have to do is hit the ON button and load up the toaster oven with a frozen pancake.

It’s not as though I’m able to just pop up and start writing at six am, which is the time I’ve decided on for an early morning start during November. There’s still the eating of breakfast, one or two other necessities, and the 2 minute wake-up rinse off in the shower. I still need time to dress, comb hair, and brush teeth. Still need to pop something in the toaster for Christi, get out her glass of water, yogurt, and vitamins.

There’s the popping of my more excessive vitamins. There’s the dog biscuit for Linus and letting him outside and back inside. Lastly there’s seeing Christi off with a helpful hand in juggling all the things that need to get into the car and a life-sustaining kiss good-bye each morning. So even though I get up at six, I don’t get to start writing until a few minutes after seven, after I wave good-bye to Christi from the kitchen window.

I still feel as though this plan is extremely workable for me. When seven rolls around, I’m wide awake, fed, caffeinated, and alone in the house. My plan is to keep this up Monday through Thursday.

Fridays will need some adjustments, but I should get in two hours of writing without a struggle.

Saturdays I’ll get up at six, if at all humanly possible, and get to the gym for a second workout. The writing might need to happen in the afternoon while Christi is napping.

Sundays I’m going to try to sleep late, seven-thirty (?), if possible. The writing time might be shorter on Sunday, since I might need a break and extra time for spending with Christi.

Anybody else doing NaNoWriMo this year? Let me know how it's going!

Cigarettes, a spontaneous poem by Keith Badowski

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 08:17:35 PDT

Cigarettes

We don’t want to burn!
Cool as it looks, turning to ash
is something we’d love to postpone.
Just look at us snug in this pack,
our filters so white and clean,
in our orderly rows like cells.
From here we’re causing no harm,
all our poisons calmly inert.
We don’t want to cause cancer
or scar lungs or stain fingers.
Think of our white paper as a flag—
each of us has the skin of a pacifist.
Spare us the germy dampness
of your mouth and sweaty hands.
Pardon us, we beg, from incineration
in that holocaust of the ashtray.

Keith Badowski

Inspired by this prompt

M. Ayodele Heath performs Neckrollology at Java Monkey

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 19:04:47 PST

Bicycle Repair Man

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:45:22 PDT

Ever since I started biking it to the church office, I have learned through trial and error how to replace the pedals, change the tire inner-tube, change out the seat, and reconnect the hand-grips for the breaks. I'm thinking about opening my own bicycle shop for a little extra income on the side. ;-)

Georgia Poetry Society Newsletter

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:55:14 PDT

Fall 2010 GPS Newsletter

This message is to let you know that the Fall 2010 GPS Newsletter is now available for download from our website.

Click HERE to open.

If the link does not work, please go to http://www.georgiapoetrysociety.org/

Then click the News menu option and chose Newsletters from the drop-down menu.

The file is a PDF named "Fall 2010 GPS Newsletter.pdf"

It is also posted on the Meetings page.

Important Dates

Saturday, October 16th: Postmark deadline for lunch reservations for the Oct. 23rd quarterly meeting in Columbus, GA. (Lunch reservation form is on page 1 of the newsletter.)

Friday, October 22nd: The Night Before the Meeting Reading, Columbus, GA. This will be an evening of poetry, socializing, and coffee/dessert. The incoming and outgoing Presidents and Vice Presidents will read. (Details provided in the newsletter.)

Saturday, October 23rd: GPS Quarterly Meeting, Columbus, GA. We will have an amazing line-up of poets and featured presenters in the very beautiful RiverCenter. (All the details, including directions in the newsletter.)

Sunday, October 31st/Monday, November 1st: This is the postmark deadline for all entries in this season's GPS poetry contests. The deadline carries over to November 1st, being the next business day after the 31st. (All contest info is available on our website www.georigapoetrysociety.org.)

Strophes?

For those of you who might be wondering where the next NFSPS newsletter is, there has been a delay in the next issue of Strophes. The most recent issue we've received is the April 2010 issue. I'm not sure when Strophes will get back on schedule.

Billy Collins Read at GA Tech Last Night

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 04:32:42 PDT

Got a Shout-Out!

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 03:35:39 PDT

I got a shout-out from Jessica Handler on her blog:

http://www.jessicahandler.com/2010/09/hidden-literary-surprises.html

Wynne Huddleston mentions me as well:

http://wynne-huddleston.blogspot.com/2010/09/2010-chattahoochee-valley-writers.html

Keith Badowski Composing a Spontaneous Poem on Typewriter

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 03:37:31 PDT

Not the greatest camera angle, but this conveys the poetry stunt just fine. By the way, if you hang with the typing sequence, you'll actually hear me read the completed poem at the end.

Chattahoochee Valley Writers’ Conference

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 05:19:13 PDT

Yesterday I had a great time at the Chatt Writers Conference in Columbus, GA. Originally a friend of mine was going to come for the weekend and be one of the presenters. That didn't pan out. Then one of the poets who was scheduled to be a featured reader and presenter had to turn around and go home due to his family being in an auto accident. This changed the whole plan for me. Overnight I went from being a basic attendee to being a featured poetry reader and workshop presenter, having been asked to fill in. The reading went extremely well, felt very high energy. The workshop was well received; a few folks even stood up and applauded--like my head needed to be any more swollen. My workshop title was this: "How to Get Started, How to Keep Going: Poetry Prompts, Exercises, and Springboards For Those Times When Your Muse Takes a Vacation." On top of all this, my friend Ron put me up to doing spontaneous poems for folks between the sessions. I agreed to do them for donations to Chatt Writers. Ron provided me with an antique Royal typewriter upon which I composed poems on demand. I did around a dozen of these spontaneous poems and collected about $65 for Chatt Writers. Not a bad take for poetry!

Keith Badowski Reading on Radio

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 03:15:06 PDT

Newsflash! Tomorrow (Sat.) at 1 pm Eastern time, you can hear Keith Badowski, Ron Self, and Barry Marks reading their poems on Wordland radio show on WUGA, 91.7 FM, Athens or via live streaming on www.wuga.org! Tune in!

__________________________________
Brick Road Poetry Press: For poetry that will entertain, amuse, and edify (not drain, confuse, and mystify) www.brickroadpoetrypress.com

FW: Poetry Contests and Writer's Conference

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 03:14:14 PDT

I'm forwarding this info to all the poets and writers I know.

If you're willing, please forward it on to all the poets and writers you know too! Please?

Peace,
Keith

__________________________________
For poetry that will entertain, amuse, and edify (not drain, confuse, and mystify) www.brickroadpoetrypress.com

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:20:56 -0500
Subject: Poetry Contests and Writer's Conference

Our Next Quarterly Meeting: Saturday, October 23rd in Columbus GA

Details coming soon, but in the meantime, please mark your calendars.

Georgia Poetry Society Poetry Contests

Each year, entries are accepted beginning September 1 and ending with postmarks of October 31.

The General Rules can be found at http://www.georgiapoetrysociety.org/Contests.aspx

We are introducing two new contests this year:

The Anderson Social Poetry Prize ($500)

The award is given to honor two young men, Forest Anderson Rogers and Mathew Anderson Crowe, who had deep interest in how people interacted in past and current social conditions.

One winner will be awarded $500. Note: There are no 2nd or 3rd place awards in this contest.

Guidelines

Entered poems must exemplify the category of "social poetry." Social poetry reflects a keen interest in the human condition: our behaviors, relationships, beliefs, ideologies, scientific concepts, and how we perceive our world and the universe in which we reside. Poems submitted may be any form with a maximum length of 40 lines. Enter up to 3 poems. Poems submitted must also adhere to the Georgia Poetry Society "General Rules" for contests including the postmark deadline, October 31st.

Examples of social poetry: "Out, Out—" by Robert Frost, "The Death of the Hat" by Billy Collins, and "In the Waiting Room" by Elizabeth Bishop.

Entry Fee

(This is an exception from the standard fees for GPS contests.) $10 per poem (non-GPS members), $5 per poem (GPS members).

Under a Hundred Chapbook Competition

Under a Hundred: Chapbook Contest in Honor of Edward Davin Vicker

Every two years, the Under a Hundred Chapbook Competition selects for recognition three poets to be included in a combined chapbook. Below are the contest rules and guidelines for the 2010 Under a Hundred Chapbook Contest.

How to Enter

Send two copies of not more than 100 lines of poetry. You may include a title page, table of contents, and acknowledgments pages. These will not count as part of the 100 line limit for poetry.

No translations.

Use a conventional typeface, such as Times Roman, in 12-point font.

Do not include illustrations.

Poems must be typed and in English.

Use only 8 ½ X 11-inch white paper.

Any subject, and in any form. However, poems must demonstrate appropriate language and good taste. In general, poems will be disqualified if found to contain indecencies, obscenities, defamations, or hateful expressions.

Place your name and address on one copy of the manuscript. No author identification of any kind on the second copy, which will be sent to the judge.

No email, text message, disc, MP3 or other electronic submissions.

Entry Fee

$10 per submission of less than 100 lines. Make check/money order payable to Georgia Poetry Society. Do not send cash.

Only one entry is permitted per person.

Entrant need not be a member of the Georgia Poetry Society.

Deadline

Must be postmarked by October 31, 2010. Late entries will NOT be considered.

Mail entries to
Georgia Poetry Society
ATTN: Under A Hundred Contest
P. O. Box 2184
Columbus, GA 31902

Three winners will be chosen. No honorable mentions or runners-up.

GPS determines printing and binding specifications and book design. Publication rights rest with GPS until the chapbook is published. After that, rights revert to the author.

Winner receives $50 and 25 printed copies of the chapbook. The author may dispose of these as s/he deems appropriate, including selling them.
GPS will print additional copies of the winning chapbook over and above those presented to the author and reserves the right to sell these copies.

Enclose a SASE if you want to know if you won prior to the official announcement.

The contest will not be judged by a GPS member. The judge's decision will be final.

Our regular and recurring contests include the following:

Langston Hughes Award: http://www.georgiapoetrysociety.org/LangstonHughesAward.aspx

Mnemosyne Award: http://www.georgiapoetrysociety.org/MnemosyneAward.aspx

Reece Competition: http://www.georgiapoetrysociety.org/ReeceCompetition.aspx

Founders Award: http://www.georgiapoetrysociety.org/FoundersAward.aspx

Educators Award: http://www.georgiapoetrysociety.org/EducatorsAward.aspx

Edgar Bowers Award: http://www.georgiapoetrysociety.org/EdgarBowersAward.aspx

Foreign Language: http://www.georgiapoetrysociety.org/ForeignLanguage.aspx

Our contest Chairperson is Lou Jones. If you have questions about the contests, please direct them to Lou. His email address is loutoni@plantationcable.net

Chattahoochee Valley Writers' Conference

Register now for the 4th Annual Chattahoochee Valley Writers' Conference in Columbus, Georgia scheduled for September 23 through 25, 2010. For more information go to www.chattwriters.org.

Here's the latest news from the Chattahoochee Valley Writers' Conference.

We just received word that John Langan cannot make it to this years' conference. We're disappointed of course, but don't fret, Catherynne M. Valente has graciously offered to step in. Her workshop is titled, "The Fantasy Author's Toolbox." Find out more about Catherynne and her newest book, Palimpsest (Bantam Dell) that listed as Amazon's #1 SFF Book of 2009 at www.CatherynneMValente.com.

Rick Campbell will lead a workshop entitled "First the Poem, Then the Book". Read Rick's interview with the Southeast Review Online at www.SouthEastReview.org/2008/campbell.php

A workshop entitled "Writing through Grief" will be led by Jessica Handler. Jessica's book, Invisible Sisters: A Memoir has been named one of the "Twenty Five Books All Georgians Should Read". Check out Jessica's latest blog posting at www.JessicaHandler.com.

A workshop on "Publishing in Today's World" will be led by John P. Travis. Check out John's recent Portals Press publications at www.portalspress.com.

Sarah C. Campbell will lead a workshop on "Photos + Stories = Winning Nonfiction & Earn $$ Before Getting Published." Go to www.SarahCCampbell.com and watch the cool video about her latest book, Growing Patterns. Sarah's Web site and video are excellent examples of how digital technology is changing the way authors promote their work.

"Poetry About Poetry: How Language Looks at Itself" will be led by Carey Scott Wilkerson. Read a review of his first collection, Threading Stone at http://www.writersforum.org/books/archive.aspx?ArchiveYear=2009&Category=Poetry

A workshop on "How to Write a Novel in 30 Days" will be led by Elsie Austin. You can find Elsie on Facebook at www.facebook.com/people/Elsie-Austin/1683775053.

For more information about the Georgia Poetry Society
Contact: Keith Badowski
Georgia Poetry Society, PO Box 2184, Columbus GA 31902, (334) 448-4715

Poet Ken Babstock reads from Airstream Land Yacht

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:26:43 PST

Robert B. Parker

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:08:07 PST

Rest in Peace, Robert B. Parker, author and source of some of the most enjoyable hours I've ever spent reading. Your books have been part of the fabric of my life, and I've read aloud more novels by you than any other!

Interview with John Langan and Michael Cisco at KGB Fantastic Fiction

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:48:14 PST

Way to go, John!

John Langan's first novel, House of Windows, is available now on Amazon.com and the like.

"Why I Should Win the Nobel Prize for Literature" by Keith Badowski

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:14:03 PST

Is it political humor? Poetry? Both? Neither? You decide:

Night Prowl of the Circus Performer

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:55:54 PST

The Country - Billy Collins Animated Poetry

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:02:43 PST

New Star Trek: Phase II Coming Nov 20th 2009

thebeardedpoet at Hot Mail dot com (Keith Badowski) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:26:24 PDT