Starting on February 22, 2010, we will be offering two intensive writing e-workshops.  One is for participants who are interested in writing contemporary women’s fiction (including but not limited to the ever-popular “chick lit.”)  The other is for those who wish to write a young adult novel. 

via chicasol.typepad.com

I was seven years old when my abuela took me to the library to get my first card.  Every week after,  I returned to visit new worlds that were beyond my imagination.  Transported from my working-class neighborhood to other countries, lives and possibilities.  I learned that the power of reading and knowledge.  As a teenager, I was lost among the stacks one day and  I began searching for books that represented my experience as a young Puerto Rican girl without even a dictionary in my house.  Desiring to enter the library and see an abundance of books by authors with Spanish names I was inspired to write.  I loved Judy Blume, but didn't understand what it meant to own an Angora sweater or a two story home.  My world spoke more than one language, rode public transportation, diverse sexualities, had one parent and was multicultural.

Today, you can go to the library and there are more books on the shelves by multicultural authors then there were twenty years ago.  But, public libraries still need funding to provide a free service to the community.  Support your local library, so the next Judy Blume, Esmeralda Santiago or Toni Morrison will be able to follow her dream and transport young people for years to come to places both familiar and foreign. Beyond even reading or becoming the next Junot Diaz, Richard Price or Langston Hughes--libraries are a free resource where we can learn about anything!

They impacted my life. How much do they mean to you?

Currently, I'm working on a creative non-fiction memoir.  I'll be working on this piece at VONA this summer in San Francisco. I'm excited about being accepted to VONA and I'm looking forward to the structure and support this space will provide me.

My memoir is about five generations of Puerto Rican women in my family that have traveled from Puerto Rico to Hawaii to San Francisco and now to New York.  In preparation for this process, I'm will be writing non-stop for the next week.  Today, I did this great writing exercise that really got my memories and the writing muse flowing.  So, I'll share it with you.

Create a word portrait of yourself.

Using as much descriptive language as possible, draw a picture of yourself, including physical attributes but also the things that have given your face character— what you inherited from your parents, what life and time have done to alter it.

Given that I'm writing a memoir spanning five generations, I gathered portraits of my great great grandmother, my great grandmother, my grandmother, my mother and I.  I created a visual collage portrait of each woman and then I did the written exercise above.

We all develop our ideas and characters differently. I often think in pictures first.  So, to touch their faces and create something visual inspired my words to flow.

You can use this exercise to journal, as a writing prompt or as a tool for character development.

Good Luck and let me know how it works.

Five Generations...All close in age in these pictures +/- five years.  This was not easy to find. Below are the women who have allowed me to become Elisha.  My sheroes!

THE QUEEN ON THE MIC PITCH VIDEO

We shot the pitch on a FLIP CAMERA in one long take. Given that we're not professional actors, well we didn't do too bad. LOL.  Remember this is only acting, we were cracking ourselves up because Sofi and I never talk to each other this way. 

You had to pitch a comedic short film that was 5-15 pages.  Ironically, many of the writer/director video pitches weren't funny.  Doesn't make sense, if you're going to pitch a comedy, shouldn't the pitch be reflective of your comedic sense?

What's really funny is that after we spent all this time scripting, staging and then shooting the video.  We uploaded it UNDER PROJECT and not UNDER CONCEPT.  By the time my friend Cristina lovingly alerted me to the fact that we did this....let's just say no matter what we did the website was flooded with traffic and we get the video to upload under CONCEPT PITCHES.  So, we didn't officially get to enter our pitch in the contest, but it was worth the fun we had in just being creative. We'll blame the snafu on Mercury being in Retrograde.

We were also very grateful for all the love and support people showed us by rating the video and adding comments. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful supporters in our lives. Mil gracias.

If you didn't get a chance to check out the video.  Click on the link above and get your laugh on. Here's to Creativity Everyday!

Last week, I was on the road from Maine to Boston with RACISM on the membrane.  Often times, living in New York I can go weeks without dealing with white people. And the white people in my life, well, they just happen to get white privilege.  I was asked by the Diversity in Lecture Series at the University of Maine to faciliate a multimedia workshop on racism and one on homophobia for their students.

Just posting something about an amazing website created by Iris Morales about Puerto Rican History on the island and in the United States. This is an incredible resource for anyone wanting to learn about our REAL history.  Check out the website too and JOIN. See you there. Elisha

Need the Time and Space to Create? Apply, Apply, Apply.  Personally, artist residencies have given me the time to reflect, breathe and create.  I just wanted to share a few that might prove interesting for those who read my blog.

Takeaways Residencies provide the time and space needed to focus on a project. Some are offered as a scholarship to the artist. Some residencies include a stipend to the resident artist. As a writer, what we all want is the uninterrupted time, the quiet space, and maybe even the occasional camaraderie of a like mind - another writer. What better place to get all of this than at a writer's residency? There are a multitude of residencies offered annually. Some of them in fact are completely paid for - they are competitive, but in this game if you are thin-skinned, then you are in the wrong business.

Hedgebrook is a residency offered for women only. Their guidelines may change from year to year in terms of which genre is being offered a scholarship. Currently reviewing applications for 2007, they are accepting submissions for the year 2008. Hedgebrook is located on Whidby Island, North of Seattle. A 48 acre retreat, nestled in ponds, meadows, wooded trails, organic gardens, and nearby beaches, Hedgebrook is the perfect location for such a creative retreat. Hedgebrook is a 501(c) (3) public benefit organization. Hedgebrooks' goal is to empower women writers to be catalysts for change in their own lives, in their communities, and around the world. Hedgebrook provides each writer in residency with a private cottage, and private uninterrupted time throughout the day to write. In the evenings all the residents join together for dinner. When applying for the residency, writers have the opportunity to apply for residency from two weeks up to two months, and also to indicate which months they prefer to take these (based on availability). Only one residency is granted to a writer. Forty writers per years are selected, with only six in residency at one given time. Visit the Web site for complete submission guidelines.

Jentel Artist Residency Program located on a cattle ranch in the Lower Piney Creek Valley which is 20 miles east of Sheridan Wyoming, offers four-week residencies to poets, fiction writers, nonfiction writers, and visual artists. Jentel offers a Spring and a Fall residency, so writers have the opportunity twice a year to apply for this residency. Jentel provides a private room, separate work space, access to common living areas, and a $400 stipend to each participant. Only writers living in the U.S. who are 25 and older and are not matriculated students are eligible. Visit the Web site for complete submission guidelines.

The Millay Colony for the Arts located at Steepletop, the country estate of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay in Austerlitz, New York, offers month long residencies from April through November to artists in various stages of their careers, including; poets, fiction, and creative nonfiction writers, composers and visual artists. Artists of all ages attend the residencies at Millay. All artists are provided with a private room, a studio and meals. Artists actually prepare their own breakfast and lunch during the week with food provided by the Colony. A chef prepares the evening dinners. The Colony accepts all artists based on artistic merit and work samples provided for admission. Applicants accepted for admission are done so by the recommendation of a committee, whose members are rotated on a yearly basis. Visit the Web site for complete submission guidelines.

The Santa Fe Artists Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico which began as a result of the tragic events of September 11th, began an emergency relief residency to displaced artists. Established as a permanent program due to its' success, the program now offers several programs for artists. Each category of residency is different and provides different funding. The chosen artists for the residencies, are provided with living and studio space in the SFAI facility designed by the Mexican architect Ricardo Ligoretta. Santa Fe is considered a creative contemporary city and the resident artists are encouraged to participate in the community. Visit the Web site for complete submission guidelines.

More resources www.hedgebrook.org, www.jentelarts.org, www.millaycolony.org, www.sfai.org

Your Weekly Challenge: Are You Majoring in Minor Things? "A lot of people don't do well simply because they major in minor things."                    -- Jim Rohn

Elisha says, "People often ask me where I get my inspiration as an artist?  First, I get my inspiration from my community and those things that touch my heart. Secondly, I find making a living doing what I love always inspires me.  Thirdly, constantly doing self work and striving to be more spiritual person through growing is important. Last, always growing professionally as well (whether through craft or other skills), I have found Brook Noel's organizations system to be really effective for me. I found this weeks challenge really interesting. Check out her website at www.brooknoel.com."

During the typical day where is your focus? Many people spend much of their day focused on thoughts and activities that are "minor;" meaning in the big scheme of things they just don't matter. Then, when it comes time to work on the "majors"--often the energy isn't there. Why? It has been expended managing the minor.

Let me give you a few examples:

Example A: You receive an email at work. The email is ambiguous and you feel that part of it is negative, but you aren't sure. The email isn't over a "deal" that will make-or-break your career. You get wrapped up in What does it really mean? You re-read it a couple of times forward it to a friend to her opinion, and it gnaws at you on the way home.

Example B; You buy something new and it breaks or doesn't work right. You get very angry that it doesn't work. You tell your family and your friends and anyone else who will listen about this poor purchase.

Example C: You send a nice gift to someone and they don't respond with a phone call or a thank you. You spend time talking to others about how this person has poor manners. You get worked up that you aren't appreciated.

Is responding in any of the above three ways wrong? NO! Is it going to help you get where you want to be? NO!

In each example energy is given to something outside of goals and priorities (unless your goal is to be angry, worried, or write a book on etiquette.) Every time we give energy to one thing we must pull energy from another.

Responding in these ways isn't wrong or bad, but it does deplete the energy we have for living our dreams. When we act in the ways above we "major in minor things." When we do guess what happens? The impact we make is minor--not major.

 Here are some ideas for alternative responses....

Example A: If the email is truly worrisome, call the person directly and ask for clarification or if something is on their mind. Call with the intention of clarification--not confrontation.

Example B: Just pack up the broken item and return it.

Example C: Keep your focus on the joy of giving instead of the receiving of thanks. 

In each of these three action examples we accomplished three things:

1. Only the time and energy absolutely required for the task is expended

2. Action is taken versus letting thoughts roam free to dwell and use up vital energy

3. As few people as possible were involved to avoid spreading negativity or misunderstanding.

Your time is a non-renewable resource. You can only spend it once. Are you using your time, energy and focus in the areas that matter most?

Your turn:

Where do you commonly get caught up with minor things? Look at the past 30 days and identify areas where you often get "stuck." Come up with a new response that reserves your vital energy and allows a quick and productive response. Then implement it.

REPOST

Sister Outsider Entertainment has been contemplating teaching a series of online classes to service writers, filmmakers. writing/directing enthusiasts, and even the small business person who wants to utilize media more effectively.  The series would be launched this summer.  This could be a great forum to work with participants across the country, and not just in New York through using multimedia!