There is a great website and creative endeavor to encourage would be novelists to write their very own novel this month!

It’s called NaNoWriMo.

What is NaNoWriMo?

NaNoWriMo is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30. As they say on their website:

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. This approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

That’s definitely a solid approach to overcoming the writer perfectionist blues we all fall victim to from time to time.

KB. Are You Doing This?

Unofficially, I will be taking part in NaNoWriMo, though I will not be using their website to track my progress, though I don’t want to discourage others from doing so.

As many of you might know, I have 4 novels crafted, in various stages of completion. I will be using this November to get one of these beauties of mine into publishable form.

I’ve blocked out a two hour window everyday, and an entire weekend day toward transforming the bones of one of my novels into the meat of literary quality that I aim to produce.

I definitely can’t commit to day by day updates of my novel writing progress, though I do hope to keep you in the loop about what happens with my month of novel writing. Stay tuned.

To all my fellow novelists in training, good luck with your writing this month, and every month beyond that!

The event raises money for art projects for the Sandy Oregon area.

The money raised last year helped purchase a giant mural that reflects into the city’s Centennial Plaza.

Custom Poem For Auction

I’m happy to offer a custom poem for auction. Hopefully I get at least five bucks for my creative time. The winning bid will also get three copies of a chapbook of my selected poems.

I have written some custom poems in the past for friends and family on special occasions like weddings, births, passings, and generally any occasion that needs a fair amount of customized text to solidify it’s resonance into the annuals of history.

So I thought a custom poem would fit the need and feel of this event. Perhaps I should offer more custom poems as service?

We’ll see how this goes first!

It does take a poetic scientist to see how beautifully awesome this is.

Our President Speaks

Speaking at the celebration, President Barack Obama said:

The power of poetry is that everybody experiences it differently. But as a nation built on freedom of expression, poets have always played an important role in telling our American story.

Well said Mr. President!

A Varied Collection

Participants at the celebration of American poetry and prose included Elizabeth Alexander, Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Kenneth Goldsmith, Alison Knowles, Aimee Mann, Jill Scott, Common, and Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers.

Common’s appearance sparked a typical racist barage of criticism from individuals who obviously give no credence to a fine tuned lyrical artist, especially a rapper who is more poetically political than typically mysogynist, which honestly fuels a lot of rap music.

Added to that is that Common does a lot of good in his hometown of Chicago, and inspires a young generation of inner city kids to express themselves through words rather than gangs and violence.

Perhaps those who seek to criticize Common and the White House should recognize Common’s original moniker of Common Sense, and use that instead of ignorance.

Okay, so today’s Martin Luther King Day, and it got me thinking about the books I read in college about Dr. King, and also for that matter, about Malcolm X, and it got me thinking, that true leadership takes sacrifice.

Let me clarify. It is horrible that both of these men had their lives ended prematurely under violent means, and in no way mean sacrifice in that way.

I’m thinking more about the daily stress and exhaustive amount of hours spent thinking, engaging, and fighting for rights that had not existed for them, and their countless followers. Real leaders are not perfect, and in no way do I think Dr. King was a perfect man. However, I do believe that his imperfection and his willingness to sacrifice for the greater good made him a truly powerful and inspiring leader.

It’s hard to imagine living in Jim Crow America, when I myself have grown up in neighborhoods that are highly integrated, and full of such a warm and diverse cross section of true Americans, of all races, religions, and creed. Though I can imagine that if it wasn’t for leaders like Dr. King (and many others), we could very well be in a worse situation socially.

I feel blessed to have experienced the freedom that Dr. King so eloquently dreamed for all Americans, and particularly those who at the time had never tasted, had never felt, had never truly enjoyed.

I guess what I’m getting at is this: we have progressed so far as a nation, yet we continue to hold onto emotional insecurities like prejudice and bigotry, and rarely speak openly about them. Anyone of us has the ability to seek to understand before casting judgment, though we seem more likely to hide behind our blanket of ignorance to find what little comfort we expect there, instead of venturing out into the big unknown and finding a greater sense of purpose, and a greater sense of self.

I know that our future progeny will look back to even our current social landscape (particularly our current political landscape) and be marveled at how ignorant we are, that we still have racism in America, discrimination of all kinds, particularly toward those in the LGBTQ community, and still dictate social policy based on money rather than the greater good for humanity.

So, for this Martin Luther King Jr Day, take a deep moment, and look out into the broad American landscape and see one small thing that you can impact in a positive and non-violent way, and begin the movement of change in your own way.

Follow the leadership of Dr. King, and become that leader yourself.

So last night, on the winter solstice I was invited to a party at a friends house in Gresham, Oregon. The house is home to actually a group of friends, all of whom have become near and dear to my heart. So it’s no surprise that they throw awesome shindigs.

The party served as a holiday (Christmas is coming) party, a haven’t seen you in a while party, and as welcoming of the winter solstice, which marks mid-winter, or better, the reversal of the lengthening of night and shortening of days.

Winter is still upon us, but it is nice to know that we are slowly slipping forward toward Spring again.

Burn 2010 Negativity Away

One happy event of the evening was that a burning, or cleansing of this past years negativity was planned, in which party attendees were invited to write down all the negative thoughts and events needing a purge before the new year starts.

Obviously, 2010 has had it’s share of negativity for me, mostly stemming from two particular family members who will never admit to how badly they affect my life, and how I am unwilling to have that negativity affect my blooming family.

I relished the idea of purging that energy away. Particularly, since I have performed cleansings of my own at other periods of my life. There is something deeply spiritual about burning physical objects from this world, that seek to hold your spirit hostage.

It was quite refreshing! To stand there, hand and hand with my wife Lo Ride, eyes and lips in sync to the words easily scribbled upon the page, and to drop those words, those terrible occurrences into the hot burning charcoals of the Chiminea.

The night wind lashed at me. The dark air surrounded me. The embers flew like a hot red blizzard. And there it burned. There it became ash. There I left it. Forever.

Drum Circle Redemption

After most of the party had served the Chiminea their 2010 negativity, we proceeded to form a drum circle, with the few bongos and drums our host had, as well as adding buckets and pails, anything to move the beat, and invest our blood into the rhythm of the night.

So, if last night, you heard the wind howl, and wondered who on Earth would be making a drum melody on a night like that, it was us. Looking forward to another promising year.

Eager to move to the beat of our own drum.

I’ve been chosen to be a featured reader at an Estacada Public Library Event celebrating the life and work of renowned poet William Stafford.

The event is hosted by local writer Stevan Allred, and will feature readers presenting their favorite Stafford poems and reading their own works created in the spirit of Stafford. Audience members are encouraged to read their own favorite Stafford poems as well, to make the event a truly participatory experience.

I haven’t decided quite yet what poem of Stafford’s I will read, though I have so many favorites to choose from. It will be truly an honor to share the microphone with fellow writers Christi Krug of Vancouver, Washington and Joanna Rose of Portland.

Visit the Estacada Public Library website for more information about the reading.

I’m excited to announce that I will be joining the very talented Stevan Allred as a featured performing artist (author) at Iris Healing Arts this Friday, September 3rd from 5 – 8PM. We’ll be reading some new stuff and some standard oldies from our respective portfolios.

The event is taking place as part of the First Friday’s – Spring Into Town, a promotion put on by the Sandy Oregon Main Street program, which encourages residents of East County to get out and shop local.

Let’s Heal Some Arts

There is no better way of supporting local than to support local artists, and that is for sure. There is no better place to support local than Iris Healing Arts, with their exceptional owner Heather Michet.

Her feature plant for the evening will be Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis). You’ll be able to sample lemon balm
goodies, and learn about its healing uses and properties, especially how it is helping Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers.

See you at First Friday!

I’ve never seen an actual review of my work in the public domain before, so this is pretty exciting.

The review was by PDX Reviews, who did a track by track listing and review for the Believe CD. Within each track review, they included additional information about each contributing artist including url’s to our sites.

Following the track listing they included a final rating for the CD, and, further info on how you can obtain your copy of the Believe CD.

The following comment was noted about my poem:

The Pacific Northwest Poet creates a canvas of imagery that takes the listener on a journey outside of themselves. Respectfully acknowledging that we are only here for a short time, and, also reminding us that we do share a connection with the world around us, Kelly Braden provides a strong and fitting introduction to this CD.

Now that is what I call a rock’n endorsement for my writing. Thanks!

I was one of the featured poets taking part in a Blue Door Art Event the other night in Portland’s Hollywood district.

The event consisted of live music, live painters, live poetry reading and community.

Attendees are encouraged to participate in anyway possible from completing a huge paint by number to using poetry cards at every table to be inspired by and jot down their thoughts and either read them or have them read by one of the host poets.

I’m excited that my poem Daffodils is going to be the intro track for a CD called Believe.

I Believe

Believe is the product of the Bird’s Eye view, a local-community based project focused on providing the Portland Oregon metro area with hosted community arts events and doing charity work that revolves around the arts.

With recent public school budget cuts eliminating much of the art and music departments, especially in elementary schools, they hope to provide communities with at least some access to all different types of art.

Local Flavor

The album is completely put together using the work of local poets and musicians and all submissions were donated. All proceeds go directly to the American Cancer society.

For $10, you can order the cd from CD Baby.