Update: August 2006
The end of August is here, and while some of you are dreading it because it means you're going back to school, others are looking forward to it with anticipation because it means that your kids are going back to school. And yet, for those of us in the northern hemisphere, we must come to terms with the end of Summer. My school is right at the middle of the first quarter. Seven weeks in, two to go for our first 3 week break of the school year. I'm definitely looking forward to September.
On the website this month you'll find four new poems. In between is a piece that I've had in my notebook for weeks. This is a very short poem that I kept trying to turn into a longer piece. In the end, it was only that first stanza that didn't seem contrived so here it is. The Stranger is a very simple piece. On the surface it's about the impact a stranger can make on us, at a deeper level, it's about how sad it is that we often keep quiet when another human being moves us.
The idea for the third poem, The dance, came to me about three months ago. For a long time I've used the idea of "dance" as a metaphor for the patterns we create in our relationships, be they friends, spouses, lovers, etc. In May I attended a dance concert and was able to peek at dancers in the wings waiting for their cues. I hope you like it. Finally, Sometimes it's hard, is one of those things that starts as one thing and ends up being another. It started as a writing exercise that quickly took on a life of its own. As I shared it with other writers, it became evident that a lot of people related to it, so I share it with all of you.
Book Update:
The “Three Bucket Money Management” project has been on hold, although I have contacted a couple of other agents. Publishing, especially for new authors, is a waiting game. :)
As always, I hope you enjoy these pieces and your comments are always welcome.
Update: July 2006
Well, the school year is behind me now. The weeks leading up to graduation were full of final exams, and calculating final grades, dealing with disappointed students, etc. However, those stressful weeks are over, I'm appreciating my three weeks of free time, and am back to the business of writing.
As you can probably guess, May and June were not very conducive to being creative. However there are three new poems on the site. The more I write the more I realize that inspiration can come from just about anywhere. The first new poem is called Little Lizard. This piece came to me as I was bike riding along the beautiful San Diego Bay and I noticed a large number of lizards had come out from their usual hiding places to enjoy the warmth of the sun. The second poem is, There are days. It doesn’t need much explanation, other than to say that the reaction I’ve received from this piece has led me to understand more fully the universal experience of the ebb and flow of confidence and self-doubt: like yin and yang, one contains the seed of the other. The last piece, My grandfather’s workshop is one that digs deep into my childhood and my relationship with my grandfather. I hope you enjoy, and as always I encourage you to leave comments on the website.
Book Update:
A few of you have emailed and asked about progress on “Three Bucket Money Management.” And at this point there really isn’t any progress to report. The agent I had mailed the manuscript to has not responded so I’m assuming that she’s not that interested, so in the next few days I will be contacting a few new literary agents. Thanks for asking.
Update: April 2006
Well, April is winding down. Wasn’t New Years just a couple of weeks ago? Well, it’s crunch time at my day job. As some of you know I work at a school that’s been open for three years, and this June we will have our first graduating class. So we’re very excited and at the same time stressed out. I thought it was the students that were supposed to be stressed out? In any case, work keeps attempting to take up more and more time, but through it all I’ve managed to make progress on some of my resolutions for the year.
My first goal was to publish my book on personal finance for teens. While the publishing part is probably still a way out, I have managed to finish the manuscript. It’s done! Not only is it finished but a couple of weeks ago I sent it to a literary agent that has seen it before and asked to resend it once I finished and implemented some changes she proposed, so, I’ll keep you updated on that front.
My second resolution was to keep up this website. Although I haven’t written as much as I’d like, I’ve at least been consistent with an essay and a couple of poems each month. Now that Three Bucket Money Management is done, (that’s the working title of the manuscript I finished), I’m ready to work more at fiction, so look forward to some new short stories and I can get back to the novel I started a few months ago.
So what’s new in April? A couple of new poems: Starry Night. This poem came to me while driving at night a few weeks ago. after playing with it a bit I finally got it to where I was comfortable sharing it. This one comes with a parental advisory sticker for strong language. The second poem is called The Canvas: I love impressionist paintings where the technique is to show the “impression” of the subject and not necessarily a realistic rendition of it. In any case, I think this piece is one of my most optimistic pieces. And finally a new personal essay titled Love sucks…but what’s the alternative? That one speaks for itself
By the way, although I didn’t do a Literary Website entry this month, I wanted to remind you that, in the US, April is National Poetry month. The Academy of American Poets has a great website to celebrate this and you can even sign up to get a poem-a-day in your mailbox. Check it out.
Thanks again for taking the time to visit and read my stuff. I am forever grateful.
Roberto
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