From the Twitterverse

NOTE: I don't know what the future holds for Twitter, but, despite how h3llish it's been for others, and I know, there have been many cr@ppy and horrific moments for me too, the platform has been a boon for my writing life, and in more recent years, my artwork. I met many individuals, coalitions, organizations, advocacy groups, and publishing industry pros I admire and respect. I also learned about and was able to support Black and brown creators and small businesses. I learned to online network more, how to be self-confident, and trust in my voice. Yes, a social media platform did that for me. 

Since I don't know what will happen, I'll be posting handfuls of some favorite tweets. 

Below are some posts from when I was in my MFA graduate program (links are still active):

This is my 2nd #PaulAuster - "Mr. Vertigo" is devilishly fun and feels like #RayBradbury on speed. #requiredreading #gradwork

1:37 PM · Feb 4, 2014

Opinion: I am a beneficiary of chain migration -

#immigration - This article written by a fellow #MFA alum! 

http://tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2018/01/19/opinion-am-beneficiary-chain-migration/1034370001/ (via @andrewjskerritt)

11:36 PM · Jan 19, 2018

D@mn, I found my #MFA #thesis! #furry

https://utampa.dspacedirect.org/handle/20.500.11868/77/browse?type=author&value=Welsh%2C+Carmen+K.+Jr.

9:53 PM · Aug 28, 2019

Why This #Poet Says There Is No 'Single Story Spun On A Single Tongue' - Poet Dr. #EricaDawson was the #director of my #MFA program when I graduated!! She was on the #PBSNewshour this Monday!! Sweeeeeet😍🤩💖 #StarstruckandProud #BlackWomen

pbs.org

Why this poet says there is no 'single story spun on a single tongue'

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-this-poet-says-there-is-no-single-story-spun-on-a-single-tongue?fbclid=IwAR1whxwpylvMCHvRZYzAWkmJZz1oiXw77Fm2QU6xynXpUIBvl4PLWXzwZ24

2:17 AM · Feb 16, 2019

Year of Champions: Thanks to #TinaIsaacs, local #writers know they are never alone - THIS IS ONE OF MY FRIENDS FROM MY #MFA #WRITING PROGRAM!! #Malaysia 

Read more at https://star2.com/topics/yearender-2017/2017/12/30/year-of-champions-thanks-to-tina-isaacs-local-writers-know-they-are-never-alone/#ZD3S2v1t7BvWlc58.99

https://star2.com/topics/yearender-2017/2017/12/30/year-of-champions-thanks-to-tina-isaacs-local-writers-know-they-are-never-alone/

9:35 PM · Jan 1, 2018

The THESIS Is Done... Well, to a certain degree. Rewrites will follow.

Yesterday morning, some time after 2:30 am, I completed my thesis and submitted 50 pages to mentor and 141 pages (that includes cover sheet, preface, revised prologue, abstract and lucky 13 chapters) to the university's BlackBoard. 

I had uploaded a draft version but panicked and officially submitted it. Any changes to be made, I will let the school deal with me being able to re-upload. 

This has been a struggle and has taken plenty out of me. How my favorite writers churn out books seems beyond my mortal ken. Just writing, rewriting, work-shopping and researching has done me in more than any other writing endeavor I've undertaken. No wonder I immediately gravitated towards short stories!  

My novel-in-progress has mutated in a wonderful way. It has metamorphosed from a half-eaten caterpillar to raggedy cocoon and finally a brightly-winged butterfly that is trying to get away from me. I wondered often why writing was likened to childbirth and child-raising and I have caught a glimpse, possibly a hairsbreath sliver of what mothers who have raised children must go through. To see a child one way and watch that child become a completely different individual than what the parent could have imagined.

This story has changed in gargantuan ways I didn't foresee. It has changed me in a shorter time as a writer than those sixteen years of professional writing I went through with my short fiction and handful of art. 

There can be no complete explanation of the changes that have also taken place within me. I feel more courageous, more daring and this contented introvert can risk humiliation knowing she has tried.   

And in the middle of what I coined "Thesis Mania", my writers' guild published a second guest post of mine. I will be uploading the link to my bibliography blog "The Angry Goblin". I completely forgot about this! Oh well. It's there and it does speak about my MFA experience and being an anthropomorphic writer.

All this maternal imagery and changes? Just in time for Mother's Day! :)

Ahead of the Game

Ok. Working on this thesis. But had to get a four-book annotation out of the way. Just used my work lunchtime to continue to add, omit and edit my dummy 'curriculum' I'm suppose to teach as a graduating student in the summer term. Can't wait!

Manga can be life...

Since in 'thesis-mode', I have been re-reading a lot of my favorite ‪#‎manga‬ series in order to keep in creative mode to finish even half of this novel.

"Winter vacation is needed... even for this exhausted love affair. The North wind is blowing strong... in the space between us that can't be filled. We can't stay warm anymore just by holding each other." - 'Paradise Kiss Vol. 5' by Ai Yazawa. ‪#‎Ilovemanga‬

Still in Thesis *Crisis* Mode

I'm not making excuses, but last night's packet had already been ready for weeks. Everything was in order until I changed my annotation plans. Absolutely ridiculous. I had two chapters already ready and my annotations set up. Then I changed my theme. *Gag*
My thesis chapters are already lined up (for creative portion) and the next packets will be annotated by three books each. That is all.

Time Is Of the Essence

Graduation is fast approaching. My graduation.
Goals are being made.
I am outlining and taking this novel to the next level and pushing to try new things with writing.

Now it's November and getting down to the wire! So many things due: annotations, creative portions, 25-page essay, and the feedback and research that one accumulates in a semester...

I have so many questions for myself and what I might try to do.

Evernote(r) is an app that can cross platforms for simple note-taking, rigorous note-taking, research-gathering, posting images, recording and clipping web articles. It is such a handy app that I had to download it to both net book and desktop.

Unless you have used it, you have no idea how helpful it's been since a student at my campus told me about it!

I can't count when I was pressed for time (what with the job and looking into extra-income opportunities) and how, with only my cellphone, I hurriedly typed out an entry, bookmarked and clipped a webpage for research, or recorded a reminder (Ok. I only did that once, but it doesn't mean I won't continue it into a habit).

Had to turn in some more deadline PDFs... Ay, and I'm still working on the novel. While taking time to catch up on personal reading, I try to remind myself to always have time for other creative projects.

Here's to hoping to catch up and keep up! *Whew*!

The Long & Short of It

How about reading for pleasure? Again? In the midst of trying to tie down the novel-in-progress, I've noticed that the imagination is being fired in other directions.
I will be changing my job-schedule dramatically this semester. Not only to have more time and concentrate on the grad work and keep on deadline but to evaluate where I want my writing career to go.
After all the hooplah of beginning an MFA program, I find myself already in my third term -- two more terms! -- before I graduate. This has posed a new dilemma for me: do I begin a career hunt or do I step up what I am doing now or do I veer off the beaten path to continue seeking different writing adventures? I'm kind of leaning on the first and third scenarios. There are projects I MUST work on, ideas that have come to fruition, and a community of like-minded people that I can lean on and count on to keep me on the straight and narrow.
Let's see what adventures lie ahead!

In-between

Ten days ago, I finished and turned in my packet. Now I'm drafting the next packet so I can have a workable body to edit as the next deadline is fast approaching.

I have sketches to work on as well as an art commission. Not looking forward to all this work! I don't mind that my novel is coming along. What I mind is there are other projects vying for control: personal comic story, art and illustration, and a critical essay that is blessedly due in two months.

Tune in for future posts that will be a bit more positive!

The Art of Plugging Away - New Edition

"There comes a time in everyone's life...." Blah blah blah. No, I will give it to you straight - have been back from residency and didn't think it was possible.
I realized I was burned out last term (Jan 2014) and needed to recuperate. Then I read an article in Poets&Writers magazine about 'post residency stress'.
I brought it up with a poet cohort of mine (we are divided into three groups: poetry, nonfiction and fiction (my group), and he told me that it was a true condition! So that's probably why I am dragging and yet have momentary bursts of energy. And according to the author of that article, it affects everyone in different ways. For her, it affected her mood, emotions, and at some point, her circadian rhythm.
For me, it's making me itchy and tense. I feel I have to burn the midnight oil, drop into bed so late that I'm only getting a few hours sleep. This isn't good. And now I need to get back into my groove, which is proving elusive.
Well, one, no, a couple good things out of this mania: I'm getting work done.
I'm putting my research together for my third term critical essay.
I already put together/organized my folders from school on my desk.
Sent some important emails (have two more left) and I am getting my books a month in advance for the rest of this year's packets. Whew.
Let the Games Begin!

Still plodding along

I'm still working on my packet, plus, we have until May 1st to turn in another packet for workshopping purposes in June, and we still have the 15th in May for another packet!
AAaaaaah!!!!
I'm okay now.

And the Beat Goes On...

*Singing*...just like my love, everlasting!

Sorry, I've dated myself, but, that's a cool song. YouTube it!

Anywhoo, have been sick with the flu since last week. I'm still not fully recovered. Have this persistent cough, however, I was able to return to work just this week.
I am doing that graduate work and trying to work on the dog gangster novel. My mentor wants me to start from the beginning, which is difficult since I rarely start a story from the beginning! I know, that sounds cracked, but, the longer a narrative, the more I jump around, trying to find the meat of it.
I already did an awkward Chapter One, and a more fluid Chapter Two. Now, I'm working on Chapter Three, and it's a daunting task. Aargh!
I will get it together.

Have been 'crazy' busy!

       Sorry, I'm not being neglectful. I've been working on graduate work, helping build mom's online store, and now, a comic story I drafted, over 10 years, is being revised. Not only am I scripting it in journals, but am actively drawing and inking the story.
More in the next posts.