Putting the "New" in the New Year

Happy New Year! We're kicking off 2026 here at TeachingAuthors with a series of posts about something new we're doing this year.  

My "new" goal is to incorporate more humor into my poetry. Lucky for me, shortly after deciding that I wanted my poems for young readers to be more playful, I learned about The Poet's Studio's online workshop "How to Write a Funny Poem with Chris Harris" this coming Monday, January 12, 2026. 

I was familiar with Harris's work from reading his 2023 title My Head Has a Bellyache: And More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi. You may recall that I blogged about reading Bellyache back in 2024. But I didn't mention then that the book has the most entertaining glossary of poetry terms I've ever seen--and the glossary is itself a poem! Here are the opening stanzas:

          GLOSSARY OF TERMS
          (from My Head Has a Bellyache)

     A simile flits like a songbird.
     A metaphor struts—it’s a bear.
     Personification
     Says, “There’s a gradation
     Of human in things everywhere.

     Alliterative language looks lovely.
     Consonance crackles and creaks.
     Assonance has
     A class-act pizzazz,
     While sibilance slithers and sneaks. 

          © 2023 Chris Harris. All rights reserved. 

You can read the whole glossary online, where Harris shared it as a series of posts on X. 

When I registered for the workshop, I discovered Bellyache was actually the second in a series that began with a book illustrated by Lane Smith called I'm Just No Good at Rhyming: And Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups. Both books are published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 

Since rhyming is not my strong suit, I find the title especially appealing. But it's obviously not true, given the book's abundance of rhythm and rhyme. Booklist even called it "A magnificently wacky romp through verse." 

I don't know if writing poems like the ones in these two anthologies can be taught, but I'm looking forward to Monday's workshop. An extra plus: all the members of my poetry critique group will be there, too. Are any of you TeachingAuthors readers planning to attend? If you haven't registered yet, there may still be a few openings. You can learn more at Georgia Heard's The Poet's Studio website. 

Don't forget to check this week's Poetry Friday roundup by Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town. 

Happy writing!

Carmela 

How to Make a Writer's Day

Happy Poetry Friday! I share a poem at the end of this post along with a link to this week's Poetry Friday roundup. 

As April mentioned when she kicked off this series of posts, our first topic of the year was inspired by the 2025 Tournament of Roses Parade's theme, "My Best Day Ever!" Of course, back when we planned the topic, we had no idea that it would be a challenging one given all that's going on in the world. But perhaps Providence was at work, because I can't imagine a better time to focus on being thankful for good things, which is crucial to the Best Day theme.

Like Zeena, I can think of many personal Best Days, such as my wedding day, the birth of my son, his wedding day, etc. I've also been blessed with many writing-related Best Days. Highlights of those days include graduating from Vermont College, being offered a contract for my first novel, and having a packed house for my first-ever book signing at my local independent bookseller. But my most recent writing-related Best Day was completely unexpected and happened just last Friday, January 31. It's related to my latest publication, a true story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tales of Christmas: 101 Stories of Holiday Joy, Love and Gratitude edited by Amy Newmark. The book was released in October 2024, but it continues to bless me in surprising ways. Before I describe last Friday's Best Day event, I need to provide some backstory.

Finding out last summer that my story, "A Life-Changing New Year's Tradition," would be included in Tales of Christmas was itself a writing "Best Day." I've submitted pieces to Chicken Soup multiple times but have been accepted only once before--a poem in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk High School, 101 Stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Older Teens edited by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Amy Newmark, & Madeline Clapps back in 2008. I'm not sure if the paperback is still in print, but the book is still available as an ebook.

Despite it's title, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tales of Christmas features stories about events beginning with Thanksgiving and running through Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Day. My story is about our family's tradition of keeping a Good Things Jar and how the jar helped me through an especially difficult time. 

When my copies of the book arrived, I was honored to discover that my piece is the last one in the collection. But then I thought, maybe the honor wasn't that great, since the book contains only two New Year's stories. 😄 

If you read my latest Creativity Newsletter, you already know that the publication of Tales of Christmas led to an interview in our local newspaper. (If you don't get my quarterly newsletter and would like to subscribe, you can do so here.) I was quite surprised by the newspaper's interest--I've sent them press releases in the past without ever receiving a response. But I was even more surprised on Sunday, December 15, when I opened my copy of the paper to find the photo I'd provided on the front page! 

Photo taken by John Martino

I learned in the article that the reporter had also interviewed Amy Newmark, the book's editor. He asked Amy about the Chicken Soup selection process and how she chose my piece. Here's an excerpt from his article:

“I love to put some New Year’s stories in our Christmas book,” Newmark said. “I liked Carmela’s story, which is a twist on the more conventional approach to gratitude, which is to have a journal. The gratitude jar. What’s great about it is it makes you approach every single day with a different perspective. You start looking for the good things instead of the bad things.... I can see hundreds of people doing that because they read it in her story,” Newmark said.

Martino’s story is the last one in the book.

“I like to end the book with a nice, strong story. You finished Christmas, here’s a great idea to put you on a positive footing for the new year,” Newmark said.

Wow! Reading Amy's comments gave me another Best Day! I loved learning about how she chose my story and why she ended the book with it. But the blessings related to the publication of "A Life-Changing New Year's Tradition" didn't stop there. Several friends I hadn't connected with in some time contacted me after seeing the article. My friend Gayl, who had moved to Minnesota, must have read the article online, because she emailed to congratulate me. She also said that her library had ordered Tales of Christmas, and she couldn't wait to read my story. 

And that, at last, brings me to what happened last Friday. Out of the blue, I received a text from Gayl saying that her library finally got Tales of Christmas. She wrote, "I loved your story and its message," and said that she and her husband had decided to start their own Good Things Jar. Her text made my day! She had verified Any Newmark's comment that my story would inspire readers to create their own Good Things Jars. I was thrilled to know that my story had touched someone so much that they'd been moved to action. 

Gayl ended her text with "Thanks for the lift!" But her message had lifted me, too, giving me another "Best Day." (And something great to share in my post for this series!) Of course, I included a note about her message in my own Good Things Jar. 😄

Now, for the poem I promised. Some of you may recall that, back in December 2021, I participated in the Kidlit Winter Poem Swap. I had the pleasure of swapping poems, and a small gift, with Linda Mitchell. My gift to Linda included a glass jar I'd decorated and labeled for her to use as a Good Things Jar and two poems. I've copied one of those poems below. I believe it fits well with our Best Day theme of gratitude. What do you think? 

        Good Things

    A morning walk
    beneath blue skies.
    A cardinal calling
    as it flies.

    A smiling stranger
    holds a door.
    A new museum
    to explore.

    The patter of
    much-needed rain.
    A breath of air
    that's sweet again.

    A lovely dinner
    with a friend.
    A stunning sunset
    at day's end.

    The flavor of a
    favorite tea.
    A comfy chair
    and time to read.

    Record these joys
    on little cards
    and save them in
    your Good Things jar.

    © 2021 Carmela A. Martino. All rights reserved.

 

Don't forget to check out this week's Poetry Friday roundup hosted by Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink.

Happy writing!

Carmela

MY BEST DAY EVER

Howdy, Campers, and Poetry Friday!

I'm kicking off our first series of 2025  ~ Happy New Year! We've decided to borrow the 2025 Tournament of Roses Parade's theme, "My Best Day Ever!"

For more about the parade's theme, read this article.

At first, I was going to post about the fantastic time I had at the NCTE Convention in Boston this past November. There were numerous Best Days that week, one of which was when I was on my way to hear the opening speaker...and the sheer pleasure of attending a huge convention (7,500 attendees) for the first time in years. What. A. Blast!

But as I was hiking with our 1-year old pup Sadie, on New Year's Day, it became clear. I had to tell you what my favorite hike does for me.  This particular trail, which I've named The Courageous Trail, takes about two hours. It's a steep hike, the footing is tricky, and I rarely run into anyone on it.  I hike it at least once a week, often more. I'm always, always happier (often ecstatic) as soon as we're greeted by the pepper trees near the trailhead, and I'm definitely the Queen of Bliss when I make a point of touching the post at the end of the trail: we did it!

pepper trees greet us 
at the beginning of trail 

When I hike this trail, grey skies clear, Vitamin Green calms, heals, and softens me...and poem ideas jump up from their hiding places shouting, "SURPRISE!" 

Remember those pocket breath strips that would dissolve on your tongue? For me, brilliant ideas are like that. So, to make sure I don't forget, I send each idea from the trail. The subject line is simply: Poem: [whatever I just thought of]; I leave the body of the email blank.

Here are a few examples of those subject lines:

• Poem: the toe has no nose but it knows; my eyes have no clothes but they're closed
• Poem: I'm so glad I married this trail
• Poem: HIKING PRAYER: I am here I am here
• Poem: the wind leaves leaves. The leaves win.
• Poem: as much as I love pepper tree leaves, I am developing an affection for the green spoon, the blue rubber glove, the empty whiskey bottle near the trash can at the end of this trail.

Yes. I love personification.

Some of the ideas turn into poems, some of them wander over to my husband's worm farm in the backyard. Apparently, old ideas are delicious.

For me, every day I hike--is my Best Day Ever.

Below are three poems related to nature and dogs.

I wrote the first one when we'd just adopted Sadie—my husband was healing from a major accident, I was recovering from whatever I was recovering from, our wonderful old dog Eli had died a few months before (Kitty was in deep mourning--she wouldn't sleep in our room, and refused to purr). A gloomy fog filled our home. You know what I'm talking about.

AND GOD SAID...
by April Halprin Wayland

Done. You’ve asked, I’ve granted. Now go
Out there and laugh, laugh, laugh!
Give all the love you’ve been saving to your new furbaby.

BLESSING
by April Halprin Wayland

I’m listening—
sometimes it’s clear,

sometimes I hear
a healing balm.

It whispers soft:
my word is calm.

We breathe in green.
It’s healing both my dog and me.

DOG PARK SPRING QUARTET
by April Halprin Wayland

1.
Dogs frisk in dust,
birds choir on wires.

2,
The sparks of spring
bring racing things
on paws
and wings.

3.
Dog’s full-stretch yawn.
The chill?  It’s gone.
Instead, the crazy sting
of spring.

4.
Our park is full of
barks that mean g’morning, howdy, hi!
My heart is full of wagging tails
and hope and song and sky.

poems (c)2024 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.

Regarding the last poem:

Sometimes I get flashes on a topic. Pieces of a puzzle that don’t fit together with that satisfying click no matter how I rearrange the pieces.  Most days I discard all but one and work out a poem from that. But the day I wrote this one, I wanted to keep them all.  This is one way to organize ideas.  Bring 'em all on board! Then the poem's like a strobe light, flashing on one idea at a time in a black room.

It’s your turn. Pick a big topic–spring, love, Paris, mother–whatever it is, scribble down metaphors, words that sound like your feelings about the topic, etc.  Create a quartet of poems.  And remember to breathe.

Sit, Sadie...

Oh--I almost forgot! A different kind of Best Day Ever is teaching! 

Do I still get nervous when my classes begin? You betcha. 

But the moment I can tell that my students and I are in that flow--that's the Great Gift.

So, come join my next one-day, 3-hour UCLA Extension's Writers' Program class, INTRO TO WRITING THE CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOK ~ A Workshop for Absolute Beginners 

many thanks to Barney Saltzberg for this illustration

Guess what?!?! 
UCLA Extension offers it FREE! 
Enrollment begins January 22nd--this class fills FAST!

* * *

Thank you for reading this post. 

Now, it's your turn. What's your Best Day Ever? (And if you've forgotten how the Tournament of Roses defines that, read this article.)

Thank you, Mary Lee, for hosting the first Poetry Friday of 2025 at A Year of Reading !

I believe that the Kidlitosphere will bring hope to this beautiful, sorrow-filled world. 
It's going to take time, humanity, art, humor, community, committment, poetry, and a few good songs.

posted by April Halprin Wayland
with help from Sadie and Kitty

PS: I just read that hashtags can be added to Blogger...so here goes

(and please let us know in the comments section if you found us via a hashtag--and which one!):

#newyear #wedandothis #wesing #wewrite #wecreateart #weteach #welaugh 
#poetryforchildren #writingchildrensbooks #poemsaboutdogs #poemsabouthiking #poetryfriday #BarneySaltzberg #Icouldgoonandon #dohashtagsmakemelookfat 

Embracing Change with an Etheree

Happy Poetry Friday (and St. Patrick's Day ☘ too)!

Today, I'm wrapping up our TeachingAuthors series on the theme of Moving Forward in the New Year by sharing an original Etheree poem.

You may recall that Esther kicked off our topic back in January with her review of The Stories Behind the Stories: The Remarkable True Tales Behind Your Favorite Kid's Books by Danielle Higley (Bushel & Peck Books). Of course, I loved reading all the posts in this series, but April's has especially stuck with me. She shared her One Little Word for the year: Simplify. The word is becoming my mantra as my husband and I try to declutter all the stuff we've accumulated over the last forty years. Given that we've lived in only one place in all that time, it's A LOT of stuff! 

This photo by Sigmund on Unsplash looks a lot like a corner of our basement.

The decluttering has been necessitated by the fact that we're seriously contemplating selling our house.  Doing so would be a HUGE change, and we're both finding the idea a bit overwhelming. That feeling inspired me to take up this month's Poetry Sisters' challenge to write an Etheree on the theme of "transformation." I came up with the following. (Click on the image below to enlarge it.)

I still don't know what the future will hold, but writing this poem helped me feel a little less overwhelmed. So, a big THANK YOU to the Poetry Sisters! I look forward to reading all your Etherees at the end of the month. 

Poetry Friday logo by Linda Mitchell

Meanwhile, I'm going to check out this week's Poetry Friday roundup hosted by Laura Purdie Salas.

Carmela

A New Year...An Upcoming Book - Anatomy of a Book's Journey

Moving Forward in the New Year!  

Here we go…2023 is here and I am on a speeding train toward the book launch of my first book that sold in July of 2018.  It’s been a long time coming and certainly not without its own story, replete with the twist and turn of not ending up being my debut book.  So where did it all begin?  Well, with my very own teaching author of course!  Here’s the anatomy of a picture book sale for an author who wondered if it really could be done. 

Chance meetings and serendipity have always been my friends. As a public school teacher in Los Angeles, Otis College of Art and Design allows teachers to take one free extension class a semester. In 2017, I attended an open house ready to sign up for a painting class.  It had been a long time since I had explored my ideas on canvas.  It was a life I had wandered away from once I had a child in 2001. I was ready to add a little pizzaz to my life, to reclaim that part of me that had slumbered through my child’s childhood. I meandered through the tables exhibiting the offerings, awake and alive to the endless possibilities of reentering a formal learning environment.  And then I happened upon Deborah Nourse Lattimore and my life took a new turn.  

I had been exploring writing for children and I had been putting the work in to learn the craft. It was work.  Enjoyable work…but work, nonetheless. I had no intention on that day to add to my workload. I was looking for delight. But, Deborah was pure delight and I found myself signing up for her class instead of the painting class I had intended.  I was about to find myself at a new level of a career that I had been dabbling with, wanting to be serious but unable to find the next level.

Deborah Nourse Lattimore is the author-illustrator of almost 40 children’s books and has taught writing for years. Her gift as a teacher is to recognize each students level and extend their reach in a non-judgmental, nurturing, and loving way.  Deborah creates the conditions for good writing to occur without the student knowing that it’s happening. The growth is organic and authentic and not performative, process over product. I thrived. 

After studying with her for months, I took a risk and randomly asked her if she ever recommended her students to an agent whom she was friends with. She said, “Sometimes.” I ventured further, “Would you consider recommending me?”  I braced for the very real possibility of a no.  But there it was.  My first yes.  

That December I travelled to Egypt to visit my father and extended family.  Egyptian Lullaby tumbled out of me as a full-blown manuscript. I could hardly keep up. It was my love letter to Cairo. 

Abigail Samoun of Red Fox Literary was still looking at some of my weaker manuscripts when Deborah encouraged me to send her Egyptian Lullaby. Abigail’s response was positive, and my timing was on point. Abi was traveling to New York that week to meet  with editors.  She asked if she could take my manuscript with her. It was a resounding yes from me which resulted in 5 interested editors from leading publishing houses. I naively expected an immediate sale.  

          

Some clean up and revisions were necessary.  Time passed…editors passed on it…and the manuscript stalled. Knowing that rejection is a part of an author’s lifestyle and accepting that every turn is an adventure kept me out of the trough of despair and imposter syndrome. But time kept passing and nothing was happening. Then we got a bite, but a full rewrite was required. I’m always up for the challenge and adventure so I jumped in and responded to the editor’s direction.  The manuscript was significantly different, but I liked the changes and was willing to let go of the original story. 

We were ready to cross the finish line when Emily Feinberg contacted us. Egyptian Lullaby seemed like it belonged at Roaring Brook Press. A different manuscript that I had in my collection of manuscripts seemed like it was better suited for the original editor whom I had worked with.  So, I ended up with two sales. 

(If the video won't play click here)

As it turned out, my instincts were right.  The version of Egyptian Lullaby that ended up as a picture book was the original version, illustrated by the extremely talented Hatem Aly.  

Ironically, Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story became my beautiful debut picture book

stunningly illustrated by Fiona Halliday. It unfortunately came out on May 12, 2020, just as the pandemic lockdown kicked into full swing, almost three years before Egyptian Lullaby which is due out on April 18th of this year. 

It is a delight to revisit the journey of my first book and honor the people responsible for it. 

This blog post is dedicated to Deborah Nourse Lattimore, my unrelenting mentor who makes me feel like I can write anything, Abigail Samoun, my amazing agent who believes in me, guides me, supports my decisions, gives me the belief that there are unlimited possibilities always possible and helps me bear all the rejections that go with this path, and Emily Feinberg, who took my original manuscript and made it into something I could never have imagined it would be.  

My love for the three of you is immeasurable and my respect is boundless. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

By Zeena M. Pliska

1 WORD FOR 2023

Howdy from California, Campers ~

Soggy California! Sorry about the drips on this page (I'm in Southern CA and we're fine, thank you).

And Happy New Year and Happy Poetry Friday to all! (The links to Poetry Friday, my poem, and my upcoming class are all below.)

Our theme for this round is Moving Forward in the New Year. We began with Esther's enticing review of the book, THE stories BEHIND THE stories (read her review here and enter to win it in our first BOOK GIVEAWAY in this fresh new year). 

I'm up next.

In the 13 years I've been privileged to be part of TeachingAuthors, I've learned rain barrels-full about writing, teaching, poetry, and friendship from my fellow TeachingAuthors, from many of you, and from the Kidlitosphere and Poetry Friday communities.

One thing I've learned is that many of you move forward by choosing a word for the year.

So I tried it. Sometimes I'd choose a word and then discard it because it didn't seem to move me forward. But one year the magic happened. That was the year I chose the word CAPABLE.

I chose it because the nasty noises in my brain continually convinced me that I was never going to be capable of doing whatever it was I was doing. 

That word set me on the road to discovering I was, indeed, capable.

                                drawing (c)2023 by April Halprin Wayland

Good old CAPABLE. We're still very close. 

Usually, instead of choosing a word for the year,  I choose a word for the day. The book I read each night has one page for each day of the year. The page begins with a quotation, followed by a paragraph expanding on the quote, and then a gentle resolution for the day.

For example, one recent quotation was: "Competitions are for horses, not artists." ~ Bela Bartok

The words from that reading that resonated in me were: "People who have developed the art of living...are as respectful of their own values and opinions as those of others." (underlining is mine)

Every night I read a page and every morning I forget what that page was about.

So I decided to condense the whole page into one or two words. In this case, my word for the next day may have been "self-respect." And guess what happened when I woke up the next day? 

Nada. Nothing. 

Even if I created a visual for my word--for "self-respect" (which might be someone looking in a mirror and liking what she saw) even then, I still couldn't remember what I'd read. 

Finally, I decided to write that word on the top of my foot each night. In the morning, before I sat up, I'd challenge myself to remember the word, and sometimes I could. But if I couldn't, I'd lift my leg and read my foot. 

 

I write my word on the TOP of one foot. I do NOT draw faces on my toes. But, boy, it sure looks like fun...maybe I'll try it. (photo: Pixabay)

All day long my word walks with me. And if I feel scrambled, I'll stop and focus: what's my word? I rarely need to take off my shoe to remember it. 

Here's the draft of a poem I wrote about it:

IN INK 

by April Halprin Wayland

I write the word I'd like to think

on the top of my foot each day in ink.

 

Absurd, absurd, some friends may say,

to walk with that ink on her foot all day!

 

How odd, so odd, some will assert,

to write on one's foot—imagine the dirt!

 

You know what I mostly wish from this?

to tune out the voices and follow my bliss.

          poem © 2023 April Halprin Wayland. 

(That last stanza is super corny, but that's what I've got for you today ~ says this recovering perfectionist)

As this new year rolled around, I thought I'd try a word for the whole year again. I sifted through many. The word that felt exactly right is SIMPLIFY.

It's already working its magic: each time I'm overwhelmed by too many emails, too many TO DOs, too much noise, I think: SIMPLIFY. A calm washes over me. I focus.  And guess what? In simplifying the tasks I take on, I've begun writing a picture book I'm totally in love with!💗

I haven't felt this excited about writing in a long, long time. 

What's YOUR word for today or for the year? I'd love to read it in your comments.😊

And hey, Campers ~ my one day, three-hour Introduction to Writing Children's Poetry will be held again on January 28 from noon to 3pm PST. We read a variety of poems and have time to write our own. Come join the fun! It's offered through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. 

Thank you for hosting Poetry Friday, Marcie!

posted by April Halprin Wayland, with help from Monkey and Eli, posing with one of their favorite, very old poetry books.

3 Things You May Not Know about TeachingAuthors and a Trimeric Poem

Happy New Year to all our TeachingAuthors followers! In this, our first post of 2022, I'll announce a change coming to our blog and kick off a new topic. At the end of the post, I'll share my first attempt at a trimeric and a link to this week's Poetry Friday round-up.  

NOTE: after publishing this post, I added info about a free webinar I'm presenting later this month--see my P.S. below.

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

First, the announcement: we've decided to revise our posting schedule. Some of you long-time followers may recall that when we first started blogging, we posted three days a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We later cut back to Mondays and Fridays only, with an occasional Wednesday Writing Workout. In 2018, we dropped our Monday posts and switched to blogging regularly on Fridays only, but still with the occasional Wednesday Writing Workout and other special posts. 

Believe it or not, in 2022, we will be celebrating our THIRTEENTH blogiversary! Two months ago, the TeachingAuthors team met virtually to discuss whether we still have something of value to share with our blog readers. Our conclusion: we do! But we decided we need not post quite so frequently. Effective today, we're reducing our regular posts to twice a month, on the first and third Fridays. As before, we'll still share an occasional Wednesday Writing Workout. We may also include a post on a second or fourth Friday of the month, if something important comes up. 

As it turns out, last week my fellow TeachingAuthor April received a lovely email from a TeachingAuthors follower thanking her for a post on trimeric poems. The reader also wrote that TeachingAuthors is "one of the very few blogs I rarely miss reading." The message affirmed our decision to continue posting! 

Now for our new topic: We thought it would be fun to kick off the New Year by sharing tidbits about us and our blog that many of you may not know. I'll begin with 3 Things You May Not Know about TeachingAuthors:

1. Our site now includes a Calendar link under the heading at the top of the page. Clicking on the link will display our TeachingAuthors Google calendar from November, 2021 on. If you think you may have missed a post or you'd like to see the upcoming posting dates or topics, you can find the info in the Calendar.
2. Another handy feature on the site is the list of links to all the Poetry Friday roundups for the current six-month period. You'll find the list in our right sidebar, under the Poetry Friday logo. (HUGE thanks to Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading for coordinating the roundup hosts and providing us with the code to display the list.) 
3. Several of the current TeachingAuthors have never met each other "in real life." When we started the blog back in 2009, I knew everyone on the original team in person, with the exception of April Halprin Wayland. April and I later connected several times, even presenting at conferences together. But over the years, there have been several TeachingAuthors I've never met, including one current member. In fact, I don't believe any TeachingAuthor personally knows all the other current team members. I hope that will change when we're able to attend conferences together again.     

Five of the six TAs presenting together at a 2010 conference, left to right:
Mary Ann Rodman, Esther Hershenhorn, JoAnn Early Macken,
Carmela Martino, and April Halprin Wayland

The reader email about trimerics prompted me to re-read April's last trimeric post. And that post inspired me try my hand at writing my own trimeric:

                              TeachingAuthors
        It doesn’t matter that we’ve never met—
        we’re friends, bound together
        by our writing and our teaching.
        We don’t let physical distance separate us.

        We’re friends, bound together.
        Common goals and virtual connections
        help sustain our solidarity.

        Our writing and our teaching
        interlace to form a growing tapestry
        we could never weave alone.

        We don’t let physical distance separate us
        from each other or our blog readers—
        or our students.

   © 2022 Carmela A. Martino. All rights reserved.

I really enjoyed writing this trimeric. Hope you enjoyed reading it! For more poetry, be sure to check out today's Poetry Friday roundup hosted by Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink.

Posted by Carmela

P.S. I forgot to mention that I'll be presenting a free webinar called SMALL PRESS, BIG DECISION for SCBWI-IL on Thursday, January 27, 2022 at 7 pm Central Time. For details, see this page.  

How My 2020 Word of the Year Changed Me Forever

.

Howdy, Campers and Happy Poetry Friday! My poem and the link to today's Poetry Friday's host is below.

The question TeachingAuthors have been batting around this round is, What did I learn in 2020 that will help me in 2021?

Esther, as always, rallies us with gusto offering one tiny prefix to see things anew; Bobbi walks beside us talking honestly about this crazy road we're all on; Mary Ann takes inspiration from a book that's part practical advice, part surprising memoir of a holocaust survivor, and Carmela shows how she is training her brain to be indistractable, offering solid tips and a wonderful found poem to go with it.

This morning I was thinking about how the first word I’ve ever chosen for a full year, CAPABLE, changed me in a year that has changed me. 

In 2020 I learned that I am capable of creating a 3-hour online class on writing poetry for children (next class scheduled for July 17, 2021). I am capable of learning how to comb my hair backwards on Zoom, I am capable of learning how White-centered my thinking and teaching are and discovering how to change this, and I am capable of developing a Zoom-friendly wardrobe (red is my best color on Zoom). To my surprise, I am capable of embracing teaching online. (I sometimes feel closer to people online than people in real life...I think of all my Zoom friends, family and students as my Flat Stanleys.)

photo from The Flat Stanley Project

I am capable of running again (yay!), taking care of two hatchling tortoises and not killing them (we named them Meredith and Derek...can you guess what we watched from March through December?), capable of finding a most excellent dog-friendly cat, and capable of dusting off my picture book manuscript and working on it for 10 minutes a day.

I am capable of ordering stuff online I never thought I'd be ordering online, doing without a lot of stuff I don't need, enjoying online yoga classes to buoy my spirits, exploring weird neighborhoods in Los Angeles with my dog and/or my husband.

I am capable of embracing the chaos, embracing the unknown, allowing myself to collapse into a puddle of tears, redefining who I am, being filled with hope again. I am capable of  learning to understand racism differently.  Basically, I am capable of persisting.

So thank you, 2020. You and my word of the year have changed me. I am more willing to look up a video on how to fix something, read the directions more than once, or simply not be angry at myself if I can’t figure out how to do it the first time around. Rather than try once, give up, and ask someone else, someone smarter and more capable than me to do it, I may set aside more time to figure something out, or pat myself on the back and say, April, you’re Capable. You can do this. 

Thanks to you both, I tried longer and I beat myself up less.

I'll tell you the word I've chosen for 2021. But first, I'd like to bid a formal adieu:

ACCOLADE (draft)

by April Halprin Wayland


Good morrow, Noble Knight.

Please ~ rest your sword by the door;

come hither.



I have called you here at sunrise

to honor your heroic year of service

in a most trying time.



Your work has taught our people

how to be safe, develop grit,

and—as your name suggests—become capable.



Because of your exemplary service

to the palace, to the castle town, and to the world at large,

this kingdom hereby confers upon you



the highest order of knighthood in the field of language:

the First Ever Word of the Year

or FEWY.



Please kneel.



Retire now in leisure

and know that your steadfastness and pluck

has changed us forever.

poem(c)2021 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.
...................................................................................................

My word for 2021 is FOCUSED, a concept Carmela's post covered beautifully. I can't wait to see where it takes me.

Do you have a word for this day, this week, month or year?  So many of you do--please share them!

Be sure to check out this week's Poetry Friday deliciousness at Jone's!

posted by April Halprin Wayland with love from a house full of animals

Here's our brand-new very dog-friendly kitty, Gato: 

Learning to be "Indistractable" and a Found Poem

Happy Poetry Friday! I share a found poem I created at the end of this post.

As Mary Ann mentioned last week, we've kicked off this year with the topic "What did I learn in 2020 that will help me in 2021." As frustrating as 2020 was, I learned some things about myself that are helping me create a happier, healthier, more productive life.   

It all started with one new habit. To cope with the stress brought on by events of 2020, I decided to start meditating regularly. I have meditated off and on for years. In April 2020, I committed to making it a regular habit, initially, for just 8 minutes a day--up from the 5 minutes/day I'd dabbled in earlier in the year. And I decided to motivate myself by using the "Don't break the chain" strategy. The strategy involves using a calendar to cross off each day when you accomplish your goal. After a few days, you have a chain of successes, and the idea is to keep up the habit so you don't break the chain. You can read how this approach helped Jerry Seinfeld's career here. 

When I meditate, I use the free version of the Insight Timer app to sound a chime at the beginning and end of my meditation time. The math geek in me loves graphs, so I really appreciate the app's graphs and charts representing meditation activity. The app also rewards you with "stars" for accomplishing certain milestones, such as meditating for ten consecutive days. So, instead of using a physical calendar for the "Don't break the chain" strategy, I used the app. Before April 2020, the longest meditation streak I had was ten days. That changed on April 27. I watched the chain grow to 20, 30, 40, 50 straight days, and beyond. I also gradually increased my time to 10, 12, and 15 minutes a day. Early this month, I revised my goal to 20 minutes per day. As of this morning, I've meditated 288 straight days--something I wouldn't have imagined possible a year ago. My goals is to hit 365 days!

Interestingly, this new habit did more than simply ease my stress. It also proved to me that I am capable of real habit change. I began to think about how I can create new habits in other areas of my life, especially my writing. In particular, I wanted to find a way to overcome distractions. Recently, I'd been struggling more and more with the urge to read email or check social media during my designated writing time. Then I read about the book Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life (Benbella Books) by Nir Eyal.

Becoming "Indistractable"
I learned of Eyal's book when I came across Gretchen Rubin's 2019 interview with him. In it, he says: 

Truly, distraction starts from within and it is our never ending search for an escape from psychological discomfort that is the root cause of distraction. We check Facebook because we’re lonely, email because we’re stressed, Google because we’re uncertain, and Instagram because we’re bored. We like to blame the technology, but these companies are powerless to change our habits if we don’t give them an emotional trigger to latch onto.  

If you subscribe to my Creativity Newsletter, these words may sound familiar, since I shared them in my December 2020 issue. But the idea that psychological discomfort causes distraction feels important enough to discuss here, too. The emotional triggers that distract me from my writing aren't typically loneliness or boredom. Instead, my discomfort is triggered by anxiety and self-doubt--the internal critic whispering in my ear that I'm not a good-enough writer or my idea isn't marketable enough. 

One strategy Eyal recommends for overcoming distraction is "time-boxing," something I've been doing for years, though I'd never heard of this term for it. I set aside specific time for writing, usually first thing in the morning. But I often found myself "taking a quick break" to check email or social media during that time, only to have that "quick" break stretch to an hour or more. So I decided to combine Eyal's time-boxing idea with the "Don't break the chain" strategy. I created a schedule for checking email and social media and committed to only doing it at those times. 

To track this chain, I'm using a physical calendar, marking off each day I stick with my goal. Below is a picture of my results through yesterday. (The box for Sunday, 1/24, looks odd because the same square also holds Sunday, 1/31.)

I'm again amazed at how motivating such a simple strategy has been for me. I've been able to sit and work for long stretches without distraction. And when I check email or social media during the designated time, I don't feel guilty about it!

The Strategy of Monitoring
I believe this success is tied to an idea I learned from Gretchen Rubin: The Strategy of Monitoring. (I've mentioned here before how I'm a big fan of Gretchen Rubin's podcast and books.) One of my goals for 2021 is to write more poetry. To be more specific: my goal is to draft at least one new poem a week, and I'm keeping a record of my results. (So far, so good.) This week, I've drafted a found poem* from Rubin's blog post summarizing the Strategy of Monitoring:

            You Manage What You Measure
        To get more of something good
                   or less of something bad,
        figure out a concrete way
                   to measure and track it.
        By counting the things that count,
        you make sure
                                they’re part of your life.

Found poem by Carmela Martino taken from Gretchen Rubin blog post of April 22, 2013. 

In an interesting coincidence, just a few days ago, Rubin shared on Instagram the same picture she included in that blog post, which I've copied above. 

*To create the found poem, I applied these three rules to the text of the original blog post: Words could be subtracted, but not added. Words must be kept in their original order. Tenses, plurals, punctuation and capitalization could be changed as needed.

For more poetry, don't forget to check out this week's Poetry Friday roundup hosted by Jan at Book Seed Studio.

Posted by Carmela

Happy ANEW Year! – Courtesy of the Prefix “re”

YAY! and finally: our New Year is here!

2020 no longer banners our calendars.

This year’s start, though, is different from all others.

Since my one-year-ago post sharing my Rx for 20/20 vision, 

my eyesight required emergency refraction.

I count my blessings daily, if not hourly, that COVID-19 

literally infected neither me nor my family, at least up until 

this moment, and that friends and colleagues who experienced 

otherwise survived without serious after-effects.

I remain forever grateful my losses to date remain few.

My heart holds a place for those unable to say the same.

Still, figuratively? If I was to KEEP keepin’ on, in body, 

in spirit, and especially in my life’s work – teaching, coaching

and writing, the corona virus forced me to see my world – 

everything and everyone - anew. 

When it came to looking, back no longer did the job.

          re-

          prefix

      Definition of re

      1: again: anew retell

      2: back: backward recall

This past year,

whenever Stuff demanded figuring out, so some part of my life – 

i.e. the story I was living, would work as needed, my M.O. became:

•re-examine who and what was important, adjusting my camera lens 

 to better focus,

•re-assess obstacles and available resources,

•re-consider options, NO MATTER HOW SCARY, 

•re-imagine desired outcomes,

•then begin anew with mustered courage.

Were some days better than others, some efforts unsuccessful? 

You bet!

Was I able to get every single aspect of my life working? NO!

But there was always tomorrow, a new day waiting.

The prefix “re” ensured I kept keepin’ on.

                                                      (Used with permission from Karen Ritz)

Recently, Karen Ritz’s beautiful illustration above of Mary McCarthy’s

oh, so true words prompted me to revisit 2020’s happenings.

And, lo and behold! As I saw the year anew, I saw me anew, too!

Like any Heroine who proves different for her Journey, I, too, proved 

different for the story I’d been living.

For one thing, I realized my ability to endure, despite whatever.

“I’m still here,” as Elaine Stritch famously sung.  

For another, I now know I’m able to face down my fears, especially 

those technological in nature.

And like any Heroine, I, too, returned home with something better than 

first sought. I began 2021 with buckets of proven courage.

                                                (Used with permission from Karen Ritz)

The Good and the Bad, the Ups and the Downs, the CrazyCrazy 

challenges – all contributed to a newer, braver me.

Now, whenever Stuff needs figuring out, so some aspect of the story 

I’m writing works as needs be, I’m rarin’ to go.

And that includes the 8th iteration of my current picture book 

biography!

I just rinse and repeat my 2020 Covid-19 M.O. 

I found the perfect prefix to adjust my vision, 

to adjust my verbs from focus to imagine.

I found daring and boldness, no matter the unknown, so my Reader, 

too, can be different for her Journey.

Thanks to Sylvia at Poetry for Children for hosting today’s Poetry 

Friday.

Here’s to your stories - both those you are living and those you are 

writing – and finding, however challenging, at least one Silver Lining!

Happy ANEW Year!

Esther Hershenhorn

P.S.

Welcome, welcome to our ANEWEST Teaching Author – Zeena Pliska!

You can read more about her here.