My News
Attending a Conference
Dress in something that makes you feel good about yourself.
Sometimes an object or a picture provides an image for a poem or story. Today my Villa Writers group is traveling to Cassadaga, a spiritualist camp. We shall eat at Sinatra’s and critique each other’s work. I have an ulterior motive for the venue. Do you have an object that inspires you?
Getting to Your Target Audience
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Do you have something to sell or an event to advertise?
Cheri Roman planner for the I Heart Books event says:
“Most people have to see an item or event seven times before they will click on it to purchase or attend.” Therefore, I’m reminding my friends that a free-to-the public I Heart Books event is coming to the Alachua County Library on Saturday, May 11.
Join over 40 authors at the main branch of the library at 401 E. University Avenue in Gainseville, Florida 32601. Come to browse from 8 A.M. until 4 P.M. Did I mention the first 50 attendees will receive free Swag bags.
I’ll be moderating a YA Panel from 3:00 to 3:30. My books will be available for purchase. Hope to see you.
Happy Cinco de Mayo
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Happy Cinco de Mayo. Did you do anything special to celebrate?
We had a horrible thunderstorm here today. We lost our power five minutes before lunch. We ended up staying home all day.
What did you celebrate today?
Love Books?
Letter to Newspapers
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If you are a writer, don’t forget to get the word out to your community. What should be in the letter? I recommend you talk about past accomplishments and future engagements.
This week my marketing person prepared a blast to go out to local newspapers and to my hometown. I’d love for you to tell me what you like about the the blast and what should be added or subtracted.
Award-winning author Melody Dean Dimick creates vivid wordscapes of the Adirondacks, and crusades against illiteracy from her home in Volusia County, Fla.
LAKE HELEN, Fla (April 30, 2019)—Melody Dimick understands the pain young adults face. As a teacher, she witnessed the alienation and vulnerability of one-sided loves, the dreams crushed, the injustices, and the tragedies her students faced. She draws on those experiences in her fiction and poetry.
Her latest work, Backpack Blues: Inspire the Fire Within (2018, Taylor and Seale Publishing), combines original poetry with lessons on form to create an accessible and engaging resource for aspiring poets, and classroom resource for English teachers, with culturally diverse poems exploring the pressures of home, relationships, and school.
Dimick is the winner of two Royal Palm literary awards from the Florida Writers Association, and the current president of the Florida Writers Foundation—a not-for-profit organization fighting to eliminate illiteracy. She is a member of the Florida Writers Association, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Florida State Poets Association. She recently received an Excellence in the Arts award from the Daytona Writers Guild.
When she is not writing, she speaks about writing and literacy at schools and libraries, plays pinochle with family and friends, and plays pickleball with her husband and partner, Barry.
She will be appearing, on May 11th, as part of the I Heart Books author signing at the main branch of the Alachua County Library System, at 401 E. University Ave., in Gainesville, Fla.
You may follow her news at www.MelodyDeanDimick.com. She would love to visit a school or library near you.
If you’re a writer, I challenge you to write a letter announcing your next event. Thank you for visiting my page.
Good-byes
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We are nearing the end of poetry month. In a former poetry blog, I challenged athletes to write poems about their favorite sport. One of my former students shared a poem with me on Facebook. Note how he used the fibonacci sequence for the first six lines? Then he continued expressing his feelings about the sport he and most members of his town love. The beauty of poetry is there are no rules. You are free to express your feelings about the subject you choose.
Friends, please read and enjoy Mark’s poem.
Paradise
by Mark Pivetta
Bat
Ball
Home run
Stolen base
The smell of green grass
Memory of a summer’s day
Celebrating a perpetual youth that has no ending
Rivalry born of pride, hot dogs, peanuts, the crack of a bat or the slap of leather
Holy names spoken with awe, Mantle, Williams, Rose, Jeter playing in those cathedrals of dreams with wide-eyed children, cheers, laughter or bitter tears
They all combine into America’s best, good or bad, happy or sad, we put our faith in nine, our tides rise or fall on a single pitch or a single swing, we boo or cheer coming together as fans, this is our game, our baseball.
***
Mark’s poem brought back memories. Baseball. Mantle. Williams. The crack of the bat. Thank you, Mark. You made my day when you shared your poem with me. With sadness, I must say good-bye to you. Mark passed away this month. I dedicate today’s blog to my student and fellow poet. Rest in peace.
Followers, thank you for visiting my site. Please click Contact Melody on my site located at www.MelodyDeanDimick.com to comment on this or any other blog.
Be Nice
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About thirty-two million adults in America are considered to be illiterate. According to “Shocking Facts: 23 Statistics on Illiteracy in America” by Rebecca Lake, approximately eighty-five percent of youth who come in contact with the juvenile courts are functionally illiterate, and about seventy percent of adult inmates score at the lowest proficiency level for reading.
As a former teacher and the current president of the Florida Writers Foundation, a 501 © (3) non-profit corporation formed to promote literacy, these statistics are staggering and enough to cause concern, but I have hope. Because you are here, I assume you can read. Readers reap benefits, and our world harvests the benefits of readers.
According to Dr. Mary Custureri, owner of Taylor and Seale Publishing Company, readers are nicer people. Research conducted by Kingston University in London indicates that people who read drama and romance are more empathetic. Those who read experimental books were better able to see things from another’s point of view. Lovers of comedy related best to others.
Want to be nicer? Consider reading.
Dr. Custureri suggested other benefits of reading. I’ll share them in a future blog.
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Hull House
Remember studying about Hull House in history class? Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr opened the settlement house in 1889. What did it do? Do we need another Hull House? A few Hull Houses?
According to the Hull House museum’s website, the Hull House provided a residence, a kindergarten, and day care facilities for the children of working mothers. It also provided an employment bureau, an art gallery, libraries, English classes, citizenship classes, and classes for theater, music, and art.
Whether you are an advocate of the President’s wall or a supporter of sanctuary cities, you must admit we have a problem with immigration in our country–legal and illegal immigration. What can we do to help immigrants become productive citizens? How do we help immigrants achieve the American Dream?
I write to let young adults know they are not alone with their problems. I also write to right wrongs. Is what is happening in our cities wrong? Are we doing all we can to create productive American citizens?
Why do you write?
I’d love to hear your opinions and thoughts. Thank you for visiting my blog.
Have a nice weekend
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It’s Good Friday. As I remember back from my youth, it almost always rained on Good Friday. Today will be no exception here in Florida.
Additionally, I remember my Catholic neighbors were not allowed to talk in the afternoon on Good Friday. It made playing difficult, and we were home on a holiday from school.
Good Catholics could not eat meat on Fridays during Lent. Our school served fish burgers or fish sticks on Fridays during the time period. I told my dad I was glad I was Methodist because I didn’t like fish. He said, “It wouldn’t hurt you to sacrifice a little.” Times were different then.
Do you have a Good Friday memory? I’d love to hear it. Please contact me at www.MelodyDeanDimick.com. Click Contact Melody.
Before I leave you for your holiday, anyone else decide it was time to check the precise meaning of redacted/redaction? I did.
The online dictionary gives the following two definitions: “The process of editing text for publication,“ and "the censoring or obscuring of part of a text for legal or security purposes.” Should the Mueller Report have been redacted? I’d love to hear your opinions.