Inspired Poetry

 

Sample of "PRISMATIC" by Melissa Huang

Albany museum

Sure... I work out! On the page that is... tee hee! I may not be a fan of physical exercise but I do spend some time practicing my skills on the page. Today's inspiration is brought to you by an excellent artist from Statesboro Georgia; Melissa Hung.

Melissa Huang, an interdisciplinary artist, who explores the multiplicity of identity in her paintings and prints. Her glitch-inspired painting and video self-portraiture studies the desire, failure, and dissonance associated with portraying an idealized self for a largely digital audience.

Here is the result of my inspiration:

Clear, soft, peering, eyes 
Concealed beneath waves of sheets,
In silence we meet.

by DAP Tales

Check out these other local artists:

Moving beyond the Rainbow Bridge: Your Journey to Healing after Losing Your Dog by Julieta L. Smith

Healing pet loss is difficult because, not only was so much love and joy received from your fur friend, but you gave all of your love to them. Moving beyond the Rainbow Bridge is a six-month guided pet grief book and journal that is uniquely created for dog owners. As you turn the pages, you will laugh, cry, and be inspired.

The Last Knights: Rays of Ruin (The Last Knights Saga Book 1) by KJ Eldridge

An ancient darkness falls upon a nearly forgotten kingdom on the edge of the frontier. Its once legendary defenders, the Knights of Gletharr, strike out to face the undead legion before they can destroy the last stronghold of hope in a world on the brink of annihilation. In the wake of destruction to follow, a small group of heroes venture out into the unknown to save their existence.

21 Ways to Fund a Nonprofit: Essential Resource Guide for Funding Charitable Programs by Cheryl Smith

Cheryl Smith is an American grant-writer, nonprofit trainer, and consultant. As the CEO of Dewlyn Nonprofit Services, a Metro Atlanta based consulting firm, Cheryl helps nonprofit organizations build sustainability through training, coaching, and grant-writing. In 2020, Cheryl launched the Community Heroes Program to work specifically with small nonprofit organizations in need of board development and funding. 

Click here to see more local artists living and loving their Art-life in GA USA.

New programs to help your writer's vision

 

        

(You may have to click the video 2 times for some glitchy reason)

 

Being a writer means that I am lucky to be blessed with the ability to creatively bring my imagination into the world. To get readers to believe in the characters I create, I must be the first to believe. I found a tool that can help.  I created this drawing when my son was 3 years old and I uploaded it to a site called 'My Heritage'. Watching stagnant photos and drawings come to life, fosters a spark in my mind that aids my imagination. I have tried this site with stock photos and illustrations that match my characters and I can honestly say... time well spent.

To date, I have over 27 story ideas and I am always on the lookout for anything that would shorten the creative-to-production process. Grammarly, of course, is a welcome staple, but my advice to anyone starting a novel is to record yourself telling someone the story; then, transcribe it. Now you can 'edit' by adding and elaborating on ideas which will help to speed up production. If you think this might work for you, check out this sites... 

Otter.ai (also available as a phone app)

Voice In Voice Typing by dictanote - this free download will allow you to have dictation on any platform including blogs.

Natural Readers

Speech Notes

Here are some excellent phone apps in order of perfection.

Ava

Speechy 

Check out these other photos using My Heritage

My Mom

       

(You may have to click the video 2 times for some glitchy reason)

My Grandma

              

Check out these other local writers that have been added to the RGN list. Happy clicking!

Bernette Sherman

Yong Takahashi

Philip Lee Williams

Asha Gomez

Tenesha L. Curtis

RGN: On the hunt again!

(DAP Tales)

On the hunt again! We were so happy to have found a place for the GNG to call home but we had to abandon it because cheating, lack or conviction and fake advertising are irritants. To be fair… I didn’t follow one basic rule in business. Get it in writing. As a writer – how ironic. *Sigh*

However, despite the setback, we have rallied and we sally forth into our yearly plans for the RGN and the GNG.

Tea House Formosa has become our new meeting point until we can find something more private. We not fans of censorship. 

What do you think, alFalaq?

(alFalaq)

If you’re in the mood for sipping subtle, exotic blends of hot tea and flavorful snacking from the sweet to the savory, Tea House Formosa comes as a tasty recommendation.  The GNG were treated to a sample service of three distinctive teas, ranging from a semi-sweet strawberry through a mellow green to a rousing ginger.  

We snacked on savory tuna on thick griddle-toasted bread and airy cream puff pastries, as well as their trademark tea eggs which, when peeled reveal each one’s unique marbling pattern. 

These are the first hard boiled eggs I’ve never had to salt to taste.  The service was genteel with an attentive, personal touch.  The storefront itself is set in simple, straight lines, as befits the simple subtleties of their steaming beverages, many infused with floral flavor from around the globe. 

The only detraction came when it was time to share ourwritten pieces, as the place was quite busy by then and a little too noisy for our inside voices while reading.  Other than that, it was a delectable afternoon rendezvous.

About DAP Tales and alFalaq

Dap Tales (a.k.a. D P Bates) is a writer/illustrator/graphic designer, living in Atlanta, Georgia. She is the illustrator and writer of a gorgeous book, PRIMARY COLORS AND ME, that introduces children ages 6 and under to color and design theory through the use of fun poems and beautiful color illustrations. (Click here, to check out the book trailer) This new material has led her to continue to explore primary colors and rubbings as a medium in her current artistic work. DAP is also the founding member of the RGN and Georgia Nutts Guild -- a support group for local authors who want to continue to practice and advance their writing skills and goals.

al-Falaq (a.k.a. P Bates) is a writer and illustrator living in Atlanta, Georgia. He loves cats and shares his home with an ornery fur ball with nine tales, at least!  His collection of poetry and short stories, Threadbare is available on Amazon. al-Falaq is also our resident blogger for our RGN on Location Blog.

Resolutions BEFORE January First for Read Georgia Nutts

One of the more enlightening revelations gifted to us by our event on November 16th, was that we now know the extent of support allotted to us. With this new knowledge in hand, we continue to sally forth toward our adventure with our publishing business, Patrick Bates Ink, which features our not for profit enterprises, Read Georgia Nutts and the Georgia Nutts Writer’s Guild.

First on our agenda is to complete all of our outstanding projects, most of with are due for February 2020. We were quite excited to begin this task at the new home for our guild on Covington Highway in Decatur. 

We have once again reopened our writer’s guild to the public and if you are interested in attending, you can join us on FaceBook and message us. Do you love writing and want to get better at it? Starting a novel for the first time and need support? Looking for some like-minded friends who write? Join the GNG and come to our Georgia Nutts Writer’s Guild Meetings. There is usually 1 meeting per month and best of all… it’s free!

Photo: Our 1st RGN author showcase 2012

Be on the look-out for our local writer showcases, blogs and videos next year. Thanks for showing interest in us and we welcome yourfriendship!

RGN at Indie Author Day 2018

A Moment to Shine

If you are a writer at any level and any genre. you know how it feels to spend countless hours cultivating in your mind and heart the garden of your thoughts and feelings, weeding, pruning, sowing; all to reach that moment when the endless days, both sunny and rainy, of the whole process can bring forth a fruit that transforms that internal grind into something tangible that can be held, shared and appreciated. When that day comes, the next great leg of the writer’s journey commences:  Getting your lovingly cultivated fruit to market and putting it into the hands of readers. An intrepid, yet gut-wrenching moment it can be... but necessary. Any good fruit must be given its chance to nourish someone.

Yvonne Walker and D. P. Bates

Just such an occasion was happening on October 13th in the form of the Clayton County Library System’s Indie Author Day, held at the South Clayton Recreational Center in Hampton, Ga. So, of course, the Georgia Nutts wanted to be there for our journey too! In this instance, Yvonne Walker and Dap Tales were promoting their books Garden’s Guardian and Primary Colors and Me; respectively. 

The sun shone down from a brilliant blue sky dotted with tufts of cottony clouds as we made our way into the Rec Center gymnasium, where tables and a PA system had been set up for the event. Authors, mostly local, had set up shop at tables spread across the polished wooden floor, seeking to introduce their independently published efforts to the public and peers in their trade.

The first segment of the session allowed the intrepid writers to try their luck with the PA system for a chance to share high points of their offerings to the assembled crowd. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a mostly losing proposition, as the acoustics of the gymnasium itself translated their words into an incoherent cascade of reverberating echoes. I duly rated “Acoustics” as a 1 “for poor” on the evaluation and comments form provided by one of the event hosts. Can’t win ‘em all, I guess. However, Dap Tales and Ms. Walker, with their own glowing charm, overcame the technical hang-ups to represent themselves with sparkling appeal. So, what else is new?

Moving on... Visitors and authors alike milled about freely, crisscrossing the space to greet each other and network. The wares on display included everything from suspense fiction to poetry to children’s books to action adventure to self-help. Milling about myself, along with my brother and Magic the Gathering opponent Harold, I came across table after table of smiling faces and warm greetings, each writer eager to share his or her story. Brother Walker had biblical insight he hoped to impart, while Shirley Merritt’s Turning Lemons intoRaspberry Lemonade sought to share very personal lessons she had gleaned during her battle with a degenerative nerve disorder. GNG alum, Ana’Gia Wright, sported her many contemporary urban novels. There were many others as well, but I’m not about to overlook Dap Tales’ beautifully engaging children’s book, PrimaryColors and Me, or Yvonne Walker’s globe-spanning epic adventure, TheGarden’s Guardian.

All in all, I think it was a good event, well worth the time and I want to share some love and genuine appreciation toward the Clayton County Library System, for caring enough to make the move to give all us indie authors a platform to meet the public and be seen in our community; thanks, guys!  Maybe just work on an alternate plan for the sound in 2019, perhaps? Catch y’all on the rebound!

Other authors:
Patricia Cruzan
Nwankwo Mishad
LaQuarn Micheals

****** UPDATE BY D. P. BATES ******

I am inclined to agree with my husband and colleague, al-Falaq, about our adventure in Clayton County. However, it seems that they have listened to their critiques and have implemented some changes.  My biggest concern was that it looked like a private event for Indie Authors. There was nothing about the event that seemed inviting or open to the public. I plan to attend again this year and I am quite excited about their changes. Fingers crossed.

How much does music influence our writing?

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GNG meeting; writing fundamentals -- How to write a good first line

After taking some time to view a video, the GNG members write 3 first lines of 3 different genres. Can you guess which genre? Click here to check it out