Art Work Received

I was pleased to learn that my piece, "Charlestown Gull" was received in California earlier this week. I am a National Winner through the 2008 National Veterans Creative Arts Competition. For the first phase of the judging which took place in April, I competed against 1567 other veterans to garner this honor. What's neat is that I am either the first, second, or third place winner. I will not know the results of the second phase of the judging until the end of June. It doesn't matter to me which place I end up with! If I do win first place, then, I'll be invited to California for the week long show. That would be interesting to say the least! At any rate, I am glad that my piece arrived safely. We took special care to make sure that it was packaged correctly and virtually unbreakable.
I've never entered this competition before, and had learned of it a few years back, and had tried to enter last year but had missed the deadline. I never thought I'd be a winner the first time entering!

A Busy Week

I've been quite busy this week working on various projects. I hope to see some of them finished shortly. I've also decided to try and publish my non-fiction adult book, and, non-fiction children's book as soon as possible.
I know that I shortchanged myself last week at a group author signing by not promoting my children's workbook, "Haiku For You". I focused my energies on my book, "Woman Reclining", and had hoped that my other writings would draw in the readers. However, there were a few others who had written only children's books, and the focus appeared to be on their work. That's okay though. At each book signing I do, I learn and figure out what will work better next time. Of course it does depend upon the audience too, as they may be looking for a specific author. There's really no way to know for sure.
However, "Haiku For You", is available for purchase today. If you are interested, please let me know. This work of art is a great read for children and adults alike. It's short and breezy. It's filled with black and white pictures and a few color photographs to illustrate my words.
I did receive some more compliments regarding the cover of this chapbook from a few people. That to me is what draws readers in as they like to see some additional flavor added to the workbook. It's a fun chapbook to explore as a child, and an instrumental way to learn how to craft Haiku. I can't wait to create more of these types of works for children and adults alike!

Book Musings

I want to let you know that if you are interested in an e-book format for my book of poetry, "Woman Reclining", you can order that through my website at http://outskirtspress.com/womanreclining.
You will only be able to view your book online as it is not available for download. The best part is the e-book is only $5.00, and, of course my book in soft cover format is $14.95.
Feel free to send me an e-mail if you have further questions regarding my book.
Take some time and enjoy my book, "Woman Reclining".

It's Been A Long Time Since I've Posted Here

I know that you are disappointed that I haven't written anything here in quite a while, and I do apologize for that. However, I've been writing a lot online via my space. My page there is: www.myspace/authorcheryl. You need to have your own account to post things on myspace. I've been very busy in the past few months, and was very sick too. I've got a lot of catching up to do in the meantime, but, I feel confident that I'll be posting more blogs here.
Right now I am pretty tired and do need some rest, so I won't write too much, but, for all of my readers, I do plan on keeping you inspired in your daily life whenever possible. I feel that as an award winning poet, writer, photographer, it's the least I can do. I know that I plan on wrapping up two manuscripts shortly so that I can have two more books published over the course of the next few months. That way you'll have an opportunity to own some more of my work. My first book, "Woman Reclining" has been available now for almost two years now. You can go to your local Borders store and ask them to order it for you if it is not in stock. Of course you are more than welcome to order a hard copy of it, or an e-book through my publisher at http://outskirtspress.com/womanreclining right now. You'll have the chance to hear an exerpt from my book where I read a couple of my poems.
Have fun, and be inspired today and everyday!