Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from Across the East River

Sunrise by Sandra Lee Schubert

Inspiration


We had a guest speaker at the Wild Angels group. David Johnston is a playwright that I have know for years. He is not tabloid famous, but, his plays have been produced internationally. He has a nice body of work that he could point to as he offered us his advice. One of his biggest tips came not as part of the presentation but in the Q and A. Someone asked how often he wrote and he said that he wrote at least two hours every morning. Two hours! He also mentioned inspiration and how we wait for inspiration when we should coax it out. 


David gave us something important. We have come to treasure inspiration.It becomes this thing we long for as if it will save us.Truly when inspiration strikes words flow from an underground aquifer.It is blissful to be in the flow.  Inspiration is lovely- treasure the moment it comes unheeded. But we can't wait for it. We must tap it ourselves. Like David we should go to the well each day. 

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..
She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.
Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own Visit her blog. 
Email her> Sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter. Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from Across the East River

The Bridge by Sandra Lee Schubert @2009


Last week I wrote two poems while a friend was visiting his doctor. I heard someone say I am getting banana pudding for fat boy. That one statement started a poem and another began after reading about someone who was learning about trick or treating. Now this is not a piece about writing poetry but about explaining it.


Do poets need to explain their poems? My friend writes the most complicated poems. Each poem requires a visit to Google, a dictionary, possibly Wikipedia and skills in translating foreign languages. Even after all that work you still may not know what he has said. People expect not to understand his poetry.


But what if you write a fairly simple piece and people ask, "what does it mean?" Are you obligated to give them an answer? Poems have layers. The layer the poet writes, what it means and what it means to others. When I write a piece there is a clear meaning in mind. But I can be surprised when something I've written does not have the clear meaning I intended. A poem can have  meaning the poet didn't even know about until someone else reads it. That is when feedback becomes valuable.


Again the dilemma is when to explain. My thought is to allow the poem to be opened up to interpretation. You can't be in everyone's home explaining a piece. At some point you have to make sure you a well-written piece and then let it fly. 

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..
She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.
Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own Visit her blog. 
Email her> Sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter. Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from Across the East River

Glittery Man by Sandra Lee Schubert @2009




Glittery Man 


Are you holding on to an old and outdated vision of who you are? 


I had several disappointments this week. The person who has been my creative muse for years disappointed me in an unexpected way. I was surprised. She inspired to take on a creative persona that has framed how I have lived my life. The disappointment became the catalyst to question whether the creative persona I had inhabited was still valid. The next day someone questioned the very same persona. He said there was a cognitive dissonance - my words and images were not in sync. Was the universe trying to get my attention or what? 


We want to be authentic and we want to put forth that which has the most meaning for us.  But what if you have taken on a image that does not represent who you are?    


I went to two business expos at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC. One was a small business expo and the other was for event planning and design. The small business expo was fine. There were good seminars and the exhibits were interesting. The information was good and solid for the small business owner.


But the event planning and design expo was very exciting. Besides floor to ceiling silvery dangles the glittery man greeted the attendees with his body flashing light all over the entrance. There were full out party rooms done in all gold, crystal and white. A Tiki bar was on hand and a drag Queen wore a table full of chocolate. The music was infectious and loud. There were beauiuful exhibts and beatuful people throughout the hall. I was immediately sold. I wanted to host an event somewhere, anywhere. If I wanted a real life example of a brand living up to expectations this was it. 


The event planning expo was the frame I have carried, but I have been living like the Business expo. One is solid, but has little energy, the other married excitement and business. I have tons of information. I have a billion ideas. I can be very creative but I live in a box. At the end of the day I am not that exciting. 


Creativity asks us to live differently. We can't do the same thing as everyone else and expect a different result. We may have to shake things up and throw out the very way we have been living. I was all shook up this week. Two people I admired made me question what I have been doing. It sucks. But, I think it is a good thing. My creative life has been ho-hum. My business has stalled big time. It took a glittery man and some friends to point out I have not been living up to my potential. Do I know what is next? No. But I am willing to leave the old persona behind and craft a better one. Is your persona in need of a makeover?  

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..
She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.
Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own Visit her blog. Email her Sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter. Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from Across the East River

Book Signing by Sandra Lee Schubert @2009

Book Signing

This past week I went to a book signing and reception for Gary Vaynerchuk, author of the new book, Crush It. I've been to a few signings for friends, but this was the first promoted via social media and with lots of buzz. It was at Borders Books in NYC in the Time Warner building at Columbus Cirlce. The location itself added to the excitement of the event.

The author has a following of enthusiastic true fans who happily packed the event space. He entered the space like a rock star. Truthfully, he is a rock star. Here was someone who knew he had to create his own stardom. What did I learn?


First, to get any where you have to want it badly. I see this over and over again in successful people. There is an energy that propels a person forward. We have all heard about having a fire in the belly. I saw this played out at the book signing. Gary is up late working and then jumps out of bed early in the morning. Second, you have to take charge of your own stardom. Even if you are just a little twinkle in a mass of sun like stars you still have to make yourself shine brightly. Third, you don't do it alone. Creating doesn't happen in a vacuum at some point you must take your work out and share it with the community.


I've watched Gary interact online for a year. He makes friends. He is also someone who remembers you even if he has met you once in a crowd of other people. Here is a guy who knows how to use everything at his disposal. He also has a ten book deal with his publisher. I have no deal like that, do you?

Maybe you or I don't have his big kind of personality. Or, we forget who we just met the second we turned around. But we can still learn how to transform our passion into something big. Can we meet each day with the kind of excitement that makes the heart race?


Take time and read about your favorite successful artist/writer/actor/business person. What makes them tick? What kept them going in the face of adversity? Look for the traits that are similar to you. Figure out which traits you have that are comparable and what ones you need to cultivate to success. Find and exploit your passion. Discover your inner rock star and let her out in a big way.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..
She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.
Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own Visit her blog. Email her Sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter. Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from Across the East River

Transfiguration by Sandra Lee Schubert 2002

Creating Your Poetry

The word iconographer means "image writer", and comes from the Greek εικον (image) and γραφειν (to write). I have created three icons; two are small pieces done in the traditional method. The other icon follows the same concept of writing with an image, instead of traditional methods I used collage to create a visual poem in three pieces. The poem is represented as a triptych, each stanza is a panel.

The poem was in response to a class assignment on visual poetry and the tragedy of September 11, 2001.Thinking about what to do, I was reminded of the loss of icons on that terrible day. The images were of the World Trade Towers, the loss of our idea of power, America as a safe haven. I looked for photos and words that represented these iconic images in the newspapers and magazines. In creating the poem I wanted to rise above the tragedy and look for some of the bright spots.


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Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Taste and See by Sandra Lee Schubert 2009

End of Summer Prompts

Not the senses I have but what I do with them is my kingdom. Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)

BONUS- TAKE ACTION PROMPT:

1. The Box - Fill a box with different small items that have different textures and weight to them. As example you can include a couple pieces of fabric such as burlap, silk or velvet. Put shells, rocks, marbles, keys, etc into the box. Explore it with eyes closed. Are you afraid of what you are touching? How do things feel with your eyes closed? Bring them to your face; sniff them. See if you can identify the items without looking at them.

2. Taste exercise - You can choose to do this with eyes closed or opened. Take some different fruit or food items preferably items that have different textures. Some examples would be an orange, avocado and piece of bread. Spend time looking at the items as if seeing them for the first time. Notice the shape of the avocado. Feel the texture of the orange. Sniff the bread. Take time with each one tasting, exploring and learning about these new things you have discovered.

3. Create some of your own sensory explorations. Listen to new music. Walk barefoot. Run one block really fast.

4. Write about the above as if you were an alien. What did you discover? How would you describe this new planet? How do you feel about the people you have met? How did if feel to be blindfolded in a new planet?

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators.

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

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Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Watch People by Sandra Lee Schubert 2009

End of Summer Prompts

Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature. Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

WEEK FOUR- TAKE ACTION PROMPT:

Observe: Become a people watcher. Look at how people move. Notice the color of their hair. Imagine them as children. Do you think they were happy? Do they look sad now? Pay attention to how people interact with each other. Look for the small movements. The way a man touches a woman's face. How children talk to each other. Do they snuggle against each other? Are they competitive or shy? In your daily routine, notice one new thing. Maybe it is the color of the marble in your building lobby, or the way a street curves.

Listen: Eavesdrop on some conversations. Write down a sentence or two that appeals to you. Take copious notes. Write down all the sounds and smells you encounter. Make up new names for all the colors. Take in your environment in a new way. Sit down and begin to write based on your notes or discoveries. Make some simple observation or create a full-blown story. Try one page and then two. Discover one new thing each day.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

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Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Hildegarde by Sandra Lee Schubert

End of Summer Prompts

You know criticism when you get into this business. You accept the bad with the good, the tabloids and the positive side of it. Carmen Electra (1972 - )

WEEK THREE- TAKE ACTION PROMPT:

In her essay Bad Writing, Julia Cameron gives us writers the task of going out and buying the tabloids we usually read secretively on the supermarket line. Julia suggests looking over some of favorite titles and creating your own "tabloid" story. "Alien baby is my love child", "8,000 year old man found buried alive in desert", "Writer's fear stepping out of the ordinary", you get the idea. Have fun with it. Create outrageous tales. If you do it with abandon and a sense of fun you should find you are energized and want to return to your work.

Look for ways to expand how you create. If you paint, try coloring with regular crayons or making collages out of found pictures. Create poetry by cutting words out of magazines. Create poetry with found pictures. Creating should be deep, fun, joyous, exciting, and enlivening. Create with your arms wide open and allow inspiration to meet you in all places.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators.

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

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Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Heart by Sandra Lee Schubert 2009

End of Summer Prompts

I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork. Peter De Vrie

WEEK TWO- TAKE ACTION PROMPT:

Remember the first person or thing you loved. Was it a parent, toy, character, pizza? Take five minutes and write about that first love.

Take five minutes and write about the love that got away.

List 25 things you associate with the word heart. As an example - Valentine's Day, weddings, surgery, chocolate, babies, exercise. Looking over the list choose a couple to explore. Write the word on the top of the page and begin to free associate. Let the words flow without editing for at least 15 minutes. Look over what you wrote. Were you surprised by what you wrote? Disappointed? See if you can expand on it or pull a line or paragraph and create something entirely different. Try this with several of the words on your list. You may find new thoughts and ideas emerge from your list.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show- Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators.

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

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Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Sandra Lee Schubert

End of Summer Prompts

You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair “the sense that you can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page.

Stephen King (1947 - ), On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, 2000

WEEK ONE- TAKE ACTION PROMPT:

Write. Write again. Write one more time. Each day write 50 words. Pick a topic or not. Observe - what do you see? Touch - what are the sensations? Listen - hear a piece of conversation and then write a story about it. You can write more but not less. Write with a friend. Go to the park and write for ten minutes and then go play. Write waiting on line. Just write. Don't think about it too much and don't worry about editing it. This is not your great novel. You are laying tracks, building the foundation, and developing the sense that writing is something you can do.

Read books like King's; pick up Ray Bradbury's book, Zen in the Art of Writing, or One Writer's Beginnings, by Eudora Welty. These books are great sources for observing how a writer takes from life and recreates stories.

Wherever you are in life; honor your journey. Create your environment to support your creative self. Surround yourself with people and things that feed your muse. Share your work with others and you may find that you are a happier and more satisfied person. Discover the brilliant, talented and wonderful person you are.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

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Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Election Day c 2008 Sandra Lee Schubert

Big, Bigger, Biggest

The summer is almost over. I suck at summer. One step out into the heat and humidity of a New York City summer and I'm back in the house faster then you can say air conditioning. There is so much to do here in NYC and I am absolutely stopped in my tracks by its heat.

My resistance can be epic. The tortured artist model has nothing on me. The personal development books have picked my pockets, stuffed my bookcases and my brain, but have done nothing for my life. Is it their fault or the fault of my own psyche? I'm thinking the only one at fault here is me. Let me tell you what I learned this week.

My biggest advantage, and greatest pleasure, is interviewing wonderful guests each week on my radio show. I get to speak to interesting people doing great things. This past week I spoke to Greg S. Reid who was recruited by the Napoleon Hill Foundation to recreate the original concept of Hill's great book, Think and Grow Rich.

Greg took this on as an incredible adventure; selling his home and car to fund the project. He was talking about hanging out with the people who are doing big things. When he wanted to learn how to write a best selling book he spoke to the people who had best sellers. Greg did not play small- he went for it a large way. At some point I revealed my own limiting belief system when I revealed it on my show to him. My thought was to make the idea of dumping all your dead ending friends in one swoop more palatable was to work your way up the success ladder by a slow dump along the way. You could add a friend who was slightly ahead of you and comfortably build your path to success. Oh, boy don't ever play small with someone who plays big. Greg told the audience he would not support my limited thinking. Thank goodness you can't see a red face on radio.

The thing is I got the message to play big several times in the past week. The universe was knocking my brain really hard. And the truth is I have been playing/living/acting in a small way. I act like I am in learning mode all the time. Of course I am always learning but there comes a time to break from the comfort of it and apply it in the world. We all have to let the world see what we are doing. The big reveal comes with the possibility that what you have learned and done just plain sucks. So you work on it more. I work on it more.

My lesson(s) for the week: Playing it small will keep you small. Hang out with people doing great things. Be brave, be bold and step out into the world.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds,Thinkers and Innovators..

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.
Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

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Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

At the beach @Sandra Lee Schubert

Is This Summer?

You spend all day writing. The writing can be all consuming. A day turns into a week and then you pick up your head and realize the summer is gone. About now you may be wondering if all this work is worth it. I don't know. The creative life offers no guarantee of success, fame or fortune. You can't be sure you will enjoy the process. A pot of gold may not exist at the end of the rainbow. Who knows if anyone will read your work or if there will be any money to be made.

Even though you can hear the kids playing outside on a fabulous gorgeous day you are still inside reworking the dialogue to your story. Life cannot be enjoyed until that line is perfect. Your family knows it. Your friends know the distracted look in your eyes. They are drinking beer and you are mulling over what the protagonist said in the last scene.

Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, keeps to a rigorous schedule. He is fully engaged. Then he is done. That is not to say he doesn't think about his work after the fact. He knows when to work and when to play. That is the big difference.

Each of us decides the value placed on our lives. You must decide what is important and how to achieve the life you want. The trick is that you must live this life with no assurances it will turn out the way you planned. There is no magic mirror to let you know.

Keep writing. Take time to play. Give it the best you got.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show- Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators.. She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

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Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Sun. By Sandra Lee Schubert @2009


Independence

This is a short post. I have been thinking about independence. Creative independence. Artistic freedom. Operating off the grid of the traditional and paving your own way. I what ways are you independent? What do you need to do to free yourself from artistic bondage?

Take a look at your creative life. Explore what works, what has become stale and how can you break out of your box and do something new.

Over the summer try some new things. View new art. Write new books. Take a dance class. Stir it up a bit. See what you can come up with that is different, fun and adventurous in your creative life.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

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Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Charlie by Sandra Lee Schubert 2009

Charlie

My father was tall, slim, a red head with a gift for creating. I know that he smoked a pipe and used Old Spice. He liked to drink. My sister and I would spend warm summer afternoons in the neighborhood bar drinking soda and eating Slim Jims. I know he was a gifted artist. But, I have no record of his art work, except, for a copper printing plate for the Schubert oven. My patent check shows no such oven.

He would take us on adventures in the neighborhood. We would go down to the Sunnyside Yards and watch the freight trains coming in to deliver merchandise to the various factories in Long Island City. I have the faintest memory of going down to the dumps, which were islands of stuff, dumped on dirt, in the middle of the urban landscapes. Occasionally we would come back with things that my mother never seemed to like.

When he came home from work he would bring salty french fries in oily brown paper bags. My love for french fries has not been quenched by dire diet warnings. My mother worked at night, leaving us with my dad. He would give my sister and I tiny mugs of beer and then tuck us in. He would tell elaborate stories to lull us to sleep. I remember his story telling the most and sitting at the kitchen table drawing pictures for us at request.

He died when I was five years old.

My great sorrow is that I never got to have an adult conversation with him. We never shared stories together. I don't know what he thought about politics, love or life in general.

Even though I don't know these things about him I know his DNA runs through me. My father had a decidedly Asian look to him. I carry his cleft chin, high cheekbones, and a distinguished forehead. The red hair missed me but his poor eyesight, bad teeth and fair freckled skin is some thing we share.

Since my mother has been gone for 29 years I have to make my own decisions about what I inherited from my parents and what is uniquely my own. I don't drink, yet, still love the faint beer smell of a bar in the afternoon. My talent lies in storytelling, photography and spontaneous acts of creativity.

Today I honor my father. My memories of him are fleeting and too few. Yet what I have is sweet. I remember a man who had a strong physical presence, a sense of humor and a gift for creating. His legacy is in his daughters. Each day I hope I can express a bit more of the talent he gave me.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter. Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

book promotion- BEA style Sandra Lee Schubert 2009


New Possibilities

Yesterday I watched a Les Brown talk on Youtube. Les Brown is a motivational speaker who came from hard times to become a success. He reminded me again of taking chances, going for it in a big way.

Hungry. Be hungry. When you are hungry you find a way to get food. I hear this again and again from successful people. Find yourself a damn big goal and go for it. Do you want to be the next JK Rowlings? Better start writing. Win an Oscar? Take classes.

The Book America Expo reminded me of that too. There were lots of hungry people there. You could see it in their eyes. They scanned the expo for the next opportunity. No grass was growing under their feet.

I know times are tough. Believe me I am in the muck and mire of toughness. I bob and weave. I fall into despair and I rise back up. This is the ebb and flow of life. Sometimes living just plain sucks and other times it is great big ball of fun.

Feed your hunger with good stuff and leave the junk alone. Take a chance. Then take another. Have fun. Remember you have more control then you think.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators.

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

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Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Author, Gary Vaynerchuk BEA 09 by Sandra Lee Schubert 2009

Book Expo America '09

My first excursion to BEA was exhausting, exciting and enlightening. If you love books, and I do, then being in a space with thousands of books, publishers, authors is having a serious case of sugar overload.

Saturday, I was better rested, and prepared. I ate a big breakfast, brought my own cheaper lunch and kept my breath mints handy. My goal was to pick up books, engage some publishers, and meet some authors I would like to interview.

Most people have heard of elevator pitches The idea is you have to tell somebody, who you are, what you do, and why they would be interested in you or your product as you ride in the elevator with them. You have anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute (at most) to engage the person. The fun thing at the BEA expo was to create my pitch on the go. I modified it as I visited the hundreds of exhibits. By the end of the day I saw someone I wanted to meet and I was able to go right up to them and in 10 seconds they had my business card and a handshake agreement to be a guest on my show.

I met Kim Dushinski on Saturday when she signed her book, The Mobile Marketing Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Mobile Marketing Campaigns. My learn list included mobile marketing. The book fell into my hands like a gift from above. OK, I was happy. I picked up a dozen different types of books.

The thing about expo’s or conventions is that nothing you want to see next is on the same floor. Kim’s book signing was in the back and lower level and I had to meet someone upstairs on the other end of the Javits Center. I think I made my 10,000 steps that day. I had ten minutes with my friend then one minute to take a photo with David Mathison of Be The Media (a must read for artists and writers) and then I had to run all the way to the opposite side of the convention center on the lower level to hear another lecture.

I heard from the Frankfurt Book Expo people that China was entering into the book publishing field in a big way. The Asian market is a untapped one. I saw lots of self-publishing options and many electronic readers.

There are clear benefits for the upcoming author at the Book Expo. First, you can seen the up and coming trends for publishing. Are dogs out and farmers in? As a non-fiction writer you have more opportunity to spot these trends and layout your book plans. As a author you can have your own exhibit and promote your book and related products. You can meet many people in a short amount of time. You meet publishers first hand. It is an exhausting weekend but well worth the time and effort.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators.

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

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Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Steven Tyler @ BEA Sandra Lee Schubert 2009

No Books

Today is a short post. I will be spending the day at the Book Expo America (BEA) in NYC. It is my first expo and I could really have used a friend, who knows the convention, to be my guide. People are collecting dozens of books and I only got one. I just can't figure out the trick to it.

Here I am in book hog heaven. There are HUNDREDS of books, there are publishers, authors and editors just swarming the Jacob Javits Center like flies to honey. But I just don't know what to do with this embarrassment of riches. I am both intoxicated and exhausted by the experience.

What would you do if the candy shop door was thrown open and you could take any candy you wanted? Today I have another chance at figuring it out. Next week I will let you know how it goes. By the way the book I got is in galley stage. It is by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. It is called Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust. His talk was fun and easy going and very helpful. The line was really long to get the galley signed by Chris and Julien so I just snagged a book and went on my way. Here's hoping I can get another book today. Wish me luck.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Flags by Sandra Lee Schubert @2009

The Right To Create

The other day I posted a poem I had on a very unused blog to Twitter. The post had a footer to sign up for a defunct newsletter. I got five sign up notices within a couple of hours. Who knew that poetry could be popular? Now I am debating resurrecting the blog.

It just takes just a little interest to wake me back up from a creative dark hole. It feels like that sometimes. My inspired ideas seem to disappear into a void. The ideas become ethereal and hard to hold.

Yesterday, I worked with a coach on getting past some serious blocks. I was a clogged drain of impossibility. Really, there was some old rotting stuff blocking me from EVERYTHING. There are artists who suck it up and create. And, then are artists who need. Part of becoming a healthy creator is getting past the neediness. The landscape is littered with failed artistic potential.

My mantra is now, "Today holds new possibilities." Are you a healthy creator? What do you need to do to get there? I work all the time on attaining good artistic vibes . And, I must balance that with creating. Otherwise I am a writer who perpetually researches a book that is never written.

I believe we all have the right to create. Some of us create art, some create happy families, while others create boatloads of money. Get help if you need it. Then go create something.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

Read more!

moon, light in the darkness by Sandra Lee Schubert @2009

Sandra Lee Schubert

blah, blah, blah

My head is spinning. Really, I am a little dizzy. I am trying to create a life here and the world keeps intruding on it with banality. OK, people want to be paid. The landlord would like the rent. The phone company tells me, if you want to talk, cough up the bucks lady.

I am searching for some good information on how to have a good life and make enough money to pay bills. I mean I don't want a job that just gives me money. I want my good life to provide me the money. I could work at Starbucks. Or, some other fast food joint and eat. Again, I am trying to create a life here.

Don't you feel hungry for good conversation? I am. I know people are afraid right now. There is massive belt tightening going on. McMansions are being traded in for simple cottages. Oh aren't we sorry for our excesses? Nope not me. I have not had enough excess yet. I am not interested in the nickel and dime kind life. What makes for a good life? My idea is doing things that I love to do. I would like the kind of financial freedom that allows me to take chances and do even bigger things.

Let me tell you a story. My friend and I were at dinner talking about the idea of creating bigger lives. He is in the stone business. Apparently most people in the industry knew it was beginning to decline almost five years ago. His friend Joe was receiving the same number of spam emails from China that my friend was getting. Joe looked at these emails and said, "hey, something is going on over there." While my friend was deleting them, Joe bought a ticket to China and discovered a profit center for himself. The difference between Joe and my friend? Where my friend didn't even bother to look at what might be an opportunity, Joe saw possibility.

Joe had no guarantee his trip to China would amount to anything. It didn't matter. He had a curious nature and followed its lead. Dr. Richard Wiseman, of The Luck Factor, says one of the differences between lucky and unlucky people is the ability to find opportunity everywhere.

So where does this leave me? My friend and I have both decided full time jobs, unless they were really fabulous, were not for us. We agreed that we need to get our mojo back. We also both agreed that we would no longer belittle ourselves in conversations. We are in a rough patch right now. There is no need to hurt ourselves further in the process.

Create your life. Ignore the people who want you to become smaller. Find successful people and let their radiant light shine on you a bit until you have your own to shine.

I will look for you in the darkness. You will see me. I'll leave my light on for you.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radios show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine. Her course is Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog.
Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Blurry Angels by Sandra Lee Schubert 2009

Sandra Lee Schubert

Wild Angels

Here is a short tribute to the Wild Angels. On May 7 we held our ninth reading of our collective works. I have facilitated the group for the whole nine years. Next year will be the last for the group. It will be a perfect ten year run. The group has hard core members who come back year after year.

We first met on Sunday after Church service. It was more free flowing back then. It has evolved to a series of classes led by an instructor with a yearly theme. There is a focus, lessons to learn and homework to do. A couple of the writers chafe at the structure, while others revel in it. The structure helps. The best part is watching writers who have not written before blossom. Or, writers taking up their pens again after a hiatus. The work is authentic. It comes from the heart and that transcends style and technique.

This past season our instructor, Kathleen Cromwell, had us begin each session with fifteen minutes of proprioceptive writing with Baroque music playing. The technique both infuriated and inspired the Wild Angels. We ventured into monologues, plays, prose, political writing and poetry.

At the end we were gifters of words. We shared our work with each other and our corner of the world.

Some people our prolific writers without the support of other writers. But some of us love the community of sharing our work. A good group will keep you focused and inspired. Most of all write and share your work. I look forward to reading it.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories. She is a creative vagabond, a poet, writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

Read more!