The Houston Writers Guild will be hosting our Authorpalooza conference the weekend of October 4–6. 2024 at Rice University’s Student Center. We are excited at the line up that is coalescing for this year’s event. It is one of the best parts of my job as head of the Guild.
Last year, we ended the event by hosting a Renga contest. However, the participants were not familiar with creating Renga and we were all very tired at the end of the main conference day. So we just created a single Renga about our conference together. You can see it posted on the HWG website’s Writer’s Room page (www.houstonwritersguild.org).
This year, we will kick off the event on Friday night with the incomparable Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton leading participants in a group poetry activity. Friday night is when the Guild celebrates the book launch of the anthology collection of winning entries from the collaborative short story contest we host in conjunction with Women in the Visual and Literary Arts and produced by Inklings Publishing. There will be readings from the authors in the anthology and some light refreshments. But to start the conference weekend off, D.E.E.P will have those present work to create a poem and perform it.
If you have never met this amazing poet and talented writer, you are in for a treat! Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton is an award-winning writer, director, performer, critic, and the first Black Poet Laureate of Houston, TX. This amazing lady has written and performed poetry but, beyond that, she has written and produced plays and operas including Marian’s Song with the Houston Grand Opera. She has an upcoming children’s picture book and just released her memoir Black Chameleon which examines Black womanhood through afrofuturistic mythology. She is working on various projects including film and stage adaptations of her work and is a former Resident Artist with the American Lyric Theater, Rice University, and the Houston Museum of African American Culture.
After kicking off the conference with D.E.E.P, we will close the event on Sunday afternoon with a Renga competition. Yes, I’m not giving up on the idea of bringing this ancient Japanese event to life here in Houston! The Renga has a very simple form of alternating stanzas with 3 lines and 5 lines. The triplet stanzas take the form of Haiku with the 5–7‑5 syllable count and the cinquain stanzas use the form of Tanka with 5–7‑5–7‑7 syllable counts.
Traditionally, Japanese samurai poets would meet and compete to form the best Renga by taking turns each adding a new stanza. The poems content would meander from topic to topic as the poets added their verses spring boarding from one idea of the previous stanza. Sadly, most of these poems are lost since it was a game and no one thought of preserving the work. There are Renga in existence and during the final session of the conference on Sunday I will share more about the history of the art form and lead participants in a competition of our own.
If you want to learn more about this year’s conference event visit the HWG’s website at www.houstonwritersguild.org and consider purchasing your ticket to be a part of this exciting event now during the early bird pricing time.
Another writer who has been busy is Barbara Carle. She has published books of poetry in the past, but this month she, along with Inklings Publishing, has launched “Evening At Tony’s”. I couldn’t wait to get my own copy. If you’ve ever had dinner in a crowded restaurant and wondered what stories lay behind all of the other diners sitting at their own tables, then you will enjoy this book. As is said, I laughed, I cried, I couldn’t put it down. You can get your own copy at either Inklings Publishing or Amazon. I am always so impressed at the amount of writing Barbara gets done every year. I think her next book is scheduled for this coming fall. I’ll be sure to tell you about that launch when it happens.
As far as Mother Nature is concerned, in addition to some strong storms that have moved through the area and across the country, I have made several observations in my day-to-day life. For starters, I went for a walk at the Houston Arboretum the other morning. Not only were flowers blooming and birds singing while I was there. I also saw lots and lots of caterpillars! Apparently these little critters come in different colors. This picture shows a fuzzy black caterpillar. Supposedly they shed their skin about six times and get lighter in color each time. These cuties are harmless to humans, but they love to eat leaves of plants. They only live for about six months and then they go through their magical (or scientific) process to become butterflies. I am guessing there are going to be lots of butterflies at the Arboretum later this summer, because there were so many caterpillars that it was challenging not to step on them.
Closer to home I have noticed a lot of magnolias blooming. Where I live now there are many of these trees, which makes for lovely walks around the neighborhood. This picture really doesn’t do these beautiful flowers justice. I hope you get to see some up close and personal for yourself.
For many years, Nanowrimo has been an integral part of my writing year. The camaraderie and the goal setting aspects of the program have helped me shape my writing journey. But things are not as they should be in the Nano World, and I must step away from the organization.
During the month of April, I am going to use both of these to see which one I like best at this time. I may use different sites next month to compare. Once I find a site I like and that meets my needs, I will let y’all know all about it here and on the Facebook page that used to be our Houston Nanowrimo group. We now call it Write-in Central. There, myself and the other former MLs will continue to encourage writers and offer opportunities to gather both via zoom and in person for group writing time.
April 8th! Come one, come all! Call the neighbors and wake the kids! April 8th is the date for the Solar Eclipse here in Texas. Oh sure, you can also see it in Mexico, Missouri or Nova Scotia. However, Texas is where I will be along with a couple million of my closest friends to see the most exciting Solar eclipse for many years. In order to prepare for this miraculous event, a friend and I are taking a class at Rice University as part of their Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. I have listened to many speakers who know much more about this kind of stuff than I ever will. Yet, they are masterful at making it very interesting for rookies like myself. They also show the class a lot of cool pictures and we even went on a field trip to the planetarium at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. What Fun!!!!
Where you are in relation to the path of the eclipse will determine how much you see of this miraculous event. Just on the west side of Austin, one will see what is called “Totality”. That means that one will see the sun completely covered by the moon as in these pictures. Here in Houston we will see a measly 94% coverage which still promises to be one heck of a solar phenomenon. Viewing times in Houston will run from 12:20 p.m. until 3:01 p.m. with max coverage at 1:40 p.m. Compare that to Bandera County, Texas which will have totality coverage of the sun at 1:31 p.m. to 1:35 p.m.
It is important to note that no one can look directly at a Solar Eclipse without damaging their eyesight permanently. To keep us safe, places like the Museum of Natural Science and the store Land, Sea and Sky, Houston Camera Exchange and other places are selling what is known as Solar Viewing Cards and Glasses. This is a most important point!!!!! You do not want to damage your eyes while looking at this most magnificent and historical of events.
Finally, while I have been learning all about eclipses, the class lecturers have also talked about the sun. I have been learning all about something called Space Weather. This involves the sun’s magnetic field and how it interacts with the solar plasma. You can also look at pictures like this to see sun spots and solar flares. Apparently there is a lot going on up there that we mere earth mortals rarely think about.
This week was the final one before we went on Spring Break. I am looking forward to enjoying some time off from the kids. When we return, we will have four intense weeks of preparation for the 
What are those, you ask? Well, an 
se are sandwiched between an opening statement that shows they understood the question/prompt, and a concluding statement that wraps it all up nicely.
The defending champion will host the trophy at their table for the following week plus get to have an extra snack, a candy, and a special lunch provided by the teacher. Second and Third places for the week get snacks and candy prizes.
Once we take the test on April 17, we can return to learning to read and write for the success of our lives. And this is exactly how I have presented this to my students, because I teach them to read and write, and then I pause to teach them how to successfully apply that in a testing genre. Wish us luck!
I am taking the literary license to change the topic of the blog that I had originally written for today. As you can tell by my most recent skeleton picture, my first topic involved the Rodeo. That’s always big news here in Houston this time of year. I guess I can call this picture “Rodeo Barbie”. You might notice that I have placed a clip on her shoulder which is securing her to the chair. Either she was getting up at night and partying with the other skeletons, ghosts and otherworldly beings or the wind blew her out of her chair and cowgirl hat three times. I hope the truth is that she was partying and having fun.
How many distractions do mere mortals need to deal with at any given time? We just finished the Winter Holiday season; yet, how much of the fun and frivolities have already been forgotten? When do we really slow down and pay attention to the world in front of us? I’m trying my best. I am always a better writer when my mind can focus on only one or two things at a time. Like, the plot and the characters. It’s always easier to write my stories when I have a plot and some characters. Funny how that works.
This year we have both Mardi Gras and Valentines Day mixed up together. I, myself, do not celebrate Mardi Gras, but many people do. Galveston devotes two weekends to parades and parties. I have never been to any of them. Valentines Day I enjoy, because my skeletons enjoy getting dressed up in a lot of red. Don’t they look cute? My neighbors are really coming around to enjoying my skeleton displays. They may still think me odd, but the skeletons are harmless. At least they are during the day.