RAOK BLITZ! and FABRIC, a review

The "Random Acts of Kindness" BLITZ! is below, but first, a flash review of an amazing new poetry collection FABRIC by Jessica Bell.

Jessica Bell

You might know Jessica from her blog, The Alliterative Allomorph (link). She's a gifted novelist, musician, and poet, and her new collection is so gorgeous.

It reads like a series of snapshots of important scenes from different lives.

Sometimes they're right when the thing happens, other times they're reflections. And then some are little stories told from a glance, like side-view images.

And it's extremely accessible, so don't think, "Oh. Poetry." (Trust me on this.)

My favorites are the ones that look back on a situation the speaker misunderstood, like in the poem "Mustard," where the speaker's nemesis is not what she seems. Powerful.

Personally, I tend to miss critical moments when they happen, and upon reflection, I realize how I really feel about them. Jessica can capture that beautifully in 500 words or less. Is that brilliance or what?

I planned to go through and highlight my favorite lines to share, but I ended up almost highlighting the whole book. Lines like:

"I hope prison treats you better than I did."

Get this. Stat!

"The gravel shines like clusters of black diamonds. It was summer. I wasn't afraid."

"You hold my hand as if holding heartache--careful."

Uhh! See what I'm saying? In one, Jessica uses a butter knife to trace a path, and in another she writes the same lines in and out--like the reflection on a lake ("Once"). And I just adored every word of "Spandex," and ... OK, this was supposed to be a flash review.

Seriously, if you only have one collection of poetry, this should be it.

It's like a tray of the best chocolate in the world sitting on your counter and any random moment, you can pick it up and read a poem and experience this amazing sensation. And it's only $1.99, so run get it!

 Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Goodreads

Now, bring on the Random Acts of Kindness BLITZ! 

Angela and Becca (The Bookshelf Muse, link) are celebrating the release of their fantastic tool for writers, The Emotion Thesaurus (link). It's a guide to character expression--who doesn't need that?

But instead of telling everyone to go out and buy their book (which you must, link), they asked us to stir some emotions by randomly recognizing a fellow writer who's made our lives better. I picked five.

If you have a minute (or five), please click over and follow these guys. They. Are. Awesome!

Alina Klein

First, Alina Klein (Tip-Tap-Typing on the Lunatic Fringe, link). When I left Indy, I was a a new mom. When I returned to Indy last summer, I was a new author. So I decided to do what new authors do and connect with others like me.

I hooked up with the linkserv for the Indiana SCBWI, and up popped Alina. But in addition to emailing me information, she invited me to coffee, invited me to join her at a conference speaking to high school kids about writing, invited me to be a helper at the IN-SCBWI conference this weekend... She basically fast-tracked my connection goals.

She's an amazing novelist with a new book coming out (link), she's Asst. Regional Adviser for our SCBWI, she heads an "Empowerment Project" (link) for rape survivors, and she's a good friend.

Thank you, Alina! I'm so glad we met.

Second, I have the most awesome critique partners in Tami Hart Johnson (The Watery Tart, link) and Carolyn Snow Abiad (Serendipity, link). (Yes. Be jealous.)

The Watery Tart

These guys have been with me from almost the beginning. They've read my drafts, offered advice, held my hand when I had no clue what an agent wanted in a R&R request...

They've encouraged and reassured me every time I've lost it, but they've also done the virtual slap-slap-slap thing when I've been freaking out.

Thank you, Carolyn and Tami! Where would I be without you?

My newest critter, Susan K. Quinn (Inkspells, link) has been a supercool friend for a few years now. I reviewed her debut novel Life, Liberty & Pursuit (link), and from that, we got to know each other better and better.

Dr. Quinn

Dr. Q is very smart. She's a rocket scientist! And on top of all that, she happily gives away free, valuable advice for writers considering the leap to self-publishing. So if that's you, visit her site (link)!

Thank you, Susan! You are a great friend to me and to all writers.

Last but not least, I can't forget my writing partner Janet Johnson (Musings of a Children's Writer, link), the unofficial Clean Up Fairy.

If it weren't for her 30K in 30 Days challenge, I probably wouldn't have finished my book last month. She made me laugh every day, she cracked the whip, and she sent me a hacky sack. How great is that?

So big ((jugs)) to Janet. Thank you, CUF!

And all of YOU reading are wonderful friends who I value. If I hadn't reluctantly started blogging in 2010, I would've probably given up on this whole thing. So Thank You!

My five got little Amazon gift-card-happies, but Becca and Angela have a special RAOK gift waiting for you--so click on over to The Bookshelf Muse (link) and pick it up.

And please TELL ME about your special people in the comments section. Better still, tell THEM!

Have a great week, reader- and writer-friends~ <3