Accepting and collecting rejections

The PoPP winners from Lake Street have been chosen and notified. Orders are coming in for the magazine will will feature winning poems. I am now working on pre-program evaluations. The IWC PoPP committee has been working hard!! The award ceremony is April 21.

Kolling Elem. Principal Mrs. Hines read my poem What Makes You Special to the entire student body over the loudspeaker a few weeks ago. The school was celebrating diversity all week. I was thrilled that I could be a part of it.

I have been submitting to publishers, magazines, and have also entered several poetry contests. I have been receiving rejections on a regular basis. My fellow writers in the Magic Hour group are very supportive. We are keeping track of all our rejections and keep encouraging each other to submit. We are obviously looking forward to our first acceptance letter.






Fellow local writers from Prairie Writers Group met at Mellow Brew in Dyer Feb. 19th and read some of their work. We also had some musicians perform. It was a nice event.

Submissions for the next edition of From the Edge of the Prairie are due April 1st. I am submitting a few poems and photos, one watercolor.

I have been taking a lot of photos and started painting with oils again. One of my photos is hanging in Tiffany's Tea Room in Crown Point. This is a first for me!

New Year, New Goals

I'm going to submit, submit, submit this year. I'm happy about how last year went so here's to an even better 2011! (Oh, I'm still writing, and writing, and writing too).

The PoPP poems are in and are currently in the process of being judged. Students will be issued their participation pins and be winners will be notified soon. A magazine will be published and an awards banquet will follow :)

I am now the Secretary/Treasurer for the Indiana Writers' Consortium. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm learning. I do think it will be a great experience for me.

I went with a fellow writer to a photography group and now I'm hooked on that too. It's another one of my passions. I'm working on a pictures and poems book so I think it is a good idea to hang with the pros.

Are you a poet?

Last Thursday it was sunny and unseasonably warm, maybe 60?; a very nice November day in Chicagoland anyway. (We have been having the best weather ever, so I have been taking advantage of it.) Anyway, I had some time to kill between tumbling classes so I jogged for a bit at the fairgrounds. Then I noticed that it was YARD SALE EXTRAVANGA day! So I had to stop in, (even though I was far from looking my best).... Maybe I'd find some Christmas bargains and start my shopping early this year. About one minute after I entered the building I was approached by a young woman. "Are you a poet!?!", she asked me skeptically.

I did not know how to answer her. A poet? Me?, ...I then asked myself: Where? How? (maybe she saw me on David's site???)

"My daughter recognized you, but at first I thought she was mistaken", she explained. "She said you came to her school last week... Let me tell you, she is a Kindergartener, and I also have a First Grader. Both of them saw your PoPP presentation. They are SO excited about writing and submitting a poem for your contest!" ...

So I told the lady her daughter was correct. I thanked her for approaching me and wished her children good luck!

I felt like a celebrity for the rest of the afternoon... What a wonderful day!

Very Excited About Today

Today I was featured as a Guest Reader on David Harrison's blogsite. http://davidlharrison.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/todays-guest-reader-julie-huppenthal/ I am honored, to say the least. I have learned so much from him and the other wonderful writers and poets that share their talents on that site. See link on right and contribute too! Everyone is very encouraging and nice and inspiring!


Also today, my small sub-committee group from the Indiana Writer's Consortium met with teachers from Lake Street Elementary to introduce ourselves and PoPP(Power of Poetry Project). We will teach a short lesson to the students next week. The children will learn more about poetry from their teachers over the next few weeks and submit their finest poem to us in January for judging. The best and most creative will be published. An awards ceremony in April will showcase and celebrate their accomplishments.

Also today, I sent in a short story to Hoosier Horizon Magazine. This local magazine will contain some works from the members of Write-On Hoosiers. I am designing the front and back cover too :).

Also today, (whew) I volunteered at my second son's Halloween party. His teacher wants him to bring in one of my poems next week and read it to the class - I was very touched and plan to let him read a shape poem titled Little Bat. ...My youngest has his party tomorrow - and guess what! - I'm helping with that one too!

Busy Summer

In June I got word that I will be published in the 2010 From the Edge of the Prairie book. I was extremely excited but anxious about all the revisions I had to make in a short time. In July I got together with some fellow writers. We are working on developing an upcoming kid's poetry project. I will also be one of four judges for the contest. It will be called POPP (Power of Poetry Project). I entered 5 photos in the Lake County Fair this year and won one second place ribbon. Earlier this month I also sent in 4 poems to The Minnesota League of Poets Poetry Contest and one poem and photo to Spider Magazine. I am keeping my fingers crossed. The kids are back in school now so I hope to have time to polish some more of my stories and submit a couple to publishers. Submitting is one of September's goals for our Magic Hour Writers group.

A big hit!

Yesterday I read Sally Mae and the Three Wolves to a class of 2nd graders after I finished my final Fine Art presention for the year. They were very kind and encouraging. They liked my story and illustrations and suggested I give a copy to thier school library. What a great bunch of kids!

latest projects

I have been researching pod and self-publishing companies lately. I am also working on watercolor paintings for my Sally Mae illustrations. This summer I plan to submit more poems to various state poetry contests.

Next Magic Hour Writers meeting is scheduled for Thurs. May 13th.