For Writers

When you think about children’s games, what comes to mind? Nintendo Wii or Game Boy? World of Warcraft or Battleship? But what about backyard games like ‘kick the can’ or ‘ghosts in the graveyard’? Shouldn’t these be included too? For Marlene Byrne, a children’s author and mother of two from Chicago’s Edgebrook neighborhood, the answer is YES, they should. For the first time at Laura Reviews, I’m happy to feature a children’s book author and share our conversation about the creation of Project Play . Byrne is determined to bring back classic backyard games, a tradition she believes teaches children valuable skills like creativity ... Read Full Story

Marco News The poet is informed by the muses By Michael Hickey, July 1, 2009 “O muses, O high genius, aid me now” Did you ever wonder where a poem comes from or how is it born? Many poets believe that their words are not theirs alone, but involve the work of a muse (from the Greek mousa, which literally means song or poem). Originally, the muses were any of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology who presided over song, poetry and the arts and sciences. The nine use goddesses were Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (love poetry and lyric art), Euterpe ... Read Full Story

In the spirit of including all types of authors and artists who have changed the world of words, I'm excited to launch the inaugural edition of Interviews with Awesome Musicians , featuring award winning singer and songwriter Dayna Malow . With a long career as a musician, Dayna has produced three fantastic albums: "Anywhere But Here, "Tangled Up in You," and recently released "What's the Worst That Could Happen." She regularly performs throughout the Midwest and also has opened for numerous artists, including Billy Ray Cyrus and The Doobie Brothers. A little known fact is that Dayna is my former singing coach. Which means ... Read Full Story

School Library Journal (Mobile) It’s a Mad, Mad Wordle By Carolyn Foote, July 1, 2009 “Nation. New. Common. Generation. These are among the most frequently used words spoken by President Barack Obama in his January 2009 inauguration speech as seen in a fascinating visual display called a Wordle. It’s simple, really. Just feed text of your choosing into the free online application Wordle, and with one keystroke you’ll have a graphic representation of your content, sized according to frequency of use. It’s “a picture’s worth a thousand words,” only turned on its head—with the terms themselves forming the visual statement. Read Full Story

I’ve used the phrase “take away” in connection to pieces of writing for quite some time. Yet, I ran into a small issue when I sat down to find the exact definition so I could write this article. I couldn’t find that writing connection, not in definition form, not in context, not in relation to fiction, journalism, or even blogging. This is a shame, as the concept of take away is a rather important when it comes to shaping your writing. To fix this, I’ve gone and made up my own definition. take away - noun - a singular idea, emotion, or thought which ... Read Full Story