Trinidad State of Mind
What inspires: The Trinidad State of Mind
In Trinidad, "liming" is socializing; "wining" is dancing; both are national pastimes. And, I've noticed, although no longer property of the British Empire, residents still adhere to the motto "Keep Calm and Carry On." 
Unlike in England, however, in a distinctly Trini way, the compound phrase has been split. Sometimes Trini's "keep calm" in the face of hardship, sometimes they "carry on".
And when the situation calls for it, as it did yesterday, Trinis do both!
Each weekend, thumping and bumping party boats set off from Port-of Spain on Trini-style versions of Gilligan's "Three Hour Tours." Packed with revelers intent on pursuing the national pastimes these "Booze Cruises" make their way "Down de Islands" (DDI for short), and back. 
Yesterday, being a usual Sunday afternoon, the air should have been alive with the sound of party boat revelry. But it wasn't. This morning, our friend and upstairs neighbor, Brian, sent news why. The usual Sunday afternoon party boat--aptly named the Harbour Master--packed with 504 passangers, ran aground. Seems whoever was at the helm failed to master his way around an artificial reef.
Imagining the scene, you might picture mayhem, bedlam, chaos . . . At the very least wailing, weeping, and threats of law suit. I did...
But that is not the Trini way. 
Among the passengers on board was a 25-year-old celebrating her birthday. Cassandra noted how the boat suddenly stopped and whoa-is-she "spilled her drink." She went on to say "The party continued and even when I left there there were still people dancing on the boat but we never felt unsafe....she and her friends never felt that they were in any danger since the lights of the capital were clearly visible." The owner of the boat seemed similarly unconcerned. He planned to wait for the next high tide and see what happened...
Cassandra said, “This is Trinidad."
Keep Calm and Carry On.
Here's the link to Trinidad Express story: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/540-rescued-220137561.html
Family Affair
August 13, 2013, at 11:04 am (Tulsa Time), My son--my baby boy--and his wife Michelle, had a baby!
Bennett weighted in at 8 lb, 9 oz; 21 inches long.
Already comfortable--a true lion, he didn't even bother roaring!
Baby Bennett and I getting acquainted--a warm loaf of lovies!
Mama Michelle and Papa Max holding their bundle--6 hours after his birth! Proud Papa Max with his baby boy!
Our world has now and forever been changed!
Welcome Bennett Sam Goldman!
Battling the Buts
When my friend Teri was in Paris, a few years back, I went to visit her. 
One day she came home all a-twitter. She had been invited to a party by a guy she had seen, often, at an internet cafe. 
(A handsome, Frenchman).
Later, she and I, her brother Anthony and a guy friend of his, discussed whether she should go to the party or not:
"But . . . do you think he really meant to invite me?" she said. "Maybe he was just being nice . . . "
"Did he look at you?" Anthony and friend asked.
"Yes."
"Then he's interested."
"But . . .
"Did he smile at you?" Anthony and friend asked.
"Yes."
"Then he's interested."
"But . . .
"Did he talk to you you?" Anthony and friend asked.
"Yes."
"Then he's interested. . . . GO TO THE PARTY!!!!"
It's the same with writing, or any creative, non time-card activity. When it comes to our definition of "working" or not, we go all middle-grade and dismiss all that goes into the process with that 3-letter word: "But . .. that doesn't count... "But . .. I'm not really...
To counteract those insecure boogies, I've created this litmus test. (I've used "writing" as my creative endeavor. Substitute yours for it.) Then print it out and post it prominently. The next time buts get the better of you, give yourself the test.
Am I Writing?
Are you thinking about your story?
You're writing!
Are you doing research for your story?
You're writing!
Are you reading words written by other writers, especially those you admire...or not?
You're writing!
Have you written words today? A grocery list? An email? Notes for your story? ...any at all?
YOU ARE A WORKING WRITER!!!!!!!
--Read. Respond. When in doubt, repeat. Repeat as needed.
VAMPIRE BABY is here!
Finally...5 years and 12 revisions and I-don't-even-want-to-try-to-count how many Vampire movies, books, blogs after that fabulous title popped into my head Vampire Baby has arrived! Thanks to all of you who laughed when I said the title.) Paul Meisel's art makes it! Available from Candlewick Press and booksellers everywhere!
Here's the blurb:
It happens overnight: "little sister Tootie goes from cuddly, ga-ga-goo-goo, I-want-my-ba-ba baby to...vampire baby." Now she’s sinking her pointy fangs into everything -- furniture, toys, and especially her big brother ("Youch, Tootie! No bite!"). Mom insists that it’s just a phase, but Tootie’s brother knows better. Just look at her hairline! Or the fact that all her favorite foods are bloodred! With perfect comic timing, Kelly Bennett and Paul Meisel give a fresh slant to the new-baby story, proving that even monstrous little arrivals have a funny way of staking their siblings’ affections.
When Tootie gets her first teeth, it’s clear to her big brother that she’s no ordinary baby. But how to convince Mom and Dad?
Rocking and Rambling
Zane's pirate flag is flying high today!
ONE DAY I WENT RAMBLING
is a finalist for the Writers' League of Texas Book Award!
For more on WLT click: http://www.writersleague.org/131/2013-Book-Awards-Contest-Finalists
The 2013 Writers' League of Texas Book Awards Finalists
*Winners will be announced on this page in early September.
FICTION
Along These Highways by Rene S. Perez Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale by Lynda Rutledge Pillow Book of the Flower Samurai by Barbara Lazar Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club by Benjamin Alire Saenz Appearances: Stories by Jan Seale
NONFICTION
Floyd Patterson: The Fighting Life of Boxing's Invisible Champion by WK Stratton Secret Sex Lives: A Year on the Fringes of American Sexuality by Suzy Spencer Gated Grief: The Daughter of a GI Concentration Camp Liberator Discovers a Legacy of Trauma by Leila Levinson My Boys and Girls Are in There: The 1937 New London School Explosion by Ron Rozelle In the Shadow of the Carmens: Afield with a Naturalist in the Northern Mexican Mountains by Bonnie Reynolds McKinney State of Minds: Texas Culture and Its Discontents by Don Graham
POETRY
Horse-Minded by Suzette Marie Bishop Crane Creek, Two Voices by Vanessa Furse Jackson & Robb Jackson Strange Light by Derrick C. Brown Begging for Vultures by Lawrence Welsh Jan Seale: New and Selected Poems by Jan Seale
MIDDLE GRADE & YOUNG ADULT NOVELS
Breaking Lauren by Jordan Deen Chained by Lynne Kelly Summer and Bird by Katherine Catmull The Veil by Cory Putman Oakes The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy by Nikki Loftin Return to the Willows by Jacqueline Kelly
PICTURE BOOKS
Alicia's Fruity Drinks by Lupe Ruiz-Flores HummingBirds: Facts and Follklore from the Americas by Jeanette Larson It Jes' Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw by Don Tate One Day I went Rambling by Kelly Bennett
On Being the Filling and Refilling that Well!
When I used to grouse about how life interfered with my writing schedule, my friend, Richard Harnett, always brushed it away saying "You're refilling your writer's well, Kel."
It always made me feel good to hear that. To think those times I was so busy with living I couldn't write would one day, serve my writing.
My well is filling, brimming, overflowing . . . It's been keeping me from posting here--sorry for that. But this is life: rich, messy, exciting, unpredictable, scary--definitely a piled high, deli sandwich.
To paraphrase Auntie Mame, "If life is a banquet I'm stuffing myself." (Music and lyrics by Jerry Herman.)
Mom's the bottom layer. Hers is a stodgy, crusty, nutty and grainy end of the loaf slice, anchoring our open-faced sandwich.
Mom has been in and out of rehab and hospital the past few years. Heavy as it may be, it's a spicy, interesting layer as it has brought me closer to my brother Joe and his family as we band together to support mom.
Curtis and my move from Indonesia to Trinidad and New York last year, brought with it a whole new bag of flavors we're sampling. It's predictable and surprising as dried seaweed sprinkes.
Son Max's wedding to Michelle in Long Island last summer, added a flavorful, thick ham and sweet, spicy saucy layer.
Daughter, Lexi's wedding to Ryan, scheduled for this November in Turks and Caicos, is proving pesto--fresh & complex with zing!
My new, long awaited picture book, Vampire Baby--the gumbo, sambal, curry layer adds fuel.
And soon to come--and feeling real courtesy of these 3D photos--our newest layer: a grandbaby! Max and Michelle's baby--a festive topper--arrives this August!
Yep, that well is brimming! And that's some kinda ink! In the meantime, our Dagwood-style sandwich is growing taller and more interesting. A banquet indeed!
When life gets in the way of your creating, loosen your belt buckle so you, too, can enjoy the banquet. And think ink! INK!
Please stay tuned for more!
Selamat makan! Happy filling and refilling!
E.L. Kongisburg's Silence
E.L. "Elaine" Konigsburg has passed. 
A true genius of a writer, witty, funny, smart, snarky--she was a thinker who created thoughtful, smart, young characters who made us think. I made a point of reading her books--all of them. Silence comes to mind when I think of her. She subscribed to the Japanese belief that creative blooms in negative space. That first we must empty ourselves, empty our minds, clear a space and let it rest, still and silent, trusting that new ideas will emerge in the same way spring buds in my Aunt Ingrid's garden (these are her pics). 
E.L. Konigsburg's speech stayed with me, just as the characters she created have. I've referred to her often, as in this posting: Nothing is Something. Here's the link: http://www.kellybennett.com/blog/2009/12/nothing-is-something/
Here's from NPR:"E.L. Konigsburg, the author of the 1967 children's book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, about two children who run away from home to live secretly in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, . She was 83. Konigsburg won two Newbery Medals, and actresses Ingrid Bergman and Lauren Bacall both played Mrs. Frankweiler — Bergman in a called The Hideaways, and Bacall in a TV movie. The book famously begins: 'Claudia knew that she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away. That is, running away in the heat of anger with a knapsack on her back. She didn't like discomfort; even picnics were untidy and inconvenient: all those insects and the sun melting the icing on the cupcakes. Therefore, she decided that her leaving home would not be just running from somewhere but would be running to somewhere.'"-http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/04/22/178338252/book-news-childrens-author-e-l-konigsburg-dies
Rodeo Time!
There I was, craving a little happy, when niece Claire shouted out: "A rodeo broke out during nap time."
"We heard noises coming from her room. It turns out she was saying "Yee-Haw!"
Speaking of Happies--Cowboys & Aliens & the catchy refrain: "Yippee-ki-yi! Yippee-ki-yo! I think I see a UFO!" make Kathy Duval's newest picture book, illustrated by Alan McCauley, a sure-fire fun-fest! 
Kathy's guest starting on Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations this week. Check it out! And sign up for the Spectacular GIVE-AWAY! Here's the link: http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2013/04/guest-post-giveaway-kathy-duval-on.html
YEE HAW, ALL Y'ALL!!!!