Artists in the Schools & Communities - South Dakota Arts Council

My plans for the day were to run errands early and get to the library by 10:00 for a serious day of writing.  Yet with the sun streaming in the south window (the best part of winter!), I've spent the morning at home.

For the last few hours, I've been sending out emails to schools and community organizations to let them know that I'm available for the Artist-in-Residency program. 

Back when the kids were little, I could never dream of being away from the house for a week or more.  But now that I'm an empty-nester, I'm excited to be in the schools for extended amounts of time. 

Anyway, it should have been a quick process.  I mean, how hard can it be to send out a mass email?  But as I went down the list of schools from the South Dakota Arts Council, I realized that I've been to many of them. As a result, I found myself writing personal notes instead.

As we speak, I'm as far as the Bison, SD, school district.  I remember being there in 2005 or so.  The people were incredible...and the kids were voracious readers!

In case you'd like information about the South Dakota Arts Council's "Artists in the Schools and Communities" (AISC) program, here's the link:  http://www.artscouncil.sd.gov/aisc/index.aspx

Ideally, applications for the 2014-15 school year should be completed by March 1. (From what I hear, it's a simple, online process.) The link can be found at http://www.artscouncil.sd.gov/aisc/residency.aspx

If you have any questions or would like information about other options for author visits, please visit my website or send me an email.  Thanks!

And I begin . . .

This blog is going to be a work in progress.  If you're reading this today (Feb. 11), you'll be seeing only the bare bones.

For years, I've only had my trusty website.  But since my writing life is picking up, I need to become a more visible.  Thus, the blog.  (I'm probably the biggest techno-dinosaur around, so we'll soon find out how user-friendly this Blogger stuff is!)

Okay, here's the first bit of news:  In January, I completed an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA).

The MFA behind my name is nice, but the real reason I went through the program was to improve and grow as a writer. Now my goal is to continue to grow and to help others with their writing.

And with that, here's more good news....

I've been added to the South Dakota Arts Council's roster of artists for the "Artists in Schools and Communities" program.  Yay!!  More on this tomorrow.  But if you need info now, here's the link:  http://www.artscouncil.sd.gov/aisc/