Celebrate Alice Osborn’ s New Book!

March 27, 2012 by 1 Comment

My new book, After the Steaming Stops  (Main Street Rag, 2012) has now been published and I’m proud to announce my listing of upcoming readings and events. My book is $10 (reg $11) throughout the month of April and available via my website.

Hope you can make some of these book events!

After the Steaming Stopshere they are:

  • Friday, April 6, 6:30-8:30 pm, 207 Fayetteville St., Re/Max City Centre, Raleigh. Get your signed copy of Alice’s new book of poetry when you stop by this reception to enjoy wine and cheese and the amazing guitar of musician Dave Cox.

  • Friday, April 13, 7:30-1:30 pm, Two Trees Farm, Johnston County, Join Alice and friends at a house party. RSVP to Alice at alice@aliceosborn.com for address and directions.

  • Tuesday, April 17, 5:30-7:30 pm, Unwine’d Wine Bar, 201 W. Chatham St., Suite 103, Cary. Get your signed copy of Alice’s new book of poetry when you stop by Unwine’d Wine Bar in downtown Cary to enjoy wine and complimentary truffles. Unwine’d features jazz, tapas and of course, wine!

  • Monday, April 23, 8:00-10:00 pm, East Bay Meeting House, 160 East Bay St., Charleston, SC, as part of Monday Night Poetry & Music

  • Sunday, May 6, 11:00 am – 2:00 pm, NOFO @ The Pig, 2014 Fairview Rd., Raleigh, Join Alice at her signing, Bring out the whole family for NOFO’s amazing Sunday brunch. Alice’s poetry book and NOFO’s gift store make for great gifts for Mother’s Day, May 12!

  • Tuesday, May 8, 5:30-7:00 pm, 8450 Honeycutt Rd. – Suite 100, Raleigh, Join Alice for a free wine tasting and book signing at Vinos Finos y Picadas Wine and Tapas Bar to celebrate her new book of poetry.  Vinos Finos y Picadas is a South American wine bar with over 350 wines by the glass, bottle or case.

  • Sunday, June 3, 2012, 3:00-4:30 pm, Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., Asheville, as part of POETRIO

  • Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 5:30-7:00 pm, Taste Full Beans, 29 Second St. NW, Hickory, as part of Poetry Hickory

 

Sara Claytor says, “From snakes to movie stars to childhood memories of parents, lesbian neighbors and more, Alice Osborn’s persona persistently captures a certain wonder and bewilderment of the existing child inside us all. This is a book crammed with images, explicit descriptions, characters and emotions. It needs to be read.”

and Joseph Bathanti says, “Alice Osborn’s After the Steaming Stops is a provocative family invocation—at once precisely journalistic and richly imagined. Nothing goes unnoticed. Osborn’s eye, and what it falls upon, is her enduring story, leavened with unflinching candor. These poems are wonderfully narrative, and cannily crafted, luring the reader in with their easy inviting gait. Yet beneath each tidy surface, trouble roils—trouble Osborn does not turn away from in language deceptive in its declarative set-up, and deadly in its ultimate knockout. These poems never stop steaming.”

 

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What’s Your Platform?

August 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment
In this competitive publishing environment, the word platform gets bandied about as something everyone must have, but do you know what it means? I first heard the word platform when I was running for student government in high school: it meant what new proposals would I plan to carry out if/when I was elected. Unfortunately, I never did win student office, but that’s another story. A platform for an author is only slightly different: what expertise do you bring that will make you read (or elected) in the marketplace. What do you bring to the table that differentiates you from another romance or mystery author? What makes you stand out from all of the other freelance writers? It is your business/entrepreneurial background in potato farming, is it your expertise with beach front properties or poodles or is it your ability to balance writing with raising four children? A platform is what makes you notable and quotable, and it is different from having a specialty. A few years ago I wrote articles for IncTechnology.com and I started specializing in cloud computing, computer security and compliance as it pertains to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. I have hardly used any of the methods I wrote about, but I knew about them well thanks to my reliable sources I peppered with too many questions. Computer security was my specialty, but not my platform. I would describe my platform as a writer/editor who works with other writers who want to be published. My clients are serious about getting their work out and marketed well. I walk the talk since I have been published and have effectively marketed my work. I stand out from other writers because I have a solid marketing and retail background and took a somewhat untraditional path to writing. I am also a teacher and as an editor can help them achieve their best work. As a poet I have another platform: I come from a dysfunctional family and use this pain in my poems. No one else has your platform, but it’s up to you to find out what it is and use it to gain attention and recognition. One way to discover, feed and nourish your platform is to establish a blog and post frequently on related topics. Every now and then you may go off topic, but try to stick to your platform and your value-proposition statement, which is another way to say—what do you do that makes people want to hire or publish you. Now it’s your turn: what makes you valuable to your clients? What sets you apart from your competition? How do others now what you do? Are you stating your platform on your website, in person and on your social media sites? Make your platform statement only a few sentences long and make it succinct. Realize that not everyone is your customer and that it’s OK to have a narrow focus. In fact, the more narrow your focus, the more business you’ll gain. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true. Finally, know what you can always change up your platform. I wouldn’t recommend changing it every month, but maybe twice or once a year it could use a tweak. I want you to reach abundance by building a platform that reflects what you do!  
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Guestpost: J. Mark Boliek “Read to Write”

July 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Today we welcome author J. Mark Boliek of Durham, NC to these pages. Mark is a Durham native and fellow NC Writers’ Network member. His book, Mahogany Door is now available through Split Rail Books and in his guestpost, Mark talks about something that’s very near and dear to my heart: reading! You can’t be a truly good writer unless you’re a good reader. Enjoy! Alice Dear Alice, thank you so much for the opportunity to address your audience about my writing of my first fantasy novel for young readers called, The Mahogany Door. I really appreciate the opportunity. Like a lot of first time authors, I believed my writing was the best thing since sliced bread, and I found out really quickly that it wasn’t. One editor even called my writing “tripe.” It was then that I had to make a choice – either keep writing a wonderful story I loved, or just quit. The only problem was that apparently I had no idea what I was doing, at least according to one person. After my wife and I moved to Raleigh, I decided I would give it another go. I read through many tips and tricks of the trade, and if I heard the phrase, “don’t be cliché” any more than I did, I think I would have pulled my hair out. To me, it became cliché to say “don’t be cliché”. At that time, I felt all of the tips and tricks in the world would not help my writing. I actually found myself writing and then checking back to make sure I didn’t make any of those dreadful mistakes that I had read about in writing magazines. It became daunting. So what to do? My wife gave me the best advice anyone could have given me, but before that, I thought it was a waste of time. The advice was to read. I was never a big reader growing up, but since I was struggling so badly in my writing, I would try anything, so I picked up 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. After that I read everything I could find by Mr. Verne. I graduated to H.G. Wells and then on to Charles Dickens. It was amazing the worlds that were opened to me. More importantly though, I actually started to understand how the English language could be painted instead of spoken. The language these authors used was absolutely amazing. The more I read the better writer I became. Granted, I will never compare myself to those wonderful authors, but I could hear my sentences really starting to take life instead of being a means to get to the end of the story. I finally found a tip that actually worked – and in the process I found my voice. OK, OK, if that is not the most cliché thing you have ever heard – writers need to find their voice – I submit, however; that this is one statement I deem fact! It is like discovering your wallet after you have lost it for three days (true story) – wow! – There it is! The voice I found, became a part of my writing technique, even if I have borrowed it from someone else, or actually, many other “else-s”. Writing became easier and was not such a chore for me. I’d be lying if I told you I still didn’t need editing – heck, I probably need editing in this blog entry, but that is all just a part of the process. As I continued to write, I started to hear more than just words, I actually heard music coming from my pages. With that, I wrote songs and recruited others who had written great songs for me to use with my project. The Mahogany Door became more of an experience than just a story, and I liked that. I could finally FEEL the world I had created, and I owe it all to reading – OK, my wife. To find out more about The Mahogany Door and Mark, go to  www.jmarkboliek.com (click on the “Music” tab for the soundtrack) and www.facebook.com/jmarkboliek  Your Turn: Please leave a comment below! How much do you read as a writer? What are your favorite books? How has reading improved YOUR writing? 
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