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PENPOINTERS

READY, SET, WRITE!
by
Fernanda Powers

I can't afford to get writer's block. Literally. Time at the computer is a precious commodity for me as I am the proud mother of two young active daughters. If I'm lucky, they might both nap at the same time...for about ten minutes. And that's the time I have to get a rough draft of my next project banged out, or put in a few

revisions on an older work, or compose that oh-so-important cover letter to that next publisher on my list. Ten minutes during the day and however many hours I choose to work late into the night, hoping my munchkins sleep through.
     I have more projects lined up for myself that I will have the time to even begin. There is a space in my mind that is always thinking about what I want to write next. I might be changing a diaper while working out how to condense that picture book manuscript I read to the group last night. I might be whipping up a batch of sauerkraut while mentally prioritizing what will get written with the next ten minutes of time. Or, I may be telling my three year-old a made-up story for the tenth time and start thinking, "Gee, I think that's picture book material."
     When that opportunity comes to write, I hit it hard. It's not a marathon, it's a sprint. I've been imagining this for a long time now, so it just flows. In ten minutes a bit more of what's inside comes to life. Then, I hear a cry from another room. I recluctantly hit the "save" icon, then go and mother my child. That space in my mind continues to "write." I am engaged in a game of Candyland while contemplating what to fix for dinner.
     Focus and integration. These are the tools of my fledgling writing career. When I'm physically writing, it's the only thing I'm doing, and I'm doing it as fast as I can. The rest of the time, I'm thinking about it at some level. Even more importantly, what I write flows out of my life. I'm writing stories for children like my daughters. By the time I write a story, I've either told it several times, or I've experienced it. Like the overnight success that really took ten years, it's amazing what can be written in a few minutes here and there when it's been there in my mind for days.

Author (and Entomologist) Aaron Spriggs at the 2004 "Burning Man" Festival.

SPOTLIGHT
on Charles Kaine

Charles Kaine is the owner of Last Knight Publishing, a Colorado small press with four titles. Charles is also the owner of The Reader's Cove, an independent bookstore located on Harmony Road in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The bookstore was designed with a Caribbean motif. The amazing children's section is located inside a giant pirate's ship. Plenty of stuffed chairs line the book aisles. Kaine says, "I want the Cove to be the kind of place you feel comfortable browsing. Customers come in and lose track of time. It's great."
In the meantime, Last Knight's Ace on the River continues to sell a thousand copies a month!