Connections: Delayed

By Laurie Epps

I just wanted to print a formal apology for not keeping up with my Monday Morning Book Club blog, and starting some new professional endeavors has me uncovering ways to serve you better.

You'll notice that my blog has a new look, and additional tabs with more information to add additional ways for you to cross reference my work. Not only my work, I working towards finding new and more concise ways for you to obtain this same information yourself.

Fiction to Film Fridays: Under Construction

By Laurie Epps

Whew! I'm learning so much about Film Adaptations in my Fiction to Film class, that I've decided to wait until I'm actually not in the class to present to you more thoughtful, poignant, and formulated conclusions about book to film adaptations.

Please bear with me, and I'll kick off a more thought provoking column in early 2014. If you have a book/movie column that you'd like to see here on my blog, please share with me your suggestions in the comments section below.

Occasional Poetry

By Kenneth A O'Shaughnessy

Have you ever heard about an event and said to yourself, “Someone should commemorate this with a poem”? Poems written for the specific occasions are, appropriately enough, called “Occasional Poetry”. An occasional poem we should all be familiar with in America is The Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key.

Words in Their Natural Habitat

By Kenneth A O'Shaughnessy

Words in Their Natural Habitat

Poetry is the natural use of words, even more natural than expressing facts. In fact, the word “expression” describes the purpose of poetry: it is used to communicate a feeling or idea in much the same way that a facial expression is.

The earliest human written document is poetry, the Epic of Gilgamesh. Like virtually all early human writing, this epic poem describes the relationship between man and the gods. Nearly every religion’s scriptures use poetry to communicate ideas about God.

Connections: A New Addition to Monday Morning Book Club

Introduction by Laurie Epps

Many of you know that I've worked as an editorial intern for Edie Melson. What some of you may not know is that she is also my mentor and a forerunner in the writing community.

Edie has a unique niche. People all over the United States go to her with any questions regarding Social Media. In the future, I hope to interview Edie and share with all of you her journey to receive this recognition.

To begin this journey with us, follow along at home with her book, Connections: Social Media and Networking Techniques for Writers. You can also follow along with her own Social Media Mondays column at http://thewriteconversation.blogspot.com

Apple Picking

By Laurie Epps

About this time every year, we head to the mountains of North Carolina to go apple picking. This quaint little poem brings the nostalgia of yesteryear, and the feel of the legend of Johnny Appleseed. 

We love the dividend of our labor. How many ways can you use your bounty of apples? Our favorite apple recipes include praline apple bread, and apple chicken stew. What are some of yours? Feel free to share them below in the comments section. Thank you.