While I Was Away

We just got back from our family trip to the U.K. It was a whirlwind through London, family visits in Nottingham and a very short stop in Edinburgh.

Of course, topping my to-do list was Shakespeare's Globe Theater, where we saw a great performance of Henry V in very soggy weather. (Thank goodness we were nobility for the evening. I don't think my family would have enjoyed the soaking the groundlings got.)

You can see the open-air structure above and the rain-ponchoed "groundlings" to my right.

Two great things happened while we were away.

First, the Maryland State Arts Council posted a free PDF of my new book, Voices Fly, co-edited with Virginia Crawford.

Teachers, homeschoolers, librarians, poets-in-the-schools, please visit the site and download the book. It is filled with favorite poetry workshops (from eight Maryland teaching poets) and examples of student responses.

Then, I found out that Author Amok has been nominated for a Fascination Award. Voting opens tomorrow, 7/23, through Google+ and will run through 7/30.

I believe you will be able to vote by following this link.

I am sending huge thanks to children's author and poet Robyn Hood Black, who was featured in the nominated post, "Robyn Hood Black on Haiku Mind." The post was part of my 2012 National Poetry Month series: Habits of Highly Effective Poets.

My gratitude also to all thirty poets who participated in the series. Taken as a whole, the posts gave wonderful, varied insight into the craft of poetry.

Wish me and Robyn luck and thanks in advance for voting!