No Wasted Ink Newsletter & Ramblecast - March 2024
a newsletter and voiceover podcast by Poet Laureate Wendy Van Camp
Welcome to the monthly No Wasted Ink Newsletter and Ramblecast. My name is Wendy Van Camp and I’m the Poet Laureate for the City of Anaheim, California. This newsletter is not affiliated with the city. All views stated here are my own.
RAMBLE
I spent most of the first two weeks of February wire wrapping semi-precious stone pendants and creating a new line of Doctor Who themed keychains. As I always say, “Have pliers, Will travel.” Creating twenty-four wrapped stone pendants in two week’s time is not as difficult for me as it might be for a hobbyist. I’ve been a handcraft artist for almost 30 years and the pliers seem to work themselves.
The jewelry was to prepare for the Gallifrey One Dr. Who Convention which takes place in Los Angeles, California each year in February. I've been a dealer at Gallifrey for around 20 years. It is one of the most profitable venues I do as an artist and I simply would never miss it. I started there as an artisan jeweler, but over the years, I have been bringing my books and art too. My table is mainly jewelry, but I give my books a good two feet of display space, which on a six-foot table is considerable!
To me, Gallifrey One is my home away from home. Even though it's an annual event, the moment I return to my usual spot in the ballroom, I feel I'm coming home. This year was an incredible year for me in sales and I'm very grateful to my returning and new customers. Also, a big thank you to all my writing friends that stopped by my table to say hello. It is always wonderful to see you all, even if I get a bit distracted by the dealer room bustle.
February has also been a frantic month preparing for a year of speaking engagements. I seem to have a major event once a month from now till the end of the year. Each event takes much paperwork to fill out and often, travel plans need to be in place too.
This March, I am joining the speakers at the Women in Publishing Summit. It is a conference geared toward helping women develop themselves as authors, editors, and publishers. WIP Summit is one of the few writing conferences where I can find panels and seminars at a level that is comparable to my skills. I am very much looking forward to not only speaking at the conference, but participating in all the networking events. I hope to take in a couple of panels just as an attendee. If you are interested in registering, you can find a ticket at https://womeninpublishingsummit.com
yours in poetry,
Wendy
SCIFAIKU
“Whirligig”
whirligig follows the dawn photovoltaic cells dutiful recharge drone delivers sunlight
This scifaiku poem first published in "Far Horizons" a science fiction literary magazine. It is part of a sequence of poems about powering human habitats on Mars. Poem is by Wendy Van Camp.
UPCOMING APPEARANCES
March 4th - Read Across America
I have been invited to read to the young scholars of Adelaide Price Elementary in Anaheim, California. I will read to two classrooms and talk a little about what I do as Anaheim’s Poet Laureate.
March 6th - 9th - Women in Publishing Summit
(Virtual Writers Conference)
I will give my presentation of “Every Word Matters” on March 6th at 11am Pacific Time. I discuss poetry techniques for authors to enrich their prose. The presentation and Q&A will be recorded and part of the offerings in the Women in Publishing Online Forum. Look for me in the various networking sessions during the conference! Get your conference ticket at: womeninpublishingsummit.com
March 20th - 24th - Seekers of Hope Art Show & Auction
(Virtual Second Life Event)
Gallery Indigoskye (featuring the art of Wendy Van Camp) will be donating a number of works to the Seekers of Hope Art Show & Auction. The proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society. Unfortunately, I will not be attending the Gala on March 23rd, which honors the invited artists due to a schedule conflict. If you are comfortable entering a virtual world, I hope you’ll come and explore my art and that of my fellow artists. Everything will be rated “G” for General or “M” for Moderate.
March 23rd @ 1pm Pacific Time - Eagle Rock Library Open-Mic Feature Reader
Eagle Rock Library - 5027 Caspar Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90041
Join me at the Eagle Rock Library as I read selections of my speculative and literary poetry as their open-mic featured speaker. I am gratified to be asked to read. This is an in-person appearance. I will be bringing my books to sell and autograph.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Indie Author Magazine - February 2024 Issue
"How Fanfiction can Reignite an Author's Passion" is about my journey of writing a Jan Austen inspired novel, based on her book "Persuasion" and reasons why fanfiction is something a published author might look into. My essay is mentioned on the cover of the magazine. IAM is available as either a print magazine or as an ebook/pdf. You can purchase this issue at
https://indieauthormagazine.com
Scifaikuest - February 2024 Anniversary Issue
A series of my scifaiku poetry has been published in Scifaikuest. I am mentioned on the cover of the 2024 February Issue.
Poems:
[under the full moon]
[tedious capture]
[rivers shrink to sand]
Scifaikuest specializes in speculative poetry in the form of haiku, haibun, and senryu. The issue is print only. If you'd like to purchase an issue, please visit:
https://www.hiraethsffh.com/product-page/scifaikuest-february-2024-2
PODCASTS
Form Poetry
Join Wendy Van Camp, Akua Lezli HOPE, Meg Kuyatt, and Maria S. Picone for a discussion on what forms they love, love to hate, and find most useful for creating speculative poetry in particular. Now released on the Flights of Foundry YouTube channel from their panel during the Flights of Foundry On-Line Writing Conference in 2023.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3uPANkcSdo
ANAHEIM POETRY REVIEW 2
Accepting poetry submissions from January 1 to March 31st.
Are you connected in some way to the city of Anaheim? Do you live there? Work there? Do you come to the monthly poetry Open-Mics in either the Central or Euclid library branches? Then you are part of our Anaheim poetry community. Poets of Anaheim, you are welcome to submit up to three poems for inclusion in Anaheim Poetry Review 2024. You poetry should be about your memories and experiences with the city.
Send your submissions via email to: anaheimpoetry@gmail.com
ECCENTRIC ORBITS 5
Accepting speculative poetry submissions from February 1st to April 30th
Eccentric Orbits is an annual volume of science fiction poetry put out by Dimensionfold Publishing, a Canadian Small Press. We seek speculative poetry of any theme. Science Fiction. Fantasy. Horror. If you submit scifaiku (haiku), please send them in groups of four to five poems and these will count as a single poem submission. Long Form poetry is accepted, but on a limited basis. Please send up to 5 poems in your packet. Only submit once per issue. Please send a short 100 word or less bio with your poetry packet. Cover letters are welcome.
Send the poems via email to: wendy@dimensionfold.com
Please put ECCENTRIC ORBITS all in caps in your subject heading.
LINKS TO SOCIAL MEDIA
Portfolio - http://wendyvancamp.com
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/author/wendyvancamp
Medium - https://medium.com/@wvancamp
X (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/wvancamp
Instagram - https://instagram.com/nowastedink
Mastodon - https://me.dm/@wvancamp
Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/indigoskye.bsky.social
BOOKS
The Planets: a scifaiku poetry collection - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z8HMPF2
The Curate’s Brother: A Jane Austen Variation of Persuasion - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OU1V45A
ANTHOLOGIES
Eccentric Orbits: An Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry
Volumes 1 - 5
Editor
Available for purchase: https://dimensionfold.com
Anaheim Poetry Review 2023
Volumes 1 - 2
Editor
Free to Read: https://anaheimpoetry.com
Eye To The Telescope: Quests #46 - Fall 2022
Guest Editor
https://eyetothetelescope.com/archives/046issue.html
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