No Wasted Ink Newsletter & Ramblecast - June 2023

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 and ramblecast is not affiliated with the city and is my own personal newsletter. All views stated here are my own.

RAMBLE

I used to be a full-time small business owner and artist. I sold my artisan made jewelry and illustrated art at science fiction conventions, concerts, and at week-long college vendor fairs in the Southern California area. Being an artist is not an easy life, but I loved sitting outside in my booth, the conversations with my customers, and seeing their eyes light up when they spotted that special piece of my jewelry. It was like watching kittens being adopted after you raised them.

Six years ago, I did my last booth show. I remember the heavy rain and winds of that day. I fought the weather the entire day, struggling to keep my wares dry and safe. By the end, I decided to throw in the towel. I swore I would stick to hotel based venues where I wouldn’t have to deal with rain again.

Well, never say never. This past May, I did my first booth art show in six years. I was set up in Wrightwood, California for their second annual Wine & Art Festival. The festival is sponsored by a national level poetry magazine, and sure enough, I sold many of my poetry books to the writers and poets who came to the fair that day. I also competed in their annual poetry slam in the evening.

Prep for the show was intensive. My wares were fine, I have been doing a limited number of hotel venues with my artisan jewelry, so it was organized. Likewise, my author displays and books were ready. I just needed to put it all together and toss in my art.

What was hard was my canopy. I’ve had the same EZUp frame for twenty years. I have two different covers for it, one is stripped in blue and yellow for ren fairs, and the other is a professional quality white cover. It is complete with a Fire Marshall approved rating and vents on top to help keep me cool and the canopy more stable in the wind.

When I took the frame from its storage bag, the ren fair canopy was still on it, pristine and as colorful as ever. But since my event was a juried art show, I had to have the white top. This is when I discovered the frame barely moved. It took a huge effort to expand it even halfway. I took it to my driveway and shot all the joints with WD-40 and let it sit for an hour. That did the trick. All the joints moved freely and the button supports clicked in and out easily as the WD-40 did its job.

However, while the frame was recovering from its long slumber, I discovered my expensive art show canopy had been left out in the open for the past six years. It was covered in this disgusting bright yellow goo. My husband jokingly said the cat must have vomited on it. I wondered if it might be some strange yellow mold.

I couldn’t go to an art show with my canopy looking like that and I didn’t have money to replace it, even if I could find one on short notice. I found some Lysol and got to work. Due to the large size of the canopy it took a long time to clean, but I managed to get the yellow goo off. It turned out not to be not cat vomit. An old canvas bag had disintegrated and over time, it had purified on the canopy vinyl.

I tried to attach the newly cleaned white cover to the frame and felt the support straps disintegrated in my hands. Thankfully, the four corners still had good velcro. Even without the mid-wall support straps, the canopy top seemed secure. As it turned out, the wind I dealt with that day was gusty, but more a strong breeze. The corners held the canopy in place and I made it through the fair.

It felt good working under my canopy again. The bright sunshine, the casual conversations with customers, straightening my wares from time to time, it all came back like riding a bicycle. While I’m more of a writer and poet these days, I might head out with my booth from time to time. There could be a few book festivals and art shows in my future.

yours in poetry,

Wendy

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ESSAY

Simple Techniques for Crafting Dynamic Dialog

Have you ever been reading a book and the dialog just feels...off? Like the characters are speaking in stilted, unrealistic ways that don't match how real people talk? As a writer, it can be tough to create convincing dialog, keeping readers engaged and invested in your story. But fear not! There are techniques you can use to make your dialog more engaging. I've found these three to be particularly effective.

First, it's important to strike a balance between realism and readability. While you want your characters to sound like real people, you also don't want the dialog to be so convoluted it takes readers out of the story. I like to listen to real conversations and pay attention to how people talk. Then later incorporate those elements into my characters' dialog. I also make sure to streamline and simplify the dialog so that it's clear and easy to follow.

Another technique I've found useful is using subtext to create tension. In real life, people don't always say what they're thinking or feeling outright. Sometimes there's an underlying meaning or intention behind their words. By incorporating subtext, you can create more nuance to your characters' interactions.

For example, maybe two characters are having a innocuous conversation about the weather. Yet, one of them is trying to avoid talking about something else. This kind of subtext can add complexity to your dialog and keep readers engaged.

Finally, I've found that showing, not telling, is key to writing effective dialog. Rather than having your characters explain what is happening, try to show those things through their actions and the way they speak.

For example, instead of having a character say "I'm really angry right now," you might have them clench their fists or grit their teeth. This can show the emotion the character is feeling. It makes the dialog more interesting and can help to avoid info-dumping or slowing down the story.

By using these techniques, I've been able to create dialog that feels authentic and engaging for readers. Of course, there's always room for improvement. Every writer will have their own unique approach to creating effective dialog. But I hope these tips will be helpful to you as you work on crafting compelling conversations between your characters.

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SCIFAIKU

This science fiction haiku poem first appeared in a magazine called “The Starlight Scifaiku Review” in Spring of 2023. It was part of a series of scifaiku entitled “Cosmological Speed” and is about the study of the Earth’s movement through space. Poem is by Wendy Van Camp.

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UPCOMING APPEARANCES

June 1st - Anaheim Open-Mic at Anaheim Central Library 5pm (reader)

June 28th - Eccentric Orbits 4 Launch Party
Two readings: 1pm PDT & 6pm PDT
Space Cowboy Books will be hosting two live zoom readings of the Poets of Eccentric Orbits. We split the reading in half since our poets come from all over the world and this gives them a better chance of reading their work at a reasonable hour. I hope you’ll come and catch them live or see the recording on YouTube. I will be hosting the readings and will read my own poem at the 6pm time slot.

Please see my Instagram, Facebook Page, or Substack Notes for a link as we get closer to the event.

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RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Eccentric Orbits 4: An Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry

Welcome to our fourth edition of Eccentric Orbits. This is my third year at the helm as editor of the anthology series. Our publisher is Dimensionfold Publishing, a small press that specializes in speculative poetry chapbooks and collections located in Canada. Our poets range from top level speculative poets to a small number of debut poets. They come from all corners of the world and are of diverse backgrounds. Find the book on AMAZON or at DIMENSIONFOLD. It is available as either an ebook or paperback. https://www.amazon.com/Eccentric-Orbits-Anthology-Science-Fiction/dp/1989940730

Eccentric Orbits 4 - May 2023 - Purchased on Ebay: a series of scifaiku poems

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LINKS TO SOCIAL MEDIA

Portfolio - http://wendyvancamp.com
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/author/wendyvancamp
Medium - https://medium.com/@wvancamp
Twitter - https://twitter.com/wvancamp
Instagram - https://instagram.com/nowastedink
Mastodon - https://me.dm/@wvancamp

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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 - 4
Editor
https://dimensionfold.com

Anaheim Poetry Review 2023
Editor
Free to Read: https://anaheimpoetry.com

Eye To The Telescope: Quests #46 - Fall 2022
Guest Editor
https://eyetothetelescope.com/archives/046issue.html