"Gotta Keep Reading" Video

Here is a fun video to start your week off on a bright note!

I can't figure out the embed code, so here's a link to view it online.

Opportunity for Young Playwrights

VSA Arts Playwright Discovery Program invites middle and high school students to take a closer look at the world around them, examine how disability affects their lives and the lives of others, and express their views through the art of playwriting. Young playwrights with and without disabilities are encouraged to submit a script. Scripts may be based on real life experience or fictional, and may be any genre: comedy, drama, even musical. Entries may be the work of an individual student or a group or class of students.

The winning play will be professionally produced or staged at the John F. Kennedy Center for the performing arts; winning playwright will receive $2,000 and a trip to Washington, DC to see the play performed.

See website for complete guidelines and application. NO FEE. VSA Arts Playwright Discovery Program, 818 Connecticut Ave., NW, Ste. 600, Washington, DC 20006, http://www.vsarts.org/x244.xml.

Receipt Deadline: April 15, 2010

My Essay is Featured on the WOW! Women on Writing Blog!

My essay "From Almost Famous ... to the Cutting-Room Floor" is featured today on the WOW! Women On Writing Blog as part of their "Friday Speak Out!" series. I am very honored and thrilled. Here is a little teaser:


Soon, my face will be on that big screen, I thought, as the plush theater seats steadily filled around me for the red-carpet premiere. I’ll be famous!

Okay, almost famous. Or, maybe, recognizable. Possibly. Around campus.

“Why are you here, dear?” asked the Versace-dressed woman beside me in the center-aisle VIP second-row seats.

I tried, but failed, to hide my smile. “I’m in The Movie,” I said, excitement overwhelming any small dose of humility I possessed.


Read the rest at: http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/2010/03/friday-speak-out-from-almost-famous-to.html

WOW! Women on Writing is an amazing community for women writers everywhere. WOW! is a global online magazine designed to support women's creativity, energy, blood, sweat and tears, throughout all stages of the writing process. Its aim is to be a favorite watering hole for professionals, the up-and-coming writers, and avid readers everywhere. Sign up for the free WOW! newsletter at http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/ -- you'll be glad you did!

Essay Published in "The Litter Box" Online Literary Magazine

I am very excited to share that my essay "A Love Letter to Norwich, England" is now up on The Litter Box website! The essay centers on my experiences studying abroad for a semester at the University of East Anglia in the beautiful coastal town of Norwich, about two hours away from London. I only lived there for six months, but I have a feeling that no matter how many years pass, Norwich always feel like a "home" to me. It's amazing how the places you travel can really become a part of you!

Here's the beginning of my essay:

A Love Letter to Norwich, England

The number 25 double-decker bus threads its way through the narrow two-lane streets. Coughing and burping without a hint of embarrassment, it carries us from the train station, with its cheerful round clockface and neat front of red brick, over the weeping-willow-lined river and up the road, past the Tesco and Superdrug and a handful of pubs, past the castle and the mall and Poundland (my favorite store because everything only costs a pound.) Climbing the stairs behind the bus driver's seat and choosing a seat up top will remain a novelty no matter how many times I ride this bus. The front seat up top is best—the huge panoramic window makes me feel like I'm part of the sky, cloudless and carefree, tracing the peaked gray rooftops with outstretched fingertips.

The bus stops four times on its way through the city centre. At each stop, I peer down at the people walking along the cobblestone sidewalks: young mothers pushing bundled-up babies in prams; old women wearing small flowered hats pinned primly to their hair; groups of teenage boys, their legs lost in the billowing fabric of their trousers, hurtling their way toward the bus. The boys pay their fare and stampede upstairs. I don't look back, but I can picture them, each one sprawled out across two seats. "Joe, don't be a bloody twat!" one of them says. I can't help a smile from spreading across my face—the novelty of the dialect makes even curse words sound lovely.

You can read the rest at: http://www.litterboxmagazine.com/7nonfictionwoodburn.php

Great Places to Donate Books

Here at Write On! we are always looking for great places to donate books. Do you have some gently used books sitting on your bookshelves, read once and now collecting dust? Why not give them to others to enjoy?

If you do donate books in your area, e-mail me at dallaswoodburn@aol.com and I'll add you to our book donation grand total on our Book Drive webpage!

Here are some great organizations looking for books:

* Soldiers' Angels http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=books

* Got Books? http://www.gotbooks.com/donate_books.php

* Kids In Distressed Situations (K.I.D.S.) http://www.kidsdonations.org/index.htm

* Reader to Reader http://www.readertoreader.org/donate.html

* Pages for Children http://www.pagesforchildren.com/index.html

* International Book Bank http://www.internationalbookbank.org/donatebooks.html

"Paws for Poetry" Contest for Kids

April marks the 14th anniversary of National Poetry Month. To help celebrate, budding Emily Dickinsons and Edgar Allan Poes are encouraged to participate in the 3rd annual "Paws for Poetry" Contest (PawsforPoetry.org). To enter, children ages 5-12 are to write a poem to, and provide a photo of, their favorite animal friend. The contest is co-sponsored by kids' virtual field trip Web site Meet Me at the Corner (MeetMeAtTheCorner.org) and Flash Light Press (FlashLightPress.com).

Original poems of any length may be submitted in one of two categories: Group One (ages 5-9) and Group Two (ages 10-12). One grand prize winner in each category will receive a prize package worth $50.00. Two runners-up in each category will receive a $25.00 gift package. Children's author, poet, and Iraqi war veteran Thad Krasnesky, writer of the upcoming That Cat Cant Stay (Flashlight Press, 2010) is the contest judge.

In addition to the prize packages, winning poems and pet photos will be highlighted in an upcoming Meet Me at the Corner video podcast. The podcast will be videotaped at New York's Angellicle Cat Rescue Center. Local students will present the winning poems.

All submissions should be mailed to "Paws for Poetry" Contest, c/o Meet Me at the Corner, 20 West Del Norte, Colorado Springs, CO, 80908. The contest deadline is April 15, 2010.

For more information, rules and submission guidelines, visit PawsforPoetry.org.

Submit to Write On!

* Are you a young writer in elementary school, middle school or high school?
* Have you written a story, essay, short play or poem?
* Do you want to be a published author?

Write On! Books wants to read your writing! We publish anthologies of work entirely by young writers!

Go to www.writeonbooks.org to submit today!

You can also e-mail me at dallaswoodburn@aol.com.

Don’t have access to Internet? You can also mail me your work:

400 Roosevelt Ct.
Ventura, CA 93003

In your submission please be sure to include your:
• Name
• E-mail address
• Mailing address
• Grade level

Compensation: If your submission is chosen:
• I will help you edit it to make it the best it can be.
• You will be a nationally published author!
• You will have the opportunity to do book signings in your community.

Submission period ends March 23, 2010.