tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58860616993352019732024-02-18T17:54:34.219-08:00But ah, my foes and oh, my friendsIt gives a lovely light!Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.comBlogger217125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-70032719789708567252021-09-02T15:15:00.005-07:002021-09-02T15:15:00.222-07:00Blog Retirement<p>We made it past the decade mark, and I've decided to retire the blog. I won't delete it- I can't bring myself to delete something I've dedicated myself to for such a significant chunk of time, but I won't be updating here anymore.</p><p>I'm still writing, though! Check me out at...</p><p>Support me at <a href="https://ko-fi.com/kitsteitz">Ko-Fi</a></p><p>Updates at <a href="https://twitter.com/AmazingKitikins">Twitter</a></p><p>Actual poetry read to you and for you at <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@amazingkitikins">TikTok</a></p><p>Buy my chapbook and audible at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/record-night-Kit-Steitz/dp/B08DV86YX3">Amazon</a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRnOamUchB1gfN9Sy13kgrJsyNR979C3u5ckXRruRHyeyFwgkuwlvzkkyx4XoRs_6xGIYyDbR6bE10zkHv06k7BFmGyPewl-9pjYgyyiBVQIib7_J5ywRcdE53etUxXsS9hIHcHPofIjb/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRnOamUchB1gfN9Sy13kgrJsyNR979C3u5ckXRruRHyeyFwgkuwlvzkkyx4XoRs_6xGIYyDbR6bE10zkHv06k7BFmGyPewl-9pjYgyyiBVQIib7_J5ywRcdE53etUxXsS9hIHcHPofIjb/" width="320" /></a></div><br />It's time to crack out of the cocoon and flutter on to different skies and flowers. Thank you all for sticking with me for so long. It's been quite a journey.<p></p><p>See you space cowboy,</p><p>Kit</p>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-60049171331641738222021-08-10T10:30:00.002-07:002021-08-10T11:11:46.823-07:00A decade of words<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e9/11/33/e911330601e354a9c64b86751834c33b.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e9/11/33/e911330601e354a9c64b86751834c33b.png" width="200" /></a></div><p>Today is the decade birthday of Oh My Foes!</p><p>August 10th, 2011, I posted my first blog. Here it is, if you want to <a href="https://ohmyfoes.blogspot.com/2011/08/it-will-not-last-night.html">revisit it too</a>. Honestly, I can't read it without the compulsion to go back and edit. ๐ </p><p>I started this blog to reconnect with my craft and myself. I occasionally forget it exists (object permanence is a thing for ADHD people, look it up) but I always find my way back. I've been writing in this blog longer than I've known most of my platonic and romantic relationships outside of blood family.</p><p><br /></p><p>My candle burns at both ends;<br /> It will not last the night;<br />But ah, my foes, and oh, my friendsโ<br /> It gives a lovely light!</p><p>I chose to name my poem after Edna St. Vincent Millay's famous poem, First Fig, because it's me. I'm the candle. I'll be 39 next month, and I'd like to think I've been learning ways to regulate my burn, but it's probably more accurate to say that age and chronic illness have been forcing me to slow down. </p><p>I had big plans for this anniversary. I wanted to throw a reading in the park and invite all my friends. I wanted to bake them cupcakes and share my poetry. But the Delta variant had other ideas. The rest of Missouri is out there pretending like we aren't the literal epicenter of this variant, but I'm not interested in assisting Governor Parson's murder of unvaccinated folks, so that one went away. Honestly, it's also supposed to be like 97 F today and being outside sounds like hell, so I guess it's a win either way.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/09/38/0c/09380c2d4505df8bdb7ebdfc91595b0a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="564" height="200" src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/09/38/0c/09380c2d4505df8bdb7ebdfc91595b0a.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div>When I started this blog, I felt like all of my report cards growing up, "so much potential" but nothing to show for it. Of course, even then, that wasn't true. One of the things I have learned with this blog is that by tooting my own horn, I remind myself that I do get my work done. When you have a total of 1 billion project ideas a day, the fact that you accomplish only 1 feels like a failure, until you put some perspective on it: that one thing is the thing that stuck, that resonated and manifested, and now it's here and beautiful in its imperfection. So I don't give up. Grit. I just keep going, even (especially) when my go looks different than others' go.<div><br /></div><div>Since I started this blog, I have written 3 books, published 1 chapbook, have another chapbook in the last stages of the works, I've explored/explore multiple avenues of sharing my writing. I give myself daily permission to suck but to also keep going. To be scared, but to take risks anyway. I frequently don't get the results I thought I would, but it always teaches me. <p style="text-align: left;">Not all my poems are winners. Today's poem is not.</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">8-10-21</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I day dream</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">About sleeping in the woods</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Under the stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">But the reality is
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ticks and sweat</span></p><p style="text-align: left;">Anyway, happy 10 year anniversary to myself. Current and future me are proud of past me for doing this. </p><p style="text-align: left;">If you want to wish me and my decade old blog a happy anniversary, you can always buy us a cup of <a href="https://ko-fi.com/G2G61ZQ67">ko-fi.</a> ๐๐</p><p style="text-align: left;">10 years of love, sweat, and tears,</p><p style="text-align: left;">Kit S</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;">As always, if you like (love) this content and want to support my writing outside of the big bad projects, and read supporter-only content, you can </span><a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" style="font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">buy me a cuppa at ko.fi</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;">. You can also purchase my chapbook & audible of poetry, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESK3G4A/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" style="font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>a record of night</i> </a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;">at Amazon. If you're so inclined, you can also follow </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314418.Kit_Steitz" style="font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">my author page at goodreads</a><span style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;"> or follow me on Twitter</span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;">. </span></div><div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;">Please show me some love and leave a comment, review, or rating on any of these platforms! Have an awesome day, my friends.</span></span></div></div><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p></div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-25194141928854647222021-08-06T15:30:00.006-07:002021-08-06T15:30:00.194-07:00Spoken Word poetry redux<p>I spend a lot of time thinking about spoken word poetry and why I hate it when it's demonstrably and inarguably a valid and meaningful field of poetry- and I have explored many explanations but none of them ever sat right.</p><p>When I was in my early twenties and I hadn't formed an opinion about it yet, I did a few open mikes with a friend. I stood on stage, the color of a tomato, feeling embarrassment from the sweating crown of my head to my clenched toes. I smoked cigarettes outside afterwards and recycled the moment over and over in my head. I felt shame, I felt vulnerable, and most of all, I felt like my poems didn't belong with the other poems. I felt like I didn't belong with the other poets. </p><p>Enter my late 20s: everybody tells me that I should listen to Andrea Gibson. I do. I hate every second of it. Their voice makes my stomach hurt. Their words make me feel hot and I want to shut down. Like, the words are good, but they are direct and raw and seem to be there to intentionally and forcefully illicit a response, which they do (and I don't like). I try to like their words. I subscribe to Button Poetry and try to like spoken word, slam poetry- after all, it's earnestly the poetry of marginalized people. It's where I first see fat, queer, trans, & BIPOC people reading their craft. I want to like it , but listening brings up those same hot & hard feelings. </p><p>When I was in college I had a lot of bullshit academic reasons for why I didn't like spoken word poetry and honestly? They aren't worth going into here. They're bullshit.</p><p>I've even wrote posts here in this blog, many were deleted. They didn't feel true.</p><p>This week I was (once again) ranting about spoken word to Mr. J and it occurred to me that it's because so much of the structure of the craft is writing and saying things bluntly. It's radical vulnerability. I don't like it because I am deeply uncomfortable with radical vulnerability, but that's also why it's so powerful and why so many people <i>do love it, and also why it is SO IMPORTANT. </i></p><p>I doubt I'll be able to magically gravitate towards the form now, but it feels good to understand some of it's significance and it's truths. It's also understanding myself in a new way, understanding how I share my vulnerability as a writer of feelings. This knowledge sits right and it feels true. It feels more like a seed instead of rock.</p><p>@-%--</p><p><br /></p><p>Sidebar: if you do the Tik Tok, I've got one up for regular poetry readings! Check me out, y'all: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@amazingkitikins?lang=en">Amazing Kitikins</a> Please like+follow+comment <3</p><p><br /></p><p>Earnestly Yours,</p><p>Kit</p><p><br /></p><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;">As always, if you like (love) this content and want to support my writing outside of the big bad projects, and read supporter-only content, you can </span><a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" style="font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">buy me a cuppa at ko.fi</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;">. You can also purchase my chapbook & audible of poetry, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESK3G4A/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" style="font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>a record of night</i> </a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;">at Amazon. If you're so inclined, you can also follow </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314418.Kit_Steitz" style="font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">my author page at goodreads</a><span style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;"> or follow me on Twitter</span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;">. </span></div><div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;">Please show me some love and leave a comment, review, or rating on any of these platforms! Have an awesome day, my friends.</span></span></div></div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0Columbia, MO, USA38.9517053 -92.334072410.641471463821155 -127.4903224 67.261939136178853 -57.1778224tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-9268106607307569642021-08-02T10:30:00.016-07:002021-08-06T11:59:23.495-07:00I dreamt a dream<p> Last night I dreamt that I consistently and regularly kept up with this blog. Of all the things for my subconscious to pick on me for, I'm going to put that up there as one of the more trivial.<br /><br />Anyway, it's been a hot minute. My writing has been on a hiatus, which I'm starting to think is perpetual. Maybe I'm not a writer anymore? Or maybe I'm digging in the dirt before I plant the seed. Who knows? I have been thinking about starting a new project. I've spent a lot of time thinking about my perpetually unfinished trilogy and all the things that are problematic with it and I don't think I'm going to finish it? Or maybe I have to finish it to fix it? I honestly don't know and I think I've been stuck on that question for years, and that I've felt too guilty to start other projects after investing so much time into that one. I think it's time to move on. If I want to go back and work on it, I can, but until then I need to move on with my life because I can't stay in this void forever.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is now. I am officially giving up on this trilogy. I'm moving on. And it's okay and it's the right (write) thing for me to do.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I'm going to do NaNoWriMo this year and try to kick off a new project. IDK what it'll be, but it'll be fun to think of something new!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our writing group hasn't met since pre-pandemic and everybody has gone quiet in our online group, so I've been missing my writerly community. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>So this all worked really well when I had a blog schedule. I'm not sure what knocked me off that schedule- it honestly could have been anything, but I'm going to start putting this blog back on my planner so it's not out of sight out of mind.<br /><br /><p></p><p>So goals & brainstorming:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Self publish August chapbook from last year, woo!</li><li>Start brainstorming a new book for November</li><li>Participate in NaNoWriMo</li><li>Blog Weekly, minimum</li><li>Connect with other writers</li><li>Reading goals!</li><li>Listen to podcasts to stay motivated </li><li>Write something every day</li></ul><div>Next week is the 10 year anniversary of my blog! WHAT THE HECK. A whole ass decade, y'all! I may try to do something special, so stay tuned! I may not... we'll see...</div><div><br /></div><div>Byeeeeeeeee!</div><p></p><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;">As always, if you like (love) this content and want to support my writing outside of the big bad projects, and read supporter-only content, you can </span><a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" style="font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">buy me a cuppa at ko.fi</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;">. You can also purchase my chapbook & audible of poetry, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESK3G4A/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" style="font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>a record of night</i> </a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;">at Amazon. If you're so inclined, you can also follow </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314418.Kit_Steitz" style="font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">my author page at goodreads</a><span style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;"> or follow me on Twitter</span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 13.2px;">. </span></div><div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;">Please show me some love and leave a comment, review, or rating on any of these platforms! Have an awesome day, my friends.</span></span></div></div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-87591308626407109492021-05-27T10:30:00.004-07:002021-05-27T10:30:00.279-07:00A few months later...<h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Updates & rambling...</span></h1><p>Do you all know that I have ADHD? This is not a joking ha ha ha flippant comment. I have it!</p><p>So at this point I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I haven't updated in a few months. I could lie to you and tell you it's because of all the projects I've been working on, but honestly? It's not. In fact, when I'm busy with writing projects, it normally triggers me to write in here. The truth is, this is just me, and a me that suffers from pretty hard depression in the Spring. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Reading goalsssssssssss</h3><p>My goals this year are pretty minimal- I think I've got a 2 books-a-month reading goal? I've kept up with it, more or less. Last month I was hyper focused and knocked both of my books out in a week. This month I got cocky and didn't start reading/listening to my audiobooks until far too late in the month. I also chose pretty hefty bois to read. (Oh hey, let's be friends on <a href="https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/kit_steitz">StoryGraph</a>?)</p><p>Checked off my to-read list since Jan:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coats</li><li>Children of Virtue & Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi</li><li>Lumberjanes: The Moon is Up by Mariko Tamaki (I <3 YA and I'll fight you)</li><li>How Long 'til Black Future Month? N.K. Jemisin</li><li>How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi</li><li>Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones</li><li>The Craft of Love by EE Ottoman</li><li>The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune</li></ul><p></p><p>Currently working on:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon</li><li>The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern</li></ul><div>To write, we must read! So I'm trying to keep my brain meat sharp (ow).</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">And now... to talk about creating!</h3><div>As far as writing goes... well... it's on and off. The pandemic has definitely made it worse, that's for sure. I wrote a collection of poems last August and have tried putting a manuscript together for it 3 times, 2 of which have been lost to laptops that gave up before me. The third I am actively and presently working on. Since I've decided to stop publishing through Amazon, I'm trying to find a new self publisher. Searching for self-publishing companies almost always sends me on a former English major spiral of 1) imposter syndrome, BIG TIME 2) snobbery regarding self publishing (which I pretty much exclusively do, so wtf brain) and 3) General Anxiety & Overwhelmednessery.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not sure I'll ever let my current novels see the light of day. There are some problematic corners I've written myself into and also? I can't reiterate enough how re-reading the novel I wrote post-concussion is like pulling teeth. Like ok. Brain injury and still tryna get them words on the page. I might just scratch them and start over fresh this year. But should I scratch a three book project because I don't like 1.5 of the books? Is this more imposter syndrome? Hello, this is just a brief glimpse into the deep well of overthinking I've done about these books over the past 5 years. I do think I still want to pursue a real publisher this year? But also maybe not. I don't fucking know. I am in book limbo. </div><div><br /></div><div>I also can't shake the feeling that I'm a much better poet than prose writer. I also learned that there are a whole bunch of people who think in like pictures? Like their thoughts while they're writing are like they're in a movie of everything happening, and I mostly think in words and I wonder if that stunts my ability to write prose? IDK. </div><div><br /></div><div>I knit A LOT of hats this winter, crocheted Ugly Blanket Jr. for my brother, made some tie dye stuff with my partner, started and ditched so many projects I can't keep track of them all. We added several giant containers to our veggie garden and the flowers came in like a goddamn beautiful, messy English garden (look!)</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruPvxP48HFQhxU8uWaQ5exCTjscGIbO5KMIGL4uQ258IG9QTWhjy2Jh_XAZqtiLVdVAZuEyhVX_FGNH5l2Z5eHXWDAkhIm_1UlIbvP46EY_VBQ7SPdJUnCwq4gUNqGC0nET9PDMGVkW9d/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruPvxP48HFQhxU8uWaQ5exCTjscGIbO5KMIGL4uQ258IG9QTWhjy2Jh_XAZqtiLVdVAZuEyhVX_FGNH5l2Z5eHXWDAkhIm_1UlIbvP46EY_VBQ7SPdJUnCwq4gUNqGC0nET9PDMGVkW9d/" width="240" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLE2MvV9UaSnWW91cxPqbO9LiCHWYKDHcoqYCBm_k2L7y1gkJPK89qx1MY4jV5YK6C3ToqHVWt5vLUKmIMunNkIpmhOx6sfCacutrM5x4J-MPG1oCtrRODqSD8h40z9TzpWrjhbENkctL/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLE2MvV9UaSnWW91cxPqbO9LiCHWYKDHcoqYCBm_k2L7y1gkJPK89qx1MY4jV5YK6C3ToqHVWt5vLUKmIMunNkIpmhOx6sfCacutrM5x4J-MPG1oCtrRODqSD8h40z9TzpWrjhbENkctL/" width="240" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Ut76T9Usrj9HzGl4MDCJbg_YvJg9S2eWHsvFJ4incE3PWmXeB4N4y7X4aKwU7lwdNbvvUlz_2HWBX0Sev_vD0EVFFe5lCHJNfXaezL6iJXDnP4TsV34wF0TuhbOUKMYaxiUrHp3Yemdu/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Ut76T9Usrj9HzGl4MDCJbg_YvJg9S2eWHsvFJ4incE3PWmXeB4N4y7X4aKwU7lwdNbvvUlz_2HWBX0Sev_vD0EVFFe5lCHJNfXaezL6iJXDnP4TsV34wF0TuhbOUKMYaxiUrHp3Yemdu/" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nWWMmzIqXAkbx9m0mCqU_BDGh74Nm4biyy4X8AYedhV1hcaVzcr78_HzkXGKHMrnbUDCGxQ52MkSUdTkM6gv5noZxuPKw64VliuBep7VVDJPivOjm6iD0O43C42fkhE-W2qKCT0a25zf/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nWWMmzIqXAkbx9m0mCqU_BDGh74Nm4biyy4X8AYedhV1hcaVzcr78_HzkXGKHMrnbUDCGxQ52MkSUdTkM6gv5noZxuPKw64VliuBep7VVDJPivOjm6iD0O43C42fkhE-W2qKCT0a25zf/w640-h640/image.png" width="640" /></a> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Ut76T9Usrj9HzGl4MDCJbg_YvJg9S2eWHsvFJ4incE3PWmXeB4N4y7X4aKwU7lwdNbvvUlz_2HWBX0Sev_vD0EVFFe5lCHJNfXaezL6iJXDnP4TsV34wF0TuhbOUKMYaxiUrHp3Yemdu/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVdR1dzCXbpFdL2bBkj-ZHbjIjRXXYK2PH7flQspezNNGL5IyZx0hmN-R3G5TyfLy2KDQ6Q0bAk0O4-x3a0CnLzZeBjdr354CCnJ_W8AzcWzyTR9Dfs80kk7_6pBm2HOOADGuN-1TRJlxZ/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVdR1dzCXbpFdL2bBkj-ZHbjIjRXXYK2PH7flQspezNNGL5IyZx0hmN-R3G5TyfLy2KDQ6Q0bAk0O4-x3a0CnLzZeBjdr354CCnJ_W8AzcWzyTR9Dfs80kk7_6pBm2HOOADGuN-1TRJlxZ/w640-h640/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So I guess I don't really know what my writing goals are for this year (and we're 5 months in, yikes!) but I am trying really hard to get this second book of poetry out. It might end up going through Amazon again, just because it seems like they're the best for self publishing rn and the body of my poetry has already been through them. I just hate the idea of Jeff Bezos profiting off of my money- to be fair, the amount I sell books of poetry is just so miniscule. I'm pretty sure he makes more money in the time it takes to sneeze. Honestly, at my normal people job, I think I probably make more money in the time it takes to sneeze than I have off of self publishing. So meh? Does it matter? IDK, that's a thought for overthinking Kit to ponder later, then again, and possibly a third time, definitely a few times in a row while trying to sleep.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Our writing group seems to be hibernating. I hope it can find some life again soon. It ebbs and flows and I'm okay with that... I do too. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Listening...</h3><p style="text-align: left;">So I listen off and on to the podcast Start with This. SwT is accessible and frequently very motivating. Joseph & Jeffrey have a pretty good banter vibe and the writing prompts are helpful. I like how they structure it all, too. Do I do the prompts every time? Absolutely not, that's a level of consistency I would need to be medicated to achieve. Just keeping it real, y'all.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I've tried several other podcasts, but it seems like most of the writing podcasts I've found are too academic to keep my interest. Don't get me wrong, I was a baby academic in the throes of snobbery back in college, but that cost me a lot of money and put me in over a decades worth of debt that I could barely juggle and survive (and wouldn't have, if not for the love and help of friends and family). I'm not paying somebody to bore me death again. Fool me once, shame and debt on me, Fool me twice, well fuck, I just can't afford it. </p><p style="text-align: left;">But if anybody is reading this and they have some good suggestions, I'd love to give them a try. </p><p style="text-align: left;">So I guess that's a pretty good general update/ramblebramble. I hope everybody is having a fabulous week and I'll write at y'all again soon. Promise!</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">Love and rainy days,</p><p style="text-align: left;">Kit</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">As always, if you like (love) this content and want to support my writing outside of the big bad projects, and read supporter-only content, you can </span><a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">buy me a cuppa at ko.fi</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">. You can also purchase my chapbook & audible of poetry, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESK3G4A/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>a record of night</i> </a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">at Amazon. If you're so inclined, you can also follow </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314418.Kit_Steitz" style="text-decoration-line: none;">my author page at goodreads</a> or follow me on Twitter<span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;">Please show me some love and leave a comment, review, or rating on any of these platforms! Have an awesome day, my friends.</span></span></div></div></div><p></p>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-33598768654093909992021-02-22T16:42:00.003-08:002021-02-22T16:42:42.349-08:00What are you reading?<p>Hello, dear readers!</p><p>It's Monday, again. That means blog time! </p><p>I'm currently reading</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://nkjemisin.com/writing/how-long-til-black-future-month/">How Long 'Til Black Future Month by NK Jemisin</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ibramxkendi.com/how-to-be-an-antiracist">How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi</a></li></ul><p></p><p><i>A few thoughts...</i></p><p>On <i>How Long 'Til Black Future Month</i></p><p>I found NK Jemisin through LeVar Burton's podcast and have been telling myself I'm going to get into her work for months (maybe a year, even? What is time during this pandemic?) I was super excited to start this book of short stories and I am so pleased! I'm almost halfway through, but I really loved the "Cloud Dragon Skies" and "El Alchemista". If you have an opportunity to pick it up, I definitely recommend it. But you don't have to take my word for it, just check out LeVar Burton's <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/5nz1v4e5dh5NjxMOSrpswl?si=1KzrmWouR9iXRNB1I_ISIQ&nd=1">podcast</a> for a taste! (Sorry to other listeners of his podcast, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to use his catch phrase). </p><p><br /></p><p>On <i>How to be an Antiracist</i></p><p>"The most threatening racist movement is not the alt right's unlikely drive for a White ethnostate but the regular American's drive for a "race-neutral" one." ~Ibram X. Kendi</p><p>He just jumps in and starts calling out the color-blind status quo and I am here for it. I'm not deep into How to be an Antiracist, but I have underlined something at least every two pages so far.* It's good, thoughtful stuff and I can't wait to get deeper.</p><p><br /></p><p>What are y'all reading? HMU with those good books! Also, my <a href="https://app.thestorygraph.com/">storygraph</a> is kit_steitz so let's be friends and share recs! </p><p><br /></p><p>love and sunshine,</p><p>Kit</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>*Unfortunately, I left it at my partner's house during a snow storm and we were separated for a full week. But he brought my book and his cute face by my place this weekend, so all is well that ends well. Or all is well that continues well? </p><p><br /></p><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">As always, if you like (love) this content and want to support my writing outside of the big bad projects, and read supporter-only content, you can </span><a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">buy me a cuppa at ko.fi</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">. You can also purchase my chapbook & audible of poetry, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESK3G4A/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>a record of night</i> </a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">at Amazon. If you're so inclined, you can also follow </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314418.Kit_Steitz" style="text-decoration-line: none;">my author page at goodreads</a> or follow me on Twitter<span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;">Please show me some love and leave a comment, review, or rating on any of these platforms! Have an awesome day, my friends.</span></span></div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-28068568263382941832021-02-08T14:08:00.004-08:002021-02-08T14:08:52.208-08:002021 Book Goals<p>Every good writer must also read. Somebody somewhere said something like that, I'm sure. </p><p>So this year I want to be intentional about hitting the books! It's been a long time since college, so I get to chose the shit I want. So I'm going to try to knock out 24 books this year. That's 2 books per month. They can also be graphic novels, because I do heart me a good graphic novel. Big props to all my friend recs! Maybe I'll try to whip out some reviews to share.</p><p><br /></p><p>My list (Probably not read in sequential order):</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><strike>The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates</strike></li><li><strike>Children of Virtue & Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi </strike></li><li>The Unicorn & The Lady</li><li>Gender Failure by Ivan E. Coyote</li><li>The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenster<br /></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor</span></li><li>The Kraken Lord and the Eater of the Sun by E.E. Ottoman</li><li>How Long 'til Black Future Month by N.K. Jemisin</li><li>How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi</li><li>The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon</li><li>This is How you Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar</li><li>Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong</li><li>Naked in Death J.D. Robb</li><li>Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir</li><li>How to Talk to a Goddess by Emily Croy Barker</li><li>The Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon</li><li>The City We Became by N.K. Jemison</li><li>The untitled second novel of Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (coming out 2021)</li><li>A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas</li><li>Aetherbound by E.K. Johnston</li><li>The Craft of Love by E.E. Ottoman</li><li>My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite</li><li>Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro </li><li>Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green</li></ol><div>Also, internet friends, I am no longer active on GoodReads (although this blog auto populates there). You can find me over at the Story Graph. My username is kit_steitz. There are no author pages, just reader pages, and that's cool too!</div><div><br /></div><div>I love it when y'all throw some bones my way, and normally I would be pimping my work at the end of this blog, but this month I want ya'll (white folks like me) to go buy a book by a Black poet or prose writer (do it every month! But if you need a starting point, choose now). If you haven't read Rita Dove, audre lorde, Nnedi Okorafor, Tracy Deonn, Tomi Adeyemi, or the actual depth and wealth of Black authors that make up the fabric of our literary works past and present, then you need to catch up. You are missing out on whole universes of actual magic. </div><div><br /></div><div>Much love and luck on your book goals this year, my dear readers!</div><div><br /></div><div>Love,</div><div>Kit</div><div><br /></div><p></p>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-88849267505109654732021-02-01T14:18:00.002-08:002021-02-01T14:18:54.375-08:00Imbolc blessings<p>Happy Monday, </p><p>blessed Imbolc, </p><p>and a powerful Black History Month, dear readers!</p><p>Imbolc is Brigid's sabbat. It's when we heathens of a particular flavor celebrate poetry, rebirth, the sun's return, fertility, inspiration, fire & light, music, and smithery. I've blogged about my love of Imbolc in the past, because it's always a powerful way to pull me out of the post-Yule doldrums, and there are <i>few</i> things I love more than cold, bonfires, and poetry.</p><p>Even if you don't celebrate Imbolc, I invite you to take a few quiet moments to reflect on some new or beloved poetry. I recommend you check out the Poetry Foundations' article on <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/155348/lucille-clifton-101">Lucille Clifton</a></p><p><b>cutting greens </b><br /><b>by Lucille Clifton</b></p><p><b>curling them around<br />i hold their bodies in obscene embrace<br />thinking of everything but kinship.<br />collards and kale<br />strain against each strange other<br />away from my kissmaking hand and<br />the iron bedpot.<br />the pot is black,<br />the cutting board is black,<br />|my hand,<br />and just for a minute<br />the greens roll black under the knife,<br />and the kitchen twists dark on its spine<br />and I taste in my natural appetite<br />the bond of live things everywhere.</b></p><p>I believe it would be a mistake to end the post here. It's important to say the words out loud, especially on a day to honor and revere poets and Black Americans (all month, all year). Poetry is not white. It's not straight. It's not cisgender. We must read, hear, see black voices every day. Our country is sick with White Supremacy and we can't heal together if we don't hear now. Black Americans are dying every day from systematic racism; in the justice system, at the hands of police, and even in healthcare. Just this week an article was posted that a Black man, father & husband, David Bell, <a href="https://www.kmov.com/news/st-peters-father-dies-in-hospital-parking-lot-after-family-says-hospital-refused-treatment/article_877c7a4a-61cf-11eb-b4f8-23406ce38421.html">died in the Barnes-Jewish hospital parking lot after being refused care (the third time)</a>. Not to mention the outrageous mortality rate for Black mothers and babies in our hospital systems <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/1/11/16879984/serena-williams-childbirth-scare-black-women">(an issue that tennis GOAT all time champ of all things, Serena Williams has talked about at length after the birth of her daughter)</a>. </p><p>Those of us white poets must step up to stand behind Black (and BIPOC) folks because there is <i>no other time.</i> Now is the time. Now will always be the time.</p><p><a href="https://www.theroot.com/20-black-poets-you-should-know-and-love-1790868612">20 Black Poets You Should Know & Love</a>.</p><p>Read, but also think about how you can help in your daily life.</p><p>Today, I'd like to recall the last lines of Amanda Gormon's inaugural poem, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/news/535052-read-transcript-of-amanda-gormans-inaugural-poem">"The Hill We Climb"</a>:</p><p><b>When day comes we step out of the shade,<br />aflame and unafraid<br />The new dawn blooms as we free it<br />For there is always light,<br />if only weโre brave enough to see it<br />If only weโre brave enough to be it</b></p><p>Black voices are powerful, beautiful, and important. They are the light. Black poets paved a highway through our collective histories with tales of humanity, queerness, womanhood, Blackness, gender, family... We owe an incalculable debt to our Black poets, past and present, for saying the hard, the joyous, the invisible things that many of us white people want to ignore (except during Black History Month). </p><p>Normally I would end my blog post with a little blip about supporting my writing through ko-fi or what have you. Today, I want you to go support a Black voice. Read a poem by a Black poet to your child or your partner or your bestfriend. Listen, hear, be vulnerable and uncomfortable, learn, heal, elevate. Go on, go read some Audre Lorde or Rita Dove.</p><p>Love,</p><p>Kit</p><p><br /></p>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-60066424329803974992021-01-25T10:59:00.004-08:002021-01-25T10:59:38.137-08:00Writing & ADHD<p> It's Monday. It's raining. It's chilly. If you're anything like me, your brain is swirling with all the things you want to get done this week, and your coffee has been empty for hours. Honestly, it's offensive. I need my bean juice to last longer, y'all. </p><p>I wracked my brain over what I would write about today. I have brainstorming lists to choose from, but I wasn't feeling any of the topics. I went for a lunch walk, listened to <a href="https://www.takenobumusic.com/">TAKรNOBU</a>, and searched my soul for what was really going on, and it occurred to me, I haven't written at length about what it's like to write with ADHD.</p><p>Hello, I'm Kit, and I have ADHD. I write words (and draw, skate, hula-hoop, knit, crochet, paint, craft, etc., etc.) There are a LOT of creatives in the ADHD community but most of us will tell you we have the struggles. </p><p>Writing schedules? Uhhhhhhhhh</p><p>Finishing Projects? Ummmmmm. </p><p>Goal setting for projects? Sure, let's do that! And at the end of the year, I'll have tossed them aside and down 4 other things.</p><p>It's rough, y'all. Especially when so many successful writers go on about 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO BE A GOOD WRITER and they're literally all tips on how to be neurotypical. </p><p>So how do you manage your writing, when you're ADHD, and you ran out of hyperfocus gas? This isn't rhetorical, if you have some brain hacks you want to share I WANT TO HEAR THEM. </p><p>These are ways that I currently tackle it:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Forgiving myself and being kind when I don't live up to my own expectations. It's so easy to fall down the feelings pit when I stumble in my craft. I'm all over the place with projects & ideas and most of them don't stick. That doesn't make me a bad person, a bad writer, but it does mean I have to be radically kind to my little inner critic. Sometimes I'll list projects I have finished and thrust into the world, or I'll review the list, to remind myself that I am capable of completing projects and that they're pretty darn good. <br /><br /></li><li>I created this very blog to help motivate myself to consistency, to inspire myself, and to keep myself writing. I had grand plans, of course, when I started it. I've given myself so many different writing schedules for this blog. Right now, I'm trying to write once a week (Mondays, what whaaat!) I go through periods where I write my thoughts on the craft, where I write actual poetry or prose and share it, but I try to keep it flexible. I use my blog to ground me, and sometimes it works. Sometimes I forget about it and get lost in writer's block. When that happens, I have to go back to #1.<br /><br /></li><li>I've recently started listening to the <a href="http://www.nightvalepresents.com/startwiththis">Start With This</a> podcast and tackling the 2 assignments per episode (1 to consume, 1 to create). Podcasts about writing have been a good way to kick my brain into plotting & scheming. If you have some good writing podcast suggestions I would LOVE to hear them!<br /><br /></li><li>Permission to fail. Permission to succeed. Permission to look at fear of failure and fear of success in the eye and stare them down. Permission to look them in the eyes and have a little cry & a nap, as long as I dust myself off and get back up afterwards.</li></ol><div>Well, my lunch break is almost over, so I better wrap this up! I hope y'all enjoyed reading and if you also struggle with writing & ADHD, I hope this helped or helped you feel less alone (and please, please, please share them tips 'n tricks, y'all!!)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">As always, if you like (love) this content and want to support my writing outside of the big bad projects, and read supporter-only content, you can </span><a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">buy me a cuppa at ko.fi</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">. You can also purchase my chapbook & audible of poetry, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESK3G4A/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>a record of night</i> </a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">at Amazon. If you're so inclined, you can also follow </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314418.Kit_Steitz" style="text-decoration-line: none;">my author page at goodreads</a> or follow me on Twitter<span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">. </span></span></div><div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;">Please show me some love and leave a comment, review, or rating on any of these platforms! Have an awesome day, my friends.</span></span></div></div><p></p><div><br /></div><p></p>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-25925111563360085952021-01-19T10:22:00.000-08:002021-01-19T10:22:23.456-08:00Nature inspo-<div>Happy Tuesday, my friends!</div><div><br></div><div>Let's talk about inspiration for writing poetry, or just writing in general. Somedays, weeks, years, it's hard to just sit down and find the words. Sometimes it's anxiety, sometimes fear, sometimes you're frustrated with your own personal lexicon (is that a blog for another day? Mayhaps!). There are a lot of different tips 'n tricks out there for how to inspire yourself out of a rut. If you're like me, you'll google it then spend time reading so many different tips n tricks that the Overwhelm just piles onto everything else and you end up giving up and wonder off to find a cookie or take a nap. So this isn't a list, and it's certainly not exhaustive. </div><div><br></div><div>Personally, I like to get out into nature. Nature walks are my tried and true first step to combat writer's fatigue, writer's blocks, ruts, whatever you want to call it. It doesn't require any prep, just a water bottle and shoes you don't mind getting muddy. Nature is a powerful tool; it's playtime for adults. I like to get dirty, and lost, and race against the sun. I like to spend 3 hours playing in a creek, and 30 minutes running along the trail to get back before it's pitch black outside. I find it grounding to just dig in and be present and a little feral. </div><div><br></div><div>But it's also a way to learn new words, new concepts, and new ways of thinking, and that shit's always good for writing. Take an ID book, not your cellphone, and go for a hike in the woods or park. What identification book should you get? That depends, what interests you? Wildflowers, fungi, trees, rocks, insects? Pick one and go get lost in the woods. Sit on an old igneous rock next to a creek and count the fossils, make a crayon rubbing of it, catalogue it in your journal, snap a photo. Climb a tree and sit there, balanced, in the air, and ID that leaning Sycamore growing near the bluff.</div><div><br></div><div>This is the stuff, my friends. If you're struggling to find the words, go learn something new about the world around you and learn it with your whole body. Feel it, see it, smell it, touch it, roll in it, poke it... <b>but don't eat it unless you know <i>for sure</i> that it's not poisonous. Seriously.</b></div><div><br></div><div>Don't eat poison. I cannot stress this enough.</div><div><br></div><div>Hope y'all have a wildly creative and/or restorative week. The sun is coming back ๐</div><div><br></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7kYjqq2gzD877xWsylu4f3qWjJauZubmTN7L0diWfYBzGk2nDevFIjUJORwJuYhfiP2YDTPs7slgOMw_gEEbd9_6NmaGUuKfsI9Tah2eZys7i49HGifD28geob1sCuENzS6C3KkU4dgKb/s2048/20210101_130141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="This is a photo of an ice-covered log" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7kYjqq2gzD877xWsylu4f3qWjJauZubmTN7L0diWfYBzGk2nDevFIjUJORwJuYhfiP2YDTPs7slgOMw_gEEbd9_6NmaGUuKfsI9Tah2eZys7i49HGifD28geob1sCuENzS6C3KkU4dgKb/w240-h320/20210101_130141.jpg" title="it's log, it's log, it's better than bad, it's good" width="240"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it's log it's log it's better than bad it's good</td></tr></tbody></table><br><br>Love & sunshine & snow & moonlight,<div>Yours,</div><div>Kit<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">As always, if you like (love) this content and want to support my writing outside of the big bad projects, and read supporter-only content, you can </span><a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">buy me a cuppa at ko.fi</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">. You can also purchase my chapbook & audible of poetry, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESK3G4A/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>a record of night</i> </a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">at Amazon. If you're so inclined, you can also follow </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314418.Kit_Steitz" style="text-decoration-line: none;">my author page at goodreads</a> or follow me on Twitter<span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">. </span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;"><br></span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;">Please show me some love and leave a comment, review, or rating on any of these platforms! Have an awesome day, my friends.</span></span></div></div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div> </div></div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-34962781193906784342021-01-11T09:04:00.002-08:002021-01-11T09:13:18.507-08:00Twenty Twenty Won<p> Howdy All! </p><p>We're well into 2021 and have already had an attempted coup at the White House. It feels a little ridiculous to be blogging about anything besides that, right now, but others have said it more succinct and powerfully .</p><p>So I'm going to indulge in some positivity and dedicate this blog to a summary of all the creative things that happened in my 2020. </p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Permanent Marker; font-size: large;">Accomplished</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Audible of my chapbook <i>a record of night</i>, produced & narrated by Erin Knowles</li><li>Put out a paper copy of <i>a record of night ๐</i></li><li>Opened a ko-fi.com/KitSteitz account to work on my hustle</li><li>Started a poetry project for August and completed it</li><li>August project readings in December</li></ul><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So in a year that was one of the darkest in my (our) timeline, I feel pretty good about that shit. </div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know what this year will bring. <b>Hopefully not a Fascist takeover.</b> Really got my fingers and toes all crossed we avoid that, y'all. Every year I have to find new things to motivate me, to get me moving and kick me from dreaming to creating. Dreamers create, but also sometimes we just drink coffee and think really hard about it, then wander off and pet our dogs. </div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of pawfect dogs of 2020, this is my dawg Gentle Sir Nugget and he is perfect and wonderful.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOw1ZbhoLeTpAXOe9kWlyYRtXRQzJb5dl9XaG28FD7ZCPaQbWw3ad39A8LUBM9u32rVoQePoJAa0v6pKAoExmYPrapmuBJF_Q9rDTtv7Uzcf-YapSUNeJn7JGigrOJSgpnl2BXhUlNNvwZ/s4608/20210109_174619.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOw1ZbhoLeTpAXOe9kWlyYRtXRQzJb5dl9XaG28FD7ZCPaQbWw3ad39A8LUBM9u32rVoQePoJAa0v6pKAoExmYPrapmuBJF_Q9rDTtv7Uzcf-YapSUNeJn7JGigrOJSgpnl2BXhUlNNvwZ/s320/20210109_174619.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, around this time every year, I create super lofty goals for the year but honestly, I just throw ideas at a wall and see which one sticks. You do what you can do, when you can do it.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Permanent Marker; font-size: large;">Dreams for 2021</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Werk werk werk on my novels (work on my fear about those novels, too)</li><li>Prepare and publish August project Chapbook</li><li>Maybe a few live poetry readings? YT live or FB live? questions, questions</li><li>Collab with at least one fabulous human</li><li>Consume craft-related podcasts & essays etc., etc</li><li>Maybe another poetry-month project?</li><li>Maybe work on that ridiculous queer space opera podcast</li></ul></div><div>IDK, felt cute, might not accomplish any of these later. </div><div><span style="font-family: Permanent Marker;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Permanent Marker;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">As always, if you like (love) this content and want to support my writing outside of the big bad projects, and read supporter-only content, you can </span><a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">buy me a cuppa at ko.fi</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">. You can also purchase my chapbook & audible of poetry, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESK3G4A/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>a record of night</i> </a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">at Amazon. If you're so inclined, you can also follow </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314418.Kit_Steitz" style="text-decoration-line: none;">my author page at goodreads</a> or follow me on Twitter<span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;">Please show me some love and leave a comment, review, or rating on any of these platforms! Have an awesome day, my friends.</span></span></div></div><p></p>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-41457151369373718052020-12-28T14:33:00.000-08:002020-12-28T14:33:44.292-08:00New Project Announcement! <p>I know we all have a million things going on- dealing with the holigays, getting the kids to <strike>school</strike> not sleep through online classes, the stress and constant sadness of this Pandemic, job hunting or working an essential job, and any number of other things. I love that you cared enough to stop and read my little old blog while you're navigating all the shit life is throwing your way. Thanks for reading, today!</p><p><br></p><p>Guess what? I have a new project on <a href="http://Ko-Fi.com/kitsteitz">Ko-Fi.com/kitsteitz</a>! </p><p>There are video readings of my August poems at my ko-fi page! If you already donated a cuppa to me during August (or ever) you'll already have access to these readings!! </p><p>If you're new, and want to read the poems before watching the videos, you can donate a cuppa anytime you're ready.<u> Just remember to create an account on Ko-Fi so you can go back and access content in the future!</u></p><p>Love y'all and hope you love the videos!</p><p>~Kit</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">As always, if you like (love) this content and want to support my writing outside of the big bad projects, and read supporter-only content, you can </span><a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">buy me a cuppa at ko.fi</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. You can also purchase my chapbook & audible of poetry, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESK3G4A/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>a record of night</i> </a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">at Amazon. If you're so inclined, you can also follow </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314418.Kit_Steitz" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;">my author page at goodreads</a> or follow me on Twitter<span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;">. </span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Please show me some love and leave a comment, review, or rating on any of these platforms! Have an awesome day, my friends.</span></div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-59167524146319511272020-11-23T06:00:00.002-08:002020-11-23T06:00:02.577-08:00I am not a writer, am I?<p>This is a blog for writers who don't know if they're writers</p><p>Spoiler: </p><p>You are.</p><p>I am not a consistent writer. All the writing podcasts and advice books etc, etc., say you need to develop consistent writing schedule and remain vigilant and rigorous and all these things that I 100% absolutely am not and do not. And maybe that is the marker between success and mediocrity- but do I need to be successful to be good and take joy in what I'm doing. Nah.</p><p>Is this an excuse? Probably, but it's also real life. Look, I've written 4 books, 3 of which I may someday publish, and 2 chapbooks, 1 of which is published. I'm 38. Has anybody noticed my writing outside of my friends and family? Not likely. </p><p>Sometimes I wonder why I keep doing it. What's the purpose, if it doesn't make a broad impact? In a capitalist society, are we good at something if we can't make a living on it? </p><p>That is a resounding yes. Look, art and writing and poetry, and all the textile arts, these have been around as long as human history. We have written human history because of us, for fucks sake. It's taken me decades to deprogram that academic snobbery (and it's probably still hanging in there in the dark, un-swept corners), but we don't need all that shit to create works of beauty, works that embody our lives and our hearts. </p><p>I am a writer. I don't write when I'm supposed to... I don't write how I'm supposed to, but I am a writer. I am a writer. I am an artist. I am a musician. I am an athlete. I am my own validation (but like, it's cool if you want to validate me too, I'm a Virgo and a person and I like that shit).</p><p>Are you also a writer or an artist. It's okay to say that. Don't demean it, don't denigrate it. You get to own this. If you write, you're a writer. If you're taking a break from writing, you're still a writer. You are a writer.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">So here are some tips from a <br /><span style="font-size: large;">Not-Famous-At-All Writer </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Who Has These Same Struggles</span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">Please feel free to add any in the comments <3 </p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Create through and with fear. Look, it would be wildly unrealistic to say that you can create without fear. If you've ever started a massive writing project, there's a really good chance you've struggled with it: fear that you're not good enough, that you're faking it (hellooooo imposter syndrome), that it's a waste of time, that nobody wants to read it, any number of things. Creation is also sitting with those fears, holding them gently, and knowing that they are not your truth. Accept them as a part of your narrative, but you don't have to hold them as your reality.<br /><br /></li><li>Take a break from creating and live your life. You breathe new life into your words with new experiences, new feelings. A break is just time to till the earth and plant the seeds.<br /><br /></li><li>Don't give up. Woof, this one is hard to write, because I super want to give up on this novel and I've been talking about finishing it for years but it just feels so hard and big and I don't know how to do it. Butt in seat, fingers on keyboard, love and forgiveness to myself.<br /><br /></li><li>Get constructive feedback from other writers. On your work, but also on your progress. It helps to have somebody who knows what struggs you strugging and can speak to it. Cultivate your writer/artist friends.<br /><br /></li><li>Share your finished products with your friends and family. Your voice deserves to be heard and you are wonderful and goddamn am I SO PROUD OF YOU FOR FINISHING THE THING. HOLY HELL, THAT'S SO AMAZING AND HARD AND POWERFUL.<br /><br /></li><li>Own your creation. Say, write, sing that you are a writer. Know that deep in your big, squishy, wonderful heart. Keep saying it. </li></ol><div><br /></div><div>I like lists. I hope you liked this list! <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">And don't forget- if you like this content and want to support my writing and read supporter-only content, you can </span><a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">buy me a cuppa at ko.fi</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">. You can also purchase my chapbook & audible of poetry, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESK3G4A/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>a record of night</i> </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">at Amazon. If you're so inclined, you can also follow </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314418.Kit_Steitz" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">my author page at goodreads</a> or follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/AmazingKitikins"><span style="color: #999999;">Twitter</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Please show me some love and leave a comment, review, or rating on any of these platforms! Have an awesome day, my friends.</span></div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-88056004458366101892020-11-20T07:22:00.001-08:002020-11-20T07:23:30.806-08:00The day has come!! BIG NEWS!!!!<p> <span style="color: #14171a; font-family: inherit; font-size: 20px;">What up my fine friends!?! BIG NEWS BIG NEWS BIG NEWS!!!!</span></p><p style="color: #14171a; font-family: nunito, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-break: break-word;"><br /></p><div dir="auto" style="color: #14171a; font-family: inherit; font-size: 20px;">GUESS WHAT? <div style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">Erin Knowles' </div>beautiful narration of my chapbook of poetry, <i>a record of night</i>, is NOW AVAILABLE ON AUDIBLE!!!!!!</div><p style="color: #14171a; font-family: nunito, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-break: break-word;"><br /></p><div dir="auto" style="color: #14171a; font-family: inherit; font-size: 20px;">Erin breathes life into my old dusty words and I am SO HONORED that she chose my chapbook to lilt through. It's been such a treat to work with with her through this process, through the ups and downs of technical difficulties, and I think you'll really enjoy the outcome.</div><p style="color: #14171a; font-family: nunito, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-break: break-word;"><br /></p><div dir="auto" style="color: #14171a; font-family: inherit; font-size: 20px;">The audible is only $3.95, which frankly is an absolute steal considering all the craft and love that went into this production. </div><p style="color: #14171a; font-family: nunito, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-break: break-word;"><br /></p><div dir="auto" style="color: #14171a; font-family: inherit; font-size: 20px;">Please <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/A-Record-of-Night-Audiobook/B08NWJKHTS?ref=a_author_Ki_c19_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=1ae0e65e-ad09-4aa7-aa73-772cefb1b5e1&pf_rd_r=8FCCC3CE0F36X2MKPNSY" rel="nofollow" style="color: #29abe0;">check it out</a>! If you like what you hear, we'd love if you could leave a review and give us some stars </div><p style="color: #14171a; font-family: nunito, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-break: break-word;"><br /></p><div dir="auto" style="color: #14171a; font-family: inherit; font-size: 20px;">Happy FRIYAY!!!!!</div><div dir="auto" style="color: #14171a; font-family: inherit; font-size: 20px;">Buy some poetry today </div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-30745017823487259162020-11-17T15:30:00.001-08:002020-11-17T15:30:12.117-08:00knock knock<p>Who's there?</p><p>It's me, ya Kit! And my chapbook from 2013, <i>a record of night</i>, is now available all over the place. I just discovered this when I <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=a+record+of+night+kit+steitz&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS913US913&oq=a+record+of+night&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j69i59j69i61.2745j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">googled it</a> randomly today. </p><p>Catch me at <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9798671135688">Indiebound</a></p><p>Catch me at <a href="https://www.booksamillion.com/product/9798671135688">Books-A-Million</a></p><p><br /></p><p>So hey, you can buy them there, too! So buy my poetry, y'all. It's pretty decent, ok. And SOON THERE WILL BE AN AUDIBLE NARRATED BY THE INCOMPARABLE E.M. KNOWLES... SO YEAH.</p><p><br /></p><p>Okay.</p><p><br /></p><p>Love y'all. Keep on NaNoWriMoing!</p>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-25859395992537831472020-10-16T10:30:00.001-07:002020-10-16T10:30:06.785-07:00Pantster NaNo prep in 5 Easy Steps<p> In the NaNoWriMo world, you have pantster and preppers, and those of us in between. </p><p>You planner planny plan-type methodical folks have plenty of guides out there to <i>the Perfect (TM) way to prep</i>, so I'm not going to help y'all. You've probably already spent September reading blogs, watching youtube videos, or IDK snapchats? about it. You've got this under control.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i>This is a blog the messy rest of us.</i></span></p><p>Hello pantsters and plansters, thanks for reading. This won't be a prescriptive guide because if you're here, we both know that doesn't work for you already. If you're like me, I could create a million outlines and storyboards and still veer off course in a matter of 20 words, because for a lot of us, it's not just about the story, it's about how we engage with the story. When I started NaNo over a decade ago, I tried everything I could think of. My first novel was 100000% by the seat of my pants (and awful and hopefully lost forever). After that, I tried all the different ways. If we're being honest with ourselves, this is an incredibly difficult task and if we get bogged down in the how, we forget the do. So October is crucial, this prep is crucial, but ultimately <b><i>keeping your ass in seat and writing is the only thing that matters.</i></b></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Thing 1: Identify what interests you and how you stay interested</span></p><p>Your first step to figuring out how to be effective here is to figure out <i>what gets your juices going (and what keeps them going)</i>. This is the most important step. If you're like me, you'll spend October meticulously planning your novel (gets me going), and then as you jump into November, you'll get bored and start changing it right and left (brings me joy). Add a dragon here, an immaculate conception there, maybe some torture? Really bored? Kill somebody. So planning helps me get excited, but being flexible and adaptable while I'm writing keeps me going. Maybe for you, it's the world building? Or the character creation? Do you like to doodle your characters to get ideas? Do it.</p><p>Ultimately, no two writers are the same. What works for me may not work for you, but I hope this guide can help you start brainstorming ideas and thinking about what works for you.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Thing 2: Get to know your characters</span></p><p>Do outlines kill you, deep inside? Does knowing where your story will take you bore you down to your bones? <u>Then don't fucking do it.</u> Take this prep time to figure out your characters and the world they'll be in. That way, when you sit down on Nov 1st, you already have a relationship with them and you know how they'll behave and what you'd like them to do. </p><p>I do this in a lot of ways:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Create character sheets (like in D&D)</li><li>Create Pinterest boards of celebrities that look like my characters, of places that remind me of where I'd like them to live or for some of the plot to happen</li><li>Create a playlist that makes you think of the characters or gets you in the mood</li><li>Write a few short stories that are centered on your characters (or in the world) to get a feel for it all and really shift gears into this new and wonderful place.</li><li>Talk it out with your writerly friends. Sometimes you just need to ramble about your ideas (it's called rubber ducking) and be sure to let your friend ramble their ideas too! </li><li>Something I haven't listed- get creative! This is about finding out who you're writing about! This list isn't exhaustive.</li><li>Don't forget your villains. Villains are fun and deserve to be fleshed out, as it were.</li></ul><div><span style="font-size: large;">Thing 3: Get to know your world</span></div><div><br /></div><div>You don't have to know exactly what it looks like but it helps to have an idea before you jump into this. Here's a list of ways I've done it or plan to try it:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Pinterest that shit, look up pictures of places all around the world and save it to your pinterest vision board</li><li>Create a visitor's guide and include the info you think it's important for folks to know.</li><li>Draw a crude map. My first world map was on a napkin. This does not need to be elaborate.</li><li>Sometimes I like to doodle unusual flora and fauna that might be in my worlds.</li></ul></div><p></p><p>Ultimately, you'll probably want to think of the core nugget of the plot.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Thing 4: CONFLICT</span></p><p>You don't have to outline the main story, but you should have some idea as to what your main conflict looks like. Write it out, draw it out, sing it out. Just work through it and keep a note of it somewhere to glance at- it can be one sentence, "Jameela's mother died under mysterious circumstances and she wants to find out what really happened" or perhaps "Randal needs to visit his ailing cousin but there is a Giant Fucking Serpant in the way" are examples that are perfectly suitable. </p><p>"Jane doesn't like ham" might even work, IDK your life. Write what makes you happy.</p><p>Just figure out what the central conflict is and keep track of it.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Thing 5: Keep track of your shit</span></p><p>This is a two parter- </p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Store all of your files together. I use google drive, but you do what you want. You will probably have to access some of your character or world work as you go, so it's good to have it somewhere you can pull up quickly.<br /><br /></li><li>Start & keep an ongoing file of character names, appearance, and relationships. For example:<br /><i>Durga, sister, tall brown hair blue eyes thick likes apples<br />Shiela, lover, short, thin, green eyes red hair, slight<br /></i><br />I also include like quick world notes here too, and slang I make up along the way. Anything you might forget and need a quick ref for.<br /><br />This way allows you a quick reference while you're writing, so if you create a totally random character out of the blue, one you hadn't planned, you can pull them up 50 pages later and have the details correct. This is <i>really</i> important time saver for pantsters and plansters, because when we deviate, we can record it and refer back to it without needing to retcon anything or spend precious writing time tracking it down in the rough draft.</li></ol><div><br /></div><div><i>Good luck, writers! Have fun and curse the gods!</i></div><div><br /></div><div>And don't forget- if you like this content and want to support my writing and read supporter-only content, you can <a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" target="_blank">buy me a cuppa at ko.fi</a>. You can also purchase my chapbook of poetry <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESK3G4A/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" target="_blank"><i>a record of night</i> </a>at Amazon. If you're so inclined, you can also follow <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314418.Kit_Steitz">my author page at goodreads</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-22586760391821727222020-10-15T15:00:00.019-07:002020-10-15T15:00:05.519-07:00What I'm reading in 2020...I absolutely adore spooky season. The holiday season is the magic that gets me through the year and it all starts with a little boo and a lot of ancestors. Please do not forget the Reeses pumpkins, because I have not.<div><br /></div><div>On this perfect, cloudy Fall day, I was going through and updating my Goodreads account and realized I've read some fan-fucking-tastic books this year. Thinking about all these books again, I found myself wanting to talk more about them-<br /> so straight from my bookshelves to your eyes, here are <i>my</i> top 5 reads (so far) of 2020:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.tomiadeyemi.com/books" target="_blank">Children of Blood & Bone by Tomi Adeyemi</a><br />This book is brilliant on every level. Just read it. Stop reading reviews about it, go to the library or your local bookstore, buy it, and settle in for the night. <i>You need this book in your life.</i> Fantasy, magic, rebellion, pathos, love, betrayal, family... It is the best and most perfect book ever written. I am biased because I could not tear myself away. All of the books in this list were AMAZING, but this is possibly the best book I've read since I can remember. </li><li><a href="https://tracydeonn.com/legendborn">Legendborn by Tracy Deonn</a><br />This YA book is completely, utterly engrossing. If you like urban fantasy and a mash-up of The Order and Arthurian mythology mixed with a healthy dose of American history, this novel was written for you. Deonn explores what it means to be a young, Black girl in White fantasy; what it's like to be written out of the stories and how to the protagonist, Bree, fights to find her own story forward and back in time. Y'all, her story is so powerful and mighty, I can't even. Shout out for the LGBTQ representation, too! As non binary folk, it was nice to read another they/them. It was nice to read queer couples casually a part of the fabric of this rich, complex story. </li><li><a href="http://nnedi.com/books/binti.html">The Binti Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor</a><br />I utterly savored the Binti trilogy. This novel is set in a alt future Africa and follows a Himba girl, named Binti on her journey to the Oomza Uni, the best university in the galaxy. I literally can't tell you any of the juicy adventures without giving away big plot points, but I can tell you that Binti is so incredible (the book and the human). Her journey is complex, and messy, and despite the living space ships and math-magic, utterly real. This is a beautiful and delicious read.</li><li><a href="https://www.riverssolomon.com/thedeep" target="_blank">The Deep by Rivers Solomon with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes</a><br />I'm not sure I have the words for this book. Look, it's amazing. It explores the culture of Black mermaids who are descendant from pregnant slave women thrown overboard Slaver ships. It explores memory & trauma & collective & self. It's a song and a story, a struggle and life. While it's a short read, I found myself pausing often, to go back and re-read, to think, to feel what was happening. Just thinking about this story makes me want to cry and hold it close to my chest. Read this book. </li><li><a href="https://publishing.tor.com/gideontheninth-tamsynmuir/9781250313195/" target="_blank">Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir</a><br />Y'all, look, when my partner texted me about this book, they said simply "GAY NECROMANCER IN SPACE" so obviously we went and bought two copies. It's the first in a series (the second one just came out last month), and it does deliver on the gay, space necromancy. Tamsyn has created a complex world and a protagonist (Gideon) that galivants about with brazen ferocity. I have one, huge, giant, major complaint but it is a MASSIVE spoiler, so if you've read it and want to dish with me, hmu. Up until the last action sequence, I rate it 10/10, but it drops down to a 5/10 after that. Worth the read, and nice to have a queer lead, but gird yourself for the end. My hopes are that it will redeem itself in the next book. </li></ol><div>That's it, my fine readers. What are you reading right now? </div></div><div><br /></div><div>And don't forget- if you like this content and want to support my writing and read supporter-only content, you can <a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" target="_blank">buy me a cuppa at ko.fi</a>. You can also purchase my chapbook of poetry <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESK3G4A/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" target="_blank"><i>a record of night</i> </a>at Amazon. If you're so inclined, you can also follow <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314418.Kit_Steitz">my author page at goodreads</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-9678580848635519012020-09-22T11:00:00.004-07:002020-09-22T14:19:01.497-07:005 tips for writing in a pandemic...<span> This weekend, I set myself to the task of editing the 28 poems I wrote in August. It felt like a feat, and I had a sneaking suspicion that the August poems would be less, but what I found surprised me. Were some of them garbage? Yes, of course. But there were clear themes I was struggling with that united them, without intention or purpose during the writing the process: themes of pandemic & climate change related fear and grief, of feeling othered and alone. I'm sure there are other things unifying the work, but these specifically spoke to me while I was editing. </span><div><span><br /></span></div><div>I have been straddling this uncomfortable place of <i>needing</i> to write and being unable to do so. From our writing workshop, I know I'm not alone. It seemed like at the beginning of this mess (at least in the US) everybody set to learn something new, create, keep busy- start that Duolingo program they've always meant to do, do a practice challenge in the skill of their choosing, Marie-Kondo their homes. We all saw it on our social media- the things we plan to do to navigate a period of great change and uncertainty. The first couple weeks, I vibed with this creative wave. I tried to learn how to jam skate, I kept my house cleanish. I read several books. But as this pandemic worsened, job security no longer existed. Every morning I woke up and scoured the news outlets to see what departments were being laid off on my campus. George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police, and we mourned and fought (fight) with/for our Black communities right to equality and <i>life</i>. My town has been rocked with ongoing protests, union actions, and our entire campus has cycled through furloughs. </div><div><br /></div><div>This pandemic has been a time of change and deep fear. Somewhere along the way, I lost my ability to cope. My resilience went from like a solid 80% (made up number) to a 10%. I could not meditate away the grinding anxiety of living with a more constant and persistent fear that's now just a part of the landscape that I (we) navigate every day. I cry every day. I got into therapy at the nudge of a kind friend. I take naps when I need to (and can). </div><div><br /></div><div>All that to say... Who can fucking do anything, with all this shit? It's fucking hard, and if you can't bring yourself to the keyboard, or to pick up the pen, give yourself some slack. The word UNPRECEDENTED isn't being thrown around for shits and giggles. You& we are living through a crisis and right now your priority is to take care of you when you can and be kind & forgiving to yourself when you can't. Maybe call a friend or get yourself a cup of nice tea and sit outside with your dog for awhile. You are doing what you can, that that's amazing.</div><div><br /></div><div>So here are my 5 tips for writing when you can't write:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Don't.</span></b> Seriously, if you need to selfcare, don't write. Do what you have to do. You only have energy to help your kid with online classes today? You're a badass boss. You're trying to survive right now, and that includes being kind to yourself and recognizing when it's okay to focus on your basic, fundamental needs. Take a shower, read a comic, play with your kids, practice your necromancy. You can write later. There is no write way to do this. (that's a pun, I'm sorry).</li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Forgive yourself</b>.</span> You're doing the best you can. This shit is hard. I've already forgiven myself for the pun. </li><li><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Step away from what you were working on pre-Pandemic</span></b>. Maybe you can't focus on that right now because it's not speaking a truth that's resonating for you. If you can, start a project where you can write through some of what's going on. What is our art and craft if we're not working through the hard shit? </li><li><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Stop, Collaborate, & Listen.</span> </b>You know what kicked me out of stasis? Erin Knowles texted me about working on a project together. I was so honored and also felt like the kid who opens the door to mom's accomplished & professional friend, meanwhile, there's peanut butter in my hair and gum stuck to my cheek, running around in dad's oversized t-shirt, "Mom's not home, and also did you bring me a cookie Auntie Erin??" Like this adult ass human wants to work on something... <i>with me</i>? It's gonna take me awhile to get the gum and peanut butter excavated, but like, how can you say no to this cool human? Have they gone feral too? I mean, honestly? Probably. Who hasn't, right now? But having her there to talk to and work with helped breathe some life back into my own writerly motivation. I found myself thinking more about writing and working on new projects. Sometimes we need to collaborate with our other creative friends because sometimes it's hard to start alone, especially when you've been isolated from the world for months. Sometimes it helps to have somebody to text pictures of wildflowers to, somebody who also gets having days where you melt (and who has their own days when they melt), and you can be gentle with each other and help each other find some light, and send kind words to when you can't find some light. </li><li><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">Hydrate & Stretch</span><span>. Look, I know we aren't world-class athletes (wait... are you? That's fucking cool). But a lot of us tend to get in our flow and stop paying attention to what our body needs. Make sure you sit down to your desk with a cup of water. Take a break and do this quick stretch for your <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxC4LhOrMFw">hands</a> and for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3-gKPNyrTA">your neck/shoulders</a>. If you need to think out some plots or thoughts, maybe try a gentle hike or walk around the neighborhood? </span></li></ol><div><br /></div></div><div><div>Hey friends! Thanks for reading my blog. I hope you liked it. It's free for you to read, but I still gotta make a living! </div><div><br /></div><div>If you liked this content, please leave me a comment because feedback is rad, or buy me a cup of coffee on <a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" target="_blank">Ko-Fi</a>, because paying the bills is rad.</div></div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-75887807793197720112020-09-03T15:30:00.002-07:002020-09-22T12:20:34.442-07:00Spoopy season into turkey days...<p>Hey friends, enemies, thememies, and rabble rousers! </p><p>I'm so proud to say that I was able to complete the August project, available on ko-fi.com/kitsteitz! </p><p>Not only did I complete it, but I reached it at 270%. WOAH. That shit is<i> humbling </i>and I am deeply honored. You can still contribute and see the daily poems in August. Only 2 were missed for health reasons, a pretty impressive feat for a human with chronic pain and illness. There will be a treat for those who contributed to the August project in the next week or so, so stay tuned!</p><p>What's up? What's going on in the next few months? I'm so glad I asked. <b><span style="font-size: medium;">September</span></b> is for reading and book reviews, so please expect at least one! I really want to dive into my to-read pile and my birthday month seems like a good time to get to it!</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">October</span></b> is for #drawtober, y'all. #inktober has been canceled due to the shitty actions (copyrighting the # and c&ds for artists selling their own art & <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG3ENcAdWBM" target="_blank">plagiarism controversy</a>) of it's creator. So I'm going to try jumping into the inky waters again. I created my own gay prompts! You're welcome to use my prompts, too! And hey, tag me or link me to your art!! I'd love to see them <3. I promise I won't publish them or a book about them like Jake Parker. Also, hey, not copyrighting an actual hashtag because I'm not a monster. I'll make the prompt list prettier as we get closer!</p><p><img height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtbWkhSHhjI2TBi2MUZMnreSEOvxvyemNEu99djEl0cmo4yTuQwTQqbF-fQYRWVaxdzn2YiDBuuQd6H7s_Knu312IsWf-8ZI5fWw_l1ZHyEAszrdQ_CNjRnU8F-YTwr6PvsueDYig6kta/w303-h404/?authuser=0" width="303" /></p><p>I was thinking it would be cool to purchase <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997046538/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_dp_ex6OybXTHJD9V" target="_blank">Alphonso Dunn's book</a> on inking to really work on some improvement throughout the month! I might make this another ko-fi project. What do y'all think?</p><p>And y'all know what <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>November</b></span> is for... November is for <i>noveling</i>. Will this be the year I finish my unseen queer fantasy trilogy? OH MY DOG I HOPE SO. Also, turkey. I will eat lots of fowl this month. There are few things better than cold next-day turkey sandwiches. </p><p>Getting back into my creative vibes, friends. Hope you are doing okay and staying safe this pandemic. I love you.</p><p><br /></p><p><strike>Your favorite weirdo</strike> I don't want to be presumptuous!</p><p>A weirdo,</p><p>Kitikins</p><p><br /></p><p>PS</p><p>Hey friends! Thanks for reading my blog. I hope you liked it. It's free for you to read, but I still gotta make a living! </p><p>If you liked this content, please leave me a comment because feedback is rad, or buy me a cup of coffee on www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz, because paying the bills is rad.</p>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-34729342038805174492020-08-17T13:45:00.000-07:002020-08-17T13:45:36.439-07:00Get your very own poem<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hey y'all! Daily poems in August is going strong over at <a href="http://www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz" target="_blank">Ko-Fi</a>. There are 14 days left of August and only 14 more poems to be written! I figure, what better time than to mix it up and work towards my goal to get paid for writing this month? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Want me to write a poem to you? If you donate 2 cups of coffee (that's $10) to me during the next 14 days, I will write a poem to you and feature it as the day's poem. Make sure you specify that you'd like a poem in the donation! I can only do 14 max requests for August, though, so you might want to hurry!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Love & Gratitude,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kit</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXejmocL5-EiNiyBkKkgfpko2oodgd5sRvJXvq3CNWvMXt7TqQZM6kkgfvWEVJODAB2AgkR2q67d0MnF8hJqriz7WoajOgiSJjfp5adndMWW8R1MJx07TibHeoRtAPPIBj6oQ8v4ZsBeAN/s2048/118004220_2675096722758098_1243834442307230640_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXejmocL5-EiNiyBkKkgfpko2oodgd5sRvJXvq3CNWvMXt7TqQZM6kkgfvWEVJODAB2AgkR2q67d0MnF8hJqriz7WoajOgiSJjfp5adndMWW8R1MJx07TibHeoRtAPPIBj6oQ8v4ZsBeAN/w262-h197/118004220_2675096722758098_1243834442307230640_n.jpg" width="262" /></a></div> <p></p><p><br /></p>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-65474392056089336032020-08-13T08:34:00.005-07:002020-08-13T08:34:30.837-07:00Quick reminder! 31 poems in August...<p> Hey y'all, just a quick reminder, I'm writing 31 poems in August! Become one of my supporters for the price of a cup of coffee and you can read them as I go at www.ko-fi.com/kitsteitz ! 5 bucks for a poem a day in August ain't so bad, right?</p><p>Check it out!</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks and much love,</p><p>Kit</p>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-68463057270136263762020-08-12T15:30:00.018-07:002020-08-13T07:11:51.365-07:00Nine Years of Blogging!<p> It's been 9 years since I wrote <a href="https://ohmyfoes.blogspot.com/2011/08/it-will-not-last-night.html">it will not last the night</a>. Whaaaat? I can't believe I've been writing in here since 2011! I mean, some years I only posted like... 4 posts. But still! </p><p>I started the blog to motivate myself to start writing again. College & life had sucked the will to write (and a little to live) out of me and I needed a space to start small and find my voice again.</p><p>Also? I love writing! Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I struggle to write. Or struggle to finish writing before moving on? This changes all the time. I am <i>hella</i> ADHD, y'all, and I've been working hard to learn how to work with my brain not against it. This gives me the space to be imperfect, but still DO it. </p><p>So here we are 9 years later!</p><p>I've learned a lot about myself (and I'm still learning so much). I have white eyebrows and crows feet now. You don't know that, reader, but it's very true.</p><p>Today, I walked to the Starbucks across campus to get some go-go-brain-juice and it was a pandemic anxiety o'clock. I was wearing my mask, but none of the groups of students I walked past were wearing their masks. I rolled my ankle. I got back to my desk and just sat there trying not to cry for about 10 minutes. As campus' decide to re-open, frequently as COVID-19 cases rise, scenes like this are familiar to many of us who work for colleges & universities. My thought wasn't "Am I going to post an awesome anniversary post, soon?!" It was, "Am I going to die?" This blogoversary is about reflection and the future!</p><p>Since I started this blog, I've accomplished a lot:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Published <i>a record of night</i>, a chapbook of poetry that I posted here.</li><li>Collaborated with friends on poetry projects, such as the Transatlantic Project with Steve Cotterill.</li><li>Written 2 novels <3</li><li>Created poetry tiles for my writing</li><li>Started a </li></ol><p></p><p>Right now, my current projects (and hopefully future completed-projects!) are:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Poetry project at ko-fi.com</li><li>Audible of <i>a record of night</i> narrated by Erin Knowles!!! Coming SOON. All the work is done, it's just going through Audible's approval process.</li><li>Super Secret Podcast about a Space Barbarian named Kitten.</li><li>Keeping my blog updated! (sup)</li><li>Finish my trilogy or big ass book.</li></ol><p>So I don't have a cool schtick for this post. I will try to think up something exciting for next year (which will be my decade-versary!)</p><p>Thanks for reading, friends <3 </p><p><br /></p>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-22701116160764484912020-08-07T15:50:00.001-07:002020-08-07T15:50:35.344-07:00HOT OFF THE PRESS!!Y'all, I am so excited!!! My author copies came in for <i>a record of night</i>!!!<div><br></div><div>Looky looky!!!</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><div>They look so flipping good!! I can't believe how good they look. This is blowing my mind, y'all. </div><div><br></div><div>Want your own copy to have and hold? <a href="https://www.amazon.com/record-night-Kit-Steitz/dp/B08DV86YX3">Click here</a>.</div><div><br></div><div>This is how to start my Friday off proper. Have a fabulous weekend, y'all!</div><div><br></div><div>Love & gratitude,</div><div>Kit</div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-31316348309310967722020-08-03T10:15:00.001-07:002020-08-03T10:15:00.158-07:00Holy Cannoli & ko-fi problems (boooo)Okay before the big awesome news, let's do the Ko-Fi update. Get it out of the way.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><font size="5"><b><br /></b></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><font size="5"><b>Ko-Fi updates (boooooo)</b></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So the other news is that Ko-Fi submits my donations in a manner that requires me to have a specific set-up in Paypal. It would have been nice to know this ahead of time, but unfortunately I didn't find out until my first donation. I'm working with my bank and paypal to get it all figured out and hopefully it will all be squared away by Wednesday.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So those who donate during this time have a couple options:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><ul><li>They can wait until Wednesday to read the posted August poems <br /><i>or </i></li><li>they can contact me via email foonalina at gmail dot com and I will send them their very own copies! </li><li><i>All who donate during this time will receive a little something extra extra for their patience! </i></li></ul></div></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><font size="5"><b><u>And now for the good news...</u></b></font></div><div><font size="5"><b><u><br /></u></b></font></div><div>The paperback of <i>a <font color="#274e13" face="trebuchet" size="5">record of night</font></i> is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DV86YX3/" target="_blank">NOW AVAILABLE</a>!!!! </div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to read my tiny chapbook in physical form, go get you a copy!</div><div><br /></div><div>I mean, just look at this! It's so legit, y'all.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghnVmtHt63Cia7-oKo4LDUXHZL-H-WIorfmek5iFI_MiDcdm6ngBWiR_4nxz67Vd8exNhE8NsyAKfvZ3YCHTJtCDrmXxNBnXLblfhAUucswOsNIwMfHfouZZ3yH4QL70OEvPAHko13WRh_/s590/aron.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="590" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghnVmtHt63Cia7-oKo4LDUXHZL-H-WIorfmek5iFI_MiDcdm6ngBWiR_4nxz67Vd8exNhE8NsyAKfvZ3YCHTJtCDrmXxNBnXLblfhAUucswOsNIwMfHfouZZ3yH4QL70OEvPAHko13WRh_/w378-h360/aron.png" width="378" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's it for now, friends! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">-Kit</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5886061699335201973.post-64232765739872208592020-08-02T15:12:00.003-07:002020-08-02T15:12:35.009-07:00Thoughts on self publishing and all this stuffI'm two days into August and my poetry challenge on Ko-Fi. My goal is to get a cuppa donated once a day but we'll see how reasonable that is. <div><br /></div><div>I have NO idea how to increase my audience, or garner an engaged audience, so I've just started posting to twitter and fb and hoping something comes out of it. It's difficult, because I've kept this blog since 2011 and I still don't have regular readers or commenters. I feel like I'm just writing into the void. Of course I've internalized it and told myself it's because I'm a crap person, writer, poet, and people just intrinsically pick up on that. <div><br /></div><div>"Why even post, it's already failed."</div><div>"Nobody engages with these posts, let alone goes to the text. I should give up now."</div><div>"Give upon this project. Nobody cares."</div><div>"Nobody cares because you don't have anything new to say, and you don't say it in a new way."</div><div>"People don't care about poetry or reading, let alone reading some no-name."</div><div>"You haven't don't this a traditional way, so folks will just assume it's vanity without substance."</div><div><br /></div><div>Woo, it feels real vulnerable to actually type all of that out. These stories feel true to me and I'm not sure how to re-frame them, but I'm working on it because I do give up and quit because of these stories. At least once a year, I completely give up because <i>what's the point</i>. And then I read professional writer's blogs to hype myself up, about how I should be writing to be a writer (typically very prescriptive) and that reinforces my internal narrative that I'm a <b>fake</b>, that I don't know what I'm doing, and that I will never be even moderately successful. </div><div><br /></div><div>To counter this internal narrative, I know intellectually I'm dealing with a lot of impostor syndrome. Don't know what that is? It sucks and many folks who have been raised outside of white, heteronormative, dude privilege know about this and experience it on a very <i>deeply</i> ingrained level.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also think there's some other stuff going into these internal narratives... like how the idea that if I work hard, I'll be successful is so deeply ingrained in Americans. Even though it's just capitalist propaganda that bears no relevance to most of us, I've definitely internalized that, as well as many, many other Americans. So if I'm not successful, it's my fault for not working hard enough, not producing a good product, or generally doing something wrong. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you're reading this, <i>thank you</i>. I want to be clear that I'm not trying to guilt or shame anybody into supporting me- and that concern is a large reason why I haven't been open with this struggle. I want folks to read my writing because it's good and they get something from it, not because they feel bad for me. Oh my dog, please don't ever do that. </div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know how to end this. I guess, that's just what's going on with me, y'all. Thanks for bearing with me for this post <3 I'll keep writing, keep posting, keep going regardless. </div><div> </div><div><br /></div></div>Kit Steitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722657272342366650noreply@blogger.com0