Mamas Write (at the Seattle Children's Playgarden)

Yeah, I know, it's been a very pregnant pause, a hefty hiatus, a lunky lacunae of silence. Sometimes when I'm reading a book to my daughter, she will yell out "Put the book on pause, mama!" As if I'm some sort of CD contraption with a PAUSE button to push. Anyhoo . . .

While I've been quiet here in the blogosphere, my brain and body have been anything but. Last week I returned from a trip to the southeastern U.S. to see some of the Silano clan, but now I'm getting my syllabi together for fall quarter (two sections of Eng 101 at Bellevue College), selectively cutting my forthcoming collection (it's down to 70 pages in manuscript format, which means a 90-page book), scheduling a raft of readings in Feb-March of 2011 (for the unveiling of The Little Office of the Immaculate Conception!), and brainstorming an idea I have to run a creative writing group for mamas. I am so, so, so excited about it!

Yes, a brand spanking new mama's writing group is forming, and you are the first to hear about it. It's called Mamas Write and it's going to take place at the amazingly wonderful Seattle Children's Playgarden, 1745 24th Avenue S., in Seattle. But here's where you come in, dear mamas who write. I am trying to figure out how best to serve you. Do you want a group that meets weekly for an hour, every other week for 2 hours, or once a month for 3-4 hours? Do you want it to be a continuing group (sign up/not drop-in), or would you rather have it be a come-if-you-can/pay-as-you-go situation? Also, if there was child care for a small extra fee ($5-10 hour per child) would you make use of it? Finally, would your primary interest be poetry writing, fiction, creative non-fiction, journaling, or the chance to work in any or all of these genres?

If you haven't seen the space where I plan to hold these writing workshops, you should really go check it out. Weather permitting, we would use both the outdoor and indoor spaces to write about our kids, our mommy and non-mommy (and pre-mommy!) selves, and our interaction with (and without) our kids in the natural world in particular, and the outside/urban world in general.

However you help me decide what specific type of workshop to offer (weekly, monthly, once a season, poetry only, all genres, etc.), these workshops are going to be hands-on, exercise-prompt directed, kid-involved, productive, stimulating, eye-opening, soul-quenching, and fun!

Please post your comments and/or email me directly at marthasilano@yahoo.com with your suggestions for how to make this the best mommy's writing group it can be.

Thanks!