Shannon Yarbrough

author, poet, and painter

Poetry Tab February 20, 2008

Filed under: Writing, books, honor student, poems, poetry — shannonyarbrough @ 9:28 pm
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A few people have been clicking on my Poetry tab at the top of this page to no avail.  Sorry!  I’ve been writing poetry almost all of my life, and while getting caught up in developing my lil blog world here I just haven’t found time to start developing that tab and posting stuff for you to enjoy.  But guess what?  Three of my favorite poems (written by yours truly) are there now.  And oh heck, here’s another fun one…

MY HONOR STUDENT

Why do you let your bumper display
Words your Cub Scout wants you to say
In traffic, I read your message loud and clear
But I bet they are words he’d prefer to hear
Straight from your mouth, not above the exhaust
Where the chrome rusts and the message is lost
If he crayoned a picture of your house and family
Would you tape it to your window for all the world to see
Or would it block your rebel flag and clutter your gun rack
Next to the “Sh__ happens” sticker and your thoughts on Iraq
Your Darwin fish is drowning, your yellow smiley has faded
Abortion blurbs and riding cowboys makes you sound so jaded
So instead of rubber necking the words you display proud
Go home and tell your Cub Scout your great-hearted thoughts out loud.

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Liza with a Z… February 20, 2008

Filed under: Agents, Liza, Writing, books, fiction writing, literary agents, publishing, queries, query, query writing, reading, rejection letters, shannon yarbrough, writing queries — shannonyarbrough @ 8:25 pm
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Got another rejection letter tonight.  Well, I don’t think you can call it a letter.  Thanks to the informalities of email these days, this is all I got…

Thanks but this isn’t for me.

Liza
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 Minus the picture of course, but hell, no Dear Shannon,  no you suck, no smiley emoticon?

She was the 2nd agent I queried though, one of the few that got my first query letter which was a lil too much.  Oh well…16 more replies to go…

 

Purrrty Talk, PODdy Mouth, Purrrty Talk! February 20, 2008

Filed under: Fiction, POD, PODdy Mouth, Writing, books, fiction writing, lulu.com, novels, print on demand, print on demand publishing, publishing, shannon yarbrough — shannonyarbrough @ 7:20 pm
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Here’s my new best friend…PODdy Mouth.

There was another PODdy Mouth blog at blogspot similar to this one in reference to blogging about POD publishing, but it seems to have been abandoned as of last March. I love the new PODdy here on WordPress. Check it out!

I certainly wouldn’t call myself a victim, but having “partaken” in the world of self-publishing through Xlibris and Lulu, I can certainly relate. My bank account has since recovered.

Hmmm…being an avid reader and writer (with 5 years of professional book reviewing under my belt), maybe PODdy and I should strike up a relationship and start reviewing books for the sad empty wallets who mortgaged their house and emptied their kid’s college tuition savings to pay for their POD publishing package. Hey PODdy, what do you think? It’s the least we could do.

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Book Ends Contest February 20, 2008

Filed under: Agents, Fiction, Writing, books, contests, fiction writing, inspiration, literary agents, publishing, queries, query, query writing, reading, shannon yarbrough, writing queries — shannonyarbrough @ 6:56 pm
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Here’s a cool quick contest brought to you by the Book Ends Literary Agency.  You can post the first 100 words of your novel for a critique if it falls into the types they are looking for.  I’ve missed the first two categories, but I don’t have a novel that fits into those genres anyway.  I’m thinking of trying out The Maker as a historical romance though.  Oh, I’m also changing the title to The Piano Maker.  What do you think?  I thought The Maker sounded too religious.

The best part is they want you to post your 100 words as a comment to the blog post, and the deadline looks to be about a day.  It’s quick.  It’s easy.  And if anything, the feedback would be great.  What does the first 100 words of your novel say about your book?

Check it out! 

 

Baby Irwin Bitten By Snake February 20, 2008

Filed under: Steve Irwin, Terri Irwin, animals, australia, bindi irwin, celebrity, crocodile, crocodiles, headlines, news, pets, snake, snakes, zoo — shannonyarbrough @ 6:52 am
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Have you heard this one?

The 4-year-old son of “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin wasn’t at all alarmed when he was recently bitten by a baby boa constrictor, according to his mother.

 

“He picked one of them up and it bit him on the finger, and he was so proud to have copped his first hit,” Irwin’s widow, Terri, said Monday at an appearance at FAO Schwarz with her two children
to promote a new line of toys.

“He said, ‘I hope it wasn’t venomous,’ so I assured Robert I wouldn’t actually let him play with venomous snakes,” she added.

Terri Irwin said the couple’s 9-year-old daughter, Bindi, was first bitten by a snake when she was 18 months old.

The girl, who is featured in the Discovery Kids Channel show “Bindi the Jungle Girl,” posed for cameras with a new action figure in her likeness.

“It’s every little girl’s dream to have an exact look-alike doll. It’s amazing,” said Bindi, who was signing action figure toys of her late father.  (When she grows up, will she be Bindi Barbie?)

Steve Irwin, known through his nature TV series as a wrangler of crocodiles and snakes, died in 2006 from a stingray’s barbed tail during an underwater documentary shoot. He was 44.

Irwin provoked an international outcry in 2004 after being filmed holding his then 1-month-old son while feeding a snapping crocodile.

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