the sternum cracked from the inside alveoli plugged with broken stone sand cement water my brain taut with blood thoughts judgments incoherent rambling pushing to where I can’t go so I stay nameless invisible alone and die
Tagged: #amwriting, Mina Witteman, Revision, San Francisco, Sunshine, YA
Super happy with the cover of the next Boreas adventure! Boreas and the Four Winds, in which Boreas travels up and down the US East Coast, to Cuba and Colombia, through the Panama Canal and on to Polynesia. But will they make it? Because – global warming! – where did that hurricane come from… Boreas en de vier windstreken will hit the shelves in April 2017.
As I’m working on the final tweaks of the third book in the Boreas series, I’m happy to see that Boreas en de duizend eilanden (Boreas and the Thousand Islands) was one of the five editor’s picks at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year, and both Boreas books featured the Ploegsma rights guide at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Boreas sails the seven seas and visits the seven continents. Soon his books will follow in his footsteps. The third book is scheduled to appear in April 2017: Boreas en de vier windstreken or Boreas and the Four Winds, where our hero has riveting adventures in the US (think Florida, New York and Maine), sails the Panama Canal and crosses the Pacific.
the soles of my shoes scuff black-spotted concrete pavers i wind my way past withered faces tied up bags a crumpled newspaper never read city doves flock the streets innumerable like the homeless equally maligned i slip into gough’s sanctuary sit and listen to the opening of my heart i watch the smile inside my eyes and strain to look beyond the vagrant paintings from outside
I love writing! Particularly in a month like this, with the Spanish translation of Mia’s Nest – El nido de Mia – coming out with Panamericana in Colombia. They delivered a truly gorgeous book with the awesome work of one of the most talented author/illustrators I know, Angela Peláez Vargas. And yesterday Boreas en de duizend eilanden – Boreas and the Thousand Islands – had its book birth, which made me super happy. Both books are on their way to San Francisco and I can’t wait to hold them in my hands, my book babies. I hate writing, too! On nights like this, when I wake up at 2:30 am with my brain reeling like a kite caught in a tailspin, because I remember something my muse must’ve whispered…
My apartment is in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. And Tenderloin is, as a friend said, a bit dodgy. If I walk home from the library, I don’t even have to look around to know that I’m nearing my block: the air changes from a light kale-and-goat’s-cheese infused richesse to the dense odor of human waste that heralds the vast number of homeless that scurry around. It’s an odor that seems to envelop you, that tries to cling to your skin. Does that scare me? Yes and no. During daytime, I’m fine. The homeless are fairly harmless and we slowly get to know each other. I pass by small gatherings of men and women hanging around a former hotel, now a shelter-like facility for the homeless,…
Tagged: #amwriting, Homeless, San Francisco, Taxes, Tenderloin
Or sea serpents. Or dragons. Uncharted waters. That’s what I plunged myself into. I’m spending this summer in San Francisco to rewrite my novel. It’s not San Francisco, the uncharted waters, but the solitude I seek. I’m hoping to be able to concentrate fully on this story and bring my writing to the next level. A level I think I need to forward my career here in the US after some setbacks. It’ll be hard without my loved ones, but we’re all dedicated to making this work. So I checked into a tiny but adorable studio in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district to write and take in the San Francisco vibes, to listen to the noises floating up from the street, to observe the homeless scurrying around the church across…
Mina Witteman 