Monday, January 23, 2017
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Thursday, January 19, 2017
COWBOY JO
COWBOY JO
©By Mary Nida Smith
Cowboy Jo
once an orphan child
came to Sawtooth
City
then Bonanza
City
There she stayed
the first woman
to enter Yankee Fork
mining district.
Men of Sawtooth City
hadn’t laid eyes
on a woman in months
the day Cowboy Jo
rode into town
with a pack train.
The men came running
to see if she was real
this woman of pretty
auburn hair and stood tall.
She wanted their respect
but, it wasn’t to be
from the men of
Yankee Fork
Respect for a lone woman
in a mining town of men
was only a passing goal.
For Cowboy Jo laughed
and drank with the best of them.
She never raised her voice
or laughed, allowing only
a weak smile on her face.
In months that followed
Cowboy Jo was regarded
as an Angel of Mercy.
She’d pack her saddlebags
with food and medicine,
no matter how far
over rough, high mountains
she rode to nurse
a miner back to health.
Years passed, Bonanza
City
more women came of different class.
These women treated Cowboy Jo
kindly, enjoying her visit
when sober and bathed.
She was a restless person
a confirmed alcoholic
quickly aged in her mid-thirties
traveling from camp to camp.
Then a man named John Bee
took a fancy to Cowboy Jo
called her, his woman
One night John Bee
in a drunken poker game
thought he was a winner.
No money to raise his bet
he promised Cowboy Jo
as his wager for he was sure,
he held the winning hand.
But no, he did not.
He lost the love of his life
in a drunken poker game.
Cowboy Jo waited
half asleep and not sober
at a near-by table.
As the poker winner
came to claim his prize,
he yelled at the barkeep.
Bring me a quart of whiskey.
then he picked her limp body
shouldered her, and walked out
to greet the sunrise.
John Bee watched
the prospector’s place
from his near-by cabin.
One day the gambling man
who claim his woman
left his cabin alone.
John Bee took a wheelbarrow
found Cowboy Jo inside
drunk and out cold.
He dragged her to the wheelbarrow
quickly headed back to his cabin.
Later, he walked to the spring
to get a bucket of water.
On the return trip
he spotted the prospector
as he jumped behind a boulder.
Cowboy Jo’s new man
shot at John Bee as he
continued to shoot between
loading Cowboy Jo
into the wheelbarrow
and headed back to his cabin
with his wheelbarrow and poker prize.
Cowboy Jo lived her life
between drunk and out cold.
Being claim by one man
after another until her slow death.
Died without the respect she craved.
Died alone this orphan child
who craved love in the Sawtooth
Mountains of Idaho
in the Land
of Yankee
© By Mary Nida Smith
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
FREE WRITER'S CONFERENCE
Free Conference
Register now for the free writer’s conference sponsored by the Northwest Arkansas Writers Workshop. We still have room for eager writers, both novice and advanced. New York Times Best Seller Jodi Thomas is our featured speaker, with the awesome 13 year old Alice Cai, and writing tips from Spur award winner Dusty Richards and award winning author Velda Brotherton. For more information see www.veldabrotherton.com click on Events, and don’t forget to enter the contest. It’s a fabulous chance to make your creative work pay off. See you March 11.
Saturday, January 14, 2017
Sitting in the Silence
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Sitting in the morning silence
interrupted by dogs barking in a distance.
Fog like clouds appear to engulf,
the trees and bushes to set down ice.
Hidden sunlight try's to gain courage
to break through the icy clouds. -
Sitting in the morning silence
interrupted by dogs barking in a distance.
Fog like clouds appear to engulf,
the trees and bushes to set down ice.
Hidden sunlight try's to gain courage
to break through the icy clouds. -
Friday, January 13, 2017
PAL'S FINE ART GALLERY
As many of you may
know, local artist, Jerry Preator is the featured at the PAL's Fine Art
Gallery, Yellville. A reception has been planned for tomorrow, 1-13 , but with the
current threats of freezing rain it will be rescheduled. After talking
with Mr. Preator , it has been decided to re schedule Friday, Friday, Jan 20, 4-5:30 pm.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
DREAM POSTER
Designed (c) by Mary Nida Smith
Bio Mary Nida Smith, Children
Market
Organizations: Member of Society of Children’s Book Writers
and Illustrators (SCBWI) and founder of Children’s Writers & Illustrators
(Mountain Home, AR); Attend: SCBWI AR workshops and retreats during Darcy Pattison
and Sandy Fox as Regional Advisors.
Conferences: SCBWI Arkansas
and Missouri
Magazines: Kid Magazine
Writers, Jan Fields, Editor (Blogging is Important)
Once Upon a Time (Writer’s
Block) issue 2007
Newsletters: Mo Scribbles
(SCBWI) Arkansas SCBWI News Column and article, “Eliminate Clutter and Stress.”
Winter 2005 SCBWI
Australian Chapter’s Newsletter Fine
Lines (reprint) “Eliminate
Clutter and Stress”
Illustrations: SCBWI National
Bulletin (purchase one). Taught others how to write and illustrate a children’s
picture book.
Library Summer Program: Taught
a writing class for young children for three years at the Baxter County
Library, member of the Friends of the Library (Board member five years and a
member of Friends of the Library 15 years in 2016)
Blogs: Monthly 2009-2017 W.O.M David L. Harrison (Children’s book author) posted a monthly poem.
http://marynidasmith.blogspot.com (Life’s Beautiful Path)
Freelance Writer and author
of Submarine Stories of World War II (2008) and Heroes Beneath the Waves:
Submarine Stories of the Twentieth Century (2015 ) for youth and adults.
Deceitful Wind - Poem
Deceitful
Wind
By
Mary Nida Smith
This
morning the wind is visiting
Banging
against the house
Like
a mad uncontrollable beast
Trying
to frighten me
To
rattle and shake my nerves
As
it circles from different directions
The
bully wind will lullaby with low notes
Appearing
to calm me into thinking its leaving
For
a moment, I feel a calmness and peace
Suddenly,
shaken by the howls of wolves
Taking
runs, like the big bad wolf
Trying
to puff and blow my house in
To
remove me to a hidden place
Where
the strong, deceitful, wind hides
Claiming
me for its own.
Friday, January 06, 2017
Mary Nida Smith Bio
I don't think I'll have get my bio printed right, so be kind.
MARY NIDA SMITH, freelance writer, author, poet, photographer
and illustrator.
AUTHOR:
Heroes beneath the Waves: Submarine Stories of
the Twentieth Century (e-book, paperback
and audio book) and Submarine Stories of World War II and Ozarks Sunrises
(poetry and photographs).
and audio book) and Submarine Stories of World War II and Ozarks Sunrises
(poetry and photographs).
Former newsletter editor for the Arkansas
Submarine Veterans of World War II
Life
member of Wives of Submarine Veterans of World War II
Life
member of Ladies of U.S. Submarine Veterans, Inc
Former member of Military Writers of
America and published in military magazines.
Book, Submarine Stories of
World War II can be found in St.Marys Submarine Museum,
Marys, GA, Arkansas Island Maritime Museum, Arkansas
Island Maritime Museum, Little Rock, and Wisconsin Military Museum,
Research Center Library Madison, Wisconsin.
Heroes beneath the Wave: Submarine
Stories of the Twentieth Century, released November 17, 2015 by Skyhorse Publishing Inc.
FREELANCE WRITER: Magazines - Northwest
Living, Grit, Magic Valley Farm Lines, the Ozark Mountaineer, Grit, and
Ozarks magazine, Rural Arkansas and
newspapers – Oregon Journal, Portland, Oregon; Port Orchard Independent Port Orchard (weekly column), Washington; Magic Valley
Farm Line, Burley, Idaho; West Star, Missouri; Ozark Mountain News, Mountain
Home; The Herald Leader, Siloam Springs, AR; and The Ozarks Mountaineer Echo;
The Times-News; and the Eureka Springs newspaper. Harvard Avenue Baptist Church
newsletter( Siloam Springs), writers’ newsletters and websites (Ozarks Writers
League, Missouri Writers Guild, Missouri SCBWI and SCBWI Australia & New
Zealand, Once upon a Time,) and
internet magazines (Ozark Magazine & The Kids Writer). She wrote book
reviews (Oregon Journal), a weekly newspaper column (Port Orchard Independent,
WA), flew the press and did inserts in a Circulation Dept. (The Enterprise Carrier,
Oregon City, OR) and wrote poems about Magic Valley and “Letters to the
Editor.”
PHOTOGRAPHY:
Newspapers and magazines, first place in Scenic category sponsored
by The Herald-Leader newspaper and
Color Mate Photo, Sager Creek Arts Center
bulletin covers, cover of the Storyteller magazine, book cover (art
shows and Midway Baptist Church photographer and historian for five years. Area art shows won two second
and three honorable mentions and ORAC/Area Art Club exhibit at ASU/Mountain
Home, AR.
ILLUSTRATIONS AND ART: Member of the Area Art Club, Bull Shoals Art
Club and Palette Art League. Former President
of Siloam Springs Artist Guild, staff
illustrator for Writers’ Chapbook/Rolling Drum Press (Boise, Idaho), Farm Lines
magazine, Idaho Writers League state newsletters, and SCBWI bulletin, jurieded art shows (Cane Hill Harvest Festival,
Sager Creek Art Center, Siloam Springs, AR.), Ozark Art Alliance at John Brown
University, Sager Creek Art Center Competitive, displayed in restaurants, Arts
Ministry, designed a Christmas card for Lon & Edna Smith(A drawing of their
home and a painting for their
newly decorated bedroom), Ye Old Vintage Trek and Artist at Work –Artist and
Historical Home Tour. Paintings
owned by Dr. George & Mary Benjamin (home); Bettye Brenner (home); The Nida
Family Home family reunion and art shows; J.D. McLemore,
Kemp, TX ( submarine painting); Arkansas WWII Submarine raffle event (Rose painting); Mona
Taylor (Rose painting); Erma Handemaker, Harper, KS( floral painting); and Val
Battenburg, Siloam Springs, AR( Russian Dolls).
POET: Writers
Chapbook, Pentecostal Evangel magazine, 2nd place contest Baxter
County Poets Association, one or two poems a
month for eight years on children’s book author’s blog David L. Harrison (guest
poet twice and poet of the month), and Ozark
Mountaineer magazine, Journal of the Ozarks, The Times News and Fall Street Journal (Chamber
newspaper), Twin Falls, Idaho. Two poems
on the Free Verse Poetry Group’s second CD
“Driftwood.”
ORGANIZATIONS:
Founder of Twin Lakes Writers and Creative Writers & Illustrators
former president of The Idaho Writers League/Twin Falls Chapter, member SCBWI,
president of Ozarks Writers League former member Missouri Writers Guild and
organized 1st Writers Conference for NC Arkansas (Bel Arco Resort), the Holiday Inn
former president of The Idaho Writers League/Twin Falls Chapter, member SCBWI,
president of Ozarks Writers League former member Missouri Writers Guild and
organized 1st Writers Conference for NC Arkansas (Bel Arco Resort), the Holiday Inn
Authors
Day and Luncheon,Twin Falls, Idaho,
and was the co-founder of Sager Creek Arts
Center Literature Department where she organized speakers for Sager Creek
Literature Dept
Mini-Writers Workshops, Palette Art League board member, Area Art Club and Ozark
Regional Arts Council (Monthly column for author/writers and historian).Former board member
Mini-Writers Workshops, Palette Art League board member, Area Art Club and Ozark
Regional Arts Council (Monthly column for author/writers and historian).Former board member
of Friends
of the Library, Donald W. Reynolds Library (Baxter County) Mountain Home, AR.
Thursday, January 05, 2017
BAXTER COUNTY LIBRARY LITERARY SERIES
I am so proud of our library - Donald W. Reynolds Library on Library Hill and the Friends of the Library. Go to their website http://www.baxlib.org March and April Friends of the Library is the sponsor for the upcoming "Literary Series." Visiting authors, local authors book signing, creative writing, self-publishing and song writing session. Plus, Poetry Slam is back. Plus, Unique artistic fusion of music, poetry and painting- live performance. I have always loved our library and the special have worked or volunteer there.
Monday, January 02, 2017
Sunday, January 01, 2017
Saturday, December 31, 2016
WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING FOR CHILDREN
https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/
Writing and Illustrating
Sharing Information About Writing and Illustrating for Children
Friday, December 30, 2016
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Thursday, December 22, 2016
LITERARY AGENTS ETHICS
Association of
Authors' Representatives
We are a professional organization of over 400 agents who work with both book authors and playwrights.
Our members must meet the highest standards and subscribe to
our Canon of Ethics
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
A COUPLET POEM
I wrote and posted a couplet poem today.
Rain came followed ice
Snow blew wasn't nice
Rain came followed ice
Snow blew wasn't nice
Friday, December 02, 2016
Village Writing School
POETRY THAT
REDIRECTS ITSELF
Sunday, December 4
Sunday, December 4
In this workshop, we
will look at the nature of metaphor and how metaphor can be a tool for generating surprise in a
reader.We will also:
- look at ways to
coax our poetry into taking surprising detours and discuss how those
detours can shape a new understanding of ourselves.
- read examples of
successful poems that employ similar tactics.
- participate
in writing exercises designed to generate new ideas.
The workshop leader is Rodney Wilhite whose poems have appeared in Pleiades, 14 Hills, Cartographer, The Idle Class, The Puritan, and Splash of Red. He teaches at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
This is the third of our free poetry series. Don’t miss it!
Become a Better Poet & A Better Poetry Reader
December 4 2 - 4 p.m.
Rogers Library
711 S. Dixieland Road
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