Hello my Write Queen Readers,

I wanted to let you guys know about a wonderful seminar that my friend Leeia Music is hosting next week Thursday. If you are in music, this is a must-go-to event that not talks about an opportunity only a few people have thought about, but is also affordable for its invaluable information:

MARKETING YOUR MUSIC: OPPORTUNITIES IN FILMS, TELEVISION, AND OTHER MEDIA.
HOSTED BY: Leeia Music 

There are many income-generating aspects to the music business – from radio spins, to merchandising, to live touring, to album sales – but one of the most overlooked facet is that of placements. Think of how many times your favorite song has helped you tune into an otherwise forgettable commercial, set the tone in a television show, or acted as a marketing tool for a new movie? The idea of placements is nothing new, but its execution is still a mystery to many. 

Marketing Your Music is a live seminar to be held on Thursday, July 21st, 2011 at the Gibson Baldwin Showroom (formerly the legendary Hit Factory) 6pm EST, focused on aiding up-and-coming & independent artists, songwriters, composers, and producers in their quest for music placements in film, television, Internet, and other media.
 
Presenters Include: 

David Hnatiuk and David Weiss, co-authors of the industry-leading book, Music Supervision: Selecting Music for Movies, TV, Games and New Media. They are also co-founders of the music supervision service www.thesonghunters.com.

David Hnatiuk (www.autonatic.net)                                   

• Executive Producer/ Music Supervisor/ Sound Designer/ Composer for Media
• Emmy Award winner (Music Direction and composition for All my Children)
• Worked on music projects for major programming  (MTV’s Jersey Shore, America’s Best Dance Crew, ABC Sports, Nickelodeon, NASA Space Program, The American Heart Association)
• Renowned Author (Music Supervision) and National speaker (ASCAP, BMI, CMJ)

 David Weiss (musicsupervisioncentral.com)

• Internationally published freelance journalist and Music Supervisor
• Work has appeared regularly in publications such as Systems Contractor News, Archi-Tech, Digital Television, TV Technology, Time Out NY, Remix and Drum! Magazine
• Author (Music Supervision)

We welcome you to come out and listen to world-renowned Music Supervisors explain the process of music placements and licensing, as well as conduct an in-depth question-and-answer session.

Live Performances by recording artists Andy Rosen and Kiriaki Bozas! 

Who will be in Attendance: Musicians, Film Producers, Composers, Record Label Reps, Music Lawyers, Producers, Recording Artist, and Songwriters.

SPACE IS VERY LIMITED, BOOK NOW! Tickets to this seminar cost $40.00. Registered attendees are encouraged to share their comment and promote themselves on event website. Please include link to song sample and bio. A few registered attendees will be selected to perform at event.  Others will have their music played. 

You can register and buy your ticket at Event Brite:
Registration: http://musicseminarsny072111.eventbrite.com/

Remember to check out Music Seminars Website:
http://musicseminarsny.webs.com/   

Hello Write Queen Readers!

Happy poetry month! I am very excited about this year's NaPoMo especially because of NaPoWriMo, which I will be participating in once again. I've been doing so much lately. But I have been missing poetry so much! I don't break promises so when it comes to do the challenge, I know that I am making an effort to dive into my craft. But I want do more than just write a poem a day. I hope I can write about poetry discoveries everywhere this month, whether it's about a show, a website, a journal or whatever.
I don't know how I'm going to play that out yet, but there will be a poem here later on today. So until then, go on the NaPoWriMo site and see who else is participating by clicking the picture below.

Here is another video from the Chase Greatness movement featuring Cliff Drouillard called "Who Am I?"

I would love to see more videos like this from poets. Come on guys, you need to follow Cliff's example!

Sidenote: I want a notebook like the one he has in the video!

Hey guys,

Today's Write Discovery was found on a perfect day: Valentine's Day. Until I can prepare my own gift of love to show the world, I will post a short film featuring a poem by the lovely Rachel McKibbens. This is genius at its finest and I know this will stay with me beyond today. So enjoy and hopefully I will get to post later. Happy Valentine's Day!

Hey Write Queen Readers!

I have a new Write Discovery that will make especially poets and fashionistas very happy. I’ll even push it and say that typographers will love it too. I have discovered....POETRY ON CLOTHES!

Now before someone comes and tells me that is not new, I’ll tell you that I know. I’ve seen famous poems on t-shirts on Zazzle or on miscellaneous poetry sites. But this is original poetry here guys! And it has a purpose: to inspire!

I was wasting time on Etsy one night, looking and bookmarking all the things I would love to buy one day, when I came across Dawning Soul. Seeing words on anything other than a book always excites me because if I can wear words and look like a writing goddess, I will. And Dawning Soul is the perfect fit for a writing goddess. Here take a look:

Dawning Soul is t-shirts. It's earrings, necklaces, bracelets and journals. It's inspirational poetry done with eye popping typography. It's fashion, love, and all the great things a dream should be.

I felt good just reading what was on her products. After looking through her Etsy page, I took a look at the Dawning Soul website (www.dawningsoul.com) and I knew that I had to reach out. I had to find out how this wonderful idea came about.

So I sort out Ms. Jennifer Gabiola. After a few e-mails back and forth and settling on a date, I called her up on a Friday afternoon. We had a great conversation! I haven’t spoken with someone who has such a positive vibe to them in a while.

But before we get into that, another picture!

Now let’s break down Dawning Soul:

Who: Jennifer Dawn Gabiola (Dawning Soul comes from her middle name, Dawn among other things).

Where: Houston, Texas...and the internet of course.

What: Poetic Goods! So far she has an assortment of shirts, a hoodie, journals, earrings, bracelets, necklace chokers, tote bags, and a book of poetry.

How did it begin: Ms. Gabiola took a negative and made it into a positive. About a year and a half ago, she was working as a graphic designer. After 12 years of hard work, going with the trend of the past couple of years, her company laid her off. She took some time to refocus and figure out what to do next. She thought about the things she loved which are writing poetry, design, fashion, and empowerment. At some point, she wrote this:

I AM

I am flourishing
I am thriving
I am expanding
I am advancing
I AM

I am here nor there
I am everywhere
Pervading
Sustaining
My thoughts formulating
Into an infinite state
Of my own creating

Which is the center of this beautiful collection. She took baby steps and designed what I personally think can be an amazing new trend.

How is it done: Screenprinting! At least for the shirts (I forgot to ask about the jewelry). She does a few at a time. After she has the design printed on the material, she cuts up the shirt and just makes it look COOL!

Exciting Moments so far: An eco-friendly shop in Houston called One Green Street has displayed the “I AM Universal Collection” which is her “I AM” shirts translated into Spanish, Japanese and French. Her line was also shown at Houston’s first Fashion Week this last fall!

         Fun fact: To make her show stand out from the rest, she recorded her poetry so it can be played while the models walked out. Talk about art on top of art.

The Future: Ms. Gabiola has a lot of plans that she would love to carry out in the future for Dawning Soul. Right now for Valentine’s Day, she’s looking to have some cards made. She would love to put her work on more products where you don’t see poetry everyday like scarves and mousepads. She wants to do motivational speaking and hold workshops. She wants to showcase the stories of other Dawning Souls on her site to help inspire others. And she definitely wants to break some language barriers. She’s looking to have more of her items being translated into different languages.

Where to find: You can find Dawning Soul at the following links:

Website: http://www.dawningsoul.com

Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/dawningsoul

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dawningsoul

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/DawningSoul

I hope that if you see something you like at Dawning Soul that you will support this lovely artist. As said on the Dawning Soul site, “Live your poetry.”

Personally, I would love to see poetry become something more than something you see on paper. And the ‘I AM’ poem makes me feel good inside. Ever since I have encountered it, I often take a look at Dawning Soul, daydream about the stuff I will buy when I get a job, and I read the I AM poem. Positive reinforcement shouldn’t be something you read just in books or online. It should be carried with you, you should wear it proudly through your journey. Jennifer Gabiola has found a way we can do that.

You should definitely check her out! And you should check out a special message she has for you guys that I agree with 150%!

Jennifer Dawn Gabiola: “If you really love something, if you have a true passion for something, then it's absolutely necessary that you pursue that to some degree in your life. Tapping into that somehow, maybe starting as a hobby, then seeing where it goes. Whatever it is you love, that's what your gift is. Once you start sharing it, there's going to be people who are going to appreciate it.”

It’s why I’m here folks. I love to write and love the internet, so I write this blog. She loves poetry, design, and fashion so she makes fantastic poetic goods. If you love something, don’t just say you love it. Do it. Don’t worry about people not paying attention. Someone will. You’ll never know where it goes. If we didn’t take chances, we wouldn’t have stuff like Dawning Soul.

So what will you do today?

When my two dear friends, aspiring journalist Elizabeth Ramanand and promising film student Alisandra Karimullah, told me that they were going to London, I had a great idea.

The night before they left, I bought some postcards from Barnes and Noble and during dinner and on the bus ride home, I wrote a poem on each postcard. I wrote most of these poems on my phone, while talking to a friend who has been one of my greatest inspirations.

I gave the girls a mission. It was simple. Place these postcards in random places in London. And take a picture of where you placed it. I may have not been able to do it myself, but I wanted to feel like I was a part of the journey.

This is the result of that.

You can go to my photo gallery to see the actual photos. It's the last set on the page: between me&you: postcards to london.

I wished I could have been there! It's exciting to know that somewhere in the world, someone may pick up one of those postcards and read my work. I asked the girls how the experience was for them.

"I really felt like I was on a mission and it made me take a closer look at places we went to as well. We tried to look for cards that may go with the place. We payed attention to the color of the phone booth and which postcard would pop or we tried looking for cracks and crevices in landmark places. It was really cool," said Elizabeth Ramanand.

I love their choices. Though there were challenges along the way that I didn't think about.

"The experience was somewhat challenging with the weather, we were trying to find a proper place for the postcards so they don't fly way. So that originally limited some really cool places (on the London Bridge itself), but then we got creative (the tourist attraction of the old school London Telephone booth)," said Alisandra Karimullah.

"I am hoping that your poetry does reach someone who is willing to seek out your work and visit your website. All in all the mission was a success and I had a blast taking part in it."

I'm glad that it was fun for them. I was in suspense the whole time they were away. But it turned out great. I would love to do more stuff like this. Maybe locally. Or hmmm,  anyone planning a vacation?

During 2010, I read some pretty amazing books (in my opinion) that subconsciously helped me with my writing. These are talented poets and writers who have the ability to make language echo in your head for months after you have read them. I wanted to share part of my 2010 to maybe make part of your 2011. We got three collections of poetry, a verse novel and a novel translated from Portuguese. You can click on the pictures to get a description from Amazon or go to the author's website to see what they are about. Enjoy!

On the first day of National Poetry Month, I received a book from my Book of the Month Club. It was Nikki Giovanni'sBicycles: Love Poems. In the middle of reading it, it made me want to fall in love again. I started to read it in the laundromat, while occasionally glancing at the spinning washing machine. I wanted to have my lover come sweep me off my feet. I wanted to spin in the ideas of love. The language was powerful yet simple. Which is what love is. Powerful yet simple.

Being that I was in the middle of finishing school, I didn't have time to look into more of her work. Over the summer, I downloaded The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1998 (P.S.) on my iPod. Of course, life gets in the way and you get to only read a bit at a time. I'm still reading it, but I have to say that Nikki Giovanni is one powerful woman. She is not afraid to say anything.

I hope one day, I can be the same.

Take a look inside at Bicycles: Love Poems and The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1998 (P.S.) at HarperCollins:

I like these poems, "We're Going To Mars" and "Woman" that I found on YouTube as I write about her today.

“I really don't think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don't mind the failure but I can't imagine that I'd forgive myself if I didn't try.”
- Nikki Giovanni

URBAN ALTERNATIVE STAR, “LEEIA” TO RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM “UPS & DOWNS” ON JULY 26, 2010

ALBUM RELEASE PARTY TO BE HELD AT CRASH MANSION (NYC), HOSTED BY AMANDA DIVA

July 12, 2010 –New York, NY

New York‐based urban alternative artist Leeia is set to release her debut album, “Ups & Downs”, on July 26, 2010. A rhythmic fusion of pop, R&B, and reggae, Leeia’s music brings a whole new sound to the world’s capital; while her live show provides an energetic funk that will soon light up arenas worldwide.

Born and raised in the Big Apple, Leeia’s first big break came when she won two contests (“Reggae’s Rising Star” and “Talent Jam”, respectively) on New York’s 93.5. “The reggae community is more supportive in New York than a lot of other genres, and they showed a lot of love,” she recalls. With her momentum mounting, a few radio spins further added to Leeia’s movement, and before long, she was performing alongside such seminal artists as Beenie Man, Sean Paul, and reggae legend Freddie McGregor.

Originally completed in January, "Ups & Downs" is a culmination of a lifelong flirtation with music, and the title reflects all of the obstacles and blessings involved in the making of the album. A computer crash forced Leeia to re‐record her entire album.

Undeterred, Leeia completed the process with an open heart and mind –so when an unforeseen mis‐cue over a track with a major reggae artist didn’t go according to plan, Leeia’s album didn’t suffer. Instead, in a testament to Leeia’s patience and persistence, the album came back stronger than ever.

Leeia says of the album’s concept: “Since I have so many genres, I created a storyline to keep it all together. This is a great stepping‐stone –I’m at a point now, where I get it. This is how life is supposed to go, and it’s reflected in the storyline.”

In accordance with promotion of the album, Leeia will bring her jam‐packed live show in for an intimate showcase held on July 26, 2010 at New York City’s famed Crash Mansion. Hosted by Amanda Diva, the album release party will feature a dynamic performance by Leeia, who says of the show: “I’ve got a 2‐piece acoustic, and a 4‐piece; I’m a fan of live instrumentation. I’m going to give you a live, energetic performance. And my dancers will make you sweat!”

The hometown show marks the first in a mini‐tour dedicated to promoting "Ups & Downs". Leeia’s packed summer includes shows in Boston, Nevada, and Antigua (at the inaugural Ocean Breeze Music Festival).

Leeia’s excitement is insurmountable: “Singing live, in person, is sooo much better than singing in the studio! I want to learn instruments – keys, guitar – I want to play it all by myself. I want to stretch my vocal range, I want to improve my business relationships.”

Having already made a small appearence in a Jay‐Z video “ I Know”, VH1 “The Salt n Pepa Show”, and an upcoming film “Beware the Gonzo”, Leeia’ frenetic pace is a sight to behold. Rarely do you have such a versatile artist, mash up so many different genres, while also maintaining an air of individuality. In an ode to entertainers past, Leeia is dancehall, pop, and R&B –in one.

For more information on Leeia, please visit http://www.myspace.com/leeiamusic

For more information on the album release party, please contact: Chris Singleton (347) 489-3544

For media or to RSVP your celebrity clients, please email [email protected]

To RSVP for the event, visit http://leeiamusic.eventbrite.com/

Hello Everyone!

For those who are busy enjoying and participating in National Poetry Month, I hope the first ten days has gone well. I have been reading poems from my fellow poets out there on the web and I have to say, I am amazed. Beautiful pieces have been littering blogs and Facebook. It is rather overwhelming, but exciting. We are five days away from the half way point of NaPoWriMo. I can't wait to see what the next couple of weeks will bring.

Today I have a special treat for iPhone and iPod Touch users/poets. Being the owner of an iPod Touch, I have accumulated quite a few applications, especially poetry ones. Here is a list of poetry apps that you can try during National Poetry Month that I highly recommend.

Writing:

• iPoetry 101 - Learn how to write different types of forms with this app which includes mini lesson plans. 
  
• iWrite: Love Poems
  
• iWrite: Erotic Poems
  
• Twiku -  A Haiku composer where you can post your haiku poems on Twitter.
• Let's Write Poetry - A collaborative app where you can write a couplet and have others add on to it.
  
• iHaiku
  

Magnetic Poetry:

• iPoet
  
• iPhrase: Magnetic Poetry
  
• Poetik
  

Generators:

• Daily Haiku

Collections of Poetry:

• November Sky Poetry 
  
• Poem Flow

Lit Magazines:

• Keyhole 
  
• Grassroots
• Fringe Magazine 

If there are anymore apps that anyone can recommend, please let me know. If there are apps for other mobile platforms (Android, Windows Mobile, etc.), you can let me know about those as well.

If anyone downloads one of these apps, I would love to see what sort of poems you come up with.

Hope everyone enjoys the apps!