 | [UPDATE: NOW ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS THROUGH ..... 2013 ... ? KEEP writing!] On a Tuesday, I stumbled upon something remarkable. Accident. Unexpected. Innocent. Exactly one week ago today, I posted to @HeatheroftheEO’s Extraordinary Ordinary #JustWrite weekly writing exercise, and met my new partner, Dana Talusani of The Kitchen Witch blog, who did the same thing. Dana’s post? An ode to Judy Blume, in which she lamented the absence of new MG/YA fiction from Judy Blume for her own budding adolescent, and wondered from where the next Judy Blume would come. |
Some of Dana’s readers said SHE should be the next Judy Blume. I agreed, and suggested she create an anthology in Judy Blume’s honor. Because of that brief exchange, Dana and I are collaborating on this crazy, beautiful Judy Blume Project (#JudyBlumeProject), for which, I have a feeling, we will forevermore be grateful.
Judy Blume: prolific and iconic author, surrogate mother, surrogate best friend and confidant to women and men in the most difficult of their growing up years, through many of life’s most tumultuous situations. Who knows what the real Judy is like, but between her pages, she offers a soft breast to rest your troubled head upon, like the grandmother you miss so desperately. She offers a kick in the pants like the best friend who always tells you the truth; honesty, always honesty, without restraint or judgment. And most importantly, Judy always lets you know that you’re perfect and normal, and perfectly normal, just the way you are. The same stuff your mom always told you, but you didn’t believe because she had to love you, she was your mom; and no one else ever would.
No one’s likely to tap you on the shoulder to tell you flat out that this is the magic you’ve been waiting for. When it comes, you’d better believe in it; believe in yourself and believe in the possibility that it could happen to you, on a regular old Tuesday. This could be your Tuesday…your moment.
If you’re lucky, you know when you come upon your destiny—you know when someone is meant to come into your life, and that something beautiful will happen as a result. I don’t know whether there will ever come a penny from this project upon which we’re embarking, but I do know that it will be life-changing in ways that transcend the concrete. I can’t thank Heather enough for being her Extraordinary Ordinary self and providing a platform for something like this to happen. And I can’t thank Dana enough for taking me along in this dust-kicking convertible that could totally be headed off a cliff.
What a ride it’s sure to be. I’m leaning in. With everything I have, I’m leaning in.
Follow along to see what happens on The Judy Bloom Project Facebook Page.
Guidelines to SUBMIT YOUR OWN PIECE can be found on the #JudyBlumeProject WEBPAGE!
...This could be YOUR Tuesday.
Please tell me in the comments what Judy Blume meant to you, and consider throwing in your proverbial hat.
Judy Blume: prolific and iconic author, surrogate mother, surrogate best friend and confidant to women and men in the most difficult of their growing up years, through many of life’s most tumultuous situations. Who knows what the real Judy is like, but between her pages, she offers a soft breast to rest your troubled head upon, like the grandmother you miss so desperately. She offers a kick in the pants like the best friend who always tells you the truth; honesty, always honesty, without restraint or judgment. And most importantly, Judy always lets you know that you’re perfect and normal, and perfectly normal, just the way you are. The same stuff your mom always told you, but you didn’t believe because she had to love you, she was your mom; and no one else ever would.
No one’s likely to tap you on the shoulder to tell you flat out that this is the magic you’ve been waiting for. When it comes, you’d better believe in it; believe in yourself and believe in the possibility that it could happen to you, on a regular old Tuesday. This could be your Tuesday…your moment.
If you’re lucky, you know when you come upon your destiny—you know when someone is meant to come into your life, and that something beautiful will happen as a result. I don’t know whether there will ever come a penny from this project upon which we’re embarking, but I do know that it will be life-changing in ways that transcend the concrete. I can’t thank Heather enough for being her Extraordinary Ordinary self and providing a platform for something like this to happen. And I can’t thank Dana enough for taking me along in this dust-kicking convertible that could totally be headed off a cliff.
What a ride it’s sure to be. I’m leaning in. With everything I have, I’m leaning in.
Follow along to see what happens on The Judy Bloom Project Facebook Page.
Guidelines to SUBMIT YOUR OWN PIECE can be found on the #JudyBlumeProject WEBPAGE!
...This could be YOUR Tuesday.
Please tell me in the comments what Judy Blume meant to you, and consider throwing in your proverbial hat.
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