Open Mic and the Inner Ham (Me)

WORDS OF THE SEASON, SPONSORED BY THE WRITER’S COMMUNITY OF DURHAM REGION (WCDR),  January 20, 2015, Pickering, Ontario, Canada

I love open mic because I tell myself I do…over and over and over again.

Thank god for the company of great friends

Mel E. Cober ruminates on silica and decay. You know where this goes.
Mel E. Cober ruminates on silica and decay. You know where this goes.

and fellow artists like Heather Whaley, Kevin Craig, Mel E. Cober, and Vinita Kinra for doing the same. Their performances at The Bear (A Firkin fine pub) not only inspired timid hearts to take the stand, but set them alight.

We will be back!

Dale Long mucks around in the dark recesses of his mind for a novel (His words!)
Dale Long “mucks around in the dark recesses of his mind for a novel” (His words!)

Like my fine friend and fellow author, Marissa Campbell, performing in front of a live audience often provokes in me acute symptoms of hammer heart, wherein the body’s most vital organ either moves north into the mouth and stays there until the reading is done, or stands pat and pounds against the rib cage until the vic’s chest size gives way to something bigger.

Gwen Tuinman takes poetic license and moves the room.
Gwen Tuinman takes poetic license and moves the room.

But yours truly, determined to break the cycle of fear, shall press on. Surrounded by the likes of Charlene Jones, Connie DiPietro-Sparacino, and Mimi Jones-Taylor do I really have a choice? And truth be told, at the core of things, I am a ham.

With support

Marissa Campbell takes up shield and Viking helmet with stirring read from her debut novel Avelynn.
Marissa Campbell takes up shield and Viking helmet with stirring read from her debut novel Avelynn.

from The Writer`s Community of Durham Region and good people like Sally Moore and Cryssa Bazos, my performing chops can only grow. Thanks, guys.

Release the Cracken!

**Stay tuned for more open mic news and pics featuring Sherry Loeffler, Maaja Wentz and

Steven Brown explores the poetic darkness.
Steven Brown explores the poetic darkness.

Myrna Marcelline. Bests.**

Kevin Craig reads Half Dead & Fully Broken, his latest release.
Kevin Craig reads Half Dead & Fully Broken, his latest release.
Connie DiPietro-Sparacino puts a whole new spin on occulus.
Connie DiPietro-Sparacino puts a whole new spin on occulus.