Beginning tomorrow, I’m launching a 20-day series of free podcasts on Janice Beetle Books, called Poem Pods, for children and families. They are low-tech broadcasts that aim to give children home on school vacation—without the benefit of summer camps and swimming pools—some encouragement, entertainment, and inspiration. (Read more about the substance of Poem Pods here.)

I host Poem Pods with my 11-year-old grandson Eli, and in addition to reading poems and talking about writing, we interview people about such things as friendship, family, asking for help, and the importance of inspiration and discipline. 

The following is a schedule for Poem Pods, indicating each day’s topics and guests. If you would like to receive an email each day with links to the audio and a written script, sign up for my blog on Janice Beetle Books here.

Pod One: Meet Janice, Eli, and the Family
Airing on June 23
In Pod One, you’ll meet your narrators, Janice (known as Grammy in Poem Pods) and her grandson Eli. They explain what Poem Pods are, and Grammy reads a poem to introduce you to people in her family—who you’ll meet later in interviews about their work and their writing! 

Pod Two: Poems About Pets
Airing on June 24
In Pod Two, you’ll hear what inspired Grammy to start writing when she was six and hear Grammy and Eli’s poems about pets. The activity is to write down some thoughts about your pets and share them with us in the comments on social media. 

Pod Three: More Pets, and Eli Interviews a Writer
Airing on June 25
In Pod Three, Grammy talks more about her inspiration to write as a child and reads more poems about pets. Eli interviews a local writer, Craig Fear, and Craig tells a story about his dog and talks about the books he writes. 

Pod Four: More on Inspiration, and Meet Auntie Molly 
Airing on June 26
In Pod Four, Grammy talks about the typewriter her grandmother gave her that was an inspiration and reads two poems about imaginary things. We interview Eli’s Auntie Molly, a preschool teacher, who talks about children learning to read and write and the importance of creativity and inspiration. 

Pod Five: Meet Eli’s Brother Darrian and Hear How He Learned to Draw
Airing June 27
In Pod Five, Grammy and Eli talk about reading and keeping a diary, and Grammy reads two poems inspired by water. Grammy also reads a poem Eli wrote when he was very young, about his Auntie Molly. And Eli interviews his brother Darrian, who is a budding illustrator who is drawing pictures that will go with some of Grammy’s Poem Pods, in a book she is working on. Eli asks kids to think about who they look up to—and tell a story about that person. 

Pod Six: A Clown Poem, and an Introduction to Shel Silverstein
Airing on June 28
In Pod Six, Grammy talks about writing for her high school newspaper. Eli talks about learning how to interview people, and Grammy reads two silly verses. The day’s activity is to read a book by Shel Silverstein, who wrote wonderful poems. 

Pod Seven: Thinking and Writing about the Things We Don’t Want to Do!
Airing on June 29
In Pod Seven, Grammy talks about writing for her college newspaper, and she and Eli talk about when you have a total lack of inspiration and don’t want to do anything! The activity is to think about the things you don’t like to do, and brainstorm rhymes about them! Use RhymeZone.com if it helps!

Pod Eight: When We Need Encouragement, and Writing About Our Feelings
Airing on June 30
In Pod Eight, Grammy and Eli talk about when we sometimes need encouragement—or inspiration from others—we hear a poem about a gymnast, and then we meet the gymnast! She is Grammy’s daughter and Eli’s mom, Sally. Sally talks about why and what she wrote when she was young. Sally also talks about sharing feelings and her work now as a medical assistant! The activity is to read a book by Dr. Seuss, who was a master of rhymes! 

Pod Nine: Masks, a First Reporting Job, and Rhymes
Airing on July 1
In Pod Nine, Grammy and Eli talk about their masks. Grammy talks about her first job as a reporter, and she reads a poem that is her and Eli’s favorite. Grammy and Eli have fun making rhymes together! The activity is to think of things in the world around you and make up words that rhyme! 

Pod Ten: Illustrators, Snitfits, Being Vulnerable, and a Healthcare Hero
Airing on July 2
In Pod Ten, Grammy talks about reviewing picture books for the newspaper. Grammy and Eli talk about bad moods, snitfits, and feeling vulnerable. Eli interviews an EMT, Amanda Roberts, who talks about her work and what it’s like to wear a mask all day! The activity is to write about a time when you felt sad or mad. That’s a lot harder than writing about when you were happy!

Pod Eleven: Ladybugs Poems, and Making a Healthy, Ladybug Snack
Airing on July 3
In Pod Eleven, Grammy and Eli talk about Grammy’s work—including helping the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. They also talk about what Eli wants to be when he grows up, and Grammy reads two poems about ladybugs. Then, Grammy walks Eli through the process of making a healthy snack that looks like a ladybug!

Pod Twelve: Talking About Grief and Humor
Airing on July 4
In Pod Twelve, Grammy talks about the memoir she wrote about grieving, and she and Eli talk about what people can do when they are feeling sad. Grammy reads a funny poem to Eli, and Eli and Grammy talk about humor and act out a funny story from when Eli was young. The activity for the day is for parents and children to work together to record a funny story about their child—in a story, a video, a drawing, or in audio recording only on a smartphone.

Pod Thirteen: Talking about Listening, Grace, Compassion
Airing on July 5
In Pod Thirteen, Eli and Grammy talk about listening to others’ feelings, and having grace and compassion. Grammy talks about her work in helping people turn an emotional experience into a book. Eli and Grammy act out a conversation they had years ago that demonstrates Eli’s compassion as a tiny boy. (It’s also so silly.) The activity is for parents and children to tell a funny story and write it down or create a video to preserve it and to also record their COVID-19 stories.

Pod Fourteen: Why Family is So Important—All the Time, and Especially Now
Airing on July 6
In Pod Fourteen, Grammy talks about her friend Judy Kelliher’s book, which is about Judy’s brother Bobby and will be available soon. The daily poem is also about family. Grammy interviews Eli and his mom and dad about why family is important—all the time, and especially now. The activity is for children to interview someone in their family about a funny family story!

Pod Fifteen: Telling Other Peoples’ Stories and Interviewing Best Friends
Airing on July 7
In Pod Fifteen, Grammy talks about her work, helping people publish their own stories in the form of books. She reads poems about friendship, and then Grammy interviews Eli and his best friend, Miggz; they talk about what they look for in a friend and why friends are important. The activity is to write a story about your good friend! 

Pod Sixteen: Finding Inspiration in the Woods
Airing on July 8
In Pod Sixteen, Grammy reads two silly poems that are among her favorites, and Eli interviews his Uncle CJ; CJ talks about his canoe and camping in the woods with Auntie Molly, and what inspires him about being outdoors. The activity is to take a walk, look for wildlife, and observe nature!

Pod Seventeen: When You Need Inspiration from Others
Airing on July 9
In Pod Seventeen, Grammy reads poems about boys and girls, written from her perspective on gender. Eli interviews writer Judith Kelliher, who has recently published a book about her brother Bobby’s service in Vietnam; Judy talks about how she sometimes needed others to inspire her to finish her book. As today’s activity, children are invited to listen to Judy read an excerpt from the beginning of her book, in which she talks about who inspired her to keep writing when she felt afraid.

Pod Eighteen: Meet an Air Traffic Controller at Bradley and Learn About Highways in the Sky
Airing on July 10
In Pod Eighteen, Grammy and Eli talk about love. Grammy reads a poem about love, and then our co-hosts bring Grammy’s husband, Steve, on to talk about Steve’s work as an air traffic controller at Bradley International Airport. Today’s activity is to watch the sky to see what planes are flying over your heads, and to search on Google for the aircraft Steve describes to see what they look like!

Pod Nineteen: Talking and Writing About Age
Airing on July 11
In Pod Nineteen, Grammy and Eli talk about a person’s age and also responsibilities. Grammy says she is writing a book of children’s poems about the ages one to 18, and she reads a poem about the age of three. The activity is to write a poem or a story about the age you are at now!

Pod Twenty: Three Final Poems, and a Talk on Learning Discipline
Airing on July 12
In Pod Twenty, Grammy reads three final poems, and Grammy and Eli talk with Eli’s father, Tommy, about karate and also discipline—how you learn it, and why we need it. The final activity is for children to inspire yourselves and think about what to do that will be creative.

The post Fun Poems and Stories for Fun People: The Poem Pod Line-up appeared first on Beetle Press.

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What started off as an idea to share poems I wrote years ago with today’s young children has blossomed into something bigger—a 20-day series of free podcasts, called Poem Pods, for children and families with my feisty 11-year-old grandson Eli as my trusty pod-host!

As Eli and I say in our homegrown broadcasts, Poem Pods are fun poems and fun stories for fun people! And indeed, they are! My hope is that they give children encouragement, entertainment, and inspiration to get them thinking creatively as a summer without camps and public pools begins.

The pods will begin to post on Janice Beetle Books, one per day, on June 23 and will run through July 12. They will be accessible on the site long after that as well. While we are low-tech, and our recording quality is not stellar, we are high energy, and our pods pack some punch.

Poem Pods are theme-based and explore concepts like family, friendship, inspiration, vulnerability, fears, and asking for help. When the day’s poem is about family, for instance, Eli and I discuss the importance of family, and we interview a family member.

At the start of each segment, we talk about my writing inspirations and education, starting when I was six years old, and my grandmother gave me a notebook.

The poems, which I wrote years ago for my two daughters, are short and silly and cover topics from dogs and cats to family, raindrops, love, and friendship. They follow the introductory conversation and are in the middle of the podcast—much like a pea is in the center of a pea pod.

After the day’s poems are read, Eli and I have lively and interesting conversations on that day’s theme and offer children an activity. And in 11 of the pods, we bring on a guest, and Eli conducts an interview that extends the discussion.

A blog offering a complete Poem Pod schedule, outlining posting dates, the names of interviewees, and conversation topics, can be found here.

Each audio episode will also feature a written transcript in this blog feed, for those who would rather read than listen. Or, some could choose to listen while reading along.

Eli is a perky and dependable co-host! He brought all kinds of energy and ideas to Poem Pods. As we worked on the project—writing the scripts, practicing what we might say, recording, and then making promotional videos.

We had a lot of fun, and I liked watching Eli learn. He discovered how to interview people, for instance, and he really grew into the role of narrator, asking questions on the fly and offering his perspective and other impromptu remarks off-script.

I watched him learn words and concepts and incorporate them into his remarks. It was cool. And “cool” is a word we use a lot in the Poem Pods. We also use some very mature vocabulary, explaining what it means to be inspired, what you can do with inspiration, how you might get stuck, feel vulnerable, and need help, and how discipline keeps you going. We also define words such as “memoir” and “segue.”

Where Eli and I fall short is in the IT department. We recorded the Poem Pods on the Voice Memos app on my iPhone. Our “set” was the gazebo in my yard and the back deck. So, listeners will hear background noises, such as traffic and the occasional weed whacker, but the sound of all voices is clear and audible, and the volume, for the most part, is steady.

We also have some awkward moments when Eli and I interrupt each other, or a guest, or we move too quickly in the conversation! Sometimes you’ll hear us turning the pages of our notes!

But Poem Pods are real and interesting. We think children will really like Poem Pods, and we hope you’ll be some of the fun people who tune in for the fun poems and stories!

If you sign up for my blog on Janice Beetle Books, you’ll get an email with a link to each new daily post!

Please enjoy! Let us try to inspire your children at a time when inspiration is sorely needed.

Please share posts that you enjoy, so others might enjoy them too!

The post Poem Pods Coming for Families on June 22 appeared first on Beetle Press.

Free podcast intended to give children home on summer vacation encouragement, entertainment, and inspiration

EASTHAMPTON—Janice Beetle of Janice Beetle Books will launch a 20-day series of free podcasts for children and families on her website at JaniceBeetleBooks.com starting June 22. 

Called Poem Pods, the homegrown broadcasts are narrated by Beetle and her feisty 11-year-old grandson Eli.

A blog that will post on June 22 will offer a complete Poem Pod schedule, outlining posting dates, the names of interviewees, conversation topics, and that day’s activities. The pods themselves will begin on June 23 and post daily through July 12.

“As Eli and I say in our homegrown broadcasts, Poem Pods are fun poems and fun stories for fun people,” Beetle said. “My hope is that they give children encouragement, entertainment, and inspiration to get them thinking creatively as a summer without camps and public swimming pools begins.”

Poem Pods are theme-based and explore concepts like family, friendship, inspiration, vulnerability, fears, and asking for help. When the day’s poem is about family, for instance, Beetle and her grandson discuss the importance of family, and they interview a family member. 

At the start of each segment, Beetle and her grandson talk about Beetle’s writing inspirations and education, starting when she was six years old, and her grandmother gave her a notebook. 

The poems, written by Beetle years ago for her two daughters, are short and silly and cover topics from dogs and cats to family, raindrops, love, and friendship. They follow the introductory conversation and are in the middle of the podcast. “Much like a pea is in the center of a pea pod,” Beetle said.

After the day’s poems are read, Beetle and her grandson have lively and interesting conversations on that day’s theme and offer children an activity. And in 11 of the pods, they bring on a guest, and Eli conducts an interview that extends the discussion. 

The interviews also offer a closer look at the inspirations of others along with an education into what it’s like to be a writer, a medical professional, or an air traffic controller, for instance.

Along with each audio post, each episode will also feature a written transcript in the blog feed for those who would rather read than listen. Or, some could choose to listen while reading along.

To receive an email when the Poem Pod schedule posts, and to receive each day’s new Poem Pod post, sign up for the blog at JaniceBeetleBooks.com.

Beetle is a longtime writer and editor from Western Massachusetts. Janice Beetle Books LLC centers around book development and publishing and is based in Easthampton.

Through Janice Beetle Books, Beetle works with writers of all skill levels—as well as nonwriters—to help them carry a book idea through to publication. She also offers writing coaching services.

Beetle, of Easthampton, holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Westfield State College. She also runs Beetle Press, a PR firm offering writing, editing, and digital marketing services to business owners and leaders of nonprofit organizations.

The post Janice Beetle Books to Launch Poem Pods appeared first on Beetle Press.

I’ve always been a big believer in the idea that things happen for a reason. And if we are tapped into our hearts and paying attention, we can pair what we’re noticing with our own intuition and take new steps—or big leaps.

I’ve reinvented myself many times in this way—sometimes, accidentally; other times, intentionally.

Here’s the most recent set of events that is accidentally leading me somewhere super cool.

My daughter Sally gave birth 12 weeks premature to my first granddaughter, Phoibe, who weighed in at just over a pound when she was born—and is now four pounds and going strong! 

Because of the coronavirus, I can’t visit Phoibe. I can only watch her on a webcam I call Phoibe TV.

I recalled that Jacques’ two sons were also born premature. He’d once told me he read to them in utero. The first time Jacques visited the NICU, he heard his children wailing as he walked down the hall. When he entered the room, he said, “Hi boys,” and they stopped crying.

The recollection gave me the idea to record myself reading to Phoibe. I wanted her to begin to connect with me, get to know my voice, too.

I started reading every picture book I owned, taping myself with the VoiceMemos app on my phone. Books by Dr. Seuss. Books about Little Critter and Amelia Bedelia. Frog and Toad. I read one each morning and sent it in a group text to Sally, my daughter Molly—who has also been reading to Phoibe daily—my grandson Eli (who has not been listening because he’s almost 12, and he’s too cool), and my son-in-law Tommy. Sally and Tommy alternate daily visits to Phoibe, and they play Molly’s and my recordings.

When the stay-at-home order was extended by the Massachusetts governor about a month ago, and it was determined there would be no more school until the end of the year, and no more day care until the end of June, I got to wondering how I might help parents at home by providing some relief with their children. I thought, “Oh! I’ll upload all those recordings to my website, so any child who wants to can listen.” Thankfully, I remembered there is such a thing as copyright laws. 

“So, what can I do?” I wondered again. 

Then, I remembered all the little poems I wrote when Sally and Molly were growing up. Fancying myself a bit of a Shel Silverstein, I wrote all kinds of ditties as birthday and holiday gifts. I crashed around the house, opening closets and drawers, finding a few but not all of them. My sister-in-law, who lives in the same neighborhood in New Hampshire where Jacques and I own a home, walked over and peeked in the totes in our attic, finding them. 

My long-ago intern, Shannon Grossman, who has worked with me ever since she graduated from Westfield State, drove to retrieve them and type them, and she emailed them to me.

While I waited for Shannon to get the bulk of the work to me, I tested out the poems I had in hand by sending them to the tweenage Eli for his feedback. His rulings:

Yes, I would listen to these. I would listen to all of them, except for “Cluck, Cluck.” That one gets weird at the end. I liked how they were not too short and not too long, and how they were funny. I think you should talk a little more about your writing background. I think having an activity gives kids something fun and constructive to do.

Beautiful. I was impressed by how thorough he was—and I should admit here that I paid him for this task and told him I wouldn’t fork out the money if he was not thorough and honest.

I sent the same poems—sans “Cluck, Cluck”—to Eli’s brother, my stepson, Darrian, who is a talented artist. I asked Darrian to illustrate the poems, and he came back with the most adorable drawings.

During summer vacation, I will upload my poems on my site, one a day; I’m not sure yet how many days’ worth I will have; I just got them yesterday morning from Shannon and have some work to do! 

I will read the poems and offer an activity to go with each one. I’m calling them Poem Pods, and I’m pretty excited about them! They’ll be posted on JaniceBeetleBooks.

I’m also compiling my favorites into a children’s book, which Darrian will illustrate.

Please stay tuned. I’d love it if you started to spread the word. Consider sharing this blog and the links to the pods when I post them. 

Help me entertain little children in this time when I am so worried about them!

The post How I Accidentally Found a Way to Help Parents and Children appeared first on Beetle Press.

Through Janice Beetle Books, I had the privilege to stand up in public and talk about Flight of Integrity with my client, Peter Cichon, in the audience with his wife and family. It was a thrill second only to the privilege of helping Peter tell his story in the first place.

As I explained to an audience of about 40 at South Hadley Public Library—which graciously hosted the talk—Peter came to me about four years ago, referred by my friend and colleague Fran Fahey of Fran’s Fine Editing in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Peter sat down in my office and told me the story of a trauma he experienced while working for an airline at Bradley International Airport in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

At the time I met Peter, those events were at least a decade behind him, but I could see the angst and turmoil still on his face and in his body. He said he needed to tell the story because that would help him to feel some sense of closure and peace. I felt honored that he chose me to be his storyteller.

We agreed early on that we would tell the story as a work of fiction based on fact to protect Peter and his family, his colleagues, and the airline itself. My friend and colleague Judith Kelliher helped me interview Peter several times, and Judy also interviewed Peter’s wife and some of his friends and colleagues.

Peter delivered to me several large cartons filled with documentation that included transcripts of court depositions, police reports from the Connecticut State Police, personnel records from the airline, and recommendations and commendations about Peter.

Together with the material gathered in interviews, the information informed my writing. I prepared a manuscript, which Peter and I subsequently edited together, until it fully resonated with him. (Since Jacques is an air traffic controller, I had him read the book as well, and took his good feedback into account.)

Then, my friend and colleague Lisa Stowe of Florence, Massachusetts, designed the book’s jacket and inside pages, and it was printed by Off the Common Books in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Flight of Integrity is the story of a different time in our history and focuses on troubled race relations and incidents of sexual harassment at the airline for which Peter worked as a ramp agent, or baggage handler.

The ongoing drama centered around three employees who had been known to harass female employees and intimidate other colleagues. Peter took on the role of advocate and defender for those employees who were targets. It was his belief that he could make the airline a better place, where people would want to work. Instead, the situation went in a direction Peter never could have seen coming.

At the reading, I heard feedback from people who have already read the book and described it as a page-turner they could not put down. I particularly appreciated that a woman who worked with Peter, speaking directly to me, said I had done a good job in the writing because the book rang true for her. 

Peter talked about how hard it was to feel persecuted and misunderstood, and he thanked me for bringing his story to light. He said he feels relief now, as if he has had his day in court.

Read Peter’s story, and see what you think!

Contact me if you’d like to plan a cozy reading for a book group or at a public venue in your area.

The post Flight of Integrity Takes Flight appeared first on Beetle Press.

Zink was a member of St. John’s during the 23 years that he and his wife, Beth Hewson, lived in Northampton with their sons, Jesse and Jody. Zink completed a doctoral degree at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1988.

Zink was born in a blizzard in 1947, a child of winter. Seasoned: A Memoir of Grief and Grace is the story of Tom’s unwitting grief journey of five decades that began when his older brother Steve was hit by a car and killed while on the paper route the two boys shared. It’s the story of a con­servative German Lutheran family and the ways in which the parents and surviving children protected each other in loss with a silent acceptance that did not serve them in the long run.

Zink buried his grief along with his brother so he could carry on with his life. His career after high school took him around the world, across the country and back again. It was only after Zink was married and a father of two teenaged sons that, in a moment of profound grace, he realized the depth and importance of his loss. His faith and new-found desire as an adult to process his brother’s death lifted him out of his personal permafrost of grief and took him full circle back to his brother’s grave.

Seasoned is not merely a story of grief and recovery, though. It is also a tender and lighthearted look at humor and laughter, winning and losing, and doubt and faith.

Zink served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia in the late 1960s, and has also been a preschool teacher and director, a child care counselor, a city parks and recreation superintendent, and a New Games trainer.

He worked in public health in the Pioneer Valley for 18 years, and, in 2006, moved to Ontario to work as a tobacco control manager until retiring in 2010.

Proceeds from the sale of Zink’s book will benefit the Stephen A. Zink Scholarship at Steve’s alma mater, Lutheran High School West in Rocky River, Ohio.

The post Author Tom Zink Returns to Northampton from Canada to Read from his Memoir appeared first on Beetle Press.