Jan 25 2012
C. J. Heck, An Author…From Within
Our children are the future, our future, the future of the planet we call Earth. Problems abound, Nature sometimes ravages with earthquakes and tsunamis, politics plunder our energies, etc. Our children are growing up here, among this crowded complexity of life. What will they recall as adults? What skills and tools will they take with them through all this life-noise, to their adulthood?
Meet C. J. Heck, published in over 20 different publications along the years. “Since its release in August of 2000, I have been promoting my first children’s book, Barking Spiders and Other Such Stuff, through school visits, poetry workshops, Young Author Conferences, Literacy Evenings, as well as other personal appearances.”
C. J.’s writing sends children some sounds of silence, sounds louder than most others in life. Their profound meanings can give the children who read her books, some inner strengths necessary to help carry them through the harshness that life can sometimes throw in their paths.
“When you find your center, you’ll feel your awareness and the energy from the universe. Nothing in the outside world can take that from you. There, you’ll find your inner peace, no matter what problems your life may be throwing at you. This is where your creativity comes from. Time seems to stop and you see everything from the stillness within. Peace and joy and acceptance of all that you are surrounds you as you realize you are not your problems. They cannot and never will own you.”
If I were of childbearing years, my child would be exposed to all of C. J.’s work; she seems to have the key to dealing with life on this planet with minimal stress. Gee, now that is a concept.
But that’s not all; she has completed the sequel to Barking Spiders and is now deep into her tenth children’s book.
As I browsed over C. J.’s sites, reading her poems, trying on her essay insights, reading what other authors and journalists wrote about her, this quote jumped off the page. This quote tells me how and why she achieves her genuine and deep connection with her young readers; “To write for children, the most important thing to do first is get back in touch with our own inner child.”
“The Child Within
Down inside this grownup
lives the child that used to be.
When I look in my mirror,
she stares right back at me.
Now that I’m a grownup,
it’s an older face I see,
but the child’s still there, just hiding,
way down deep inside of me.
Sometimes, we work together,
that little girl and me.
She comes up from her hiding place
and we write poetry.
I like being grownup
and I wouldn’t want to swap,
well … maybe a little younger face
and no gray hair on top.
Hugs,
CJ”
Most writing lessons urge you to write what you know, pull from your experiences. And C. J. does just that; “Not everything I write has a lesson, but if I learned a lesson from it, it will show up in the poem.” And it does. In one of my favorite poems from Barking Spiders 2, “Am I Pretty”, a child continually asks her mother am I pretty? After several answers, the last stanza reads;
“Mama! AM I PRETTY?
I didn’t mean to shout …
Then mama smiled and told me,
“Sweetheart, yes, inside and out.”
If you are an author wanting to get your books out there, known, read and enjoyed as they should be, here are some of C. J.’s thoughts:
“The first thing I would advise a writer to do is go to their local bookstore and pick up a copy of “Children’s Authors and Illustrators Market” by Writers Digest Books. A new one comes out annually in January or February. That’s your new Bible.
Other things you can do to promote yourself and the book: create a website, do book signings, book fairs, donate books to school libraries, do free readings for children who are patients in the hospital, do interviews for newspaper and radio stations, put together a press kit with a bio and newspaper clippings, anything having to do with your book and you.”
Here’s some of C. J.’s advice for getting published:
“**Never send an original manuscript, only a copy.
**Always make sure it’s spell-checked.
**Always double space.
**Put the word count at the top.
**If the publisher says “no staples” … they mean no staples! Use a clip.
**Unless they tell you not to, always send a self-addressed stamped envelope for their reply (SASE).”
C. J.’s book page offers touching and profound readings. If you want to treat the children in your life to genuine, deep experiences about life, you have many choices from her printed collection, all available with the click of a button. Or maybe…you might want to treat your own inner child.
For our adult reading, C. J. is a prolific E-zineArticle author who delves into her spiritual and family experiences with a professional depth and vulnerability not often seen in writing.
I close with a sad quote from one of C. J.’s articles about the passing of her mother; it grabbed my heart so deeply, as well as reminding me of my own final moments with the passing of my own Mother, only 11 years ago. You can read the complete article by clicking on the above E-zine link to better understand her last line.
“After a while, I put my arm across the front of her and gave her a gentle hug. Then I whispered in her ear that I loved her with all my heart. Through my tears, I told her it was alright for her to go; she had fought a brave fight, but I knew she hung on now for us and she was tired. I told her again, it was okay for her to go. I promised her that the girls and I would be fine. Then I thanked her for being my Mama and my best friend and I kissed her goodbye for the very last time.
Then I saw a tear, one slow, single tear. It spilled from the corner of her closed eye, ran down her cheek, and melted into the soft white pillow.
Mama had heard me…”
Find C. J. through the following links:
http://www.barkingspiderspoetry.com
http://memoirsfromnam.blogspot.com
http://cjswriterthoughts.blogspot.com
http://knowingwhispers.blogspot.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/cjheck1949/videos
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cj-heck/17/312/b76
http://www.authorsden.com/cjheck
http://twitter.com/CJHeck60
http://www.facebook.com/cj.heck1
http://www.amazon.com/Barking-Spiders-Other-Stuff-Second/dp/1563152215/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262457459&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Barking-Spiders-Children-CJ-Heck/dp/0983932069/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318266396&sr=1-1-catcorr
http://www.amazon.com/Me-Too-Preschool-Poetry-1/dp/0983932034/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317227254&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.com/Bits-Pieces-Short-Stories-Writers/dp/0983932042/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317227071&sr=1-1