Congratulations, Keiko, the new Cupertino Poet Laureate

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April is National Poetry Month, and we’re happy to share the news that Thinking Ink Press editor Keiko O’Leary is the new Poet Laureate of Cupertino, CA! Among her many roles at Thinking Ink Press, Keiko designs our instant books and flash fiction postcards, edits our poetry, and is the author of Your Writing Matters: 34 Quick Essays to Get Unstuck and Stay Inspired, which we published last August.

Celebratory champagne glass with gold glitter seeming to burst out of it
Photo by Anastasiia Rozumna on Unsplash

As Poet Laureate, Keiko is responsible for promoting the literary arts and inspiring creativity in Cupertino. She will be hosting in-person and online live events including workshops and community-focused poetry gatherings. Keiko’s two-year term began January 1, 2023 and will continue through December 31, 2024.

To connect with Keiko at Thinking Ink Press, consider submitting short stories or poetry to Keiko’s Calls. You can also reach her through her website at KeikoOLeary.com.

New book Your Writing Matters Is Now Available

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We’re happy to announce that Your Writing Matters: 34 Quick Essays to Get Unstuck and Stay Inspired by creativity expert Keiko O’Leary is now available where books are sold!

Get Your Writing Matters
The cover of Your Writing Matters: 34 Quick Essays to Get Unstuck and Stay Inspired, by Keiko O'Leary. "A beautifully written meditation on the writer's life," says Julie A. Fast, bestselling author.

In this engaging book of short essays for writers, Keiko O’Leary explores what it means to live life as a writer, offers encouragement and inspiration, and suggests practical techniques to cultivate your writing life. Whether you have years of experience or are just starting out, these essays will support you on your writing journey.

What readers are saying:

This is a book of welcome—which means that it’s a book of openings, the kind of openings that every writer needs to be inspired and connected—to the world, to themselves, to their fellow writers, to their stories … and to all of the mysteries that touch us as creators.

‘You deserve to create what’s in you to create,’ writes Keiko O’Leary. Yes. This book radiates yes. It radiates awakening.

—Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month

A beautifully written meditation on the writer’s life. The minute I started reading this, I thought, ‘Oh, I’m home!’ This book speaks to the writer in me, not the published person in me. I can’t speak highly enough about this book.

—Julie A. Fast, bestselling author of Getting it Done When You’re Depressed

If you want to write but feel intimidated, or you start writing but get discouraged, or even if you already write a lot but would like some encouragement and celebration—this book is for you.

—C. Borst, author of Soldiers in Grey

Keiko’s book inspired me to start working on a novel that I had been wanting to write.

—Erin Garcia, author, educator
Get Your Writing Matters

The Hereafter Bytes is in the 2022 Pride StoryBundle!

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Note: The Pride StoryBundle event is over. Thank you to everyone who bought a bundle or helped spread the word!

Happy Pride, friends! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

We’re so excited that this year’s Pride StoryBundle includes the funny sci-fi novel The Hereafter Bytes by Vincent Scott, along with 14 other excellent queer SF/F books! You can also choose to donate part of your payment to Rainbow Railroad, which helps LGBTQ+ people escape persecution and violence.

Whether or not you’ve already read & enjoyed The Hereafter Bytes, now’s your chance to check out even more SF/F books with queer characters & themes, carefully curated by Catherine Lundoff and Melissa Scott.

The covers of the 15 SF/F novels featured in the 2022 Pride StoryBundle. Lord of the White Hell by Ginn Hale. We're Here edited by C.L. Clark & series editor Charles Payseur. The Adventure of the Incognita Countess by Cynthia Ward. Sanctuary by Andi C. Buchanan. The Language of Roses by Heather Rose Jones. Unfettered Hexes edited by dave ring. The Adventure of the Dux Bellorum by Cynthia Ward. It Gets Even Better edited by Isabela Oliveira and Jed Sabin. The Hereafter Bytes by Vincent Scott. Water Horse by Melissa Scott. Friends For Robots by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor. The Sea of Stars by Nicole Kimberling. Foxhunt by Rem Wigmore. Pangs by Jerry L. Wheeler. Depart, Depart! by Sim Kern.

Go to storybundle.com/pride to get them now

If you’re not familiar with how StoryBundle works, here’s a quick overview:

  1. Support five awesome authors by paying however much you think their work is worth.
  2. If you pay at least $20, you unlock another ten bonus books, including The Hereafter Bytes, for a total of fifteen books!
  3. Read on just about any tablet, ereader, laptop, or even your smartphone.

This StoryBundle will be available through the whole month of June in honor of Pride, and then it’ll be gone forever. Don’t miss out!

StoryBundle.com/Pride

Coming Soon for Writers

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Your Writing Matters: 34 Quick Essays to Get Unstuck and Stay Inspired, by Keiko O'Leary. "A beautifully written meditation on the writer's life." says Julie A. Fast, bestselling authorWe are pleased to announce we’re publishing the book Your Writing Matters: 34 Quick Essays to Get Unstuck and Stay Inspired by creativity expert Keiko O’Leary.

What you write can change someone’s life.

In this engaging collection of short essays for writers, Keiko O’Leary explores what it means to live life as a writer, offers encouragement and inspiration, and suggests practical techniques to cultivate your writing life. Drawing on her experience as a writer, writing group leader, and workshop instructor, Keiko writes about topics such as:

MOTIVATION: “You deserve to create what’s in you to create.”
CREATIVITY: “Your personal geography is a wellspring of memoir and poetry, and a source of authentic detail for fiction.”
LEGACY: “Through your writing, you help people experience meaning, not only in what you write, but also in their own lives.”

Whether you have years of experience or are just starting out, these essays will support you on your writing journey.

Keiko O’Leary helps writers see the big picture while taking meaningful action today. She is a writer, editor, artist, and speaker. A leader in San José, California’s literary community, Keiko teaches workshops and organizes the long-standing writing group Write to the End. She writes short pieces, including poetry, flash fiction, and essays.

Your Writing Matters will be available in paperback and ebook editions on August 9, 2022.

To be reminded when it’s available, sign up for our mailing list or follow us on twitter, instagram, or facebook!

Be the first to know when Your Writing Matters is available for preorder

📬 Sign up for our mailing list


 



New Clubfoot Resources

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We’re happy to announce two new clubfoot resources!

Beyond Boots ‘n’ Bars: A Journal for Clubfoot Parents is a guided journal to help parents understand the basics of clubfoot treatment and sort out their thoughts and emotions during the first year of their baby’s clubfoot treatment. Available May 2, 2022.

Bunny Fun Coloring Book For Kids: Let’s Play features bunny characters from the picture book Hip, Hop, Hooray for Brooklyn! plus some new animal friends and lots of new active play scenes. Available May 10, 2022.

Perfect for preschoolers and kindergarteners, Let’s Play includes:

  • Active play scenes such as skating, climbing, and running
  • Coloring pages for serial casting and brace wear from the Brooklynn story book
  • Simple activity pages with dot to dot, matching, and mazes

These fun coloring pages celebrate the joy of movement and active play!

Beyond Boots ’n’ Bars cover reveal

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Here is the gorgeous cover of our forthcoming guided journal Beyond Boots ’n’ Bars: A Journal for Clubfoot Parents by Betsy Miller. Our cover designer Caroline Sanney came up with a number of concepts and this is the one that received the most positive response from clubfoot parents. We love how it turned out!

Beyond Boots 'n' Bars: A Journal for Clubfoot Parents book cover

Since this book was funded through a Kickstarter campaign, we’re also ordering the extra rewards that some backers chose. Copies of the picture book Hip, Hop, Hooray for Brooklynn and our Beyond Boots ’n’ Bars mugs arrived in December and the tote bags came in this week. Don’t they look nice?

Picture of the Hip, Hop, Hooray for Brooklynn book and Beyond Boots 'n' Bars mugs
Beyond Boots 'n' Bars tote bags

Now we’re finalizing the book design for the Beyond Boots ’n’ Bars interior pages and working on a coloring book with Brooklynn and her friends and family.

If you’re interested in clubfoot resources, fill in the form below. You’ll get news and free coloring pages by email.

Free Clubfoot Resources

Sign up for news and free coloring pages.

Beyond Boots ’n’ Bars is Funded

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The Beyond Boots ‘n’ Bars Kickstarter campaign has reached its funding goal! Thank you, wonderful backers and everyone who helped spread the word! We’re so happy to be able to bring this journal to parents of babies with clubfoot!

Since the Kickstarter will continue through Fri, Oct 15, we’re unlocking the Bunny Fun Coloring Book for Kids, featuring characters from the picture book Hip, Hop, Hooray for Brooklynn! This means you can preorder the coloring book during the Kickstarter campaign.

  • If you already chose a reward tier with one or more paperback books, you can get the coloring book as an add-on. Click the Add-on button for your reward tier.
  • We opened a new reward tier that lets you get the Beyond Boots ‘n’ Bars journal & the Bunny Fun Coloring Book for Kids!  If you haven’t backed yet, you can choose this tier to get both books.

You can support the campaign and preorder the journal and coloring book until Friday, Oct 15 at 5 pm Pacific time, when the Kickstarter ends. Click here to go to the Kickstarter!

Our Kickstarter is live for Beyond Boots ‘n’ Bars: A Journal for Clubfoot Parents

Book Acquisitions, Book Release, Book Schedule, News

We just launched a new Kickstarter campaign for Beyond Boots ‘n’ Bars: A Journal for Clubfoot Parents.

Beyond Boots ‘n’ Bars is a guided journal to help parents understand the basics of clubfoot treatment and sort out their thoughts and emotions during the first year of their baby’s clubfoot treatment.  We love to publish specialty books like these that are difficult to place with a large publishing house and hope you’ll help us make it happen!

Kickstarter campaigns are all or nothing, so backers won’t get charged anything unless we reach our funding goal to cover the costs of publishing Beyond Boots ‘n’ Bars and donating some books to nonprofits or clubfoot treatment facilities.

Please share to spread the word or back our campaign. Click HERE to go to the Kickstarter campaign.