Yesterday, I handed the reins of my blog over to blogger and writer Dana Talusani as part of my Friday guest blogger feature CHRIS’S CORNER. She and her colleague Kim Jorgensen Gane have launched an ambitious endeavor to capture the widespread love and adoration of female readers everywhere across generations for the soothing words and life lessons so gently and thoughtfully doled out by young adult author Judy Blume. Their plan to collect this positive feedback and put it into a lovingly wrapped anthology of heartfelt gratitude is called The Judy Blume Project.
In Part 1, Dana talked about what led to the evolution of the Project. Today in part 2 of this week’s guest blog, Kim picks up with the story and shares what kind of support and feedback have been received so far and how readers can potentially participate in the special anthology tribute.
You can also follow Kim on Twitter here.
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It took six days. And the Judy Blume Project was born, and we’ve had some wonderful support from people like Chris, in offering us this opportunity to be guests on her blog and wax poetic about our delicious collaboration. We had a fantastic break from editor, Heather Clisby, of @BlogHerLife with the recent feature of Kim’s post on the CALL FOR SUBMISSION.
And why has our little #JudyBlumeProject resonated with people? Because Judy Blume has impacted the lives of so many angst-ridden tween and teenage souls out there, and the soul never forgets.
We remember how Judy helped us deal with puberty and confusion in ways that made us feel like we were neither crazy nor abnormal. We vividly remember that Judy helped us understand our raging hormones, first love, how fleeting it is and the fact that it was perfectly reasonable for that to be the case, and what to expect when “Ralph” made his first appearance. Judy helped some readers deal with the loss of someone close and very special to them, and how many different emotions are awakened and that those feelings are perfectly acceptable.
Most importantly, we remember Judy’s unfailing honesty in the face of just about any experience, and the fact that she didn’t talk to us like we were kids. Like the favorite aunt that slips you Boones Farm Strawberry Hill for the first time, and holds your hair when your puke smells of the putridly sweet stuff, Judy Blume listened and was there any time you could smuggle a flashlight beneath the covers—honesty without the side of judgment.
Chances are if you’re reading this, you feel the same way. There is no wrong answer, there is nothing too poignant or too horrific or too funny to share with us about your memories of the works of Judy Blume, and how they impacted you, rescued you, saved your sanity, or made you laugh.
So here’s what you need to do:
1. Write the damn thing! (Around 500 words, but we’re not picky.)
2. Grab our cute little badge from Dana (source code is listed below this #2 entry), apply that and the links to either or both Kim’s or Dana’s CALL FOR SUBMISSION posts (this is so that all posts are cohesive and recognizable, and of course so that your friends and followers can find us and participate as well—the more the merrier!).
3. Post it to your blog (if you have one, if you don’t, email it to either Kim or to Dana).
4. Post the link for YOUR #JudyBlumeProject blog post/submission to OUR Facebook page.
5. Tweet, retweet and promote the crap out of it on Facebook, too (using the #JudyBlumeProject hash tag, @thekitchwitch and @KimJGaneWCPosse—we want to TREND on Twitter), and implore your followers and friends to join in the fun. Persuade them that they do NOT have to be a writer to participate! They need only have a vivid memory of and love for Judy.
6. SUBMISSIONS are OPEN THROUGH THE END OF JUNE 2013…but please don’t make us wait that long!
7. Selected submissions may be subject to light editing, and participants can expect to be contacted sometime in July as to whether their piece will be included in the finished anthology. For some, this could be a first official author credit!
Dana and I are SO very grateful to Chris for sharing her space and her readers with us yesterday and today.
We’ve had some amazing support and interest so far, and we welcome yours. We can’t make this happen without YOU, so we’re just sitting here awaiting YOUR submission with open arms. Yes, I’m talking to YOU!!
Mi casa es su casa, particularly when it comes to Judy Blume. We are, after all, part of the Sisterhood as Dana so eloquenty put it. 😉 Special thanks to you and Dana for being here and sharing your story! ~ ck