Glass Sculpting; A Writer at Play

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=168 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="135a11c3.gif"> <div> Visit  our gallery to see more of Rita's beautiful glasswork</div> <div> <A HREF="file://C:\Corinna's Documents\Artrageous Women\Summer Edition.tlx" TARGET="_top" TITLE="file://C:\Corinna's Documents\Artrageous"><U><B>here</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#33CC00" FACE="Arial" ><B>Artrageous Women</B></FONT>   |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Artrageous Women"><U>home</U></A></div> <bR> <div> Glass Sculpting; A Writer at Play</div> <div> <B>By Rita Cammerano</B></div> <bR> <div> I've always loved writing, but didn't get serious about it until about six </div> <div> years ago. A few years before that, I had finally finished a sci-fi novel </div> <div> I'd started in 7th or 8th grade and kept putting away. It was rejected by </div> <div> two publishers and I shelved it. I was writing my first mystery novel for </div> <div> adults, but I knew nothing about the business end of writing. Taking stock, </div> <div> I was surprised to realize how little time I had spent writing and marketing </div> <div> my writing when all I had ever wanted to do was write.</div> <bR> <div> That year, I started a great critique group and wrote a column about </div> <div> inspiring women in history for a small, local women's magazine. I also began </div> <div> a course for writing for children because it was affordable and I figured </div> <div> that good writing was good writing, whether for children or adults. I sold </div> <div> an assignment from that course, a nonfiction article, to Cricket Magazine. </div> <div> If I had known what a big deal that was, I would have followed up and created </div> <div> some momentum.</div> <bR> <div> Since that time, I've had an essay I wrote broadcast on Public Radio. </div> <div> Interestingly enough, I developed an interest in writing fiction for </div> <div> children. Currently, I'm marketing</div> <div> a fictional memoir about an Italian-American girl growing up in East Harlem </div> <div> during World War II and am just finishing a middle grade time travel novel. </div> <div> I also have a proposal for a nonfiction children's book based on some </div> <div> 1907-1911 travel diaries by a poor boy who was a cabin boy on a coal and </div> <div> lumber schooner, and his future wife, a socialite touring Europe with her </div> <div> family. I've even written a couple of picture books. One's a funny one about </div> <div> all different kinds of mustaches and the other is about a rocking chair that </div> <div> has been passed down through generations and an immigrant girl borrowing a </div> <div> neighbor as a grandmother. </div> <bR> <div> Lately, I've been writing essays, but I also started writing screenplays a </div> <div> couple of years ago and joined the Virginia Screenwriter's Forum. Where do I </div> <div> find the time? I've written this body of work over six years. I've cut down </div> <div> on reading and really devote my free time to writing. I also don't have any </div> <div> children :-).</div> <bR> <div> Writing feeds me in a way nothing else in life does. There's nothing like </div> <div> the thrill of creating characters and having them start to speak and take the </div> <div> story where they want it to go!</div> <bR> <div> Since both work and writing keep my on the computer, a few years ago I </div> <div> started looking for a creative outlet that gets me away from it. I can't </div> <div> even draw a stick figure, much less carry a tune or play something musical, </div> <div> so drawing and music were not options. I kept trying different physical </div> <div> creative outlets until I found stained glass. From there, mosaics were a </div> <div> natural extension. I also like to refinish furniture. First, a local craft </div> <div> store took some of my stained glass and then a local gallery. </div> <bR> <div> The art is fun in a different way than writing. It's fun to do something </div> <div> creative that's physical and it's an entirely different kind of experience. </div> <div> Doing art is unadulterated fun. I don't have to think about a market or </div> <div> format or even an audience. I just play and if someone wants it, great. If </div> <div> not, I can always find a home for it. I rarely have time to do art, but I </div> <div> love experimenting when I can. I want to try collage and more multimedia </div> <div> next. I also want to play with making beads from glass rods. And get a small </div> <div> kiln to slump glass and ...</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="mailto:Cameel@aol.com <Cameel@aol.com>" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Cameel@aol.com <Cameel@aol.com>"><U><B>Contact Rita</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0d612ce0.gif" border=0 width="274" height="206" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </td> </tr></table></body>