Lookee what I did

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Lookee what I did

Yesterday, I saw an interesting tweet from Sharyl Attkisson. She offered a free copy of Slanted to the person who came up with the best post about independent thought and free thinking. I almost never post on Twitter, but this one intrigued me. I wondered, can I come up with something decent?

So I gave it a try and pumped out a thought. Sorry, I don't recall that original paragon of genius and inspiration, but it was pretty awful. The sound was clunky and, frankly, even I had to call it banal. It was what I sometimes call cheap profundity.

Then I sat back and thought, I have all this goddam study about writing, why not work the thought over before sending it? So I did. I went for synonyms, a balance between new and familiar, a bit of alliteration, a big view impact part, I chopped down the size and threw out the crap, etc., and here's what I came up with.

This is me:

The free independent thinker is a stubborn spark that can create a burn so hot, it consumes the world and sends forth a star.

And I won.

 

 

Here are the tweets.

 

And here is Sharyl's announcement.

 

I sent her my info, told her how honored I was, and asked her to sign the book. Let's see what arrives.

But I can say this feels good. Not just winning, but the way I took crap and polished it into something decent. I feel ready now. It's time to get my ass to market.

 

As a cute aside, I started receiving tweets from trolls. They are mostly political trash talk, but one was cute: 

I didn't know it was a poetry contest!

I think that was meant as a put down, but it shows I hit a nerve.

That feels good, too.

 

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I just posted this on another thread, but it also needs to be here.

Just now, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

On another note, I don't know if you saw it, but I won a book off of Sharyl (her latest, Slanted). You can read about it here. 

I received her book and she did autograph it for me. She wrote:

Quote

To Michael,

Thank you for your independent spirit in troubling times!

Sincerely,

Sharyl Attkisson

I will scan or photograph the page and put it up on that other thread. Her handwriting is beautiful--far, far better than my chicken-scratches.  

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Here is the cover of the book I received and the autograph.

I took the pictures in my writing office with an old smartphone (which is no longer a phone--I use it mostly for audiobooks). I am not a very good photographer, but here it is...

and...

Cool!

Michael