Sunday, January 31, 2010

Hey Everyone!

I'm Amber Stone, and I currently live in Hinesville, GA. My husband is still active duty so he's deployed. I love to write poetry and am an English Comm major-so I've had a few creative writing classes and such.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Lets get aquainted

Ok, so we are here not only to blog and/or share our writing but we are also here to build a community. I know that I am pretty clueless about who is following this blog so, lets do a little introduction/reintroduction. Just say who you are, where your from, What your interest is as a writer or artist, and anything else you want other people in this community to know about you.

I'm Maggie Martin, I live in Savannah, GA right now. I have taken some creative writing classes in school and went to the Warrior Writers retreat in Martha's Vineyard which got me hooked on Lovella, Warrior Writers, Combat Paper, and all the other people who are involved and so amazing.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Fear of The Unknown

The smell hangs on your
soggy cargo pocket-
like the rain that's
drenching your boots.

You try to shake it as
if it's a fly on your foot-
but it only makes you feel
colder.

You press your hand
against the warm clay door-
it vibrates-as if
to say: don't enter-
they're here.

And the moment comes
when you slam into it.
Knees weak with it,
a tiny drop falls

giving you just enough-
to raise your weapon
and take perfect aim-
for there is no more.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

This Weeks Writing Exercise

Hello friends,
Lovella has asked me to post some writing exercises for the weeks while she is out of the country so here goes. Also I want to work over the next week on getting everyone plugged in to the happenings of Warrior Writers right now. If you can't figure out how to blog on this site call me at (912)596-8484. If you want more information on the Warrior Writers training for trainers happening in Philly the last weekend of Feb call me or write to maggiemartin1@gmail

Writing Exercise:

There are a lot of difficulties in writing about ourselves; we get caught up in the facts of the situation, the background info, how certain things made us feel, and we have concerns over how others will perceive our stories. Besides that, sometimes the facts of a situation still don't add up to the feeling of that same situation.

Tim O'brien writes what he calls biographical fiction, taking parts of his experience he adds fictional elements to create the "true war story" the story that truly captures the feeling if not the exact facts of the war in Vietnam.

Take time this week to write a true war story or a poem about someone other than yourself. Maybe your story is about a friend from your time in service, a friend you have made in IVAW/ WW, or even about someone you despise/d. You can write their story from your own point of view or get creative and write from their point of view. Don't limit yourself to the facts, write whatever reflect the true feeling of the story.

Have fun with this exercise, explore new territory, if you don't have any ideas try reading some Winter Soldier testimony and see how it feels to creatively interpret someone else's story.

Monday, January 18, 2010

couldn't write this anywhere else

to be brief, to be short... I'm getting mad by what is going on in Haiti. I know I should feel sympathy for their country... I kinda feel like a monster. I do, actually. I recognize that its a tragedy, but for some reason my brain won't let me get past certain aspects. Such as, Haiti has more NGO's and gets more aid than any country in the world and yet they are still not developing properly. The reason there were so many casualties is because of their very poor infrastructure. Too much aid is not good for a country's development, that's been documented... but see, there I go again. I am so mad at so many things that I can't feel the compassion. Our government is a bundle of failure. I think, if i can pinpoint, what I am so mad about is that there are new tragedies every week on a massive scale and we jump on this band wagon to help these and help those, and it works out so conveniently for the government to keep our attention so distracted with all the calamity in the world. i wonder why we should help Haiti when there are so many other places and peoples in devastation... and i feel like a jerk. I just wanted to share, wanted to get it out... I will probably write a poem about it or something... I just figured the only people I could come close to admitting that to is other veterans.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

cold feelings in the night...

Sally Struthers... AKA names have been changed to protect the innocent... :-) We went to basic training together and for some reason hated each other... then we landed in AIT together and "fell for each other" in the friend sense of it all. I was pretty much the only one who did not judge her for cheating on her husband (she got married at 18 to a fellow soldier she rarely saw and then she herself left for basic training). First impressions, however, were still strong. She was tall, and blonde, and a bitch. She thought she was so smart, so put together, so smug... typical snotty high school girl with her perfect little life. I'd already been beat by my boyfriend, had drug and alcohol abuse problems, had dealings with gangs and other counter-cultural groups... and we were the same age -- 18. That's probably why I hated her.. because I didn't realize that everyone prety much has it as hard as they can, including she and I. That's why we became friends in AIT. I realized how awesome she was and how her struggles were killing her. She was just as stigmatized among her acquaintances as I was among mine.. possibly more.
She was from Maine. She was very confident, almost to the point of being condescending, but after we became friends, I could tell she didn't mean it. She was the first person I actually REALIZED looked up to me. I didn't know why, but I was flattered because she was THE stereotype -- preppy, popular cheerleader from wealthy family, blonde hair, blue eyes, perfect figure, perfect clothes, perfect grades. Raised Roman Catholic, to boot. The rub of it, she wasn't too sure about her faith, really. She never was certain she looked "great" (even though she did) and needed me to help her study almost every day in class. She ended up chasing after boys that even I (queen of horrible relationship decisions) knew were just flamboyant party boys who wouldn't care about her at all.
When we graduated AIT, her mom took us to the airport together. That was the last time I saw her.
I've lost track of her since, although I could probably find her on myspace or facebook. I love that girl. She showed me the other side of the tracks and helped humanize me. I have a hard time relating to people who I see as "better" than me. More popular, etc... I didn't used to think their problems mattered. Hell, everyone's problems matter. Thanks, Sally.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Happy New Year!

Hello friends,
Wow, it's been a year since we wrote...sorry I've been a little absent.
Well since nobody posted in response to my last exercise, I guess I better step up my game...

I'd like to you write about someone you met in the military who you felt very strongly about. It could be your best friend, someone who irritated you to no end, an NCO, someone you respected, someone who lied to you, etc. Describe the first time you met them. What was your first impression? Did you have any idea you would feel so strongly about them? How did your relationship grow/change? Describe how they spoke, how they carried themselves, what they believed in, what they did. Describe how you interacted with each other. How did this person feel about you? What did you learn from them or take away from your relationship? Finally, describe the last time you saw them or your relationship with/to them now, looking back.

P.S. I'll be in the Philippines until February 1st so someone else will be posting exercises for you, likely Maggie. Take care and stay warm!