On Being the Filling and Refilling that Well!
When I used to grouse about how life interfered with my writing schedule, my friend, Richard Harnett, always brushed it away saying "You're refilling your writer's well, Kel."
It always made me feel good to hear that. To think those times I was so busy with living I couldn't write would one day, serve my writing.
My well is filling, brimming, overflowing . . . It's been keeping me from posting here--sorry for that. But this is life: rich, messy, exciting, unpredictable, scary--definitely a piled high, deli sandwich.
To paraphrase Auntie Mame, "If life is a banquet I'm stuffing myself." (Music and lyrics by Jerry Herman.)
Mom's the bottom layer. Hers is a stodgy, crusty, nutty and grainy end of the loaf slice, anchoring our open-faced sandwich.
Mom has been in and out of rehab and hospital the past few years. Heavy as it may be, it's a spicy, interesting layer as it has brought me closer to my brother Joe and his family as we band together to support mom.
Curtis and my move from Indonesia to Trinidad and New York last year, brought with it a whole new bag of flavors we're sampling. It's predictable and surprising as dried seaweed sprinkes.
Son Max's wedding to Michelle in Long Island last summer, added a flavorful, thick ham and sweet, spicy saucy layer.
Daughter, Lexi's wedding to Ryan, scheduled for this November in Turks and Caicos, is proving pesto--fresh & complex with zing!
My new, long awaited picture book, Vampire Baby--the gumbo, sambal, curry layer adds fuel.
And soon to come--and feeling real courtesy of these 3D photos--our newest layer: a grandbaby! Max and Michelle's baby--a festive topper--arrives this August!
Yep, that well is brimming! And that's some kinda ink! In the meantime, our Dagwood-style sandwich is growing taller and more interesting. A banquet indeed!
When life gets in the way of your creating, loosen your belt buckle so you, too, can enjoy the banquet. And think ink! INK!
Please stay tuned for more!
Selamat makan! Happy filling and refilling!
E.L. Kongisburg's Silence
E.L. "Elaine" Konigsburg has passed. 
A true genius of a writer, witty, funny, smart, snarky--she was a thinker who created thoughtful, smart, young characters who made us think. I made a point of reading her books--all of them. Silence comes to mind when I think of her. She subscribed to the Japanese belief that creative blooms in negative space. That first we must empty ourselves, empty our minds, clear a space and let it rest, still and silent, trusting that new ideas will emerge in the same way spring buds in my Aunt Ingrid's garden (these are her pics). 
E.L. Konigsburg's speech stayed with me, just as the characters she created have. I've referred to her often, as in this posting: Nothing is Something. Here's the link: http://www.kellybennett.com/blog/2009/12/nothing-is-something/
Here's from NPR:"E.L. Konigsburg, the author of the 1967 children's book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, about two children who run away from home to live secretly in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, . She was 83. Konigsburg won two Newbery Medals, and actresses Ingrid Bergman and Lauren Bacall both played Mrs. Frankweiler — Bergman in a called The Hideaways, and Bacall in a TV movie. The book famously begins: 'Claudia knew that she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away. That is, running away in the heat of anger with a knapsack on her back. She didn't like discomfort; even picnics were untidy and inconvenient: all those insects and the sun melting the icing on the cupcakes. Therefore, she decided that her leaving home would not be just running from somewhere but would be running to somewhere.'"-http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/04/22/178338252/book-news-childrens-author-e-l-konigsburg-dies
Rodeo Time!
There I was, craving a little happy, when niece Claire shouted out: "A rodeo broke out during nap time."
"We heard noises coming from her room. It turns out she was saying "Yee-Haw!"
Speaking of Happies--Cowboys & Aliens & the catchy refrain: "Yippee-ki-yi! Yippee-ki-yo! I think I see a UFO!" make Kathy Duval's newest picture book, illustrated by Alan McCauley, a sure-fire fun-fest! 
Kathy's guest starting on Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations this week. Check it out! And sign up for the Spectacular GIVE-AWAY! Here's the link: http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2013/04/guest-post-giveaway-kathy-duval-on.html
YEE HAW, ALL Y'ALL!!!!
Lamest Excuse Ever
if i ever doubted the power of kRAzy GLue, i don't NOW. . .
I would be working right now but . . . i broke my favorite earrings last night. i got up, set up my computer all ready to work. i was making coffee and had this excellent time-saving idea: indstead of wasting all this time waiting for the water to boil,fix your earrings. it was such an easy fix: just a tiny dab of glue, fit the post back into the whole....DONE.
I WAS WATCHING THE GLUE FLOW TOWARD THE APPLICATOR TIP....next thing i knew, it gushed out onto my fingers holding the post. i saw it happening. AFRAID THE GLUE WOULD GET ALL OVER EVERYTHING, I CAPPED IT FIRST....
HUGE MISTAKE!!!!!
now 2 fingers are stuck to the earring and two others are stuck together.
Directions on back of the bottle read: "soak in acetone nail polish remover then roll skin apart..." I AM SOAKING...
IF I EVER BEFORE DOUBTED THE POWER OF kyazy glue...
i am soaking, gritting my teeth against the pain as i try to pull/roll my fingers apart and typing this.
Palm skyward ala SCARLET O: With you as my witness, if i ever get free, i will never procrastinate or use KRAZY GLUE again!!!
**This posting was brought to you by an impaired in-pain inpatient wrong-handed typist.
HIT 'EM WITH A GUT SHOT
Yes, I'm a Cat whose been away (and boy have those mice been busy...) They aren't the only ones. My pal and brilliant writer, Janet Fox has been hard at work as usual!
Check out her historical novels FAITHFUL, FORGIVEN, and soon to be released Roaring 20's romance, SIRENS.This week Janet offered me a helping heaping of her hospitality; I'm guesting on her blog, "Through the Wardrobe."
Hungry for more... Here's the Link: Monday, October 8, 2012
The Gut Shot: Hitting Readers Where it Counts
(If that doesn't work, cut and paste this: http://kidswriterjfox.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-gut-shot-hitting-readers-where-it.html)
HURRY! DON'T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!!!!!!!!!!!
Hurry! Only 4 days and 17 minutes to enter the fabulous RAMBLING prize Give-Away Package. 
Don't miss this opportunity (and see some never-be-for pics and prose)
Click over to Cynthia Leitich-Smith's blog spot. Check out my interview:
Career Builder & Giveaway: Kelly Bennett
http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2012/08/career-builder-giveaway-kelly-bennett.html
And enter to win the Prize! It's a gob-stopper!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?????????????
Spilling My Guts to Cyn...
When the cyn-sational , Cynthia Leitich-Smith, Author of, among others, the Vampire/Werewolf/Romance/Suspense/Fab series TANTALIZE, asks you to take part in her Career-Builder series what else is there to do but. . . SPILL YOUR GUTS! So I did. Read all about it (and be the first to see me in my so groovy ballerina tutu). Click here to enjoy the interview: CAREER BUILDER AND GIVEAWAY WITH KELLY BENNETT Or here (if the link doesn't work): http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2012/08/career-builder-giveaway-kelly-bennett.html
Best, sign up for the Cynsational ONE DAY I WENT RAMBLING PRIZE PACKAGE GIVE AWAY
Don't miss your chance to Win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Spending My Summer Vacation
Were your "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" Back-to-School essays fact or fiction? Or like mine, some of both.
I used to think you had to "go somewhere else" in order to have something "interesting" to write. I'm learning what Tam Smith and Sharry Wright, blog sisters on Kissing The Earth
seem to have known all along, and what led young reader-me to spend countless satisfying summer days curled up in a cozy spot, reading: the landscapes of a book can be a real, as captivating, as life-altering as any. In case you're wondering why I haven't been posting, it's Summertime. I'm spending my Summer Vacation. I'll write you all about it, later. . .
