101 Essentials from The Motherhood Muse (& Giveaway!)

I am happy to be hosting The Motherhood Muse today, not only because it is such a great concept for a literary magazine, but also because the most recent edition - Secret Gardens - features an inspiring personal essay written by my very good friend, Jenny Ramsey, called A Lesson From Lambs Ears.

I can't help but get emotional each time I read Jenny's essay. Living less than three minutes away from her at the time, I witnessed her heartache as well as her healing process that she so thoughtfully shares in this piece. She is an amazing person and friend, and I admire her so much for being willing to share this experience with others.

That being said - if you leave a comment related to today's post, you will be entered into a random drawing for a free digital subscription to The Motherhood Muse 2010 issues including the Secret Gardens edition. Kim Zook, the editor, will email you a link for your subscription at the end of the April blog tour.

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101 Essentials to Writing, Nature, Motherhood and Children

by Kim Zook

The Motherhood Muse literary magazine publishes the voices of women, men, and children on the topic of parenting, nature, and childhood. We are a community of individuals who share one common goal: to develop a more meaningful relationship with nature in order to show our children the importance of being connected with the environment. Whether you come to The Motherhood Muse to learn more about writing, nature, parenting and/or childhood, our magazine will help! Below are some very essential sites, ideas, people, reading material, projects and more to help you. We hope you’ll help us continue this list to share with everyone links you know of!

On Writing about Nature
1. The Association for the Study of Literature & Environment
http://www.asle.org/
A community of writers, artists, environmentalist and more who come together to discuss the interpretation and representation of nature in language and culture.

2. Terry Tempest Williams
http://www.coyoteclan.com/
Terry Tempest Williams is an exceptional writer whose interpretations and writings on nature will inspire you to write about nature.

3. Henry Thoreau as a Model for Nature Writing
http://thoreau.eserver.org/harton.html
Ron Harton provides a clear guideline to nature writing that benefits all writers.

4. Anna Mills on Nature Writing
http://onnaturewriting.blogspot.com/
A nature writing blog full of great ideas and sources.

5. Orion magazine
http://www.orionmagazine.org/
One of the best sources of literature on nature.

6. Environmental Writing Institute
http://www.umt.edu/ewi/default.htm
Workshops on nature writing for novice and experienced writers.

7. Lost Borders
http://www.umt.edu/ewi/default.htm
A nature writing blog on beauty, meaning, and hope in California.

8. Tales from the Nature-Writing Trenches: An Interview
http://www.vianegativa.us/2010/02/woodrat-podcast-7-tales-from-the-nature-writing-trenches/
Two authors discuss nature writing and more.

9. Nature Writing Links
http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/382links.html
The ultimate source of links to nature writers and writing.

10. Writing Nature in a Computer Environment
http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/home/com-nat.html
An essay to inspire and encourage.

11. Orange County Nature Writing
http://www.ocnaturewriting.com/
A literary celebration of Orange County

12. An Online Writing Course about Nature
http://www.wendeeholtcamp.com/nature.htm
Help for writing, selling, and publishing writing on nature and travel.

13. Guide to American Nature Writing
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=5341
An extensive list of sources on writing.

14. Inside a Stone: Nature Writing in a City Classroom
http://arts.envirolink.org/arts_and_education/Christian_McEwen.html
An essay.

15. Best of Nature Writing
http://www.savingtheearth.net/nature.htm
Descriptive categories of nature writing.

16. Wild About Nature Blog
http://www.wildaboutnatureblog.com/
Writing about nature adventures for adults and children.

17. Mon@rch’s Nature Blog
http://monarchbfly.com/
A NY field biologist writes about nature.

18. Nature Mom’s Blog
http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/
Insight from a mom trying to raise her family in a healthy natural life.

19. The Nature Conservancy Cool Green Science Blog
http://blog.nature.org/
International news about nature and conservation.

20. Urban Science Adventures
http://urban-science.blogspot.com/
Exploring and discovering nature in urban areas.

On Writing about Motherhood
21. WOW! Women on Writing
http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/
An international source of support for women who are novice and experienced writers.

22. Literary Mama
http://www.literarymama.com/
Fantastic writing on motherhood!

23. MamaZina
http://www.momwriterslitmag.com/
More fantastic writing on motherhood!

24. Editor Unleashed Forum
http://editorunleashed.com/forum/
A wealth of information for writers and a place to find answers to your questions.

25. The Urban Muse
http://www.urbanmusewriter.com/
Very practical and useful information for all writers.

26. Writing Motherhood
http://www.writingmotherhood.com/community-reasons.php
Reasons to join a community of mother writers.

27. The Motherhood Writing Mamas Circle
http://www.themotherhood.com/circle.php?l=5803
Just one of many community circles for mothers and writers.

28. Writing Mom-Lit
http://www.meredithefken.com/html/momlit.html
A How-To Guide

29. Mother Words: Mothers Who Write
http://motherswhowrite.blogspot.com/
Kate Hopper offers an outstanding online course on writing motherhood.

30. Writer Mama Online Writing Courses
http://christinakatz.com/register/#PETGP
A variety of classes taught by leading writer mamas.

31. Mother Daughter Book Club
http://motherdaughterbookclub.com/
A source for mothers and daughters on the sharing of literature.

32. The Momoir Project
http://www.themomoirproject.com/
A guide for writing your motherhood stories.

33. Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers
http://www.brainchildmag.com/
A literary magazine on motherhood featuring award-winning writing.

34. HipMama
http://www.hipmama.com/
Writing on motherhood sure to get your brain thinking.

35. Zona Rosa
http://www.myzonarosa.com/
How writing and sisterhood can change women’s lives.


On Engaging in Mother Nature
36. Happy Trails Family Nature Club
https://happytrailsclub.net/Home_Page.html
Created by columnist Jodi Hiland to help get families into nature.

37. EcoExpressions: Nature Writing for Youth
http://www.ecoexpressions.org/
Outdoor exploration with creative writing for children

38. Children & Nature Network
http://www.childrenandnature.org
International community helping children to reconnect with nature

39. Nature for Kids
http://natureforkids.net/
Ideas for getting children outdoors.

40. Kids Discover Nature
http://www.kidsdiscovernature.com/
A guide to connecting kids with nature.

41. Women and Nature
http://www.thegreenfuse.org/plant.htm
Judith Plant’s essay to inspire.

42. Outdoor Afro
http://outdoorafro.com/about
A community reconnecting African-Americans with the outdoors.

43. The Children’s Nature Institute
http://www.childrensnatureinstitute.org/index.html
Providing children with opportunities to explore the natural world.

44. Richard Louv
http://richardlouv.com/
More on the author of Last Child in the Woods

45. Green Hearts
http://www.greenheartsinc.org/
Institute for Nature in Childhood

46. Nature Learning Initiative
http://naturalearning.org/
Creating environments for healthy learning and growing

47. Tom Brown Jr. Tracker School
http://www.trackerschool.com/
Learning survival skills with your children

48. Reconnecting Children to Nature
http://www.education.com/reference/article/reconnecting-children-nature-priority/
A parent’s priority explained

49. Earth and Mind: the blog
http://serc.carleton.edu/earthandmind/index.html
Reflections on thinking and learning about the Earth

50. Let’s Go Outside
http://www.fws.gov/letsgooutside/
Fish and Wildlife Service offers many ideas and opportunities

51. How to Keep Your Children Curious About Nature
http://www.naturenet.com/ParentsThingsToDoOutside.htm
Nature.net list of ideas

52. Happy Free Children
http://www.happyfreechildren.com/
Ways to help children reconnect with nature

53. Rodale: Where Health Meets Green
http://www.rodale.com/nature-and-stress-relief
5 Ways to get nature into your life

54. Alaska Women’s Environmental Network
http://www.awenalaska.org/
A community of women inspired by nature

55. Women’s Walking Workshop
http://www.indiancreeknaturecenter.org/%5Cwomen%27s%20walking%20workshop.asp
Indian Creek Nature Center for women
56. And More! We’d love to have you continue this list to make it to 101! So chime in with comments for any website, blog, book, or more on any topic relating to Nature, Motherhood, Parenting, Children, and Writing!

Thank you for reading this post today. Please leave a comment here and the blog hostess will choose one person to receive a free subscription to the 2010 issues! We hope you’ll also sign up for our free e-newsletter, so you can receive the first issue of the magazine free! Stop by www.themotherhoodmuse.com for more information!
The Motherhood Muse literary magazine is celebrating the publication of its second issue by going on a blog tour during the month of April. Bloggers who host The Motherhood Muse will receive a free subscription to the 2010 issues as well as one free subscription to give away to one random winner who comments on their blog the day of The Motherhood Muse post. We hope everyone will enjoy both the post and magazine! The Motherhood Muse blog tour schedule can be found at www.themotherhoodmuse.com and www.themotherhoodmuse.blogspot.com .

***4/6 - And the winner is (by random "out of a hat" selection) is Mama Zen! Congrats! ***