who is this battle axe English teacher and what makes HER such an authority?

After I posted my first blog yesterday it occurred to me that I didn’t provide any introduction. Who am I, and what makes me think I know anything about writing? I have more degrees than a thermometer, one of which is a MFA in Creative nonfiction, and I have been writing since the days when families had black and white TVs. Most of what I write is terrible, but some of it has been published. I have had poems, stories and essays published in anthologies and journals, most notably Mischief, Caprice and Other Poetic Devices, Women’s Words and The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Two of my novels Under The Veil, and Parallel Lines are available at amazon.com and bn.com. Both Under the Veil and Parallel Lines are available on kindle and Nook. As we approach April, National Poetry Month, my blog will focus largely on poetry. If you want to WRITE poetry you must READ poetry. Here are some Places to read poems http://poetry.org/links.htm This particular Random prompts: http://www.anneschuster.co.za/prompt.htm And here's another: Poetryexpress.org This last one is an an online workshop that my friend Elizabeth and I have done several times, and made some lifelong poetry friends among my classmates: Diane is a great teacher. Blue Light Press On-line Poetry Workshop Each week you will receive an inspiring seed idea designed to trigger the creation of a poem, share ideas about the process of writing poetry, workshop one of your poems, and receive feedback from the workshop group. Then, at the end of the week, I will give you a detailed response to your poem – with praise for the places where your poem is lovely and powerful, along with suggestions for revision where the poem has not reached its full potential. My goal is to give you a deeper understanding of poetry, a deeper love of language, and a stronger mastery of the techniques which make a modern poem work. I love being a catalyst to help you take the next step in your writing. The workshop begins with an introduction called "Writing Poetry - A Life-Affirming Approach." This introduction covers artistic and spiritual ideas about how to write a poem, gives you inspiring quotes from famous poets and writers, and gives you ten practical ideas about how to write poetry that expresses who you are as a human soul. Along with this, you will get an E-mail about a gentle way to workshop poems, a template to offer feedback to other workshop members, and a seed idea to inspire the first poem. The E-workshop includes two E-mails per week - one with the seed idea for the week, and a second to respond in detail to your poem. You will also receive feedback from the members of your workshop group. The cost of the workshop is sliding scale: $150 to $200 for the eight-week session. For more information or any questions, send an E-mail to bluelightpress@aol.com. Diane Frank's website: http://www.dianefrank.net/