Field Notes

flashquake

2009-12-02T07:30:00.000-08:00

I'm very excited to let you all know that I have joined the flashquake editorial team! The reading period for the Spring issue is now open, so send us your stories and poems.

Knit

2009-11-23T10:43:00.001-08:00

Thinking of You

2009-10-28T05:53:00.000-07:00

It's been ages since I wrote much on this blog. Life gets going and before you know it, six months has passed in a flash. Somehow it's easier to toss up a Facebook status update than write something a little longer, a paragraph or two, a couple of photos, and post them here. I'm hoping to rectify that. Is anyone still out there reading this?

Here's a rundown of the latest news from my corner of the world:

– I've been in the hospital since Sunday. Just got discharged yesterday and it feels good to be home. I had my biggest kidney stone ever, which got stuck on its way down and out. They had to put me under and use sound waves to break it up. I'm hoping that never happens again.

– I haven't been writing. It's sad but true. There's so much going on with the girls these days - music lessons, Girl Scouts, gymnastics, swimming, school. It's always my 'me time' that gets pushed to the very back. I'd like to change that. Don't know if I can.

– I haven't submitted much lately, either, but have had a few acceptances nevertheless. Upcoming publications include fourW twenty, Fifth Wednesday Review, Big Muddy, Carousel, and The Interpreter's House.

– The whole family has been sick over the past 3 weeks. Kate's had a sinus infection. I had a cold which became a sinus infection (still working on that). Dennis had a cold/sinus infection. Emma had the flu. We're hoping for better health soon, but in the meantime, we've been taking good care of each other.

– We bought a new car! Thanks to substantial help from my folks, we were able to buy the Toyota Sienna we've been dreaming about for the past few years. I do miss my PT Cruiser, but I'm loving the van with all its space, smooth and quiet ride, and new car smell.

What have you been up to? If you're still reading my little blog, won't you leave a comment and let me know how things are in your corner of the world...

Night Train

2009-10-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

My poem "Ode to a Haymaker" is in the new issue of Night Train!

Look Around

2009-07-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

You're bound to find me somewhere these days.

Like Merge Poetry, where I have three poems in the current issue: A Firsthand Account of Leaving the Womb; When We Hold Hands; Sutures.

The Pedestal Magazine, where you can read my poem On the Ward.

Or maybe get your hands on a copy of the fourth issue of Feathertale and see how Mr. Roboto copes with loss in my poem "Domo Arigato."

Knit!

2009-06-29T10:41:00.001-07:00

Hanging with the Coyote

2009-06-17T08:23:00.001-07:00

My flash Back Cast is featured at David Coyote's Den where I'm guest author for the summer.

If you like fly fishing, check it out!

Fifty

2009-06-06T13:55:00.001-07:00

Last month my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary!!

Flash

2009-05-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been busy around here. I'm so glad school is almost done for the year. I'm looking forward to a relaxed summer and a chance for the girls to just hang out and play all day.

I'm still writing poems, but boy has this round of 30/30 been tough. Only a few more days to go!

You may have forgotten, but I also write flash fiction. My latest publications:

Wigleaf recently included my flash kawaii, a short meditation on Hello Kitty. They also invited me to send in a Dear Wigleaf postcard (look below the story for the link).

The latest issue of Press 1 just went live, with my take on the Pinocchio tale, If Truth Be Told.

Enjoy!

So Long, April. Hello, May!

2009-05-03T10:55:00.000-07:00

National Poetry Month is over. Well, for some of us it's never over. Witness my beginning a 23rd round of 30 poems in 30 days.

Here's the list of titles for round 22:
1. Made a Wrong Turn
2. The Business of Losing
3. Death of the American Dream
4. In Picasso's Pocket
5. Brief Note to the Gentleman in 12B
6. How Can You Say I am Not Your Number
7. haiku
8. Requiem for Connectivity
9. Spring Fever
10. All About Love
11. haiku
12. Not Every Grave Can Be Found in the Cemetery
13. Katharine Hepburn Falls onto the Surface of Mars
14. We Can Lick Gravity
15. To a Daughter Turning Nine
16. Egg of the Phoenix
17. Maybe We Mean Different Things
18. Nothing More than Anticipating
19. Words Which Sever Hearts
20. jubilations (after Lucille Clifton)
21. words you use too much
22. Ode to Boise, Idaho
23. It's All in the Delivery
24. Going Nowhere, Going Everywhere
25. 7th Grade Locker Room, Redux
26. This is Not a Poem about Flowers
27. The Gentleman Said
28. Slowest Moon
29. Good
30. An Ill-Defined Dying

A Fine Day for Flight

2009-04-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

Bicentennial

2009-04-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the year 1976? I do.

Get a glimpse of what it looked like in my poem Photo from 1976 in the latest issue of Orange Room Review.

Make a Kid Happy, Save a Lit Mag

2009-04-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite lit mags happens to be for kids.

Stunning artwork, engagingly strange fiction, and a dark sense of humor all make this a magazine worth reading to yourself and your kids. But now, Crow Toes Quarterly needs your help!!

Like so many literary magazines, this one is funded from the editor's pocket. We all know times are tough. Don't let another good publication disappear - follow the link above to order an issue. Today's kids don't need another compilation of fluff and dumbed-down writing. They need something that will fire their imaginations and take them in different directions. Support Crow Toes Quarterly so we don't lose this special magazine!

Eating Her Wedding Dress

2009-04-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

Eating Her Wedding Dress

The Number 30

2009-03-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Today is brought to you by the number 30, as in I've just completed my 21st round of 30 poems in 30 days.

Titles:

1. A Cloud Takes All Away

2. A Child that Knows Poems

3. Belated Love Song for Dinosaurs

4. Building Absence

5. Leonardo Improves the Story

6. Dear W–

7. The Obloquy of Crows

8. Nearer the Goal

9. Through a Glass, Darkly

10. With One Piece of Your Heart

11. We Cannot Conceive of an Undreamt Thing

12. No Remedy for Love

13. wall me up alive in my own body

14. Irrational Obligations

15. Heracles Pauses on the Road to Delphi

16. Ode to a Haymaker

17. Desire of Dead Things

18. Survey Report before Demolition

19. With a Heart for Any Fate

20. He doctors his accounts. It takes him days (sonnenizio on a line from Juster)

21. Breakup with Fishbowl and Unlight

22. A Certain Semblance of Shadow

23. Like God after the Flood

24. Hardware Store (found poem)

25. In This Town I Can't Get Arrested

26. Song for the Artist

27. Captain Von Trapp Exorcises the Past

28. Prayer for the Blank Page

29. mise en scene

30. I Go Running Down Your Street

You Spin Me Right Round

2009-03-26T14:13:00.001-07:00

With Spring Break here, I was finally able to get up to Hood River and visit Foothills Yarn & Fiber for the lesson that came with my spinning wheel.

Wool.

My first skein.

I made yarn!

After setting the twist.

Ready to knit.

Stitches.

Swatch.

An apron for Audrey.

2009-03-18T08:52:00.001-07:00

P.S. Did I mention that Girl Scout cookie sales are finally done. Hooray!!

February Sweaters

2009-03-18T08:38:00.001-07:00

Hey, look, I've been knitting! Actually, I've been knitting all along, but this is the first chance I've had to take pictures of anything. These were Valentine's Day presents. Hello Kitty is Emma's friend, and Kate's bunny is named Flopsy.

There was Christmas knitting, too, but since most of it was given away, I don't have pictures. I made 10 Pocket Creatures and stuffed them with sachets of lavender from Hood River. They are great stocking stuffers!

I also knit toy horses for the girls, then made dresses and shawls from the same yarn for their Groovy Girls. They love it when things match.

Right now I'm working on more adorable animals from the same yarn (Emma and Kate have decided that the Groovy Girls are running a zoo) and an Easter surprise. Oh, and Dennis is hoping I'll get around to finishing his second Sailor's Rib sock, too.

Knit on!

In the Mailbox

2009-03-03T09:11:00.001-08:00

I've gotten some good mail in the past week. First, Issue 15 of Quarter After Eight arrived. This is a journal that focuses on publishing flash fiction and short prose/poem pieces. I have two stories in this issue - "How Thunder Stepped into the Sky" and "John Wesley Powell and the Colorado River Blues." I'm thrilled to be sharing pages with fellow Zoetropers Elizabeth Ellen and Stefani Nellen.

I also received my copy of the Arabic anthology "American Stories Dialogues" which includes three of my previously published flashes. This anthology was put together by Saleh Razzouk and I am honored to have been included in the company of so many fine contemporary American writers.

Finally, I had a letter from River Styx informing me that, while I did not win the 2009 River Styx Schlafly Microfiction contest, I was one of 20 finalists chosen from over 500 submissions. Close, but no cigar. Guess I better start sharpening my pencil for next year!

New and Not-So-New Poetry

2009-02-23T08:10:00.000-08:00

My poem "She Always Wears Blue" is up now in the new issue of Paradigm.

I also have five poems in the Winter issue of The Linnet's Wings which came out last month.

Doggy Danger

2009-02-21T18:05:00.001-08:00

Emma got bit by a dog on Thursday night while we were delivering Girl Scout cookies. I never knew it was so dangerous taking cookies door to door.

She's okay. It's not a serious bite, but bad enough. Five punctures to her leg and lots of bruising.

It seems everyone has a dog bite story. My own involves a mother dog with puppies, a 10 year old (me) doing something really stupid, and my nose. Luckily it wasn't as bad as it could have been, and I learned several very important lessons about dogs and friendship.

I'm very busy

2009-02-17T17:37:00.000-08:00

...delivering Girl Scout cookies (over 300 boxes!), volunteering at my kids' school, leading a Daisy troop, and generally having a life. Writing has been on the back burner for a couple of months, but I'm gearing up for a new 30/30 come March 1.

What have you been up to?

Blood Lotus

2009-01-28T06:37:00.000-08:00

Issue #11 of Blood Lotus is now live and includes my poem "Annie Oakley Seeks a Restraining Order Against Buffalo Bill."

Defined

2009-01-26T22:36:00.000-08:00

Sharon Hurlbut --

[noun]:

A hard-core grave robber

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Wow, is that strange or what? I suppose that's one way of looking at archaeology/physical anthropology.

riverbabble

2009-01-21T07:39:00.001-08:00

You'll find me Posing the Dead in the new issue of riverbabble. Check it out for lots of great stories and poems on the theme of death and decay. It's not as morbid as it sounds. Really.

Poem

2009-01-16T07:50:00.000-08:00

Check out the new issue of Perigee which includes my poem "Lookout on Perdition Ridge."

Pink

2009-01-14T07:21:00.000-08:00

I'm in the pink over at Rumble!

Sadly, the same cannot be said for real life, where I spent yesterday morning at the ER with a kidney stone. I've had so many, usually I can tough these babies out at home, but this one was too much even for me. Cross your fingers for it to pass quickly.

Twenty Times the Fun

2009-01-04T13:37:00.000-08:00

That's right, I finished my 20th round of 30 poems in 30 days. That's a few poems. I had a couple of series in this go-round, including a set of poems I wrote after seeing the Lucy's Legacy exhibit, and some visits with a new friend, Millie. Here's the latest batch of titles:

1. Australopithecus afarensis
2. Lucy
3. Homo sapiens takes home an I LOVE LUCY (the world's most famous fossil) bumper sticker
4. Sacred Like the Sky
5. All the Glory
6. Oh Ethiopia, We Sing, We Sing
7. Dating Lucy
8. Shoes
9. Millie Breaks It Down
10. Blackdamp
11. The Gossips Have their Say
12. Millie Goes to the Picture Show
13. Dust Was In Our Eyes
14. Night Hike
15. blowing over snow (haiku)
16. Sonnenizio on a line from Brooke
17. Ode to a Seattle Fishmonger
18. Freezing Point Depression
19. Disburden
20. Snowy Day Suite in 2/3 Time
21. Winter Fells the Neighborhood
22. In the News Report, I am Nameless
23. Letter from a 21 Day Snowstorm
24. Lucy Sees Snow for the First Time
25. Journey of the Magi
26. Ghazal for the Left Hand
27. Ode to a Christmas Tree
28. If I Told the Truth
29. After the Fire at Madame Tussaud's
30. Billie Holiday Sings in the Shower

Travelling

2009-01-03T10:35:00.000-08:00

Don't look now, but I've gone Off the Map in Farrago's Wainscot.

Prick of the Spindle

2008-12-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

I have two poems now live in Prick of the Spindle:

Combatant
Picking Through the Rubble at Midnight

And speaking of spindles, I still can't believe what my parents got me for Christmas: a Kromski Sonata spinning wheel!!! It's gorgeous and it folds up surprisingly small into its own carrying bag. I haven't used it yet, partly because I have no idea what I'm doing, but mostly because I've been really sick the last few days.

In other news, I've almost finished my 20th round of 30 poems in 30 days, all our beautiful snow has melted away, and I've eaten enough cookies to choke an elephant. I think I'll go have another...

Scenes from Vista House

2008-12-11T14:09:00.001-08:00

2008-12-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

1 minute, 3 seconds

Created by Bunk Beds.net

The Heights

2008-12-03T13:55:00.000-08:00

So, that good news I was talking about?

Ballard Street Poetry Journal has nominated my poem "When Bonnie and Clyde Were Gunned Down" for the Pushcart Prize.

You can also read Ms. McGee Hits the Heights in the new issue of The Orange Room Review. And keep your eye on that Orange Room - I've got poems coming in the next two issues as well.

In Other News

2008-12-01T19:33:00.000-08:00

First off, let me just say that I love my NaNo novel. I'm not showing it to anyone anytime soon, and I absolutely loathe the temporary title I gave it, but for a story written entirely in the span of 24 days, I'm very happy with it.

Thanksgiving was great. The following three days were even greater. We went to Seattle, spent lots of happy time at the Museum of Flight (we're a family of airplane fanatics), and then on Saturday we went to the Pacific Science Center to see Lucy, the very famous Australopithecus afarensis fossil.

WOW. It was every bit as breathtaking as I imagined.

This being December 1, I started my 20th round of 30 poems in 30 days today. Looks like Lucy will be dominating the first few poems, at least. Maybe I've found my muse at last?

I'll try to get some photos up soon, but we all know how bad I am at that. It always seems to fall to the bottom of the pile of things to do.

But you'll definitely want to stay tuned - I have some good news to share...

2008-11-25T07:18:00.000-08:00

Let's Go, NaNo!

2008-11-06T09:24:00.001-08:00

Politics & Poetry

2008-10-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

I know we're all ready to vote and be done with it, but until then, you can check out the poetry of politics over at Poetry Friends. Today you'll find me wondering why "On Becoming President, She Never Answers the Phone."

Flashes and Poems and Novels, Oh My

2008-10-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

The September Flashathon was quite successful and a lot of fun. I wrote 17 new flashes, which is probably more than I've written in the past two years combined. Some of them are already out there seeking homes.

Today I finished my 19th round of 30 poems in 30 days!

Titles:

1. This Life

2. Disclosure of Heaven

3. The Way to Take Paris

4. Reaching Montmorency

5. Thirst

6. The Impermanence of Furniture

7. Harbinger

8. Osteoporosis

9. Twilight at Farington Manor

10. Lessons in Faith

11. Momentary Hypnosis

12. To the Penguin Third from the Left

13. Night at the Opera

14. The Ranch Hands Take Another Gate

15. Concordance

16. We Were Determined

17. Lookout on Perdition Ridge

18. Balloon Man

19. Serenade to Horsetail Falls

20. When Your Last Name is Capulet

21. On Becoming President, She Never Answers the Phone

22. haiku

23. Nearly Halloween Night

24. It Takes the Moon for This

25. An Extravagance

26. They Were Delicious

27. Ascent of the Last Passenger Pigeon

28. Posing the Dead

29. The Art of Burning

30. Odysseus in the Act of Leaving

I'll go back in December for round 20, but November is all about the novel. That's right, I'm doing NaNoWriMo again this year. Care to join me?

Maryhill and Stonehenge in the Gorge

2008-10-21T09:13:00.001-07:00

Last month we took up a trip up the Columbia River Gorge to visit Maryhill Museum of Art and see the Andy Warhol collection currently on exhibit.

An absolutely gorgeous early Fall day in the Gorge.

Stonehenge seems oddly appropriate here. A full-scale replica built to commemorate the local men who died in WWI.

Art inspires more art. The girls were quite taken with the museum's collection of furniture and objects from Queen Marie of Roumania. I loved the Andy Warhol pieces, particularly a series of Western themed paintings he created near the end of his life. We all got a huge kick out of the sculpture garden outside, trying to figure out what various pieces meant to us as well as what the artist intended.

There was a whole room for kids to play, read, and create in. Princesses seemed to be the theme of the day.

Kate and her masterpiece.

Emma and her masterpiece.

damselfly press

2008-10-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's me losing sleep in the new issue of damselfly.

Autumn Sky Poetry

2008-10-04T23:43:00.000-07:00

Isn't this a beautiful zine? It's always a pleasure to read. Now it's a pleasure to be included: Autumnal Exposé

Poem

2008-09-28T11:33:00.001-07:00

Election Day

Fall comes on and this is how the apple rots. On the limb or on the ground, in the bottom of the barrel. Rolling forgotten in the back of the farmer’s pickup like a BB under the skin. It puckers, contracts, shrivels into something smaller and softer than it should be. An old woman’s wrinkled face, too toothless to speak clearly. Or marrow seeping from a crushed bone. A harbinger of pulp. A temporary stain. Fall comes on and this is how the apple rots, leaving behind its seed.

knit

2008-09-22T08:58:00.001-07:00

Unspectacular

2008-09-16T15:26:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by John and Nicole to disclose six unspectacular things about myself. And here they are!

1. I can wiggle my ears.
2. My favorite activity is sleeping.
3. I don’t own a single pair of dress shoes.
4. I can knit anywhere, anytime.
5. My first job was at a Coors distributor.
6. I’ve been known to eat turkey sandwiches for lunch every single day, for months at a time.

Terms & conditions!
1. link the person who tagged you: John, Nicole
2. mention the rules on your blog: (these are them)
3. list 6 unspectacular things about you: (see above)
4. tag 6 other bloggers by linking them (but I’m only doing 4 because nearly everyone I know has already been tagged): Cheryl, Bev, Theresa, Jayne

2008-09-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

Wondering where I've been? Look In The Mist where you'll find me heading "Homeward" (click Ann Walters) or check In the Kitchen at Literary Mama.

Emprise Review

2008-09-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

I have two poems in this month's issue of the Emprise Review. Enjoy!

First Day

2008-09-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it's the first day of school already? I want summer to go on and on! It was way too short.

We've been busy, which may be why it flew by so fast. Zoo Camp for both girls. Preschool camps for Kate. Art camp and Lego Physics for Emma. Tin House for me and Idaho for the whole family. We also managed trips to the beach, the state fair, and of course days at home doing nothing.

Emma and Kate are going to a new school this year. A brand-new, just built school, within a mile of our house. We loved Emma's old school - it was literally old (at least 60 years) and was out in the countryside, next to cow pastures and open farmland. But it was also pretty far from our house. The old school had some great teachers (and a couple of not-so-great) and lots of fantastic programs in place. The new school has teacher hand-picked by the principal from every school in the district. There's a sense of excitement and energy that is really wonderful.

Kate will be starting Kindergarten on Thursday. Today she has a 30 minute meeting with her teacher, to learn about the classroom and see what it's all about. She's so excited she's about to burst. She'll go for about 3 hours in the morning every day.

Emma has been placed in a classroom of mixed 4th and 5th graders. I have always thought she would do well in a mixed-age class and I'm thrilled that this school actually took my suggestion seriously. She's thrilled to be starting school as well.

This year I'm starting a Daisy Girl Scout troop for Kate. She has spent a lot of time with Emma's troop and can't wait to be a scout herself. Emma will be working on a Bronze Award with her troop, which will require a lot of work. I think it will be a great experience for her.

I'm sad the summer is coming to an end, but Fall IS my favorite season. I look ahead and I see a whole world of possibility ahead of us.

Scenes from a Summer

2008-08-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

Where Have I Been?

2008-08-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

I know I disappeared from the blog for a while. Hey, it's summer! We've been having tons of fun at the beach, in Idaho, at art camp and water fun camp and just hanging around the house watching Olympics. I can't believe it's almost over. I want more!! I feel like a kid faced with the impending doom of school. These couple of months have just flown by too fast.

Tonight, though, I'm off to Powell's to hear Kathy Fish and Claudia Smith read from their flash collections published this spring in "A Peculiar Feeling of Restlessness." I'm thrilled to meet Kathy in person after knowing her online for several years. She's a phenomenal writer (as is Claudia) and has encouraged me from the very beginning of my writing career.

I hope you are all having a fantastic summer!

Ten Things I Learned at Tin House

2008-07-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

1. Writers get even less sun than math nerds.

2. A reader can find meaning in any poem.

3. A poem can mean something different to each reader.

4. Reed College has its own nuclear reactor.

5. The f-bomb is de rigeur at public readings.

6. Poets are the Rodney Dangerfields of the writing world: we get no respect, no respect at all.

7. Mosquitos are fond of outdoor readings next to stagnant ponds at night.

8. Jugglers have more fun.

9. There's no substitute for a good story.

10. Writers don't drink nearly as much as archaeologists.

Poetry International

2008-07-24T08:26:00.001-07:00

My poem "Walking with the Ghost of John Muir" can be found in Poetry International 12!

I never received my contributor's copy (possibly because I have the most clueless mailman on the planet) but I managed to find one here in Idaho. It looks great!

This annual is always stuffed with interesting poetry, particularly the translation section. If you get a chance, grab yourself a copy.

After Tin House

2008-07-20T02:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a long but incredibly valuable week. Now I want to just sit back and let it all sink in.

In the middle of all the Tin House hubbub, I managed to finish round 18 of 30 poems in 30 days. The latest titles:
1. Cage
2. Wanderlust
3. Landlocked
4. Open Letter to a Secret Admirer
5. The Death of the Blues
6. Death Smiles that Way
7. Ode to a Warbird
8. The Last Bee Buzzes
9. Learning about Mt. St. Helens and Other Things
10. At the Urgent Care Clinic
11. You Could Never
12. Domo Arigato
13. Cafeteria Tale
14. Postcard from a Distant Lighthouse
15. Saturday Night at the Bijou
16. Embers
17. Where the Heart Is
18. The Audacious Turnlow Brown
19. the nautilus swims (haiku co-written with Kate)
20. Lady Liberty
21. The Way Mark Twain Puts It
22. A Pioneer Mother Holds On
23. Dr. Pangloss Takes the Latest Online Quiz
24. Invitation
25. This Visual Echo
26. A Little Wickedness
27. Creation Myth
28. Skeletons of Centuries
29. On the Barlow Road
30. When Things Go On Too Long

I've also had recent acceptances from Literary Mama, Review Americana (already online), and the anthology "In the Telling."

More from Tin House

2008-07-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the halfway point of Tin House; only three more days to go.

Wow, what an amazing experience this has been! I'm learning so much in the workshop that my brain is starting to feel like it's on overload, like one of those machines in a movie that is made to rev higher and faster until it explodes. It's a constant whirr of thought and excitement.

I feel like my poetry toolbox is being stuffed full of new tools. I can't wait to use them all. The flip side, of course, is that there's very little time to try out all these new ideas and techniques for writing and revision. We workshop until lunch, there are seminars in the afternoon, dinner and socializing, and then readings at night, so that by the time I drive home and stumble inside, it's already 10:00 or later. And then there's still the next day to prepare for.

I don't always stay all day, though. I sometimes skip the seminars, go home for a while, then come back for the readings. Sometimes attend the seminars then go home and skip the readings. I'm lucky that I have that option, I think. Just being around so many writers, all talking about their craft, their passion, is intense.

The readings have been incredible. Steve Almond. Aimee Bender. Mary Jo Bang. Anthony Doerr. People whose work is fresh and engaging and irresistibly seductive. I've bought a lot of books. I'll probably buy more.

And it's been a weird week, because at the same time as all of the above, my dryer isn't putting out heat, my A/C isn't putting out cold air, and my kids are far away. The world is a disjointed place, recognizable and yet foreign. I'm looking forward to a respite next week. Vacation. The girls, and a lot of doing nothing at all.

But for the next three days I will continue to read and write, to scribble my notes and listen carefully, and look at this wondrous world, familiar but new.

Dr. Horrible is here!

2008-07-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

Tin House Day 1

2008-07-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of Tin House and it was blazingly hot. We registered (which meant forking over the rest of the payment), had a brief meeting with our workshop groups, and then there was a reception and the first authors' reading.

Reed has a lovely little campus with gorgeous lawns, wonderful old brick buildings, and enormous trees. But boy, I wish they had some A/C in their classrooms! I practically passed out from the heat while we were introducing ourselves and meeting the instructor. My group spent most of the reception together so we had a chance to talk and get to know each other a little bit. It's great having a whole group that shares the same passion and perspective.

The readings were the highlight of the day. Peter Rock, Eileen Myles, and Dorothy Alison. WOW. They were all amazing, but I have to say, Dorothy blew me away. She was riveting, funny, poignant, and powerful.

I left right after the readings, worn out from too much heat and sun. It wasn't much better when I got home, as our A/C is on the fritz and not working right at all. Here's hoping that today is a little cooler!

Tin House

2008-07-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

One week until Tin House begins! Is anyone else going? I'm attending the poetry workshop with Mary Jo Bang. This will be my first writing workshop and I'm really looking forward to it, though also feeling a little nervous about meeting so many new people.

Emma and Kate are going to stay with my parents in Idaho for the week and they are so excited they can hardly stand it. It'll be their first time away from home without us. I don't know if I can take a whole week without my girls!

In other exciting literary news, it looks like I'll be participating in at least one (maybe more) book signing for Ruins Terra, which includes my story "Rising Tide," this summer. I'll post dates and locations when I have them...

Two Poems

2008-07-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

I have two poems in the new issue of Review Americana, just in time for Independence Day. Enjoy!

Father's Day

2008-06-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

P-51 Mustang "Betty Jane"

B-24 Liberator "Witchcraft"

B-25 Mitchell "Tondelayo"

After we walked around and looked at all the beautiful old planes, we came back to our favorite:

Who's on board as the engines come to life one by one?
Dennis, of course!

B-17 Flying Fortress "Nine O Nine"

His big Father's Day present from us was a ride in the B-17 and he loved it. He was allowed to move around inside the plane during the flight and see the various positions, including sticking his camera out the open top panel and standing up in the top turret.

It was a Father's Day we'll all remember.

Uh-Oh

2008-06-19T17:06:00.001-07:00

Two days in to my 18th round of 30/30 and I went to my regular doctor today about my sprained wrist.

Turns out it's a sprained thumb and I'm not to use it. At all. We're looking at probably three more weeks of healing time. Of course, it's my left hand and I'm left-handed.

Anything grippy - writing, combing girls' long hair, cooking, knitting, and a thousand other things I do daily, is painful, difficult, and not to be attempted.

Luckily, I've always used the computer mouse with my right hand, so that's okay. Typing isn't great, but I'm thinking I can probably handle a few lines of poetry a day (don't tell the doc, though). Housework is out (no crying there). So is yard work (I rarely do that anyway), painting masterpiece landscapes (it could happen), and playing the piano (that one really does make me sad).

The splint is on, the ibuprofen is ready, and I can't imagine what I'm going to do with idle hands for the next three weeks.

Not Knitting

2008-06-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

Or rollerblading, either. Whoops.

Disappointment

2008-06-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

Disappointment is not an emotion I expected to feel today.

It's the last day of preschool for Kate, who moves on to Kindergarten next fall. While I think the whole 'graduation' from preschool thing is pretty goofy, there's no denying that it's a big milestone. And I was looking forward to seeing her stand up there with all her friends for one last time, singing songs and celebrating the end of her first school experience. Then there would be cake and cookies and lots of hugs for the teachers who've been part of her life for two years now. I expected to feel proud, excited, and maybe even a little wistful. But we're not having any of that.

Kate has strep throat.

Forget the celebration. We've got a sick little girl stuck on the couch watching cartoons and feeling horrible. The truth is, she doesn't seem to mind missing graduation much. I think to her it's just another weird event. For me, it's an ending that will never come again, the last time I'll have a preschooler. And instead of marking the moment with ceremony and photos, it's just sort of slipping away. So even though I do feel all those swirling emotions when I think about it, mostly I feel disappointed.

Groovin'

2008-06-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

I really can't help myself. I get such a kick out of knitting up little outfits for the Groovy Girls!

This one was entirely improvised from start to finish. First I picked the stitch pattern for the skirt and started knitting.

Then I thought about how the dress would fit, what type of closure it would have, and whether it would have sleeves. This bright orange and yellow seemed so summery that I decided to make it a strapless sundress. The ribbon lacing was a brainstorm I had just as I finished knitting and I think it worked out really well.

Finally, after all the schizophrenic weather we've had around here this spring - sunny and hot one day then grey, cold, and raining the next - I thought maybe a little shrug was called for. I'm so pleased with the result, since it was entirely made up as I went along and I had no idea whether it would actually work or not.

Another Groovy outfit has just come off the needles and is only awaiting a velcro fastener before making its debut. And no, neither of these is the project that I'm sick and tired of, but it will be appearing here soon, I promise.

I've Had It

2008-06-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

...with lit mags that vanish into thin air and never let anyone know, especially submitters

...with kidney stones

... with the incessant sound of leaf-blowers moving stuff from one place to another without cleaning anything up

... with the neighborhood cat that keeps trying to catch birds at my feeder

... with my current knitting project (but I'll finish it anyway, and then post photos)

... with the rain

... with phone calls from politicians

... with this funk I've been in

What are you fed up with?

In Print

2008-05-29T11:14:00.001-07:00

I'm delighted to have my poem "1942 and We Tapped" included in the second issue of Fifth Wednesday Journal.

Fellow ITWS poet Jason Fraley also has a poem in this issue.

This is a fantastic new magazine stuffed with enough stories, poems, and nonfiction to suit every taste, as well as visually satisfying black and white photos. You can find this review of the first issue at New Pages.

My poem "Dr. Zhoudou's Cabinet of Hypnosis and Broken Hearts" can be found in the new issue (Volume 9) of Cider Press Review.

Sarah Sloat, another ITWS poet, is also represented.

You may remember that I reviewed Quinn Rennerfeldt's poem "Mona Lisa" from Cider Press Review Volume 8 for Kelly Spitzer's ABC Showcase last summer. Cider Press is one of my favorite poetry magazines and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.

Finally, I'm absolutely ecstatic to have two poems in the latest issue of Poet Lore: "Paper Birds" and "Postcard from Shambhala." This is my second appearance in Poet Lore, a journal that I feel embodies everything great about poetry.

I'm joined in this issue by yet another ITWS poet, Nathan McClain, who was also included in the same previous issue of Poet Lore as myself. We seem to be following one another, which suits me just fine as he is an oustanding poet and I'm honored to be in such great company.

Probably everyone reading my blog already knows this, but just in case there are any new readers, let me point out again that my work is published under the pen-name Ann Walters. There's a lot of great stories and poems in these journals. If you can get your hands on a copy, I hope you'll give each one a read!

Aluminum Overcast

2008-05-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

Thirty-Thirty Poetry

2008-05-18T08:57:00.001-07:00

For those of you keeping score, this is round 17 of writing thirty poems in thirty days. I'm sure I'll get to 20 before the end of this year, but for now I'm taking a much-needed break. Here's those titles:

1. He Said, She Said
2. The Day the Roadside Bomb Exploded
3. Stone Walls
4. A Pale Thought
5. JayJay Writes a Letter to God
6. i am always in love
7. When the Letter Came
8. mea culpa
9. God Gives JayJay an Answer
10. Windowsill and Still Life
11. Carnival
12. Everyone
13. Bee
14. Sonnenizio on a line from Bates
15. Buffalo Gals
16. Fly Away
17. Howl
18. Witness
19. Dreadful Truth
20. This is Pain
21. On the Last Day of School, 1958
22. The secret compartment of joy
23. And the Devil of Dust Spins On
24. A Long Line of Tanks
25. Baby I Would
26. Wind Song at Pueblo Bonito
27. Sonnenizio on a line from Millay
28. Lemons
29. Letter from Camp
30. haiku

Venting

2008-05-15T15:33:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, the last few months have been very stressful. That particular stress is now gone, but it's no less crazy here. Two weeks ago we had Emma's birthday squeezed smack into the middle of a lot of other activities. I was in major pain from a kidney stone, but toughed it out so we wouldn't be in the ER on her birthday, finally passing it late that night. It was the second largest stone I've ever passed.

Last week was my birthday, again squeezed into a rather tight schedule that included Kindergarten Open House for Kate and Girl Scout Camp for Emma and I on the weekend. We left for camp on Friday after school and got back Sunday afternoon. I have no idea why they would schedule camp on Mother's Day weekend. It basically meant having no Mother's Day since I was too tired to do anything after we got home. Camp itself was a blast, though, and I'd go again in a second despite the lack of sleep, the sporadic crankiness of adults and kids, and the sheer exhaustion.

This week, I just feel worn out. Months of stress and weeks of nonstop activity have left me feeling like I need to recharge in a huge way. I feel like a piece of wood that's been whittled at and whittled at until it's in danger of disappearing altogether. On Monday I finished my 17th round of 30 poems in 30 days and I don't plan on going back immediately this time. I need a break. The problem is, I'm not sure how a stay at home mom of two young kids gets the kind of break I need. However, the sun is shining and we're having very hot weather today and tomorrow, so maybe a little relaxing in the sun will help...

And on a more cheerful note, I do have some nifty new knitting to show you, new publications to share, and my title list for round 17 of 30/30, all coming soon.

2008-05-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

Wigleaf

2008-05-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

My flash The Voice of Love is now live at Wigleaf.

Bzzzzzzzz

2008-04-25T12:16:00.001-07:00

Today was the big District spelling bee, and wow, was it ever exciting!

Emma was in Division I (grades 1-5), which went first. They sat at big tables in front of the audience and had to write down 30 different words. They were given approximately 10 seconds per word.

After that first round, they announced that a tie breaker was needed between five of the kids. I nearly fell off my chair when they called Emma as one of the five! They were given five words and their papers were checked right there and then, leading to a second tie breaker between, you guessed it, Emma and another girl. Thank goodness there weren't any more tie breakers because I'm not sure I would have survived. Emma, on the other hand, wasn't nervous at all. I think to her, it's just fun to go and spell words.

The result: Emma won 3rd place in her division and got the very cool little trophy you see above! The audience let out a collective gasp when they announced that she's only in Third Grade and I think everyone was excited to see her do well. Her teacher was there to encourage her and give her a sense of security, and the principal from her school was there, too.

Way to go, Emma, we're proud of you!

By the way, if you look closely at the trophy picture, you'll see that it says Division II, grades 6-8. They messed up the plaques on the trophies and are going to get new ones for all the kids.

Addiction can be a good thing

2008-04-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

when it involves writing poems! Yep, another 30 has gone by. Here's the titles from Round 16:

1. From the Windshield of a Rusty Truck

2. And the Trees are Beginning to Bud

3. White Flag

4. Hirsute

5. A Tiger's Hand

6. Fort Union

7. A Stink Like Rotten Eggs

8. An Easter Confession

9. Refraction

10. Featherweight

11. A Cowgirl's First Kiss

12. One Minute, Please

13. Pétit

14. Cape Foulweather

15. Like a Lion

16. How to Identify Human Bone in the Field

17. What Does the Wife Imagine (cento)

18. Residual

19. A Billboard for Soap

20. If Barbie were a dress shop girl

21. Vignette

22. Siren

23. Seventy-Six Hours after the Funeral

24. An End to Sunlight

25. Spring Has Come

26. Forgetting to Say Goodbye

27. Vim

28. All the Things We Might Have Said

29. shine a light, little moon

30. a reason for children

Put a poem in your pocket

2008-04-17T10:06:00.001-07:00

and share it with the world. As part of National Poetry Month, today is poem in your pocket day. Carry a copy of your favorite poem and share it with others.

This one has been a favorite of mine since I was at least 5 or 6 years old:

Table Manners - I

The Goops they lick their fingers,
And the Goops they lick their knives,
They spill their broth on the tablecloth -
Oh, they lead disgusting lives!

The Goops they talk while eating,
And loud and fast they chew,
And that is why I'm glad that I
Am not a Goop – are you?

By Gelett Burgess, published in Goops and How to Be Them: A Manual of Manners for Polite Children. This book was originally published in 1900 and I absolutely loved it as a child. At one point, I had every single poem memorized.

Not only are the poems great, but the illustrations are utterly charming as well:

I Can Type

2008-04-16T07:20:00.001-07:00

98 words

Speed test

Letting It Out

2008-04-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

I haven't mentioned it here on the blog, but the past six months have been incredibly stressful here. In mid-October my husband found out at work that his entire group was being outsourced to another country. Every single one of them was going to be laid off because their jobs were being given to people in Costa Rica who would work for much less. This is not unusual. It's happening all over our country. I think it's a travesty. No wonder our economy is tanking.

In any case, we were suddenly left with impending unemployment hanging over our heads. At least it wasn't immediately impending - the layoff wasn't going to take effect until June. Still, to announce this shortly before Thanksgiving and Christmas was pretty lousy. We've been living with a lot of uncertainty since then, not knowing where we'd be living, if we'd have an income. I'm not a big fan of change. I like a good routine. I like the familiar.

We considered moving to Idaho where my folks live and Dennis even went so far as to attend a job fair there. He had calls from at least a couple of companies afterward, but nothing real materialized. And he talked to people he knows, putting out feelers for potential jobs, trying to get a heads up on anything that might be coming along. At his current company, his status was called 're-deployment' which means he was losing his position but could try to find another elsewhere within the company. It sounds oddly military, doesn't it?

Some of you will remember when I wrote about Dennis going to Costa Rica for two weeks back in February. He was training his own replacement. Don't even get me started on that. It was supposedly a great thing, created by management to extend his group's employment. Whatever. Recently he also had his year-end performance review. It went incredibly well. He was given a promotion and a quite sizable raise. Just in time to be laid off!

In the past few weeks, he's had several interviews for jobs within the company, but even though he kept ending up among the top choices, he was never picked for an offer. This past week, he had two more. One of them called and asked if he could interview immediately. They met on Thursday and by the end of the work day, he'd been offered the job. He accepted it on Friday.

The suddenness, the sense of relief, the weight lifting from our shoulders, has been overwhelming. Now we can relax, knowing we won't have to move. We won't have to try to sell our house in an impossible real estate market. Our kids can stay near their friends and near all the things we love about this place.

I realized on Thursday night after the offer came that I had been holding my breath for the past six months. It feels great to finally let it out.

Latest Arrivals

2008-04-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

The new issue of Quarter After Eight includes my flash "Witch." This is a beautiful (and quite thick) annual devoted to short prose writing, with a particular emphasis on work that treads the middle ground between flash and prose poetry.

Cadenza is a slim magazine from the UK that features plenty of high quality writing. Poetry editor Bill Conelly has put together a fantastic selection of poems under the heading Bard Attitude and I'm delighted to have my own poem "The 13th Rosicrucian Poem for Love and Hope is Just Another Pickup Line" included.

If you get the chance to pick up either of these magazines, I encourage you to give them a try.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

2008-04-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

We just found out this week that Emma won the school spelling bee for grades 1-5!

She beat out two fifth graders in the final round.

Later this month she'll get to compete against the winners from all the other schools in the district.

We're not surprised - last year, in 2nd grade, Emma's teacher resorted to spelling lists for high schoolers and finally gave up even trying to find words to challenge her.

Self Storage

2008-04-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Kelly Spitzer interviewed Gayle Brandeis, author of Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write, Dictionary Poems, and The Book of Dead Birds. If you haven't already read it, go now - it's a great interview that will inspire and encourage all writers. As part of the interview, Kelly and Gayle offered readers a chance to win a signed copy of Gayle's latest novel Self Storage by leaving their own story about self storage in the comments. I'm pleased and very surprised (there were some amazing entries) to say that I was the winner! You can read my story "For Safekeeping" below. Thanks to both Kelly and Gayle!

For Safekeeping

The thumbs were the first to go. Her mother’s largest thimble served as casket for both and at the age of five Salida put away her babyhood. Later, she would also sacrifice her lush eyebrows and that beautiful nose of flesh and gristle to the whispers of her classmates. They went in the dustbin after school. When her father burned the trash on Sunday, Salida watched her brows rise on the smoke, tumbling together like castanets thrown into the sky.

The priest claimed her breasts with his awkward insistence on purity. As she packed them in salt and brown paper, Salida wondered how the Virgin had ever suckled an infant. The mole under her lower lip, her long black hair that reflected light like a spider’s eyes. Even the secret dimple on her back where Pedro used to place his thumb. One by one, Salida surrendered pieces of herself. She swept them onto the porch, watching them fly into the night like dust returning to the stars. She filled glass jars and small spaces under the floor boards. She wrapped them in scarves behind the socks.

Salida’s granddaughter found the first fragment. It was a strip of slender wrist wrapped in silver wire. Salida flashed it like a dancer flaunting her grace. She had thought such things were lost. She had forgotten herself. Soon more pieces were uncovered: an earlobe, pierced and hung with a dangling loop. Hands and calves. A smiling mouth. Thumbs. Salida had found herself.

Rose Fairy Dress-Up

2008-03-29T11:59:00.001-07:00

I've been working on these outfits for almost three months. They weren't difficult, just time consuming. The skirts are pretty cool, with all those petals, and the girls don't know it yet, but I'm going to make matching outfits for their American Girl dolls.

What's Up?

2008-03-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Spring Break, that's what. We went to the coast for three days and had a blast, despite cold weather, wind, and rain. We stayed right on the beach in Newport, wandered around the Bayfront, and visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium where we got up close and personal with jellyfish, sharks, and a rather large octopus. The girls wanted to move to Newport and live there forever. I'll put up some pictures from the trip as soon as I get them organized.

In other news, the top secret Easter knitting project was finished just minutes before midnight on Saturday. I never imagined it would take so long (try two and a half months), but the girls seem pleased, so I'm happy. Keep an eye out for pictures of that, as well.

The past 24 hours have seen rain, snow, sunshine, moderate to heavy wind, hail, and bitter cold. The word schizophrenia springs to mind. I think March may have some issues. Counseling might be in order.

I'm almost halfway through my 16th round of 30 poems in 30 days and plan to keep going all the way through April, which is after all, National Poetry Month.

We're soaking up the last day of Spring Break and doing absolutely nothing today. Bliss.

What are you up to?

Shy

2008-03-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

Well, at least it's handknit

2008-03-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

Aren't these slippers beautiful? They were hand knit by a farmer's wife in Albania. Every year the community club (think PTA) at my daughter's school holds an auction to raise money for the school. I won these little beauties for just $8! Apparently I'm the only person there who appreciates knitting as a fine art. I'm thinking of having these framed and hanging them on the wall, they're so nice.

My own secret knitting project continues apace. Progress is being made, but this week has been kind of slow. Last night was a special reward dinner for my husband and several of his coworkers, plus their wives, at Ruth's Chris Steak House. It's hard to knit while you're stuffing your face. The food was good, but boy was it ever BIG. I had triple chocolate molten cake for dessert and I think I died and went to chocolate heaven. Yummmmmmm.

Another Thirty Flies By

2008-03-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

Yep, I finished my 15th round of 30 poems in 30 days:

1. Picking through the Rubble after Midnight
2. Life's Little Instruction Manual
3. 1976
4. At Ease with Failure
5. haiku
6. Wearing Your Mother's Ring
7. Telegraphing the Body's Warm Urge
8. Mr. Darcy Gets an Unexpected Note
9. Cheap Words and Whiskey
10. Everything Changes
11. Chasing the Moon
12. When Your Lover Reads Your Diary
13. Your Wicked Wicked Ways
14. February is a Hunger
15. When Bonnie and Clyde were Gunned Down
16. The Voracious Go Hungry
17. At the Letting Go
18. Facing the Tiger
19. All the Way to Phantom Ranch
20. They Slit the Sheep's Throat
21. Navajo Child in Cradleboard
22. Tree, Woman
23. the poet taking
24. Through the Open Window of Serenity Hospice
25. The Heart Going Away
26. Miss McGee Hits the Heights
27. Samson Tells Delilah How It Is
28. We Run Hot and Cold
29. Little Clues Can Tell the Truth
30. Why the Possum Crossed the Road

Folio has accepted my poem "Among the Cannibals" for their spring issue. I'm really excited about this one!

I keep getting rejections that tell me my work made it to the final round of cuts or that I was in the top group but just didn't quite squeak in. I feel like Maxwell Smart: missed it by that much.

Word Cloud Poem

2008-03-04T06:23:00.000-08:00

From the words in the previous post. You knew I couldn't resist...

the poet taking

william winter is a romantic secret, a
sickness the size of a thumb.

the tooth, the valentine, the
previous rainforest catching

comments on beauty, chocolate, ant.
days enough, flashquake girl.

five keats knitting poems, a week
of love and haiku done.

chaco stories posted in british,
the issue pulled. sure. the poet taking.

Word Cloud

2008-03-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

created at TagCrowd.com

I saw this link on Kelli Russell Agodon's blog and had to try it for myself. These are the most frequently used words on my blog. It makes an interesting found poem, don't you think?

Flashquake

2008-03-01T07:57:00.000-08:00

The new issue of Flashquake is now live! Yours truly served as guest editor this time around, and I can tell you it's packed with terrific stories, poems, and nonfiction.

Don't forget to check out my editor's essay to hear what I have to say about staying drunk, too. Enjoy!

In the Rainforest

2008-02-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

Dennis sent me this fabulous picture he took on a tour of the rainforest yesterday. He says this ant is the size of his thumb. I'll post more pictures when he sends them. I'd be jealous, but ants the size of a man's thumb?! No thanks.

Catching up

2008-02-20T08:53:00.000-08:00

- Dennis is in Costa Rica for two weeks. When he gets back, he'll be home for one day, then he'll head off to California for a week. We miss him!

- My parents are here for two weeks. This is not a coincidence. I have the best parents in the world.

- It's Girl Scout cookie time. Emma didn't sell nearly as many as last year, but that's okay. It just sort of worked out that way. We'll be delivering them later this week.

- Kate finally got that tooth pulled last week, the one that she banged back in October. She actually liked having it pulled. The dentist gave her a dollar and a special Tooth Fairy box to put it in. Did you know the Tooth Fairy pays double for extracted teeth?

- Recent acceptances include Poet Lore (2 poems!) and Fifth Wednesday Journal. I have a good handful of print publications coming up. I'll try to keep you posted when they're available.

- Speaking of print publications, I finally realized last week that I had never received my copy of Main Street Rag. It was mailed in September. We have the worst mail carrier in the world. The publishers were kind enough to send me a new one:
Inside are my poems "Shovelbum's Lament" and "The Stratigraphy of Love."

- I'm on Round 15 of 30 poems in 30 days. It's a sickness, I tell you, a sickness.

2008-02-13T09:56:00.001-08:00

What British Romantic Poet are You? Your Result: You are John Keats! Ars gratis artis! Keats had only one idea, but it was a good one: "Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty." Unlike the other British Romantics, he didn't have a political agenda. He died at 26.
You are George Gordon, Lord Byron!
You are Percy Shelley!
You are William Wordsworth!
You are Samuel Coleridge!
You are William Blake!
What British Romantic Poet are You? Create MySpace Quizzes

Sure, I'm still knitting...

2008-02-11T10:16:00.000-08:00

...for the Groovy Girls.

Right now I've got a top secret project on the needles. Originally intended as a Valentine's Day surprise for the girls, until I gave in and acknowledged there was no way it would be done in time. Now I'm taking a more relaxed approach, and when it's done, it's done. It'll be sweet. Think Spring. Think dress-up. And here's another hint: their American Girl dolls, Samantha and Nellie, will match Emma and Kate. Oooh, I can hardly stand the wait!

Another 30 Days

2008-02-07T07:30:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Valentine's Day is next week. Weren't we just having Christmas?

I finished my 14th round of 30 poems in 30 days yesterday. Here's what I wrote:

1. Story
2. Icon
3. All the Observed Contacts were Gradual
4. Underground
5. We Did Not Know
6. The Mistress of Watermelon
7. haiku
8. To a Girl on the Beach at Twilight
9. What to Make of a Diminished Thing
10. Midlife
11. Kate is Five
12. Between Strawberry and Pine is a Place like Paradise
13. Ode to the Salmon in the Back of the Freezer
14. The Marlboro Man Eats a Bullet
15. The Baby's Laughter
16. Black Body
17. Grand Epiphany at Punkin Center, Arizona
18. In the Maternity Ward
19. After the Last Angry Word
20. A Woman's Song
21. Secret Life of the Rhizome
22. Liberace's ghost plays Für Elise
23. What Can Be Broken, What Can Be Fixed
24. Confession of a Recovering Nymphomaniac
25. Sutures
26. haiku
27. Small Predator, Large Prey
28. Immortality at the Tip of a Shovel
29. Outside Saint Mary's at 3:15 pm
30. Toward a Larger Awareness

Pretty Ink

2008-02-03T14:52:00.000-08:00

Current issue of the UK print mag Orbis, including my poem "When Words Fail, Use Other Means."

The Liar's Diary

2008-01-29T07:06:00.000-08:00

Patry Francis is a remarkable human being. A poet, writer, wife, mother, friend, and former waittress, she consistently shares her love of writing, her heart, and her compassionate view of the world on her blog. Diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in November, she has continued to write posts that inspire and comfort. She spreads gratitude and hope.

Now it is our turn to return the love. Patry's book "The Liar's Diary" is being released today in paperback. Thanks to the organization of Laura Benedict, Susan Henderson, Robin Slick, and many others, the litblogging community is taking on the joyous task of promoting Patry's book so that she can rest and recover from her illness.

Here's what the publisher, Penguin Group has to say about "The Liar's Diary:"

A seductive psychological thriller about a woman facing the dark truths at the heart of her family

Jeanne Cross’s contented suburban life gets a jolt of energy from the arrival of Ali Mather, the stunning new music teacher at the local high school. With a magnetic personality and looks to match, Ali draws attention from all quarters, including Jeanne’s husband and son. Nonetheless, Jeanne and Ali develop a deep friendship based on their mutual vulnerabilities and long-held secrets that Ali has been recording in her diary. The diary also holds a key to something darker: Ali’s suspicion that someone has been entering her house when she is not at home. Soon their friendship will be shattered by violence—and Jeanne will find herself facing impossible choices in order to protect the people she loves.

I was fortunate enough to receive a signed copy of the hardback from Patry several months ago, and I can honestly say that this book is impossible to put down. The characters are complex, the plot is intricate, and it unfolds in wonderfully shocking ways. I found myself thinking about this book day and night, unable to avoid the deep psychological questions it addresses. To say I was invested in the characters and their situation would be putting it mildly indeed. It is one of the most compelling books I have ever read.

You can find the newly released paperback online at Amazon, Powell's, and Barnes & Noble. It's a fantastic thriller and a great read. Please check it out and help us spread the word about "The Liar's Diary."

FIVE!

2008-01-20T11:14:00.001-08:00

I can't get enough...

2008-01-18T07:02:00.000-08:00

...snow! We had a smattering earlier this week, but all it did was make me wish for a real storm, the kind that turns the world white and muffles all the ugliness of winter.

...sleep. I like sleep. I need sleep. I'm a firm believer in at least 8 hours a night. Naps are good, too. Yawn.

...chocolate. Does this really need an explanation? Addiction can be a sweet thing.

...bluegrass music. I defy anyone to listen to good bluegrass and not at least tap a toe. It makes me smile. It makes me sing. It makes me wish I knew how to play the mandolin or the fiddle.

...hugs from my daughters. They're still willing to give them; I'll always be willing to receive them.

...poetry. See chocolate above.

...sock yarn. And believe me, I've tried. It's soft, it's beautiful, and there is nothing as luxurious as handknit socks. Socks That Rock by Blue Moon Fiber Arts is my favorite, but Koigu and Lorna's Laces are quite lovely too.

...Crowded House. They're back. They're better than ever. Neil Finn is the best songwriter going these days.

...time. Time to read all the books stacked beside the bed. Time to knit all the projects I'd like to. Time to play with the kids. Time to write. Time to hold hands with my hubby. Time to pet the cat. Time to clean the house. Time to just sit and be.

...smiles. Doesn't it make your day better whenever you see one? I need to give more, too.

...of my husband. He's the best and I don't tell him that nearly often enough.

What can you not get enough of?

2008 Per Contra Prize

2008-01-13T23:19:00.000-08:00

I'm pleased to share this announcement from the editor of Per Contra, a wonderful online magazine which regularly features exquisite fiction and poetry:

Per Contra has featured winners of The MacArthur Award, the Caine Prize, the Orange Prize, the Walt Whitman Award, the Flannery O'Connor Award, the Pushcart Prize and more. Per Contra has published authors from the United States and North America, South America, Europe, Africa and South Asia .

Our March 2008 issue features former poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (the position now known as the U.S. Poet Laureate) Daniel Hoffman, Pulitzer Prize Winning former poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (the position now known as the U.S. Poet Laureate) Maxine Kumin, Pulitzer Prize winning author and poet John Updike, poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (the position now known as the U.S. Poet Laureate) William Jay Smith and O. Henry Prize winner Stephen Dixon, as well as great emerging writers from around the world.

You may have seen our ad in the Fall 2007 Edition of Poets and Writers.

We are now accepting submissions for the 2008 Per Contra Prize. Because of the public interest generated by our lineup for the Spring, we are working hard to find talented emerging writers to submit manuscripts for the Prize. The grand prize winner will be published in our Spring 2008 issue.

Grand Prize is $1,000 and publication at our regular professional rates. The top ten stories submitted will be published at our regular professional rates during the 2008 editorial calendar.

Deadline for Entry is January 31, 2008. We would appreciate it if you would spread the word in your writer's group and to friends. This is an excellent opportunity for an emerging writer to be published with several elite writers and poets.

You can find us on the web at http://www.percontra.net/ .

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Best Wishes,
Bill Turner
Editor

Final Wrap-Up and Writing Challenge

2007-12-31T12:24:00.000-08:00

Whew, what a week it's been! Emma was quite sick for several days, including Christmas, Kate came down sick the day after Christmas, and I'm still nursing the same cold I've had for almost three weeks, which seems to have settled in my chest. Through it all, though, we've had a pretty wonderful time. There's been surprisingly little crankiness, considering how lousy everyone has been feeling, and we've all had a good time playing with our new toys, reading our new books, and watching our new videos.

The Groovy Girl Boutique was a big hit and I was really pleased with how it all came out. You can find lots more pictures of it here.

My parents got me a brand-new, very fancy digital SLR for Christmas, so expect my posts to become even more photo-laden! I can't wait till I'm feeling well enough to really start playing with it.

I've had a few poems accepted in the past couple of weeks. I'll post more info when they are published. Tomorrow begins a new year, the perfect time for new writing. Flashathon, poem-a-day, or just jotting down a few choice words -- if you're a writer, I hope you'll join me in celebrating the new year with something fresh.

Here's a prompt to get you started: pick one moment/incident/occasion/event in your life from the past year and use it as the jumping-off point for a story or poem. Feel free to post your work in the comments or provide a link to your own blog.

Best wishes for a healthy, happy, and peace-filled 2008!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T21:32:00.000-08:00

Give them Ruins

2007-12-18T08:29:00.000-08:00

Still looking for a great Christmas gift? Ruins Terra is now available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This anthology of short stories and poetry explores the ancient ruins of Earth, from Meso-America to the lost island of Atlantis. My story "Rising Tide" is set among the ruins of an Anasazi cliff-dwelling in the American Southwest. If you have a sci-fi/fantasy lover on your list, or anyone who enjoys good stories about interesting places, check it out. You won't be disappointed.

slump

2007-12-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

Here's a thumbnail of my week so far:

1 trip to the ER
1 kidney infection
2 kidneys with multiple stones
3 rejections in as many days
Rain. High winds. Rain. Flooding. Rain.

I'm tired, I'm sick, and I can't seem to get my poems in the right place at the right time. Bah. Humbug. (That's for the above, not for Christmas, which is the one redeeming aspect of this moment in time)

In brighter news, I'm getting ready to mail off two skeins each of Misti Alpaca Lace to two lucky winners as part of the Yarn Harlot's karmic balancing/thank you to those who raised all that money for Doctors Without Borders. It's beautiful yarn, purchased at Foothills Flock & Fiber in Hood River, and I'm thrilled to be able to pass it along to knitters who will (hopefully) appreciate it (because me and laceweight - not such a good combination). Let the karma roll...

Under the Umbrella

2007-12-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

The Winter issue of Umbrella is now up!

Inside, you can find me meditating near Mt. St. Helens and gasping for air.

Ms. Ang is also there, treading the strange ways of loss and distance, and Jayne Pupek muses on winter in the not-so-distant future.

I'm also pleased to announce that I'll be serving as guest editor for the Spring 2008 issue of flashquake, so get those submissions ready!