Biblio-updates!

Hello! Lots to update you on, my friends. While chronic illness has halted my goal of getting 100 rejections in one year because I haven't submitted anything since February, I'm focusing on some other goals in my life and have decided to press the pause button on submitting. I got up to 99 rejections in 2017 and am quite proud of that. Why? Because I also received more acceptances in 2017 than I have in any other year. It's a wonderful reminder to just "show up and write," as Natalie Goldberg would say. Only I would show up and submit. I am currently "showing up" and doing something else, but I have no doubt I will return to my mad submitting soon.

In the meantime, I have been rewarded by the plethora of submitting I did in 2017 but having some acceptances roll in as 2018 began. You can see for yourself in the below link and images.


My poem, "Memory Speaks in Tongues" in Shot Glass Journal 


So pleased to have my poem, "Madelyn Without the Moonlight" in INSCAPE

And so honored to have "Offspring" published in THAT Literary Journal

And wow, am I jazzed to have my listing in the Poets and Writers directory!

I'd also like to link two podcast recordings that I am not sure if I've linked before:

Interview on Voice of Reason and Judgement, June 2017
Interview on A Space for Poetry, July 2017 

Lastly, but possibly most exciting - I am embarking on a new journey. For eighteen years I have been interested in bibliotherapy and poetry therapy and I believe I will finally make the leap. Stay tuned for news on that!

Why Sundays Rock and the Number 100

So it's December 28 and I am on 99 rejections this year. I've been ACHING ... PINING... for that 100th rejection. It hasn't arrived yet and I am praying for it before December 31st.

Apparently, when you pine and yearn for 1 thing, there is a high probability that the opposite will happen too - isn't that some law?

In just December, my poem "The Robbery" came out in Willawaw Journal, my poem "How to Get Over Your Husband" was accepted by Inklette, and my poem "The New Couple" was accepted by The Front Porch Review. Wow! We should all run after rejection with such gusto!

In 2018, I look forward to seeing poetry in Barrow Street, THAT Literary Journal, and more!

I hope you all had a very happy holiday full of joy, love, and creativity!

And cross your fingers for my 100th rejection by year's end so I can join that elite club!

Join me on my author facebook page for a new prompt (most) every Sunday!

May's "Motherlung" Mother's Day, Pub Madness, and More Miscellanousness

May 2017

Okay, "miscellanousness" isn't a word, but writers get literary license. I took my quota for the day with that one.

While May is a hard month for me, I also love this month full of my birthday and honoring my mother, stepmother, aunt, and all the mother-figures I've had in my life. The hard part of May comes with my mother's birthday and Mother's Day as I miss her terribly.

Still, May has been an exciting month for many reasons.

Tomorrow, May 13th, I am reading from "Motherlung" at Steep N Brew West Madison.

I'm immensely excited to share with you an interview and reading I did for WMUU radio with host, James Roberts. I read a sample of "Motherlung" poems as well as reveal my latest work - the first time these poems stumble out of my mouth and into the public realm!
Click here to hear the interview. 

In a few months, the Eager Free Library in my town of Evansville has invited me to speak to their writers group on the topic of publication. Given the fact that my flurry of submissions since last September has resulted in an exciting flurry of acceptances (love!), I've also received a plethora of rejections, as I've mentioned before (still love!) and so I am passionate about encouraging other writers to rethink their idea of rejection.

July 3rd, an old friend from my music/poetry open mic days, Seth Hoffman, will be performing his playful music as I read classic poetry to Alzheimer residents at an assisted living facility.

As mentioned above, the rejection letters still roll in, but I have had more acceptances which is still extremely humbling and exciting. So I'll have work forthcoming in The Drowning Gull: Sea Salt Series and THAT Literary Review.

I wish you a beautiful May - may you find hidden surprises behind every flower and in every raindrop.