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!

Pub Up(date)

Greetings, fellow poetry enthusiasts! I'm happy to say that my hysteria of submiting has brought in some more acceptances. I am HONORED to be included in:

Linden Avenue Literary Journal - scroll down until you see my poem, "Bitter Woman India Pale Ale"

The Peacock Anthology came out, which includes my poem "The Offering."

Forthcoming, I have "The Spy" coming out in Poetry South and "The Clear-Headed Lobotomy" was a semi-finalist in the Naugatuck River Review's 9th Narrative Poetry Contest.

December should have Barrow Street showing off "From Inside the Yes or Maybe."

I have been so ill this year - many ups and downs with chronic illness - yet still I persisted in my goal of reaching 100 rejections by December 31st. I am on #90 at the moment, but more importantly, I have seen more ACCEPTANCES fly in this year than in any other year. That proves that the harder your work, the more you reject defeat and put your work out there, the better the odds are of something being accepted. So take heart!

There is a home for your work!

The Fun Kind of Spin

Life may continue to be a roller coaster, but I am so pleased that the poems from my latest collection,"O! Olena!"(still trying to find a home) have been picked up by some seriously brilliant journals!

I love Indicia- their  2.1 Summer 2017 edition is fun to page through, literally - and there's some fantastic work contained within and I am not just saying that because my poem, "Third Poem to Olena," is found on page 19. I really love these peeps. They were a joy to work with. Quick funny story - my original submission got lost in the vortex of the internet so they didn't actually receive my batch of poems on the date I had written down. So a while later when I became curious as to a response (we writers must be careful about contacting publications about this for etiquette's sake) and it turned out they hadn't received anything (gasp!). I was mortified and thought my chance had passed. They actually welcomed me to re-submit. Little did I know they would come to accept "Third Poem to Olena," one of my current manuscript's most difficult-to-place poems, in my opinion. So I am THRILLED it found a home with Incindia and I do hope you will read the issue and support their efforts!

And as a lovely pairing to Indicia publishing that poem, The Drowning Gull (another favorite of mine!) published "UnWelcomed, UnAskedFor" - the other poem in "O! Olena!" that I had considered difficult to place. That just goes to show you that
1. You could be wrong
2. There is a home for all your babies. You just have to keep looking and keep the hope.

Thanks, Drowning Gull! You may read it here. 

Lastly, in good news, I found out that The Peacock Journal plans on including my poem, "The Offering," which they published this year," in their print anthology! I look forward to sharing that in the future!

Until then,
write on!

(feel like helping out a poet get some new stem cells so she can get her life back on track and write some new poems. - and be able to walk right, not have seizures every day, and be a part of her family again? Take a look at my fundraiser to raise money for my chronic neurological lyme disease treatment, my last hope after many years of being sick. I am so grateful for any help or sharing! Thank you!)

Podcast Interview and Publication

Please take a listen to this interview from the Voice of Reason and Judgement podcast. I had a great time and really appreciated the care in which the host asked his questions and contributed his thoughts. Once again, I am humbled by how "Motherlung" continues to touch people in ways I can't even imagine.

In addition, I am so pleased to have my poem, "Sleep in an Isthmus" published in the inaugural Sea Salt Series put out by the folks at The Drowning Gull.

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.

April Flowers

April News Brings Early Flowers

I'm so pleased to say that I have had 46 rejections between January 1st and April 17. I'm thrilled because I have had more acceptances in four months than I've had in a LONG time. And it's due to hard work, nothing else. Perseverance. Determination. Nothing more, nothing less. I set my mind on something and didn't look away.

So thank you, "The Drowning Gull," for accepting a poem for your June issue and for selecting a poem for your inaugural Sea Salt Series issue!  I feel the love!

Come on over to the Events Page and see my upcoming book event for "Motherlung" - anyone in the Madison area should find it easy to make their way over to Steep and Brew- West!

Wishing you all rainy days sowing your literary seeds and sunny days in the grass penning your new buds.