Springtime and Aging, PR for Poets and Thinking about a Poet’s Choices

A little April tour of Seattle’s Japanese Gardens to start us off…I hope you’re not bored with my flowers yet!

PR for Poets and a Poet’s Choice

Well, the PR for Poets talk at Open Books went well, and there were so many interesting questions during the Q&A session…”How do I become a book reviewer?” “If I’ve been sick for six months after my book launch is it too late to promote the book?” “How does a chapbook compare to a book?” “What if I do all the things you’re supposed to do but your book still doesn’t sell?” All good questions that got me thinking about the life of a poet.

I thought about my own life…how did I start reviewing, and why? It was almost fifteen years ago now that I started reviewing, believe it or not. Why did I decide to do a chapbook in the beginning? I just was so excited to have my work out in the world – I think chapbooks are a beautiful art form (and great practice for what to do when your full-length book comes out.) What did I do when one of my books didn’t sell as much as I’d hoped? I did almost exactly the same things for all my books, with varying results. What happens when say, you have your book release date and you think you’re dying of cancer because at least three doctors have told you so and then you catch pneumonia the week before the book party? Yes, that happened with my last book, and looking back, it was a wonderful book party, so many friends and family there, on a beautiful day at a winery, and I barely had a voice, but I was glad I was there. I guess because I’m turning 45 this month and last year I thought I might not make it past 44 -I’m going to be personal for a second and say why I ended up finishing the PR for Poets book even when I had a bunch of bad health stuff going on in the background – why I wanted other poets to benefit from my experiences, to tell others how to make their lives as poets a little easier, though the life of a poet is sort of by definition never easy.  I hope the book does that – gives the readers a little bit about what I’ve learned, what my friends have taught me, what generous advice experts have offered.

What Makes You Happy, and a Poet’s Choices at Midlife

Anyway, today I was thinking about Mrs. Dalloway, The Hours, and Virginia Woolf’s health problems and life trajectory, and the sadness and isolation that often being a woman writer involves, being outside the mainstream. Social media can somehow both relieve the isolation and make everyone more lonely at the same time. I don’t have any kids, so I don’t have a legacy except that which I leave behind in books. I’m not miserable in exactly the way of the women of the Hours were – I appreciate my life, and I love (as you can tell) on the days I’m healthy enough to get out in the sunshine, among the flowers and deer and rabbits. I love sitting and reading in a quiet room on rainy days. My husband is a great support and makes a lot of my lately-difficult life easier than it could be. I am thankful for my friends and family, my support system, the artists and writers that have inspired me.

Sometimes my health problems can seem overwhelming – the time scheduling and attending all the medical appointments alone take up can be overwhelming – but I am happy this April to be seeing another spring, to see the little cherry tree I planted last year bloom, the tulips and daffodils show up in a garden that was pretty barren when we moved in. I got an award for my last book of poetry, Field Guide to the End of the World, which came in the mail yesterday (see below.) I’m happy to release this weird non-fiction PR for Poets book that hopefully helps some poets have an easier time than I did. I’m happy right now to be alive and able to go out a bit in the sun, to walk a little bit and watch the wildlife. I don’t know what my expectations of my life were when I was little, but I don’t know that I could have predicted how things turned out – but I know I don’t feel disappointed. I look forward to writing another book of poetry, even to sending out another book, and bringing that next book of poetry into the world. I feel scared of some aspects of my life – mortality and the scariness of the MS diagnosis and my liver tumors and etc – but I think writing has made my life better and happier, and I hope that poetry makes your life happier too, but if not, be sure to get outside and smell the..tulips. (Last pictures this post I promise!)