Healthier Kittens and Sicker Me, New Hair and Imagining 2023: Re-Entry Fears

Me with new hair and kitten Charlotte

The Second Week of the New Year: Healthier Kittens, Sicker Me, New Hair and Imagining 2023: Re-Entry Anxiety

So, if you read last week’s blog post, you know I was up most nights taking care of two kitties who both made Emergency Vet Hospital Visits, and then as soon as they were better, I got sick. Not covid or flu, but sick enough. I’m just now getting back to normal so yesterday I got my hair done (a little shorter and blonder?) and thought about 2023 (including making some event plants for my birthday and the book launch).

We did have a rare sunny day yesterday, during which we finally took down our outdoor holiday lights and walked around a little bit around the wineries. Our kitties seem totally recovered and are getting along a little better, thank goodness. And people have been asking for more kitten pictures, so here you go!

The face of anxiety? Me with tulips

Anxieties about Re-Entry: 2023 Edition, Including AWP and Turning 50

I had two goals in 2023, not resolutions, but loose ambitions, one was doing Tai Chi every day (fair to middling), and the other was trying to write a poem a day and do a submission a day (also fair to middling, given the cat drama and getting sick as a dog).

I haven’t been out and about much in the last few years, so here is a list of anxieties I’m experiencing about the upcoming year, AWP, and my 50th birthday and book launch:

• Covid (which I still haven’t gotten) and masking, Evushield’s lack of ability to protect from new variants.
• Clothing – I have been living in sparkly tops, yoga pants, and slippers for three years, and now the respectable clothes in my closet are outdated, too big or too small. I also have a real issue wearing uncomfortable clothing again (pinchy shoes, jeans, don’t even think about shapewear, etc.). And I haven’t shopped in a store for a long while.
• Socializing – How do we do it? I literally can’t remember how to do small talk. Is it harder with a mask? Yes. Is it time to take off the mask? Probably not just yet…
• Turning 50: I’ve decided to celebrate this milestone instead of dreading it, so I’m having a party on my actual birthday. Do I look 50? Am I dressing correctly for a 50-year-old? Also, can I still have pink hair? The rules are different now than they were when I was a kid. I do know that I see living this long as a real victory, for someone who has been told she was going to die by multiple doctors not so long ago. Hey, every year above ground is a good year.
• Launching a book (still) during a pandemic: so, how does one plan a book launch when there’s still sort of pandemic conditions and you worry you’ve forgotten everything about doing book promotion (are there still book festivals, for instance? If so, which are disability friendly? Can I do college class visits virtually? How much travel can I do as someone with MS and a junk immune system before the body crashes? So many questions…and the first phase of 2023’s publicity efforts for Flare, Corona will really start soon. (In the meantime, check out BOA’s new book page for my book, with blurbs and a sample poem!)

What about you? What are you feeling about 2023? Do you feel this weird re-entry anxiety, or is it just me? Some of you have already re-entered. How is it out there? How about promoting books right now? Anyway, use the comments to vent, suggest, etc.

First Week of the New Year, Cat and Weather Dramas, and Prepping for the New Book in a New Year

New Year’s Day photo, pre-cat-trauma

First Week of the New Year!

This is a photo Glenn took on New Year’s Day. He always tries to take a writer photo of me on New Year’s Day. Well, we definitely had enough sparkles to do it, and the hyacinths smelled amazing. I had moderately high goals for the first month of the new year—a daily Tai Chi practice, writing a poem a day, and submitting once a day.

Much of this was thrown into chaos, first by weather drama (power outages with wind and rainstorms and flooding, which was worse in California than here) and then by kitty drama. The new kitten started acting really strange on Thursday, shaking her head and growling. After $1000 of vet bills, we figured out she’d eaten litter and now she’s back to normal. Immediately after that, my sweet six-year-old cat Sylvia stopped eating, and it turned out she’d eaten new kitten food she was violently allergic to, and after two days at the Emergency Vet, she’s almost back to normal now. So now we are poorer and I was so stressed out—hey, when I go to the ER and get nausea meds, blood work and IV fluids, it’s actually cheaper than the cats! And it’s less stressful when it’s me! I just go to pieces when Glenn has health problems, and it turns out, the cats too. So I am genuinely exhausted emotionally. But still managed to write a few poems and send out a couple of submissions! (Tai chi, I’ll see you again this afternoon.)

So here are a few pictures of the baby kitten Charlotte home from the vet, and another pic of me on New Year’s day (more pics of little Sylvia to come next week):

Prepping for the New Book in a New Year

So, it’s January and that means it’s almost March and the Seattle AWP, and almost May and my book’s official launch! I am setting up readings and (ahem) birthday parties in May, AWP is almost all filled up with book signings and panels and of course I have to build in some time to do the bookfair.
So, what can I do at this point for the book? Given that I have a great team at BOA that does some of the publicity for me?

Well, for one, I can (and did) order the book cards I send out by hand every time I have a book come out. I think of it like a personal invite to read the book. I can send out an e-mail newsletter.  I can start thinking about booking local readings. (I already have! Stay tuned!) I bought an ad in Poets & Writers, and I even hired an outside PR person from the Pacific Northwest—Heather Brown, at Mind the Bird media, who a couple of friends had good experiences with—to help me throughout the launch of the book. Because even though I literally wrote a book on doing PR for your own book, it can be exhausting to do everything on your own, especially if you (or your husband, or family, or even pets) have health problems that suck up a lot of time and energy. I hope it’s worth it, but the best thing about it is that it’s a learning experience for me—what is the difference between doing everything yourself and having help? I interviewed a lot of PR people for the book, but it’s different actually working with people who do PR for a living on the regular. And of course, I have my PR person at BOA too. So it’s a big difference than the last five books. I’ll be interested to see how it affects sales and reviews. Maybe it won’t? Maybe it will? I hope so!

Things I could be doing: I could be writing articles to place in magazines, though I haven’t yet. I could be putting out some calls on social media to see if people want an ARC or e-galley of the book (which I have done once!) How can you be sure you’re doing enough for your book? The answer is, even with a team, you can never be sure. If you’re a workaholic and achievement oriented, it can be overwhelming. I’m hoping not to have that stress this time around. I hope that I’ll have info after this that will help me write an update to my PR for Poets book! Will Twitter still exist when I publish the next version of the book? Will all book promotion be done on a platform that doesn’t exist yet? Stay tuned!

Anyway, if you are like me and in the middle of getting ready to launch a book during a pandemic, please leave your comments, complaints, and helpful tips. It’s been some years since my last book, and it’s a totally different world!

Happy New Year! Holiday Lights, Setting Intentions and Dates, Ad in Poets & Writers, Kitten Charlotte, Brother Visits and Kelly Davio’s The Unreal Woman

Dewi Plass’s New Year art with stoats and snow leopards

Happy New Year! Holiday Lights, Setting Intentions, and More

Happy New Year everyone! Tonight we’re celebrating with my brother and sister-in-law. This week we tried to get out and about a bit, despite the rain, and see the holiday lights at the Bellevue Botanical Garden. I received the “Inspiration” issue of Poets & Writers and it has my little book ad in it.

The kitten Charlotte is getting used to her new human and kitty companions, and even posed with my friend Kelly Davio’s new book. I’ll post that along with a mini-review later on in the post.

What are your New Year traditions? Do you make resolutions? Goals? Set intentions? Make a vision board with cut-outs? Do you think about the year past, things you’ve accomplished, things you missed out on? Do you think about what you’re looking forward to in 2023? I can tell you I am already planning my book launch/50th birthday party in April, looking forward to seeing friends at AWP, and hopefully doing some virtual visits with friends and campuses in other states. I think it will be the most social year for me since the pandemic started, and that will be good for my mental health (we’ll see about the physical.) I’m hopeful for a kinder, gentler year, a happier, friendlier populace, even though that might be a stretch.

Holiday Lights

One of my traditions – that had been thwarted by bomb cyclones, ice storms, record-breaking cold, snow storms, and heavy rain since Thanksgiving – is going to see the holiday lights around town. So we finally found a brief (and I mean, thirty minutes brief) break in the rain to go to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens to see their terrific Garden d’Lights display, which is all animal and plant figures, and takes volunteers months to set up. It was cold, and a little more crowded than is ideal, but it was still fun and made me feel like we got to enjoy the holidays during our break a little bit. Here are some shots of undersea creatures, a field of sunflowers with the city of Bellevue in the background, and a dragon.

Kitten Charlotte in Solstice tree

New Literary Kittens and Kelly Davio’s Unreal Woman

Kitten Charlotte is definitely starting to feel more comfortable with us; Sylvia is starting to feel (slightly) more comfortable with the new kitten. But she’s already making her debut as a literary kitten!

Here she poses with Kelly Davio’s new poetry book from Broken Sleep Press, The Book of the Unreal Woman. It’s a sharp, funny portrait of disability and chronic illness, a rebuke to the ad logo of the “real woman,” poems which feature an action hero facing surgeons instead of supervillains, praise songs to disinfectants. This book shimmers with energy, with anger, with the desire to keep living despite odds against her. Kitten Charlotte, our newest literary kitten review, loved it and quoted that it was “delicious.” Get your copy! They ship direct to the US! 

Ad in Poets & Writer and a Small New Year’s Eve Party

Very excited to have a small ad in the “Inspiration” issue of Poets & Writers – usually my favorite issue of the year, as I could always use more inspiration in gray January.

I also signed up to write a poem a day in January with some friends, which hopefully will be good for my creative brain. Tonight we have cherry upside down cake, salmon to grill, champagne, frozen grapes and balloons and New Year’s crowns for our little celebration tonight with my little brother and his wife – since the pandemic, we haven’t done much to celebrate New Year’s, and I wanted to feel like it was really a holiday this year. (Along with the traditional watching of When Harry Met Sally.) We’re ready to celebrate the end of another pretty hard year, and hopefully the beginning of a slightly easier one. What about you? A sigh of relief at this year’s end?  Are you feeling anxious or anticipatory about 2023? Wishing all my readers a healthy, happy, and surprisingly delightful New Year!

Happy Holidays: Solstice and Christmas Traditions, Flare, Corona Full Cover Reveal, New Kittens, Winter Storms, and Planning for 2023 Already!

One of my fave Curly Girl Holiday Cards

Happy Holidays! Winter Storms and More

Happy Solstice, Hannukah, Christmas, and Yule time to all! How are you all doing? I’ve been waiting out a winter storm for three days in my house, with the latest being an ice storm that makes my metal ramp too treacherous to traverse safely. I hope to report on more holiday lights next week, when I’ll be able to safely leave the house!

Snow and cold we’ve about had enough of for the whole winter—we had a coldest day in ten years on the first day of Winter! I know the rest of the country will be facing this soon. For all those traveling—be safe. Stay safe and warm you all! Keep yourself warm with hot chocolate and tinsel, as suggested by the card at left.
In the meantime, here are a few holidayish scenes – snow in Woodinville, Woodinville holiday lights, and Molbak’s Nutcracker-inspired scene.

Photo by Anastasiya Dobrovolskaya

Solstice, Christmas, and Other Holiday Traditions

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about where the traditions for this time of year come from. Many we practice are far older than Christmas—exchanging gifts, having a feast, and setting intentions for the new year were practiced in many cultures as part of the solstice. Bringing in greenery, lighting candles. For practical reasons, we gathered together and shared what we had – probably to keep us earlier humans from starving or dying from cold or sadness! It’s different this year, with illnesses packing the hospitals, showing us maybe we shouldn’t do be doing big family and friend get-togethers just yet. But maybe we can incorporate some older traditions to bring us joy instead.

I listened to a beautiful carol which I found out was a Christina Rossetti poem, “In the Bleak Midwinter” that brought this idea home. On the Solstice, we had duck and potatoes and carrots (very winter appropriate), Glenn and I lit candles, thought about what we wanted to leave behind and embrace in the new year, and listened to the old prom themes we could remember late into the night. It was really nice! So anyway, in America there’s a weird idea someone is trying to steal Christmas, when in actuality, Christmas borrowed a lot of its stuff from other older religious and cultural traditions—and early Americans, like the Pilgrims, considered celebrating Christmas sinful! It’s also worth noting historians think Jesus was actually born in April! (My birthday month! Just a coincidence. Celebrating Easter and Christmas together would be a lot, I suppose.) And it does seem like we need to celebrate this time of year, to ward off SAD (as we call it now), to practice kindness (always in short supply but especially needed this time of year), and to try to find joy in the things we can.

Speaking of which, I have a few things to celebrate in this post!

Full Cover Reveal of Flare, Corona! Hot Pink!

I’m proud to reveal the full cover design of Flare, Corona, which should be coming out in just a few months! Look at that back cover, with the hot pinks and the fractal neurons! I love it. And I’m really loving my blurbs and blurb-ers. It seems things are moving fast already in the book direction—people are already writing about dates for readings! Eek! How is my calendar going to be full through May! Starting at AWP, this is the most social events I will have had in over three years! I hope I remember how to dress, socialize, speak correctly, and navigate crowds with my cane!

P.S. You can pre-order your own copy of Flare, Corona from BOA Editions here..

Me with Christmas kitten Charlotte

New Kitten!

You didn’t think I would forget this part of our year-end celebrating, did you? We are welcoming home Charlotte (her mother was named Jane Austen—this name is from Charlotte Bronte, as well as Elizabeth’s best friend in Pride and Prejudice and also my dear Aunt Charlotte who passed away a few years ago, who was a very fancy (and kind) lady. Charlotte is a little too small to breed so she joins our latest in a series of very cute ragdoll cats who were in some way not exactly perfect in the cat/human eye, perhaps, but perfect for us. (Remember Sylvia was re-homed for behavioral problems, such as fighting with dogs and breaking plates? We had no dogs and no plates in kitten-reach, so easy choice.) I love animals and, in my opinion, the more the better. Did you know I studied Zoology at the Cincinnati Zoo, thinking that might be a good career for me? Then I found out they made $26,000 a year, and a female zoo worker at the Cincinnati Zoo had her arm bitten off by a polar bear. So that’s why I don’t work with red pandas and otters for a living. What do you think? It could have been a better career for me! Anyway, we are celebrating our holiday with our new baby, and so far she’s gotten along okay with Sylvia, so now we have a pair of literary kittens again!

Another photo by Anastasiya, this time with a new year symbol: baby fox!

Planning for 2023

So, what are you throwing out from 2022 and embracing for 2023? Personally, I am hoping for better health, more energy, more friends, and less fear, less insecurity, and maybe some other good things too, specifically around the new book. Hey, I can dream!

Have you started making plans yet, as I find myself doing? Can I book a birthday party/book launch the same day? How many readings can I realistically do in a three-month period? Am I looking forward to seeing other writers again but also am nervous?

As I look back on the past year, at first I felt as if I didn’t get as much accomplished as I wanted to—as I could say of all the pandemic years—and was weighted down with too many doctor’s appointments and not enough fun stuff. But productivity is only one way—and a narrow one—to measure a year. I made new friends at a beautiful new farm in Woodinville – where I spent a lot of time wondering through lavender fields – and started a book club at a winery—where I hope to make more local friends. I got to go to La Conner for the Tulip Festival AND the Poetry Festival, and caught up with old friends, and did my first live reading at Hugo House since the pandemic with wonderful poets. I did podcasts for Writer’s Digest and Rattle. And of course, I worked this year with BOA Editions for the first time, on copyedits, covers, blurbs, and putting together all kinds of information. So in some ways I accomplished important things. So I guess I’m hoping for more time in flower fields, more time with friends, and more time away from doctor’s offices.

Wishing you a Happy Holiday, whatever tradition you celebrate, and a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate what turns out to be a pretty strangely ancient tradition. And if you don’t stop by the blog next week, have a happy and healthy New Year!

Holiday Happenings and Lights, New Book (and New Kitten), and the Big 50 on the Horizon…

Glenn and I with Carillon Point Holiday tree

Holiday Happenings and Lights

Still struggling to get out of the hole the MS mini-flare of last week put me in, but starting to feel more normal and ready to catch up on all the things I’m behind on (Manuscript reading? Holiday cards? AWP outline I’m supposed to turn in early January? Book promotion? Probably other things I’ve forgotten?)

This week, I got out a little bit to enjoy a little bit of holiday spirit, like these pictures on a rare sunny day in Kirkland, WA, where we got to watch the sunset. I’m missing my family, but I’ve gotten good phone visits in. I’m hoping to see some friends before the end of the year and do some holiday celebrating. I even got a nice poetry acceptance—possibly the last of the year.

Which leads me to the new things that are ahead….

New Book, New Kitten, and the Big 5-0 on the Horizon

See this post from BOA on Instagram? A reminder my new book, Flare, Corona is going to launch in just a few months! So, excitement is on the horizon, along with Seattle’s AWP, where I’ll be doing readings, signings, and two panels—hopefully not too much! But I am so looking forward to hanging out with writers again. I miss them! I am a social animal that’s been in isolation way too long. And speaking of animals…

Another new thing to look forward to? We’ve decided to adopt a new kitten. Since Shakespeare’s death, my husband and my other cat Sylvia have been a little mopey, and maybe me too. So we are going to introduce a new member to the family. I haven’t met her yet but I’m looking forward to it. Would you like a sneak peek? I won’t name her until I meet her, because personality always plays a part, you know? She’s supposed to come home with us Christmas Eve. Here she is:

New kitten

And, I have to admit, turning 50 at the end of April is weighing on me a bit too. Do I look old? Do I feel old? 50 seems like such a significant number, but my mother got her PhD after 50, and my middle brother got married for the first time after 50, so maybe it really is just the beginning of new things. I get the midlife crisis thing though; I have the urge to change things—move to Paris, become a blonde, or through caution to the wind and have a big party. (I probably will have a birthday party! Hopefully the triple-demic will be over by end of April…)

It’s Solstice season, and I’m thinking harder about my life, what I want to keep and what I want to let go, about my relationships too, with my family, with Glenn, with my friends, what I want n my life as a writer, how I can help my health, both mental and physical…envisioning what’s been problematic in the last few years (besides the pandemic), and how to envision a better, more satisfying life. I had a dream in which Santa (yep, that Santa) told me “You always plan for the worst. Why not plan for the best?” And for a minute, this familiar positivity mantra made sense to this admitted skeptic. I’m hoping that the year ahead will have positive things in it to surprise me, rather than negative things, but I have to admit it’s hard to be optimistic right now, especially after the last couple of weeks which have been pretty challenging physically and emotionally. I’m even trying to write different poetry, in a new voice, with a new energy than I’ve been working with the last few years. Wishing you as happy and bright a Solstice and Holiday season as possible.

AI Self-Portraits and When Robots Take Creative Jobs; When Things Aren’t Merry and Bright at the Holidays: MS Flares and More

AI Self-Portraits and Are the Robots Taking Creative Jobs?

Sure, they say robots are taking all the good jobs. I know I don’t want them taking over poetry. Now there are programs that take pictures of you and turn them into surreal portraiture, often with elements of the bizarre and disturbing. I still recommend buying your art from humans. But this was a fun way to spend an hour or two while I was sick in bed this week…Me as warrior elf, cosmic self, anime self, and flower fairy. I’ve only ever had one artist attempt to do a portrait of me, and it was better than the AI. I also worry about feeding your face to some nameless AI program, and now the TSA wants face scans too? In most of the AI pics, they seem to get my ethnicity wrong (can you guess how?), and I end up pretty unrecognizable—just like my fingerprints (which the TSA couldn’t read despite repeat tries when I got my TSA Precheck in a moment of optimism some years ago.) Maybe I am actually an AI-thwarting ghost. Anyway, an interesting experiment, and as someone who’s been talking to AI programs since she was a kid (hi, ELIZA!) I’m interested in how they’re getting smarter, and also not any smarter. (Still: #payrealhumanartistsfortheirwork)

Downy woodpecker in cherry

When Things Aren’t Merry and Bright at the Holidays

Hello my friends! Usually, we sing and talk about an idealized holiday season, but it’s not always great, especially not the last few years. I know lots of friends struggling with families full of flu, another round of covid, relatives in the hospital, or dealing with seasonal depression and anxiety. It’s been colder than usual here and wet so it hasn’t seemed bright in the Northwest at all. No full moons, no stars, not even driving around to see the lights, as is our usual custom this time of year.

As for me, I’ve been struck with the first bad MS flare I’ve had in a long time. I’ve barely been able to get out of bed, slammed with fatigue, vertigo when I try to move, nausea, and nerve pain. I had to cancel everything this week (and this weekend) and just stay in bed (doctor’s literal orders). I’ve been prescribed meds, and now just have to wait for the spinning, weakness and fatigue to subside. There’s really nothing else you can do. I know a lot of people are in the same situation as me, feeling frustrated than things aren’t as merry and bright as we think they should be.

I’d been planning to get Christmas cards written, gifts bought, manuscripts read (for the manuscript contest I’m reading for this year), and trying to get an AWP panel outline ready. Unfortunately, none of those things happened. Writing and submitting? No. And sometimes, you have to let that be okay.

I have friends who are struggling, and I struggle to give them the encouragement and cheer they need. Charities need more money as layoffs proliferate in our area. If you believe in the original Christmas story, it was really about two poor kids who couldn’t find food and shelter during a winter in a strange town, a baby born among people who didn’t care enough to make sure he was born safely, who had nothing. It’s a reminder to take care of each other in a world than can seem cruel, cold, and uncaring, especially to the unhomed, the unwealthy, the unpowerful.

So if your holiday isn’t going exactly as you planned, you’re not alone. Be kind to yourself. Not everything is within our control, and the holidays can bring up extra family stress and expectations that can’t possibly be met. Do the things that feel important to you, like watching your favorite holiday movies (whether that’s the extended Lord of the Rings series or Shop Around the Corner or the Holiday), maybe eating the way you want for a change, and cancelling the things that aren’t really actually necessary. “Christmas magic” often falls disproportionately on women’s – often mothers’ – shoulders. But maybe it’s okay to have a little less magic, and a little more mental health.

Sometimes family can have unrealistic expectations for those of us with disabilities and chronic illness. We’re not able to fly out across country during a plague or visit when others are sick. When siblings/parents/extended family/friends ask why we didn’t make the trip, they don’t really care to know the answer, or the difficulties of living with food allergies, disabilities AND a crap immune system (insert your own things here). You should not accept any guilt trips of this kind, especially when you’re struggling just to stay alive and awake, barely able to do the bare minimum of showering, eating, or even reading a book. That’s the privilege of ableism; people who don’t have these problems don’t have to think about them, and definitely don’t think about how other people with these problems have to navigate a world that’s not built for wheelchairs, chronic illness, or the burden of ten doctors’ appointments a week. Stress can and does make people with immune system problems sick; the best thing you can do for yourself is not let yourself get stressed out about the expectations of others. (And if you’re lucky enough to be abled? Please don’t hassle people who aren’t, especially this time of year.)

This season, a season we do try to celebrate in the darkest coldest part of the year, is also a season we need to survive the best we can. And cut others a break as well—they could probably use it and some extra kindness too.  So, maybe this isn’t yet the best year for a big family reunion or extra big party with friends, with so many hospitals overtaxed with the pandemic, a terrible flu year, and worse RSV than usual too. Maybe it’s okay to be quiet this time of year, to sleep an extra amount, to take the time you need to heal and recover from whatever it is you have to real and recover from. Like I said, it’s been a tough few years, and though I’m optimistic things will get better, no scientist or specialist has been able to give me a timetable for when exactly that will be. As an SNL skit said last night, “Covid never left, and also it’s back?”

I just want to send those of you struggling a hug of understanding and support. I’m a type-A control freak who wants to overperform but whose body sometimes throws a few curves in the way of plans. But you know what? Sometimes we have to let go and be okay with not being okay. And those of you having a great time? Just remember that those around might need a little extra love. Wishing you a happy holiday season (but it’s also okay if you’re not.)

First Snow (with Power Outages, Haircuts and Holiday Things), Pushcart Nominations, Notes from a Manuscript Reader

Male Great Northern Flicker in snowy flower box

First Snow in Seattle (with Power Outages, Haircuts and Holiday Things)

Well, Seattle had a series of snowstorms, below freezing temperatures, and a bunch of power outages this week—early winter after a late fall. After the first snow, we lost power at our house for seven hours, and I know people who had it out longer. So, the romance of the first snow, and the inconvenience and stress (and cold!) of the power outage go hand in hand. We tried to keep our wild birds alive (you’ll see a lot of bird pictures this week). The snow prevented me from attending several medical appointments downtown, but you know what? I was sick of doctor appointments anyway. I’m taking a break…at least until next week.

Because of the Evusheld shots I had a few weeks ago, I felt a little more courageous about going out in public than I might have otherwise. Of course, it doesn’t protect me and my weak immune system from flu and RSV and even some covid variants, but it’s better than nothing, so I did a couple of holiday traditions—Glenn and I both got haircuts, we checked out Redmond’s night of lights, and went to Willows Lodge to see their holiday decorations, listen to live music and have boozy coffees and cocktails. When you think about it, for those of us with immune problems, this is really our third holiday season with covid. I thought this thing would last max two years—and I keep saying it’s got to be almost over. I don’t know how stressful going to AWP will be. Maybe by then things will be better?

Anna’s hummingbird on twinkle lights

Pushcart Nominations (May the Odds Be Ever in Our Favor)

After a week of rejection last week, this week I had two poems nominated for the Pushcart Prize—Bourgeon nominated “A Woman Turns Fifty with Cherry Blossoms” and Jet Fuel Review nominated “In a Plague Year, I Find Foxes.” The odds of actually getting in the Pushcart anthology in any year—no matter how many times I’ve been nominated—are very small, but it’s still a nice nod from the editors.

Here’s a look at one of the poems itself, from Jet Fuel Review’s Spring issue (It will also appear in my upcoming book, Flare, Corona):

From Jet Fuel Review

Red finch on cherry branch

Notes from a Manuscript Reader

As it is poetry manuscript contest season, and I’m once again finding myself reading manuscripts, I thought I’d offer some “notes from a manuscript reader.” These are all just my opinions, and your mileage may vary.

1. If you’ve never heard this before, make sure your first five poems are doing a lot of heavy lifting for the book—and then the last final poems. Because you know what? Tired and (mostly) unpaid readers are probably not going to sift through every single poem unless you’ve already hooked them.
2. This is for contests that allow acknowledgements (some do not, so just ignore this if that is the case.) Do acknowledgements matter? Well, if you have none, it might. I think if you haven’t done the work of submitting individual poems for publication, you’re probably not ready for the work of publishing and publicizing a book. I don’t really pay attention to number or the names of the publications, but having none or only one or two acknowledgements kind of puts you in the danger zone. Now, if I still loved the poetry, I might still put it through. Just know that getting individual poems published shows you’re trying, you’re part of the literary world, and you’re trying to build an audience—all things I’d care about as a publisher, and as an extension, a reader.
3. For books leaning heavily on one historical period or incident—this can work for or against you. I’ve read terrific books done in this way, but also a lot of boring ones. If you choose this route, make sure you vary voices, styles, and forms to keep the reader’s interest.
4. There is a weird sameness of tone in the manuscripts I’ve read this year—and granted, it’s just a portion of submissions from one publisher—but there’s a monotone in the manuscripts. They’re not poorly written, but they lack emotion, power, passion. I wonder if this is possibly the effect of pandemic fatigue—it’s flattened out our voices, our writing? Anyway, don’t be afraid to be a little weird, out there, or show you care about something or someone. It’ll likely jolt the readers – which is usually a good thing.
5. Good titles never hurt you. Once again, don’t be afraid to be a little weird.

I hope this was helpful! (And not too cranky! Anyway, as I said, this is just one person’s opinion.)

To leave you, this picture of Sylvia in her holiday tree cat bed, with snowy background. Wishing you as happy, safe, and healthy a December as possible.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend, Family Visits, A New Poem in Prairie Schooner “The Girl Detective,” and Doctor’s Orders to Relax

Glenn, me, my brother Mike and his wife Loree with our Christmas tree

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving Long Weekend, Quirky Reads and Family Visits

Did you have a good Thanksgiving weekend? I hope so. We stayed pretty low-key, decorated the house for Christmas, and saw my little brother and his wife for a holiday visit and a winery tour. So we took them to Chateau St Michelle to see the lights and J. Bookwalters for a wine tasting (where my book club meets.) We still have leftovers somehow, though the pumpkin flan and duck with pomegranate disappeared. We had an early present exchange since they’re going to Ohio for Christmas to see the larger family. Glenn and I still aren’t traveling due to covid (and everything else goin around right now) plus my torn MCL keeps me from trucking around much, so it was nice to see some family on the weekend. We also zoomed with our parents and talked to all our brothers. Lots of flu, covid, and other ick going around in the family, so probably best we’re staying home.

I read a lovely new book of poetry from a poet I’d never heard of, Adrienne Raphel’s Our Dark Academia. Raphel has a great resume – MFA from Iowa, a lectureship at Princeton, published in Paris Review, Poetry, all the big names – but this was a fairly small press, Rescue Press. One reason could be some of the poems were a bit untraditional – one was in the form of a Wikipedia entry, another in the form of a crossword puzzle, another was paper dolls – but I found myself enjoying the poetry and the quirky forms. The reason to shop at in-person bookstores is to find little treasures like these on the shelves. This one was thanks to my visit to Open Books last week.

Sylvia poses with the new issue of Prairie Schooner

A New Poem in the new issue of Prairie Schooner – “The Girl Detective”

A happy surprise in the mail Friday were my contributor’s copies of the new issue of Prairie Schooner – listed as “Winter 2021” despite the fact that in fact it is Winter 2022 – and my poem “The Girl Detective” is in good company with poets like Ellen Bass, Alicia Ostriker, and Denise Duhamel. This poem isn’t in Flare, Corona, but belongs to another book, Fireproof, that I’m working on.

A sneak peek at the poem below. I hope you enjoy it!

Glenn and I on Thanksgiving with our Christmas tree

Doctor’s Orders to Relax – and How That’s Going

So, I was literally told by my MS doctor after a very stressful month that involved injuries, MS symptom flare-ups, losing a beloved kitty, and eighteen separate doctor appointments – that stress, anxiety and the lack of sleep that go with them are the enemies of MS. They can make neurological pain and symptoms like tremor and swallowing problems and vertigo worse. So I was told to find some time and make it a priority to relax. Easy to say, not so easy to do, is it?

Nevertheless, I followed instructions given by my therapist – watch funny movies (The Holiday, The Thin Man, Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special – check,) listen to music you like, and read (see above.) I spent a little time with Glenn walking around Woodinville – we walked around apple trees in the cold and visited Chateau St Michelle to pick up a bottle of Thanksgiving wine and admire their lights. I tried breathing and meditation apps, birdwatching, and observing a few sunsets. But it’s tough to unwind yourself from a period of intense stress, isn’t it? It’s not enough to say “well, I won’t stress out about anything” – because rarely does life give you a stress-free day, even. It may give you welcome sunlight in a week of rain, or a beautiful November sunset, or even just a moment to kick leaves around or watch a candle burn. If you have any more advice on how to lower stress and anxiety, I’m open to more suggestions! I have a stressful dental appointment, a downtown cancer center blood draw, and more painful PT on my knee this upcoming week, so I’ll probably need it. I’ll check in with you all next week – and who knows if Twitter will even be there?

November Sunshine in the Pacific Northwest, Final Copyedits of Flare, Corona (and E-galleys available for review!), Twitter Meltdowns, Trips to Open Books and Roq La Rue, and Pushcart Noms/Rejections and Trying to Get in the Holiday Spirit Despite(?)

Me at the Bellevue Botanical Garden, Red maple, red hat

November Sunshine in the Pacific Northwest, Looking Forward to Holiday Cheer?

It’s been strangely cold and sunny here in the Northwest. With my torn MCL knee problems, I couldn’t get out and enjoy it as much as usual, but we were determined to have a better week than last week, so we still made a (mostly wheelchair) trip to Bellevue Botanical Gardens, where the leaves were turning to pretty spectacular effect. We also visited my favorite art gallery, Roq La Rue, to see their group show, “Tiny Ghosts,” and stopped at Open Books and bought way too many books. I also has one of the poems from the upcoming book, “When I Try to Write an Elegy,” nominated for a Pushcart Prize. (Thanks Redactions!)

The bad news for this week was a bunch of normal rejections, an NEA rejection, and a fairly scary appointment with my liver doctor about my liver tumors (bad enough for me to seek a second opinion and a new doctor, to be honest). But spending time outdoors in the sun, at my fave local bookstore and, with some inspiring art, was definitely healing. The holidays are coming, and hopefully more cheer as well.

Roq La Rue “Tiny Ghosts” show and Open Books Visit

Molly Devlin “Feral Wraith” acrylic on birch

We drove to downtown to visit our favorite Seattle art gallery to see their most recent group show, “Tiny Ghosts.” Many of the works were funny and playful in a gothic way. There were also some wonderful glass and ceramic cast sculptures.

This painting to the left particularly spoke to us having just lost our dear Shakespeare last week, but Roq La Rue’s entire show is worth seeing—up through Thanksgiving!

Besides taking in some new art, we stopped at the new Pioneer Square location of Open Books, talked books with Billie, browsed around, and ended up bringing home way too many books. New books by Stephanie Burt and Saeed Jones, as well as intriguing titles by Keith S. Wilson, Adreienne Raphael, Lucille Lang Day, and more. Do you want evidence?

Here is Sylvia with my book haul, in two poses (pawses?):

Final Edits of Flare, Corona and Sending Out E-Galleys for Review (and Twitter Flameouts)

So, this weekend, I am working on final edits of Flare, Corona for BOA – including updating last-minute acknowledgements, deciding on spelling conventions for words that I apparently don’t write twice the same way, and keeping an eye out for wayward commas, and I’m also sending out e-galleys of Flare, Corona to people who might be interested in reviewing it. If you are interested in reviewing it, in a Zoom class visit, or book club inclusion, please e-mail me at jeannine dot gailey at gmail dot com and I will send you a copy!

I’m monitoring the somewhat sad situation at Twitter. If I had 44 billion dollars, I think I’d do a better job of managing the product instead of destroying it, but Elon Musk is a really bad manager with a lot of money willing to hurt others in the process of getting his own way (toxic misogyny writ large, I’m afraid) and I’m sad because I’ve built relationships with not just the poetry community but disability Twitter and even fellow cat and flower lovers and I hate that a spoiled billionaire can make everything crumble in a few days that I’ve built for years. On the other hand, it makes you rethink your whole relationship with social media. For writers it’s essential to connect with audiences—and for a long time, Twitter was the place to connect with Millennial friends, writers, and readers. (Facebook was for older folks, and Instagram was for younger—or at least that was the received wisdom. TikTok is rising fast but not sure if I want to join—same with Mastadon, which seems clunky and confusing.)

In our front yard

Trying to Get into the Holiday Spirit (2022 Edition)

So, it’s that time of year again, and I’m doing my best (despite all the setbacks, injuries, and sadnesses of the last two weeks) to get into the holiday spirit. We’ve put up lights, put up the tree and started listening to Christmas music in the background. I’ve even finished most of my Christmas shopping. We’re doing a little Thanksgiving open house with my little brother and sister-in-law, and doing some low-key friend celebratory things in December, and that’s our plan. Still no travel for us, which is hard, but we’re trying not to tempt fate and given the knee injury probably better to stay unambitious. The sunlight has helped allay some of the usual SAD, and even though it’s been cold, I appreciate the extra light – especially now that it gets dark at 4 PM (curse you Standard time!)

Has it been hard or easy to be in the holiday spirit (whatever you celebrate) this year? Easier or harder than last year? I think the pandemic has dragged on so long for those of us who are immune-compromised, I’ve lost at least two or three family friends (parents of friends, some of them very dear) and even the stores don’t quite seem to have recovered their holiday lustre. Here in Seattle we are a little rumpled by rounds of tech layoffs, not just Twitter, but Meta, Amazon, Zillow, even Microsoft. I hope to spend a quiet month or two getting better, spending time with people I love, and doing a few things around town that I really love – like seeing the local holiday lights. Am wishing you a wonderful holiday season, as good as it could possibly be. I hope you get some down time and time with loved ones. Happy Thanksgiving!

Good News, Bad News November: AWP Featuring My Panel, Losing Our Beloved Shakespeare, A Lunar Eclipse, Sprained Knee and a Monoclonal Antibody Shot, A Holiday Visit to Molbaks, and a New Poem in the West Trestle Review

Good News, Bad News November: AWP, Beloved Cats, Lunar Eclipses, Poems, and More

It’s November, and it seems that often this time of year good news and bad news comes together. Sharing a bit of good news, AWP decided to feature the panel I submitted on writing disability and chronic illness, so that’s very exciting news, and I’m extra happy for my panelists.

On the sad news, we lost our beloved 16-year-old Shakespeare this week. He has lost half his body weight in six months and was failing to hold down water, so we had a vet to the house and said goodbye to him there. It was incredibly sad, more than I ever expect (why is that the case?) Glenn took it very hard.

And then this week a lot of weird body stuff (along with a full lunar eclipse)—a first-time ever torn knee MCL, and I have to rest that for a month—on the way to get physical therapy for my knee, I got a concussion and spent election night in the ER watching the results, and then today received my hard-fought Evushield injections—preventative monoclonal antibodies. It’s not as effective as it was on earlier versions of Omicron, but it should provide more protection than just my J&J vaccine would have and lasts six months. Glenn got his bivalent Omicron shot at the same time. Hopefully we will continue to stay covid-free throughout the next six months, through AWP and my birthday and books launch? To be fair, I usually have really bad luck during eclipses, and this was no exception. Better luck next week?

AWP Features the event: Mutant, Monster, Myself: Writing the Disabled/Chronically Ill Body

I couldn’t believe it when I got the news that AWP wanted to feature the panel I’d submitted it seems just a few months ago. I was especially glad because it will have ASL translation and livestreaming, as well as being in a ballroom at the convention center, so it should be accessible to more people. And the panelists are all people I would want to hang out with under any circumstances, so I feel very lucky. And since my book is debuting at AWP, it seems like great timing. I’m really hoping to see some writer friends at this upcoming AWP – the last one I went to was in Portland!

Shakespeare as a kitten in a Halloween candy bowl

Saying Goodbye to Shakespeare

It was very hard saying goodbye to this little guy who’s been our companion for 16 years. We got him while I was touring for my first book! I wish he had been able to stay with us through this sixth book. Glenn took it very hard as Shakespeare was especially attached to Glenn, and followed him around the house. He was friendly and cuddly and just an all-around good cat. We’ll miss you, Scrummy.

Three more pictures of him—in 2016, in happier times, as Santa cat, with Sylvia, and as a kitten on my printer.

A New Poem, “In a Plague Year, a Glass Baby Grows Inside,” in West Trestle Review

“In a Plague Year, a Glass Baby Grows Inside” appears in the current issue of West Trestle Review, and appropriately enough, is accompanied by cat-themed art. Check out the whole issue. And a sneak peek below:

Glenn and I at Molbaks with poinsettia tree

Finally, a Holiday Outing to Molbaks, A Lunar Eclipse, a Sprained Knee, a Concussion, and Evushield

See, look at us? That was earlier in this week, at a Molbaks holiday party, blissfully unaware yet of what awaited us later in the week! But at least we had fun for a few hours and were reminded that it is the holidays and there are good things to celebrate.

Lunar eclipses rarely spell good news for me—in fact, they usually include a trip to the ER—and this year’s was no exception. The night of the Molbak’s party was also a huge windstorm that knocked out power for a lot of people, including a lot of my friends and my little brother, and I had my first “old age” injury—a torn MCL ligament on my knee from…I don’t know, walking around in flats? Using my exercise bike? Still not sure but seems like one of those “age-related” or maybe “hyperflexibility” injuries that take a quick moment of barely anything to happen and ages to heal. To add insult to injury, I got a concussion getting into my physical therapy building (not at all an accessible building, of course—why??) and ended up getting a CT at the ER and being diagnosed with a simple concussion and instruction to wake up every two hours to make sure I was okay.

Today I woke to an 8 AM virtual doctor’s appointment, and then a 2 PM Evushield appoint. Evushield is a preventative covid treatment for people with allergies to the covid vaccines who have immune system issues. I was the very last Evushield patient at UW to receive the treatment, even though I had been approved for the treatment in June. So hard to get ahold of, and is a little less effective than it was six months ago, but hopefully will provide a little more protection for me for the next six months. I am thankful Glenn also got his Omicron covid booster with me. I expect to be a little down, sore, and achy for a day, a small price to pay to avoid covid. I found out Evushield is just now making its way to my friends in England, for a price: $1200. So I feel lucky to be able to get it at all.

Anyway, here are a few happier scenes to send you into the rest of November. Wishing you a happy holiday season, a balance of good to conquer the bad. I’m going to try to have a happy, illness-and-injury free weekend, and wishing you the same!