Well, off to Seattle (where it is not 63 and sunny, but 50 and rainy…brrr) tomorrow, and although I’m now capably limping across rooms in my cast (yay!) I’m still wheelchair-bound for the airport (boo!) Never been in an airport in a cast and a wheelchair before, so it’ll be an interesting (and no doubt, slower) experience. I’m looking forward to seeing a few friends (although not all of them – hard to schedule over husband’s G’s work stuff), visiting Open Books, eating some delicious salmon (and maybe some Rainier cherries if I’m lucky) and drinking a wonderful cup of coffee while browsing wonderful books. For some reason, southern California is devoid of the wild Alaskan salmon that was available at every grocery store in the northwest. Why all the farmed Atlantic salmon, San Diego? I’m looking forward to the visit – we were supposed to go out in February, but I couldn’t even stand on two feet back then (plus I had a cast on my hand as well) so we had to postpone. I picture myself coming home with my arms full of the things we can’t get easily here: poetry, black clothing and coffee.

Got my contributor’s copy of the really beautifully-produced pocket-size Sentence 6, which has its share of bloggers (Nin Andrews and Steve Schroeder) and writers I love, including Denise Duhamel. I’m writing a review of her newest book, Ka–Ching! as we speak. If you haven’t seen Sentence before, it’s devoted to the prose poem, and I’ve found it to be a wonderful read every time I’ve gotten ahold of a copy.

Question: Has the economic downturn affected your life as a writer? Have you submitted to fewer markets, sent out fewer manuscripts, had less time for writing?