LCRW contributor copies, good news in general

Blogging from a beautiful sunny day – so hard to sit down at the computer and focus when the olive trees are blooming, the roses are everywhere shouting from walls and porches, the green field across from my apartment is full of soccer players shouting enthusiastically in Spanish. Took a walk around St. Helena this afternoon, visited the market and poked around inside stores I can’t afford – things like 25-year-old balsamic vinegars, fancy cheeses, garlands of lavender, and locally-made soaps. I have all the windows open. It’s the perfect day to write, and yet…so…hard…to…stay…still…

I had a wonderful surprise in the mail today, contributor copies of Gavin Grant and Kelly Link’s Small Beer Press magazine, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, or LCRW for short, and a little check for my three poems. Thanks guys! Not only have I loved this publication for years, it’s just a really good collection of work because the editor’s tastes are so eclectic and fun. If you know Kelly Link’s work and like it, you’ll probably like the stuff inside this magazine. And it’s only four dollars! I mean, a bargain in a world of overpriced lit mags. And they pay their writers! Impressive, no? This is why I love the world o’ speculative writing. (Writers inside include the fantastic Zhao Haihong, Richard Parks, Eilis O’Neal and Jennife Linnaea.)

I also had some promising news on the book front – I sent a query out for a manuscript, and they asked to see the whole thing. That’s a good sign, I think. The publisher would be a very good fit for my work. Send good energy out there for me. I could use a break for that second book manuscript!

Hmrph. Now off to grade, or write, or something productive like that. The big bunch of pink peonies and lilies in front of me remind me to wish you and your mothers a Happy Mother’s Day!