How is your new year going so far? I was feeling a bit discouraged yesterday, but was helped by getting out into the watery sunshine in nearby lovely Yountville, where I can’t afford to eat at the many fabulous starred restaurants but I can afford a loaf of bread and lemonade from one of their bakeries.
I finally got my contributor copy of the Fall 2009 The LA Review, which was really fun to read – particularly the poetry – many of which were playful and refreshingly non-downbeat, including those by Deb Ager and Kelli Agodon.
I’ve also got a new poem up at the very intriguing online journal Prick of the Spindle called “Sleeping Beauty Loves the Needle.” Isn’t that a great marriage of poem title and journal title? I enjoyed reading the poetry in this issue as well.
Also got the anthology for the nominees for the Dwarf Star prize anthology, which included poems by editor Mike Allen and Seattle haiku poet Michael Dylan Welch. I was honored one of my own poems was nominated as well! Thanks Poemeleon and SFPA!
Rain is coming back to town, which I guess I can’t complain about, since most the country is in some sort of deep freeze. Ready for spring yet? When do the days start feeling longer?
Another beautiful sunny day today as we wind towards the end of October. We carved a huge pumpkin last night, and I’ve been craving pumpkin-related foods (pumpkin seeds, pumpkin pancakes, etc.) We’ve been in Napa almost a month now. I can’t believe it!
I’ve been remiss in announcing a couple of publications:
–A few poems and a review in the new “Gender” issue of Poemeleon
–A new poem, “The Robot Scientist’s Daughter Journeys West,” in issue 6 of The L.A. Review. (I don’t think the poem is available online, only in the print version. Sorry!)
Lots of good writer friends in both journals, including bloggers like Kelli R. Agodon, Deb Ager, and Diane Lockward.
In other writing news, I got an acceptance from a speculative journal I really like, and two more well-written, personalized rejections. I don’t know what’s up with all these personal, positive rejections – do the editors have more time to do this these days? Are editors getting nicer? I like getting notes on particular poems – it makes me feel like someone is really reading them, as opposed to the form rejections, where you don’t know if anyone really did.
Still haven’t gotten to San Francisco – one, because I’m on crutches, and two, because I’m still fighting back against the mother of all tummy bugs that’s been bothering me for almost two months now. (I’ve resisted taking the scary antibiotics for it, because of the listed side effects such as hallucination and numbness of the hands and feet – and oh yes, nausea and vomiting, which are exactly what you want more of with a tummy bug – but my resistance is crumbling…) On the plus side, the ankle shows encouraging signs of improvement, and hopefully the stomach will soon as well!
In reading news, I discovered a new, California-based journal called The Normal School, which has a magazine-like layout and some really funny stuff, including an essay by Ander Monson on his wikipedia entry and self-googling habits. I might look for some funny poems to send them…
