Feeling Busy and Grateful: Two Upcoming Events for Flare, Corona, Interviews, Reviews, and Articles, Writers & Books Interview Online and More!

Feeling Busy, Grateful: Interviews, Reviews, Articles, and Two Upcoming Events

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, a time when Seattle usually has a lot of rain, but we’re going to have beach weather instead. I had to snap the picture of my typewriter on the one day the cherry blossoms had fallen but before they were blown away by storm. It went straight from a cold rainy spring to bright hot summer, nothing in between. Lilacs and rhodies bloomed and died under the heat.

I’ve been a little down health-wise this week, but feeling grateful for news about Flare, Corona – a new essay out in Adroit, guest blog posts, really kind thoughtful reviews.  One of my readings and interviews is up on YouTube in case you missed it in real time – and I have two readings coming up next week. It seems like I am either responding to e-mails about book-related things or thinking about book-related things. I forgot how much work this whole “new book coming out” thing is!

Rufous hummingbird at coral bells

A Very Personal Personal Essay in Adroit

First is a very personal personal essay that I wrote for Adroit, called “How to Write About Your Body Falling Apart (When the World is Falling Apart.)” It is the first time I actually wrote down all the things that happened to me over the last six years (then edited a lot of it out) so it was an emotional piece for me. It’s more challenging for me to write a personal essay than, say, a poem or a book review. So any feedback is appreciated. And leave comments at Adroit if you liked it. Here’s a little bit:

“You can’t write about sunshine and rainbows all the time. Or in my case (see my first five poetry books,) superheroes and supervillains and fairy tale characters and apocalypse – sometimes, you have to crack yourself open, write the real, vulnerable truth about your life in your own body. It’s hard. And maybe it’s healing and maybe it isn’t. Can poetry save the world? Can it save you, or me? No, but it can be a way of documenting it. Even after we are gone.”

Pink roses

Upcoming Readings at Third Place Books and A Short Appearance at Breaking Barriers

I am hoping to heal up over the long weekend because I have my final bookstore reading for a while – Lake Forest Park’s Third Place Books is hosting me on Wednesday May 31 at 7 PM, with a reading, a Q&A and a book signing afterwards. (Free) Tickets and more information are available here: Jeannine Hall Gailey presents ‘Flare, Corona’ | Third Place Books

It’s a real in-person event, so come out, grab some great coffee and a couple of books, and come say hi. It’s the last thing I’m doing for a while! 

I will also be making a brief (five minute) appearance at Breaking Barriers: a Celebration of Disability Community. Tickets to this one are free to go to virtually, but not free to attend in person, because I believe it includes food and drinks. It’s downtown at 415 Westlake in Seattle from 6-8:30.  And then a bit of a break!

Female black-headed grosbeak in cherry tree

And More! Reviews, Guest Blog Posts, and One of My Readings and Interviews Online!

Okay, so much news! So, if you missed my reading with Writers & Books and interview with my publisher at BOA Editions, Peter Conners, it is up online at the Writers & Books YouTube channel. Check it out! You’ll learn industry secrets, such as why I’m the first poet BOA has signed that’s been in the Best Horror of the Year anthology, and how I ended up writing a much bigger book than I originally anticipated.

Okay, even more!

Here’s my guest post on how my writing life has changed over the six books I’ve written at Anthony Avina’s blog: Writing Journey Over Six Books (and 25 Years) by Jeannine Hall Gailey | Author Anthony Avina’s Blog (authoranthonyavinablog.com)

And here’s a kind review from Serena Agusto-Cox at Savvy Verse and Wit of Flare, Corona. Here’s a short excerpt: “Gailey juxtaposes the glow of radiation with the dulled reputation of America and the significant changes to her own abilities to walk, think, write. “In “my bones, organs, skin, I’ve been storing/all of America’s dark secrets//” (“Self-Portrait as Radioactive Girl,” pg. 19)

Is that it? I think that’s it! And remember, if you still haven’t gotten a copy of Flare, Corona and you want a signed copy from me, I’ve still got a few left. (And I mean, just a few.)

Wishing you all a healthy, safe, and happy Memorial Day Weekend while I recover from the evil bug that hit me this week. Hit the zoo and the botanical gardens for me.