My Last Reading as Redmond’s Poet Laureate, and other news

It’s been wet and stormy here, precluding much in the way of going out and enjoying the fall (no apple picking or sunflower hunting in floods and thunderstorms, I’m afraid.) I’m feeling physically like getting out and active more than I have in a long time, so I hope we get a break with the weather soon. Wettest September in Seattle on record!!!

However, as a true adopted daughter of the Pacific Northwest, it hasn’t prevented me from getting out and about for readings. First, I went down to Open Books a few nights ago to see a reading that kicked off Washington’s LitFure event, with Dorianne Laux, Joe Millar, and Chad and Jennifer Sweeney (though I think everyone reading was exhausted, as they had just flown in from the East Coast and it was 11 PM their time. Whew!) It was still a pleasure to see everyone, and had a lot of friends in the crowd I hadn’t seen a while, too, which is always one of the nice side benefits of going to readings. Dorianne read a great poem involving crime scene investigation that has inspired me to try my hand at a CSI-type poem as some point.

And, the next night, I had my final Redmond reading as Redmond Poet Laureate, as part of RASP’s Jack Straw Writers Program. There was a nice open mike and I read with two other Jack Straw writers, Daemond and Chelsea. It was a convivial evening and a nice way to close my season of Poet Laureate-ing, the crowd was healthy-sized and I even got some cheers and, I believe, some “wooting.”

So, I have to admit, after all the readings and activities lately, I am a bit ready to go into hibernation mode and get back to writing and submitting and the regular business of being a writer, rather than being an ambassador/community organizer/outreach of poetry-type person. I like that stuff, but it also took a fair amount of energy and time, maybe more than I was planning on. Of course, I still have the ArtsCrush program on October 9th and Geek Girl Con on the 19th to do before I can take the time to rest and recover (and, in the meantime, I’m having a lot of overdue dental work done! Fun!) Yes, it’s a glamorous life, all right.

The stormy weather seemed just right for the final episode of Breaking Bad (loved the “Wicked Felina” reference) and for catching up on book reviews (Robert Lee Brewer’s Solving the World’s Problems and Carrie Olivia Adams’ Forty-One Jane Doe’s for Crab Creek Review‘s first issue of 2014, and Raymond McDaniel’s Special Powers and Abilities for The Rumpus. I’m going to get into Midge Raymond’s Everyday Book Marketing next. I still can learn new tricks about book promotion, and Lord knows, as a poet, I need all the help I can get promoting my books!