Book Launch Reading Report and a New Review of The Robot Scientist’s Daughter

Survived the Seattle book launch of The Robot Scientist’s Daughter in good cheer. Jack Straw played a wonderful host, my Dad, Glenn, and Kelli all brought flowers (so many flowers!), Evan and Kelli did a great job as emcee and opening readers, respectively, and lots of wonderful folks in the audience – even an old friend from high school! People seemed to enjoy the reception afterwards, especially the robot cupcakes, which were a big hit! Anyway, no disasters, sold some books, and here are some pics from the event! (and a link to YouTube if you want to watch the reading yourself from home.)

: Robot cupcakes (these became wearable robot rings!)

: Me with my folks before the reading

: Evan, Kelli Agodon, and I strike a pose before going in to perform!

: Kelli Agodon, me, and Donna Miscolta post-reading

A new review of The Robot Scientist’s Daughter by Melanie Teabird (isn’t that a beautiful name?) went up yesterday too. I’m so thankful for the kind reviews!

I was so excited about having one of my apocalypse poems up on The Rumpus on the 16th, too. Isn’t it funny it went up on the same day as the reading? With poetry, it’s months of hearing nothing, then everything on the same day so you’re all “celebrate five things at a time!” Anyway, all the poems The Rumpus posts in April every year are really fun reading, so check them all out.

Yesterday we drove up to Skagit Valley to take the parents, with my little brother and his wife, to the tulip fields for the last hurrah (as they announced they were cutting down all the tulips after this weekend – for the record, that’s super early, and the Tulip Festival officially lasts through the end of April.) One of the things that struck me this year was not only were the daffodils and tulips early, but when we went this time, the cherry and apple trees were still blooming, dogwoods and the lilacs and azaleas were up as well. Really beautiful but confusing, seasonally! Here’s a weirdly overexposed shot of me and my mom in the tulip fields, a bald eagle we saw, and a tangle of apple branches and cherry blossoms from La Conner.

: My mom and me, overexposed in the tulips

: Bald Eagle, Skagit

: Apple and cherry branches

The Robot Scientist’s Daughter Book Tour Starts Today: In Real Life AND Virtual!!

Today’s the day! Tonight is the kickoff of my book tour and the Seattle book launch event for The Robot Scientist’s Daughter with MC Evan J. Peterson and opening reader Kelli Russell Agodon at the lovely Jack Straw Cultural Center at 7 PM (readings with champagne reception following!) Robot swag! Radiation poetry!

Thanks to The Rumpus, who featured my poem “Apocalypse (with HGTV Magazine)” today!

And my official virtual tour, a blog book tour, kicks off today too, with an interview by Serena at Savvy Verse and Wit! You can read about why Ilya Kaminsky and Dorianne Laux were inspirations for writing The Robot Scientist’s Daughter, why it was the most difficult book for me to write, who my favorite under-appreciated poets are, and why I believe social media is a good thing for poets.

In this brief interview on favorite poets at the Straight Forward blog, I discuss one of the poems I memorized when I was eleven, a most memorable poetry reading experience, and totally cheat when asked who my favorite poet is!

And, just to prove that the review life of a poetry book can last years instead of months, just as my fourth book makes its Seattle debut, here’s a lovely review of Unexplained Fevers at The Spark, the Alternating Current blog, by Julia Hy.

Well, since I’m posting this at 1:30 AM on the day of the reading (reading jitters anyone?) I should go to sleep so I’ll be awake in time for the book launch! Hope to see some of you there in real life, and those who can’t make it, hope you find the interviews and reviews entertaining!

It’s almost my birthday, as well, which always makes National Poetry Month a little more fun (and likely to have parties involved) – and this year we’ve got a parade of – because of some crazy weather – lilacs, cherry blossoms, tulips, azaleas, rhododendrons, an apple blossoms – all at the same time! Here’s a little puffy pink “sakura” cloud action to cheer your month! Happy April!

Book Launch This Thursday in Seattle, Plus a Little Residency News!

So, the big Seattle book launch and party for The Robot Scientist’s Daughter is this Thursday, 7 PM, at The Jack Straw Cultural Center, for those of you in the area – I hope you can come! Evan J. Peterson, our MC, may, I’m told, may have a robot costume planned, and Kelli Agodon is always a delight to hear from – plus, my folks are flying out from Ohio to be there – craziness! Champagne (well, Prosecco, anyway) reception following, plus, robot swag!

Now, while everyone was at AWP, I was feeling a little sad about missing out, but I did get some good news – I’m going to a residency this September! A working marine biology field station on the San Juan Islands that also hosts writers, artists, and scientists called The Whitely Center. This is the first writing residency I’ve tried to go to since years ago at Centrum, so I am so excited and have high hopes about finishing up this next apocalypse-themed book manuscript I’ve been working on for the last couple of years.

So, hope you are all having a good April/National Poetry Month so far, and if you’re not too tired from AWP, go out and check out some poetry at your local library and bookstore. Go to a poetry reading and buy the reader some coffee, if not their book.

A New Review at Savvy Verse and Wit for The Robot Scientist’s Daughter, and the Top Five Ways to Replicate AWP in Your Own Hometown

Thanks to Serena and Savvy Verse and Wit for this kind new review of The Robot Scientist’s Daughter at Savvy Verse and Wit!

AWP starts Wednesday. I won’t be at this year’s AWP in Minnesota (though I plan to be at next year’s in LA) so I made a list for all of us who aren’t going to AWP to simulate the experiences!

Top Five Ways To Replicate AWP in Your Own Hometown

Invite all your writer friends into a very small, smoky bar or coffee shop with no parking and stage a poetry reading and, for bonus points, either a spontaneous fistfight or dance party. Then, get them all into a hotel elevator, preferably slow, for awkward conversation.
Arrange to hang out in a local crowded hotel lobby and see if you spot any writers you know. Ask at least two people who might vaguely resemble authors to sign books for you.
Find your local university’s bookstore or the closest magazine stand that carries literary magazines, flipping through as many as possible in a very short amount of time. Carry home as many as you can, and then stack them by your computer where they will gather dust. At the bookstore, buy yourself a shot glass, magnet, or postcard with a witty literary saying, and you can call it swag! Even if you spend, say, a hundred dollars on literary magazines, that’s still way cheaper than AWP!
Wear a name tag around your house, to the mall, or just to your daily errands all day but keep it turned around so no one knows who you really are. Carry a very heavy tote bag with you (bonus points if you carry one from a previous year’s AWP!)
Go three days without any sleep, eating only handfuls of candy and drinking only the kind of alcohol you like the least, along with plenty of cheap coffee. Go to your local book store or library late at night (if possible) and ask everyone there about their thoughts on the state of publishing (if no local libraries or book stores, try closing time at the grocery store.) Maybe try to slip someone your latest manuscript.

Seriously though, if you’re going to AWP, have a great time, and stop by Mayapple Press’s table to get a copy of my new book! If you’re not, well, let’s cheer each other up by posting pretend gossip from AWP!

2015 Big Poetry Giveaway!

Happy National Poetry Month! That means it’s time for the Big Poetry Giveaway!

This year, I’m giving away a copy of my fourth book, The Robot Scientist’s Daughter, all about growing up in “America’s Secret City,” Oak Ridge, Tennessee. If you like robots, stories about atomic history, poems based on radioactive elements, then you’ll enjoy this book! (See a sample poem here.) In a review in The Rumpus, Mary McMyne called it “her most haunting and masterful book yet!”

The second book is a copy of local poet and translator Don Mee Choi’s The Morning News is Exciting from Action Books. She’s a fierce writer and this book in particular showcases her abilities with both lyric and prose poetry forms.

Both winners will also receive an assortment of literary journals from my collection!

Please enter your name and contact information in the comments section below. If you are new to my web page, please click my About link above. You have until April 30 to leave a comment. I will announce the winners sometime at the start of May.

Thanks for taking part in The 2015 Big Poetry Giveaway! If you want to learn more about it, click here!