Holiday Readings, Redmond Lights, Parties, and Getting Ready for Visits from Family

Tonight I’m reading for the art dedication of a piece called “The Erratic” on the Redmond Connector Trail, at 6:30. I think the reading is actually outside, and there’s a luminary walk and hot chocolate booths and such for kids, and I believe the part that I’ll be a part of will last from 6:30 to 7 PM. Did I mention it’ll be outside and last night it was ten degrees outside! Ten degrees in Seattle! It’s the coldest I ever remember it being out here, I have to keep thawing out the hummingbird feeders. I’ve gone up to my “old clothes closet” to dig out: heaviest long winter coat, earmuffs, gloves, and I have to try to find something “festive” to wear for the reading that I won’t freeze in underneath. (The Ugg boots aren’t necessarily festive, but possibly a necessity!) The whole schedule for the Redmond Lights events tonight is here: http://www.redmondlights.com/events/

Last night I went out to see former editor of Poetry Northwest and current critic for The Rumpus David Biespiel do a reading at Open Books. Local luminaries like Linda Bierds (winner of one of those MacArthur Genius Grant) and Martha Silano were there, so that was fun, but it was so cold last night, and someone was coughing all the way through the reading, and I came home with a sore throat, so I’m drinking hot water and honey to fix that before tonight. Sometimes I have to remember to rest the night before a reading!

Did I mention tonight is also the husband’s annual Christmas party downtown? So it’s possible I will race home from the outdoor reading, change clothes, glam up, and head downtown to help the husband do networking and see what the company sprang for this year (in early years at the company, they used to splash out on smoked salmon and champagne and 80’s cover bands, but it’s been a while. Times are lean!)

In the middle of this, I am getting ready for a holiday visit from my parents, which means I am trying to decorate and clean the house and get the upstairs ready for visitors (we have a tiny Christmas tree for the upstairs!) and running around trying to put presents together for everyone (five nieces and nephews, five brothers and brother-in-laws, friends, the parents, various others…) It seems harder to shop this year as the sales weren’t very good and the quality on everything seems a little cheaper – probably due to the recession, shops are trying to make more profit.

Let’s see, I’ve been reading Donna Tartt’s new book The Goldfinch, which I think is horribly repetitive and the voice seems very phony, like she’s never even talked to a teenage boy in her life. It got praised up and down for its wonderful “Dickens-esque” character, but Dickens was more fun than this – and based on the plot, the book should be a lot more fun – art thievery, white trash living in Vegas, snobby Manhattan families, etc. I’m disappointed because I loved The Secret History so much, but I remembered I don’t always love everything by every author I like – I’m crazy about some AS Byatt books, for instance, but only “meh” about others. (And while Margaret Atwood continues to be one of my favorite writers, her latest sci-fi dystopian trilogy didn’t thrill me, either.) Perhaps I’ve become a tougher reader as I get older? One book I’m thrilled with so far is “A Poet’s Prose” – the prose writings of Louise Bogan, which makes a wonderful read along with the correspondence of Flannery O’Connor, because they discuss some of the same problems and write to some of the same people (although Louise was born first, she outlived Flannery by decades.) Even if you don’t love her poetry, you will probably love her letters – she’s sharp, gossipy, intelligent, passionate, someone you would have wanted to be friends with. It’s the kind of book I love to “happen upon” when I go to Open Books.

Happy December! Some Good News, and Asking for Good Thoughts

Well, six months with very little in the way of good news, then I got a ton of it the day after Thanksgiving!

New Binary Press has nominated my poem from Unexplained Fevers, “Once Upon a Time,” which first appeared in American Poetry Review, for the Pushcart Prize, so cross your fingers for it!

I got an acceptance from one of my fave online fairy-tale reviews, Rose Red Review, of three poems. And an acceptance of three poems for the Drawn to Marvel anthology coming out in March from Minor Arcana Press!

Then, I have good news for those of you who are fans of my little second book, She Returns to the Floating World, which went out of print when Kitsune Books closed…Two Sylvias Press is re-releasing and re-launching a print version of the book, with some new edits AND…drumroll…with new art work inspired by the poems by Michaela Eaves inside! Cool, right? Should be out by the end of the year!

We’re decking the halls a little early this year in preparation for my parents’ visit in about a week, so we’ve put up the Christmas lights, our tree, our mantel has stockings…

But a little worry is overshadowing my holiday excitement and happiness and thankfulness for all this good news. Thailand has had some political unrest, and my little brother is living out there, so think good thoughts for he and his wife out there.

Black Friday Poetry Sales?

The only sane kind of shopping to do today is online shopping. Better still, online shopping for poetry! It makes a thoughtful gift, especially combined with, say, some other down-time-appropriate accessories, maybe some fancy coffee or tea and a nice throw. In that vein…

If you live near Ireland, check out my third book’s publisher, New Binary Press, and their holiday sale! My book Unexplained Fevers is available for 8 euros, which is about $10.80 American.

And, if you want signed copies of all of my books for yourselves or for friends, I’m doing a package deal of all three of my books (Becoming the Villainess, She Returns to the Floating World, and Unexplained Fevers) for $30, plus $3 for priority shipping. You’ll receive a little something extra too, like an art card or bookmark or something fun! It’s the holidays, after all.

“Click here to order – available for seriously a limited time only, and I even made a special Paypal button for it! If you want me to sign one or all of the books to you or someone special, put that request in the “Add Special Instructions to the Seller” popup comment field.

As for me, I’m going to spend “Black Friday” decorating for the holidays, organizing, and enjoying delicious leftovers, maybe doing some poetry work. And maybe even getting on my exercise machine…we have some snow in the forecast, so I guess I better for real start wearing a coat and a sweater. One good thing about living near the ocean is usually our winters are pretty mild, but we have some very chilly temperatures in the forecast (so dress accordingly if you’re planning to visit!)

Some Good News to be Thankful For – a Relief, a Finalist Announcement, a B12 warning, and More

So, this week of Thanksgiving, I definitely have some things to be thankful for.

After several neurologist visits and a barrage of tests, though they did find some neurological permanent damage and some other oddities, the consensus seems to be that I most likely do not have MS (though I’ll probably need another MRI down the line to make sure.) I hadn’t realized how much this news lifted a dark cloud over my head that’s been there for a few months, kind of weighing down my thoughts, trying not to think about the bad stuff ahead. I was so exhausted from the many tests that I didn’t even register the good news at first, it just kind of felt like the sun was out. Which, also, the sun was out in Seattle in November, a small miracle in itself (even if our air quality is in the tank! Ha! Can’t have everything!) I even wrote a poem the day I found out, which I hadn’t done in a while.

The other news was that I not only had a very good conversation with a lovely, kind and witty small press publisher about my fourth book manuscript The Robot Scientist’s Daughter, and that the manuscript is also a finalist for this year’s Brittingham and Pollak Prize. So I am hopeful that good things are happening in that direction.

I would like to take a small moment to give you all a little bit of info and a warning about the seriousness of B12 deficiency. The first time I was tested for b12 deficiency was 2007 in Port Townsend; my symptoms then were frequent sore throats, mild intermittent buzzing in my hands and feet, and severe neck pain, which I thought was injury-related. The doctor was pretty smart for even thinking for look for a vitamin deficiency with that set of symptoms, I think, and sure enough, the blood test revealed very low b12. He started me on b12 shots monthly, which I took for years, and oral supplement drops. Unfortunately, I don’t absorb b12 through food or even through the shots very well, it turns out, and years of severely low b12 (starting probably years before 2007) have left me with some permanent neural damage, and I will always have to stay vigilant about getting tested for b12, even while getting shots or my current regimen of twice-weekly nasal spray b12. Some of the symptoms, like the neck pain, numbness and tingling in my hands and feet, clumsiness due to motor skill damage, and some memory issues – may stick around my whole life, I’ve been told. B12 deficiency, if it is severe enough, can damage your nerves’ myelin sheath in much the same way MS can. Now you know! Because I didn’t! This is why, during a few days of holiday cheer and down time, and if you have some spare time to get to a doctor, I’d encourage you to get some of your basic vitamin levels tested – including the B’s and maybe D, especially if you feel tired, or low, or especially numb, clumsy or ache-y. (My husband, by the way, who eats a fairly healthy diet and has no food allergies like I do, who had been complaining about feeling tired, and because of my insistence, got tested and turned out to be mildly deficient in Folic Acid! A surprise! So you never know until you get your B vitamins tested what you might not be getting through your diet.)

Now, I’m off to a physical therapy appointment followed by a date with my husband to see Catching Fire! It’s a glamorous life all right, and I am feeling thankful for it today. Merry Thanksgiving to All!

Things to Get Done Before the End of the Year

Yes, it’s the end of November, and we’re counting down til the end of the year. For me, this means a flurry of doctor’s appointments and tests, important to schedule them now because if I get anything done after January 1 our deductible goes back to zero, and everything is out of pocket for the first few thousand dollars. So: blood draw yesterday, neurologist today, thyroid ultrasound Saturday, and yet another couple of doctor’s appointments to schedule that I just haven’t had time to get to…Phew! I’m exhausted, or maybe that’s just the blood draw talking. I’m off to downtown for today’s appointment in a few minutes.

I checked my “gift box” and noticed that I have already done a lot of my Christmas shopping, which I did really early this year, picking up gifts I thought were thoughtful when I saw them at a good price throughout the year. This makes me a little relieved that I don’t have much left to do shopping-wise. Every year we have fewer grown-ups who want to exchange gifts but more children, thanks to my super-procreative brothers and brother-in-law. For Glenn and I, we usually do our gift exchanges after Christmas, which was a tradition in my family growing up poor – we always shopped the after-Christmas sales with my Dad’s January 1 paycheck. It’s actually a nice way to extend the season and not stress out the bank account – I recommend it! As a child it was hard to wait, as an adult it just seems logical!

It’s been freezing cold here (lower twenties at night) which means I had to unearth my box of heavy sweaters, which with the usual winters here I can leave in storage, because our winters are typically rainy, gray, but in the fifties-range during the day. Not this year! I’m also trying to locate a warm-enough coat – most of my “coats” are thin jackets, which, once again, work most years…

And what about poetry and writing, you ask? Well, it’s the end of the year for that too, so I’m taking stock of submissions still out, looking at any recent poem and short story drafts and considering which are worth keeping, thinking about where I want to send work (if anywhere) for the rest of the year. My fifth manuscript is getting into good shape, finally – it took some more personal poems to make the apocalyptic-and-pop-culture-themed collection to find some resonance, but now it’s feeling closer to complete. My fourth manuscript is still…well, let’s just say there’s some movement on it but nothing I can announce yet. It’s in a liminal space, so to speak, between the worlds of creation and production.

So what’s on your list of things to get done before the end of the year? Which boxes are you taking out and shaking?