First official review of Unexplained Fevers, two new blog reviews, and this Saturday’s magical poetry event!

The first official review is out! Thank you to Savvy Verse & Wit, for their review of Unexplained Fevers, found here:

http://savvyverseandwit.com/2013/05/unexplained-fevers-by-jeannine-hall-gailey.html

I was also really thankful and happy with two other reviews, this time blog reviews, by Karen Weyant and Donna Miscolta:

Karen says Unexplained Fevers is her May poetry pick, and that: “This is Gailey’s third collection, and in many ways, she is returning to the stories she started in her first book, Becoming the Villainess.  Indeed, her poetic heroines have grown stronger through the years.  Where there once was hesitancy with her narrators, there is now more self-assurance.  Her female characters don’t pretend to be perfect — they only want to be human.” Read the rest of the review here.

Donna Miscolta, a talented fiction writer, reviews my book as well as Kelly Davio’s Burn This House here: http://donnamiscolta.com/2013/05/06/unexplained-fevers-and-burn-this-houseblisteringly-good-poetry/

We’ve had a string of sunny days and high temperatures, a combo in Seattle that’s typically not great for poetry activities, during which I’ve been feverishly planning for this Saturday’s big (and possibly one of the last) Redmond Poet Laureate events for me.

It’s called “Once Upon a Time,” at VALA art center in the Redmond Town Center, and starts at 3:30 on May 11th. (Readings will start at 4 PM.) Besides a bit of reading from my new book, there will also be featured local poets including the former and first Poet Laureate of Redmond, Rebecca Meredith, and Laura Lee Bennett, Elizabeth Hayden, Kelly Davio, Pamela Denchfield, and Dawn-Marie Oliver, as well as a small fairy-tale related art show by Tacoma artist Michaela Eaves. I’ve ordered catering, champagne and sparkling juice, and am thinking about things like chairs, easels, and hoping that I can get some East side folks to ditch the outdoors for a couple of hours and enjoy some art and poetry.

I’m doing a bit of soul searching to figure out what I want to try and do in the next year, something maybe a lot of people are doing right now. Do I want to take some time off and write, or, do the opposite – try to jump back into better paying work, maybe more serious amounts of freelance writing and editing? Do I want to do more non-profit art community work in a wider setting? What should my goals be at this point? Applying for grants, focusing on my next two book manuscripts, taking time to promote the current book, reviewing more or less?
I’ve also, what with all the health crises in my family, been thinking about – what’s really important to me? What kind of activities improve the quality of my life? Should I be daring more, or being more careful with my health? Should I be seeking out opportunities to make new friends and get to know more of the terrific but splintered poetry community in the Northwest, or seek to spend more time with old friends? Well, if you have any life advice for me, leave it in the comments. It’s strange to look at being forty, at having three (!!) poetry books published and two more (!!!) in process, to have spent a year trying to serve my community as a poet instead of just “being a poet” and thinking about the lessons it has taught me, thinking about mortality and family issues and all that mid-life stuff. I went to sleep last night listening to Joseph Campbell talk about “The Hero’s Journey” – a terrific DVD if you can find it at your local library, particularly if you’re a Star Wars fan as it has some clips with George Lucas.