Happy (Pandemic) Holidays, More About BOA and upcoming books, and Wishing You Health and Safety

Glenn and I in silly holiday outfits – with dinosaurs and Xmas cats

Happy (Pandemic) Holidays!

Happy holidays and thank you for the kind wishes on my good book news last week. I am so excited. It’s nice to have some happy news in the midst of all the stressful news about the pandemic and crazy killer weather. More boosters? More variants? Killer tornadoes in December? Higher than ever covid levels? Excuse me while I breathe into this paper bag.

I’m not going to be home this year, as due to my immune system problems I’m avoiding travel, but I will be seeing some (vaccinated) friends to make it feel at least a little bit like the holidays, going to see some lights and hopefully getting some holiday cheer going.

Now, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have a little word of caution: Due to the fact that I’m seeing more and more vaccinated friends and family actually getting covid – I advise being extra careful, a little more instant testing, and asking the host to open a window or two if you’re visiting in someone’s home.

Pink Hair on the Kirkland waterfront

Glenn and I are trying our best to keep ourselves feeling bright during Seattle’s “Big Dark” – with cold rain and complete darkness by 4:30 PM.

This is a tough time in the Northwest, especially during a pandemic when we can’t get together and huddle for warmth in coffee shops and bookstores and concerts and museums like we normally do. Hence, we resort to silly Christmas outfits as you can see, and extra lights on the house and deck. I’ve also been known to play a Yule log on the television set with kittens and bunnies and cheesy holiday music. Hey, whatever helps you muddle through.

I’ve also been a little under the weather – not covid, just run of the mill things like sore throats and stomach bugs – but the good news is I’ve been able to read more (particularly enjoying Steve Fellner’s Eating Lightbulbs and Other Essays and Siri Hustvedt’s Mothers, Fathers, and Others essay collection, as well as Katherine Mansfield’s complete journals and letters), listen to more audiobooks, and I think I’ve watched every classic holiday movie there is. (PS: I hate It’s a Wonderful Life, mostly because of its treatment of Donna Reed’s character, who clearly would have been better off as a single librarian.)

Glenn and I with Christmas tree and sleigh

It Happened on 5th Avenue is my recommendation for this year, with its warm and fuzzy social justice/holiday themes, but Christmas in Connecticut with a delightfully fake Martha Stewart-type figure who tries not to get caught by her overbearing boss. The main character played by Barbara Stanwyck is a joy to watch.

We also – every time the weather permits – have been seeking out the happiest outdoor holiday decor, including this sleigh with topiary reindeer at Carillon Point in Kirkland. It was a little iffy on the waterfront – a little rain, a little sun, a little cold – but it’s still good to get outdoors.

Sylvia with her favorite BOA poetry books

More about BOA and Upcoming Books

To the left is Sylvia posing with some of her favorite BOA poetry books. She is a big BOA fan!

So, yes, I’m very excited about Flare, Corona coming out with BOA Editions in the fall of 2023, by which time I hope we will have better solutions for this covid thing and life will have somewhat returned to normal. Maybe I can even have a book party at a winery or something fun like that!

This book manuscript is very personal to me – it contains poems about getting diagnosed with what they said was terminal cancer back five years ago, and then six months later, getting diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and as I gradually recovered from the shock of those two things, the pandemic crept into our lives.

But I swear it’s not a depressing book – there are supervillains and fairy tales in the poems, as you might expect in my books – and there’s lots of humor. And I cannot imagine a better press to bring out this book.

And I’m also thankful to Alternating Current Press for bringing out Fireproof in May 2022, so I have something to focus on for the next six months. Fireproof is about witches, Joan of Arc, genetics, fairy tales – it’s a little edgy, a little feminist, and little political. A very different book than Flare, Corona. I’m about to be at the stage where I’m asking for blurbs (eek!) and deciding on cover art. The web site will probably get a little makeover based on the next two books as well.

It’s been five years since Field Guide to the End of the World came out, so to suddenly have two books on the horizon is a little bit of a shock – but a good shock. While you wait for the new books, remember books make wonderful holiday gifts! I’m happy to send a signed copy of any of my five poetry books or my PR for Poets book and you still have time for shipping priority before Christmas. 😊

Carillon Christmas tree, topiary deer, and sleigh

Wishing You a Safe, Healthy, and Happy Holiday!

Seriously now, take good care of yourselves, be careful, get tested, and take it easy on yourselves and your loved ones this holiday, We have never lived through years like the last two before, and hopefully, with gains in our scientist’s attacks on covid – I’m betting antivirals will make a huge difference once we have them in pill form – we won’t have to again. If you, like me, are having a little bit of a quieter year than usual, just remember this is only temporary, and try to be extra kind to yourself.

New Poem “Enchantment” Up on Rogue Agent, Winter Scenes and Surviving the Holiday During the 2nd Plague Year, and Big News Tomorrow!

Apple trees in winter, Woodinville

New Poem Up at Rogue Agent, and Big News Tomorrow

Well, I can’t tell you my big poetry news yet…but I will post it here (and on social media) tomorrow!

But in the meantime, thank you to Rogue Agent for publishing my poem “Enchantment” in their latest issue, which also has poems by friends Ronda Broatch and Jen Karetnick. It’s a very spooky fairy tale poem, which I thought worked well with this photo of winter apples – which always look so bleak and beautiful to me – and it’s also going to be in my upcoming book from Alternating Current Press, Fireproof.

A sneak peek at the poem:

Bald eagle swooping past my yard today

Winter Scenes and Surviving the Holidays During the Second Year of the Plague

This bald eagle swooped by my window while I was writing this, so I’m lucky I got a snap before it swooped away! That’s the nice thing about winter here – you might see an odd bald eagle, or black bear, or coyote or bobcat. Some real mega-fauna!

I was a little sick this week (a stomach bug and a migraine? strange combo for me – and I had to cancel a class, which I hated doing, but stomach bugs are one thing you don’t really have any control of) but before I feel too sorry for myself I now have three friends and one family member, all vaccinated, who have covid right now. I wish I could do more to protect or help them, or even had useful advice. It’s hard feeling helpless in the face of this thing. I wish now I had gone into a career in virology!

This Omicron thing is worrying because it seems to evade our vaccines, and it’s very contagious, and pretty much everywhere. What is the holiday going to bring, especially in states and countries that aren’t doing much with masks? I’m not going to try to travel or do much in indoor spaces, because I’m still “in a vulnerable population,” but I’m hoping this version of coronavirus will not be quite as dangerous or deadly, even if we know it’s more contagious.

Hummingbird on Christmas lights

We won’t really know just how dangerous for a few weeks yet, so we just have to wait and see, which is frustrating, not just for me, but for so many. I just want to send virtual hugs to everyone who has to wait a little longer when we thought we were finally at an end.

I’m still hoping it won’t last much longer, or at least recede into a less dangerous version of itself. I’m also hoping we’ll have more effective antivirals that work across a broader range of coronaviruses. Come on, science! Come on, genetic drift to a less scary version of itself! I really do have hope that this will not last forever. There will be a time when we won’t feel scared of “covid 19” anymore.

And we will be able to celebrate the holidays like we used to! Someday…

Christmas scene inside Willows Lodge

Glenn snapped this picture inside our local hotel, Willows Lodge, which, in normal times, we’d be going to every week to enjoy a cocktail and some live music, or maybe a nice dinner.

They do a beautiful job with holiday decorations – this tree always makes me feel small, because I think it’s two stories tall!  I miss doing these kinds of regular holiday things – going down the street to enjoy the holiday glow at wineries and restaurants, going to the zoo to see the lights, going to art galleries, or having holiday dinners – but I know I can make it just a little longer if I need to, and I guess I need to for now. I’m going to have to do more reading and more writing and spend less time pining for things I can’t do just yet. And I do have this mysterious good news to celebrate…stay tuned!

Happy Holiday Weekend, Sign Up for a Speculative Poetry Class, Interview with Jason Mott at The Rumpus, New Poem in Los Angeles Review, Pushcart Nomination at Fairy Tale Review, and Feeling Hopeful Despite

Me at Chateau Ste Michelle with ornament art

Happy Holiday Weekend!

I hope all of you had a safe, happy long holiday weekend. Ours was very quiet but I worked on an upcoming class on speculative poetry I’m doing next weekend (sign up here!) took on a reorganization of bookshelves (long overdue!) and we started decorating for Christmas. It always cheers me up to see the lights around the neighborhood and get out our little ornaments – robots, typewriters, penguins, and hedgehogs share space with unicorns, shoes, and ice cream cones.

Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate! We made latkes – a reminder of our early college years in Cincinnati, where we would stop off at Izzy’s deli at this time of year for giant latkes – with baked apples and Greek yogurt, which I heartily recommend for this time of year to ward off chills. It’s been a cold and wet week here, but we made a quick stop off in our brief dry moments to take pictures of holiday decorations at Chateau Ste Michelle’s and Kirkland waterfront clouds. It seems like a big upcoming week for poetry stuff, so…

Kirkland waterfront with clouds

Poetry News: A Pushcart Nomination, an Upcoming Speculative Poetry Class, a Poem at Los Angeles Review Monday, and an Interview with Jason Mott at the Rumpus

First of all, you can sign up – for $5! – for my speculative poetry class (co-sponsored by Prospectus and Spellbinder) and get more information here:  We’ll talk about what speculative poetry is, reading some examples, and even do a few exercises. It’s a great way to brighten a gray day! It’s at noon PST next Saturday, the 4th.

Second, you can read my interview with National Book Award winner Jason Mott on the Rumpus starting Monday. Jason is a wonderful speculative fiction writer who is getting some well-deserved praise for his latest book, but he’s also a terrific poet and one of those really good people you are genuinely happy for when good things happen for them.

I also have a poem coming out Monday the 29th, at the Los Angeles Review, “I Confuse Palm Sunday with Palm Springs.” 

And, for some good news: Fairy Tale Review nominated my poem from the Gold Issue, “Transformation,” for a Pushcart Prize. Cross your fingers that I might actually get in to the anthology this year! For a sneak peek, since the poem is not available online, see below.

Closeup on ornament art at Chateau Ste Michelle

Feeling Hopeful Despite…

As I’m writing this, it’s pitch black outside despite being 7 AM, we’re under flood watch AGAIN and the world is freaking out over the latest variant of covid. A friend of mine – a vaccinated friend – is in the hospital with covid pneumonia. (So please, if you feel sick, even if you’re vaccinated, get tested for flu AND covid and be sure to watch your oximeter for your oxygen levels. Oximeters save lives.)

I’m being very cautious about things for now (postponed my brain MRI and dental work until January, no travel for the holidays, etc.) By the way, if you’re socializing or heading home, maybe be sure to crack a window or run an air purifier. Air circulation is very important with airborne viruses. It’ll help keep you from feeling stuffy as well! Yes, a mask, yes, booster shots, but also, open a window! Stay outside when you can. Keep washing your hands, taking your c, zinc, and D, sleeping when you can, practicing what they call “good self care.” Be kind to yourself. Be kinder to others.

Our Christmas Tree

But despite all this bad news and dismal cold wet weather, I feel…cautiously optimistic about next year. It is a fact that most viruses evolve towards becoming more transmissible and less deadly.  Pfizer has an anti-viral pill I’m feeling positive about with good data, even though the FDA hasn’t approved it YET. (Faster, FDA!) Scientists are continuing to figure out what works and what doesn’t with this coronavirus thing. It has been two years since I first read headlines about China putting a doctor in prison for talking about a strange new virus (and I wrote the poem “Calamity.”) Vaccine makers are already looking at updating the vaccines.

We’re spending the holidays in a pretty isolated manner again this year, which is not ideal. I have an inkling, however, of hope, of light at the end of the tunnel. I have a new book, Fireproof, coming out with Alternating Current Press after my birthday in 2022, which will be almost five years exactly since the release of Field Guide to the End of the World. I know in a poet’s life a new book is a big deal, but especially during the pandemic, not a big deal to the larger world, but still, I feel a little excitement. I don’t know if my readings will be in person or on the dreaded (but now normal) Zoom. Will I be able to celebrate with friends and family in person in late spring? I don’t know if the “roaring twenties” of our century will ever actually roar. But I hope so.

A Friend Wins the National Book Award, the Bittersweetness of being a semifinalist, Thanksgiving Poems and Holiday Decor Weirdness, Struggling with Author Photos

Buried Typewriter with fallen leaves is a whole November 2021 mood

Feeling a Little Better – Good News for a Friend and More

So, if you read last week’s blog post, you might have noticed I was a little down, as a result of what? Terrible, gloomy weather, shorter days, perimenopause, MS, a lot of rejections at once? Anyway, I’m feeling better this week, especially because…

A friend of mine, Jason Mott, won the National Book Award for fiction for his latest surreal Hell of a Book, which takes on author book tours, ghosts, racism and colorism, all with wit and grace. And I have an interview with him coming out soon with The Rumpus – watch this space!

He not only won the award, but wowed people with his acceptance speech. This article in the Guardian has a little quote from it. It could literally not have happened to a nicer person. I’ve been a big fan of his work since his very first poetry book! (He started out as a speculative poet! It gives hope to us all…) I hope you guys check out his book.

November sunset in Kirkland, Seattle in distance

The Bittersweetness of Semi-Finalists and Thanksgiving-themed poems

I has some good news of my own this week – a Pushcart nomination (which the journal hasn’t announced yet, so I’m waiting to announce it) and two of my  manuscripts were semifinalists in a good book contest.

One of the manuscripts is fairly new, so I was really excited – the other is four years old, and so the semifinalist status felt less like a success. Isn’t that interesting? The four-year old manuscript has been a runner-up for the Dorset Prize (so close, but so far) and a close finalist at a few of the bigger publishers, so it’s so hard to keep getting “finalist” and “semifinalist” but no one willing to actually publish the damn thing. On the other hand, being a semifinalist with a new manuscript feels better, because it’s a sign the manuscript’s not totally a messed-up failure, right? So the whole thing felt bittersweet. Isn’t being a writer weird? Or it could just be me.

Speaking of cheerful things, I wanted to post my Thanksgiving-themed apocalypse poem, “Calamity,” that I wrote in late 2019 and was published in April 2020 in Poetry Magazine. Frankly, I think it’s evidence I might be a witch. Or a prophet.

I always get a kick out of holiday decor, and even though it’s still a distinctly odd holiday season, I thought I’d cheer you up with some offbeat holiday decor scenes from around Woodinville:

Struggling with Author Photos

So, in trying to figure out things for my next book, Fireproof, with publisher Alternating Current, I am forced to confront something I haven’t had to think about for awhile – author photos. Many of my author photos taken by actual photographers are fairly old now, and it feels weird to put a picture out there that doesn’t really represent the present “you” – ie the pandemic version of me. Also, I might need to make the photo black and white – a first for me – because Alternating Current usually puts the author photo inside the book instead of the back cover. I’m also thinking about cover art. And honestly, I’m wrestling with my two other manuscripts – where to send them, how to revise them – while I wait for edits for Fireproof from Alternating Current’s editor. So I’m looking at using a pandemic-era photo taken by my husband for the author photo, no professional anything – I did my own hair and makeup (probably pretty obviously.) My weight and hair color fluctuated quite a bit during the last two years, which makes picking a photo even more difficult. Here are some of the finalists. Put your opinion in the comments. I considered paying someone to take a photo of me, again. I just don’t know yet.

PS if you are doing early holiday shopping, remember that people love poetry, and poets love poetry and books about PR!   And if you want a signed copy, you can get one from me!