Things That Are New

Sorry it's been so long since my last post.  I can't say I haven't had news, but it hasn't been of the literary variety.  I do have some lit news now, though.  The Spring/Summer issue of Melusine has finally launched, and you can see it here.  I really rather like this one.  OK, I've liked them all, of course, but this is one of my favorites.

As for the non-literary news, I snuck it in the issue's editorial.  But, OK, I can summarize:  I am expecting my first child in early September, and her father and I are very excited.  It looks like she will be a girl.

For various reasons, I have been spending less time blogging, Facebooking, Google-plussing, and tweeting this year, but I will probably begin embracing some of these outlets again as I inevitably find myself seeking ways to express how I'm processing all the new things I'm going to soon be experiencing.  When I'm not writing (because at times, when writing, I can be loud, not unlike, at times, when I'm drinking, but that's another story and also something I haven't been doing much of in the last year) my natural mode of being is quiet, and it's been good to be quiet.  I'm beginning to feel a disturbance in the quiet, though, and that's OK, too.  And I think I know what her name is.

First Review of Blue Trajectory

That's Blue Trajectory my chapbook, not to be confused with the current name of this blog, of course, since that would probably be a very short review given how often I update it.

Livia Kent reviewed the chap for the new issue of Lines + Stars.  Her review was so beautifully and thoughtfully written, it made me very happy.  Please check it out here, if you like.

It's a warm but rainy February day and I am feeling sleepy (decaf was probably a bad choice) but still happy.

Spring is coming soon.  AWP is coming even sooner, although I unfortunately won't be going.  I am planning for next year, though, which reminds me I need to get to work on the Melusine print issue so I'll have something to bring to the table, so to speak, Melusine-wise.  I have the lineup selected; I just need to find a good layout tool... This next month's big project, I think... Then for April, I'm finally doing NaPoWriMo.  I've resisted it thus far, but I've hit a long patch of writer's block and I think I really need it this year...

A Couple of Mentions

Just a couple things I noticed whilst shamelessly Google-stalking myself:

Thanks so much to Eclectica, the very first journal that published me, for mentioning my chapbook in their new issue's editorial.

And I just noticed that this here blog is listed in New Pages' directory, here.

Cool.

What else?  It's January -- not much to say about the weather, although to its credit it's been unseasonably warm.  More importantly, it's a new year, and I'm still feeling good about that.

This Year's Resolution

Change everything.
That's all.
No, I don't mean that literally.
Of course.
I mean it, though.

New Melusine...

... is out.  And I'm posting about it absolutely everywhere, including here.  And then I'm going to get some sleep, I hope, after eating a salad and maybe some ice cream.

Update:  I was apparently so tired last night that I forgot to actually include the link in question.  It's here.

December

It's been a really tough couple of weeks, but one of a handful of bright moments came when I received two literary goodie-packages in the same day:  the new issue of Tiger's Eye with three of my poems in it, and The Medulla Review anthology featuring one of my poems.

I feel a strong need to write something in the way of poetry to help me work through some really sad recent news, and I did start on a piece last week, but I know you can't rush these things.  In the meantime, I'm working on the new issue of Melusine, hoping to launch it by Sunday night.  This one has a photo essay and some fun cover art by a promising new photographer, so I'm looking forward to seeing it take shape soon.

Review of Judith Skillman's The White Cypress

My review of Judith Skillman's new collection has been published in The Iowa Review's blog -- very happy to be featured there, and I've become quite a fan of Skillman's work over her last few collections, so it was a pleasure to be able to delve into the particularly rich material she covers in this one.

And that's about all the news for today.  Late autumn still has me feeling a little drowsy and a little taciturn.  I think some humans still have a gene for some vestigial form of the hibernation instinct.  If I were a scientist instead of a poet, I would check into that hypothesis.  But the very fact that I would posit it is probably sufficient proof that I am not a scientist.