(1) My poem Excerpts from the Guide to Modern Survival has gathered some praise. It was a runner-up in the 2010 Princemere Poetry Contest, and earned honorable mention in the 9th Annual Saturday Writers One Page Poem Contest. I appreciate the love.
(2) My flash fiction piece Hush and poems Waning and Life is a Series of One-Hit Wonders will appear in Talking Stick 20. The Talking Stickis a Minnesotan collaboration of poetry, creative nonfiction and fiction, and is a publication of the nonprofit organization, The Jackpine Writers' Bloc. You can go to their website to find out more about how the Talking Stick started and what the group does. In addition, Hush received an honorable mention nod amongst the fiction entries this year, and Waning earned first place honors in poetry. I am flattered by all this; big thanks to the judges and editors.
(3) So far my full-length poetry manuscript, The Blues Almanac, has been rejected by no less than twenty publishers. I am hopeful though. This is a good book & I believe in it.
(4) I wrote two prose poems last week, and created some random scribbled thoughts this week. I think my writer’s block might be over. My work rate was almost nil since mid-January, so my creative side was struggling. Glad to be back on the horse.
(5) The weather in Minnesota stinks, except for today, but I am working too hard at the day job to enjoy the rare occurrence of sunshine outside. My inner Florida Evans is screaming, “Damn, damn, damn.”