I am taking the day off to visit a friend, look at eagles, and play roulette. I have my regular favorite numbers based on important dates in my life. Now I have two new favorite ones: 5 and 12. That's because Solace in So Many Words launches on May 12. I don't expect to make a wad at the roulette table nor will I blow one, and that's okay with me. I want to blow off a little steam, get a little charge, maybe misbehave a little. But lucky? The way I look at things … [Read more...]
Archives for 2011
Seneca
There is nothing so bitter that a patient mind cannot find some solace for it. … [Read more...]
What is new with contributors?
I could says thanks every day to my contributors and it wouldn't be enough. That they answered my call for submissions and had faith in the project sustained me when my confidence wavered. Solace in So Many Words wouldn't be anything without them -- not only are they generous artists, they're terrific writers, and I am not the only one who thinks so. Wally Swist's new book, Huang Po and the Dimensions of Love, was chosen by Yusef Komunyakaa as a co-winner in the Crab … [Read more...]
Thomas Hardy
Whence comes solace? Not from seeing, What is doing, suffering, being; Not from noting Life’s conditions, Not from heeding Time’s monitions; But in cleaving to the Dream And in gazing at the Gleam Thomas Hardy … [Read more...]
Gratitude, part 2
I guess the most logical way for me to lay out my series of thank-yous is go about it chronologically. If I start at the very beginning I must start by thanking Fran Podulka, my neighbor and mentor. Soon after I moved in, I was going through a Reynolds Price phase. While searching the library stacks for his works, I came across Fran's novel The Wonder Jungle (Putnam, 1973). I read it, called her, told her I was a writer myself, and we have been friends since. Fran … [Read more...]