I haven’t posted in a long while. We experienced some flooding in the early morning of April 18 and, at first, that took up all my time, then it compromised my Internet connection, and finally it left me a little overwhelmed, not because of loss of property or anything like that, but because I sometimes feel we are already flooded with messages, posts and updates, etc., and I wonder what value comes from another dribble in the stream. But now I am feeling less underwater and … [Read more...]
Winter weekend: reading Philip Levine and Donna Hilbert
It's a quiet weekend here and a perfect time to post. Did you read The New Yorker (Feb 11 & 18 issue)? Philip Levine has a poem "In Another Country" and when I say it's dreamy, I mean it literally. In this other country, ". . . There is no town, only / fields of long grass blowing in the wind / and beyond the wind the gray mountains." It ends, ". . . . The wind kept prodding / at my back as though determined / to push me away from where I was, / fearful, perhaps, I … [Read more...]
Looking back, looking forward
If you read my last post you know that Solace in So Many Words is one-year-old. I have been thinking of the highlights from the past year. But before I give that account let me tell you how great it was that last week started with congratulatory flowers, sent by neighbor and mentor Fran Podulka and her husband Phil to celebrate the gold medal award Solace in So Many Words won from the Next Generation Indie Awards sponsored by Independent Book Publishing Professionals … [Read more...]
Applause, applause! New review from Chicago Center for Literature and Photography (CCLap)
Yesterday, Wednesday, January 18th, was the day of the Internet blackout boycotting SOPA and PIPA and since I am sympathetic to this cause, I tried to keep off Internet but it was difficult. Last night I had to take the online Jeopardy test (which I blew) and yesterday I got word from Jason Pettus of the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography that he posted this mini review on his site. It killed me to wait until today to post it. Here is what Jason had to … [Read more...]
Chicago Book Expo 2011 — Up event in Uptown
I didn't know what to expect when I signed up to be a vendor at the Chicago Book Expo 2011 because this was my first time at such an event where I'd sit behind a table and sell Solace in So Many Words. So Saturday morning in the car on my way to Uptown I wondered what I had gotten myself into. But my anxiety was for naught because the Expo was terrific. I loved all the different aspects of it. First off, I put the squeeze on Joan Corwin and J. Scott Smith to sit with me … [Read more...]