Monthly Archives: June 2009

Book Round Up

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I finished quite a few books recently but I only talk about the good ones in my round up and not the “eh” ones or the ones that I decided to not finish because they were WAY boring.

First up, let me mention a poet: Helen Losse. For those of you who might not know Helen she, not only a poet, but also the Poetry Editor of The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, a really fun online zine where I have had two sets of poems published.

Helen has been the author of several chapbooks and recently her first full length collection was released.  I had the chance to blurb the book for her and this week I finished one of her chapbooks so I thought I’d give her a shout out.  You can read her blog and find out how to get her book by visiting her here.

Next up: Some of you read my post last week about censorship.  The author who presented that video, Maureen Johnson, is a really fun to read YA author. I had already read one of her books so I decided to read the second one I was able to find The Key to the Golden Firebird.  I don’t want to give away too much here about what happens in the book, but I wish I had had a book to read like this my senior year in high school when I went through a lot of what the main character goes through who incidentally has the nickname of May (short for Mayzie) and, before I was married, my middle name was Mae :) .

Finally in my stack is the short story collection, Women Up on Blocks, by Mary Akers. This is a terrific short story collection. There was maybe one that I just wasn’t engrossed by.  Mary’s characters are so real and she is fearless in the subject matter she tackles.  This is a nice slim volume that I think would make a great beach read even though many would consider it literary fiction. Highly recommend you guys to pick up a copy.

So now that I have rounded up some books, I get to start some new ones and putter away at trying to get my own writing revised and out into the world.

Oh yeah, and I’m still researching that whole PhD thing.  Last time I had it down to 17 schools that specifically offer the PhD with creative dissertation but I also have notes on a few programs that are more local where I’d be involved in more of a regular Literature or Rhetoric PhD. I’ll keep you posted! And probably too posted if you are my friend on Facebook :)

Some Publication Updates

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This is from my publications Tab

There are also some other links under that tab to some of my work published online.

This is my work that is pending publication

I have a lot of work still under consideration at a number of places and this week I am going to start typing up the work I wrote in June so maybe I’ll have a poem to post here for critiques sometime this week.

Now off to do all my normal housewife type duties, including, but not limited to, the PhD search. It is exciting to think we might do something completely different! Who knew your midlife crisis could be going back to school :)

Have a great week everyone!

Release Party Today

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Today is the release party for the Charlotte Writers Club Anthology – Journey Without – I have two poems in the Anthology. Yay! This is my first appearance in an anthology so I am looking forward to picking up a copy.

The event will be from 1-3 at the Starbucks at 1401 East Blvd in Charlotte, NC.  I will probably be around pretty early to check out the scene but since I am such an introvert, I’ll be like a ghost – seen out of the corner of your eye then gone :)

Me – the Eternal Student

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Ok, many people have made the joke that I just want to be an eternal student.

Well, that’s true and not true.

I do love to study. Always have. Maybe it came out of my love for reading.  Maybe it came out of my desire to do something good, and since my IQ isn’t all that great, I have to work for it.  Wherever it came from, I know I will always be a student of poetry, of the world etc.

Does that, however, translate in me needing to continue my education formally?

I have a BA in English. An MFA in Creative Writing and I still look into classes taught locally and online whenever they are available (still would like to teach one via BlogTV if anyone is interested!) but how far do I want to take it?

Speaking of which my good friend Melanie Faith is presenting one.  Here are here details:

My first online writing class is getting ready to start next Friday, July 3, but there’s still time for anyone you know who might be interested in signing up to write some poems. :)

The class is $100 and will include detailed poetry handouts (written by moi) along with prompts from our awesome text, The Poet’s Companion (by Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux and readily available at used bookstores and online).

I will also be providing feedback and a critique each week of each student’s work. I make every effort to be thoughtful as well as supportive in these critiques.

I’d love to work with more students, so if you or anyone you know might be interested, I’d be happy to send more details, or you can find more information here: http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/WOWclasses.html

My next class (teaching) is still scheduled for April 15th, info under classes tab.

I have spent the last few days, and well intermittently over years, researching PhD programs in Rhetoric & Composition as well as Creative Writing.   I’ve also looked at MA programs in Gender Studies and English as well as the MILS (Masters of Library Science).

The programs are all very compelling but there would be so much risk involved with an uncertain reward. We’d have to move for most of the options, possibly go into additional debt for tuition (although I pretty much narrowed down any schools I’d apply to to the ones that offer full funding) and there is the fact that you don’t even know which program, if any, you might get into.

So, is it worth it?

Education, for me, isn’t all about a job and a career. I love to learn, but at this point in my life (as I’m pushing 35 haha) does it make sense to spend another 3-5 years in a PhD or Master’s program that may or may not result in a job? Going into a program that would mean we’d have to move and sell our house (which has its own pros and cons). Which would mean my SO giving up his jobs that he often gets frustrated with, but what other career would he want or would he be qualified for?

So, guess that is why I have been having these dreams.  In them all I am significantly thinner (haha) and moving on to a new life with the locations and people around me ever changing (miss being near friends and family sometimes ya know!) but none of them stands out and says PICK ME!! PICK ME!!

I do know I want some kind of change, but it wasn’t trying to give up soda and it most likely won’t be me going back to school locally, so what will it be?

It still leaves going out of the area to pursue a PhD in Creative Writing, now to convince myself and others who it will effect that this might be a viable option. Oh goodness and all the paperwork!

Continuing in Indecision 2009. *sigh*

Strange Dreams

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Those of you who follow me on Facebook have seen a few of my status updates where I talk about strange dreams.

The main problem with these strange dreams is I wake up enough to know they were strange but I can’t recall all the details.

And then there are the details I do remember that probably aren’t appropriate to repeat *wink*.

But, I know when I start having strange dreams and/or when I find myself daydreaming in the middle of the day (usually when I’m doing my hour long walks) I know I’m trying to figure something out.

Darnit brain what are you trying to tell me?!!!

I feel like I am at some kind of crossroads.  I generally like a place of decision, but when you don’t know what you should be deciding between it feels more like indecision *sigh*

I’ve started seriously researching PhD programs as well as MA, MLS (Library Science) and other degrees in case maybe that is what my body is trying to push me towards – move towards the future – do something different.  I’ve held back on this before because we are fairly financially secure here but not always real happy with where we live so which one wins out? Is that what you are trying to say brain?

I’m also really, really, really tired of being overweight. It has been an annoying part of my life for a good 10 years and I’ve lost some with varying degrees of success. So is this the change my brain wants me to make? Cause I’ve tried so many times and failed so many times that I feel like I could take over for Oprah and talk about it.

As a little baby step to maybe help with that – I’m trying to give up soda, starting today.  I already gave up caffeine and diet soda, but I may go back on the caffeine and drink the occasional tea while I try to make this transition.

Why can’t my little brain and/or heart just send me a straight message and tell me what it wants me to do? Damn squishy homunculus :)

Family Trees

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After posting about “Finding Your Tribe”, I started thinking more about the biological and/or adopted “Tribe” known as your family that you start out your life with.

Was/is my family dysfunctional? Whose isn’t? But, I know the first time I really thought about it was around Middle School age when one of my Social Studies teachers assigned us a project.  One of the options was to do a family tree.  When I started thinking about divorces, things called step familys and half siblings, I thought – naw – not doing that and I did some other lame project that I got a really poor grade on just before I switched schools, but that is a whole other story in itself.

And yes, I also wrote a poem about it.

And yes, I still wonder, who do you define family?

But, back to the family tree.

I have also been thinking about it some lately because I have had to redefine how I answer when people ask me how many siblings I have and sometimes I forget and mess up my numbers to the point where I look like a some-heimers patient!

Anyway.

Before my parents were married my mother had already had one son and my father had had two sons and a daughter. Now my mothers son was given up for adoption and my father’s daughter died before she was three, I believe. But of this group, in my family only one was ever really talked about, so I had this one half-brother who visited us during the summers for a time.

Before I was born my brother was born, and after me there were two more sisters. So my mother had had two boys and three girls, my father had helped create three boys and four girls.  But of this group now we were really down to just the four of us from that same marriage as my parents approached divorce.

They did when I was about 8 years old. They both remarried but neither had more children.  Although the man my mother married had a gaggle of kids that I guess would have been called step siblings if we’d ever really seen them.  I think I met about three over the years, one living with us for a short while, but I think there were closer to like 7 or so?

Can you see why I didn’t want to attempt a family tree?

But, how do I construct it now? And even besides just this nuclear base there is a plethora of cousins and aunts and uncles, the nieces and nephews, the ever growing group of second cousins?

Well, the peace I have now is to say I have two brothers (the one that was adopted who is back in our lives and the brother whom I’ve known a bit longer *wink*) and two sisters.  The brothers are both older and the sisters both younger.  So am I still a classic middle child?

Guess so :)

And, I wouldn’t change it.

Well, unless someone else pops out of the woodwork and we have to try again to redefine family. And how do I? You define it by those people who become part of your tribe . . .

What No Facebook!

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Ok, I’m working at the car dealership this morning while my car goes in for service.  Now I will be here for at least three hours, if not more, and for some reason I can not connect to YouTube or Facebook via their free wi-fi. I’m tempted to pack it up and head over to Concord Mills where I can pay $5 for a one day pass and get free reign of the internet.

I’m not addicted or anything, but I do like to check in on my friends and to hit a little Mafia Wars in between working on other things, but bleh now I’ll just have to settle for blogs and the books I brought with me because I actually don’t have a lot of work to do today.

Yesterday I did most of the dusting and all around the house, the general pick up kind of stuff.  I also sent out my poetry and chapbook submissions for the week so most of what is left on my to do list is other detailed cleaning around the house and things that require more of the internet and/or a bit more quiet (I need to record an audio track for a video I am working on).

*sigh* So I’ll probably finish the book I brought with me but maybe I can get to work on the article I want to write for Form 21 Do you have anything you’d like to write about formal poetry? Think about it and submit to my Managing Editor, AKA J2, aka awesome :)

Have a great day everyone, when I get me Facebook back I’ll see ya there!