One of Those Days

Holiday has been tough on ,y writing. Just taking notes and reading. No formal, prolonged session at the keyboard. Too much company around for that. Of course, in the middle of this three- or four-day layoff, I get a chapbook mss. rejected by Big Table Publishing. Adding insult to injury, I paid a $15 reading fee, too. Not money well spent. I originally sent 8 poems, for which the editor/publisher went crazy. The editor asked me to send more before making a final determination. These tipped the balance to rejection. The editor -- named Robin, so I don't know which pronoun to use, he or she -- said he/she couldn't understand them. Apparently, he/she wanted a traditional narrative resolution to the poems, character-driven scenes, etc. Or else he/she just wanted my $15. Depressing.

I sent out yesterday a series of 10 prose poems to be considered for one of the mini-chapbooks that ml press published. I'm under the general impression that j.a. (who runs the press) doesn't like my work. But I'm also under the impression that the prose poems are good. Nonetheless, I expect another hurtful rejection shortly.

Ethics and Entertainment

I received the proofs today for Ethics & Entertainment. Oh, God. The thought of proofing 300-some pages of academic writing is nearly enough to make me give up the ghost. But it must be done -- and in less than four weeks!

Ghosts of Breath

Pamphlet of poems published today by Bedouin Books --

http://www.bedouinbooks.com/pamphletpoets-2-.html