Not leftovers: "plan aheads"
Or, serving up the unfinished drafts in my Substack dashboard
Dear readers,
You may have noticed that I’ve posted several entries today. This is, in large part, because life has kept me too busy lately to even finish a single entry. After what has been a stretch of intense but invigorating Inlandia events and a slew of my own book launches and so on, I am finally taking a minute to get caught up.
The below was written in July. Since then, another review has gone live, in Your Impossible Voice. My publisher has also been corresponding with the good folks at The Slowdown Show and some selections have been passed on to Major Jackson for his consideration. Fingers and toes and eyes crossed that he will decide that one of them should be on the show. (It is still to date my favorite podcast. Bonus: Two of Inlandia’s Hillary Gravendyk Prize-winners have been featured: Bronwen Tate and Jonathan Maule!)
Another major development is: I have been named a recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship from the California Arts Council at the Established level. I will write a separate post on that at a later date, because it deserves more energy than I can manage right now, but just know I am incredibly grateful to be selected.
For now, here is the draft post from July. More good things to come!
This weekend was the third and final of my official launch events for small mammals, and the first review of small mammals is up on The Journal of Radical Wonder. I know of at least two other reviews floating around, and I am grateful for the reception that the book has been given. I’m relieved and happy that so many people ‘get’ the book. The Zoom reading included my longtime poetry group pals along with attendance by many folks from the different pieces of my life: family, work, friends.
I’ve also been thinking about what next for my poetry. I just entered The Desert Rat Poetry Prize for a chance at a 9 day residency in the desert, which would be sublime. I’ve also been doing more community work around poetry. For my last publisher, CavanKerry Press, I was both a reader for their manuscripts this year and also a workshop leader for a pilot program for the clinicians and doctors and med students at Rutgers in New Jersey, using poetry as a tool for self-reflection. It was fascinating and educational for me as well. I hope to do it again!
The memoir/nonfiction book about my grandfathers is still very much in progress but between work commitments and the run up to the book launch for small mammals I had to press pause. Not to mention that my planned writing schedule seemed to cause a return of my migraines due to a change in my sleep pattern. (I was getting up to write at 6 AM.) The migraines have been largely under control since I began taking propranolol. I did have to up my dosage and am prepared to do so again as the need arises, but between a) riboflavin and magnesium supplements; b) a fairly consistent sleep schedule; c) propranolol, I have been migraine free for some time. If I deviate then I risk them returning, and it was to the point where they were interfering with my ability to be productive in any regular way. One thing I may try to do is to slowly change my wake time instead of an abrupt shift.
I’ve also signed on to read and evaluate 100 self-published books for Writers Digest Books before August 15! It’s a little bit daunting but I think I can manage it. I also enjoyed reading and critiquing poems for their annual writers conference.
As for Inlandia work, today is Day 2 of the new fiscal year and I am excited about what is in store, which includes trying to pad in a little breathing room. Summer is slower, and I hope to be able to write a little, read a lot, and just generally regroup for the next month or so.
[The end?]
August update: I’m still reading those self-published books, but I am having some success at padding in downtime. Speaking of, it’s Sunday and I am still in my pajamas!
congratulations!