Happy Holidays!

Yikes. It's been more than month since my last confession... I mean, blog entry. I AM NOT DEAD. I have been Facebooking where I am the mayor of a small town. Oh yes. I even have an electric sheep. I may also be Twittered though I haven't exactly understood all the mechanics of making sounds every half-hour.

That said, I'm thrilled to announce that the 49th issue of The Pedestal Magazine is now up! With fantastic poetry by Eduards Aivars, Margaret Bashaar, Lisa Fay Coutley, Katie Fesuk, Brian Foley, S. Jason Fraley, Paul Hostovsky, Shaylah Kloska, Michelle Menting, Natasha Kochicheril Moni, Rick Marlatt, R Jay Slais, Sarah Sorenson, Tammy F. Trendle and Joseph P. Wood.

Recent publications:

• The Autumn 2008 issue DMQ Review is now up — featuring the poetry of Lana Hechtman Ayers, Robert Lee Brewer, Claudia Burbank, Ellen Elder, Joan Fiset, Paul Fisher, Rebecca Morgan Frank, Virginia Konchan, Robert McDonald, Chad Sweeney, Mary Wang and Fritz Ward with artwork by Chris Roberts-Antieau.

It was such a fab surprise when editors announced that they've nominated my poem, Like Closed Eyes for the Pushcart Prize. It's my 9th ever (yikes) and the 2nd (yay) this year — the first nomination (8th) coming from Juked for Anima Nera, one of the poems that received the 2008 Juked Poetry Prize... a poem written two years ago, incidentally, after a post-Christmas hangover. Hee.

• Three poems in Seven CirclePress: Ants, How Did Her Garden Grow and Phantom Limb.

• Two poems, Inheritance and I met my mother and called her Night (with audio) in the inaugural issue of Holly Rose Review — an online poetry & tattoo literary journal — which also features the poetry of Danny Bellinger, Debbi Brody, Lane Falcon, Beatrix Gates, Peter Joseph Gloviczki, Donnelle McGee, Karen Neuberg, Rhonda Palmer, Simon Petkovich, Mani Rao, John Bloomberg-Rissman, Maria Williams-Russell, Jane Wohl and Cyril Wong.

• Am tickled that the Pirates issue of Painted Bride Quarterly is now online — just in time for the holidays. I have poem here with private parts in 100% gang green. Arrrrrrr!


Recent acceptance:

• blossombones accepted two poems, So What If It's a Red Dress and Celebrating the Therapist for their Winter 2009 issue.

     Submission sent: 15 October 2008
     Reply date: 12 December 2008


Balls! Balls! Balls! —

Are you done shopping? Have you finished wrapping all the gifts you've bought? Have you taken a shower? Is it the fog or are the windows just dirty? Are you sure you have clean clothes to wear for the party? Is that the smell of Santa's beard burning in the open fire? Why are all these liquor bottles empty?



Have a merry dance through the ballsy holidays everyone!

Officially in working condition

Or almost. Got back from LA last Friday night and have slowly gone through my stack of TPM subs. Yep, I'm the editor on duty again for the December 2008 issue of The Pedestal Magazine. On that note, I should like — hinthint — to receive more nonlinear, surreal, experimental poetry. You have until December 14 to send those puppies my way. I will know who hasn't been submitting. You will not receive a note from Santa. You have been warned.

Also, I've finally gotten myself into Goodreads. If anyone wants to link up, just hoot. I am, at the moment, friendless... but already armed with Freud. Hehe.


The Philly readings:

They actually went better than I feared. For one, we had fantastic supporters in the audience. For another, I had a fab time meeting so many poets/writers for the first time — people I've known over the internet casually for years and never dreamed I would one day see in the flesh. Plus, Valerie and I even managed to sell copies of Bundles!

The university readings were a bit harder because of the Q&A afterwards. Because of some pointed questions from the students, I realized that our Bundles book is full of criminal intentions — from crank callers to stalkers, from pirates to extortionists... and no one has bothered to notify the cops. Someone asked Valerie if she had a rough childhood, and I almost heard a sigh of disappointment when she said no. I was asked if I had personal dealings with stalkers or being in prison... whereupon I admitted openly that I just like stalkers and prisons — which ended the discussion right there and then.



Here we are, thanks to John V who came to Philly all the way from Minneapolis just to be with us. He took pictures (and video) of our last reading at Disque 109 in Drexel University. We had some mints, but no liquor.


Other Philly things:

On top of everything, I also had a great time in Philly because, apart from going museum-hopping with John V, I also found a playmate in Valerie's M. Isn't she adorable? She has great fondness for (1) Egyptian culture, (2) A's lingerie, (3) eyeballs on a toothbrush, and (4) butlers.



San Francisco in brief, snappy sentences:



Had clam chowder. Drank wine. Went to the Museum of Modern Art and Chinatown. Had six kinds of oysters. Drank wine. Fell in love with the Pier 39 seals. Had crab and lobster. Drank wine. Walked six blocks uphill to Lombard Street. Did some heavy breathing. Listened to my heart attack. Drank wine. Had cioppino. Had hangover. Spent the day in the California Academy of Sciences. Drank water. Had dinner with Meg Pokrass. Went to Sonoma Valley. Drank a lot of wine. Had little to eat. Watched the sister snore in the car on the way back. Had water. Devoured a burger (medium-rare).


Halloween in LA:



This is me. Really. I was one bad-ass ghost. I stood creepily behind the screen door and waited for the children. At some point, I had to remove the head covering because they were avoiding the house and my sister needed to get rid of the candies. The brave ones who approached me ran for their lives as soon as I handed over the sugar. Bwwwuaaaahaaaahaaaaaahaaaa!


Recent interview on Bundles:

Valerie and I were interviewed by Robert Watts about our Bundles book in ASK (The Journal of the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University).

If anyone's interested in a copy, it's already available at Amazon.com (just click and the link should take you directly there).

We are also offering discounted author copies, dedication included, for $12 — postage and handling (hehe) included in the price. Feel free to drop me or Valerie a line.


Recent acceptances:

• When The London Magazine wrote me, they mentioned strongly considering my poem, Agasthya-Tirtha Lake, Badami for their Anglo/Indian issue. On Halloween, they invited me to their November 14th issue launch... so, I take it that I did make it into their pages... right next to an SMB ad: for all your corporate and personal tax advice. Tickles!

This is one fancy print journal, too. And they're accepting e-mail submissions now. The only drawback is that they reply only to authors whose work they're accepting. It's worth a try though — I don't think they keep backlogs, and it's probably safe to assume that once their next issue is out (depending on which issue deadline you met) that your work hasn't been accepted. I used to send by post and this is my first encounter with them via e-mail. You do get a receipt when you send them work via e-mail — a day or two later.

     Submission sent: 25 August 2008
     Reply date: 14 October 2008

• Blackbox Manifold accepted three poems, Polish Dancer Prelude (one of the serial Chopin sonnets), The Local Physician Returns to the Ski Lodge and The 38th Secret Love Poem for their January 2009 issue.

BBM describes itself as an online forum with a slant towards innovative poetry that has prose, narrative, or sequences in its sights. That said, they seem to have very eclectic tastes — from experimental to narrative free verse to formal poetry.

     Submission sent: 18 August 2008
     Reply date: 15 October 2008

• Merge accepted three poems: Apple, At the Checkout, and Leak for their Fall/Winter 08/09 issue.

This is a gorgeous print and online journal — held up by deliciously eloquent poetry. You just know you wanna mate... I mean, MERGE with it.

     Submission sent: 18 July 2008
     Reply date: 16 November 2008


Recent publications:

• Issue 8.5 of Diagram is now up, which includes my poem, Shipwreck. Everyone's probably tired of hearing me say that this is one of my favorite 'zines, the better half of my brain, my pet x-ray of lung, my undying love for all things dead.

• The 7th issue of Parameter Magazine is also out. It is a UK-based print journal — with the contents, fiction, poetry and reviews saddle-stapled individually. A driving student conceptualizing rain as well as reasons for not writing poetry may be chanced upon at their website.

Philly schedule and general pre-departure update

Had the funniest dream this morning. Full of poets. Actually, it freaked out. Or more precisely, Brenda Nixon Cook freaked me out... but that came later.

We were in a place that looked like somewhere in the Amazon Rainforest. It was a poetry reading. James Tipton had the floor — his poem was describing how he drove home to his farm one day and found the land, crops and all, traveling in the opposite direction. He suddenly realized that this was happening right then. To save his farm, he had us — Brenda, Ellaraine Lockie, CE Chaffin and me — removing the overgrown fronds around us. Being nervous about insects, I just held the garbage bag for everyone to put their "weeds" in. I freaked out initially when I saw a finger-long white slug on a leaf. I stopped holding the bag. Ellaraine and Brenda chided me for being afraid of such darlings (!) and started going through the trash. Suddenly, Brenda picked up two orange slugs and placed them on her chest. She was Barbie-doll naked. She wanted me to pat the giant slugs. They were cute, I admit — being carbon copies of those Lotsa Legs stuffed toys. Same creepily smiling faces, too. Then they started spitting slime, like llamas, like baseball players. Ewwww! I think they had to spit, otherwise, they would drown in they own saliva. Double ewwww. Brenda kept insisting they were adorable. She was inching towards me. I woke up squeaking like a trapped mouse. Squeak!

Talk about bizarre dreams!


A's schedule in Philadelphia:

• October 17, Friday afternoon: Talk with Miriam Kotzin's Readings in Poetry Class, Drexel University

• October 19, Sunday, 1300hrs: Reading with Leonard Gontarek at Robin's Bookstore

• October 21, Tuesday, 1900hrs: Reading with Valerie Fox at Green Line Cafe

• October 22, Wednesday, 1700hrs: Reading and Q&A with Valerie Fox at Kutztown University, DeFrancesco Building, Room 100

• October 23, Thursday, 1400hrs: Reading and Q&A at Drexel University, Disque 109


Recent interview/publication:

• NOO Journal is conducting a NOÖ Loves Everyone project. They are in the process of interviewing all their past contributors in an orderly manner, A-Z. I was tagged second.

• A wicked poem, Reasons for the Mass Destruction of Pigeons in Venice is up in the "Journaling the Apocalypse" issue of qarrtsiluni (October-November 2008). People with hearing aids will be able to detect the audio file as some kind of alien communication, not dangerous.

     Submission sent: 22 September 2008
     Reply date: 30 September 2008


Recent acceptances:

• Poet Lore accepted a poem fresh out of 30:30 called Pictures for their Spring/Summer 2009 issue.

     Submission mailed: 14 August 2008
     E-mail reply: 25 September 2008

This is one my favorite print journals. I continue to submit because Ms. Scrooge here has a vested interest in getting the one-year subscription that comes with the acceptance.

• THE SHOp accepted a poem, First Day Back — the first poem I wrote in 30:30 after a two-month hiatus.

     Submission mailed: 14 August 2008
     E-mail reply: 1 October 2008

• Octopus Beak Inc accepted three poems: Marcia's Best Friend, On Sitting in the Dark with the Wipers On and Eve is the New Gorilla Suit for their end-of-the-year Cool Season Edition.

     Submission sent: 30 September 2008
     Reply date: 9 October 2008

• And pfew! After relentless submissions to the Rattle editor, I've finally made it (again)! My poem, Tonsillitis has been scheduled to appear in their Summer 2009 issue.

     Submission sent: 27 June 2008
     Reply date: 11 October 2008

• Cricket Online Review, after a nice series of rejections, has accepted two poems: We stand the postal clerk and Mendel experiments for their next issue.

     Submission sent: 28 June 2008
     Reply date: 13 October 2008


Saving the best for last—

This little carrot just received word that she won the 2008 Juked Poetry Prize!

Her Royal Jukedness will receive a check for US$500 and inclusion of her poems, Anima Nera and Like Blue Light Inside the Man with a Missing Arm in the print issue #6. She may or may not be brought before the guillotine.

Zombie haiku

John V tagged me ages ago to reveal six unspectacular things about myself.

1. I still sleep with a night light on. When the husband is away, I sleep with ALL the lights on.
2. I can't tread water. In two years of obligatory swimming class, I managed to learn the forward crawl, the backstroke, the breaststroke and the dolphin kick... but not how to stop myself from drowning.
3. I like to read literary fiction in the —erm— toilet.
4. I'm a Word Spy aficionado.
5. I have eaten rabbit and asked for a second serving.
6. From our island-hopping tour yesterday, I realize I prefer visiting ex-mental institutes, ex-leper colonies, etc to nature walks and mushroom-picking.

Terms & conditions!
1. link the person who tagged you: John V
2. mention the rules on your blog: (these are them)
3. list 6 unspectacular things about you: (see above)
4. tag 6 other bloggers by linking them: Maggie E, Nathan M, Valerie L, Sara, CE C and Cheryl C.


More good news than bad —

• The Bundles book is finally ready for order at Texture Press. Yay! I still haven't seen the physical copy, but Valerie says it's looking good. We were worried they wouldn't managed to center the spine text, but they did.

• One of my serial sonnets, Raindrop Prelude received Honorable Mention in the 2008 Biscuit International Poetry Prize. The prize money was £25 (+£5 for the exchange), but I opted for 4 poetry books from their catalog... the publisher mentioned he threw in an extra book by Maureen Almond and their audio CD of short stories. Any more thrilled than this and I'd be drunk and laughing off a building.

I was excited to see that Annie Bien, a 30:30 person herself, won the 3rd Prize. Woooohooo! Go send her flowers and hugs!

• Received three acceptance e-mails within a 24-hour period... which nicely balances my standing record of three rejections within a 24-hour period.

• Ever since I stopped drinking alcohol during the week, I haven't been able to drink much over the weekend. After the second half-glass of wine, I get warning bells that chime: Vomit Season! Vomit Season! in my mind. OH NO. This is SO wrong. As in, I have a day-trip to Napa Valley in November to think of for crying out loud.

• The season here has gone from summer to winter in one snap of the fingers. As an excuse to warm myself, I've purchased a nice bottle of Marzemino. Yuk yuk yuk!

• Started yoga class again this week (my 4th year at it). Tuesday and Thursday. I woke up Friday morning thinking I was paralyzed. Apparently, there are muscles around the ribs that could create pain. And our yoga instructors actually told us, "Because you're all rusty, let's start off nice and easy."

• Because we're leaving on November 2 for San Francisco, my sister called to say that she won't be hosting a Halloween party this year (sigh). However, she said that I can wear her genie costume and give candies to the children (oooooh). She also has a nun's habit, but that might be too scary for everyone. Hee.

Recent publications:

• My poem, Holding a bucket in one hand is up in juked (09.04.08).

• Two ticklish poems, Genesis and About Your Bucket may be found in the September issue of Defenestration — a neat 'zine to read when you're drunk or want to be but can't go to the supermarket because your camouflage outfit is still in the washer.

     Submission sent: 11 July 2008
     Reply date: 11 September 2008

• past simple has my three prose poems, with one title longer than the other, in their 5th issue. Audio recording included. Just discovered this neat 'zine with a bent for the experimental, the surreal, the plain-jane weird while hopping from one link to another. Went through the fab archives and just craved for more.

     Submission sent: 11 August 2008
     Reply date: 12 September 2008

• Rumble is primarily a micro-fiction magazine, but they do publish poetry! Which is why The Body At Rest can be found in their September 2008 issue.

     Submission sent: 13 August 2008
     Reply date: 12 September 2008

Recent acceptances:

• Other Poetry accepted my poem, A Photography Student Interrupts a Mosquito for an upcoming issue.

     Submission sent: 26 April 2008
     Reply date: 1 September 2008

They have a 3-4 months response time — they usually send a note within this time bracket to say whether or not any of your poems made it to the final round. Then a 2-4 weeks wait before they write back with good or bad news. It's a gorgeous print magazine — and a paying market to boot.

• Opium Magazine accepted a dictionary-type prose poem, pacifier (from Laslow’s Guide to Counteracting Bad Luck) for a future post.

     Submission sent: 2 March 2008
     Reply date: 7 September 2008


Oh dear, is this me they're talking about?

You Are Arson

No doubt about it, you have a serious destructive streak. You can't help it! Sometimes you just get so frustrated with the world, and you have to let your aggression out. You have a notoriously bad temper. You are obsessed with getting your revenge. You are obviously a pyromaniac, whether you realize it or not. It feels great to watch something burn.

Tell me, what Felony are you?

Issue 5 of Press 1 now online

It's barbecue time! The 5th issue of Press 1 is now officially live.

We celebrate the end of summer and the arrival of winter with the visual artistry of Héctor Pineda García; poetry by Jillian Bledsoe, Allan Peterson, Karin Randolph, Paul Siegell, Rina Terry, David Michael Wolach, and Changming Yuan; fiction by John Bruce, Kate Evans, and Nathan Leslie; plus an exclusive interview with Jayne Pupek.

Incidentally, this seems to be a Jayne Pupek day since Kate's review of her book, Tomato Girl (Algonquin Books, 2008) is also just up in Quarterly Conversation.

Jayne was lovely enough to send me a copy of Tomato Girl and I've gone bonkers over it ever since.


Stuff of which A's days are made of —

• Finished my 13th round in 30:30 without a hitch. Impressive. Valerie and I are doing collaboems for the first time and it's certainly more fun than writing alone.

• Have found a new love: writing fiction. This is really strange for me since I used to hate it... but now I wake up every morning thinking: "Now what would I have Mr Tickler or some other nut do today?"

• For some strange reason, I've stopped drinking alcohol during weekdays. It may or may not be because the husband has recently taken to cooking calf's liver for dinner. Hee. I've been waiting expectantly for my hands to shake, like in my poems, but so far have been disappointed.

• Migraine. Cured, in part, by vanilla ice cream.

• Obsession about calling ahead for a baked potato at Ponder Steakhouse in Ponder, Texas. Valerie's fault for mentioning it twice — once in a poem, and then in an old story we did together. I just connected the two dots and haven't been the same since. I still find it hard to believe that such a place really exists!

• Watching past seasons of Stargate Atlantis and Spooks. Am particularly tickled that MI5 (Spooks) uses the same Mac as I do. Makes me feel all 007 while I submit my poems and prepare the pages of Press 1.

• What else? I'm trying to enjoy the last 7 days of being a 33-year-old. Afterwards, I think I get to be prime roadkill material.


Recent acceptance:

• Identity Theory accepted five poems, (1) Bodie Ghost Town, (2) Something like a husband's death, (3) Close Your Eyes, (4) Goldfish, and (5) Extinction for their next issue.

     Submission sent: 2 July 2008
     Reply date: 28 August 2008


A's writing motto, or Please flush Robert Rehder from my head:

I am Rumpelstiltskin
And this is my stamp collection.

Oh my ears and whiskers...

... how late it's getting! as the Rabbit would say.

A is officially not on vacation or sic (sic) leave. She's been in 30:30 — which is a kind of Wonderland where the words, DRINK ME lead to a lot of rabbit holes. Like pretending to be in India without rabbits. Like playing (with Valerie) at being an imaginary reviewer of an imaginary children's book called Bunny Steals a Pirate Ship. Like using rabbit's foot keychains to bring luck into several kitschy poems.

So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake —

• The Mad Hatter has disappeared with our Bundles ms and hasn't been heard of since. Good grief.

• On the other hand, Valerie has amazingly completed the schedule of our Bundles readings. Our appearances in Drexel University and Kutztown University have been solidified on paper. I've got a reading scheduled on October 19 with Leonard Gontarek at Robin's Bookstore and on October 21 with Valerie at Green Line Cafe, both in Philly. Will post our full schedule here before I leave in case anyone would like to come.

• The September 2008 issue of Press 1 has been prepared well ahead of time.

• At some point, my Stand 187 contract was signed and mailed back to the sender.

• Advanced birthday gifts were exchanged between the husband and myself: a fancy iPod for him; a cheap mouse, a 300GB hard drive and a laptop cooler for me and my long-suffering laptop, my so-called better half.

• My copy of Best of the Web 2008 finally arrived!! It's gorgeous — with really great writing from people whose works I admire: Benjamin Buchholz, Jared Carter, Valerie Loveland, Christopher Rizzo, etc. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover the writing of Carmen Gimenez Smith through her poem, So You Know Who We Are or rather the exciting dandruff in this poem — I've never seen such a sordid detail used so eloquently. Wooohoooooo!

Recent publications:

• Two poems, Alopecia and the grizzly bear and mortality: a study are up in Issue 17 (Summer 2008) of Arsenic Lobster. I'm particularly pleased by the amount and variety of animals in this issue — chickens, a star-nosed mole and potato eyes (which, after reading Joshua Diamond's poem, might as well be an animal).

• Discovered that my poem, Window Screen (plus mp3 recording) has been up for, quite possibly, ages in the Spring 2008 issue Pebble Lake Review.

• Have two poems, flashlight solo and The Model Particular in the Fall 2008 issue of Caffeine Destiny. Am really thrilled to be part of this terrific 'zine — one of my favorites — because I never thought I'd get into this issue. Fairy tale story below.

Is destiny or just Caffeine Destiny?

Once upon an August day, the editor of Caffeine Destiny wrote asking if she had recently accepted anything from Little Red Writing A because she had A's name on file for the Fall 2008 issue. A, being a meticulous kind of girl, checked her records and replied that what she had on file was a rejection, but was incidentally preparing another batch to send (she didn't know the 'zine was already closed to submissions until January 2009 — still giving herself a whack with the blunt edge of the axe for not rechecking the submissions page at the time). Instead of chocolates for her good record-keeping skills, the editor agreed to give A a chance to send over the batch before the month was out. The rest is happily ever after. With the peace broken intermittently by...

The funniest laugh ever:

While raiding Radiohead songs on YouTube, I stumbled upon this weirdness. I used to think my siblings had the funniest laugh, but this one just beats my family members to pulp. I'm so tickled pink.

Back from vegetable land

With much thanks to the wake-up calls of Liz who said that Simming season is over and Sam who left this meme —

As an adult, the following selections have influenced or impacted me the most —

Book:
      Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

(It's actually a play, but I've never seen it. Peeked into the movie version, but I've always preferred how it's set up in my mind.)


Film / network series:
      The Pianist (2002), Roman Polanski, Dir.


Music / spoken word recording:
     In Ogni Senso and Tutte Storie by Eros Ramazzotti

(Heck, without this fella's lyrics, I've have never learnt Italian.)


The downdate on A:

• We're finally seeing the light on the Bundles mss!! Because the CafePress product wasn't very satisfactory, we've decided to find another printer. All I need now is to —erm— center the same image on the book cover. Equilibrium has never been my forte.

• Talking of equilibrium, I've spent this month on a trial go at attending yoga class twice a week. I seem to be able to handle the pain and have decided to continue in September when the school re-opens. I still fall asleep (and dream weird things) every 5 breaths during the meditation... but not even Buddha grew his paunch in three years.

• Don't think I mentioned having already gotten my e-tickets for Philly and LA this October/November. I've actually got some readings scheduled with Valerie and Leonard. Yikes! The sister and I will probably head for San Francisco for a few days, too — it's the reason I'm forcing myself to play Big City Adventure and take note of places that seem interesting to visit.

• I'm tickled pink by The Middleman.

• I thought today was August 1. The back-to-30:30 day. I woke up early (1100 hrs). I wrote a god-awful poem and since then have breathed in fear of tomorrow.


Recent publications:




• The Best of the Web 2008 anthology is out! Valerie Loveland mentioned she's got work in it, too — yay! Can't wait to get my copy. I'm still in the dark. They were supposed to use my poem, Possessions... but according to this Time Out Chicago review, they opted for Ceremonial Spoon instead.

• My poems, Addiction and The Official Miss de Bourgh Letter to Stalkers, plus Valerie's Eros in the Cafe, Annotating His Non-Illustrated Dream Book are up in the avant-garde first issue of CEllA's Round Trip.

• Am back in my gorilla suit in Juked.

They're a bit sluggish with replies, but if you query (as I did) you get a reply soonish!

     Submission sent: 9 March 2008
     Reply date: 6 July 2008

• Received my copy of THE SHOp — it's gorgeous!! And the €20 inserted between the pages allowed me to feed the husband a balanced diet of meat and veggie for a total of three days.

A quick look at their website indicates that they're currently looking for more poems on "war, terrorism, torture, child abuse slavery, denial of women's rights, political corruption." They accept submissions only via postal mail, but they do reply via e-mail.


Other acceptances:

• Arsenic Lobster accepted two poems, Alopecia and the grizzly bear and mortality: a study for their August 2008 issue.

     Submission sent: 16 April 2008
     Reply date: 10 July 2008

• Wheelhouse Magazine accepted three poems, Rearview, The Gorilla Suit Admires Itself in the Mirror and Poetry Reading at Y's Penthouse for their 6th issue.

     Submission posted: 10 March 2008
     Reply received: 17 July 2008

• DMQ Review accepted an oldish poem, Like closed eyes for their Autumn 2008 issue.

     Submission posted: 27 June 2008
     Reply received: 28 July 2008

Gone Simming

It's summer, and A deserves a vacation from her —erm— vacation.

These past weeks she's managed to come up with something like 2,000+ fantasy/sci-fi names and surnames for her future Sims. Right now she's still in the process of rebuilding their wardrobe and coiffures. At the rate she's going, as the husband observed, by the time she starts the actual playing, Sims 3 will already be out.

Work-wise, Valerie and I have received our sample copy of the Bundles manuscript. We're really happy about it... just needs a few more tweaks here and there. I don't know what it is about margins and page alignments that regresses me to the anal stage — but that's where I am, together with my (future) Sims and their tacky high heels.

Anyway, just rushing through this blog with the usual updates, for my records. I also have a real-life 2008 agenda where I note these things down, but it always disappears the moment I need it — the problem with physical things — not to mention that between April and June, the lines and dates disappeared and left me to fend for myself. Boo. I made a mess trying to date the pages since I couldn't even see which month I was in. It was a really cheap agenda. Hee.


Recent publications:

WARNING: Long list ahead. Please don't urinate in the kiddie pool.

• An oldish poem, After the Affair is up in the Herstory Issue of Cahoots Magazine (Spring 2008).

• My copy of Chiron Review #83, Summer 2008 arrived yesterday. Have three poems in this issue, Driving Home, Snow Globe and Sunday Morning Mass.

• Three poems, The 37th Secret Love Poem, Relic and This dirty napkin are up in the Summer 2008 issue of Dirty Napkin. I was so thrilled to read the exciting poems of fellow bloggers, Jayne and Nanette in this issue, too.
If you subscribe, you'll be able to hear us say Ni.

• Valerie and I have a set of poems (plus recordings) from the Bundles manuscript up at John Vick's Adroitly Placed Word. Valerie did some stunning, surreal vocal effects in her readings... while I just tried to cheat my way with cheeky background effects. We're both proud Audacity users.

• Another RC Flyer Off Course is up in Thieves Jargon — on its trail, Mark Baumer and I had an ultra-weird conversation at Everyday Yeah. I've been cleaning the house ever since after this and getting dirtier by the day.

• Have an oldish poem, Squeeze and a spankin' new one, A Kind of Pompeii in Prick of the Spindle (Vol 2.2).

They were really quick here — i.e. time between acceptance and publication. Or maybe I'm just sluggish.

     Submission sent: 25 May 2008
     Reply date: 19 June 2008

• Banned for Life, the first poem I did in my 12th round at 30:30 made it in the — guess what — "Banned for Life" issue of Six Little Things.

Was so thrilled to see Annie Bien's poem, The Harmonious Society — which I remember from one of her 30:30 rounds — in this issue, too. Yay!

Okay, so I'm really sluggish. Here's the response time of this ultra-cool 'zine.

     Submission sent: 16 May 2008
     Reply date: 4 June 2008


Other acceptances:

• Pebble Lake Review accepted my poem, Window Screen for their Spring 2008 issue.

They now request an audio recording of published pieces. Yikes. It's kind of becoming a norm with online 'zines.

     Submission sent: 13 February 2008
     Reply date: 8 June 2008

• Ambit accepted a sestina, The Magnificent Shrimp World of Fergus — and made me one happy fish.

Like with Stand, their response time is pythonic. Hee. But the editors did apologize, saying that my submission got lost before it was found. So, this is probably just in this case.

     Submission posted: 6 July 2007
     Reply received: 18 June 2008

• Beneath the Weave, a Medea-based poem, was accepted for inclusion in In the Telling anthology (Cinnamon Press).

     Submission sent: 13 February 2008
     Reply date: 23 June 2008


Persistent summer ditty in A's head:

Oh yeah, life goes on,
long after the thrill of living is gone.

             — John Cougar Mellencamp

15 days of hell

Not to mention crap. Have dragged my sorry ass back to 30:30. It's one of those rounds where every poem is a just placeholder since three-fourths of my brain is either raiding the playfirst site (again) or youtubing senselessly.

Have been very good today though: (a) went through the Press 1 subs and sent my "votes" to the PA gang, (b) after more than a month, remembered to call my sister, (c) submitted some poems around, and (d) hey, am actually blogging now.

The Bundles manuscript is still undergoing corrections and edits. The compound nouns are driving Valerie and me rather crazy. It's a learning experience though. Like coalmine (not coal mine) and bunk bed (not bunkbed).

First ever interview (in English):

Susan Smith Nash's interview with A is up at E-learning Queen. Yikes. Only goes to show that in this world, not only vampires get interviewed.

Recent print publications:

• Received my copy of Orbis #143 — which includes two sonnenizios, Airborne (on a line from Ros Barber) and Breakage (on a line from Jean Cassou).

This issue also has poetry by familiar names such as Neil Campbell, Alison Chisholm, Sarah Law, David Lawrence and Todd Swift — along with book and magazine reviews.

• My copy of Seam #28 also arrived. Have two poems also in this issue, The Plagiarist and Outdoors.

It is 73 pages, flat-spined, with a two-color card cover. Was really excited to read the poems of fellow bloggers, James Midgley and Rob Mackenzie.

Recent acceptances:

• CEllA's Round Trip, a spankin' new 'zine accepted two poems, Addiction and The Official Miss de Bourgh Letter to Stalkers for their first issue (Spring 2008).

Much thanks go to Sean Lovelace (author of the ultimate drinking poem, So, This Is Drink) for introducing me to this terrific-looking journal. On a hunch, I also sent Valerie's stuff to the editor and was doubly thrilled when they also accepted her Eros in the Cafe, Annotating His Non-Illustrated Dream Book, one of my favorites in the Bundles manuscript. So excited about this!

OH. YES. Now I remember. The lovely editor called me Angela twice in her acceptance letter. Later, she admitted she didn't know what made her type that when she actually knew my name was Arlene. ***Twilight Zone theme song playing in the background here***

     Submission sent: 30 April 2008
     Reply date: 12 May 2008

• After years of trying, was overjoyed to receive my second acceptance note from DIAGRAM. Wheeeeee!

They accepted my longish poem, Shipwreck — the one based on this dream I had about entering a submarine and looking at all the dead people. It was eerie, to say the least.

     Submission sent: 12 April 2008
     Reply date: 14 May 2008

• Thieves Jargon, another cool 'zine, accepted an oldish poem, Another RC Flyer Off Course for a future issue.

     Submission sent: 5 May 2008
     Reply date: 25 May 2008

[oops, editing to add this bit 26.05.08]

• Dirty Napkin sent me a third acceptance e-mail for my poem, Relic. On receiving their first two e-mails and seeing that they've removed my submission from their database, I thought this went into the rejection box — but it seems that they reply to each work individually. It might be a good idea to keep that in mind when submitting to them.

They made me do a recording for this, too. They gave me a third excuse for drinking myself hoarse in front of the microphone. To give more depth to my reading, I wore a party hat. In private.

     Submission sent: 14 March 2008
     Reply date: 16 May 2008

[Existential question for the day: If you're not drunk, what's going to happen to you?]

A's Official 30:30 Song:



Was going through an REM phase when I came across this video at YouTube. Tickled me silly. That furry yellow monster at the back is a creepy incarnation of my brain — which goes (same intonation, same whine percentage), I AM SO SAD! as soon as it sees me settle down to write my daily poem. Come to think of it, these monsters look every bit like my little gray cells... at Carnival time. They make the same happy/sobbing noises in Dolby Surround in my head.

Hope this video brings a smile to someone's day. C'mon, monsters! You don't have to cry, we can be happy! YEAH! Teehee.

New issues of The Pedestal Magazine and Press 1

Am clapping-my-hands-happy to announce that the 21 April 2008 issue of The Pedestal Magazine is finally up.

It's quite late, I know — we've had to struggle to get it out because the site was hacked, declared DOA, resurrected... and on the third day, as in Jesus H. Kerist, was dead again. Am relieved to say that the current reincarnation of TPM is looking as blue-violet as ever and not the least bit zombified.

The new issue features fabulous work by Elizabeth Bruno, Anne Agnes Colwell, Michelle Kyoko Crowson, William Doreski, Stewart Florsheim, Matthew Gavin Frank, James Grabill, Sarah Law, James Midgley, Tayve Neese, Gailmarie Pahmeier, David A. Pitcher, Frances Ruiz, Hannah Silva, and Joshua Michael Stewart.

Secondly, the May 2008 issue of Press 1 is also up — featuring the fantastic photography of Metin Demiralay, with exciting poetry by L. Ward Abel, CL Bledsoe, Barry Denny, John Grey, Sarah Kolbasowski, David Mills, Susan Smith Nash, Maurice Oliver, Tom Savage, Melissa Shook, and Davide Trame.

With my mental grasp of arithmetic, I think that after putting together two issues I'm supposed to celebrate with two bottles of wine and drink both simultaneously from my pint-size beer glass until it (the glass) appears to double before my eyes. Hee.

Recent publications:

• A poem, Laguna Palace, Mestre is up in the Winter 2008 issue of Convergence. Was thrilled to see that Davide has a got a poem in this issue, too. Yay!

• Another poem, Time with Frieda is up in the 3rd issue of 34th Parallel, plus two photos of (ewwww!) A (though am rather fond of this one, photography-wise).

Recent acceptance:

• Iodine Poetry Journal, an NC-based print journal, accepted my (hehe) lascivious Petrarchan sonnet, Artichoke for their Fall/Winter 2008/2009 issue. All this iodine reminds me of that time my sis passed out in the bathroom and woke up with an apple-sized bruise (sans skin) on her knee — a sure warning against over-imbibing... but after two bottles — of wine, of iodine — who's keeping tabs?

Anyway, overseas writers may send submissions via e-mail — which is always a treat. They have really good response times, too. Very nice professional manners.

     Submission sent: 18 March 2008
     Reply date: 30 April 2008

Talking of Petrarchan sonnets —

This little bunny lasted five days in 30:30 while attempting to write 24 Petrarchan sonnets based on Chopin's Preludes. After the 5th sonnet, the whole idea began to reek of serial murder... and I just had to re-install Civ 4 in my laptop so that I could go on a killing rampage. Ooooh, bliss.

Swatting at swarms of bees

Just when I thought this month would be spent in leisure, things change. For one, have finally decided to concretize my October visit to the US — will spend some time with the sister in CA (drinking in Napa Valley at the topmost of our to-do list) and some time with Valerie in PA to promote our book (she mentioned bar readings being more fun since we could drink). There's some kind of single-mindedness about this trip, but I can't put my finger on it while holding an empty glass.

The bees that A has been killing lately —


• Finalized Bundles book cover. Ain't it gorgeous?!! The painting, Kindred Spirits is used with the kind permission of Pamela Hill/dzaet. The mss, on the other hand, is still in the process of preparation — the 8 x 5 page size rather messed up with our longish lines, so we're editing a bit to give the aesthetics more bite. Who said men are the only ones who've got length problems?

• Spent an evening, drink in hand, recording two poems for Dirty Napkin (see below).

• Answered interview questions for E-Learning Queen in an orderly and concise manner that shouldn't betray the percentage of alcohol in my blood.

• Exercised the right to vote for the first time in my life and as Italian citizen. Yay!

• Finally updated my site, Valerie's and Leonard's.

• E-mailed around to request permission from people whose works I quoted in my other book (see below again).

• Buzzed noisily around TPM April 2008 issue and Press 1 May 2008 issue.

• And before all the bees broke loose, finished modding Guild 2 to suit my evil deeds — like beguiling the opposite sex so they vote for me in elections or not going to prison after murdering someone in cold blood.

Recent acceptances:

• Cinnamon Press accepted my book-length manuscript, Seeing Birds in Church is a Kind of Adieu. Wheeeeee!

After accepting my poems for Envoi, the editor hinted that she'd like to look at a full-length manuscript for possible publication under Cinnamon Press. It was really good timing because I had the ex-Lean Season mss in my Outbox just waiting for revision and for me to decide where to send it.

Publication date is scheduled for March 2010. Hee. Just thinking about it gives me Alzheimer's. But it does leave me ample time to track down people whose work I've quoted in the book... people like Robert Frost and Tolkien who —erm— happen to be dead, but whose estate might want us to pay a fee for the usage. Good grief. This rather cures me of wanting to quote anyone dead or famous in my poems ever again.

However, the husband put it another way to me: Since we will be selling the book, and theoretically, aiming to earn from the sales, it seems only ethically correct to pay for the usage of someone else's line on the basis that we are getting leverage from it and the famous person's name. Kind of sounds better and more logical in Italian, but there it is.

     Manuscript e-mailed: 4 March 2008
     Reply date: 31 March 2008

• Dirty Napkin accepted two poems, The 37th Secret Love Poem and (hehe) This dirty napkin for their Summer issue, due out on 21 June 2008.

Really adore this 'zine — very nice professional manners and terrific poetry. They've also got a cool online submission system where you can track your work and also withdraw them (if needed). On acceptance, they request a recording of your work — if you're not equipped, they'll do it with you over the phone.

     Submission sent: 14 March 2008
     Reply date: 14 April 2008

Recent publications:

• Have three poems — Self-Portrait with Umbrella, A Warning about Attachments and Wu Jin Contemplates the Tattoo on a Soft Cheek — in the third issue of Mascara.

• My copies (2) of Georgetown Review arrived this morning. Because the FedEx guy woke me up, at first I thought I was dreaming. They accepted my work two years ago, after all.

One of my poems, The 4th Secret Love Poem may be read online. I can't believe they've got my name wrong on the webpage after getting it right four times in the print journal. It's like a rock waiting to fall. Some days ago a TPM contributor addressed me as Dear Ariene. I tell you, it's a conspiracy. Either that or my name's a finger-twister for typists.

Recently received:

• Craig Kirchner's Roomful of Navels. Wrote one of the blurbs at the back, so I'm rather biased about loving this book. Sample poems in this terrific collection may be found at Lily, Mannequin Envy, No Tell Motel and SNR Review.