I wonder if there are writers out there who ever grow blase about finding out another piece of theirs is going to be published. Each time it just tickles me so. Half my brain lights up while the other half says, "Okay, so it's no big deal."

What's up with that?

Anyway, last eve I had a nice g'night-notice: I found out a second poem of mine is going in a poetry chapbook, this one put out by Palabras Productions in San Gabriel Valley, CA. I believe they took my poem titled Sweet Potato Pie. It's a chapbook called "Every Poem is an Idea" and entries had to be submitted along with the author's thoughts on how the poem emerged and took shape, etc.

My other poem is due out this spring in an anthology called Reach of Song that the Georgia Poetry Society is putting out.

Well, it's something. ;0)

Garrie, Congratulations on the publication. I'm no poet, but it seems that poetry comes from the heart and it must be wonderful to write your heart and have people appreciate it.

Good going.

smile

Garrie, I'm on the page right after you in the book! And for everyone else: Garrie's poem is really excellent! I'd call it hard-hitting through a veneer of softness.

Monday night I went to the publication party with my friend Marilyn (who's also published in the chapbook.) There were about 20 people in attendance. Everyone read their explanation and then the poem, except for yours truly who wanted to read the poem first. I'm in about 8 of Don's publications right now, and got a Third Place (non-monetary) prize about 6 months ago in the San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly for my poem "The Physics of Rocks."

And I never become blase about my publications, or reading the works out loud.

Meredith -- what a riot! How did I miss your name? That is awsome. That makes it even more special to me!!

Ya know, I only even found out about it by doin' a Google search! No one notified me my poem was accepted! I think it's cool you are part of that group.

Every now and then I do a google search on my own name. That was how I found out about a few international finalist lists I had made it onto, though eventually one did mail me a notice by post and the other did let me know by e-mail that I had made their short lists. Those were short-story venues.

Anyway, when I saw this I e-mailed the Palabras site to inquire about the copy I am supposed to receive. If no one even notified my I was in the book, I doubted they'd bother to send me my copy of the chapbook!

Maybe you can nudge someone there on your end of the country, since I haven't received an answer to that e-mail. : 0 (

I did see on the site that they talk about picking up the books in person and participating in the reading, but surely I'm not the only displaced poet. They must have a system in place to deal with sending copies to poets who are out of the immediate area.

Well, let me know if you find anything else. I'll look forward to reading your poem now. And thanks for that description you gave mine. I thought that was pretty well said.

- gar

Meredith, when I read Agrrie's post and saw poetry and California, I immediately thought of you. I can't believe you two are in the same book. What a small Web world! Congrats you two!

Garrie,

Sometimes Don sells the books and sometimes he gives them away to the poets in the publication. What it is, is that in theory the books are free to us, and for sale on his website for other people. The practical side is, we usually pay for the books so Don has the cash to keep doing this. This one "costs" $10. I wouldn't call it $10 quality, but what the hay. It's a workable symbiosis.

Since I go to quite a few of the publication readings, I can pick up a copy for you if you haven't already ordered it. I may go to the Feb. 9 reading for SGVPQ and the Love Poems anthology, and can ask Don if he has extras of Every Poem is an Idea. I met both my friends Marilyn and Sheila through a poetry critique workshop, and we're all in one of these Feb 9 anthologies and will carpool together.

Since you're already a past "Sensitive Poet of the Week" and you're in this book, you should be on Don's weekly mailing list. The weekly mailing has the names of poets published for each upcoming publication. Any of his web pages can link you to "put me on the mailing list."