Barack Obama

I'm glued to CNN, waiting to see who wins the New Hampshire caucus. It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I'm a die hard Democrat and have been all my life. Like a lot of Democrats, I'm tickled pink over the candidates we have this year. Choosing between them isn't easy. John Edwards is the most passionate, and I believe his convictions run deep, but his focus may not be broad enough. Clinton comes with some baggage, and is aloof as a candidate, but more than makes up for that with her intellect and experience. Obama doesn't have the extensive foreign policy experience I'd like to see, but he is a natural leader, a man of great intellect, and impresses me as genuine. He's refreshing, full of grace and vitality, and presents as a unifier. I'd be thrilled to see any of the three elected, but I believe Barack Obama offers the most.

Updates

2008 is off to a pretty good beginning. I received a letter from Kristy Bowen of dancing girl press telling me that "Notes to Jackson" will be included in an anthology of epistolary poems forthcoming around Valentine's Day. This is such an exciting project because it combines poetry and art. Each poet is responsible for creating a design for their "letter poem"---can be a postcard, a letter inside an envelope, origami, etc.--and the sky's the limit as far as what kind of medium used-- glitter, watercolor, collage. The individual pieces will be included as a set inside a 5x7 box. How neat is that?

I also received news that two of my poems were accepted by Zygote in my Coffee. "Inside the Ward" will appear in issue 103(February) and "Postage Stamps" will follow in issue 104 (March). Karl is wonderful to work with as an editor and responds promptly to submissions. Zygote is one of the most bold and innovative literary journals available in the U.S. If you're interested in a journal that is receptive to work with an edge, please consider Zygote.

I'm delighted that Press1 has accepted two poems ("Protocol" and "Life with Frederic on Cassatt Street) for their next issue. Press1 is relatively new, but the first issue featured amazing work. It was here that I first came across Leonard Gontarek’s poems. His collection, Deja Vu Diner, published by Autumn House Press in 2006, is one of my recent favorites.

Happy 2008!

I survived the holiday madness and am ready to settle into my normal routine. My youngest son received a drum set for Christmas. Need I say more? He's really quite good on them, and plays electric guitar, too, but I love quiet--I suppose most writers do--and drums are anything but quiet. My eldest son isn't so happy about the drums either, since his room is right across the hall from his brother's. I think I finally have them on a schedule that includes drum-free hours as well as hours my youngest can play. So far, the house is still standing.

Husband went to The Asian Panda yesterday and picked up dinner for New Year's Eve. Turns out to be the best Chinese restaurant we've tried in the area, because they have such a wide variety of vegetarian entrees like my favorite, eggplant in garlic sauce. He also picked up a raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, which went perfectly with the champagne and CNN/Anderson Cooper's New Year's countdown. Yes, I am one of those boring people who celebrates at home. I'm just not the type to endure the cold or fight the crowds to watch a ball drop from the sky so I can kiss the same man I've been kissing for twenty years. Nope, not happening. If Elvis or Anna Nicole Smith or Michael Jackson (Oh, wait, he isn't dead) stepped out of the ball, or if I got to kiss Richard Gere, maybe I'd show up...but probably not. I'm as reclusive as they come.

I must have been a good girl this year, because Santa brought me a huge stack of books for Christmas, along with some art supplies, red wine, DVDs, CDs, and chocolate. I'll highlight some of the books here as I read them, but if you want the wine and chocolate, you better get here fast. Neither last long around me.

I finished up round four of 30:30 at ITWS. As much as I'd love to continue, I find it very difficult to write both poetry and fiction simultaneously. They ask for different things, at least I find that to be true.

I hope you all enjoy a year of happiness, good health, and successes large and small.

Cheers,

Jayne

Holidays

I'm winding down for the holidays and finishing up last minute tasks like wrapping gifts and making cookies. Not much left to do on the preparations. I plan to consume all the oysters, dark chocolate, and champagne I can hold. I have just a week left on the 30:30 challenge on Inside the Writer's Studio (Rules are simple: Write one poem a day for thirty days. Repeat as necessary.). I've been working on a few other projects, but will return to those after the holidays.

I'm happy to say it isn't going to snow this Christmas in my neck of the woods. I'm not a fan of the white stuff. I'd like for it to be June all year long.

We have an unusual arrangement with our tree this year, thanks to Tucker, our terrier-hound mix we adopted last year. He's a wild boy---more rambunctious than the three poodles. Tucker has few fears, but he is quite afraid of my African masks. So guess what surrounds our tree this year to keep Tucker from tearing it down? Yep, we circled the tree with African masks! Okay, so the animals run things at my house. You mean you didn't know that? Now, should we sing carols, or maybe paint our bodies and do a tribal dance around the tree?

A few more poems have been accepted for publication. "Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio" and "Census of Seagulls" are forthcoming in Anti-, which is a new and exciting literary journal. Eclectica Magazine has accepted three of my poems, which were written in response to a word challenge: "OCD Patient Narrates the Picnic," "Nights in Apt 14," and "Hotel Prayer." And my poem "Oject Trouve" will appear soon in qarrtsiluni. The editors suggested some fine revisions to that poem, which I was happy to make. Thieves Jargon, which publishes fresh, innovative, and provocative work, has accepted two of my poems: "Armand" and "Applicants to the Garden of Eternal (more or less) Rest." I'm thrilled!


I hope everyone has a blissful holiday---and please don't forget all the homeless and abused animals in need when you consider holiday giving. While Christmas is not typically a good time to bring home a new pet, it is always a good time to volunteer and/or donate money and goods to help them. Check out the Activism Page on my Web Site for some organizations you might consider. These groups rely on donations and support to do their work. Please help where and when you can.

Cheers,

Jayne

A GOOD WEEK

It's been a good week for acceptances. Ghoti is publishing three of poems in their winter issue: "Valley Notes," "Tuesday Afternoon," and "The Proof." A few of the poems in my forthcoming book first appeared in this journal, which is one of my personal favorites.


Six Little Things has accepted "Found Coins." This will be my first appearance in this journal, which features prose poems.


"Starving Artists" will appear in the next issue of Mimesis, a beautiful print journal.


And I'm especially thrilled that Allison Tyler has accepted three erotica submissions for an upcoming anthology to be published by Cleis Press.

Front and Back Covers of Forms of Intercession

Whew!

It's been a hectic few weeks. I finished up round three at Inside the Writer's Studio, and began round four today. I am never, ever again going to try to do the 30:30 challenge and NaNoWriMo at the same time. I thought I'd never see daylight again! I finished the NaNoWriMo challenge of 50,000 words while writing a poem a day at ITWS, but by the time November 3o arrived, I was feeling junkyard-dog vicious. If a Salvation Army Santa had said so much as"Merry Christmas" to me, I probably would have poured my latte on his beard. I drank a lot of lattes during November. I kept asking my husband if they were making my behind fat. He said not, but we've been married twenty years, so he is well-trained.


If I had even two paranoid bones in my body, I'd swear the gods were timing things to test my reserves. My fiction manuscript was returned to me for some re-writing and proof-reading at the same time my poetry manuscript proofs arrived. Today, I received an acceptance for an erotica anthology, but was asked to rewrite one small section of one story (yes, I do go over the top once in awhile). All these things need to be finished at about the same time. Yikes! Will I make it? Somebody needs to sing the "I think I can...I think I can...." refrain.


For all my complainin', I love writing and enjoy being busy with projects that are coming to completion after hours of elbow grease, head-thumping, and chewing the end of my pen.


I must also add that I'm eternally grateful for the work my editor (Chuck Adams) and copyeditor (Janet Patterson) have done on my novel, Tomato Girl. Mayapple's Judith Kerman (publisher/editor) and her assistant, Amee Schmidt, have been invaluable in making Forms of Intercession (Poetry) the best that it can be.


Arlene missed her plane to the Phillipines, but that gave her time to drop her chapbook in the mail to me. What she doesn't know is that if she had mailed my copy before her first attempt to leave, she wouldn't have missed her plane at all. I want that chapbook in my little hands.


And some good news... I heard from the UK based journal FuseLit. They've accepted my poem, "Fox in Daylight," for their sepcial issue on foxes. I can't wait to see it!