The Projector Is Ripping Your History

First Book Interview #51 - Steve Kistulentz

2011-11-03T09:55:00.002-04:00

Today there's a new interview with Steve Kistulentz.

Check out the interview. Check out his work. Grab a copy of his book.

#51 - Steve Kistulentz

First Book Interview #50 - Shane McCrae

2011-10-18T16:00:00.002-04:00

We've reached the half century mark with the newest First Book Interview from Shane McCrae.

Mule has gotten quite a good reception out there thus far, and for good reason, so do check out his work and buy his book.

#50 - Shane McCrae

A Few

2011-10-10T18:41:00.006-04:00

Wanted to share this new review of Ghost Lights at Southeast Review Online by John Beardsley, whom I also need to thank profusely.

He did a great job with it, and though there haven't been a ton of reviews of the book, I've been thrilled with all of them, and this is definitely no exception.

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Also, last week I got my contributor copies of Copper Nickel, and the issue not only looks fantastic as an art object, but there's a ton of newer poets for whom I'll be on the lookout in the future, along with some friends and great poets I've been following for a while.

It's becoming one of my favorite journals in the country, and is surely worth the subscription price.

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Picking up The Tree of Life tomorrow.

Finally.

There was no stand-alone DVD released, as it should be.

Aside from the theater, it now needs to be seen on Blu-ray only.

I can't wait.

First Book Interview #49 - Nicky Beer

2011-10-03T14:42:00.002-04:00

One more closer to 50 with a new one from Nicky Beer --

Happy reading.

#49 - Nicky Beer

While

2011-09-21T14:44:00.009-04:00

So at this point, I'm not updating this regularly, except for First Book Interviews, and it will most likely stay that way.

Though once in a while I'll to do an update, like this one, in the midst.

Otherwise, I have two years left, if all goes well, until I have my PhD. And the job market waits for no man.

Considering how fast the first two years went, and all the great advice I've gotten from friends, I figure I need to start getting a foothold on what to look for, how to prepare, etc. for all the paperwork and the like that will soon be occurring.

Along with that, teaching, writing, watching amazing films, preparing for and writing comprehensive exams, and trying to be a good husband, I know these two years are going to go by even faster.

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In other news worth mentioning, I think: I was thrilled that my second manuscript, Sirens and Wildfire, which has making the rounds for a little less than two years now (picking up some other finalist nods along the way, for which I'm also very thankful), was a finalist for The National Poetry Series.

I was never more shocked by a poetry-related email in my life. I can tell you that.

I wasn't one of the five chosen in the end, but friend and fellow writer (whose first manuscript, Praise Nothing, you should put on your to-buy list when it's inevitably published) Joshua Robbins was also a finalist, and considering we've seen each other's said manuscripts and have talked a lot about them regarding contests, structuring, and much more, I was happy to be in such company.

I'm still hoping to have the manuscript under contract before I'm done at Binghamton in less than two years. That news gave me a little more hope that this thing's now officially ready, and I hope someone eventually believes in it enough to take a shot at getting it into the world.

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I have a poem in the new issue of DIAGRAM. As always, it's a varied and wild issue, and one definitely worth your time.

The poem's from a new series I'm working on. I'm hoping to put together a kind of conceptual manuscript (something I'd never thought about doing until maybe a year ago) within the next year (as I have about a third of it written currently).

If it doesn't turn into anything, I'm still loving the process of writing these. And overall, that's really the most important aspect of the project right now.

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Two poetry-related making-waves discussions lately (and yes, I'm late on these) are Brett Ortler's post about BlazeVOX and all the hullabaloo about MFA Rankings.

Regarding the latter, I'm on the side of down-with-rankings, but as I've mentioned in the past on this blog: I'm so thrilled that none of this talk existed in 2002-2003, when I was beginning my process of applying to schools.

But it's going to go on no matter what. As for young writers, I just hope they had the great guidance that I did, and they're applying to programs for the right reasons.

For what it's worth, in my opinion this is one of the best posts about it: belonging to Paisley Rekdal.

And for the former, I'm glad that got out into the open. At the very least, it prompted a ton of interesting discussions about publishing, self publishing, what's to gain by getting published, what the publishers gain from publishing you, etc.

Sometimes the arguments can be misleading, but to me, once you're able to slough through everything, a lot of it's worth reading, and then you can make your own decision.

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I'm now on Twitter (very late to the party), though I don't update it as often as some, here, if you're interested: http://twitter.com/keithmontesano

Contradictory, mostly. Boring to most, probably. But alas, there I am.

It's mostly my obsession and frustration with the New York Giants (Dear Lord: Why all the injuries?) coupled with some thoughts about films I'm devouring (and I watch as many as I can between everything else, as many people know). And I'll update there with news sometimes and new First Book Interviews. But mostly I like to keep the poetry-related goings-on within the blog.

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Finally, both poetry and film-related, The Tree of Life is released on Blu-ray on October 11th.

Black out the windows. Lock the doors. And crank the speakers.

First Book Interview #48 - Jeremy Halinen

2011-09-15T16:30:00.001-04:00

Here's a new First Book Interview with Jeremy Halinen --

You know you want to read it.

#48 - Jeremy Halinen

First Book Interview #47 - Justin Evans

2011-09-01T12:50:00.002-04:00

A new one with Justin Evans.

Check this and his book out while you're at it...

#47 - Justin Evans

Conte

2011-08-22T18:42:00.002-04:00

The new issue of Conte is live, and I'm happy to be a part of such a fine line-up.

Thanks again to Adam and Ashley.

First Book Interview #46 - Kyle McCord

2011-08-15T17:23:00.002-04:00

For your reading enjoyment, I present the next interview with friend and former DHP Reading Tour partner in crime.

#46 - Kyle McCord

First Book Interviews #44 - Nicholas Ripatrazone, and #45 - Luke Johnson

2011-08-01T16:51:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the delays with these...

Had a lot of problems with Luke's, so if you see mistakes, suffice it to say that I'm worried about trying to correct them and having to delete it and start over. Long story. Blogger problems, I think, but they were probably on my end too.

That said, you now have two for your perusal.

#44 - Nicholas Ripatrazone

#45 - Luke Johnson

Many good ones coming around, so stay tuned, folks.

New Diode

2011-07-07T14:56:00.002-04:00

Check out the newest Diode issue here.

And a few poems from my second manuscript here.

I think the journal's becoming one of the best around, online or print, and I know I'm not the only one. So thanks again to Patty and Jeff for including me.

Review + New

2011-06-26T13:18:00.003-04:00

There's now a review of Ghost Lights in the new 10th anniversary issue of Blackbird. Thanks so much to Emilia Phillips for taking the time to review it so thoroughly and thoughtfully.

Also, I have a new poem from my second manuscript in the issue, should you be interested in taking a look at it.

First Book Interview #43 - Laurie Clements Lambeth

2011-06-15T18:29:00.001-04:00

Here you go, folks.

Thanks to Laurie for answering some questions.

First Book Interview #43 - Laurie Clements Lambeth

First Book Interview #42 - Bobby C. Rogers

2011-06-01T08:43:00.003-04:00

I can't really express how thrilled I am that Bobby C. Rogers decided to answer some questions for me.

I've been a fan of his work for years. From the first poem I saw of his in a journal, "Night Air" in an older issue of Meridian six years ago, I was absolutely floored. It continued from there.

So it's no surprise that I hold his first book, Paper Anniversary, in such high regard. There's the spirit of late-life Larry Levis. There are the cinematically poetic flourishes of Terrence Malick. There's beauty in the most menial tasks. There's the southern romanticism of Joe Bolton. I could go on.

It's a beautiful and necessary book of poetry, first book or not.

So here we go...

First Book Interview #42 - Bobby C. Rogers

Return

2011-05-30T07:13:00.009-04:00

Just got back last night from a week in Rome, Florence, and Venice with my wife.

We've been talking about it for a couple years.

I'm glad we finally did it. It was worth every penny.

And there are so many cities we still haven't seen in Italy, much less the rest of the world.

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Walking's the way to go. This may be obvious, but alas.

I don't know how many miles we walked, but we're starting to realize that you need to travel when you're still young, if you can.

Too many retired people on the plane. Too many that looked miserable, as if they were forced to do it because that's what you're "supposed to do" when you're retired.

I can't see my legs holding up that long. Or my mind, my body, my willingness. My tolerance.

I think we're trying to do South America next. Going to try to look, at the very least, into some travel grants.

*

Already wrote one poem on the plane (one that I've been returning to, stuttering and stopping with for five years, which is unusual for me), and after the Uffizi in Florence, I have ideas for a few more.

I never tried my hand, really, at true Ekphrastic poems, as far as paintings go.

Sure, I've done a lot of film-related poems, and still am, but I think it's time to try and see what I can do with some of the paintings that I saw.

There were a few that I'm going to have to write about.

But since so many writers deal with Ekphrastic poems these days, I'm going to have to try and make them... not as expected as some we get these days. Whatever that means.

Even though it's tough after how great Steve Gehrke's Michaelangelo's Seizure is. But I suppose I can learn from it.

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One of the best things about Rome was seeing The Tree of Life in a back alley art house theater near The Spanish Steps.

Didn't make it to the Keats-Shelley House, but again, the former made up for it.

It didn't seem like anyone was going to show up, but they did. It was packed. The first theater we went to had it dubbed.

This one had it with subtitles.

I could talk about the film for a while, but I still need to see it again, and again, and again after that.

It's one of the most beautiful movies ever filmed, in my opinion, and proves that you don't need lush countries and cities, necessarily, or CGI, but one of the best directors ever to get behind a camera, and one of the best production designers out there in Jack Fisk.

Again: I need to see it again, but that was an experience I'll never forget.

And the fact that it's not playing around Binghamton makes me even happier that I took advantage, though I hope that it'll get here once it goes beyond the limited release.

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I listened to the new Bon Iver record over ten times on the trip.

Let's get this straight: I think For Emma, Forever Ago and Blood Bank are overrated.

Very overrated.

So naturally I was curious to hear the new one.

And I felt the same kind of shiver that I get not very often, from the first tracks of records that you hope keep going like that.

I hear Miracle Fortress, Owen, Mark Kozelek, Jim Guthrie, Bruce Hornsby, and a ton of others as far as influences go, but there seems to be a kind of lack of complacency this time around.

There are weird flourishes with instruments and static, the lap steel is expertly placed and used in a nearly perfectly ambient way, the vocals are, of course, layered most of the time, but there's a better sense of melody with all the instruments this time around.

In other words: it seems like he knew he could make a record like he's been making, and people would buy it and could continue to do the same.

But he decided to step it up, and thankfully we still have some indie artists that are doing that these days.

Usually, for me, this doesn't happen. I'm not a fan of someone's music, as hyped as they are, and I still can never come around.

This time, though, I have come around. And for good reason.

The new record's awesome. I imagine I'll be listening to it a lot this summer, even more.

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I'm officially halfway done with my PhD.

Field exams, language, and dissertation in the next two years.

Reading for my first field exam right now, which I'm taking in August. And I have rough outlines of what I want to do for the other two, so hopefully more work will go into that this summer.

My goal has been to start working on a third manuscript that will become my dissertation, and I feel like by the end of the summer I'll have 30-35 pages of solid work, so I think I'm on track to reach it.

And what's great is a lot of the weirder poems I've been writing have been well-received by journals, so I'm thrilled that others are liking the work too.

I think a handful of journals are opening up submission periods in a few days, so it may be time to send some more work out.

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It's been a busy May, but I also need to get back to sending out First Book Interviews.

There are a bunch of poets I'm excited about contacting, so hopefully you'll see them running every two weeks throughout the summer and through the fall, and as long as poets are willing to answer questions, I'm going to keep it up as long as I can.

A Thanks - One Year After the Fact

2011-05-19T15:09:00.010-04:00

About a week ago, I wrote a four page single-spaced document about how the last year has been, since Ghost Lights was released on May 15th, 2010.

I couldn't get the font right, or there was something with Blogger. But I realized while I was having all those problems posting it that it was mostly for me anyway. It was interesting to get a bunch of ideas on paper that I had been thinking about, and it didn't seem as pertinent to anyone but me, so I won't end up posting it.

But I will present a kind of abridged version here.

Mostly it was a thank you letter and reflections on some of the things that have happened since the book's release.

The seventeen-day tour I went on with Kyle was amazing in many ways. I learned a lot. I became good friends with Kyle. I got to see, though mostly briefly, many cities and states I'd never been to. I met a ton of people: strangers, those I'd "known" only through Facebook, and other friends and family it was great to see again. To all that put us up for a night, gave us a meal, came to see us read, bought a book, or were nice to us (which was pretty much everyone): it meant more than you know.

The fact that there are over 300 copies of Ghost Lights floating around, from all I at least know about that are out there now, is extremely humbling, and I'm ridiculously grateful that so many people have even bothered to crack it open in the first place. I was going to be happy with 100 copies out there in the world (as it's always tough to not have low expectations, or I've just always been glass half-empty...), and I didn't win some big prize or anything, so the generosity of folks is something for which I've been extremely thankful, and continue to be.

Thanks to Nick, Kayleigh, Kyle, and Emilia for taking the time to review it. Hopefully there will be more reviews out there soon enough, but time will tell.

Thanks to Mary, Christopher, and Gary for teaching Ghost Lights in their classes, also. And thanks again to Christopher for having me back at Allegheny College for an amazing reading in March.

Now that I'm still in the midst of getting my second manuscript out there, it's time to concentrate on that (though I'll promote Ghost Lights as long as I can of course). It's odd, because in a way, this sounds like a closing, and though it's not, like I said, it's time to continue with the second manuscript, and onto the third project, which is a mess but is, I think, starting to turn into something.

So again, thank you to those folks out there who have bought, read, thought about, or even gave Ghost Lights a chance and didn't like it, since I know they're out there too.

Let's hope I have the ability to keep writing poems.

First Book Interview #41 - Elyse Fenton

2011-05-16T19:26:00.001-04:00

Here you go, dear readers:

First Book Interview #41 - Elyse Fenton

Hope you enjoy it.

Ghost Lights Review in iO

2011-05-15T20:33:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Kyle for reviewing Ghost Lights in the inaugural issue of iO.

The whole issue has some great stuff in it, so be sure to give it a read.

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Thanks to the editors of Tusculum Review for accepting a poem a while back from my second manuscript. Got my contributor copies in the mail a few days ago.

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More soon...

First Book Interview #40 - Mike Dockins

2011-05-03T12:07:00.003-04:00

Here you go, folks...

#40 - Mike Dockins

Enjoy!

First Book Interviews - Slightly Early

2011-04-12T10:47:00.003-04:00

I'm unable to post Michelle Bitting's interview on April 15th, so it has to come a little early this time.

#39 - Michelle Bitting

And I also, somehow, forgot to post the link to Alexander's:

#38 - Alexander Dickow

Not sure why the spacing's weird when you go to the regular page. I don't know what happened. But if you click on the name of the poet whose interview you'd like to read on the front page or on the right side of the page, the spacing goes back to normal.

Sorry about that.

VCU

2011-03-28T00:11:00.003-04:00

So thrilled that the Rams took down Kansas and made it to the Final Four.

I didn't fill out a bracket this year (because I never have a shot, and this year would've probably been no different), but after they destroyed Purdue, I, and I imagine many others, said, "The run won't end with a loss to Florida State."

Props to the program. To the university. To the city of Richmond.

It was a long shot for them to make the tournament, so why not take it up a notch?

I'd love to see them actually win this thing.

I hope they do.

Digitalia

2011-03-25T16:41:00.006-04:00

The reading at Allegheny College went extraordinarily well.

Endless thanks go to Christopher Bakken for getting everything set up and for inviting me back.

It doesn't seem like I graduated seven years ago, but I suppose time's doing anything but slowing down.

There were over 100 bodies in the seats, and to to be surrounded by such supportive family and friends was fantastic.

I had conferences with three students the next day, and I have high hopes for each one of them. Each student is ready not only to go to an MFA program, but to do good things there. I had no chops when I was their age (and most often I don't know if I have any chops now), and I'm excited to see what they all do in the future.

I suppose I should mention the oddness of watching the tsunami footage at 4 in the morning in a hotel room, though, since that will always be tied to such an amazing night for me.

That said, infinite thanks go to everyone for being there. It was a humbling and amazing experience.

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Thanks again to Bear for publishing a poem from my new manuscript that's in the current issue of The National Poetry Review and The American Poetry Journal.

The idea's great, and though I'm sure it's not the first time this has ever happened, I've never seen a journal like this.

Sonora Review did a double issue (flip issue?) a while back like this, but here, you get issues of two different journals in the same space. Flip it over when you get to the end, and you get the Table of Contents in the other.

You should be able to order it here soon.

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I was pleased to recently get acceptances from Copper Nickel and Whiskey Island Magazine.

The former took a poem from my second manuscript. It's one of my favorites and is the penultimate poem in the manuscript. Sometimes I wonder if it should be the last, but I think I made the right decision.

Whiskey Island Magazine took two poems that I hope will become part of a third manuscript. A couple weeks ago I sent some poems out to some journals, and this is the first I've heard from. The fact that it's not a rejection is welcomed.

I'm writing a lot of different stuff right now, so who knows what the third manuscript will become. I'm trying to work on a series of poems, unsurprisingly film-related, that I like. It gives me a chance to get risky and lyrical at the same time.

We'll see how they're received, but even if the reception's poor, I'm going to keep writing them. If anything, it keeps me on my toes. And if people hate the poems, that's almost always a good sign at this point. At least in my eyes.

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I'm beginning my run at field exams, the first of which will be this summer.

I'm almost two years in, halfway done.

I plan on completing a third manuscript by the time I'm finished with my final degree.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Lofty, it is. Possible, I hope.

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The VCU Rams are a huge inspiration this year in the NCAA tournament.

I didn't give myself a chance when I got there to do anything. It was a risk.

It paid off. I think.

So I'm thrilled to back a team that shouldn't have made it in the first place... so they say.

I haven't done a lot at this point, I know, but I'm going to keep at it.

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Spring's here. Officially.

But in Binghamton, we'll see how official it is in a few weeks.

First Book Interview #37 - Sandy Longhorn

2011-03-15T12:44:00.001-04:00

Enjoy, folks.

#37 - Sandy Longhorn

Last Minute - Reading

2011-03-08T16:04:00.003-05:00

This is happening in a little over 48 hours, but on the off chance that you're not my Facebook friend (I made an event for it, and invited mostly people who I know are going to be there anyway), didn't see the event, and / or would possibly be interested and can make it, here's the information for the upcoming reading I'm doing.

Here's the information in the link from Allegheny College.

Poets Keith Montesano and Robert Murphy will read from their works on Thursday, March 10 at 8 p.m. in the Tippie Alumni Center at Allegheny College. The free public presentation is part of the college’s Single Voice Reading Series.

There you have it. I'm looking forward to it. I haven't been back to Allegheny since I graduated in 2004, so it'll be nice, to say the least.

First Book Interview #36 - Leslie Harrison

2011-03-03T22:26:00.002-05:00

Here you go, dear readers...

#36 - Leslie Harrison

And I'm getting really sick of the long lines and colors in the template I have, so I think something simpler and brighter and easier is coming, hopefully sooner than later.

What was the name...?

2011-02-21T21:58:00.000-05:00

There are no sentimental breakthroughs in Kore-eda’s day in the life—and the flash-forward epilogue implies that they don’t exist in life, period. In this family, people and relationships don’t change in any fundamental sense; avoidance prevails over confrontation. Some might simply chalk this up to Japanese decorum, but it has at least as much to do with Kore-eda’s gimlet-eyed appraisal of how hurts and grievances play out in most families, whatever the culture: silently and subcutaneously, in coded words and actions. But while Kore-eda grants his characters no epiphanies, he allows them pangs of regret and moments of dawning awareness.

Late to the Party

2011-02-17T11:46:00.008-05:00

AWP was a good time.

There's really not too much to review, I suppose, but I should put something down before I forget everything I wanted to say.

We had about eighty or so people in the audience for our panel. Honestly, that was a lot more than I thought would show up.

This was it:

S158. From the Page to the Small Screen: What the Information Age Means for Us . (Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum, Terry Hummer, Maggie Dietz, Mary Flinn, Brian Brodeur, Keith Montesano) As digital technologies such as blogs, online periodicals, hypertext, and phone Apps gain legitimacy, more writing than ever before finds its home online. Some big questions loom: What is lost or gained when we translate our work from the page to the screen? Are these technologies promotional tools or new creative forms? Are we witnessing the death of the page or its evolution? Panelists from Slate, Blackbird, the Favorite Poem Project, AmeriCamera, and the blogosphere will answer these questions.

Thanks again to Andrew for getting everything together, and everyone for making it what it was, even only for an hour.

The main reason I went was the panel.

But I also wanted to meet a lot of people I only "know" through Facebook, and that I did.

I also needed to give Ghost Lights to some blurbers (Paul and Lisa, I still owe you a book).

Wojahn had a signing, but Pittsburgh Press was all out of World Tree. Kind of had me bummed.

It's always amazing to me when I see the complete mix of frighteningly egotistical people that are like sharks to just one drop of blood, and then the people who turn out to be absolutely humble and down to earth. I wish everyone could be in the latter category, but even that realization makes me happier to know, now, so many of them.

Books I picked up:

Le Spleen de Poughkeepsie - Joshua Harmon
Requiem for the Orchard - Oliver de la Paz
Vivisect - Lisa Lewis
Reliquary Fever - Beckian Fritz Goldberg

Was going to buy many more, but I already have a ton to read, as we all probably do.

Plus, since we got a new bookshelf, in the words of Jess: "It really doesn't look like the we did anything. We just moved the books from the original onto the second."

Near the end of AWP, as the book fair was closing down, someone handed me an uncorrected proof of Michael Kimball's Us, which seems right up my alley and I can't wait to read.

Was it you, Michael? Or was it Giancarlo?

Unless I have a reason for going next year in Chicago, I'm probably good for a few years. But maybe things will change.

That said, to all the people I met, drank beers with, shot the shit with, I wanted to say thanks to you. You're all what made AWP for me this year.

*

The crossroads point has set in with my second manuscript.

At what point do you say, "It's finished" or, "It's done"?

Is it presumptuous to say that?

Isn't there always something that can be done, even if it's realizing in the .doc file that you have two spaces between a word instead of one?

That said, I'm confident at this point. More confident than I've ever been with it.

The book's not for everyone, just like Ghost Lights was not and is not. But I have a lot of faith in it, more than I ever have with Ghost Lights (is that how it should be?) so hopefully that accounts for something.

I just got it out to five more places, with a handful more added to the list in the coming months.

*

I also feel like I've started, finally, a third project.

It still weirds me out a bit to type that.

I know if I don't move on, I'll be stuck, drafting and shredding, deleting.

But I have an idea and I'm running with it.

Unlike the past two manuscripts, I think I'm going to sit on these poems for a while, amass the good ones, tweak them, keep them in mind.

I'm usually fast to send out poems, but admittedly, I like to think a lot of my drafts don't take months, or sometimes even weeks, for me to be finished with them.

A thought's usually in my head for a while, and then usually I can get what I think is a decent draft down when it starts making itself known that it needs to be in words.

This new thing I'm working on isn't like that, so it's important for me to see how it develops. And slow is the way to go at this point. Or at least contained.

Even if it's just a glimmer at this point, I'm excited to see what happens.

And my last new poem, before the few I wrote in this last week, was written in October.

Too long.

Light the fire.

*

And also speaking of manuscripts and projects, I have First Book Interviews slated until, at the earliest, May 15th.

Again, I'm getting back to doing one every two weeks. Should I get a flood of them in the next few weeks, maybe I'll do a two-for-one every once in a while, but I want to make sure that the schedule fleshes itself out accordingly.

A lot of good interviews are on the way, so stay tuned.

*

You should listen to the new Twilight Singers record, Dynamite Steps.

Greg Dulli has been an influence on me for a long time.

I've written a lot of poems to Dulli-related projects, and somehow the dude never slows down.

The new record's fantastic. It deserves your time.

*

This is a busy semester for me, as it's my last semester of course work.

Soon it'll be time for field exams. And I still have to get the language requirement out of the way.

My main goal for the next two and a half years? Get my second manuscript published and have whatever my third's going to be (hopefully there is one) turn out to be my dissertation.

If I have to set myself up for disappointment, then so be it. But that's what I'm shooting for.

That means I don't know how much blogging I'll be doing, but at the very least, First Book Interviews will still be popping up every couple weeks.

First Book Interview #35 - Brent Goodman

2011-02-15T11:21:00.002-05:00

Brent Goodman graces us this time around with his presence...

#35 - Brent Goodman

And some good news also: There will hopefully be a First Book Interview every two weeks for many months to come, and hopefully even longer.

So stay tuned...

First Book Interview #34 - Traci Brimhall

2011-01-25T15:27:00.002-05:00

Traci Brimhall answers some questions about her fantastic first book, Rookery.

#34 - Traci Brimhall

Enjoy...

Turnaround

2011-01-07T16:13:00.003-05:00

Thanks again to Neil and everyone else at Boxcar Poetry Review for the quick turnaround with the aforementioned poem in the last blog post.

My poem is here and the rest of the contents can be seen here.

Though I have it in the Notes section at the end of my manuscript, the penultimate stanza references Woody Allen's Interiors, which is something that I've been trying to get into a poem for way too long.

You should see it if you haven't already.

As an aside: the whole Woody Allen collection needs to be on Blu-ray. It's a monster task, I know, but hopefully someone's working on it.

Somewhere

2011-01-06T13:15:00.003-05:00

I was recently interviewed by The Collagist about "Stargazing," which was published in their last issue.

You can read the interview here.

*

Thanks to Boxcar Poetry Review for recently taking a poem.

This was nice to hear mostly because it's the last poem I've written in the last few months.

And I've been a reader of theirs for a while now.

*

You need to see Somewhere when you can. Sofia Coppola's slowly becoming one of the better young filmmakers out there.

I imagine Stephen Dorff was chosen specifically or the role, as if she almost wrote the movie around him, imagining not the character, but the actual man playing the parts.

And of course with Harris Savides behind the camera, you could watch it with the sound off and be happy, even if the movie wasn't great.

A lot of people won't like it. Many will write it off as a rip-off of Lost in Translation. And though it wouldn't be surprising if she ripped herself off, and it does drink from the same fountain, I think more's at stake here.

Plus it's hard not to love the clear homages to Paris, Texas and The Brown Bunny. And the feeling that the blood of De Sica, Bertolucci, and Antonioni's been coursing through her veins for a long time.

It's definitely one of my favorites of the year, to say the least, and it's something I can't wait to get once it's finally available.

Top 10 Records of 2010

2010-12-29T17:21:00.003-05:00

In Order:

1) Owen Pallett - Heartland
2) Hammock - Chasing After Shadows... Living wth the Ghosts / Longest Year EP / North West East South EP
3) Sun Airway - Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier
4) Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard
5) The National - High Violet
6) Vampire Weekend - Contra
7) Delorean - Subiza
8) Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here?
9) Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
10) Near the Parenthesis - Music for the Forest Concourse

Review

2010-12-24T12:31:00.009-05:00

There's another review of Ghost Lights in the new Ragazine -- you can read it here.

Thanks again to Kayleigh.

I know reviews are sometimes the hardest things to coordinate after a book comes out (at least in my experience), so I'm always thankful when someone takes the time to say some words about it.

Paris

2010-12-22T10:55:00.003-05:00

The world to which Wenders pays homage is vanishing fast: not the desert, which is close to eternal, but the pay phones and diners and motels that used to line the approach to every small U.S. town, now replaced by cell phones and McDonald’s and multistory Doubletree Hotels and Quality Inns. All offer a sterile, branded comfort—and all deny the lure of the road, the impulse to keep moving, by affirming that, nowadays, however far you go, it’s still going to look just like home.

After

2010-12-18T07:34:00.003-05:00

There are some recently published poems online, from the new manuscript, that you're free to take a look at if you'd like.

One poem in The Collagist.

And two poems in the new Pebble Lake Review -- here and here.

*

I was pleased to hear that my new manuscript was a semi-finalist for the Brittingham / Pollak Prizes.

But I was more pleased to find out that it's a semi-finalist in another contest that's still going on.

I know that out of thirty manuscripts the odds are pretty low that the judge will select it, but so far, after sending it out for about a year, I've already had a lot more response than I did when I sent out Ghost Lights for the first year.

Also, this is the second contest where I've heard about my manuscript not after the fact.

And as always, it'll go out to a few more contests in a week or so, and the list grows through winter and spring.

*

My third semester is done.

Though it feels like I just got here in a way.

*

I have a lot of books I'm looking forward to reading, and more first book interviews will be conducted.

*

A best-of music list for the year is also on the horizon.

*

Travel safely over the next few weeks, everyone.

The Tree of Life

2010-12-16T14:21:00.003-05:00

The Tree of Life trailer is now up. The real thing. No bootleg.

Like many others have said already, I'm in agreement: this is my most anticipated film of all time.

There are others I had anticipated for months, all within the last 29 years, but nothing comes close to this.

And in my personal life, my academic life, my thoughts related to poetry and film, I keep thinking and asking myself, "Is there any poet who can come close to the beauty and genius of Terrence Malick?"

The only logical answer I think there is: Larry Levis.

Though we'll never be able to read anything beyond Elegy, if Malick continues, it's one of those kicked around thoughts, divinely related to art, that makes me legitimately say, "Life is worth living."

Week

2010-12-13T14:06:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Andrew at Poemoftheweek.org for featuring some poems from Ghost Lights this week.

It's a great site with a bunch of good stuff in the archives, so if you haven't seen it, definitely take a look.

Quick

2010-12-07T12:43:00.004-05:00

A few things here before I end up waiting another month to post something...

*

Thanks to Nick Ripatrazone for his review of Ghost Lights at The Quarterly Conversation. This is the first official review of Ghost Lights (with more on the way), and his words mean a lot.

*

And thanks to Brian Brodeur for including me in his great series How A Poem Happens. I answer questions specifically related to "Ghost Lights."

*

Currently, I'm waiting on about ten poets to get back to me as far as First Book Interviews go (meaning the interviews were sent via email within the last six months).

At this point, I don't know if any of them will get back to me, but we'll see. Some poets respond in a week. Some a few months. Some never (which is odd to me, but alas).

Mostly this is my fault, I imagine, for getting so behind in the last year.

That said, there are at least ten more books I'm planning on reading over Christmas break, and I plan on playing catch up completely over those days. Then we'll be back on the regular schedule again soon enough.

*

I've had five more poems accepted from the new manuscript in the last couple of months, so that's been great. Some of them should be appearing this month.

I think there are five unpublished poems left from the new manuscript now. They're all off in the world right now. And no, it's not vastly important that every poem gets published, but since these are some of my favorites in the entire thing (it seems to always happen that those are the ones that take the longest...), and I don't have any other new ones to send out at the moment, there you have it.

I didn't necessarily overhaul the manuscript, but I did take out some older and weaker poems to add some new ones. I think I probably ended up cutting seven or eight pages and adding four or five. I think the trade-off was a good one.

Now I feel better about it as it goes to more contests and open reading periods. Fingers crossed.

*

The semester is done in a few days.

Next semester will hopefully officially be my last semester of coursework in my Graduate School career.

Then it's all to field exams and the dissertation (which I hope will be a third manuscript).

*

A lot of other stuff I'm forgetting.

Looks like there's a decent crop of films at Sundance this year.

There's also a bootleg trailer floating around for Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life. It looks, not surprisingly, like it should be a gorgeous film. It's coming out in May.

With all those First Book Interviews I'll be reading for, I'm sure I'll be watching a ton of movies too. It usually happens that way.

And the snow keeps falling...

First Book Interview #33 - Gary L. McDowell

2010-11-24T17:02:00.002-05:00

While you're enjoying turkey, why not enjoy this interview with Gary L. McDowell?

#33 - Gary L. McDowell

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

First Book Interview #32 - Mari L'Esperance

2010-11-01T19:31:00.002-04:00

Again, for your reading pleasure...

#32 - Mari L'Esperance

And again, enjoy.

First Book Interview #31 - Rhett Iseman Trull

2010-10-18T15:42:00.001-04:00

For your reading pleasure.

#31 - Rhett Iseman Trull

Enjoy.

Neglect

2010-10-06T23:49:00.009-04:00

I've obviously not been doing a lot of blogging lately. So, while I'm up not doing work I'm supposed to be doing...

*

The second manuscript has officially been sent out for the fall. Trying to send to a lot of places this year (or, rather, fall 2010 to fall 2011, if needed).

When I first sent it out a year ago, it was short, uneven, not really a manuscript.

I probably should've waited until now to begin sending it out, but I've had a year to work on it and get it into shape. A lot of time has been spent on it. It's better. I hope it's officially ready now, but time will tell.

*

Had a few poems picked up over the last month or so from said manuscript.

Have five unpublished currently from the manuscript that are still out in the world, but mostly I've begun to send out some new ones. Finally.

*

Speaking of which, I've had a productive last few months. I have twenty new drafts I'm working on, about half of which have been sent out.

Not thinking of a direction so much as trying to write new work that I like. Had a burst after the reading tour. And had a burst last weekend in Florida, where I wrote eight drafts. I think five have potential.

*

Facebook's flooded now, if you're friends with certain folks, with MFA-related information. People "fighting" with each other. "Essays" being written and published in good journals about MFA programs.

I think everything's really gotten out of hand. I made a comment today, and I've probably said it before, that if those "books" and "essays" were around when I was applying in the fall of 2003, I'm not sure I would've wanted to do it. Confusion. Paralysis. Unrealistic goals set. Eye on the "prize." Too much pressure to succeed. Win awards. Study under certain professors.

Beyond college, the MFA should be a formative time, not one to worry about how much money they'll pay you, how much you'll teach (though if you hope to actually go into academia, which many don't choose, and that's fine, teaching should be something you make a point to do a lot), how many books you can write before you leave with your validating piece of paper in your hand.

Maybe I'm nuts, but I wish everyone luck who has to deal with all of this right now. I know I wouldn't want to. Hopefully, whoever you are out there, you won't be affected by those things that you need to ignore, and you'll survive, grow as a writer, and figure out what you want to do when you're done with those very few years in the entire span of your life.

*

Really liked Enter the Void. Have a lot to say about it, but I only saw it once. More viewings will come with the Blu-ray in the future.

*

Buy Paper Anniversary by Bobby C. Rogers.

Along with Elyse Fenton's Clamor and Gary L. McDowell's American Amen, those are my favorite first collections of poetry this year.

My hope is that they'll all want to do first book interviews...

*

Not a lot of first collections have blown me away lately.

Those above aren't the only three I've really enjoyed thus far (there have actually been many just within the last six months), but it seems like this trend is growing.

I don't like it.

But I guess we can't be blown away all the time. Truth dazzling gradually and all that...

*

Can't stop listening to Hammock. Have mentioned them too much. One of the best bands to write to, and their music never gets old to me.

*

Reading in NYC at the Bowery this Sunday, October 10th.

With Amy Holman, Diane Kirsten Martin, and Kyle McCord.

Hopefully you can make it if you're in the area.

*

A lot of good first book interviews on the way...

First Book Interview #30 - Alison Stine

2010-09-29T22:17:00.002-04:00

Here you go, folks.

#30 - Alison Stine

Dig it.

First Book Interview #29 - Jehanne Dubrow

2010-09-16T17:10:00.002-04:00

A new one is up and running.

#29 - Jehanne Dubrow

Enjoy.

My First Book Interview

2010-09-02T12:11:00.004-04:00

In the past, I've heard the question, "Now that your book's out, when are you going to do your own first book interview?"

Well, the time has come.

It's now live on HTMLGIANT.

Thanks again to Blake. Hope you enjoy.

First Book Interview #28 - Anna Leahy

2010-09-01T13:19:00.002-04:00

It's up and running.

#28 - Anna Leahy

Happy reading.

Schooling

2010-08-30T12:54:00.005-04:00

Binghamton starts classes today, but my first day is tomorrow.

I didn't write much the first year, which I expected, but I'm hoping this year will change that.

*

I found out near the end of the reading tour that my new manuscript, currently titled Sirens and Wildfire, was a finalist for the Akron Poetry Prize and a semi-finalist for the Cleveland State Open Competition.

Like it was when I first started sending out what finally became Ghost Lights, it's just fuel for the fire. Late nights reading poems, thinking about order, feeling out if any should be cut or if new ones should be added. All of that will continue to happen with the new manuscript, and it becomes both fun and maddening at the same time.

I have a list of contests and open reading periods for 2010 and 2011, so it's back to getting it out again soon enough.

*

And somehow, since the tour, miraculously, I've been writing a lot of new poems. Since I wasn't able to send out a lot last year, I'm hoping I can have a good September to add more poems to the ones I've already written.

My goal, then, is to send out as many that I feel are ready for a big push at the beginning of October.

Maybe there's even the kernel of a third manuscript in there somewhere...?

*

Speaking of submissions, it's interesting to hear all the hullabaloo about New England Review and Ploughshares charging writers to submit their work now.

My take on it personally is this...

I haven't submitted to NER for one simple reason: currently I don't, and have never, sent to places who don't accept simultaneous submissions. If I wrote as much as Bob Hicok and had his reputation, I'd have enough poems to wait on a response before sending those poems to other journals. The simple fact is, however, that I don't write enough. So I respect the policy for non-simultaneous submissions. I know many others that don't feel this way, but I do.

I've sent to Ploughshares many times in the past, with form rejections following every single time, and with chances already slim to get in (because of the notoriety of the journal, the amount of submissions they get, and the guest editor usually soliciting a lot), I'd rather submit work to other journals at this point. But Ploughshares will be in my sights for the future.

If many journals follow with charging for submissions, which I hope they won't, I'll either go back to sending via snail mail or not sending to them at all.

With so many journals out there, I just don't think this is a huge concern for me. I know where folks are coming from as far as being annoyed, but alas, if I get the itch to send to some of these places, I'll just send via snail mail, or I'll look at other journals who don't charge.

Simple as that.

*

Bring on PhD year number two...

First Book Interview #27 - Allison Benis White

2010-08-14T00:59:00.001-04:00

Here you go, folks.

First Book Interview #27 - Allison Benis White

It's a day early, but it has to be that way.

Enjoy.

Fly

2010-08-11T14:29:00.013-04:00

Now that I look back on my previous post about the tour, I realize that I probably left a lot out. But mainly that would consist of important things only to me, most of which would be fairly boring to others.

Like driving through Brooklyn and saying, "That looks exactly like the street of family in The Squid and the Whale," which is one of my favorite movies, and then realizing that though the streets all kind of look the same in that sense, one of them may have been their exact street.

Or the guy at one of the toll booths giving me 17 one-dollar bills instead of fives and tens, prompting me to tell my friend who I was talking to on the phone, "Apparently I was mistaken for Pacman Jones, because I'm gonna make shit rain."

Or the Full House trivia session at Manuel's Tavern in Atlanta with Blake Butler, who lost. I'm not sure Blake would want me to include him in this section of the post, and I'm going out on a limb by including myself, but I can answer many questions about Full House. And you probably don't want to challenge me, regardless of how embarrassing it is to say such a thing.

So there you go. Things like that. The post would've been longer and more drawn out, and I wanted to get to the heart of things. Hopefully you found it worth your time.

Also, I need to say thanks again to my beautiful and understanding wife, who let me go on the trip in the first place. Without her, I probably wouldn't even have a book out, so she does deserve more credit than I can give her.

*

School's starting in less than three weeks. I'm excited to get back to it, get teaching again, read novels, write non-fiction, work on manuscripts.

Two more semesters of coursework to go.

*

I was planning on going to New York City if need be to go see Enter the Void. I think it's going to be one of the best of the decade.

It's been eight years since Irreversible. That's way too long.

That said, I found out that it'll be part of On Demand IFC in Theaters, which is amazing. If I were closer to NYC, I'd go, but being able to get the HD version, though it won't be as good as the theater, will make me happy enough.

*

If it wasn't enough that Enter the Void is premiering in theaters on September 24th, I also pre-ordered, as should you: The Thin Red Line Criterion Blu-ray and Bobby C. Rogers' Paper Anniversary.

Add to that list Gary L. McDowell's American Amen.

September's going to be a good month for good art.

*

I love the new Ra Ra Riot record, The Orchard.

They're doing amazing things. They're a bunch of young and extremely talented kids. The strings are gorgeous. The melodies can't stay out of my head. And the production's top notch.

And finally bands are starting to realize that records in the 30-minute range are the way to go.

If only poets could get a clue about this...

What's that? Actually, no, I don't want to read your 110-page book if it's not a Selected or Collected. Sorry.

*

The NFL season will soon be underway. Can't wait to see how the season plays out for the Giants. Many have them collapsing, with Coughlin getting let go after a losing season.

But I'm optimistic.

I can't wait for Sundays... bring it.

*

And finally, a big congrats to Luke Johnson, whose first collection, After the Ark, will be coming out in in spring 2011 from NYQ Books.

Luke and I traded manuscripts a few months back, and I told him I gave him two years until it was contracted. I pride myself on usually being right about good collections I've read when it comes to publication and the like, but I have to say, he demolished my window into a thousand pieces.

It's a strong, strong collection, and one you should certainly pick up once it hits the shelves and the streets.

So You Want To Know What It's Like To Go On A 17-Day Book Tour Across The Country?

2010-08-09T18:04:00.004-04:00

So the post finally starts.

I'm not sure how many days, by the time you read this, I will have actually spent constructing and writing this, but after I thought about it, I figured I would keep it to the basics, the answers to questions that Kyle and myself would've wanted answers to, maybe, before we started this whole thing.

I suppose I can just go ahead and start, and we'll see what happens.

*

THE BEGINNING

I did not win a prize for Ghost Lights.

I didn't care about winning a prize. The book was done. I just wanted to be, at the very least, with a press I believed in, and a press that believed in my book.

That happened.

But I've said all this before...

That said, this also relates to not receiving any money to buy books, not on my own dime, for the tour.

I got 20 free copies (which went out pretty quickly to reviewers and other friends who had sent me their books) and had to buy the rest myself.

Also, because Dream Horse Press is a non-profit press solely run by Bear (and I'm still not sure how he's able to have the energy to live his own life while dealing with the many projects with which he's involved, so again, thank you publicly to Bear for all he's done for his authors and the press), we didn't get any compensation from the press.

Again, that was fine, but you have to realize, then, how you're going to pretty much solely survive on book sales.

We (Kyle and I) booked the venues. We did most of the promotion. We did our best to have a place to stay that wouldn't cost us any money (more on that later).

Therefore, any money "made" by selling books, which was of course not a large amount, pretty much went toward gas every night. And gas prices, right now, even in the Midwest, are not cheap.

So, overall, I probably lost, even after selling over 100 books, about $300 to $400 for gas and other expenses.

But considering all of that, I think it's pretty good. Really good, actually.

Again: unless you win a prize, in addition to publication, of $1000 or more, you should probably plan on doing the same (unless you want to live on saltines and never go out to cool bars, in states and cities you've never been to, for a beer, which I will always take full advantage of until the day I die).

And yes, $300 to $400, for what you hopefully get to experience, if you're raising an eyebrow, is afterthought chump change...

*

TRANSPORTATION

We took my car. A 2004 Pontiac Grand Am.

It has somewhere near 65,000 miles when we started.

We put on anywhere from 4,500 to 4,750 miles on it by the time we were done.

I got an oil change, a new air filter, and filled the washer fluid. I didn't even check my tires or put air in them.

Thankfully, we had no problems with the car, and it was perfect for us the whole time.

We hardly ran into any traffic or bad weather too, so that was obviously something I was thrilled about.

*

GPS

My wife likes to make fun of me about this. About 6 months ago or so she bought a Garmin nuvi, and admittedly, I made fun of her.

Keep in mind: I'm awful when it comes to directions. I have no idea where I am in when it comes to spacial location. No idea.

Why did I make fun of her? I'm not sure. But without the GPS, I don't say we would've been screwed. It just would've been much tougher to actually find some of these places.

At one point, in Missouri, it was taking us across an absent road, but since we were on the road for over 200 miles, it got us back on track soon.

And in Gary, Indiana, which was one of the most movie-set-like and horrifically destroyed and crumbling places I've ever seen in real life, it was taking us a direction that didn't exist anymore. An absent exit ramp. But we just followed I-90, I think, to get to Chicago, and we were fine.

It's probably a given now, but Thank God for the GPS, and Thank God we had one with us. It was the true savior of the trip.

*

PROMOTION

Do as much as you can through Facebook, email, poetry calendars, etc. Use everything that you have at your disposal, even if it seems like you're stuffing the information down folks' throats.

This also has to do with traveling across the country during the summer. I wasn't aware that most folks aren't around, at least to the degree that we were told this throughout our time on the road.

And we averaged, which I'm still insanely happy and surprised about, way more people at each venue than we ever thought would show up.

*

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Maybe this is surprising to hear, though I don't think it is. I like to think, like my situation (for which I'm grateful), that friends and family will usually show up. Especially family, so make sure you let any family know who will be in or close to an area where you're reading.

Often, family are the only people who will buy books. Mostly because they're proud of you, and they actually care that you're doing something pretty cool, even if they have no clue what your work is about.

Without our families, at least for most of us, we wouldn't have gotten this far.

Bloodlines can be a pretty amazing thing.

*

PEOPLE WHO SAY THEY WILL ATTEND

Reminders are a great thing. They're good to get out a day or two before. In addition to a week before. And maybe two weeks before.

There were many folks who said they were coming to a reading and didn't. I understand that.

Some had lame excuses. Some had legitimate excuses. Some just didn't explain why.

Again: I get it.

Which means: be happy that folks came to see you at all, even if your feelings may have been hurt by a person or two; after all, you'll get over it when you have to get up early and drive for another seven hours to another state. Meaning: you'll forget all about it pretty quickly.

*

NUMBER OF BOOKS TO TAKE WITH YOU

This was a tough one from the very beginning. I like to think I was optimistic.

After talking to some friends who are poets and who have done many more readings than I have in the past, I decided that 130 books would be a good number to bring with me.

As I said previously, Kyle and I were very lucky, at least I think, and each sold over 100 books. That's about an average of 6 books a night, and we were hoping to sell 5 a night.

*

SOUND AND VISION

Kyle had a small guitar amp he wanted to take with us. I'm glad he did.

Many venues either had some type of sound system (lectern and / or music stand, microphone, mic stand, amp) or didn't need one. But there were a few where the amp really helped, especially if it's a place where there's extraneous noise (like folks chatting in the background at a bar).

My car isn't huge, but it can carry a lot, and we put the amp, microphone, and mic stand in the back. With the sleeping bag, air mattress, luggage, etc. we had more than enough room.

Bringing it was worth it.

*

MONEY (1) (How Much to Accept for Books)

One of my professors at Binghamton, Joe Weil, told me a few months before the tour, "The one thing you don't want to do, as much as possible, is compete against each other." Sounds pretty simple, or at least simple enough to write off.

It's not.

We realized a day or two in that we should sell each book for $15 (the retail of each of our books is $17.95), if someone wanted just one copy of my book or Kyle's.

The other way was both books for $25. Keep in mind that's only making us a profit of $3.50 a book (if we're buying them for $9 a piece). Multiply that by 10, and that's pretty much a tank of gas, or, say, a trip from Atlanta to Brooklyn.

By the end of the trip, though, when we realized we had already lost money, and we were actually selling more than we thought, and we were exhausted, we decided that getting the books into others' hands was most important.

Therefore, for the last 3 or 4 days, we decided to get a little ridiculous and sell the books for $10 a piece.

Though that wasn't good from a profit standpoint, it was good for the real reason why we went on the tour in the first place: to get books out there, and for people to come out and hear us read.

*

MONEY (2) (Storing / Credit Cards?)

Ah, the cash box. I was making fun of Kyle because at one point he wanted to get a cash box so we could store the money.

Maybe I didn't think we'd sell any books, or I didn't realize at the time that it was a great idea, but like many times on the trip, he was right.

We each kept $30 in 5-dollar bills and 1-dollar bills total in there so we'd have change. At some point, someone only had a 100-dollar bill, and luckily we were able to make change.

So basically: get your money organized. It's easy enough to overlook or forget about.

Oh, and you'll get people that ask if you have a credit card machine. No joke.

We did take many checks, though, so make sure you do that.

*

MONEY (4) (Desposits)

What do I mean by this? Well, the last thing you need is to somehow get robbed with over $500 in your Sentry Safe Cash Box.

This was another thing I wanted to have settled before we left. My bank isn't all over the place, apparently.

Kyle's, Bank of America, is all over the place.

So he was able to deposit the money we made (minus the total $60 we left in the box for change) every few days.

*

MONEY / VENUES (3) (Let's Talk About the Dreaded C-word: Consignment)

I decided I wouldn't mention the bookstores that were a pain in the ass for us. There's no reason to burn bridges, and there were probably situational aspects to a few of them (or, to put it more simply, the folks that we dealt with for months prior to some of the readers were not there at the time of our arrival.)

Ah, but your response surely is, "Well, their employees knew what was going on, right?"

Answer: nope.

We learned the hard way. Ask ahead of time about consignment, if they talk about it. Make sure you have contracts and numbers worked out. Make sure if those folks who set it up for you and you spoke with know what's going on if they're not going to be there.

Consignment doesn't work for unknown poets. That's what I realized. It may work for big presses and big names, but it won't work for you if you're unknown and reading in cities you've never been to.

So my advice: stay away from consignment, or beat it like a dead horse so you know exactly what's going to happen from the time you get there until you're done reading.

*

WHERE WILL YOU SLEEP?

This one's pretty easy, to a certain extent.

Someone asked me once, "Well, what hotel are you staying at?" I couldn't help but laugh at first, and then I realized I had to explain the money situation.

We lucked out, overall, however, by staying with either folks we read with or friends and / or family in each city. Neither one of us are allergic to animals, and that helped, since it seems like everyone and their mother at least has a cat these days.

I brought an air mattress and a sleeping bag. Everywhere there was a couch, Kyle slept on it. I blew up the air mattress, then, usually on the floor, and used the sleeping bag as an extra cushion.

*

ENTERTAINMENT

We saw Cyrus in Iowa City and Inception in Cambridge.

I got my first parking ticket ever. In any city. In Cambridge. But with the damn parking meters there and the movies being so long, there was no way around it.

I didn't take any beer back with me, mainly because there was no way to keep it cool.

But there was no way I was going to to the many cool bars and brewpubs we went to without getting a beer or two. Yes, it can add up, but you have to have some fun, while also keeping funds in check.

Otherwise, it can get out of control pretty quickly.

*

TOLERANCE

I didn't meet Kyle until we left on Wednesday, July 14th, from Vestal, New York, to head to Woodbridge, New Jersey.

This ended up being a great thing, mostly because I think we had to be tolerant of each other.

That last part makes it sound like we're both horrible people, which I don't think we are. But if you're with, say, a good friend, you can feel comfortable being in a pissy mood, yelling at each other, flipping out over stupid things.

Kyle, God bless him, is a very tolerant person. And, thankfully, to a certain degree, so am I.

So we got along very well.

We spent 17 days together. In a row. We were apart for that time very little. And it worked out. We got lucky. I say that a lot, and have said that a lot: that we lucked out. And we did.

*

FINALITY

Would I do this again?

Not on your life.

Was it one of the best things I've ever done?

Absolutely.

I've had people constantly tell me that the best way to promote your work is to go out and read. They're right. I think I'm a better reader of my work. I'm definitely, at the very least, a more confident reader.

I also met, which may be pretty obvious, like a lot of what I've said, many cool people along the way.

So let me say thanks to all the folks who came out to see us:

Everyone who I'm friends with on Facebook and have exchanged emails with and only first met this July.

All of our family members and friends. Some folks' generosity was more than we had hoped for when we started this, and that means a lot.

Everyone who bought a book.

All the states whose roads and highways and interstates we drove on.

Everyone who let us sleep in their living room, or had a bed for us, and let us use their shower.

It would take me too long to single everyone out, and I'd be inevitably forgetting people too.

So thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

*

I'm probably forgetting a lot. I probably didn't explain many things like I should.

It's tough when you're reflecting on a whirlwind 17 days where you have few times where you're able to relax.

Hope this is at least mildly interesting to some folks. Should you embark on a future journey like this, feel free to get a hold of me if you want to ask for elaboration or further information.

First Book Interview #26 - Paul Hostovsky

2010-08-03T12:28:00.005-04:00

Sorry I'm a day or two late on this.

First Book Interview #26 - Paul Hostovsky

As I believe I said before the tour, I hope to do one interview every two weeks. That will mostly depend on how quickly poets get back to me with their interviews, but as the weeks go on, I hope to be able to reach that goal.

*

I'm hoping to write a long blog post about the tour, but I'm not sure what I'm going to talk about yet.

It may be a "What I Learned About Going On Tour For 17 Days..." with much ellipses and information after that. I figure there's no point in writing an excruciatingly long "tour journal" type of post, where I'm recounting boring things that only matter to me.

However, and Kyle can probably back me up on this, there were many times when I said, "I want people to know about this," meaning what to expect, or what at least our experience was, with certain aspects of the tour. Those, I think, that other poets would probably want to know about.

Either way, I'll figure something out soon and get it written, edited, and posted as soon as I can.

*

I guess I should say also, probably not surprisingly, that it was an incredible experience overall.

I figure I should clarify that since I didn't say it above.

More soon.

Indiana

2010-07-18T23:13:00.004-04:00

I'm in a computer lab right now in Richmond, Indiana.

The tour has been going well. We still haven't even been to a bookstore, but the crowds, so far, have been great. We've had more folks at each venue than we had anticipated. I hope that continues.

I'm planning on writing a monster, all-encompassing blog post when I get back about the whole trip. Already met some great people along the way, and I'm sure there will be more as it continues.

Come out and see us if you can!

Start

2010-07-14T11:44:00.003-04:00

We're off to Woodbridge, New Jersey today to start the 17-day tour.

A lot of driving. A lot of reading.

We'd love it if you're in one of the areas and can make it to a venue.

Here are the links to the venues, along with the dates and times.

Email us with any questions.

Hopefully I'll do a little blogging... if not soon, then eventually.

First Book Interview #25 - Steven D. Schroeder

2010-07-12T23:00:00.003-04:00

First Book Interview #25 - Steven D. Schroeder

I'll try to get a new post written before Kyle and I are on the road Wednesday, but I'm not sure what's left to say about the tour.

Oh, new First Book Interviews will start again August 1st, when we return.

The July Heat

2010-07-07T17:51:00.006-04:00

Miraculously, the First Book Interviews are back.

First Book Interview #24 - Clay Matthews

I apologize to those folks who have missed it and for my very long hiatus.

If I have your book for an interview (and didn't lose it in the Virginia to New York move), chances are you'll be receiving questions soon. And if you don't, be sure to drop me a line.

I've gotten many questions to many poets in the last few days.

My hope is to try and post one more interview before Kyle and I take off in a week. After that, if possible, I'll be posting one new interview every two weeks. This is to give myself a manageable time frame, while also allowing the poets plenty of time to get their answers to me.

And if you've gotten a hold of me in the past about wanting to do an interview, shoot me another email and remind me.

*

One week to go until we start the tour.

I'm not sure if I'll be blogging from the road or not. I doubt many people care about how flat Iowa is. Or what the layout looks like in a bookstore.

That said, I'll try to keep notes, contacts, addresses, ideas, etc. somewhere. Maybe in a normal journal or notebook. Maybe through emails. Maybe through blogging.

I'm anxious to get on the road and see what all this is like.

Verse Daily - "Ghost Lights"

2010-07-01T11:42:00.004-04:00

Thanks to the folks at Verse Daily for featuring "Ghost Lights" today, which is actually one of my favorite poems from Ghost Lights.

Four years ago they featured my third poem ever accepted for publication, which didn't make the cut in Ghost Lights, so it's nice to make another appearance.

*

Less than two weeks to go until we take off for the tour.

Thanks to everyone who plans on attending, who has blogged about it, and who has spread the word however they can.

It means more than you know to both of us that people will be coming out to hear us read our work.

Two Weeks and Change

2010-06-28T13:22:00.007-04:00

In about two weeks Kyle and I will be off to New Jersey for the first stop on our 17-day tour.

Things are coming along smoothly at this point. Everything's confirmed, as you can see below. We know where we're staying now in almost every city. I find that folks are usually pretty generous in their housing of a few poor poets. I know I would do the same for others, so it's nice to see that happening for us.

A few other odds and ends to go (like figuring out how many books to bring with us), and then it's time to start making a list of everything we'll need. I'm still debating on whether or not I should get a netbook to try and blog and check email and everything. But that's just another thing that can get lost, damaged, or stolen. I'm sure I'll be able to check things enough, if not everyday. And I can always just take a regular notebook and pen, of course.

*

I finally turned the comments off for this blog. I clearly haven't been updating it very much lately, and even though I could just ignore the spammers, which is all I've been getting recently, it's easier just to turn them off.

If anyone needs or wants to get a hold of me, my email address, as always, is at the top right of the blog.

*

I received my contributor copies of Hollins Critic the other day. Looks good.

Thanks again to the editors.

I also haven't been paid for poetry in a long, long time, so that's always welcoming.

*

I still haven't been writing much, but I'm not pressing the issue. I have some ideas, and I'm sure, at the very least, that a jaunt across the U.S. will jump-start some ideas come August.

But I'm still tinkering with the new manuscript, which is currently at about 10 places right now.

That's about it until September, and if nothing happens with it by then, I'll be sending it to more places come 2011 than I did last year.

Dream Horse Press 2010 First Book Tour

2010-06-15T14:42:00.008-04:00

The dates, times, and venues are now confirmed for the First Book Tour that Kyle McCord and myself will be headlining this July.

I will be reading from my first book, Ghost Lights, and Kyle will be reading from his first book, Galley of the Beloved in Torment. Both books were published by Dream Horse Press on May 15h, 2010.

In addition, guest readers in different cities will include: A.K. Beck, Aaron Reed, Christine Kanownik, Ezekiel Black, Gabe Durham, Gary L. McDowell, Kristina Marie Darling, Matthew Guenette, Megan Turner, Travis Poling, and Sarah Boyer. As well as musical guest: Seedlings.

The tour schedule is posted below. If you live in or around one of these cities, we'd love to see you at a reading.

We also started a Facebook group for the tour that you can find through my profile or Kyle's.

Feel free to contact me at kwmontesano@gmail.com or Kyle at kfmccord@gmail.com for any questions about directions or times.

********************************************************************************

Dream Horse Press 2010 First Book Tour Schedule:

Wednesday, July 14th - Woodbridge, NJ
Baron Arts Center 7:30

Thursday, July 15th - Pittsburgh, PA
Cyberpunk Apocalypse 7:00

Friday, July 16th - Toledo, OH
Ground Level Coffee 7:00

Saturday, July 17th - Kalamazoo, MI
Old Dog Tavern 5:00

Sunday, July 18th - Richmond, IN
Clear Creek Co-op 6:15

Monday, July 19th - Chicago, IL
Gallery Café 6:00

Tuesday, July 20th - Madison, WI
Avol’s Books 7:00

Wednesday, July 21st - Iowa City, IA
Public Space One 8:00

Thursday, July 22nd - Des Moines, IA
Des Moines Social Club 6:30

Friday, July 23rd - St. Louis, MO
Left Bank Books (Euclid and McPherson location) 7:00

Saturday, July 24th - Nashville, TN
Nashville Public Library - Special Collections Center 3:00

Sunday, July 25th - Atlanta, GA
Beep Beep Gallery 8:00

Monday, July 26th - Athens, GA
Gainesville State College (Gainesville Campus)
Ballroom A 8:30

Wednesday, July 28th - Richmond, VA
Chop Suey Books 6:00

Thursday, July 29th - New York (Brooklyn), NY
Unnameable Books 7:00

Friday, July 30th - Hadley, MA
Grey Matter Books 7:00

Saturday, July 31st - Boston (Cambridge), MA
Lorem Ipsum Books 5:00

June

2010-06-04T12:41:00.008-04:00

Again, thanks to those folks who ordered copies of Ghost Lights from me or somewhere else. The initial response has been much better than I anticipated, considering you constantly see and hear writers saying, "Don't expect more than a handful of people to buy your book." Or at least I've seen that enough to have expected it.

I have a handful of copies left right now from those I received a little over a week ago, and I probably won't be getting more until July, so if you're still interested in getting a signed copy, you can use the button on the top right of the blog to order through PayPal.

Oh, and for a shot in the dark, if anyone's interested in reviewing Ghost Lights, please shoot me an email and let me know, as I most likely wouldn't hesitate to get it into the hands of someone who would be willing to review it.

*

Though a few dates from the July "tour" have changed (I believe we'll be reading in Pittsburgh instead of Buffalo, for example), things are coming together more and more every day.

I'm excited to get in the car with some clothes and a box of books and a GPS and just go. I think I not only need something like this in my life right now (and thankfully I have a beautiful and understanding wife who doesn't mind that I'll be gone for over two weeks), but it's most likely the last time I'll ever have a chance to do something like this (though I do hope to have more readings in my future, of course).

My goal's to sell some books, see some (OK, many) places in the U.S. I haven't seen, meet some new people, and hopefully get some ideas for new poems. I really can't ask for anything more.

*

In the past few weeks I also received the new Nimrod and Center issues, which have within the pages a few poems from my new manuscript, in addition to some poems by friends, which is always great to see.

Thanks again to the editors for including me.

*

I also just sent the new manuscript out to a couple last places until the fall. As I've said before, I'm not sure what else to do with it at this point, so it'll be good for me to take a manuscript hiatus over the summer, see if anything happens, and do my best to try and move onto some new poems. And perhaps even some kind of a new project.

*

I have to also mention the new Hammock record, "Chasing After Shadows... Living with the Ghosts."

Not only is it one of the best records of the year, but there's also a 4-track Outtakes disc available, and a more ambient guitar-oriented 4-track disc called "North West East South."

With everything together, it ends up being one of the best non-official double albums I've had the pleasure of listening to in a long, long time.

I ended up ordering this package deal from their website because I couldn't resist the amazing hardbound book of gorgeous photos, and also Marc's studio I believe recently flooded (since they're from Nashville). It was worth it.

Listen to all that you can. These guys are nothing but inspiring, and I don't know how they consistently write and release such gorgeous music, but they do.

*

There's also a Deepdiscount summer sale on for anyone interested.

Though Amazon usually has great prices, especially on Blu-ray discs, a lot of the Deepdiscount deals, especially for Criterion Blu-ray discs, are much better (around $25 or lower, including free shipping).

I'm trying to limit myself to $100, as there are way too many I've been wanting to get for the last few months but have held out on. But now's the time to suck it up and get it done.

Official

2010-05-23T17:59:00.005-04:00

Thanks so much to everyone who pre-ordered a copy of Ghost Lights. I appreciate all the support, and I was extremely surprised by and am thankful for so much interest. I should have copies this week, so if you ordered one, as soon as I have them it will be in the mail. I'll also email you to let you know that it has shipped.

Also, the book was officially released on May 15th. You can find it on the Dream Horse Press website, and on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads, with more places coming soon...

And though the pre-order price is no longer available, if you want to order a signed copy from me, I'm still offering them for over 15% off the cover price, with free shipping, via PayPal with the button on the top right of the blog.

Kyle and I are almost done with all of the July tour date confirmations, and as soon as we have those, I'll be posting the 17 days worth here to let folks know, and we would of course love to see you at one of the venues if you can make it. More on that later...

Ghost Lights Pre-Order

2010-05-07T18:09:00.004-04:00

Friends,

Though you will soon be able to order Ghost Lights from Dream Horse Press and other online outlets, should you be interested in purchasing a copy from me, I have a button at the top of the blog where you can do just that via PayPal.

Your order will get you over 20% off the cover price and free first class shipping.

I will have copies no later than May 31st, and as soon as I have them (which I hope will be around the 25th), they will be shipped to you that day. You'll also receive an email from me when it's shipped.

Please email me if you have any questions. Thanks.

Malick

2010-05-06T08:15:00.006-04:00

The Thin Red Line is officially slated for a Criterion Blu-ray release. Right now it looks like mid-August will be the tentative date.

I really can't verbalize how happy this makes me. If I didn't have a Blu-ray player now, this would've been the disc to take me over the edge.

Don't forget also that The Tree of Life is in post-production...

*

I'm trying to figure out the PayPal thing so I can get it going on here and possibly a future website (since it seems to be a good idea and I should have at least a little time over the summer to do it). Once I know when I'll have the books and when folks who order can expect them, I'll have all the information here. Hopefully sooner than later.

I know there may be only a handful of folks who want a copy of Ghost Lights who read this, but I want to give folks an opportunity to get it cheaper than retail with free shipping.

Any minuscule amount of money I "make" from selling books will go into buying more books. Really I just don't want to lose money on the deal, and I want to get this into as many hands as possible, especially when Kyle and I are off on our cross-country reading jaunt in July.

Isn't that what you're supposed to do with your first book?

Physical

2010-05-01T14:16:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I received the book proof of Ghost Lights. I was hoping all the hard work over the last four months or so with the proofs would pay off.

And it certainly has.

Yes, it's my book and it'd be tough to not be biased, but if there were some things I didn't like about it, I would certainly say them.

The cover design turned out better than I'd anticipated. The painting's gorgeous, the cover's bright, the font stands out, the blurbs are easy to read and go great with the gray background. The font choices and sizes were perfect for the inside.

I really couldn't be happier with it.

I'm going to do a last run through everything, line-by-line, over the next day or two, and tomorrow I'll confirm that it's good to go, and then hopefully everything should be ready for the May 15th release date.

I hope people out there like it.

*

I also recently received my contributor copies of Barn Owl Review #3.

Thanks again to Mary and Jay for all their hard work on the issue. It looks great all around.

There are many new poems by many poets who already like, and I've gotten to discover a few more names that I'll now be looking out for in the future.

Release

2010-04-26T15:02:00.009-04:00

I was pleased that the turnaround with Waccamaw was so quick. My poem from the new manuscript appears here. And you can view the entire issue here. Thanks again to Dan and the rest of the editors.

*

It looks like the release date for Ghost Lights (and the other two Orphic Prize finalists and winner from a year ago) will be May 15th.

Since the cover design's pretty much done, I suppose I'm finally allowed to post it below. I'm thrilled with everything about it (especially Felicia van Bork's beautiful painting). I also couldn't be happier about the generous blurbs from some of my favorite writers. I feel grateful and that I really lucked out. I also think the blurbs are very representative of the words inside the book, which always a plus.

In addition to all the online outlets where you can get copies (hopefully along with some bookstores, though I'm not sure which and where yet), I'll most likely be selling them, signed or not, through a new blog page, or this blog. Once I have everything set up, I'll let people know.

And finally, I'm setting up a 17-day tour for this July with Kyle McCord, who was the Orphic Prize winner last year for his great book, Galley of the Beloved in Torment. Lots of dates and venues to be confirmed still, but once we have everything locked up, I'll be posting the days and venues for anyone who's in those areas and wants to come out and hear us read. We're both looking forward to it, since this something neither of us have ever done.

*

My new manuscript is now around ten pages longer than Ghost Lights is / was (meaning the .doc file, and not page numbers in the actual book).

I'm starting to feel really good about it, and I'm not sure what else I can do with it at this point.

I can still write poems that could fit, but I think the best poems, and the most representational poems, considering the themes, are in there. And even though most of them have been published, I've revised almost every single one since it's either been published in print or online.

This is something I didn't do with Ghost Lights as much (mostly because I had worked the poems to death, mostly for my MFA thesis, before I sent them out as submissions), and I think I'm getting better at editing my own work.

But like Ghost Lights, time will tell. I'm aware of how this goes now. It could take me another year, and it could take me another ten years. But I'm still planning on doing what I can to try and get this new manuscript published before I get my PhD, and then move onto a new project, however the ideas arise that start to compromise it.

*

My first year at Binghamton University will be over in ten days.

With how fast this first year went, it really makes me aware that I need to do a lot more than I did this year as far as writing and reading. Because of everything that happened in the last year (marriage, book, starting the PhD, moving a few states away, learning the new teaching system at a new school, along with taking classes, etc.), I didn't get to read and write (outside of classes, that is) as much as I would've liked.

But I did work on my new manuscript like crazy, so the sacrifice I hope will have worked out in the end.

Now to find a job for the summer, plan the rest of the reading tour, and hopefully have at least a handful of new poems by the end.

Niece

2010-04-13T14:50:00.004-04:00

My sister-in-law is, at this moment, in labor. Waiting by the phone to see if there's any news. Pretty exciting week, as this is the first niece or nephew on my side of the family.

*

Found out my new manuscript was a semifinalist in the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition.

Not only was this a draft that I sent in late October (which I think has gotten a lot stronger since then in the last five months or so), but the fact that it got that far with, most likely, so many great poets with much stronger books, makes me think that now it truly does have some legs. And even if I'm wrong, I'm doing what I did with Ghost Lights: sending it out like mad.

I also have to mention that Brian Barker (First Book Interview located here...) was one of the winners. If you haven't read his first book, The Animal Gospels, you should. But his book that won, The Black Ocean, I think is going to really turn some heads next year when it's released. His new stuff's been beyond amazing, so keep an eye out.

*

Also sent out some snail mail submissions to journals for the first time since last summer.

Though there are only seven or so poems that haven't been published from the new manuscript, a few of them are my favorites in the manuscript, and the rejections, from submissions sent through the online submissions manager, have been rolling in steadily for months.

I feel like that's how it always works: those we often don't have the most faith in are many times the first poems to get published. It's (always) bizarre how all of this works.

*

I'm in the process of putting together a book tour for July with a friend. Not sure if I've mentioned that or not yet...

We have the dates pretty much set, and the places, but not the dates and the places. This may be the last time I can ever do something like this, and I'll be visiting some states I've never seen before, so it should be a great experience overall.

I'll be updating the information here and on Facebook once we have the majority of everything together and finalized.

*

Saw the Bigger Than Life Blu-ray the other day. How has no one mentioned this movie to me in 28 years? I need to see more Ray films (aside from Rebel... which everyone's seen) and get back on my Douglas Sirk, 50s films, and Cinemascope kick.

A marathon may have to happen soon.

Summering

2010-04-07T11:49:00.007-04:00

The school year at Binghamton University is officially over in a month. I'm sure the next three years will fly also.

*

Had an amazing spring break in Savannah with my brother and sister-in-law. Minus the pollen and the bugs, Savannah is one of my favorite cities. You really never run out of great things to do and see, and it literally has something for everyone.

*

Got my contributor copies of Cave Wall the other day. The journal is slim, handsome, and full of good stuff.

I have two poems from the new manuscript within the pages. Thanks to Rhett for including me.

*

Though we're still working on proofs for Ghost Lights, (mainly because I'm an editor's worst nightmare, as very few of my poems in the book, which I've probably mentioned before, are left justified) we're almost completely done at this point, and since the painting for the cover has been obtained, I can now show you what it's going to be. Again, thanks to Felicia for letting me use it. I love it, and I think it works perfectly with the book.

Bear is working on a cover design now. The back cover and blurbs are pretty much set, but we're trying to make sure everything on the front meshes well with the images, as far as the font and color scheme.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled with how everything's coming together.

*

The new manuscript also seems to be coming together, now that I'm working closely with Joe Weil on it.

I've written a new poem (with at least a few more to follow), continue to edit many of the poems, and have shifted many of the poems around in different sections (which works a lot better than it did before).

I hope it's close to becoming a legitimate contender by the end of summer or before.

*

The Days of Heaven (yes, the image at the top of my blog is from the film) Blu-ray is now officially one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen in my entire life.

Ai

2010-03-22T15:19:00.009-04:00

RIP Ai.

From a .pdf via OSU: The poet Ai died unexpectedly from an illness on March 20, 2010.

Very, very sad news. This awful trend of amazing poets passing away continues. It's starting to frighten me. It's all happening too fast.

Before I made my decision about four schools last year, I was between Binghamton University and Oklahoma State University. A lot of it came down to my own confidence in being able to write anywhere, or at least that's what I told myself. Oklahoma State would've meant that Jess and I needed to take a plane to get home each time we wanted to get back to Pennsylvania. Also, we have no friends or family in that area. And we had just gotten married a few weeks ago.

However, though were offering me a pretty amazing package (which surprised me to no end), beyond anything I was thrilled for just the opportunity to work with Ai and Lisa Lewis, who I think are two of the most underrated contemporary poets.

Lisa, with two books coming out hopefully within the next 8 months or so, is on her way to continuing a brilliant career.

I have a feeling Ai will start to have the same following Larry Levis had after he passed away.

Though many people knew and loved his work at the time of his death, it was the vigor of the younger poets who discovered his work and were fanatic about it, along with the many colleagues and students that knew and worked with or under Larry. But I imagine Ai's name and work will live on exponentially, in the same fashion, as more and more young poets discover the importance of her work, a body that influenced me early on as a writer and will always continue to influence me.

A new and posthumous collection will be out this year. Though that will be her last, we should all be grateful that so much work will continue to be out there for us to teach and read and pass on and discover.

*

Though this has been a weird week, I did get my first poetry acceptance in the last four months or so, which was a breath of encouraging fresh air.

Waccamaw will be publishing a poem from the new manuscript in late April. Thanks a lot to the editors.

This was also the only poem I believed in during my first semester at Binghamton, one of the only poems in workshop I wrote that I decided to keep. It was also the very last one in workshop that I wrote.

Since then, though, I've written others that I like, and I have a lot of ideas that I hope will continue to turn into poems, poems that I think are only making the second manuscript stronger and more cohesive.

*

I'm also working with Joe Weil this semester on my second manuscript, and I think it's going really well so far.

He's already had some great insights, and since he knows what I want to accomplish with the book and my writing, he's steering me in the best direction I can go.

Last week he told me that I probably need about six or seven more poems, and one has already been written that I really like. Then it's down to more editing within the poems and the organization of the poems and sections.

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to what this manuscript's going to become in a couple months.

*

The last day of classes is May 7th.

I'm flying to Savannah for a week to visit my brother and sister in law in four days. I'll be there for a week.

Soon enough summer's going to be here.

The next three years, I'm sure, will go faster than the first. Which means I really need to start thinking about a third manuscript: themes, ideas, new structures, something different, something that I'm excited about.

*

Jess and I are starting to look for a house or town home. Our lease is up in August for our current apartment, so we'll probably start seriously looking around May.

It helps to have friends who have houses in different areas. There's so much to deal with when looking for a house. Many questions to answer and ask. Especially when we don't anticipate staying here for our whole lives.

*

Watched the Blu-ray Revanche the other day.

Amazing, amazing film.

Reminded me of Haneke and Wenders mostly, but it's one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. The cinematography's also phenomenal. I'll certainly be looking for more films shot by Martin Gschlacht.

I won't say a lot about it. Just see it.

*

It looks like almost everything for Ghost Lights has been taken care of on my end, minus the last proof or two (since I always seem to find small grammatical and surface mistakes that are my fault).

The artwork is all but finalized.

The painter has given me the go-ahead. I've passed on the information to Bear. But before I divulge the information, I want to make sure everything's completely finalized. I love the painting, though. The colors are great (especially since I'm hoping for a black cover and back cover, though I'm not sure what color the of the writing will be), and thematically I think it really works with the poems. I'm very lucky to be able to have something I love this much for the cover.

The blurbs are good to go too. Just have to get the OK from Bear for those used on the back cover.

And I got my brief-but-important Acknowledgments page finished, that which actually thanks people and not the journals who published the poems (which was done a while ago).

The tentative release date was May, but I have a feeling it's going to be more like June, or possibly July, which is fine with me. When I know for sure, others will know.

If you're planning on reading it, I hope you like it when it's in your hands.

Shade

2010-03-03T14:39:00.003-05:00

Finally got finished applying for an NEA fellowship.

Yes, I know how hilariously slim my chances are, but I figure with a book coming out (and enough published poems for eligibility), I might as well get used to applying for as many fellowships as I can: national, regional, state-wide, etc.

Plus, it was mostly for practice at this point (to get used to the annoying process of filling out the forms), so I can try to do it every two years from now and not take over six or seven hours to get it submitted.

*

I think I have the blurbs for Ghost Lights finally in the bag.

I have an idea of what I want the back cover to look like too, so I'll have to see what Bear thinks.

I feel like I picked a good mix of blurbs: those I feel would give the hypothetical back-cover-glancer a good idea of what's inside the pages, which is most important to me.

*

Though the cover art's still up in the air, I'm trying to not let it drag on for too long.

If we can't find something I'm completely in love with, I have a pretty good idea of something I'd really be extremely thrilled to have for the cover if nothing else works out.

I've also talked to the artist, and they've agreed to let me use it if I decide to go with it, which is awesome.

*

I've been asking friends for better suggestions about the title of my new manuscript. I still don't feel as strongly as I would like to about it.

It's on its second title now, and I think I just got a suggestion for the working third title I'm becoming more excited about.

I'm going to live with it for a bit and see what develops.

Campos

2010-02-24T16:02:00.006-05:00

Just watched Afterschool. After seeing The Last 15, I was expecting a lot from it. Though it didn't deliver as much as I'd hoped, I enjoyed it. Antonio Campos has balls, he's young, and he's doing his best to tackle important issues artfully and, dare I say, a bit recklessly, which I love.

You can say that for a lot of directors, I'm sure, but keep your eye on this guy.

*

Also saw Chungking Express (finally for the first time). Now I know why people have been talking about it for all these years. A beautiful, original, and thought-provoking film that I'll be seeing again in the future for sure.

*

Got my contributor copies of Phoebe yesterday in the mail. Looks great. A wild mix of styles too. Thanks again to Moriah and the rest of the editors. They did a nice job.

And there's a bonus poster in the inside pages of another piece of art from the artist who did the cover. I've never seen that before, and I love it. Maybe this will be a new bonus for contributors and subscribers if journals have enough money to do it. It's a great idea.

*

The plane ticket has been purchased for my week in Savannah with my brother and sister-in-law.

I love Savannah and wish we were closer to it.

They're most likely moving back somewhere north in the summer, so this may be my last time to go.

Needless to say, I'm excited.

Gave

2010-02-18T14:43:00.003-05:00

I finally sent out a new batch of poems yesterday to a bunch of journals.

I haven't done that in a long time. It felt good. Even if nothing pans out.

Somehow I still feel good about getting rejections, which forces me to write new stuff that the journals who rejected the poems may actually like next time around.

*

The fourth proof of Ghost Lights found its way to me a few days ago. It's really starting to make me smile now. It looks great, and it's getting to those final stages. Clean text, a good design, a good font.

We're trying to figure out cover art and color schemes for the cover and back cover soon. I have a few paintings I'm looking at. The one I wanted we couldn't get. So it's more looking.

I have a handful of blurbs now too, with, I think, one more to go.

Things are coming together. I'm getting excited. I hope folks like the words.

*

Josiah Bancroft, a friend and talented poet, is blogging. I have a feeling you'll want to frequent it.

*

Added a few pages and poems to the new manuscript, and took out some pages and poems. I feel better about it each time this happens. This makes sense, I think.

*

I looked at a poem yesterday in the new manuscript. A new poem that I've sent out a bit over the last month or two, though scattered, and after previously reading who-knows-how-many times, I found a mistake at the end of the very first line.

Seriously?

I think I read the manuscript too much on the computer. May have to suck it up and print it out again. I'm usually great at finding that stuff, but sometimes your brain just keeps scanning the error as correct.

*

My niece is going to be born in April. I will soon be Uncle Keith. Which is awesome.

She already has a ton of Giants gear, but Jess and I will certainly be getting her more.

*

Seriously can't stop listening to the Amman/Josh EP Places. Get it.

Gaze

2010-02-15T14:21:00.005-05:00

Had some great conversations with friends and poets this weekend. So thanks to Gary, Luke, and Nick (who doesn't have a blog).

Gary is blogging again too, which is certainly a good thing.

Luke and I talked for a long time about our manuscripts that we currently have out in the world. Got a lot of great ideas for changes (many which I immediately recognized as changes that should be made right away, and were) that I'm going to keep working with. I honestly didn't have a lot to say about Luke's, because his manuscript's really, really strong.

I'll be pretty thrilled when he gets good news about it, and I have a feeling it's not too far off.

*

Wrote my first new poem in literally three months. I'm happy with the first draft. It's an idea that's also been in my head for three months, but I didn't know how to attack it. Thankfully, I finally figured it out. I hope.

Also revised one from three months ago that had an ending that completely fell apart and was no good. The revision's better, but we'll see.

Once they're ready to go, it'll give me an excuse to send some more poems out from the manuscript. It's been a while, so it'll be nice to get the rejections flowing again in my in-box and snail mail box.

I also chopped the longest poem out from the manuscript. It was a poem in Ghost Lights that I cut before I sent the final version to Bear, and I really wanted to make it fit here, but I'm not sure it does. That said, I'm now a bit torn because people keep telling me they think it's one of the strongest in the manuscript. I figure I have to go with my gut on this and keep it out, but things can change if need be.

*

Reading Half of a Yellow Sun for one of my classes.

Like it a lot so far.

Makes me want to go back and read Things Fall Apart again, which I'll have to do soon.

*

Pretty excited for the new Jonsi record, which comes out in about two months. Nico Muhly's gorgeous arrangements are obviously all over this thing, so I imagine it'll be closely following how much I like Owen Pallett's Heartland.

Also, the new Amman/Josh E.P. Places is pretty phenomenal.

Reminds me of Hammock, Eluvium, a bit of Stars of the Lid, and some of the ambient keyboard stuff Dan Burton was doing on the Early Day Miners records (mostly the first two) and some of his production with Unwed Sailor.

Longevity

2010-02-11T15:14:00.005-05:00

I'm not sure I've talked about this before, but if I have, and you actually read this blog, and you've seen this before, well, then that's too bad.

But I wanted to get some feedback from some poets who've dealt with these issues before.

Most poetry book contests (and open reading periods) say that they want usually 48-80 pages. Sometimes 48-64. Sometimes 50-70. Sometimes 50-80. But usually it's within the 48-80 range.

Some specify that they want 48 pages of actual poetry. Some don't specify.

I suppose we can assume that if the minimum is 48 pages, however, and your last poem is on 48, with your first poem after the front matter starting somewhere around page 5 or 6, that you're going to have, quite possibly, about 40 pages of poetry, which in some camps is chapbook length.

Let's start by talking .doc files. I've seen many over the last few months. I've traded with many talented and willing poets. We've given comments back and forth. I've seen manuscripts change a lot over months where we're busy and don't end up getting to talk about them until, well, months later. And all of it has been helpful. Sometimes it's more helpful than anything else.

The final Ghost Lights .doc file, as far as poetry goes, starts on page 5 and ends on page 59, with two section breaks and three sections. So that equals, I think, 52 total pages of poetry, which is just above the minimum of 48 for contest (and open reading period) length.

I always wondered when I was sending it out, "So is this way too short if I'm right above the minimum?" I'm starting to think now, however, that that's the length you want to shoot for, or if anything, it's the length I'm going to try and shoot for as far as future manuscripts go. I guess that equals about 50-60 pages of actual poetry.

I say this because right now, the third proof for Ghost Lights, including all front and back matter, is 80 pages. Though there certainly are exceptions, I'm pretty adamant about the fact that a single collection of poetry should not be around 100 pages. But I'd love to hear a different side to this.

However, that just seems way too damn long to me, like The Thin Red Line or Paris, Texas equivalent of a collection, and I'm not sure a collection that long really needs be that long. After all, let's face it, there are few poets writing who are the poetic equivalent to Terrence Malick or Wim Wenders.

Does it not eventually have to do with being resourceful, cutting things you might love that don't fit, leaving someone with wanting more instead of possibly trudging through the last 20 pages, or wondering, "Why is this so long?" or "I'm not sure this section even needed to be here."

I guess I'd rather cut too much than too little, in the end, and keep writing toward a better collection.

It seems that with every post I get fewer and fewer comments, which is fine, but I'd love to know what some folks think about this. Am I nuts? Am I thinking about it too much? Am I restricting myself too much when I try to put a collection together by thinking about all these factors?

100 Favorite Movies List in 28 Years of Living

2010-02-09T00:37:00.001-05:00

Thanks to my friends Aaron and Wes for getting my ass in gear in finally compiling the last few weeks worth of work into a coherent list.

I wish more people would follow our lead.

Disclaimer: Comments are welcome, but none will be from me, as I could write for hours upon hours about why I love these movies so much. Though this has already taken a lot of time over the last few weeks, I now have to dedicate energy to other things.

100) Little Monsters (1989)

99) Ding-A-Ling-Less (2001)

98) Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2006)

97) Birth (2004)

96) All the Real Girls (2003)

95) How to Draw a Bunny (2002)

94) The Prestige (2006)

93) Trees Lounge (1996)

92) Yi yi (2000)

91) Paper Moon (1973)

90) Fitzcarraldo (1982)

89) The Game (1997)

88) Deliverance (1972)

87) The Bridge (2006)

86) Julien Donkey Boy (1999)

85) Dawn of the Dead (1978)

84) Dazed and Confused (1993)

83) Lone Star (1996)

82) Kicking and Screaming (1995)

81) Dancer in the Dark (2000)

80) Capturing the Friedmans (2003)

79) Keane (2004)

78) Come Early Morning (2006)

77) The Straight Story (1999)

76) Stone Reader (2002)

75) Lilya-4-Ever (2002)

74) Before Sunrise (1995)

73) Shoot the Piano Player (1960)

72) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

71) Beautiful Girls (1996)

70) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

69) Naked (1993)

68) Breaking the Waves (1996)

67) Bottle Rocket (1996)

66) Swingers (1996)

65) Before Sunset (2004)

64) Time of the Wolf (2003)

63) Jules and Jim (1962)

62) The Dark Knight (2008)

61) About Schmidt (2002)

60) The New World (2005)

59) The Messenger (2009)

58) Rushmore (1998)

57) Sin Nombre (2009)

56) Apocalypse Now (1979)

55) Repo Man (1984)

54) Stand By Me (1986)

53) Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)

52) Annie Hall (1977)

51) Schindler’s List (1993)

50) Casino (1995)

49) Mystery Train (1989)

48) Gummo (1997)

47) Cache (2005)

46) Irreversible (2002)

45) Menace II Society (1993)

44) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

43) Scarecrow (1973)

42) Half Nelson (2006)

41) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

40) Reservoir Dogs (1992)

39) The Shining (1980)

38) Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972)

37) Hoop Dreams (1994)

36) Suspiria (1977)

35) The Pianist (2002)

34) Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

33) Primer (2004)

32) Full Metal Jacket (1987)

31) The Conversation (1974)

30) Zoo (2007)

29) Ballast (2008)

28) Manhattan (1979)

27) Badlands (1973)

26) The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

25) Short Cuts (1993)

24) Elephant (2003)

23) Wings of Desire (1987)

22) The Squid and the Whale (2005)

21) Election (1999)

20) Police Beat (2005)

19) Love Liza (2002)

18) Boogie Nights (1997)

17) Do the Right Thing (1989)

16) Pulp Fiction (1994)

15) Se7en (1995)

14) The Dream Catcher (1999)

13) The Ice Storm (1997)

12) Sideways (2004)

11) Fargo (1996)

10) Children of Men (2006)

9) Snow Angels (2007)

8) Low and Behold (2007)

7) Magnolia (1999)

6) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

5) American Movie (1999)

4) George Washington (2000)

3) The Thin Red Line (1998)

2) Paris, Texas (1984)

1) Days of Heaven (1978)

Rue

2010-02-04T14:35:00.004-05:00

Just got my third set of Ghost Lights proof corrections sent off.

I'm starting to realize that I could see myself working, possibly somehow, in publishing in the future. Or I could see myself working for a press in some capacity at the very least. I'm really interested in everything that has to do with typesetting (as far as a computer program, not the old school way), font, look, size, etc.

Someone had a link on Facebook the other day to this interview with Jason Koo.

One of his poems is in the same issue of ACM I also have a poem in, and though I'd heard of him, I hadn't read any of his work until then. Now, after reading this interview, I'm even more interested in getting his book.

He also says one thing that I've never seen in an interview before, regarding the differences of labor and work, and it's something that I find extremely interesting, especially when it comes to the work he had to do on his book, the work that didn't involve taking seven years to get it accepted for publication:

Take my first book: it represents what I think of as my work, and each poem within it represents that work; but putting that book together was one mother of a labor-intensive process. The production of the book itself into a physical object was exasperating. C&R gave me total control over how the book turned out, which was great; but the downside was that I got almost no creative or editorial feedback. So I ended up having to make decisions about the width of the margins, the size and type of font for the poems, the poem titles, the page numbers, the first title page, the second title page, the epigraphs -- decisions I was not expecting to have to make. This might sound simple, but it’s not, especially if you’re not a professional designer; you don’t have a real idea of how things are going to look when they’re in book form. I had no idea that 12-pt Garamond -- which looks pretty small on an 8 ½ by 11-inch page -- looks huge on a 6 by 9-inch page. I wasn’t sure how to design my title pages, where to put the titles and name and how to big to make them. So there I was with a tape measure going through all my poetry books, comparing the designs and making these decisions on the fly. And when my manuscript went from Word to Adobe InDesign, all these little things got screwed up that normally get screwed up like the tabs for my indented lines that I’d spent hours setting when I prepared the manuscript for production (so they wouldn’t get screwed up). C&R’s designer was doing the best he could to make sure all the tabs were correct, but you can only stare at tabs for so long before you go crazy, and he only had weekends to work on the manuscript, so ultimately it was up to me to make sure everything came out right. Also, I didn’t have a proofreader; and honestly, could a proofreader even be expected to make sure all the tabs were correct for a poem like “2046 Love Songs of Wong Kar Wai”? That’s not in the proofreading manual. I went through so many rounds of corrections for the book before it was ready to be sent to the printer; and most of the time I wasn’t even looking at the words of the poems, I was checking tabs and margins with my tape measure. I think my girlfriend started to think she was dating a tailor. And my thought during all this time was: I’m not enjoying this. It wasn’t the work of poetry, even though I was preparing my first work of poetry. This was definitely labor, but clearly necessary labor if I wanted my book to look right.

It's pretty fascinating to me for a few reasons. Though Bear clearly knows what he's doing when it comes to making books (Dream Horse Press has not only been around for nearly ten years, but look at the future line-up, Ghost Lights excluded, and you'll see that it's a press that should be sticking around for a very long time to come...), I've gotten a lot of control with my choices thus far. I hope I haven't been too much of a pain in the ass also, with my questions and concerns and nitpicking, but I'm very particular when it comes to the look of a book, especially the font. Not only that, but a lot of my questions come from my lack of experience with this, in addition to my willingness to learn from someone who knows what they're doing.

Maybe one day I'll talk about some books that I don't think look overall too spectacular (though I probably won't, because it's not my place to go saying that about other presses, quite honestly), but I think it's important for people to realize that, if they can have a lot of control, they should spend time trying to make it a piece of art, in its entirety.

Sometimes, though, unfortunately, much of these wants are out of the poet's hands...

Granted, some folks get lucky and get with a press that not only lets them have a lot of control, but also has typesetters and copy editors and every other position you can think of, so they can concentrate on making sure their words are their words once they're officially on the page.

Even Jason's comment about Garamond in 12 point makes sense to me. My first proof was in a font that made me feel a little claustrophobic, so I wanted to see if Garamond was possible. Because some my lines are so long, we took the font down to 11, and right now it looks great. But in the back of my mind, I kept saying, "Is this too small?" I tried to imagine how it would look on the page, but it's tough when you only have a .pdf in front of you on the computer screen. From Jason's words, though, it looks like 11 should be just about right.

Jason also seems to do a lot of indenting with his poems, and many of the poems in Ghost Lights aren't left justified... I know this has been a pain to deal with also, because some of these programs don't seem to be as conducive to these types of corrections, but it's these things that you have to have, if the space on the page permits, exactly right.

I'm not really sure exactly what I'm trying to say here, but I think it comes down to being really interested in all the specific typesetting and book-making processes.

Now I'm noticing more things in books that I never noticed before.

Are the titles capitalized and not bold?
Are the titles italicized and not capitalized?
Are the titles bold and not capitalized?
How close together are the letters? Is the font boring?
Is the font claustrophobic?

And on and on and on...

Maybe some would call all of this labor, to a certain degree, but I really like this aspect of making sure everything is (at least closest to) exactly how I want it. And time is really not a factor when it comes to getting to these final stages, because though I ultimately want people to like the book for the poems inside it, it would also be great if they agreed with my choices that don't have to do with the words used.

*

I can't stop listening to the new Eluvium record, Similes. Talk Amongst the Trees is one of my favorite records of all time, and I was a bit disappointed, as much as it pains me to say it, with Copia.

But Similes is beautiful, sad, and pretty wonderful overall. There are vocals this time around, and some soft percussion in places. But many of the tracks also feel like "songs," which is new territory he's exploring.

Do yourself this small favor when time allows and pick it up.

*

Recently, we finally got a Blu-Ray player, one that plays multi-region and PAL discs, so we don't have to screw around with locked discs.

I keep saying to myself, "Where the hell have I been?" As far as technology goes, I don't understand how they do it, and I don't understand how we waited this long to witness it.

I'm a huge fan of Magnolia, for example, which is an amazing film too many people love to hate. I even skipped school in 10th or 11th grade to go see it. I've seen it at least twenty times by now, and in the first five minutes of the recently released Blu-Ray discs, I kept noticing things I had never seen (the sweep of the camera through Linda's closet, for example, showing the size of it, the detail of it, right before she exits to get in the car). So when you think about the entire three hours, it was really like seeing a different film.

When I got my IMac I was pretty impressed with all that it could do, and I still love it, but I feel like Blu-Ray is something pretty monumental in the grand scheme of technological advances of the last twenty years, at least.

Granted, I probably spend more time watching movies than I do writing poetry, so I can see how the average viewer with a 1080p TV says, "Yeah, it looks better," etc. But wow. I feel like a little kid again, and I haven't been this impressed with technology in a long time, if ever.

Take, for example, the long dolly shot in Children of Men, the one where blood gets spattered on the lens and the shot keeps going, when Theo has Kee and the baby and he's trying to get them to safety. Everything is literally heart-stopping, both visually and aurally.

The end of Full Metal Jacket: when Eightball's getting shot in slow-motion as the sniper draws the rest of the men in, and the backgrounds of smoke are curling, and fires flicker in crumbling windows and empty doorways. Then they wakj away in darkness as all the buildings are on fire around them.

And all the bright shots of Las Vegas in Casino? Completely insane.

Days of Heaven comes out in March. And tell me The Thin Red Line's not going to look immaculate, when it gets released of course.

And that's the other point: you can take a movie from the 60s or 70s and make it look and sound as amazing as it possibly can.

I'm sold. I'm beyond giddy and happy and excited. I'll be buying and renting many more Blu-Rays in the future, especially since they're, somehow, even cheaper now than regular DVDs.

Six Months

2010-01-18T19:03:00.005-05:00

Got my second proof corrections finished for Ghost Lights about an hour ago.

I feel like I'm way too much of a stickler in some ways, but then I realize it's necessary.

It shouldn't take more than two more proofs to get everything good to go, but we'll see.

*

Spinning these records a lot lately:

Beach House - Teen Dream
Owen Pallett - Heartland
Efterklang - Magic Chairs
Tindersticks - Falling Down a Mountain
The American Dollar - Atlas
Vampire Weekend - Contra
The Album Leaf - A Chorus of Storytellers

*

School starts back up officially in a week.

I'm ready to get back. Never did I think a break would be too long of a break. Until now.

But really I shouldn't complain.

*

Jess and I have been married for six months today. Time goes fast.

*

I feel like I'm repeating myself a lot.

Some

2010-01-12T13:09:00.003-05:00

Received the new issue of Handsome a few days ago. Beautifully designed it is. A lot of good writers within the pages. Thanks again to the editors.

I now have one more poem that needs to actually be published from Ghost Lights until they're all in journals and none are forthcoming.

*

I was also thrilled yesterday to get the first round of Ghost Lights galleys.

It's funny: what I never thought would be an issue is my penchant for italics and indentation.

I'm pretty sure it was Joshua Poteat who got me obsessed with how a poem can look on the page. For better or worse. And I don't know where the italics came from, but I clearly didn't realize I had that much in the book. I used it for dialogue mostly, though, and there's a lot within many of the poems. I think I just like how it looks mostly, or at least that's how the obsession started...

Thankfully I have much less italics in the new manuscript, though the crazy indentations and forms are still there. Will I ever trust myself to be strictly left-justified?

Since I start school again in exactly two weeks, I took about five hours and got about fourteen typed pages of corrections to my editor. I think I got most of it, but we'll see.

I'm doing my best to make sure everything's as perfect as can be before it goes to the printers in a few months. I suppose that kind of goes without saying.

*

Steve had a very interesting post recently concerning defunct journals and Acknowledgments pages:

I was looking at the acknowledgments page of Torched Verse Ends, and by my count at least five of the journals I placed individual poems in are already defunct (Cranky, Diner, three candles, Unloved Mail Order Bride, and Unpleasant Event Schedule). Plus, the journal I edited for a good portion of time while I was producing the poems, The Eleventh Muse, is either defunct or might as well be. Beyond that, a ton of the journals that were generally prominent and well regarded when I first started trying to publish poetry are gone too: Chelsea, Grand Street, Partisan Review, Ontario Review, etc. And now many university reviews are in danger: New England Review, Triquarterly, The Southern Review, etc. Is there a lesson in that impermanence, especially considering that we're clearly publishing in the age of obsolescence for the print book? I don't know. Maybe it's just that if you're really a writer, you enjoy that publication when it happens, but then consider it over and move right on to writing your next thing. Maybe something actually deep that I haven't thought of yet. What do you think?

I looked at my Acknowledgments for Ghost Lights, and right now, it looks like the only journal that will be defunct will be Diner.

It'll be interesting to see what happens in a year. How many more will be gone? I didn't know Chelsea was done either.

That said, I've always been of the mind that says, "OK, this is published, now move on." And then there's the cool thing that happens after, when it's actually published.

The best thing about getting something published, to me, is being forced to work on something new if you want to get there again. Always a good thing.

*

Really enjoyed A Serious Man, which I finally saw the other day. Bizarre, disjointed, and hilarious. See it.

Beginnings

2010-01-08T16:08:00.002-05:00

It was weird the other day as I went to Paul Guest's blog a day earlier and saw the same comment from anonymous that he ended up commenting on himself.

The whole comment elicited a response halfway between shock and hilarity to me. I wish if people were going to masquerade as knowing something that they'd at least put their real name.

I love Paul's work. His memoir's going to be amazing too.

*

Speaking of poets, I have to issue a congratulations to a friend and very talented poet who just won a book contest.

Unfortunately, I can't say anything else, since the contract stuff isn't done yet. That said, there's another reason why I'm doubly excited that this particular friend one this particular contest.

More later on this front.

*

Saw The Lovely Bones recently. Despite the horrible reviews mostly, I actually liked it a lot. I knew I was going to like it a lot when the movie opened with the first track from Brian Eno's "Music for Airports," with snow swirling above a penguin trapped in a snow globe.

The music and cinematography are fantastic. Stanley Tucci deserves an Academy Award for playing George Harvey.

Also liked The Road a lot, though I'm hoping for a director's cut DVD so it's longer. They did a little too much on the cutting room floor.

*

I registered for what I hope is going to be a great class next semester, and I decided to get a jump on some of the novels we'll be reading.

The first I read was A Thousand Acres, which I didn't know much about. Liked it a lot, though I'm not sure how I can respond to the King Lear aspect of it.

I wasn't sure what was going to happen at first, but the whole thing kept building and building and building, and though it was pretty depressing by the end (which I liked), I was amazed at how she was able to build the story around the families. There's a lot I have to say about it, so that'll be good for the spring.

My goal's to read all the books and reread them for the class.

Blood Meridian and Interpreter of Maladies are the ones I'm reading next.

Hoping to get them all done by the time I got back on January 26th.

*

I really hope to challenge myself this semester and write stuff that isn't easy for me to write. I want to branch out and experiment, though I don't want to experiment to the point where the poems become exercises in music or form without meaning.

I need a new project for my third manuscript. Where will I find you, new project?

*

Decided to sell a bunch of my DVDs.

A lot of Criterions I haven't watched, (though there are many I will be keeping that I still love) mostly because I once had a crazy idea that I'd get the whole collection. Yikes.

There are bunch of Anchor Bay flicks that are out of print that I've already made good money on. Great movies, but if I paid $10 for each and get at least $40 for each now, not to mention that there will undoubtedly be new and superior versions out in the future, then why not sell them now?

Plus, Blu Ray's becoming something I want to deal with in the future, though I can't see myself spending too much money to get superior versions of already good versions of DVDs I already own.

*

Hoping to get to my movie and music lists before I go back for spring semester also...

Endings

2009-12-28T12:53:00.002-05:00

This year went quickly.

*

Going to see THE ROAD again in a crappy little theater in Hermitage. Saw it in NYC a few weeks ago. Loved it, but I want to see the cut of the film how it was supposed to be. I hope that happens.

*

Need to get my movie list in order, and my favorite records of 2009.

*

Have a ton of books I want to read. Novels too. Not just poetry. School doesn't start again until January 25th. I don't think I ever had a break that long in PA and VA.

*

This is one of the paintings I'd love to have for the cover of Ghost Lights. I hope Lois Dodd lets me have it and doesn't want a ton of money. Since I love it so much, I'm sure it'll be unable to grace the cover.

*

Five blurbs in for Ghost Lights. Still waiting for a few more. Need to have the galleys. I'm thrilled that people are saying such nice things.

*

Haven't written a decent poem in a long time. It's been the longest stretch since I started writing. Haven't sent out a lot of work recently either. Though I do have the last handful of poems from the new manuscript out at a good amount of journals still, and some of them have had them for a while. Maybe the rejections are coming along slowly. Maybe someone will actually want something.

*

I need to begin a third manuscript, but I'm not rushing it. I don't think the second one's going to change all that much. Maybe I'm crazy, but it's weird and I like it, and it represents a significant part of the changes of the last few years.

*

I do have high hopes for production this spring semester. Hopefully I don't let myself down.

NYC

2009-12-07T16:20:00.002-05:00

Jess and I are off to New York City this weekend. She wants to see a show. And the tree. And Times Square.

Now that we got an insane deal from a friend of a friend on a hotel right by The Meadowlands, I really want to snag some tickets to the Giants / Eagles game this Sunday night. For Sunday Night Football. Which would be awesome. It'll be the first and officially last time we have a shot to do so before the new stadium. That would kind of make my year complete, even though it's pretty much been complete already (see previous post).

*

After watching the Denver Nuggets dominate in the playoffs last year, I've become a new follower of the team. I don't think I can officially call myself a fan, but they're fun to watch, and I'll always catch a game now if it's on TV.

When I was at my aunt's for Thanksgiving, everyone had gone to bed, and I was watching the Knicks / Nuggets game, and one of the announcers said something about J.R. Smith that I thought was extremely apt for what I want to do with whatever material ends up becoming some semblance of a start for my third manuscript.

He said, "J.R. Smith's dangerous because he has infinite range and no conscience." I thought that was beautiful, especially since it was said about a basketball player. However, if you see some of the insane shots Smith puts up, and sometimes makes (more often than you'd think), then you know what I'm talking about.

But think about it.

If, as writers, we don't believe we have infinite range, than we never push ourselves to go beyond what we're capable of. Insert name after name after name of poets who keep writing the same book after the same book after the same book (or, for those who don't have a book out, the same poem after the same poem after the same poem). And having no conscience is the part that I've been fairly lucky to have, even though it's gotten me into trouble in some cases (and it still might if certain people see Ghost Lights, since there are poems in there that certain people may not want to read, for a number of reasons). Just another reason to put your balls to the wall, especially since so many writers keep doing the same things, sacrificing heart for music, sacrificing balls for artifice.

I hope I never succumb to that.

*

Got the third blurb for Ghost Lights, with still a handful to go.

I think I'll have a good mix once all is said and done. And I'm grateful for the time everyone's taken to write something about the book.

If everyone's saying the same thing on the back cover, then what's the point of reading more than one? Or any of them, for that matter?

And yes, I don't need you to tell me that people mostly don't read the blurbs anyway, because I know that. But thankfully folks have been, in my opinion, writing representative statements that hopefully will make someone at least open it to see if they're interested. And if they're not, I'm glad they at least wanted to see if they were.

28

2009-12-02T15:55:00.005-05:00

The end of the semester, as those of you know who are in school or teach at the college level, is upon us, and the insanity, though past the start, is still in full swing. Hence the lack of updates.

*

I turned 28 today.

I had a pretty amazing year.

My first book got accepted for publication by Dream Horse Press.

I got married to an amazing woman, and though I'm biased, our wedding was also amazing.

I got into four out of eight schools for my PhD before finally choosing Binghamton University and moving to Vestal, New York with Jess.

And I "finished" a second manuscript, which is now officially at a total of nine contests and open reading periods.

I'm not quite sure how all of that happened, but it did, and I'm extremely thankful.

That said, the last the thing I want to do is slow down.

My new goal is to have the second manuscript accepted for publication by the time I turn 30 in exactly two years. It's lofty, I know, but I really feel that it's in a much better position than Ghost Lights was at that point, and even if it's deemed not so, I'm going to keep sending it out.

Though I didn't get a ton of poems written during this semester, which I expected, I'm hoping to come back fiercely next semester.

*

I keep thinking about the page length for single collections of poetry. Ghost Lights, in a .doc file, is exactly 51 pages of actual poetry. At one point, I probably had it up to 60, but I kept cutting, and that's one thing I made a point to do, especially with published poems.

That's how the new manuscript is, too. I think it's exactly 50 pages of poetry. I like it like this.

I probably always will.

Longer collections seem to bum me out. I always keep finding poems in collections that I would've cut. Maybe I'm too hard on those books and my own manuscripts? Not sure.

*

Spent last weekend in Goshen, New York, at my Aunt Janet's for Thanksgiving. Saw a lot of relatives, drank well and ate well. Can't ask for anything more.

The weekend before Jess and I went to Baltimore. She had a suturing class she decided to take part in for her job, and since I literally hadn't been anywhere since Ithaca in three months, it was good to get out of Vestal for a bit. Had a blast. Met new people. One of the best weekends I've ever had.

*

Speaking of getting away, here's an interesting blog post by Susan Rich: Artist Residencies - What You Should Know.

Residencies and colonies have always been funny things to me. I've never applied to one because I've never had the desire or need to go to one, but this seems like a good start for those who are interested.

*

Hopefully Ghost Lights will be out sometime around May 2010. Once I get the galleys, which should be soon, I'm going to spend day and night looking, changing, questioning, finalizing.

I already have some folks who said they're interesting in reviewing it, and I'm in the process of setting up some readings for next year. There's still a lot I need to learn about all this promotion stuff. Thankfully I have a lot of writers I can talk to.

*

There's probably more I want to write, but I can't remember anything else. Except that The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans was a great movie. Hilarious, dark, fun, and insane.

Kind of pissed The Road didn't get a wide release. Hopefully in a few weeks though. The Lovely Bones better be wide, because I'm psyched to see that too, but I'm not holding my breath.

*

Oh, and it looks like the new issue of Handsome is out and shipping in December.

Look at that cover. Wow.

There's a poem in there issue from Ghost Lights, and it looks like I'm in good company, which is no surprise to me.

Sick

2009-11-12T17:16:00.003-05:00

I've been a little under the weather earlier in the semester, but I'm hoping what I have is the 24-hour bug, which I got about 4 years ago. Knotted stomach. Fluids exiting my body rapidly. Trying to drink ginger ale and Gatorade. Figured I'd try and do something to take my mind off it, since I don't seem to feel any better.

*

See The Box.

See Ballast.

See Low and Behold. (when you can, since I got surreptitious DVD copy).

I have a feeling my explanations won't make any sense, but I saw them all within seven days.

And they're all easily in my Top 100 Favorite Movies of all time list. So good all around in so many ways.

That will come closer to the end of the year...

*

Wrote two poems the other day, both within about an hour, and that's what happened so many times with the poems in Ghost Lights.

I feel like I'm someone who sometimes writes to get shit out of my head. The horrible shit that no one wants to hear about or read about it. Therapeutic? No, because none of it (well almost none of it) has nothing to do with me.

But sometimes you have to do that to move on. I've had people say, "So what? A tragedy happened." Well, yeah, I understand that, but obviously it didn't affect you to the point where you constantly think about it and dream about it, and sometimes the amalgam of two or three. For that I commend you. But I can't do that. And I feel like it has to hit paper before I can get it out of my head. I can't see myself ever getting away from this for as long as I last in this poetry world, if I end up lasting at all. But that's fine. I do what I can.

That said, I have an idea for another one that I'm struggling with. I'm going to try to get a new batch ready for the end of November, so we'll see if we can make it happen. With the next few weekends booked, along with all the grading and end-of-the-semester paper writing, I don't see it happening, but at least it's a goal.

*

I had some other things I wanted to get on this post, but I forget what they are.

I need more fluids. And maybe some Saltines.

Fantasy

2009-11-03T16:11:00.003-05:00

The new issue of Waccamaw is up.

Not a huge fan of the design, but I love the content, and though I had to pull poems before they really had time to consider them, I'll be sending work during the next reading period.

Take a look.

*

Was wondering about the now-defunct and now dead-linked Red Morning Press the other day.

The site's been down for a while now. You can't even order books from the website anymore, which sucks. I don't know what happened to them. I'm not sure if anyone does. But it seems that they suddenly, and unfortunately, vanished.

I mention this because I was also thinking about Jason Bredle's second book, Pain Fantasy, the other day. I'm pretty sure it's still in a box in the closet, which I need to get out of the closet, but I also wanted to see if you could still get new copies on Amazon.

Turns out the cheapest copies available are those that Jason is selling currently, signed, for $12 each.

I say this, first off, because you should get the book if you haven't already, because most likely this will be your last chance. It seemed like RMP was headed for good things, and though I don't know what happened, secondly, I wonder about taking a chance with a press that's only been around for a few years, these days.

I'm sure there are stories like this with other presses that you know and I don't. But this is one that no one seems to be talking about, mainly because I'm not sure if many even knew the press before it was gone...

Though I'm thrilled to technically soon be sharing a press with Jason (his chapbook The Book of Evil will be coming out from Dream Horse Press in 2010), and though he's well on his way to his third book being published (I've seen that it's already been a finalist a few times for contests), it's sad to know that both the author of the book and the press have suffered, and that the book, at this point, is pretty much out of print.

I didn't intend to write a long post about this, and I won't, but it's certainly something to think about, especially if you're anxious to get any of your manuscripts out into the world as books. There are always factors in the publishing business beyond one's control, but with more presses in the world these days, especially those publishing poetry (or so it seems), though being cautious to the point of paralysis is not good, being cautious is certainly good.

Anyway, seriously, above all, get Pain Fantasy while you still can. It's awesome. It's a handsomely designed book, too.

November

2009-11-01T10:02:00.003-05:00

I have two poems from the new manuscript up at Anti- if you're interested.

Thanks to Steve and the editors.

*

I can't believe there's essentially a month and change left of the first semester.

Probably heading to Philly next weekend with Jess to visit one of her friends. I've only been to the airport there, so it'll be a good chance to explore. Minus the fact that I don't like the Eagles, I hear it's a cool city, so I'm going to try to amass of list of places I need to check out.

*

Received the second blurb for Ghost Lights last week. It feels like everything's coming to fruition.

I hope to have the rest by Thanksgiving. Hopefully the galleys should be in my possession soon.

*

Huge game for The Giants today, especially after the two previous losses.

Winner is either tied for first place or owns it by themselves. Just depends on the outcome and team.

Day

2009-10-30T16:10:00.007-04:00

It occurred to me a few days ago that I still didn't have a physical copy of my second manuscript in a binder.

So Immediately printed one out, took out the old version of Ghost Lights that was in there, hole-punched it and stuck it in.

The first flip through I immediately noticed some small things that needed to be fixed. This is after looking at it way too many times on the computer. Since I've done so much work on it, however, I'm glad it took me this long to get a physical copy, as I would've had to replace many single pages after changes to the poems.

But alas, I have a physical copy. There's something about throwing that sucker in my bag and carrying it around all day that makes me like it more. Now it feels real I suppose.

And I sent it off about thirty minutes ago to four more places. It's now at a total of seven.

By December 31st it'll be at about five more.

I hope folks like it.

*

The time has arrived. Who's going to join me in creating their arduously constructed 100 Favorite Movies List?

Those who need not apply:

If you have Citizen Kane as your #1 movie (and though this is a personal rule, you probably shouldn't make one if it's on your list at all. But hey, that's just me.)
If you're including too many movies with attached names like Truffaut, Malle, Bergman, De Sica, Antonioni, etc. without having seen the movies, because people do that. And let's face it: like me, you probably want to see more classics than you've seen thus far. Don't be that guy.
If you don't have a passion for movies. This probably goes without saying. Too bad.
If you don't have the time to spend, because it takes a while, though it's certainly something you should be proud of when you're done.

Remember, this is your Favorite Movies List. If for some reason you could watch Gigli 1000 more times after the 100 you've already seen it, then you shouldn't be shy about putting it on there. Though you should probably make fun of yourself for such a thing.

For those who've already done one, the rule is that you can't go back to your old list. You have to make a new one.

So far two of my best friends from high school (who know their shit, most of the time) and my oldest brother (who also certainly knows his shit) are participating. Any other bloggers want to participate? If so, post your list to your blog by 2010...

You can find my old list in a previous blog post if you feel the need to try and make fun of or applaud mine. Go ahead, I say.

*

You should get the new Lymbyc System record, Shutter Release. It comes out Tuesday.

Instrumental, complex, and beautiful stuff. Their songs on the former EP with This Will Destroy You are incredible, and those ideas have finally been expanded to a full length. Check them out if you haven't.

*

I almost forgot. If you're sending out a book to contests and open reading periods, Kelli Russell Agodon has been ruminating about any and every topic you can think of as related to such an endeavor. A lot of good information, so if you're new to the whole ordeal and want to get a sense of it from someone who's willing to share a lot of insider information, if you will, then don't hesitate to start combing through her blog.

Though I've shared bits and pieces of my experience, Kelli's much more thorough and insightful, so read away if you're interested.

North

2009-10-27T16:28:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago, after a ton of headaches with our ex-landlord, Jess and I decided to send a complaint to the Virginia Fair Housing Office.

If something came of it, cool. If not, well, we're unjustifiably out $200, but the world goes on, and we tried.

However, a nice woman from the aforementioned Fair Housing Office called today and said that though they can't do anything about it, the issue resides with Consumer Affairs, and she forwarded all of the materials to them.

Glad to know something at least got done from the initial step. We'll see what happens from here.

*

Had six contests and open reading periods originally for October, but I decided to wise up, for a few reasons, and get that down to four, which I think is a good number.

I've done some good work on it in the past month I think. I've been looking closely at a lot of things I was never really cognizant of before, and I think it's helped. I also don't understand the complete hatred of gerunds in poetry. I've heard it all before... but when a gerund needs to be there, it needs to be there. Simple as that.

*

I found some pretty awesome paintings that feel like they could be a cover for Ghost Lights, but I'm not getting my hopes up, since I have no idea about the workings of obtaining cover art. But it's still fun to start looking around and having paintings, colors, and fonts in my head.

*

Luke has given me a shout out before for getting a good number of poems accepted in a relatively short amount of time, and he certainly deserves the same right now.

I'm sure you'll be seeing his book around soon enough. All signs point to it.

*

Speaking of which, I got two good rejections ("These made it to the last round, but we decided against them") in the last week or so for the last three unpublished poems in the second manuscript. Usually that means, at least in my experience, that sooner or later they'll get picked up by someone else.

Rejections, though many would disagree, can sometimes be a great thing.

*

The new Doveman record, The Conformist, is one that will most likely be spinning for a while. It's a record that one can immediately attribute to other bands and artists as far as influences, but it has its own great thing going on. Check out Footloose too if you haven't, especially if you're a fan of the original soundtrack.

Also been enjoying the new Tegan and Sara disc, Sainthood. They're damn good at writing short pop songs that stick in your head, but there's more to each one upon each subsequent listen.

*

I don't understand the hype around Paranormal Activity.

Has anyone seen The Gate? Yes, with Stephen Dorff. From 1987. 22 years later, that movie still freaks the shit out of me.

I guess Paranormal Activity pisses me off mainly because it's one of those "Let's take aspects from 25 different movies and try to claim it as our original film," and the comparisons are obvious if you've seen enough horror movies.

Once you understand the gimmick, and how it's clearly going to escalate each time the camera sits there and fast forwards until the, you guessed it, paranormal activity, it just becomes tedious to sit through. Though I applaud trying to make their relationship have a seemingly deeper element to it as related to all that's happening around them, it's another obvious plot point that you can see through from the very beginning.

*

As far as hyped movies go, I thought Up was pretty incredible. I was actually kind of blown away. I love when hype's warranted.

How the hell they came up with that script is beyond me. I still think there had to have been illegal drugs involved. Either way, Pixar continues to kick ass.

*

We had a brief stint of snow a week or two ago, but nothing since then. The leaves are falling as we speak, and I actually have the window open near me as I write this.

I'm enjoying the fresh air now, because I have a feeling this weather's going to change soon. And quickly.

Drill

2009-10-21T18:00:00.009-04:00

Jess has been at work for twelve hours now.

Two days ago she had to drill into some guy's brain. Late last week she had to operate on a woman's husband, and when the doctor was telling her what was going on in the waiting room, she was screaming hysterically.

Though I'm proud of what I'm doing and all I've accomplished, I'm starting to have more respect every single day for people who work in the medical field. The true people in the medical field I'm starting to think are destined to do that work. I don't think there are many fields that can claim those words.

It makes talking about poetry seem, well, not that important. But alas, I do it anyway.

*

I brought in two poems from the new manuscript into workshop last time, one which is published, and one which is going to be published in the next issue of a journal.

Before you say or think anything, keep in mind I understand that turning in a "finished" poem into workshop makes everyone a critic.

However, my goal was to hopefully prove something, and after a few weeks of thinking about it, I did.

I've mentioned before that many of the poems in this new manuscript have been seen by no one thus far except myself and the editors who (somehow) decided to publish them. That's certainly not dangerous, but it should make you realize that you need to show your poems to others, especially others who may know what you're going for. Or not.

At any rate, these two particular poems also lead off the manuscript. I've changed them up, and I think they're much better. And a lot of the specific advice for those poems I've been able to use as I've been revising other poems.

So each day I'm happier, it seems, to work on this manuscript, with hopefully a much keener eye.

A handful of contests I'm sending it to in a week or so.

I decided that if I end up sending to about 15-20 by the end of 2009 and I don't get even a pull on the poetic line, then I'm going to get restructuring and writing again.

The first time I sent out Ghost Lights over two years ago, when it was, quite honestly, a pretty horrendous "book," it was a finalist. I think this one's better, so we'll see if I have any clue in the least.

*

I started reading for Harpur Palate today. Considering I'd only met three PhD poets in the program officially before then, I figured it was time to meet others and get involved with our graduate journal, something I really didn't do at VCU.

Already, after just two hours of reading today, I want to make a How To Not Make An Ass Out Of Yourself When You Submit Poems To Journals list...

Here are a few things I'd mention to folks, in no particular order:

When you clearly haven't read over your cover letter, and there are a bunch of repetitions and misspelled words, you're not going to get someone excited to read the poems.
When you name the journals you've been in (of course that's fine, and I think editors like to see that), 6-8's a decent number, and some may even say more than enough. But seriously, 19? 19! I kid you not. I wondered if I should write down her name and call her out on my blog, but I decided not to. Not cool probably.
No one cares about "anthologies" you've edited (or "interned" for).
No one cares about residencies you've been to (especially if you have to name way too many of them and still don't have a book to your name).
Under no circumstances should you include a long blurb from an "established" author about your work as the bookend of the cover letter. You shouldn't do this even if you have four books out. Seriously, I was absolutely blown away by this, and never thought I'd see anything like this. Ever.
The more your build yourself up, almost always unnecessarily and inexcusably, you're giving readers and editors more of a reason to immediately shut down your work. If readers and editors don't like your work, most of the time it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done: you'll be rejected.
If your work's good enough, it'll find a home. Read more journals. Send out more. Take advantage of the journals who accept submissions electronically. Etc, etc, etc.

I've been sending out for a while, and as someone who hopes to be an official editor of a small magazine someday, this is what I adhere to, and this is what I'm looking for on a cover letter:

The date
Name and contact information on every sheet
Titles and number of poems
A handful of the journals who have published you
Books you have out or books that are forthcoming
Briefly: what you're up to now

That's it. And then you don't waste ink either.

Considering this has already been a learning experience, I'm looking forward to getting more involved, and I'm also looking forward to meeting and hanging out with more of my fellow classmates.

*

Finally, if you read this blog, you may also read my First Book Interviews blog.

I've been thinking about this during the past few weeks, and I decided to ask some questions here and see what people think.

I've had some poets with great books recently get a hold of me and ask for an interview, and the books are, of course, piling up at this point, especially when you add in the ones I've received in the last year or so.

Considering the semester is not getting any easier with time constraints, here's my question to potential readers: Would you be opposed to seeing more "stock" questions in the full interviews if that meant they were posted more on a regular basis?

As much as I wish I had the time to sit down and read through these first books, while giving them the attention that every single one deserves, I have a lot of reading I need to do while I try and keep my funding here and whatnot, which is at least slightly more important. The books will be read, but I feel like the more time I spend trying to gather questions and hone questions to each particular book, the less interviews that are posted. And I'd rather have more for people to read. That's what I continued Kate's project in the first place.

Not to mention that four poets, who have all the interview questions, still haven't given me their interviews, and they've had plenty of time to get them back to me. That frustrates me at least a bit, because I did spend that time reading their books and getting questions ready for them for nothing at this point, when I could have four additional interviews posted right now from four other poets.

I think the point of First Book Interviews is to ask about the first books. The site isn't dedicated to Third Book Interviews, after all.

I guess I'm wondering if you trust me to trust the poets to answer even the questions which go out to everyone with care and attention and not clipped and one-sentence answers. I'll still read through the books, and there will be questions tailored to each book, but I just won't have as much time, and I really do want to keep them going and start getting them posted again on a regular basis.

Please please please let me know your thoughts if you'd be willing to share them on any of the points above.

Thanks in advance.

Check Signal Cable

2009-10-15T00:35:00.004-04:00

I was going to wait until tomorrow to write what will most likely be lost to you in my own incomprehensibility, But Seth Abramson's words, as related to the MFA and beyond, always make me want to put my own experience and thoughts on the table. And most of my words are a springboard from what he says, mostly, I would imagine, completely off course from his initial statements.

This was from a link on a recent Facebook post of his: Thinking of getting your MFA?

You have to pay for it, but if you're interested, $4.99 probably won't break the bank. It might also be in the new Poets & Writers, though.

There's also this link, which gives you the "top 50" programs. And there's an extended link too, which names, I think, every "other" MFA program.

I guess what I'm most interested in is a comment made by someone on his Facebook thread: "Read the article 'Confessions of a TA' and had a visceral reaction, realizing that since I have zero interest in teaching, I can't spend half my time in a traditional MFA program doing something I don't like and don't plan to use (even for funding)." Now from what I gather, this is not someone in their 20s, 30s, or 40s (this person said something about their age that would make me think this). Maybe 40s, but maybe older, so that's the first thing, since this person alluded to the fact that they're not your average 20-something wanting to explore the MFA option.

But I feel like there are many others who are 20-somethings and are saying the exact same thing. Maybe the Rhet Comp class I'm taking right now—which I have to take before I can teach composition, even though I've taught nearly 25 sections of composition classes in the last five years—is making me realize that it's also an issue with the Rhet Comp programs regarding TA positions, wages, "low pay," etc. Meaning that since TAs usually teach composition to earn their stipend, this is why there are so many essays regarding TAs these days, and all those issues like wages and "low pay."

Wait a minute, people, I'm not complaining here. I'm really not. Because I understand something: this is how it works at most places if you want to get your MFA or PhD and want the TA gig. Would I rather get free tuition and get paid X-grand a year for just taking classes so I can write all the time, get out in three or four years, and try to get a job and support my family and all of that? Why yes, wouldn't we all in some Utopian society that doesn't exist?

Maybe it was good I went into VCU when I was 22—I was more naive (if you can believe it) than I am now, and I kind of had no clue what was going on. They could've told me I had to teach four sections of composition comprised of thirty students each for my stipend, and I would've said, "Seems a little much, but OK!" And yet for what I had to do at VCU, which was two English 101 sections of 25 students each, it still doesn't even seem that bad right now, and it wasn't then either.

This is what happens when I write these "posts": I don't really go anywhere.

But I guess I would ask you, as a fabricated and wraithlike future MFAer, is all the money in the world going to help you write better poems? Is it going to help you learn about becoming a better writer? Is it going to help you develop indispensable relationships—if you're lucky—with friends in your program who will become your go-to readers, the ones who can take your awful fifteenth draft and make it into something worthy because they, somehow, seem to know your work better than you after a while?

I come back to asking, "Where was all this stuff when I was applying?"

I say that because I'm beyond exponentially ecstatic that this information on MFA calculations, rankings, etc., wasn't available then.

I'm not sure about the rankings or calculations or legitimacy of programs anymore (not that I ever was to begin with), but I think, like many now, that I would've been bogged down with so many questions at that point of the application process, so many questions that would've led me to try something else, and I wouldn't be sitting here in Vestal, New York, of all places, a few months into a PhD program, with an amazing woman who somehow decided to say yes when I asked her to marry me, and a first book of poetry coming out next year.

Sometimes it pays to suck it up, live on what you can, and be passionate about something. Sometimes it might be better to leave those other questions for later.

But doesn't it always come down to passion? Or, better yet, shouldn't it?

Rush

2009-10-12T10:50:00.004-04:00

I keep forgetting that it was probably halfway through my second year, but really at the start of my third year, when I actually wrote a decent poem (or draft, maybe) at VCU, something I felt good about reading at workshop, something I felt good about writing.

That really hasn't happened yet in the Binghamton workshop setting. No matter how the poems are received, I really don't like what I'm writing at all.

That said, we're not even halfway through the first semester. I need to chill out, and I think that's one of the problems.

I was inspired by this recent post from Oliver, who always seems to write wise blog posts. I guess I put myself in a weird position right now, because I feel like if what I'm writing isn't furthering this second manuscript, or going onto a third project, then there's no point in writing it. Clearly I shouldn't be thinking like that, but if you know what it's like to put much time into big projects, then you know how hard it is to break away from that mode. And that's what I've spent the last three years of my poetic life doing (though you also have to include all the PhD applications I suppose).

Or not necessarily that certain mode, as much as feeling like I need to move on, and since I don't have a new project, and all these workshop poems seem to be rehashing former, better poems, or they're this nebulous mess of words that I would never want anyone to see. If I don't like the poem, I don't care who does. And if I really like a poem that I write, I usually don't care who doesn't, because that's always another step in the hopeful ladder-climb of building something better. That sounded horribly clichéd. Oh well.

I guess what I'm telling myself is that I don't need to rush right now, and hopefully for good reason. I have to write poems for workshop, and so they're getting written. Even poems I don't like hopefully and eventually get me writing poems that I do like. And though I feel like all my energy right now (aside from course work of course) is best spent in trying to get this second book out into the world, there's no harm in letting the new project, whatever it may be, come to fruition as it presents itself, instead of trying to force something that just isn't there right now.

Mesh

2009-10-08T16:43:00.006-04:00

An interview with Brian Teare, one of my favorite young poets. Still need to get Sight Map. Maybe this post gives me an excuse to order a few books I've been wanting for a while.

*

I found seven more journals I'd love to be in, somehow, that I haven't sent to already. Those are journals, however, that accept submissions online or through email.

I'm saving the cash right now for the second manuscript. And there are five more contests and open reading periods where that will be by the end of October.

Three poems from the manuscript have yet to be published in its current state, and I think it'll be nice this time around to have a small batch of three, since I usually have the number of poems make them into four or five. Like Ghost Lights, I really didn't expect to have all the poems published this time around either, and even though my new manuscript will undoubtedly change, because that's the way things go, it's always a good feeling to know that editors are liking your words.

*

New Tunes Worth Spinning:

Richmond Fontaine - We Used to Think the Freeway Sounded like a River
Qwel & Maker - So Be It
Lisa Germano - Magic Neighbor
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - White Lunar
Califone - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy

*

Weekend-intensive workshop this weekend with Maria Gillan. Second of the semester.

I was going to go with Jess to a wedding (her freshman roommate from college), but there are only three workshops a semester, and I can't miss one. (Sorry, Celeste!)

Since I've been doing a ton of work with my second manuscript over the last year or so, it's been tough for me to get out of the, for lack of a better term, complacency I've been in while writing these poems. Stylistically. Thematically. Structurally. Everything.

What I'm saying is that I need to move on, or the same thing's going to happen in workshop, and I don't want to take all this time for granted I have to discover some new things in my writing, not to mention working with a new crop of talented writers. I guess we'll see what happens this weekend...

The Marble Game

2009-10-07T10:45:00.004-04:00

I'm not going to deal with a lot of corrections here, or going back. This is a post of excitement, vicarious excitement, which usually should be the case anyway.

I found this post from almost a year ago, and if you look at the folks mentioned at the bottom, it should also get you excited. And if it doesn't, well, that's OK too I guess.

Here's the deal.

Blake Butler has signed a book deal with Harper Perennial, and Shane Jones is having his first novel made into a movie. And it's being reprinted by Penguin. Oh yeah, the dude who made things happen: Spike Jonze. Check out the link. Big things around the corner.

It would be easy to cry a river and say, "I work hard. Why not me?" And that's what annoys me about many, many folks writing poetry these days (because I can't take the term "poet" seriously, and probably never will be able to). It would've been easier to get an MBA if you wanted to rack the greenbacks.

This isn't a post bashing poets, because I myself, if you didn't know, am a writer of poetry. And I'm guilty of being frustrated by writing poetry also. See my last post. Or many of them before that. But come on, people.

Let me finish by saying that I'm thrilled for Shane and Blake (if you couldn't tell).

If you've read their blogs, you know that they're indefatigable writers. They don't fuck around. They made these things happen for themselves. And it's completely inspiring. Because people are reading, and people do care about art. We're in this horrendous economy right now, only composition jobs seem to be available for PhDs, and people are getting guns and murdering each other, so it's easy to bitch and moan and want Vinny Chase's life. Or you can work your ass off and get people to read your work. It's not "bragging." It's believing. It's about hope. It's about inspiration. Effusiveness required.

Lift

2009-10-05T15:32:00.003-04:00

Jess calls a kind of malaise that sets in during periods of moving and transition, fittingly enough, "Transition Keith." I can get irritable, depressed, and annoyed at stupid things. I'm usually not like that at all.

And it gets worse because I know I'm acting like that and have a hard time combating it. I think it was delayed this time around; it's almost been two months since we got here, and I think it set in at the end of last week.

I also keep forgetting that there's been a bit of a whirlwind the last three months, so the delay makes sense I suppose. I guess I had too much to think about, so much that there was no real rumination.

But the first semester at a new place is always tough. And considering I remember how awful my first few months at VCU were, that alone is able to take me away from the funk a bit, because things have been much better than that here.

*

The Giants are 4-0 for the second year in a row, but the injury bug seems to be biting again. Here's to being healthy and the streak continuing.

*

I'm looking to work on a new project as far poems go, but right now I'm not sure what it's going to be. Sometimes when I'm not writing I feel, probably unnecessarily, guilty. It's silly, but it happens.

There was a period after I felt Ghost Lights was completed where I pretty much knew it was either going to get published in a handful of years or I'd burn it and forget about it. I knew that because I wasn't writing poems that would fit in that particular book, and I felt like I couldn't write poems that would ever fit in that book. Poet maturation? Not sure.

But the same thing has happened now. What I mean is, once you start parodying yourself unnecessarily, or you're writing watered-down versions of better poems that you immediately know are better, that seems like a good sign that it's time to move on to a new project. I'm repeating what I did for Ghost Lights, though I don't think I'll burn this one if it eventually keeps floating in the poetic void. I have more faith this time around.

At least it seems to be my litmus test so far. But there's nothing wrong with relaxing and letting stuff swim around in your head. I feel like forcing words right now will just make me lose a little zealousness, and I don't want to do that. But I say things like that a lot, and then the poems seem to arrive. Maybe I just jinxed myself.

*

Thinking about the job market also has me a little crazy. I know I have four years until I really have to think about that, but there's still a lot of pressure. Hopefully good pressure.

There are folks that have many more credentials than I do, and there are barely any 5/5 teaching load non-tenure track composition jobs available that pay less than $40,000 a year. Would I do that if I had to? Of course. I know I'm not going to get something fantastic right out of school, if I get anything right out of school.

And though I do tend to be pessimistic, hopefully things are on the upswing in academia and the economy and the tandem of both working together. Four years, though not a long time really, tends to be pendulous in the ways it can swing in a small amount of time, especially in academia.

*

A lot of music. A lot of movies. I'll try to post something coherent about what you should be listening to and watching next time.

Kansas City

2009-09-29T17:12:00.005-04:00

Big Blue is 3-0. Things, despite the many injuries, are looking good. I'm confident. Strong corps equals strong core, or it may be the other way around, which should equal more wins.

*

New poems from this second manuscript will now be appearing in future issues of Center: A Journal of the Literary Arts, Portland Review, and Phoebe.

There are three poems still in the manuscript that haven't been published, and though I don't know if they'll ever be published, they're currently out to many places right now, so we'll see.

I've asked the question in many First Book Interviews about that before: Was there a need to get all the poems published before your book was accepted for publication? I feel like I'm with many of them: when I have stuff to send out, I send out. If I luck out and get some hits, cool, and if not, I keep writing new poems, work on the ones that may need work, and send out again.

I didn't know I was writing a new manuscript two years ago when my MFA was over, but now I know that I was. I've gotten work accepted this time around much more quickly than the poems taken from Ghost Lights, which makes me feel more confident that there's more of a unified whole here, a poetry book rather than a "book of poems," to reference this awesome piece from the Harriet blog by Joel Brouwer.

And a wise and talented poet said to me recently that you should be able to answer the question, "What is your book about?" if asked. I won't give my personal opinion here, but I will say that it's much easier for me to do it this time around than it was last time around.

Regardless, however, it's currently, like many floating around in the world, still just a manuscript. Hopefully that will change eventually.

*

Trick 'R Treat was a pleasant and weird Halloween surprised. I'm not sure I'd watch it again, but it's a fun genre / horror movie, especially for one that I'd never heard of.

Away We Go had the potential to be great, but I found too much stuff forced in the script. It got better as it went on, though. It's still hard to see John Krasinski, not matter how much he tries to wear glasses and a beard, as someone different than Jim Halpert.

Also saw The Last 15, the most recent short film by Antonio Campos, whose Afterschool looks like it could be really, really good. He's both young and ballsy, and we need more filmmakers like that these days. Not to mention poets.

*

After about a month and a half, we're finally getting close to that completely settled point in New York. Jess changed her name. We've figured out bank accounts. We're both getting regular paychecks now. We know where all the stores and shortcuts are around the area. We still have to explore more of Binghamton, though, and get off the Pkwy, and we still have to get to Ithaca more often, which I imagine will happen when it gets warm. And of course I've been busy busting my ass with this second manuscript. And making sure I'm keeping busy with my schoolwork and everything I need to do to familiarize myself with the English Department and the like.

Soon enough I hope to play catch-up on the First Book Interviews, so we'll see how that goes. With my own second book and my own family unit now to attend to (since I'm married now of course), I know have to take time for other things that I wouldn't have before.

*

I'm sure we'll be turning the heat on soon. Goodbye summer.

Go

2009-09-23T11:34:00.004-04:00

Go congratulate Blake Butler, who has some amazing news.

He will soon be winning Guggenheim Fellowships and MacArthur Genius Grants.

He also works harder than any other writer I know.

Great things are on the way...

Bring

2009-09-22T12:20:00.006-04:00

I have a poem at Linebreak this week. It's the longest poem in the new manuscript (but only one of the few longer ones) and it's one of my favorites I've written at this point in my life.

Also got my contributor copy of Blue Mesa Review. Thanks again to the editors. The issue looks great. You can check out more information regarding the table of contents here.

*

Sent out a bunch of submissions on September 15th. Already got three rejections. I'm actually happy that they came back so quickly. Hopefully more journals will make these quick decisions if they don't like the work. I have more respect for their process that way, quite honestly.

There are maybe four or five poems in the new manuscript that haven't been published, and those are the ones out in the world. I've been lucky with submissions over the last two years or so with these poems, so I figured I'd keep everything out there.

*

Narrowed contests and open reading periods for the next year to around twenty places.

It's at 59 pages now, which I think is a good number.

I keep working on the poems and structure, of course, and have put a lot of time into it for... well, a long time now. I have more confidence in it now. So now it's time to see what happens, if anything.

The first wave of manuscript submissions is in about a week.

*

Started reading Alice Sebold's Lucky yesterday, and I couldn't sleep last night.

The imagery in the first chapter made me physically sick to my stomach. Not the best before-bed reading. Yet she manages to write so simply about all of it, seemingly, as far as her sentences and word choices. But there are a few specific passages that I don't think will ever leave my thoughts.

Another reason why I couldn't sleep, however, is that I decided to look up the locations of her police report on Google Earth. It's frightening to see the bird's eye view of the real locations, and it adds a new depth to the term "imagination," especially when you can click on the blue squares to see actual photos of certain locations.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest, but I don't know how hard it's going to be to get through.

*

Switching to something happy, The Giants look good.

Starting 2-0, within the division, is always a good thing. Getting healthy and stopping the run need to be priorities.

I have more confidence this season than I did last year, and not because the record's 2-0.

A lot of the season to go, though, so there's no point in all the speculation.

But how great was it to see Romo look awful in "Jerry World," or whatever they're calling that egregious and nonsensical eyesore these days? Beautiful, I say. Beautiful.

*

Though I don't know the specific news, word 'round the campfire is that Bobby C. Rogers' first book of poetry is coming out.

I've mentioned him here before and here before.

He's a poet who blew me away when I saw his work in journals during my first weeks and months at VCU. I'd emailed him how much I liked his work, out of the blue, and he was very gracious when he emailed me back.

I've literally been confused like crazy about his book not being out in the world, so I'm saying an official congratulations right now, and I'll let you know the details when I know them. You need to get this book of poetry.

There's this meditative, usually long-lined, semi-religious without-sounding-didactic tone to much of his work, where pulling stumps from a lawn can turn into a meditation about God, and he's able to do this beautifully and seemingly effortlessly.

His work is something to be admired. I can't wait for the book.

Amidst

2009-09-11T10:39:00.002-04:00

My last poem in the current 42opus stretch is posted today. It's my favorite of the bunch.

*

Sick for the first time in maybe two years. Headache and congestion. Bit of a sore throat. I think it's the weather change after living in Richmond for five years.

*

Though last night was the official start of the season, The Giants are the real start on Sunday for me. Can't wait.

*

Nervous about this new manuscript. I keep thinking maybe I shouldn't send it out. But there are always a million reasons to talk yourself out of things. So I'm not going to do that.

*

Diet Mountain Dew Ultra Violet kind of tastes like cough syrup. A tasty, caffeine-infused cough syrup.

New Leaves

2009-09-08T12:31:00.004-04:00

I'm currently taking a course on Rhetoric and Composition right now at BU.

The one with the-professor-who-shall-not-be-named I took at VCU five years ago was one of the most horrendous graduate experiences I've ever had. It's in the top three easily (though really there were only three horrendous experiences, which is good four a five-year stretch). Bad things happened. Things were misconstrued. I was pretty miserable. But I was also young and immature. The class did not instruct me how to teach. The class taught me absolutely nothing. That's what I think the whole class was mostly so upset about by the end.

That said, I do thank VCU and the English Department wholeheartedly for giving me the opportunity to teach so many composition courses while I was there. I still have a lot to learn, but I have so many questions just from the experience, that I think I'll get much more out of teaching at BU now.

Just having the experience and time in front of students these days is severely underrated. I know I'm not the best teacher, I admit, but improving on the past, learning new methods, and always asking and trying to answer my questions will be something to keep track of as I go. And all that experience can and does certainly translate from course to course.

In other words, had I come here with little or no teaching experience, I'd feel completely overwhelmed. I'm glad I got that out of the way at VCU as the earlier part of my education.

*

See Trouble the Water as soon as you get a chance.

It's one of those documentaries that's just a complete experience, like Capturing the Friedmans, Man on Wire, How to Draw a Bunny, and many more.

Plus you never stop thinking and questioning after it's over. I didn't at least. And that's what a documentary should do (unless it has the unparalleled greatness and originality of American Movie)

*

I should have the galleys soon enough for Ghost Lights. Because I'm such a stickler for the look and feel of how things are presented on the page, I really want to get the font and the font size right so it's not weird or disjointed for the readers.

Many of the poems in the book (and almost all of the poems in the second manuscript I'm working on) are not left justified. You can look at Tar-era C.K. Williams and The Widening Spell of the Leaves-era Larry Levis (which also happen to be two of my favorite poetry collections of all time), and you see that there are indentations if the lines spill over into the next, though it's meant to be one line without any kind of enjambment.

I was in Wojahn's office a few years ago, and he showed me an original, square-sized copy of Tar from the 80s. He was making a case for the energy of the lines and (false?) enjambments of the later printings being the ones that do justice to the poems. I agreed. If you look at the Selected and the Collected of C.K. Williams, you'll notice that the run-over lines, because the size of the actual pages are different, are indented in different places. Because the poems are "enjambed" according to the size of the page; the long line has to be broken up at some point...

Same thing with an original copy of The Widening Spell of the Leaves and the Selected Levis. The latter keeps the lines intact, keeping them from spilling over, while the former is indented all over the place with the longer-lined poems.

If I had a whole book of long-lined poems, that wouldn't be a big deal to do; I agree with Wojahn that the energy is a bit different, in a good way, as weird as it may sound, when the lines look like they're enjambed.

But, when considering the poems in Ghost Lights, many of my long-lined poems are not left-justified, so you'd have almost a double sense of enjambment, and then it just looks completely out of whack.

My last poem of the four appearing in 42opus this month is a good example. It will run this Friday the 11th, and I'll probably point to it in another blog post if you're confused at what I'm saying...

It looks fine in the .doc file of my new manuscript, but you can think of the right side of the 42opus page as the end of the page limits for a .doc file. I don't mind how it will appear there, but I would certainly not want it to look that way in a book.

All these questions, and a lot of these I'm constantly interested in, make me think I might want to eventually go into publishing, or have publishing be a part of my life somehow.

Has anyone else questioned these issues with their books? We want to be as pleased with our final products as we hope our readers will be, so I'm making a point to really get involved as much as I can in the process of how it's going to look on the page.

*

Speaking of the new manuscript, I decided to grow some balls and send it out at the end of September. Worst case scenario: I spend a little extra cash to see how it does in the world, and it doesn't do anything. No biggie. Otherwise it'll be sitting here, electronically collecting dust.

I have about fifteen contests and open reading periods I'm looking at right now. I'm being more judicious this time. I sent Ghost Lights to places (when it was also About Ravishment) that I had no business sending to.

The contest was for a more experimental press. The contest was getting manuscripts above the level where I was as a writer (though there should always be shown growth from book to book, hopefully, as the years go on). The prize consisted of screeners who also read and rejected my work for a journal. There are probably more...

Case in point for the last one: The Journal. When I was sending out poems for the first book, I always sent to The Journal for some reason. Maybe ten times or so. They always rejected my poems. Not only that, but I always got the same slip, sans ink. Rejections aren't a big deal, and all the poems were eventually published elsewhere, but considering all of that, why in the hell would I sent to The Journal / OSU Award in Poetry?

The answer: I shouldn't have. But I did. I was testing every depth. Now I know better, especially when the odds are almost 100% against you for whatever reason. You have to learn the particulars and the limits, in other words, about how your work is doing and has done in the outside world of editorship.

There are so many contests when you're sending out that it's hard to learn. Most of the time you suck it up and spend your cash. That's how I learned. That's how (mostly) everyone learns.

But I'm trying to be smarter time around. I think I'm doing a decent job of picking better contests and places to send for consideration. Not "better," necessarily, but more fitting, I would say. That's crucial.

*

I've always been a fan of Owen. He's always writing the same song, but they're always pleasing to listen to. The production's great on his new record, New Leaves. It's a more mature record. Every song sounds like it could be a single, which reminds me of the newest Phoenix record also. That should be a goal for every collection of any constructed artistic medium in my opinion. Give it a listen when it's officially out soon enough.

Other worth-it spins:

Lucine - A Great Distance
Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor
James Bradshaw - His Last Three Records. SEEK THEM OUT.
The Clientele - Bonfires on the Heath
Imogen Heap - Ellipse
Caspian - Tertia
Polvo - In Prism
Port-Royal - Dying in Time
Sleeping at Last - Storyboards

Labor

2009-09-06T16:21:00.004-04:00

Just spent about three hours tweaking the second manuscript. Well, not an entire three hours, but the majority of it.

Cut some poems. Updated Acknowledgments page. Rearranged some sections and poems within sections. Worked with the title. Thought about it in a different light. Wondered what kind of poems might fit within the pages that are kicking around in my head.

*

Also got a list of about forty places I hope to submit to electronically once I have more poems, hopefully by the end of the month.

It's awesome that more and more places, seemingly month-to-month these days, are using emailed submissions or the submissions manager to accept poems for consideration.

I want to save as much money as I can for $20 or $25 contest checks instead of the around $1.50 total single USPS submission...

I have my first workshop next weekend (Maria Gillan does three weekends, Saturday and Sunday, over the semester instead of a once-a-week night: it's supposed to be intense), and I'm hoping I can begin a new project if I can't get any of those poems written to fit into the second manuscript.

Tenative new second manuscript title: What's Left to Burn.

*

Had a great time at the Binghamton Mets game with Luke and Chana.

Hopefully next summer we'll be able to hit a bunch more on weekends.

*

Went to Tioga Downs yesterday with some friends. I won $25 after hitting four 2s playing video poker.

And though we only were doing $2 bets on the horse races, we ended up winning a few bucks by the end.

It's about twenty minutes down the road, and just like the Mets games closing out soon, the horse races are also done in a week or two (though the slots and other machines are open year-round).

But this way we have some things to do already once May comes next year...

Mets

2009-09-04T16:52:00.007-04:00

Headed to our first ever Binghamton Mets game with my cousin Luke and his wife Chana in a few. They're on their way now and should be here soon. I'm looking forward to it, especially since we only went to one Richmond Braves game while we were in RVA.

*

Just got three more poems accepted for publication that are in the second manuscript. I have the poems out at many places, and this has all happened very quickly, so it's been a wild five days. Something like this has never happened to me.

That makes nine accepted by four different journals in the last five days.

(As a disclaimer, if you don't want to hear when my poems are published, don't read my blog. (I could give a shit whether you do or not.) If you can't tell, that's one thing I do here. I like when others do it also, for the record, very much. There are so many writers I wish I could follow, who don't have books out, who are never able to let you know where they have work out. If anyone reads this and likes my work, that gives them an opportunity to possibly seek out work or read it online. All the Steve Fellner's of the world can call me whatever they want to for announcing such news. Again, I don't give a shit.)

I'm very happy and thrilled and ecstatic and can't wait to keep working on this manuscript and getting it into shape, so I can maybe actually call it a book instead of a manuscript. I'm still keeping to the Send Out By Year's End goal.

I also got amazing advice from someone who was willing enough to read through it and offer suggestions. That made me doubly thrilled. Ghost Lights was a mess for me during its early stages of construction (and I hope it's not still for you potential readers when it's out), and there were many things I should've seen that I didn't, which others did see.

Almost all the suggestions regarding the second manuscript, however, I have thought about over the last few weeks and months. Experience is a good thing. That makes me think I'm becoming better, at the very least, in figuring out this mess of a process known as putting together a manuscript. Yet there were a few suggestions that were equally helpful that I hadn't thought about.

Time to get to work, cut, edit, write new poems, and get this sucker into contention status.

*

Lymelife is worth a viewing.

If anything, watch it for the cinematography and for Kieran Culkin's performance. Rory's pretty good too.

Just from this movie, I feel like he has potential to be an incredible actor if he's given a chance to show his chops in something that isn't an indie.

I have some issues with it overall, but like I said, it's worth a viewing.

Embers

2009-09-02T18:25:00.005-04:00

I have four poems in 42opus appearing, one every few days, from now until the 14th of September, I believe. If you're interested, please check them out. They're all currently embedded somewhere in the new manuscript.

*

In the last three days, I've had six poems taken from three different journals. It's weird, because I'm suspect of these good-news onslaughts. Maybe because I'm naturally a pessimist? But I'm smiling.

Barn Owl Review was one of the three, but I'll wait until the contracts are here to name the other two. They're both print journals I really like, which is always nice when your words are appearing there.

Needless to say, I am thrilled and grateful, and I can't believe I've had some of the responses I've received when it comes to these poems in the second manuscript, which I'm constantly tweaking and working on and feeling better about as the days go on.

*

Looks like the schedule's pretty much locked up for the semester at Binghamton University. It's kind of a mirror, in a way, of my first semester schedule five years ago at VCU, only now I'm a little older and a little wiser and won't be fluttering around like a legless grasshopper. I hope not at least.

*

I think Paul Guest was the one who told me that a big move can sometimes foster the energy for getting a ton of stuff written. He probably put it more eloquently, but I think he's right. He's usually right about everything anyway.

*

My beautiful wife got a great job about five miles away from our apartment. She'll be working at a Neurosurgical Practice. I'm very proud of her, and I admire the hell out of her for how smart she is, and how she'll be doing amazing things for people. This is going to be a four-year stretch of busting our asses, and I hope we're both ready for it.

I'm confident we are.

Football Season

2009-08-30T19:47:00.003-04:00

Listened to the new Volcano Choir twice today, and I don't understand why the track they introduce to the public months before the record comes out is the one that isn't representative of the album as a whole in the least.

Some of the songs are a little over-the-top experimental to me, and the album's a little too dissonant almost from track-to-track.

I thought I'd love it, especially with the Pele and Collections of Colonies of Bees members, and though I like it, I was hoping for much more and got a little too excited initially.

*

Inglourious Basterds was good. I need another viewing. QT's most tense movie to date. I'll be floored, like many, if Christoph Waltz doesn't get an Oscar nomination.

*

Watched Scott Walker: 30 Century Man yesterday.

It's pretty incredible, and the dude's still an enigma, despite all the interviews. It's for everyone, though, not just music lovers. Fascinating stuff.

I can't wait to give more of his music another shot, since there's much to go through.

The Drift is more intense and horrifying than most Black or Death Metal records. I do know that.

*

Got an acceptance from Barn Owl Review today. It'll be the first journal a poem of mine appears in back-to-back. It's also one of the newer journals that you should subscribe to if you're thinking about adding another one to your list. Issue #2 is great, which is the main reason I decided to send again.

*

Nervous about The Giants, like every fan is, at this point.

Preseason doesn't tell us a lot. Look at The Lions being 4-0 last year.

And yesterday's game was better, but we'll see come September 13th.

Final roster cuts soon too. Will they keep Moss?

I'm sure that Tyree's going at this point. He was a factor in the SB win, but he can't stay healthy. Someone will pick him up, though.

*

First day as a PhD Candidate in English Binghamton University tomorrow officially.

I'm ready for the semester to start and to get back into everything.

Finally.