First Book Interview #26 - Paul Hostovsky

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.

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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.

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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

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

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.

The July Heat

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.

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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"

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.

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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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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...

Niece

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.