Also, I grew my hair out, but I'm just about to lose patience with it.  Anyway, have a gander: the longest it's been in years.

Where have I been?  Good question.  Mostly, I've been writing poetry like a fiend, and submitting like a fiend.  I still haven't found a home for the chapbook that bears its name  but "All Our Houses Are The Same House" found a home in Amethyst Magazine lately.   Thimble also showed my poem "Home Renovation" some love. I also had a poem in Divot (you have to scoll down) called "Anyway."

To everything there is a season, and although I get ideas sometimes, the fiction has not been calling me.  Which is probably a good thing considering how much you sit down when you're writing fiction.  Poetry at least you get up and walk around some.  Shorter form, you know.

Ken and I stayed in New York this past summer; he was singing in the choir down at Riverside Church up by Columbia University in NYC during the warm months, and we wanted to eat the vegetables from our garden instead of leaving them for our cat sitters. And I worked with my brother, who is a local historian specializing in Bannerman's Island (an amazing place on the Hudson River, a bit north of here).  He's finishing a book about it.  So I haven't utterly abandoned prose--just taking a break from my own. This is Bannerman's--over to the left.  Not my brother's photo--his are better--but you'll have to wait for his book to see the really good ones.  Bannerman's Castle was an armory and residence built by Francis Bannerman, the gentleman who gave us the army-navy store, back in the years after the Spanish-American War. Because a lot of his merchandise was actual armaments, he needed to store it away from population centers.  So he built himself a castle in the mighty Hudson to live pretty much on top of it. 

Yeah, it blew up. And burned.  And was abandoned for years until local people decided to save it.  Enter my brother and his friends, and his stalwart editor (me).

Back in the poetry world, I've had good news lately from The McNeese Review for a poem I wrote in answer to James Dickey's famous"Falling." It'll be out soon, and I'll let you know here and in my social media.  "Falling" was maybe the first piece of serious modern verse I read; I was barely in high school, and it upset me terribly.  I'm still really uncomfortable with the way Dickey sexualizes the subject of the poem, a stewardess (as they were called then) falling to her death after having been sucked out an airplane window. My poem was pretty much a raised finger. I'm pleased that McNeese picked it up, and I'll be very proud of the publication when it occurs. 

Also, I just got some good news from Rattle, but I can't say what quite yet.  I love being in any of the places they feature poetry: Poets Respond, the poetry prompt contests, and of course, the magazine itself.

I have a full-length poetry collection I'm shopping around, and a couple of chappies.  Pray to the gods of acceptance for me!!

So we didn't wash away in the torrential January rains.  (So annoying and they're supposed to be pretty snow.)  And for now--that's ALMOST all she wrote.  Except for this: if you're just hearing about my poetry and my young adult novels now and want some for your very own, here's my Amazon author page.  And I thank you.