If you're in the poetry world, there's a good chance you've heard of Tiana Clark, prize-winning author of I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood and Equilibrium. Along with numerous poets from middle Tennessee and beyond, Tiana and I share the same "poetry father" - the wondrous Bill Brown, most recently author of The Cairns and a model of generosity and attention. In the past couple of years, Tiana's career has skyrocketed. Y'all, when she reads in Nashville, HUNDREDS of people show … [Read more...]
Sugar Fix Shout-Out 2: Poet Marie Harris
November 25, 2019 By
One of the hardest tasks I've experienced in the poetry world is writing blurbs for a few colleagues' books. In the tradition of the poetry world, writing a good blurb involves reading the entire book, making notes on themes, motifs, and favorite passages, and then distilling that into a hopefully complimentary but not overstated paragraph of about 100 words that makes a potential reader want to explore the book. Did I mention this is hard work and an act of significant generosity on the part … [Read more...]
Murfreesboro book club discusses Sugar Fix
November 13, 2019 By
I took it as a good sign that the book club hostess, someone I'd not met before, opened the door and welcomed me in from the cold autumn afternoon with a broad smile and a hug. I followed her into a sitting area where most of the group had already gathered - and where a half-dozen copies of Sugar Fix lay on the coffee table in front of them. While I knew that each of these avid readers had purchased a book, the scene still took me by surprise. There was MY beautiful book, six times over, … [Read more...]
The Next Big Thing: Is There Still a Novel in This Poet’s Future?
February 13, 2013 By
When my writing friend Candace White of aintgotenoughgravy blog fame asked if she could tag me for "The Next Big Thing" blog hop, of course I said yes. After all, 2012 was a good year for my writing life. Decent Pan of Cornbread, my spoken word and old-time music CD with Kelsey Wells, came out, and I had a bit of other poetry and nonfiction published in various places. Similarly, 2013 is off to a good start. I've been writing almost every day and am looking forward to a couple of publications … [Read more...]
Where Have I Been? Writing More Than I Thought About a Creative Life
September 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
So, when I last posted in late April, I really wasn't planning to take off from blogging for the entire extended summer! But here we are in September, and I find myself with plenty of ideas to share with you. First, though, I've realized I should cross-link to some of my posts on the Risk a Day blog, where I did NOT take a summer vacation. Here are several which relate to writing and/or living a creative life: A Daily Audacious Goal: Can I Do It? Can You? Twice in recent months, I’ve heard … [Read more...]
