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 Leave a Comment
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 Leave a Comment
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 8 Comments
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...]
