Today's Horoscope appears in
Cosmic Daffodil's horoscope edition. I'm on page 23, surrounded by other prognostications.
My prose piece
What We Will Do was a semi-finalist in
Midway Journal's -1000 Below: Flash Prose and Poetry Contest. But, of course, all ends well: a nice home at
matchbook literary magazine.
Here is
YouTube of the two poems below plus one titled
Prosper. All part of a celebration of Kate Fox's new poetry collection from Shelia-Na-Gig. You can find me at minute 25:45.
Two poems--
Let's Tip Things Over and
Escalatory--now appear in the latest edition of
Sheila-Na-Gig.
Moreover! My third poetry collection
Let's End This Now is also recently published and available
here.
Looking forward to my trip to Chattanooga and Atlanta to read from my new collection
Let's End This Now. First up? A reading on June 6th 2024 from 6-7:30 at The Arts Building, 301 E 11th Street, Chattanooga, TN. I'll be reading with Kris Whorton and Dana Shavin.
Next up is the reading at the
NFSPS conference on Friday, June 7th. Lunch first and then reading, 12:15-2:15.
A couple of months ahead of of schedule,
Let's End This Now is available
here.
My poem
Selkie Trap is in
The Westchester Review in print and audio.
I Will Survive, based on my one and only disco experience, appears in
Loud Coffee Press.
My poem
File Not Found is in the Red Penguin Books anthology
About Time.
My chapbook Sky with Falling Cat was a finalist in the Action, Spectacle Chapbook contest.
Here's what happened in Kansas City!
I'll be signing books and talking story once again at AWP. Firm plans listed here as they are finalized.
Thursday, February 8th 2024, I'll be signing copies of my short story collection Trick of the Porch Light at the Mouthfeel Press booth, 3021 from 11-12.
Thursday, February 8th 1:35-3:10. I'll be helping out at my alma mater Rainer Writing Workshop booth, #811. Good news? You can see
Kris Whorton at the same time. Stop by and see what the MFA program is all about.
Thursday, February 8th at 3:15-4:00. I'll once again be with
Kris Whorton at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga booth #933 with books to sell and sign.
Friday the 9th, I'll be at the Finishing Line Press booth #1207 with
Kris Whorton again from 10-11. I'll be signing copies of my poetry collection
When We Almost Drowned.
Soon after, on Friday, February 9th,, I'll be signing copies of my latest novel What The Moon Did at the Flexible Press Booth, T3307, from 11-12.
Later in the day on Friday, I'll be at the UCLA Extension Writer's Program booth, #831, from 1:35-3:10, ready to chat up anyone looking for an amazing class.
The night of
Friday the 9th from 7-9, I'll be reading with Flexible Press writers at The Milwaukee Delicatessen Company, 101 W 9th Street. More information
here.
The Mad Hatter's Feast of Delights appears in the Seven Deadly Sins edition of
Cosmic Daffodil.
My little odd piece "Ready for Digging" appears in
Arts & Letters issue #47, hard copy and old-school!
I'm excited to say this flash involves cheddar cheese and an armadillo.
My third collection of poetry,
Let's End This Now, won the 2023 poetry contest put on by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies. The book will be published in 2024, and I'll be reading in Roswell, Georgia in June at their
convention. Hey, you might be close by! I'll put out an announcement or ten before the date.
My poem
Julien at Three was an honorable mention in
Free the Verse's love poem contest (the stipulation was that said poems didn't make the editors gag).
Two poems appear in the Fall/Winter 2023 edition of
The Atlanta Review: "When We Were All There" and "I Talk to My Dead Father in the Bathroom."
More news on the poetry front: my poem "Let's End This Now" (the titular poem for my manuscript making the rounds) was the runner up in the
North American Review's James Hearst Poetry contest. My poem and all the finalists' will be published in the next edition.
My third poetry collection (in some recent form) was short listed for the
Steel Toe Poetry award. Creeping closer.
My poem
Old Mom was nominated by the writer
Nicole Graev Lipson for a Pushcart Prize. I was unaware that Pushcart winners are given the ability to nominate after receiving the honor. Suffice it to say, I was beyond touched.
Join me and a slew of fantastic readers, including star reader Sandra Rivers-Gill on Thursday, December 14th at 4 PST/7 EST,
Here is the Zoom link. Hosted by Sheila-Na-Gig. And if you missed it,
here is the YouTube video! For those of you wanting to skim, you can find me around minute 37.52 or so.
Finished reading the amazing manuscripts on the longlist for Rare Swan Press' Karin Ann Flickinger Poetry Prize. Kari was a talented poet and an amazing scholar, and it was no surprise that the manuscripts entered were stellar.
Here is a list of winners. Congrats.
My prose piece
So Much Gone was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by
great weather for media. And I will be reading the piece along with others from
A Shape Produced by a Curve on November 18th, 2023, at 1-2:30 PST. Register
here.
If you missed the Shelia-Na-Gig reading, it's available
here on YouTube.
Appearing in the latest The Comstock Review: poems "Map" and "A Rock We Can Breathe On."
"My Husband Bakes Bread" received an International Merit Award from the Atlanta Review.
My poem "
The Chinese Balloon Incident" is live on Sheila-Na-Gig, the lovely publisher of my collection
Grim Honey. I will be reading alongside featured poet Alissa Sammarco on September 21st at 4 pm ET.
Register for the Zoom here.
Trick of the Porch Light book launch events: Please come join me on Zoom with writer friends, in-person, or online at these events.
Read about how this collection came to be, through error and trial and a lot of writing. Leslie Pietrzyk interview me about
Trick of the Porch Light on her
blog.
In person, I'll be at the Stoveworks in Chattanooga, Tennessee on
September 16th 2023 at 5 pm EST with my dear writing friend Kris Whorton. Both of us have new books. Kris's
Alchemy is fantastic. Details here on
Kris's website.
On Zoom, I'll be hosted by my publisher
Mouthfeel Press on
September 23 at 4 pm CST. Kris will be back, and we will be joined by
Warren Read, my pal and co-conspirator. Register for the event
here.
My third poetry collection was longlisted during
YesYes Books open reading period.
I had a great conversation with
Cynthia James about on her podcast Women Awakening. Watch it on YouTube
here.
After thirty years of hope and longing to appear in these hallowed pages, I have a poem,
Old Mom, in the August 2023 issue of
The Sun. More importantly, the editors picked the last line from my poem to act as the heading for the poetry section. Strangely, this was extremely satisfying. Issue will be out soon, and info online to follow.
My poetry manuscript
Cookies With Ghosts received an honorable mention in MoonPath Press's latest
contest. Onward!
The second is on June 8th at 3:30 PDT. I'll be with a number of lovely people I know and love. Here is that
link. I would love to you at either or both!
Once again, a nonwinner in a group of fantastic nonwinners and one winner. My chapbook was a semifinalist in the
Baltic Writing Residency contest. Congrats to the whole list.
My short prose piece
Sparks Ignite is in the current
The Nassau Review. And these kind folks nominated my piece for a
Pushcart Prize.
As previously reported on this page, my poem
God's Weekend Visit was an honorable mention in the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize.
Here, you can read it on page 139. It's a huge compendium of poetry!
This lovely
video--much of which I did not understand--popped up on YouTube. Spanish speakers, while I know she gave it a thumbs up, if there is anything I should know, send a message!
A wonderful article in
The Columbian by Scott Hewitt about the inspiration for
What the Moon Did.
I'll be reading with others from my MFA program on Monday, April 3rd at 6:30.
Here is the link to join.
More information on Facebook.
Enter the second
Goodreads Giveaway starting March 17-April 16. Signed book and moon swag!
My poem
Vancouver Lake, Washington in the latest edition of
Catamaran.
Local launch for
What the Moon Did! Vancouver/Portland friends, pals, family. Please come to my first reading in a bookstore for a long time.
Saturday, March 18 at 2:00 pm (PST), at
Birdhouse Books in downtown Vancouver. Come for the story! Stay for the cookies and punch.
A poetry reading for the launch of
SHIFT, Volume 5.
February 24, 2023 at 6 pm (CST). More information to come.
First reading for the launch of
What the Moon Did at
Literati Books in Ann Arbor, a Zoom reading on
February 27 at 4 pm (PST)/7 pm (EST). Join
Darien Gee and me online as we talk books, generational healing, friendship, and staying the course as a novelist. Check the store's site
here for log in information.
I will be signing books and talking story at AWP in Seattle, March 8-11. Please come see me at the Bookfair at the Flexible Press booth (T1401) the
9th from 11-12, at Sheila-Na-Gig's booth (T534) the 1
0th from 10:30-12, at the UCLA Extension Writers' Program booth (742) the
10th from 12-12:30, and at the Rainier Writers Workshop Booth (710) on the
11th from 2-3.
Here's a searchable map.
If you missed the online reading/discussion at Literati Books, you can watch it
here. Darien Gee and I talk about writing, inspiration, and how truth and fiction come together.
Crackle, a flash piece about snails and not really about snails, at
Barely South.
A poem about odd messages found on birds in
Stone Poetry Quarterly.
Catch It.
My poem
God's Weekend Visit is a current finalist in the
Steve Kowit Poetry Prize. Results in January. Fingers crossed.(Uncross them, but still happy to have been a finalist.)
Texlandia published this poem in a lovely journal, and now
Post-Apocalyptia is online. Click to page 76.
Writer's Digest published a few of my thoughts about Shakespeare and how he continues to inform writing, four hundred years after his death.
My poem
When the Telephone Had a Curly Cord was called out when I was received an International Merit Award from the
Atlanta Review.
My submission packet to the Baltic Writing Residency landed me a semi-finalist spot, which would be a sad thing except I was in a list of "non-winners" of high skill and talent. I will apply again!
This is a
fun list of five Shakespeare books I thought would only add pleasure to anyone's enjoyment of the bard.
Here's a
YouTube video produced by SNHU's MFA program. I've had the pleasure of teaching for them for four years, and was asked to chat about writing, genre, and time travel.
After eleven long years of submitting some form of a short story collection,
Trick of the Porch Light will be published by
Mouthfeel Press, Fall 2023.
This poem--
Struck--was inspired by a sad dog loss. Here in
Press 53. It appeared in January, and somehow, I missed its birth.
My poem
Barbie Dream in a celebratory Barbie-based edition of
Limp Wrist.
Reading with quite an amazing group of poets, all of us writing to the theme of Barbie (her birthday is 3/9!).
Join us for the reading on 3/16/ 2022 at 7 pm (EST). The poems go live 3/1 and 3/9 on
Limp Wrist.
Bad Behavior and
Naming Conventions in the latest edition of
Mollyhouse. Free to download.
Recent acceptances from Texlandia, Limp Wrist, December.
What Glory Chose, a short story that quite literally came from a dream, was the first runner-up in
StoryQuarterly's annual fiction contest and will be published this year with the other winners.
My poem
Grim Honey is having a good day here on
Verse Daily.
Reading January 12!
Flash fiction Forum, a great reading series, now online. Please join us at 7 pm PST.
A nice review about
Grim Honey here.
My latest poetry manuscript Ranch House at the End of the World was a finalist in the Ex Ophidia Press Poetry Book Prize. It is currently a finalist in Madville Press's contest. Let's see what happens next. What happened next, sadly, was that my manuscript was not picked. But onward!
My poem A Long Way From Home is happily ensconced in Tar River Poetry, Volume 61.
In other prize placement news
, Grim Honey was a top notable book in the Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Competition.
Click to page 96.
I have the keen desire to sing
Someday My Prince Will Come when thinking about my short story collection and its also-ranness. But still, happy to be
longlisted for Steel Toe Books' annual contest.
I will be reading my poem
Girl Bird Ready for the launch of
Welter Online. Please join us here on
Zoom. Tuesday, December 7th at 6 pm EST (3 pm PST). Read the poem
here.
I had a computer disaster just before part one of this workshop on writing grief and loss, but we ended up having a great time. Click here for the discussion in
part one. Also available,
part two, which was a critique of the participants' poems.
Please join me at a
Quiet Lightning reading on November 1 at 6 pm, PST.
If you missed the reading, here is a
video (I'm third) but stay for some amazing work.
You can fast-forward a bit and then you will find me
here chatting about poems, grief, and loss and how we write about them.
While the reviewer from the Historical Novel Society took a bit of umbrage over my changing of the facts--as well she should--this nice
review of
The Play's the Thing recently was published.
Listen to a
lovely chat with NPR's Suzanne Lang about Shakespeare (and love) and my poetry collection
Grim Honey.
A poem about my best friend Kris appears in
Pure Slush's latest anthology on Friendship.
My story
Later, After, appears in
Cuthroat's COVID Chronicles edition.
Excited to be on
this list with fantastic writers.
I had such a great time chatting with C.P. Lesley on the New Books Network. Have a
listen to the podcast. LitHub picked up the interview and posted it
here with some nice graphics!
A wonderful
review from my local paper
The Columbian.
Very excited for two of my students--Pathrinathan Pathmanathan and Zachary Liebhaber--finalist and semi-finalist in the
Allegra Johnson Prize at UCLA Extension. So good to see these writers and their stories honored.
I have made a bold, decade-long career of being a semifinalist and finalist in the Black Lawrence Hudson Prize contest. Scroll all the way down this list to find my first story collection named semifinalist in 2011. More placements--even finalist--a couple of times, but, as of yet, my short stories remain lauded but not published in a collection. However, thank you Black Lawrence for your
recognition in the 2021 contest.
Part four of the mini-interview. More about poems.
I had a great time talking with Evan Karp from Litseen. He is a true literary citizen, promoting and supporting writers and their work for years. He was kind enough to video my
short reading from
The Play's the Thing and present a really fun
Q and A.
A pandemic poem with tomatoes is here in this
pandemic project. Scroll or search for
In the Pandemic Garden.
A little more
mini-interview. One Q and one A about writing poems--just the right amount.
This is a great site with loads of info on authors, including me this month! Thank you
Authors Answer.
My former student Sarahlyn Bruck does blog wonders.
Here I am as the featured writer.
Hard to believe that two years ago, I had just returned from teaching a semester abroad in Florence. One of the most amazing parts of that experience was being with my older son for a month. Here is my poem
You Over There, You in
The Commuter this week (May 10-17).
Also hard to believe that over 40 years ago, Suzanne Irving and I were together at Miramonte High pursuing our dreams to be a writer (me) and an actor (Suzanne). On May 18th, we will be in conversation about all things Shakespeare, literature, and drama on this
Facebook Live event.
A wonderful review of
Grim Honey on The Oregon Poetry Association website.
My review of Alicia Hoffman's fantastic poetry collection
Animal in
The Lake.
My short story
Joyride published in
The Portland Review.
Grim Honey is out and available and part of the
promopalooza on
Gyroscope Review.
My flash fiction piece
Swing Out published in
Leon Literary Review.
My poem
Photograph Late 1980s in
Ruminate.
A poem explaining the unexplainable:
This is It in Cathexis Northwest Press.
My poetry manuscript
Grim Honey: Poems won Sheila-Na-Gig Editions' annual prize and will be published in 2021
Twenty years after my first novel was published, so nice to see a good review for
Her Daughter's Eyes.
So We Could Fight, a poem about fighting with childhood friends, was on the shortlist for the Macaron Prize at
Cagibi Journal. My new goal is to be on as many lists as possible. Let's see what I can do.
My poem
Grim Honey will be published in
The Chacalaca Review, and I'll be reading 6/20 at 6 CST (4 pm PST) a la
Zoom. Join us.
A bridesmaid who might get married: My collection
Accepted Forms of Ruin made it to finalist in Blair Press'
Bakwin award contest. Currently, it is being read by Carmen Maria Machado. Yes, indeed.Do I feel optimistic? Not really, But it is nice. Update: alas, an also-ran, but 1 of 3 finalists from over 160 manuscripts.
Nice to see this
line-up of colleagues at Southern New Hampshire University's website.
My pandemic poem, The Robin Does Not Know, wins second place in Negative Capability's Spring poetry contest.
My thoughts about writing sex scenes. An often troubling topic!
Honored to have my poetry collection
When We Almost Drowned listed in Pretty Owl's
POP shop!
I was the featured poet-of-the day on
Gyroscope's Poetry Month fandango. Click over to read my poem
How to Roast a Pelican.
My flash nonfiction piece
This Decade in
Atlas and Alice.
The Dry Years is now available to view online at
The Worcester Review.
Listen to a reading of our times--online.
Two
Pulp Literature authors
--Katherine Wagner and Douglas Smith
--and I
read from our work and answer writing questions.
How Astonishing makes it all the way to runner-up in the North American Review's 2020 James Hearst Prize in Poetry. This poem and Unripped and I Forget About Fame will be published in the upcoming edition. Also, a reading, somewhere in the PNW, this year, once the virus passes.
Journal of the Former World appears in the
House of Zolo's first publication ever! Very exciting.
My poem Grim Honey a finalist in the Kallisto Gaia Julia Darling Memorial Poetry Prize.
My flash piece,
Watch Us Go in
New Flash Fiction Review.
Curve, Wave appears in
Gyroscope's Crone Power edition!
My novel manuscript
The Play's the Thing was picked up for publication by
TouchPoint Press. Look for it in 2021.
This nice little
wiki blurb appeared for my novel
When You Believe. It made me want to read it (it's been a while).
Very happy for my former student Kari Flickinger and all her successes.
Here is an interview all about her.
Also very pleased for my former student
Daniel McClary's success in the Allegra Johnson contest, run through UCLA Ex. His novel
Mahout is amazing, and it's only a matter of time before it's published.
What We Learn When We Learn Italian in the latest edition of
Chiron, Spring 2019.
My short story collection--in its form
Outside of Normal--was a semi-finalist in the
Sundress Publications first fiction contest.
My poems
Bon Soir is a Feeling Not a Time and
Clarins (both set in France!) appear in
The Pangolin Review.
Only a tiny bit about me: my former student Kerry Fisher is doing wild and amazing things out in the book world. Her fourth novel
The Silent Wife picked up by Grand Central!
My poem
Tea Party Photo was shortlisted on A3 Review's monthly theme contest on parties.
Much appreciation for my finalist finish in the
Hudson Prize at Black Lawrence Press.
In more bridesmaid news,
The Dry Years was a finalist
here as well.
My story
Accepted Forms of Ruin is in the latest edition of
Souwester.
My collection of poetry When We Almost Drowned was a semi-finalist in Gold Wake Press's Spring Contest.
Though it would appear the writer hoped I'd retire sooner, a lovely article in DVC's
Inquirer.
Kind of a fantastic review for my Kindle book
Where I am Now. I love this story, and it never found a traditional home. But there are 19 reviews on Goodreads, and this
one made me very happy.
The Burning Hour wins first place in
Westerns.
New Episode of Jane the Virgin Now Available (a poem, not a commercial) is up on
The Paddock Review.
Monsters in the Agapanthus is published once again, and in fine form in
The Coil.
I will be reading with a number of amazing writers at
Why There Are Words Sausalito on August 10th at 7 pm. Please join us!
In September, some of my MFA pals and I will be presenting at the
Montana Book Festival. The panel is titled: Don't Go Home, Go Small: A panel on publishing with a small press. September 27-October 1.
I will be presenting and doing writing critiques for
Write on the Sound, October 7-8. Sign up now!
Really wonderful to listen to students
read their work at Diablo Valley College, the culmination of the writing contest.
My poem "
Privet" in
Sheila-Na-Gig.
"This" available August 1st in
The Other Side of Violet from great weather for MEDIA.
Monsters in the Agapanthus is a finalist in the 2017 Luminaire Award for Best Prose at Alternating Current's
The Coil.
Find me at the RWW table 550-T on Friday from 2-3.30 at AWP!
I'll be at
Meachum at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga March 23-25 for Meachum.
Not Once nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
I will be talking about POV at
Write on the Sound on October 1st. Book signing that evening. Hope to see you.
Roommates is a finalist in Ruminate's 2016 William Van Dyke Short Story Prize. So two years a semi-finalist and now this. I might get there someday.
Remains wins an editor's prize and is published on
Waypoints Jungles of America in
The East Bay Review The Room of Wonders in
Litbreak A zombie apocalypse. Really
. A World That Certainly Didn't in
Marathon The Brightness of Things in
Tinge Triggers is up on the
Watershed Review Summer Water in the
London Journal of Fiction Poem
Courtship Poem of the Week at
West Trestle Review Jungles of America an Honorable Mention in the
Helen Literary Magazine Short Story Contest. Night Monsters in
Yellow Chair Review Two Days of Magical Thinking in
Gravel All the Time in the World a semi-finalist in the
Hudson Prize. Caught appears with very cool illustrations in
Buffalo Almanack Higgns' Ghost now available in snippet form on
Your Impossible Voice and in hard copy, too.
Flash nonfiction
Backseat in
Foliate Oak Poems
Guide in
West Trade Review and
What To Do If You're Choking in
The Virginia Normal Gertrude published in The Literary Nest
Leaving Mr. Wong wins the 2015 Dr. Nella C. Seshachari 2015 from
The Weber Review
This Ain't No Party published on
Pithead Chapel As if Happiness Were Sky in the anthology
Creature of Habitat Listen to my interview with Suzanne Lang on
KRCBA Some haiku SPAM for your enjoyment at
Eckleburg
Thoughts about beginnings on Storyacious
Not Once finalist in the Driftless Prize in Fiction
Essay about Procrastination in Storyacious
Four Tips for Writing for the Romance Market in Writer's Digest
Thinking about
research on
Storyacious
ELJ publishes
It Would All Happen in Barcelona
Woodrunner eChapbooks publishes my fiction chapbook
Monsters in the Agapanthus
Craft essay on the unreliable narrator on
Storyacious
Craft essay on problems with point-of-view now in
Storyacious
Sneakers in
Hawaii Pacific Review
Once a Month in Split Lip
My
essay about the process of writing
Boots in
Compose.
Craft essay on writing sex scenes on
Storyacious
My short story collection
The Possibility of Fire was a finalist in the Tartt First Fiction contest. Argh!
Luck in
The Boiler
OCD Day in Burrow Press Review and nominated for a Pushcart Prize
Big as the World in
Per Contra
Three Witches in
Clare Literary Journal
A nice write up about
How to Bake a Man in the
Orinda News
Jessica's new novel How to Bake a Man forthcoming from Ghostwoods Books
Boots in
Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing
Monsters in the Agapanthus in
Lunch Ticket
Failure to Disperse published in
Storyacious
Turnip published in
Bay Laurel
El Camino published in
The Flagler Review
Finally on
Shark Week Stories
All the Time in the World published in
Fat City Review
Skin Changer published in Prime Number
Frankenstein Goes to the Bathroom wins second-place in
The Missing Slate's Halloween Contest
Were in
BlastFurnace
Indiscrimination in
SPC Tule Review
Museum now in Rose Red Review
Chipped published in
Gravel
Brace published in
Foliate Magazine
KneeJerk Magzine publishes He Grabbed Me
Generations publishes
She's Been Through Too Much, available in hard copy September 2013.
South85 publishes poems Automatic Rapture and It's Not Just the Cat
Gingerbread House Literary Magazine publishes
Before Waking Her Up
The Lindenwood Review publishes
Starving
Outside In: Travel and Literary Journal publishes Crown
Carve Magazine presents The Possibility of Fire an Esoteric Award.
Mason's Road publishes Three, Four, Five
Litrouk.com publishes The Sausage Class.
Harry Opens It published in Edge
Flywheel Magazine nominates Tuna for the Apocalypse for the 2012 Million Writers Award
The Mom Egg publishes Jessica's poem Bedtime Story.
Three poems appear in Straight Forward Poetry, pages 6-8
Jessica's essay The Man Raft in the Winter Edition of The Coachella Review
Jessica's poem Sabotage in Flywheel Magazine online
Jessica's short story Harry Opens It finalist in Cutthroat Journal's Rick DiMarinis Short Story contest.
The Anarchist's Mother in audio on WordPlaysound.
Essay Look at him on the Edge in The Whistling Fire
Jessica's poem Impossible Things now in the online journal Switched on Gutenberg
Jessica's short story
Marco on the Beach appearing now in audio on
The Drum Literary Magazine.
Pear, a poem that appeared in Spittoon, has been nominated by the editors for the Sundress Press' 2012 "Best of the Net" anthology.
Jessica's short story manuscript
Tuna for the Apocalypse was named a finalist in
The Black Lawrence Press' 2011 Hudson Prize Contest:
Black Lawrence Press Hudson Prize Finalists
And in 2012, a revised, new, perhaps not superior manuscript was named semi-finalist:
Black Lawrence Press Hudson Prize Finalists
Note that the winner wrote a few finalist manuscripts, so I have a feeling they like him!
