Hanging In

T h e   ...    b o o k  ...   h a s   ...    l a n d e d.


Get a behind-the-scenes tour over at She Writes via my latest "Countdown to Publication" post.  Amazon.com is shipping the book early--the pub date is April 5--and at an eight-dollar savings. I was at Busboys & Poets on Friday and there were four copies there! In the wild! The book will be stocked at Politics & Prose as well. If I can just get into Kramerbooks, I'll be in heaven. 


On Friday I attended sessions for the Split This Rock conference. There is something very odd about attending a conference in one's hometown; it's difficult to break away from the apron strings of errands and emails. (This makes me a little fearful for AWP 2011.) But the programs were great, and highlights included the Affrilachian Poets event, where I finally got to meet Frank X. Walker--who selected me as the winner of the Poets & Writers Exchange Award--and readings by Jeffrey McDaniel, Jan Beatty, and my friend Natalie E. Illum.


Jan Beatty closed her set with a hypnotizing poem, "I Shoot You," which appears in the anthology The Why and Later, edited by Carly Sachs--another conference teacher. 



In other news: I just finished catching up on the second season of Breaking Bad, and it was really great--and devastating. Irises are on sale at Trader Joe's for $3.99 a bundle. The cranberries on the acorn squash burned (too much maple syrup, too little olive oil). I have a book to write, and the days are flying by. Sigh.