Earlier today I was shaking my head over the fact that it’s already February. January flew by even though I feel like I spent almost all of it indoors because of the freezing weather we’ve been having here where we are not used to waking up to frozen fountains and freeze burned tropical plants. My backyard looks like it was napalmed and I’m trying to get my attitude set for a major clean-up come March. I figure I have March and most of April to chop down the dead banana trees and gingers and rake up beaucoup bamboo leaves and various other tidying chores before the Magnolia begins dropping its thousands of leaves in May. *sigh* Gardening work is year-round in New Orleans.

I’ve been writing pretty regularly lately and submitting to a few zines. I heard recently from the editor of a journal I’d submitted to with a “borderline rejection” that ended up being one of the best things that’s happened to me. The rejection email progressed into a lively discussion of  (among other things) writing, the difference between writing poetry and writing flash and the value of multiple submissions. I’ve always only submitted a piece to one ezine or print journal at a time, not because of fear of rejection, but just because I was in no particular hurry. Lately, I’d begun to realize submitting more work to more places would get my words “out there” more often and isn’t that what I want?  During our discussion of multiple subs, this editor said to me,

“I decided, realized, that online e-zines are the equivalent of that, of hanging up a piece of your own art in your apartment before a party. Just by submitting, at LEAST one other person is reading my writing. Probably more. And submitting to multiple places? Once you reach a certain talent, which I know you have, it’s more a matter of being the person to word something in such a way–that the reader, their own individual cultural baggage and sensory experience–gets hit hard by.”

That really hit me because that’s really what it’s all about, sharing your words with others, touching others who’ve had similar experiences or, even, those who haven’t had a similar experience but are touched by reading about yours. So, I took his advice and sent work out to several ezines and, so far, I’ve had three of them accept my work in the past three weeks and one rejection.  I have a poem coming out in Blue Fifth Review probably in July, a flash piece coming out in Camroc Press Review around the same time and a flash piece coming out in Connotation Press in March. Meg Tuite, the Fiction Editor at Connotation Press, has also been generous with her time in several emails the last few days and I really appreciate her input.

Also, recently, I’ve had a couple of pieces published – a poem in Red Fez (nsfw) and a new poem in Mad Swirl, two of my favorite ezines. My poem “Live Luscious” is included in the latest anthology from Scissors and Spackle, which came out yesterday, and can be purchased at the Create Space e-store and at Amazon.

Well, now it’s time to balance all the “me” talk with news from elsewhere. I’ve been reading some really great poetry and flash lately and want to share some links so y’all can read them too. Oh, but first, I do want to let y’all know that Gessy Alvarez has opened her website, Digging Through the Fat,  to submissions with February 1 – May 15 being the first submission period. Gessy is a talented writer and editor and it’s very exciting to see her begin this new venture.

So, here are some of the poems I read in January and loved:

Two poems by Lucia Cerciu in Literary Orphans

I Must Have Been a Dog (in another life) by Elizabeth P. Glixman in Frigg

Three poems by Tyree Daye in Connotation Press

June 15, 1962 by Dulce Maria Menendez in Fictionaut

Some of my favorite flash in January were:

The Crossing by Matthew Robinson in dcomP magazinE

Snow by Kathy Fish on her blog

No Respect by Jake Barnes in Fictionaut

The Making of a Suburbanite by Anna Leahy in Literary Orphans

Enjoy!