Since I don’t have anything specific to blog about today, I thought I’d catch y’all up on some news and whatnot.
You may or may not have noticed that I changed the tagline of my website. It used to be The madness. The heartbreak. The writing. I decided it was time to take it from writer/blog focused to writing/works focused. I tried to find something that encompassed and represented the majority of my various genres and projects. You can see the new one in the header at the top of the site, under my name. I hope you like it!
I recently had a free verse poem, “Nights in Texas,” published in Deep South Magazine. It’s since been shared over 100 times! That makes me happy. You can read it for free here. You can also expect a second poem, “Rust Never Sleeps,” to come out in the same place later this month – plus a guest blog by yours truly. If you’re not familiar with Deep South, you should check them out. They describe themselves as a combination of Oxford American and Southern Living. Swoon.
Speaking of poetry, today marks the beginning of National Poetry Month. My local poetry organization, the Denton Poets’ Assembly, is participating in our sixth annual Merging Visions Exhibit. This is a really cool project where we collaborate with the Visual Arts Society of Texas to pair poems with artwork. All work is done by members of the two organizations. The pairings are hung in our local libraries, so if you’re near Denton, I invite you check it out. The exhibit is open during library hours and free to view. (More details at the link above.) I have two poems in this year’s exhibit, one of which is the poem I linked to from Deep South. The other is a short free verse poem.
And keeping with the poetry theme, I just got more good news. One of my horror poems, “Shades of Blue,” has been accepted for publication in issue three of a new online literary journal called Hello Horror. I really dig their vibe and was super impressed with their first issue, so I’m pretty excited about that! So look for that poem to come out this June. (As a side note, you can see an updated list of all of my available works plus upcoming publications on this page.)
What else? Well, currently some more revisions on my second novel are keeping me busy. I realized that I never sent that manuscript out very much (Hardly at all, actually. What’s wrong with me?), so I plan on polishing it up and pitching it at this year’s DFWcon in May. I’m also super way behind on poetry and short story submissions, so that should keep me juggling for a bit. And, you know… life. Spring has sprung here, so I’m busy cleaning house, filing taxes (ugh), frolicking with kittens, and playing outside with Hub-a-dub. I may not be good at keeping up with poetry subs, but I’m excellent at frolicking.
What’s going on with all of you?
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I definitely feel more like frolicking outside today than writing. So I’m gonna – after I finish the laundry.
Congrats on all the achievements. And I really like the new tagline!
There’s not a tower of laundry behind me or anything. *steps in front of it* Why would you think that? =)~ Thanks Regina!
Love the update, Annie! I’m busy working on a 3 or 4 part series for The Jewish Daily Forward about trying to be less addicted to my phone. I’m also going to be Listen to Your Mother (a reading that takes place in many cities around Mother’s Day. Each city has its own cast. I had to try out, etc.) I get to talk about it on the radio one night and I’m looking forward to getting to know more local writers and bloggers.
I have a good feeling about you pitching this book. I’m not kidding. Seems like the exact right time in your career!
Wow, radio and everything! That sounds really exciting, Nina. I had a blog draft about taking a smartphone pledge back when I got mine, but never got around to finishing it. I’ll be interested to see your posts about it.
And thank you! I’m kind of excited. I’ve never pitched this book before. I’ve been to 2 cons, but I pitched my 3rd and 4th books at those. My 4th book is still in many hands right now (that’s all very hush-hush though, for whatever reason), so I’m happy to have this project to distract myself. =)
I love the new tagline. It’s intriguing. Your reason for changing it resonates with me. Writing/work feels more open, more all-encompassing.
I’ve got so many projects started or on deck, I’m taking the first week and a half of April to sink into planning and plotting. I’m really interested in the intersection of my writing and my doodles. I’ve got an illustrated-essay project idea that I’m super excited about, and during this “downtime,” I’m going to experiment with one of my own pieces, illustrate it to see how that feels when I working in both my mediums at the same time. (I think it’s going to feel like “hell yes!”)
Also, I’m getting away for the weekend! Woo-hoo! Clearly, I don’t get out enough because I’m ridiculously excited about this. Heading out to Arcata to hike and explore and fraternize with hippies. 😉
p.s. I agree with Nina. The time is ripe for you. I feel good about the pitch as well.
Too cool! You know I love your doodles, so I am in full support of this new endeavor. I can’t wait to hear about it and/or see what you come up with. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, j!
Love the new tagline, it sounds perfect for the kinds of stories you write & I really enjoyed reading your poem! Oh and congratulations on the success with “Rust Never Sleeps”! Yay
: ) The Merging Visions exhibit also sounds interesting, whew- you’ve definitely got a lot to keep you busy these days!
At the moment, I’m working on a YA project (a series) that hopefully (and that’s a big fat fingers crossed “hopefully”!) be all done by late June.
It’s always refreshing to stop in & read your blog! Take care Annie : )
Thanks Paula! Wow, you hope to have the whole series done by June? That’s quite ambitious (although I suppose I don’t know how long you’ve already been working on it). Best of luck!
Great updates and I love the new tagline, very cool! I’ve been focusing on fiction lately (with less blogging). Self publishing a mystery later this month and getting ready to query a historical fantasy. As for spring, I’m jealous! We’ve had one day of spring now back to winter with snow flurries today! Exciting that you’re pitching Scarcliff!
Thanks Julia! I knew about your mystery self-pub, but I didn’t realize you’d also be querying. That’s cool! And yeah, I might have spoken too soon about spring. Texas winter is pretty mild, but we’ve dropped back down to 47 and rainy today. =/
I agree with Julia on the new tagline; I’ve had mine since I launched in 2010, I wonder if I’m due for a refresh.
And how cool, Julia, that you’re self-publishing a mystery!
Thanks Patrick! I love your tagline, but (obviously) I understand the pull to something new. Maybe you could just start playing with ideas. That’s what I did, and I saw pretty quickly that I wanted to implement them. If you play and realize no new ones are better, you might have your answer. =)
I am so happy and thrilled to hear about all your accomplishments! That’s truly amazing, Annie. I loved Nights in Texas and have already read it many times. I don’t know if I’ll ever look at a dry patch of grass the same way again!
I’m getting ready to travel to NY this week to visit a good friend and meet with my agent & editor while I’m there. Also currently plotting and trying to figure out how to fix a previous ms…I’m at a point where I feel the answer lies in this one character, but I don’t know what the question is yet, if that makes sense. But it excites me.
Thank you so much, Natalia! You just made my day. =)
NY sounds exciting! Have you been and/or met your agent and editor before? (I ask because so many authors never get to do more than speak on the phone.) Either way, I hope you have a great time and figure out that character puzzle! Good luck!
So happy to hear about your publications, Annie! And your comment about kittens made me laugh. I’m getting toward my deadline in June, so I’m staying up later and trying to work more during the day. I’m in love with the ms right now, though, so I’m having fun.
=) Thanks Jolina! Being in love with the MS is such a wonderful feeling; I hope you run with that! And I hope it carries you through June, too. Best of luck!