Organizing your writing life

CATCHING UP: I've had things to say, but no time to say them on the blog the last few days. I'm moving into "busy season" with readings and events galore. Besides the Decatur Book Festival next weekend and Voices Carry on Sept. 22, I'll also be reading with Franklin Abbott, Theresa Davis, Lisa Allender and Cleo Creech at Actor's Express on Sept. 24 for a special event. We'll be reading mostly political work and poems that appeared in Outside the Green Zone, about the cleansing of gays and lesbians in Iraq. I'll also be taking part in a special release event for Beth Gylys' new collection, Matchbook, on Sept. 21 at Georgia State University. Each of the poems is written as a personal ad and she's picked fellow poets to read the ads in character. Should be fun. I'll post more details about both these shows soon.

Yesterday, I went down to my parents' house and we went through boxes from the attic of collectibles and bric-a-brac we're thinking of selling on ebay or maybe taking to an auction. I was helping to catalogue some of the stuff. I'm doing some Internet research to find values, etc. Much of it is books and items related to Gone With the Wind. I hadn't looked at the stuff in about 15 years so it was weird to see it all again and we had some laughs over trying to remember where such and such was purchased. I got home much later than expected and missed my friend Mindy Dawn's birthday party, so a big hug and smooch to her as she turns 38.

We had a busy Poetry Atlanta meeting today as we gear up for the DBF. We're also starting to put together a DVD of local poets performing their work live that we hope to have available in time for Christmas and the call for poems for the Java Monkey Speaks Anthology Vol. 3 will be going out in September. If you've featured at JMS over the last couple of years, expect to get a letter soon.