Organizing your writing life

SUMMER IN THE CITY: The heat wave has finally arrived in Atlanta. We were at nearly 100 degrees today and the heat index was about 107. The humidity is 70 percent, which means the moment you walk outside you are coated in a sheen of sweat. I've been staying indoors and trying to organize work related interviews, photo shoots and stuff that might take me out of the office until the end of this week or beginning of next. Atlanta is also under a code red smog alert, which means it's unhealthy for anyone to be outside for long periods. Downtown, where I live and work, is blanketed in hazy smog. In a word: miserable.

On a more positive note, I've been invited to feature at the Angel Poetry reading on Nov. 8 in London. The travel gods are smiling upon me because that was the week I was planning to go anyway to meet up with friends and attend the annual Kate Bush fan "meet up." The reading is hosted by the fabulous Agnes Meadows at the Borders Bookstore across from the Angel Underground station in Islington N1 Centre (check out that map!). I'm also trying to set up at least one more at another venue. More details on this soon. I've started pricing airline tickets, too, but the fall sales haven't really kicked in yet. London is the most expensive it's ever been for Americans traveling there.

After much gnashing of teeth and moving of locations, the annual Voices Carry reading is now set for Saturday, Sept. 22, at 8 p.m. at Composition Gallery in Candler Park. Mark your calendars. The event will be free and there will wine and nibbles. Hard to believe this is going to be the fourth Voices Carry. The other three were held at the Carter Center, but Poetry Atlanta is trying to conserve cash, so we decided to partner with the gallery. It's a really amazing space and, trust me, the line up of poets is going to be hot!