Flat, Hot & Tired

Last night was the annual Georgia Author of the Year Awards ceremony at Kennesaw State University. That's about a 45 minute drive north of the city, or more like two hours because of the massive amount of road work going on in Atlanta. Over the weekend, all the southbound on/off ramps through the city center were closed, so traffic has been a bigger nightmare than usual. 

I was already running late last night when I got a flat tire on I-75. Luckily, I was right at the West Paces Ferry ramp and was able to coast down to an open Shell gas station. I had to wait more than an hour for them to patch the flat and by that time, I was hot (it's been sweltering here all weekend...97 degrees right now as a matter of fact) and tired. I got a little comfort food from Steak 'n Shake (mmmm...Cherry Coke with lots of ice) and headed back home. The patch will only hold for so long, so I expect I'll have to get a new tire soon.

Anyway, congratulations to Turner Cassity for winning the GAYA for poetry and Stephen Bluestone for winning the Taran Memorial Award. Big props to Atlanta Review and Poetry Atlanta founder Dan Veach for receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award. You can see the full list of winners in all categories at this link.

My novel is off to another publishing house in the UK and I'm working down a list of other open submission periods for fiction right now. Speaking of fiction, congrats to friend and fellow writer Kate Evans whose novel, For The May Queen, has been picked up by an indie press. I've read the manuscript and it's really fantastic. 

Finally, thanks to everyone who pre-ordered a copy of After the Poison during the special promotion period. The initial press run will be 250 copies and will begin shipping in early July. You can still advance order at the link in the sidebar.