Snow Jam 2014, "Slow To Burn" eBook & other notes

I-285 gridlock in Atlanta during Snow Jam 2014

Yes, I survived Snow Jam 2014 in Atlanta. I only had to sit in my car for three hours rather than 12 or 13 (or more) like many others. Not to mention the kids trapped overnight on buses and at their schools. The response by the City of Atlanta and the State of Georgia was a complete and total debacle. Despite the prediction that a snowstorm was headed our way, school wasn't cancelled and everyone went to work (including me). The storm had been predicted to strike south of the city with only minimal effect on downtown and the northern metro area on Jan. 28. In the early-morning hours, the forecast shifted, but no one (including Gov. Nathan Deal) was paying any attention so no alarm was raised that we might be headed for trouble.

I was at the magazine's corporate office in Sandy Springs, which is about 15 miles north of my home in downtown, when the snow started falling just before lunchtime. I gathered my things and was out of there before 12:30 p.m., but the roads were already becoming slippery and traffic was already in gridlock. It was a nightmarish drive. I hope the city and state have learned their lessons. The negative publicity Atlanta has received is another tarnish and Gov. Deal might have blown his re-election chances. He was, literally, asleep at the wheel and has surrounded himself with incompetents, who didn't think it was necessary to wake him up. Pathetic.

In brighter, warmer news, my 2006 chapbook Slow To Burn will be available as an eBook in April just in time for National Poetry Month. The chap was originally published by MetroMania Press in a limited edition (long since sold-out) and was re-published by Seven Kitchens Press in 2011. Some of the poems made it to Render, but many did not, so if you haven't been able to get your hands on a print copy, this inexpensive eBook will be right up your alley.

I'll be in New York City on March 29 for the annual Rainbow Book Fair. I'll be reading poetry and Render and The Venus Trilogy books will be on sale at the Sibling Rivalry Press table. More details soon. And stay tuned for a couple of other appearances, including the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans.

RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman. A brilliant actor (Magnolia is a personal favorite) gone way too soon.