Bits & Bobs

I'll see you again in 25 years...

Many thanks to poet January Gill O'Neil for her guest post at the Best American Poetry blog about the #poetparty I moderate each month on Twitter. Created by Deborah Ager at 32 Poems, the #poetparty celebrated its fourth (!) anniversary this past Sunday night. On the first Sunday of each month, poets use the hashtag to discuss a wide range of topics for an hour. There are updates on new projects, sharing links for submissions, tips on organization and much more. The next #poetparty will be Sunday, Nov. 2, at 9 p.m. EST. Join us!

This past Friday, I headed over to the Alliance Theatre with friend and fellow poet Julie Bloemeke to see the staging of former US Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey's collection Native Guard. A hybrid poetry reading, theatrical production and art installation, it beautifully brought Natasha's work to life. You can read my full review at Atlanta INtown.

I'm now in the rewriting phase of Leaving Paris. After allowing myself to veer wildly off the original outline, I'm now pulling all the threads back together. I posted on Facebook that I had to kill a lot of darlings over the weekend, but it's all in service of the plot and characters. I feel like the set pieces in this book (assassination plots, riots and the alternate reality state where Martin and Irène find themselves) are some of the best of the trilogy. I hope you'll agree.

After seeing Kate Bush twice in London last month, I though nothing else could shock me, but then David Lynch announced yesterday that new episodes of Twin Peaks will air on Showtime in 2016. Mind officially blown.