Pushcart nomination, Indies First & a book giveaway

I hope all of my stateside friends had a good Thanksgiving holiday. Now it's the headlong rush to Christmas, Hanukkah and the new year.

Just before the holiday, I was delighted to learn that I've been nominated for a second Pushcart Prize this year for my poem "In Tavistock Square", which appeared in Flycatcher. Many thanks to Christopher Martin and the folks at the lit mag for their support. You can read the poem at this link. Earlier in the fall, Animal nominated "The Beat of Black Wings". You can read that poem here.

Tomorrow, Nov. 29, is Small Business Saturday, a movement formed to encourage holiday shoppers to buy from "mom and pop" stores rather than large chains. It's also Indies First, a campaign to support the locally-owned, independent bookshops in your community. It's also a day for authors to volunteer as guest booksellers at those shops to meet readers and make recommendations.

I'll be a guest bookseller at two bookstores tomorrow: Eagle Eye Bookshop in Decatur from 10 a.m. until noon and Bound to Be Read Books in East Atlanta Village from 3 to 4 p.m. Come by, pick up copies of The Venus Trilogy novels or Render and check out my other recommendations for your "must read" list.

Speaking of The Venus Trilogy, I'm giving away at couple of copies of Book 1, Conquering Venus, via Goodreads. You can visit this link to enter. Book 3, Leaving Paris, is nearly done after many weeks of rewrites. I'll have a complete first draft by Christmas and then it's time for the serious editing to begin.