Publications

Some things I forgot to blog about…

in ,

(1) I will have two prose poems in “World’s End”, which will be the inaugural edition of The End Times. The End Times is a student run publication from the University of Illinois Springfield. Per their mission statement, it’s a literary magazine with a focus on distributing literature in a post-apocalyptic Midwest; a collection of poetry and prose signifying the challenges of maintaining humanity in the end of the world. I’m excited to contribute– thanks to the editors for choosing my work.

(2) The results of the 2013 Annual Whispering Prairie Press Writers’ Contest came out in early August 2013, and I was ecstatic to find out my poem Bad Luck Sings the Blues took third place. No publication, but cash and encouragement are positive things. Big thanks to the judges for deeming my work worthy of commendation.

(3) I’ve got a lot of love for Whispering Prairie Press this year.  In addition to the aforementioned 3rd place contest finish, their periodical Kansas City Voices published my poem How to Sing Under the Influence. Kansas City Voices’ mission is to discover, encourage, and promote creativity and communication through literature, art, and other forms of cultural expression. I am happy to be a part of Issue 11 of Kansas City Voices. If you get a chance to check out this periodical, I’d suggest it – the poetry, pictures, and fiction are all very engaging.

(4) Since I am behind in mentioning publications, I will play catch up on my year in print by mentioning that I had poetry and fiction included in Talking Stick Volume 22, two poems in the Vermillion Literary Project, and a prose poem featured in the Bare Root Review.

That’s all for now. Be good.

A Blues Primer.

in

burntdistrict is a literary journal dedicated to elevating public awareness of contemporary poetry and to the promotion of writers.  Volume 2 Issue 1 of burntdistrict will be out soon. It contains contributions from some amazing writers, including Dan Nowak, Francesca Bell, CM Burroughs, and others. This issue also includes my prose poem A Blues Primer. But I’m not just being biased when I say this issue is a great read from cover to cover. I’m keeping it real.

Thanks to the staff at burntdistrict who found my work worthy of publication. I appreciate the chance to contribute.

That silence you hear…

in , , , ,

…is the sound of me working. Seriously. The lack of posts on this blog is not an indication of a lack of writing activity, for sure.

I will have upcoming work in publications that I failed to previously mention on here, in print in burntdistrict and online in the Bare Root Review.

In addition, I earned third place finishes in both the Art Affair Poetry Contest and the Burning the Midnight Oil Poetry Contest – no publication, but a little cash always soothes the soul.

I wrestled my inner procrastination demons in a cage match. I won and am now back on pace with a decent writing work rate in the past month. This has been partially sponsored by a new manuscript idea that I hope will lead to the promised land of publication and not another dead end.

I also have big plans to revamp this blog.

All I need to do is execute. Which means not more hiatuses, no more wandering focus.

That’s all for now. Be good.

I-70 Review

in

The Summer/Fall 2012 issue of the I-70 Review just arrived in my mailbox. It contains contributions from Louie Crew, Kenneth Pobo, Shoshauna Sky, George Held, and Alex Stolis, among many others.

This issue of I-70 Review also includes my prose poem Anarchy. It is my second time being published in the I-70 Review and I truly appreciate the opportunity to again reach its audience. Thanks again to the staff who found my work worthy.

Why Sarah Left Her Husband

in

Despite the seemingly eternal blog silence, yeah, I am still breathing. Which means I am still writing.

My prose poem Why Sarah Left Her Husband appears in the latest edition of The Poet’s Touchstone (Volume 55, Number 3, Summer 2012), a publication of the Poetry Society of New Hampshire. In addition, Why Sarah Left Her Husband also earned fourth place honors in the Poetry Society of New Hampshire’s National Poetry Contest for Summer 2012.

Judge Barbara Benoit said of the poem, “…an understated quality hovers in the darkness of this poem. We never see the room of images yet the reader is told everything.”

I am flattered; big thanks to the judge and the contest organizers.

burntdistrict

in

The inaugural issue of burntdistrict is now out. It contains contributions from 40 writers, including Vikas Menon, Steve Langan, Francesca Bell, William Trowbridge, Jim Peterson, Sheila Black, Teri Grimm, Alex Lemon, Amy Hassinger, and John Stanizzi. This issue of burntdistrict also includes my prose poem Epiphany. Thanks again to the staff at burntdistrict who found my work worthy.

Four things I want to blog about…

in ,

(1) I’m trying to post more on this site in 2012. Two posts in three days is a relative uptick in blog activity, or blogtivity (if I have permission to create another brainless web-based word like everyone else seems to do). I’m writing more in order to work my way out of a funk. Even though it’s not exactly creative writing, blog posts are a form of textual healing that might get me to the doorstep of where I need to be in terms of inspiration. At least that’s my theory.

(2) My prose poem The Inherent Discontent of Objects made a fashionable appearance in Clare Literary Journal Volume 12, Fall 2011. Clareis publication that is a joint effort between students and faculty in the Visual Art and English Departments at Cardinal Stritch University. I am happy to have the chance to contribute to this issue, alongside a host of talented writers and poets.

(3) My poem Bad Luck Sings the Blues took second place in the 2011 Burning the Midnight Oil Poetry Contest.No publication, but cash and encouragement are positive things. A big thanks to Amy Harke-Moore over at The Write Helper for deeming my work worthy of commendation.

(4) My prose-poem chapbook manuscript A Condensed History of Anger, with Footnotes was a finalist for the Gold Line Press poetry chapbook contest, but did not win the big prize and will not be published. Nonetheless, I am encouraged that it made it to the final round, and I’m determined to find a home for this manuscript in the New Year.

That’s all for now. Be good.

Apropos Literary Journal.

in

Apropos Literary Journal’s second edition is now live and can be viewed at www.aproposthearts.com.

Apropos Literary Journal aims to dispel the commonly held notion that an online journal is less “literary” than a printed one. Through the use of an online environment, Apropos serves to elevate and facilitate the relationship between art and our digital culture by displaying artistic genres traditionally incompatible with the standard print journal.

My prose poem Memoir is in this issue and can be found at http://volume2issue1.aproposthearts.com/memoir/. Thanks again to the staff at Apropos who found my work worthy of publication.

Switched-on Gutenberg.

in

Switched-on Gutenberg has announced the release of Issue 17, on the theme Accidental, which is online at http://www.switched-ongutenberg.org.

Poets in this issue include: Christianne Balk, Paul Barclay, Jessica Barksdale, Kate Bernardette Benedict, Larry Blazek, Laura Eklund, Kim Goldberg, Christine Hamm, Louisa Howerow, Elizabeth Kerlikowske, Naomi krupitsky, Mercedes Lawry, Sara Lier, Robin Lindley, Katharyn Machan, Kevin Miller, Julie L. Moore, Kathy Nelson, Geoff Pope, Adrian S. Potter, Charles Rammelkamp, Lorraine S Schein, Dave Seter, Emily Severance, Lynne Shapiro, Judith Skillman, Matina Stamatakis, Jeanne Wagner, Florence Weinberger, Mike White, Scott Wiggerman, Deborah Woodard, Melissa Scholes Young, Mary Zeppa, Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé

My prose poem Accident Prone is in this issue and can be found at http://www.switched-ongutenberg.org/current/Potter.htm.

It’s been awhile since I posted, or 5 things that I want you to know

in , , ,

(1) My poem Excerpts from the Guide to Modern Survival has gathered some praise. It was a runner-up in the 2010 Princemere Poetry Contest, and earned honorable mention in the 9th Annual Saturday Writers One Page Poem Contest. I appreciate the love.

(2) My flash fiction piece Hush and poems Waning and Life is a Series of One-Hit Wonders will appear in Talking Stick 20. The Talking Stickis a Minnesotan collaboration of poetry, creative nonfiction and fiction, and is a publication of the nonprofit organization, The Jackpine Writers' Bloc. You can go to their website to find out more about how the Talking Stick started and what the group does. In addition, Hush received an honorable mention nod amongst the fiction entries this year, and Waning earned first place honors in poetry. I am flattered by all this; big thanks to the judges and editors.

(3) So far my full-length poetry manuscript, The Blues Almanac, has been rejected by no less than twenty publishers. I am hopeful though. This is a good book & I believe in it.

(4) I wrote two prose poems last week, and created some random scribbled thoughts this week. I think my writer’s block might be over. My work rate was almost nil since mid-January, so my creative side was struggling. Glad to be back on the horse.

(5) The weather in Minnesota stinks, except for today, but I am working too hard at the day job to enjoy the rare occurrence of sunshine outside. My inner Florida Evans is screaming, “Damn, damn, damn.”

Poem on Salamander Cove.

in

First published in the Foliate Oak Literary Journal, my poem Undone is now up on the poetry blog Salamander Cove.  This is my third appearance on Salamander Cove, and I am so happy to appear on there again. Take a sec and read Undone…along with all the other fine works on the blog – I promise that you can lose a couple hours reading these poems without feeling like you wasted a single minute.



Update.

in

Still on my grind.

My poem Innovations in Violence earned Honorable Mention in the August 2010 Poetry Society of New Hampshire National Contest. Big thanks to Betsy Snider and all involved in this contest.

My poem The Intervention Soliloquy appears in the nineteenth edition of The Talking Stick, a Minnesota based literary journal that has been published yearly since 1995.

Finally, the online .pdf literary journal A Handful of Dust has published my poem Hello, My Name Is in its latest issue. You can check out the issue, which includes work by Louie Crew, Doug Holder, Michael Lee Johnson, and many other talented writers by clicking here.

Two poems in The Tidal Basin Review.

in

The Summer 2010 edition of The Tidal Basin Review is out, and it is full of diverse creative voices.

The mission of TBR is "to provide a space for inclusive and interdisciplinary approaches to the creative arts. We expressively and fiscally support artists who represent the rich American landscape by publishing high-quality, well-crafted literature, visual and media art through our annual contest, readings, and print and online journals. Our vision is to amplify the voice of the human experience through art that is intimate, engaging, and audacious. We seek work that propels the present artistic landscape." 

Contributors include: Lisa Alvarado, Lou Amyx, Beebe Barksdale-Bruner, Sarah Browning, Christine Celise, Martha Collins, Jasmon Drain, Jennifer Flescher, Gretchen Fletcher, Reginald Flood, Andy Fogle, Derrick Harriell, Kim Coleman Foote, Brian Gilmore, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Ricardo Guthrie, Carmen Gimenez Smith, Hannah Larrabee, Moira Linehan, Tamara J. Madison, Ernesto Mercer, James O'Brien, Coco Owen, Adrian S. Potter, Joseph Ross, Marian Kaplun Shapiro, Cris Staubach, Keli Stewart, Cinnamon Stuckey, Truth Thomas, Phillip B. Williams.

My poems The Blues Almanac and Education appear in the Summer 2010 edition, which is a wonderful read - and I am not just saying that because my work appears in there.

You can purchase the print edition by clicking here and buying.

You can preview the Summer 2010 edition by clicking here.

Quick Update.

in , ,

Can’t knock my hustle.

The Tidal Basin Review will publish my poems The Blues Almanac and Education in an upcoming edition.

My micro-fiction piece Anniversary recently appeared in One Forty Fiction.  Click here to read it, and leave a critique there if you feel compelled to do so.

Finally, the online journal A Handful of Dust will publish my poem Hello, My Name Is sometime in the future.

Things are looking up.



Mythium. (And a little rant about the long road to getting a poem published.)

in

My poem Live on the Sunset Strip appears in issue 1.2 of Mythium, the journal for contemporary literature and the diasporic and indigenous cultural voices of writers of color.

Mythium is the brainchild of award-winning author & educator, Crystal E. Wilkinson and visual artist/poet, upfromsumdirt (Ronald Davis). I appreciate the chance to contribute to this issue, which also includes work by skilled wordsmiths such as Nikky Finney, Ruth Ellen Kocher, and countless others. It is a great read, from cover to cover. (If you get a chance, check out the cover of this issue of Mythium by clicking here – hands down the coolest cover concept I’ve seen out of a literary journal in long time.)

On a personal note, seeing this poem published makes me extremely happy. Live on the Sunset Strip is a tribute to the late Richard Pryor – those who are fans of his humor know the title matches the title of one of Pryor’s stand-up concert movies. I wrote the first draft of this poem shortly after his passing in 2005, and that draft was epically horrible – crap formed out of good intention and fandom, but too wordy and clumsy to be a sustainable piece of literature. I’ve tinkered with this poem off and on for years and finally got it to the point that I felt comfortable enough to have other human beings read it. And those people were the staff at Mythium, who thought enough of it to publish this work. I am so happy to have something penned out of pure emotion and admiration come to life on the page.

So fellow writers keep your heads up  – sometimes it takes longer than expected, like five years…or more…but when you get to the destination and arrive at the precipice of your unblemished creative vision , there is no sweeter feeling.

Be good.

The Broken Plate.

in

The Broken Plate is a literary magazine produced at Ball State University featuring poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The magazine accepts submissions from writers around the world while continuing to devote pages to the work of Ball State students. The Broken Plate is beginning an exciting new phase in its growth toward a more diverse representation of the creative community.

I'm happy to mention that my poem Instructions appears in the 2010 edition of The Broken Plate.  Acutally, I am truly blessed to be the very first poem appearing in the journal this year.  Not often have I had the chance to be page one in a literary journal.  Thanks to the editorial staff of this impressive journal for the opportunity to contribute.

Poem on Salamander Cove

in

First published in The Shine Journal, my Pushcart-nominated poem Tell Me Lies in a Dead Language is now up on the poetry blog Salamander Cove. This is poem touches on the subject of domestic violence and is loosely based on my interactions with a female friend in the past who dealt with this issue.

This is my second engagement on Salamander Cove, and I am happy and honored to have a chance to appear on there again. Take a sec and read Tell Me Lies…, along with all the other fine works on the blog – I guarantee that you can spend several hours reading these poems without feeling like you wasted a single minute.