"And hi, haters. I'm back off of hiatus."

I wasn't planning on quoting Drake when I envisioned this rant, but if it feels good, do it.

One of the benefits of taking an unexpected break from (aka neglecting) my author webpage is that I have plenty of things to look back on and post.

Just because I've been on silent ghost mode doesn't mean I've been static. I'm looking forward to getting back to posting updates on my writing, a few articles, quirky insights, and prime resources for creatives.

Don't call it a comeback - I've been here for years. Just not the past year. Or so.

So I might not be posting too much this week...

...because I am taking part in an amazing online writing workshop with a diverse group of extremely talented writers. I am definitely being challenged to write, read, and process at an aggressive pace. I have a couple of writing resource posts ready for later in the week, but I will be focused on the creative side of my endeavors. I am sure this workshop experience will result in some interesting blog posts later.

Be good.

Don't Let the Silence Fool You…

...something is coming soon.

Destroy and Rebuild.

“404 – Page Not Found”

“This page can’t be displayed”

While clicking some links on my oft-neglected Published Works and Links pages, the above messages were frequently encountered. I was saddened to discover my modest writing career has outlived several awesome journals, both online and print, and some contests that I once participated in.

I had many dead links, which isn’t effective in increasing the visibility of my writing. Therefore, I took some time to clean up the mess on these two pages and add some new links that connect to my recent work. Not a lot of glamor in that task, but it was necessary labor.

If I blogged more often, then I wouldn't need to do these long catch up posts...

So long time no update and I’ve been a bad, bad blogger.

But much has been afoot in the sea beneath the blog, the current under the silence. For instance:

• Several chapbooks are nearly ready for submission. One may have enough momentum to become a full-length manuscript, depending on my attention span.
• Two prose poems from one of the aforementioned chapbooks (tentatively titled The Alter Ego Handbook) were published in 2014 at burntdistrict. burntdistrict is a journal of contemporary poetry published by the editors of Spark Wheel Press. This is the 3rd time I’ve had work published by the journal, and Volume 3, Issue 2 is awesome – and I’m not saying that because my two trivial poems are in there. It’s truly a great read.
• Three poems were finalists for 2014 Atlantis Award at the poet’s billow. You can read them here. No money, but it was great to be in the running for the award and to have my writing published on the poet’s billow website. Thanks to all involved with this award.
• My poem Only the Moon Knows You’re Signing the Blues won first place in the 2014 Lebanon Poets’ Society Free Verse Poetry Contest.
• I have many short stories in various states of construction. I’ll be finishing and revising them soon to get them ready for submittal. I have caught the fiction bug again. Who knows, maybe a novel is rattling inside of me?
• I haven’t given up on my poetry manuscript The Blues Almanac. But I’m no longer letting that book not being published (yet) subliminally cause me to be creatively constipated. I’m partway into writing what will be my next poetry book, although the concept hasn’t fully bloomed yet. I’m looking forward to seeing where 2015 takes this potential book and the rest of my writing.

Broken record, but I’m going to be better at blogging and updates in the new year. If anything, it is another extension of my writing…and I definitely need the practice.

Happy New Year!

That silence you hear…

…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.

Blog-a-doon

It's a blog that occasionally rises out of the silent mist then vanishes into the vapor again. Or maybe it's the blogger himself who's pops up, then disappears for an eternity. Perhaps I am secretly the subject of folklore. Sigh – there really is no really mythical reason to why I’ve been gone. My internet and router were ackinafool for awhile, but that all has been fixed. Therefore I’ll be back posting soon – I have some interesting news and notes, but I want to spread it out instead of committing an info dump. Be good, and I’ll be back soon to blab about my recent poetry contest win and some upcoming publications and other random thoughts.

Welcome to my website!

Welcome to my new website!  If you're here, then you are probably interested in my writing, so here's a rundown of all that's on this site:

Blog - The blog is the main page here, and will serve as a space for any news and notices about what's going on in my writing career.

Published Works - This is a selection of my poetry and fiction that appears online.  Also, this page provides links to some of the anthologies, books, and literary journals I have appeared in, as well as some of the awards I've won.

My Own Brand of Blues - Information about my first book entitled My Own Brand of Blues, a poetic memoir that is forthcoming through RockWay Press.

Links - Links to other writers that I know or admire, to online writing resources that I use, and to other miscellaneous web sites.

Archive - Everything old will be collected right here, and in the future will be better organized and easier to sift through.

Contact - Feel free to use this form to send me e-mail with any comments, criticism, compliments, or anything else you might want to pass along.

Thank you for stopping by.  Now that I have setup a web presence, I will be adding on to this website and sharing things that are going on in my life and the publishing world as a whole.  Peace...