I have returned from Rockford, where I had an excellent birthday weekend that included pizza and cake, a jaunt out to the drive-in for some 80's horror fun in the form of Poltergeist and Creepshow, and a round of D&D yesterday. An excellent start to a new decade in which I am somehow older than I feel or imagine.
Before I left town, I saw to a few creative things, including ordering a batch of new journals for the shop and making some fun pieces that may be accompanying a new series of poems that is underway for this latter half of NaPoWriMo. I also mocked up a cover for my next longer book (see below) even though it is pretty far out on the horizon, though I suppose it's good to get a jump on it since next thing you know, the spring and summer we wait so long for will be ending. Not sure on the font just yet, but the image is locked in. I'm also considering which project will make up the May zine, which I will start pulling together next week. It may well be the governess poems that have been just sitting there for months. I've been culling inspo from things like Haunting of Bly Manor, Jane Eyre, and Rebecca for my haunted dollhouse visual project, so these poems and collages are definitely in a similar vibe.
As for spring, it seems to have finally dug in its roots, so today is a mild 70 and I've been able to open the windows at least for now. The more enthusiastic trees are blossoming and blooming everywhere you look as it usually is by the time the end of this month rolls around. Still, it also seems impossible that we have made it to May when it feels like the year has just begun.
I have been making the last of the decisions on the batch of books coming the second half of this year as soon as I've finished the remaining books in the queue. Though May of course means that a new cycle of submissions begins for next year's books. If you have not heard from me yet and still have a submission out, it's likely because I am still re-reading the second-round qualifiers and you're among them. I'm hoping to have those all ironed out in the next couple of weeks.
