notes & things | 9/27/2025
It's been a week of new poems and cappuccino chip ice cream. Of rap battle-style Shakespeare plays and playing hooky all day at the movies Wednesday after getting my tattoo --more mushrooms (above)on the sleeve--. (incidentally HIM was such chilling weirdness, I highly recommend,) Walking back to the theater after dinner at a Mexican place we've been meaning to try and finally got to, it was the absolutely perfect September night. Just chilly enough to need a jacket. While the weather is still generally warm-ish, some trees have already given up the ghost (the ashes I suspect), whose tiny yellow leaves are already blowing and collecting in piles under the cars in the street. Today and tomorrow, my weekend plans are simple, a thorough fall cleaning and blowing out of cobwebs, both physical and metaphorical.
I also spent some time this week adding new editions to Amazon for folks to purchase them that way. I keep a good inventory of titles here for signed editions, but the shop likely doesn't get the general foot traffic of Amazon. I've been working on learning how to format books for KDP, largely since I have a couple anthology projects I want to do that depend on getting the design pecs just right before moving forward. Looking at the proof copies for a couple of my more recent books, Amazon's KDP produces a nice book, though I like the paper just a bit more from my original printer, so will likely continue doing editions in both. There is also the possibility eventually for e-books, though those will need a different formatting approach like a linkable TOC that will take a bit longer to figure out. .
I also have some new shop goodies underway, including a new planner notebook, some tote bags, and some fun coloring book postcards. The week has also brought both acceptances (for some of the Deepwater pieces) and rejections. I've also been sending out acceptances and responses of my own, which is always a happier occasion than sending out rejections. I am only a fraction of the way into the summer submissions queue, but have already accepted a few things I was really excited about, some for this fall, others for the spring. I am once again at awe at the amazing work that surfaces from poets I am not acquainted with yet.
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