Thanksgiving, Choir Class Concert, Advent and a Review

This has been a busy week around here!

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday. Practical reasons really: no one has Thursday off and to eat a tradition Thanksgiving dinner at 7pm is just wrong and bad in so many ways, plus I'm unwilling to cook it all all by myself, which is what would happen if we did it on Thursday. Dante was so excited! We mad toilet paper turkey napkin rings on Friday and on Saturday he asked about every 5 minutes when the guests were arriving. It was pure torture. For him and us. We invited our new friends the Pillai's, whose daughter shares a desk with Dante at school. They are of German/Sri Lankan/Canadian extraction. And we invited our foodie and kitchen guru (Holger Kahl from Poggenpohl designed and built our kitchen) and his family. Turns out his son is also Type 1 diabetic! An Australian friend sent us a wonderful collection of readings curated by Seth Godin (A Thanksgiving Reader), which we attempted to do (the Germans went on strike!) and it was lovely. It includes quotes and brief passages by the likes of Khalil Gibran and Native American prayers and such.

And will wonders never cease? The food was all hot when it landed on the table and it tasted delicious!!

The next day, yes, on a Sunday morning, was the Hannover Chorklassenkonzert (Choir Class Concert). We had to be at rehearsal at 9:15 and pick up one of his classmates on the way. Ugh for the early start. But the whole thing was wonderful! The program encourages schools to designate one class per grade as the Choir Class and music and singing play an important role in the character of the class and the singing is integrated into the lessons as well. Dante loves it, I'm so glad he was chosen to be in that class. His singing skills have improved dramatically! For all the exposure to and learning about music and instruments that happened at Ecole Koenig they always sang songs that were too low and pretty much just shouted the whole time! Not so here! Yay! The concert itself was actually quite good. There were 3 schools represented. The other schools had a couple of grades each, but Dante's is the only Choir Class in his school. It was really interesting to see how well they sing
together after having done so a few years. Dante still pretty much looks like a deer in the headlights,
but he said it was fun, so....

This year we are doing all the activities. Germany makes a lot of Fall and Winter activities integral to childhood and Dante's just at the right age to appreciate everything. There was the St Martin's parade, where the kids make lanterns and parade through the streets sing the lantern songs. Now we have the Advent Calendar, where he gets a treat or a mini-present everyday and in a couple of days St Nicholas comes to give the kids goodies or coal. We also have an advent wreath that we light every evening, and we've put up most of the decorations. The Christmas tree will go up this weekend. On the 13th is Santa Lucia, who brings The Kids in Scandanavia and Verona, Italy presents. He's getting totally spoiled. But the poor kid has so many activities and so much homework that there's not much time for playing!!!

And now, comes the plug for my most recent poetry review. Last Spring I wrote a LOT of reviews for Star*Line (the journal of the SFPA) and my agreement with the editor is that I can use those reviews for Amazing Stories as well after a period of exclusivity. That's cool, because Star*Line pays me (a token) whereas Amazing Stories does not (yet). So, when I went on hiatus prior to the end of school for Dante, our vacation in Italy and the end of our sojourn in Paris and move to Germany, I still had 2 reviews from S*L that hadn't yet appeared on Amazing Stories. I completely forgot about them, because my hiatus extended into Fall and in fact just ended about 3 weeks ago with my return to posting at Amazing Stories. ANYHOO, the 2nd and last of those reviews appeared last week Tuesday (which is the new Wednesday - which was my posting day). It is a review of Carolyn Clinks ever morphing poetry collection entitled "Much Slower Than Light". It includes 3 full poems in audio read my moi.

I'm baaack! Various and sundry, but mostly France to Germany and a new blog post!

It has been a long while since I posted hasn't it? Since June at least. I went on an extended hiatus from all things bloggy and podcasty and poetry-y while we (the family and I) went on vacation in Italy after school got out, finished out our sojourn in France, arrived in Germany and prepared to begin and began elementary school and all that entails. It was a busy summer that extended into the fall and seems not to be slowing down. Although now, I'm making sure I take time to start doing the things I love to do, namely sing, teach singing, narrate stories and poetry, produce my podcast segment Poetry Planet, blog for Amazing Stories, writing reviews and round up cool poetry. But phew! That's a lot!

I have a lot less time for my hobbies and even my work than I did in France. Dante only goes to school from 8:00 to 13:00 (1pm). Then we have lunch and start on homework and/or go to one of his after school classes. He has Italian on Mondays, Guitar on Tuesdays, German on Wednesdays (which will fall away in January) and Karate on Thursdays. They get homework on most days and since he's training in the discipline of Olympic Dawdling, it takes him forever. Unfortunately, that doesn't leave much time for play. And since I am responsible for feeding him, supervising his homework, and taking him to his after school activities, that leaves little time for me. Mornings only folks! And when do I shop, run errands, clean the house, etc. Well, whenever it just has to be done and not a moment sooner. I have started teaching again, but just a couple of students so far and I've committed to singing with a small vocal ensemble, Vox Animae, in Bremen with my former co-student there, Imma Einsingbach. She's also helping me do a course on Hildegard von Bingen's music in the new year, so there's that.

We miss Paris, sure. Hannover is NOT Paris. But one a trip back in October I discovered that there are certain things I do not miss at all: the crowds of tourists, the dirt and the air pollution. Life is just a little bit more comfortable, easier and healthier here in Germany. We miss the flair of our neighborhood (close to the Eiffel Tower), despite the tourists and the sheer plethora of things to do in Paris. We miss being able to go (but rarely actually going) to movies in English at any time. Except kids movies. They were ONLY in French! What's up with that?!? We miss the wonderful food and restaurants of Paris. We have a wonderful market right in front of our door here in Hannover, but there just isn't much imagination to the things they sell at the vegetable/fruit a meat market stalls. The necessities and that's about it. It is nice, though, to be known by name (even after 3 years away) and to meet people I know and have a cup of coffee every Wednesday. But I did that in Paris too, I suppose. It's different here, but wonderful in it's own quiet way. But it's still not Paris. The Eiffel Tower never got old. Here's a photo I took in October:

When the horrible attacks occurred in Paris we were glad that we now live in quiet provincial Hannover. But then a few days later, the terrorists decided to plan something in Hannover of all places. Luckily, their plans were leaked, and they were foiled by the efficient German police.

ANYWAY, I also recently took up my blogging on Amazing Stories again. My first post after my hiatus since June focusses on Science Fiction Poetry with the natural sciences, technology and space exploration as its basis and the WOMEN who write it: "Women Destroy Hard SF Poetry - Round Up November 2015". This week I resume reviewing poetry collections and naturally I'll post those links when they go live.

I also managed to finish a narration for FarFetchedFables (the sister podcast to StarShipSofa that does Fantasy) that was in the works for WAAAAAY too long. I'll post here when it goes up, promise.

And I'm making progress on a long overdue (sound familiar?) themed Poetry Planet for StarShipSofa. In fact, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it should be ready to go VERY soon. Really. Which StarShipSofa show it'll go into is up to Tony and his assistant Jeremy Szal, though. Stay tuned.

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Poetry Review - Littlest Lovecraft series by Tro Rex and Eyona Bella (Amazing Stories Mag)

Littlest Lovecraft is a series of picture books in verse based on novels or stories by H.P. Lovecraft. I have helped Kickstart all 3 Littlest Lovecraft books in the series. It finally occurred to me that I could review the first 2 (The Call of Cthulhu and The Dunwich Horror) and promote the 3rd (The Shadow over Innsmouth) for Amazing Stories. There are 2 audio excerpts, The Call of Cthulhu read by moi and The Dunwich Horror excellently read by Dan Putnam.

Poetry Review – Littlest Lovecraft series by Tro Rex and Eyona Bella

Poetry Review - The Sex Lives of Monsters by Helen Marshall (Amazing Stories Mag)

The Elgin Award winning (2014) collection The Sex Lives of Monsters by Helen Marshall was one I'd been planning on reviewing in full (more than just the mini-review that I did in 2014 along with all the other Elgin nominated works). I also recorded 2 full poems (one of which is a series of 5 short poems on Billy the Kid) for your listening pleasure!

Poetry Review – The Sex Lives of Monsters by Helen Marshall

Genre Poetry Round Up - Haiku! (Amazing Stories Mag)

I don't normally theme the Round Ups for Amazing Stories, I feature what catches my fancy. But what was coming into focus was quite a bit of haiku and so I thought I'd gather it up into one post. I'm no expert and so I got some help on this Genre Poetry Round Up dedicated to SF haiku. Thanks Deborah P. Kolodji and Julie Bloss Kelsey:

"Genre Poetry Round Up - haiku!"

Resonance Dark and Light by Bruce Boston (Amazing Stories Mag)

I have interviewed SFPA Grandmaster Bruce Boston and reviewed his work before. This is his most recent collection. I enjoyed this addition to his oeuvre very much! I love the cover, which Boston designed himself.

Poetry Review - Resonance Dark and Light by Bruce Boston

I recorded three full poems for your listening pleasure as well.

Genre Poetry Round Up (Amazing Stories Mag)

April was National Poetry Month in the United States. I celebrated with a Poetry Round Up that focussed mostly on humorous poetry. I had a look at ChiZine Publications annual Shitty Poetry Month Contest and the April 1st edition of the normally serious poetry journal Stone Telling.

I also talked about a very important project for me, which was my first "print" (even if it was only online) editorial gig. I edited the 16th issue of the SFPA's quarterly online journal Eye to the Telescope with a theme of Music. It was a huge task for me, but one I did with pleasure. 

Genre Poetry Round Up - April 2015

Thanks for checking it out!

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Poetry Review - Turn Left at November, by Wendy Rathbone (Amazing Stories)

As I mentioned yesterday, I discovered I've been very remiss in keeping up this blog. To be honest, I've been too busy with life and keeping up the blog at Amazing Stories and I just forgot about this one. But this blog reaches different people than Facebook and Twitter do, so when I feel like I miss some of you when I don't announce my activities here on this blog. I wonder if that's actually true? Let me know in the comments if this is the first you're reading about the stuff I've posted yesterday and today.

I was asked to review an omnibus collection (in ebook format), Unearthly, of Wendy

Rathbone's previously published chapbooks about a year ago, I'd say. So many people have asked me to review their collections or chapbooks that I had to increase the frequency of my posts at Amazing Stories from once a month to every other week (or fortnightly, which is a word I love!). Even so, I now find myself in the position that I have such a backlog of reviews to write that I could publish one every week until the end of the year! At any rate, it took me so long, that Wendy's next collection was due to come out just when I was really getting down to business reading Unearthly. Wendy graciously agreed that I should review the new one instead. So here it is - and I even manage to mention Unearthly as well!


Poetry Review - Turn Left At November, by Wendy Rathbone


This is a very atmospheric collection all about Autumn! It includes 3 poems in audio. I hope you enjoy it. Here's a snippet of my review:

Turn Left at November is a diminutive 63 page volume of 47 poems. 12 poems, listed at the beginning, appeared in the poetry journals Star*Line, Dreams & Nightmares, Scifaikuest, One Sentence Poems and The Southern California Haiku Anthology. The rest are new to, presumably, just about everyone.

Wendy Rathbone paints with words. There’s no better way to describe what she does, even if it sounds a bit cliché.

What are you waiting for?!? Click the link above to read the whole thing and listen to some lovely poetry!

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Graphic Poetry Review - Stairs Appear in a Hole Outside of Town, John Philip Johnson (Amazing Stories Mag)

Oh boy! I've been very busy and absolutely remiss in blogging about my writing and narrating! It's been 3 months! In those three months I've written quite a bit. Not quite the once-a-week blog post that I was hoping to do, but still! I'll start with the most recent and work my way back in time in separate posts. Get used to hearing from me every day or so....

My most recent post on Amazing Stories Magazine is a review of John Philip Johnson's recently Kickstarter-funded Graphic Poetry Comic Book "Stairs Appear in a Hole Outside of Town", with artwork by 6 different artists of various renown (Bob Hall of Spider-Man perhaps the most famous). My review includes one poem in audio and links-a-plenty, including to the full-package experience of listening to me read the title poem while following along with the Graphic Poem!

Graphic Poetry Review - Stairs Appear in a Hole Outside of Town

If you're still around, here's a little teaser:

I’m not sure if this is the very first genre graphic poetry book, but it sure seems like it might be. I haven’t been able to find much else available for purchase (although I have found the odd graphic poem in various out-of-print publications). John Philip Johnson has taken 5 of his most successful poems over the past few years and had them made into little mini-graphic novels. Each line of the poetry has its own panel, and each poem is a couple of pages long. Each poem is illustrated by a different cartoonist/artist/illustrator—and some very successful ones, at that.

John Philip Johnson is a member of the SFPA and a poet with whom I’ve had the pleasure of corresponding mostly on poetic topics but also other things. We have similar tastes and ideas and he hired me to be the voice of his poetry on two occasions, for which I am very grateful....

You'll have to follow the link above to read the rest!

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Suzette Haden Elgin - RIP (Amazing Stories) and remembering other mentors

My latest article on Amazing Stories is a tribute to Suzette Haden Elgin, the author (Native Tongue among many others), linguist and founder of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, who died recently (27 January 2015) at the age of 78. I also review and discuss "The Science Fiction Poetry Handbook", which she published in 2004. Her works are not only of interest for Science Fiction or Poetry readers. She also wrote many non-fiction books on variations of her most famous work "The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-defense". One day I hope to read and appreciate her "The Grandmother Principles", the skills of which she says are disappearing. She was a mentor that I wish I'd had. She withdrew from the (writing/online) world in 2009 when advancing Alzheimer's made writing impossible.

Speaking of mentors, my beloved singing teacher, Cornelius L. Reid, died 7 years ago on February 3, 2008. He would've been 105 on Feb. 7, 2015. I miss him and wish I had known him longer (earlier), because he had so much knowledge and expertise to offer and I only gleaned a small fraction of it from him. At least I did get to experience his work first hand and I have his books, so I'm still learning from him in a sense.

I also learned recently that another college professor passed away: Samuel Jones, my Diction for Singers prof. I disliked him intensely, but for some reason he like me, so I did not suffer too much at his hands (like others). He was extremely knowledgeable and demanded the best and I did learn a lot from him. Here's the obituary.

Poetry Planet No. 15, Amazing Stories Poetry Reviews and Narration!

OK, guys, this is going to be an info filled post. First the "show notes" for Poetry Planet. Then I forgot to post here about last week's review on Amazing Stories and today the next one went up. Then last week also put a story narration of mine out into the ether. So, I'll try to keep the blather to a minimum!

Poetry Planet
I've finally finished Poetry Planet No. 15 - The 2014 Elgin Award Showcase Part 2! This time you'll hear some examples of poetry from the 3 placing chapbooks in the award:

1st place: The Sex Lives of Monsters, by Helen Marshall
Kelp Queen Press, 2014. Available from Blurb.com - $9.99 (paperback)

2nd Place: The Edible Zoo, by David C. Kopaska-Merkel
Alban Lake Publishing, 2013. $8.00

3rd Place: Inhuman: Haiku from the Zombie Apocalypse, by Joshua Gage
The Poet's Haven, 2013. $6.00

If you only want to listen to Poetry Planet (but why would you? There's some great content in this episode!) it starts at the 1:03.45 mark. Enjoy!

Amazing Stories Magazine
Poetry Review: The Rings of Ganymede by Kendall Evans. This review includes an audio excerpt by me and poetry reciter extraordinaire Robert Neufeld.

Poetry Review: The Endless Machine by Max Ingram. This review also includes 2 poems in audio form (read by me).

StarShipSofa
Story narration: Silence in Florence by Ian Creasey. This is a story I narrated for StarShipSofa at least 4 years ago, maybe 5! But now it is finally floating in the ether for your listening enjoyment!

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Amazing Stories - Roundup and Recap 2014 and Holiday Account

I just spent 2 weeks in Italy over the holidays, so I wasn't able to write about my final Speculative Poetry Roundup on Amazing Stories:

Quite by accident I seemed to be following a new poet around the internet. John Reinhart had poetry appearing in all 3 of the webZine's that I showcased - Interfictions, Silver Blade and Songs of Eretz. There's lots of other great poetry, which I take a closer look at, as well as a couple of sf poetry-centric blogs by David C. Kopaska-Merkel and Bryan Hall (aka Kurt MacPherson). I hope you'll go have a look. You can also hear my rendition of a poem by Kopaska-Merkel on Silver Blade if you follow the link.

Also, my first post of the year was published today on Amazing Stories. (The link takes you to the front page of Amazing Stories, you'll have to find it from there) In it I recapitulate my year with speculative poetry. If you think you might have missed anything that's the best place to go for all the linky-links.

It's always nice to go to Italy and spend time with the family and eat way too much Christmas food. However, this year was fraught with illness. For once, not mine. My husband has been suffering from a herniated disc and so all the heavy lifting and bending fell to me. My mother-in-law had been sick on antibiotics so she wasn't 100% either. My son fell ill with the flu (even though he was vaccinated - but in France!) and developed a hefty cough and a low-grade fever every afternoon for a couple of hours. Worst though, was that my 2-week-old nephew caught whatever it was that his sister had (from whom D got it too, I surmise) and ended up spending a week in the hospital on a respirator. He's doing better and better now, though.

At any rate, I'm glad to be back home only having to take care of two boys. I mean 2 people.

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Amazing Stories - Poetry Review: Mourning Jewelry, by Stephanie M. Wytovich

So, I don't have multiple items for you this week, just one article published on Amazing Stories Magazine: Poetry Review - Mourning Jewelry by Stephanie Wytovich.

This is the first mostly negative review I've published. It's not that it's bad poetry per se (although it's not excellent either), it's just a little over the top for me. Death, death and more death. And then death again. BUT if this is your thing, then you'll probably enjoy this collection and perhaps even the review. Feel free to let me know in the comments there, if you have a different opinion and can tell me why.

And now, because I have a dearth of things to announce, how about I list the items on my To Do List?

• Narrate Trial by Fire by Matthew Iden from the shared world anthology Walk the Fire 2
• Record and put together the next Poetry Planet(s) - Elgin Award Showcase, Animals & Creatures, SFPA Poetry Contest, Rhysling Award Showcase (because by the time I get the Elgin Award one finished they'll have announced the Rhysling Award...)
• Record Cthulhu Haiku II and other Mythos Madness (OMG this has been on my plate for so long, but it's not my fault, really!)
• Narrate The Potter's Daughter by Martha Wells (!) for Far-fetched Fables (podcast)
• Update website to list the poetry recorded (got my website updated - yay!)
• Write the next Amazing Stories post (and the next and the next!)

That's enough to keep me busy well into next year!

Diane

Various and Sundry - Poetry Planet: Dwarf Stars, and Fearworms

Last week was almost another week of vacation for the adults of this family. Dante went to school, except for Tuesday, because it was a holiday here in France, and so my husband took Monday off as well because why not?!? The organization he works for was moving its offices on Friday so he was home from work then as well.

We went to see Interstellar on Monday morning (at 9:30 am)! We weren't the only couples with that idea - the theater was almost full! I really liked it, although there are the requisite problems that arise from thinking too much about the flow of time. I had one BIG problem with the movie and I've read a total of 2 reviews of the film and both mentioned the same thing: the music was mixed too loudly. There were times when I couldn't understand the dialogue for the booming music. That said, the music was amazing. Quite effective, except when I was thrown out of the narrative conscious of the loudness of it. Sigh. And on top of it, Matthew McConaughey, really has turned into quite a fine actor.

Tuesday we did the Eiffel Tower. Finally. Magnus and I visited about 8 years ago, pre-Dante, but we hadn't been up with Dante since we moved to within spitting distance. It was wonderful. Dante really enjoyed the excursion.

Friday, Magnus and I went out to a fancy restaurant for lunch. Quinzième, Rue Chautry, 70015 Paris - chef Cyril Lignac. The food was wonderful, traditional, but quite interesting French cuisine. The chef came out to greet us. Check out this amazing dessert:

Today, I have 2 items of interest if you are a poetry lover:

First, a new edition of Poetry Planet (No. 14)! It's been awhile, and this is not the one (Animals & Creatures) that's been in the works for over a year, but rather "The Dwarf Stars Awards Showcase 2014". It's a short and sweet one, due to the nature of the short short poetry. You can find it on StarShipSofa Episode No. 363 - together with a story by Megan Lindholm aka Robin Hobb! I swoon.

The next Poetry Planet will be the Elgin Award Showcase for 2014. Last year, I put the two awards together in one podcast, but it was taking me to long to get it together, so I decided to split them up, especially, since I thought it might run way too long if I did it all in one. After that, I'd like to slip the Animals & Creatures one in before tackling the SFPA Contest 2014 and The Rhysling Award Showcase editions.

Second, a review of an upcoming poetry collection by Robert Payne Cabeen, Fearworms - Selected Poems went up on Amazing Stories today. I've recorded 2 of the 12 poems collected and linked to the audio of two more, so I hope you'll go read and listen.

Enjoy!

Trip to Lyon & Posts on Amazing Stories

I went to Lyon, France with my family for a few days of tourism recently. We stayed in a nice little hotel on the Presqu'ile (the "Almost Island") of Lyon. The town is good sized, but much of it is within walking distance. They also have a great public transportation system with subway, trams and electric bus routes. We got a 2-day tourist pass, which gave us free access to many museums, the transportation system and discounts on other stuff. We made good use of it!

Before I get into it, with pictures and all I'd like to tell you quickly about the other things that have been going on lately:

I forgot to post about the Speculative Poetry Round Up that went up on Amazing Stories recently. In it, I showcase the website Niteblade, The poetry in Amy H. Sturgis' Halloween Countdown, The SFPA's annual Halloween Poetry Reading and their online journal Eye to the Telescope, a poem by F.J. Bergmann and the Mythic Delirium Anthology. Enjoy!

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My most recent post on Amazing Stories ("Music - Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music, Vol. 1 Craig Leon") went up today. It's on the subject of Music, so something a little different. My friend and colleague Craig Leon has had some of his pioneering electronic music from the early 80's re-released (and improved) on CD and vinyl ("Early Electronic Works - Nommos Visiting" and "Anthology of Interpolanetary Folk Music, Vol. 1 respectively). Since the inspiration for the music is pretty Science Fictional I was given permission to feature the CD and record on my blog at Amazing Stories. 

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This is what we did in Lyon (not necessarily in this order) with accompanying pictures.

We went to the Miniatures and Cinema Museum, which was great and a big hit with the boy (Whew!).

We ate MANY very good meals with way too much food. We tried many of the local specialties, such as quenelles (a sort of huge, oblong dumpling often served with a lobster sauce), Saucissons briochés (a sort of huge pig in a blanket), coussin (chocolate pralines) and way too much more at the special Bouchons restaurants as well as other places.

We went on a boat cruise on the Saone, but despite our intentions didn't go on any others (on the Rhone, for example). We meant to go to the Planetarium, but we got lost and ended up at the (free) zoo instead, which was really nice, but brief, because it was already late in the day.

Dante had three trips on the carrousel. We saw the Roman ruins, which were amazing.

We walked along the top of the hill trying in vain to find the Roman Aqueducts on the way to the Basilica Fourviére.

On our way back to Paris we stopped in Auxerre for lunch, which turned out to be an unexpected gem of a town. It was full of half-timbered houses and BIG churches. We only went into two of them. The first church (with the red doors) was empty except for us, so I sang a bit of Hildegard von Bingen. It was the perfect acoustic for her music - live, but not too much so.

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Liminality and Undoing Winter

Last week was a weird week. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I had enough material and reviews/articles half written that I could post on Amazing Stories every week for a little while. I was all set to finish up my review of Liminality: A Magazine of Speculative Poetry on Tuesday but not without a computer! A sequence of problems locked me out of my computer and I couldn't access my article text or the poetry recordings, so Steve Davidson (the editor of Amazing) graciously said I could submit it when it was finished and he'd put it up whenever. Whenever came on Friday. Unfortunately, I was at a wedding in Germany (where I don't have a data plan and didn't have wifi) Friday afternoon when the article was published. I didn't get home until Saturday evening. At which point I thought I'd just combine that review with the next one.

Here's a snippet from my review of Liminality:

I’ve reviewed a single issue of a magazine (and thus, by default the magazine itself – Mythic Delirium). This time I’m reviewing an entire issue of a brand new online magazine. Liminality – A Magazine of Speculative Poetry, edited by Rhysling-winning poet Shira Lipkin and Dwarf Stars Award-winning poet Mat Joiner, just published it’s inaugural issue in September. It is, as advertised, a magazine, which focuses on Speculative Poetry. Each quarter poems “that touch the heart as much as the head; poems of the liminal, the fluid, and the fantastic.” (From the About Us page of the site) By “liminal” they mean poetry that isn’t easily categorized, that “shifts shape”, changes or is transformative, and which embraces diversity. They want to hear from new writers, but publish established poets as well. I welcome another magazine on genre poetry. We find ourselves in an era where poetry can blossom from every crevice and be showcased quite successfully.

I take a look at the lovely cover art. And I've recorded 4 poems for your listening pleasure!

This week, I've reviewed a little chapbook, Undoing Winter, Shannon Connor Winward. There are only 11 poems in this little book, but they are so worth it. Go read the review, please. There are also 3 complete poems in audio. Here's a snippet:

This chapbook is probably the least speculative of all so far (although you might remember that John W. Sexton’s The Offspring of the Moon and Sandra Kasturi’s Come Late to the Love of Birds aren’t really genre). I believe it is worth including here simply because it is of such high quality and Shannon’s body of work tends toward the Speculative. Several of the poems of a more speculative nature have been previously published in the magazine Pedestal Magazine, Ideomancer and The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, so who am I to deny it a space here?

Enjoy!

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Interview Part 2 and Reviews in print

Today the 2nd part of my interview with Elizabeth Barrette came out on Amazing Stories: "Interview with Elizabeth Barrette Part 2" . Here's a snippet from the beginning:

Thank you for joining me as we continue our conversation with Elizabeth Barrette, Poet and Wordsmith. If you missed part one, you can find it here.

Today, Elizabeth tells us more about her activities in Crowdfunding her poetry, the poets who have been influential in her own writing, recommendations for further poetry reading and the usefulness of publishing your poetry on clay tablets.

Sound intriguing? Go read the rest of it! Thank you.

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In other news, I've officially begun my reviewing career with the SFPA's journal Star*Line. In it, I review a collection horror poetry by the poetry editor of Raw Dog Screaming Press, Stephanie Wytovich. It will be printed in truncated form in the print magazine, but you can read it in full on the SFPA website: Mourning Jewelry, by Stephanie Wytovich. You'll have to scroll down, the posts are in alphabetical order by title.

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Narrations and Interviews

It's an eventful day, y'all!

I just found out that my second professional narration is up on Audible! For those who don't know, Audible.com is the major provider of audio books.

Size Matters is an Erotic Fantasy set in Chris Lester's Urban Fantasy world Metamor City written by Nobilis Reed. I've listened to a lot of the Metamor City podcast and it's a fascinating listen. I've done several narrations for Nobilis Reed. He's a good and patient employer. So it was a yes-yes opportunity. Nobilis didn't tell me until after he'd finished production on it that he was submitting it to Audible. I couldn't be more thrilled. This means that I have a bit of an in as I set myself up as an Audiobook Exchange Narrator. The audiobook costs $6.95 or £4.99 (on Audible.co.uk). 

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The next big thing for today is that my most recent article on Amazing Stories has come out. I interviewed Elizabeth Barrette and it will appear in 2 parts. Today in Part 1 you'll hear 2 full poems plus Elizabeth and I talk about her myriad writing activities, her inspiration and process as a poet. She has some advice for new poets on attitude, publishing and submitting as well. Enjoy! 

Interview - Elizabeth Barrette, Poet and Wordsmith

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Amazing Stories - Poetry Review - Wolf Skin by Mary McMyne

I have a new review up on Amazing Stories - a wonderful chapbook by Mary McMyne: Wolf Skin. I really enjoyed this little volume, I hope it comes through in the review (which comes complete with 3 poems read, in their entirety by moi). Here's a snippet:

I don’t know how long it’s been going on, but a lot of Alternate Fairy Tales come into my To-Read-and-Review Inbox. (I know I said that about Horror Poetry too, but it’s true, these are the two main sub-genres I receive, and sadly, little actual Science Fiction Poetry.) Like most people, I’m familiar with most Fairy Tales in a basic way, but unlike many people in the writing biz I didn’t grow up with an intimate love of them borne of the possession of some beloved volume. Additionally, I believe I basically grew up knowing merely the Disney Versions! Oh, the horror! The poor deprived soul! (I can just hear you now!) I know. But as an adult I have indeed remedied that by reading much of the Brothers’ Grimm (in German) as well as others, albeit less systematically, and have perhaps delighted more in the alternate versions by modern writers as a result. Would I like these twisted fairy tales at all if I had a beloved “original” version that I’d known from childhood? And no, Disney doesn’t count, because while I love those movies, it is not at all a stretch for me to realize that they are almost unrecognizable when compared to the originals. I’m much less forgiving when it comes to adaptations of books and stories.

My re-education, as it were, stems mostly from poetry not novels, although I’ve read a few novel-length retellings – most notably Beauty, by Sherri Tepper and Briar Rose, by Jane Yolen. But I love the succinctness, the brevity of what it takes to subvert a well-known fairy tale in a poem. I love what a capable poet can do to give a character added depth, more back-story, which totally changes your emotional attachment or simply to re-invent the tale altogether, spinning it onward from the traditional ending or telling it from an alternate point of view, in such a narrow space. Mary McMyne is one of these capable poets.

Mary McMyne begins and ends Wolf Skin not with alternate fairy tales, but with poems about those ethereal winged creatures: Butterflies (and moths). They are not fairy tale creatures in the least, but I think she uses them in a way which mimics our feelings toward the characters found in fairy tales. Fluttery, flying creatures serve the same purpose, meaning that they’ve become Fairy Tale Creature allegories for some innate desire – mostly of Flying.

 Please head over to Amazing Stories to read the rest and to listen to the poetry! Enjoy!

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In other news, I'm slowly whittling away at all the narrating gigs I signed up for. Finally finished that paid gig and am told that it's being submitted to Audible! That would be quite awesome if I can claim to be an Audible narrator. I've been toying with the idea of signing up to be one of the narrators on Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) and now I think I must. But I really have to fix my set-up first! The room I record in is really too loud (traffic) and boomy for truly professional recordings.

I'm also making head-way on the next Poetry Planet (Animals 6 Creatures). I hope I'll be able to get it up before the end of the year - Ha! No really, the SFPA has just announced the winners of the Dwarf Stars Awards and the Elgin Awards, so I really should do a podcast on those. Or maybe I'll just write a post for Amazing Stories and record some poetry for it. Ah we'll see. So many plans, so little time!

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WorldCon72 - LonCon3

So, a week after the fact, I'm still basking in the glow that was the World Science Fiction Convention in London. Thanks to my long-suffering husband, whose idea it was I go by myself without my family in tow. While I would have loved to spend the time with them, I think Magnus would've been bored and the boy too. There were some things for kids to do, but not quite as young as he is (almost 5), and the bulk of activities were clearly for adults.

Sofanauts!!!

I had ambitions and the desire to attend a million panels on various subjects and with my favorite people in the the field of Science Fiction. I had checked a minimum of 2 events that interested me for each hour of the con! Some hours as many as 8 events (panels, concerts, plays, kaffeeklatsches, etc.) were of interest. In a way, this is great. It meant that the organizers were in fact organized. There were many, many interesting topics (YA literature, Gender politics/issues, Sherlock Holmes, etc.) and many people involved who I respect and admire and wanted to hear speak and discuss live (rather than just reading their books, blogs, status updates and tweets). On the other hand, it was impossible to choose. And when it came down to it, I chose to hang with my fellow Sofanauts and to participate in small group discussions via Kaffeeklatsches and Literary Beers.

I didn't arrive until late afternoon Thursday, so I went straight to registration, which thankfully didn't take long. I then rushed to get a private rehearsal for the Retro Hugo Ceremony, which would be that evening. Then I rushed off to find Amy H. Sturgis' hotel room (very nearby). Amy is the creator of "Looking Back at Genre History", which runs monthly on StarShipSofa. I love her talks and her bubbly personality, not to mention that the topic is just fascinating (Go listen!)!! Anyhoo, so she's much more petite than I imagined her! But just as warm and delightful as in cyber space. She let me change into my (ok, I'm going to say it) my CosPlay outfit. Ha! I put on a sort of old-fashioned floor length chiffon dress, and did my hair and make-up 40's style. But it was more effort than a lot of others put in. teehee! We went over to ExCel and met Tony C. Smith (do I need to tell you? He's the host of StarShipSofa) and Steve Bickle (a long-time Listener-Sofanaut) and went in to the reception for the nominees. It was lovely. I introduced myself to Mary Robinette Kowal (who was one of the hosts of the ceremony) and gawked at Connie Willis. And had this picture taken:

 When we went into the auditorium for the Awards none other than Connie Willis sat next to me! And she was delightful! She has been around and involved in SF fandom for a long time and she let loose with little pithy remarks through-out. I sat next to probably the two most knowledgeable people when it concerns this award year. It was so much fun!

Alas, Raymond Palmer didn't win the award and so I didn't get to rattle off the speech Steve Davidson wrote for me (complete with words like "fen") or hold an actual Hugo Award (better than the Oscar if you ask me!). I did get all nervous when they were announcing the nominees though, so it was a bit of a disappointment. Vicarious diva-ness is also fun!

I had managed to procure a hotel room nearby, so I didn't have to make the hour and a half trip to Richmond to stay with my friends Roy and Anna. I did stay with them for the remainder of the con though and it was wonderful to see them.

The next day I got to squee in fan-girlish delight right at the very beginning. I checked the registration desk to see if one of Sofanauts who said he'd be there was (he was not), and who do I see sitting on a table fiddling with his smart phone? None other than Kim Stanley Robinson! I was very uncertain whether I should approach him and bother him but while I was dithering, he looked up and caught me staring. I introduced myself and said it was a pleasure to meet him. Why yes, a pleasure, says he. Of course, I really didn't expect him to know why he should know me, but I'd failed to say it right away, so the blank, gracious smile I received was warranted. When I told him that I had narrated his story "The Timpanist of the Berlin Philharmonic, 1942" he jumped off the table he'd been sitting on and gave me a big hug! I hadn't expected that! So, I'll spare you the word-by-word conversation we had, but I discovered he was waiting for some friends to arrive. One arrived very soon, an author I didn't know, Michael Blumlein, MD, and when I heard who else they were waiting for (Alastair Reynolds), I decided to outstay my welcome and wait for him. His story, "The Sledge-maker's Daughter", is one of the first narrations I did for StarShipSofa. We all had a great chat. I was honored to stand there with these 3 great authors. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur.

Captain America needs to work out more!

Over the course of the weekend, I spent time with the Sofanauts (Jeremy Carter, Katherine Inskip, Luke Smith, Laurence and his dad, Gary Main and finally Nick Eden), never managed to get together with any other Amazing Stories Bloggers, but I did meet Mari Ness and Fábio Fernandez for lunch and ran into Ian Watson in the hallway. I went to a panel discussion on InfoDumps and a Kaffeeklatsch with my man Stan Robinson (heehee) on Friday (he must have thought I was stalking him!) and tried to go hear Amy's Sherlock Holmes talk but the room was full when we arrived (before it had even started)! Such disappointment. I went to Kaffeeklatsches with Amal El-Mohtar (who I've interviewed and whose poetry I've podcasted and blogged about many times) and Elizabeth Bear (story narrations - "Tideline" and "Love Among the Talus"), which were great fun talking about cartoons and comics for kids with Amal and more about writing with Bear. I saw a great independent film screening of "Search for Simon". I met Mary Turzillo (poet, Rhysling and Elgin winner, whose work I've podcasted and reviewed) and her husband, Geoffrey A. Landis (whose work I've also podcasted) and introduced myself to Ken MacLeod (I narrated his story "Lighting Out" and more recently a poem for a review on Amazing) and his PR assistant from Orbit books was excited to meet me and take my email address for linky-linkage. I attended a great interview with Robin Hobb and her editor and later got the book I bought in the Exhibition Hall signed (killing my knees standing for an hour and a half in line!).

I managed to resist buying hundreds of books - only bought a few, but looking at them was fun:

First editions. That one with the hand? 3450.00 Pounds Sterling!!!

 

 

Attending the Hugo Award Ceremony was interesting. I wasn't able to vote in all categories, because I didn't read, listen to or look at everything. But I was pleased with the results none the less. All the nominees were deserving of the awards, so I think I might have been pleased with the results regardless...

The Gate-crashing panels Panel - pre-Robin Hobb reading

Robin Hobb

I went early on Monday morning to the ExCel Center because I had time to kill before my train back to Paris at 1pm. Robin Hobb was reading and I wanted to get a seat so I went in well before 10am when it was scheduled. I was a little confused, because there were 5 young women sitting at the table in the front where the panels sit, but there's nothing scheduled before 10am, so who are these people and why are they talking in front of a full audience? They turned out to be the impromtu panel on Gate-crashing panels and they were hilarious! I think you can see part of the "discussion" on YouTube if it interests. They were just 5 people who thought it would be fun to pretend. It was. I think a lot of people were confused, including Robin Hobb, because she was about 10 minutes late starting...

The trip home was uneventful. I have to say that my first con experience was an overwhelmingly positive one. I met lots of lovely people and that's when I really had the most fun. I wish I could've gone to more panels for interesting discussions and I'm sorry I missed the orchestra concert - but I had dinner with Roy and Anna instead. You can't do everything at these things. Maybe if I ever plan to go to another one with more lead time, I could even help with a poetry track or something. I know there's been some bad luck and ill-planning in the past, but I think it's a shame to have almost nothing on poetry at a WorldCon. The one really good panel, "Better World-building through Poetry" was at the same time as the Retro Hugo Ceremony. Oh well.


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