 PORTLAND, OR; May 31, 2022--The Criteria explores unconventional, and at times highly problematic, motherhood. The characters struggle with impossible choices that often lead to heartbreaking behaviors. In the titular story, the main character takes on the burden of breastfeeding infants whose mothers have fallen in while at the same time struggling with the fate of her own infant. Another story imagines a scenario in which the mother/child bond is prohibited, and drastic measures taken to ensure its prevention. The characters are asked to suffer many tragedies, as well as to embrace hope in the most unlikely places.
Praise for Kami Westhoff Poetic and corporeal, The Criteria is a collection steeped in brutality and resilience. Westhoff’s prose is as deeply unsettling as it is starkly beautiful—these stories are complex, haunting, and lush. --Kimberly King Parsons The Criteria is about the complicated work of caring (and sometimes failing to care)—for mothers, for children, for the planet--and the book is itself an act of care. Kami Westhoff welcomes her reader with generosity into quiet, secret spaces of love, longing, pain and, ultimately, connection. —Ramona Ausubel, author of Awayland and Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty The world of Kami Westhoff’s stories is skewed from ours - more visceral, brutal, harder - but also oddly quieter. That the women and children and men there survive what they do is, I guess, a testament to their resilience. But whatever it is, it’s a warning to us to rein in our easy violence, to try to remember love. --Rebecca Brown, author of You Tell the Stories You Need to Believe About Kami Westhoff Kami Westhoff lives in the Pacific Northwest where she teaches creative writing at Western Washington University. She is the author of three poetry chapbooks: Sleepwalker, winner of the Minerva Rising Dare to Be Contest; Your Body a Bullet, co-written with Elizabeth Vignali; and Cloud-bound, forthcoming from Dancing Girl Press. Her poetry and prose has been published in journals including Booth, Carve, Hippocampus, Fugue, Passages North, Redivider, Waxwing and West Branch. About Unsolicited Press Unsolicited Press based out of Portland, Oregon and focuses on the works of the unsung and underrepresented. As a womxn-owned, all-volunteer small publisher that doesn’t worry about profits as much as championing exceptional literature, we have the privilege of partnering with authors skirting the fringes of the lit world. We’ve worked with emerging and award-winning authors such as Shann Ray, Amy Shimshon-Santo, Brook Bhagat, Kris Amos, and John W. Bateman. Learn more at unsolicitedpress.com. Find us on twitter and instagram. The Criteria is available on May 31, 2022 as a paperback (180 p.; 978-1-956692-16-7) and e-book (all major retailers). The title is distributed to the trade by Ingram. The author is open to speaking with the media, holding readings, and engaging in other author opportunities.  PORTLAND, OR; May 26, 2022--Eva Matson was born in 1900 to a rural family in Dorset, England. It was the Victorian age. An age when women needed to use actions to have their voices heard. An age of ancient plumbing, gas lighting, and where unmentionables were never mentioned.
Through wars, through extreme shifts in public attitude, especially towards the roles of women, Eva experienced many changes in society and extreme changes in living conditions. Eva was a somewhat unconventional woman who drove an ambulance at fifteen. She found her calling as a nurse at an early age. It was this open-minded blend of characteristics that would stand her in good stead for her life to come. A life that included, yes, a beauty contest. It was a life filled with questions and unexpected answers. A life of joys and sadness. Of exhilaration and darkness as Eva hit London with all its risks and pitfalls, relationships, disease, and decisions—turning points in her life. Some of which she might have regretted, but some she wouldn't change for the world. This is a story of strength, of bumps in the road, of family with all its foibles, of the values of longevity in friendship, and of deep love. About S.B. Borgersen S.B. Borgersen is a British/Canadian author, of middle England and Hebridean ancestry, whose favoured genres are flash and micro fiction, and poetry. Her books, Fishermen’s Fingers, While the Kettle Boils, and Of Daisies and Dead Violins are published by Unsolicited Press. Since 2000 her writing has won prizes, been mentioned in Hansard and published internationally in literary journals and anthologies (print and online). The list of publications is extensive and can be found at www.sueborgersen.com About Unsolicited Press Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. Learn more at www.unsolicitedpress.com. The publisher can be followed on Instagram and Twitter: @unsolicitedp EVA MATSON is available on May 26, 2022 as an ebook and can be downloaded from all major eboko retailers as well as requested from your local library. Find retailers here: https://books2read.com/u/4ElpDM  On May 25, 2022, we are hosting a wonderful virtual event with authors Elizabeth Vignali and Kami Westhoff. Unsolicited Press has partnered with them as co-authors, and separately for their own collections. Feminist and evocative, this is an evening you will not want to miss. You can login to the event via our events calendar. No RSVP needed.  Elizabeth Vignali is the author of Object Permanence (Finishing Line Press 2015) and Endangered [Animal] (Floating Bridge Press 2019), and coauthor of Your Body A Bullet (Unsolicted Press 2018). Her work has appeared in Willow Springs, Cincinnati Review, Mid-American Review, Tinderbox, The Literary Review, and others. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she works as an optician, coproduces the Bellingham Kitchen Session reading series, and serves as poetry editor of Sweet Tree Review. Her latest book, HOUSE OF THE SILVERFISH, explores the reckoning of inevitable loss on both a personal and global scale, from learning to loosen our hold on children as they grow older to coming to terms with our annihilation of vast swathes of species. The story of an unraveling marriage is interspersed with poems questioning ownership of all kinds—of place, of people, and of time itself.  Kami Westhoff lives in the Pacific Northwest where she teaches creative writing at Western Washington University. She is the author of three poetry chapbooks: Sleepwalker, winner of the Minerva Rising Dare to Be Contest; Your Body a Bullet, co-written with Elizabeth Vignali; and Cloud-bound, forthcoming from Dancing Girl Press. Her poetry and prose has been published in journals including Booth, Carve, Hippocampus, Fugue, Passages North, Redivider, Waxwing and West Branch. The soon-to-be-published book The Criteria explores unconventional, and at times highly problematic, motherhood. The characters struggle with impossible choices that often lead to heartbreaking behaviors. In the titular story, the main character takes on the burden of breastfeeding infants whose mothers have fallen in while at the same time struggling with the fate of her own infant. Another story imagines a scenario in which the mother/child bond is prohibited, and drastic measures taken to ensure its prevention. The characters are asked to suffer many tragedies, as well as to embrace hope in the most unlikely places. HOUSE OF THE SILVERFISH by Elizabeth Vignali
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HOUSE OF THE SILVERFISH explores the reckoning of inevitable loss on both a personal and global scale, from learning to loosen our hold on children as they grow older to coming to terms with our annihilation of vast swathes of species. The story of an unraveling marriage is interspersed with poems questioning ownership of all kinds—of place, of people, and of time itself. Book Details Genre: Poetry ISBN: 978-1-950730-73-5 Publication Date: February 28, 2021 Your Body a Bullet by Kami Westhoff and Elizabeth Vignali
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Mistletoe sinks its tendrils into the oak tree, a cuckoo lays her murderous egg in another mother’s nest, a worm slips into the grasshopper’s gut and convinces it to drown itself. Green leaves unfurl, the warbler feeds her accidental child, and the pond continues to shimmer. From the slick burrow of the snubnosed eel to the human autosite brushing her sister’s teeth, Your Body a Bullet lifts the veil between the ghastly and beautiful relationships of parasites and their hosts. All are given equal measure here, inviting us to face our own extremes and urging us to think about what really drives our behavior. A spider says “I have no questions/about God, just the irrefutable alchemy/of your infant apothecaries.” The female anglerfish “can no longer discern where my body ends/and yours begins.” Where is the line between instinct and decision? What are we willing to do to one another; what are we willing to sacrifice? These poems are an homage to the brutality of survival, the nuances of love, and the exceptional lengths mothers will go to for their children. Details Genre: Poetry ISBN: 978-1-947021-69-3 Publication Date: November 6, 2018 THE CRITERIA by Kami Westhoff
$16.95
The Criteria explores unconventional, and at times highly problematic, motherhood. The characters struggle with impossible choices that often lead to heartbreaking behaviors. In the titular story, the main character takes on the burden of breastfeeding infants whose mothers have fallen in while at the same time struggling with the fate of her own infant. Another story imagines a scenario in which the mother/child bond is prohibited, and drastic measures taken to ensure its prevention. The characters are asked to suffer many tragedies, as well as to embrace hope in the most unlikely places. Book Details Genre: Fiction ISBN:978-1-956692-16-7 Publication Date: 5/31/2022 Unsolicited Press Publishes Pushcart Prize Nominee Emily Paige Wilson’s Poetry Collection Jalubí5/24/2022
 PORTLAND, OR; May 24, 2022—In what ways does lineage resemble language, and are there aspects of both which will always feel untranslatable? With Prague as a backdrop, Jalubí explores this question as it attempts to balance on the fraught fulcrum point of what in the speaker’s family history has been accurately preserved and what has been turned into myth by way of intentional and accidental misrepresentations. Set in the shadow of witches, dragons, and a great-grandmother’s ghost, this collection suggests history itself is a haunting.
Like a persistent spirit, history refuses to cast itself in the sepia-toned filter of nostalgia: it’s instead the gold leaf which gilds theaters in Prague; the glinting burgundy of the city’s garnets fashioned into heirloom earrings; the gray of castles and cathedrals; canola fields fawn and flaxen in a small farming village near the Slovakian border. Amidst the colors and customs of Prague, the speaker shares the struggle of trying to understand and be understood across languages. Translation in these poems is both play and performance, invitation and isolation. Framed in sections which mark various arrivals and departures, the collection posits whether a person can ever truly inhabit a place with any degree of fixedness or whether one’s identity must always remain in flux. Through these arrivals and departures, Jalubí chronicles the search for a family’s small farming village of origin and ultimately becomes a search for the self. As the speaker writes in the collection’s closing lines, “Being one person in this lineage is no more/than being one letter of a language:/written yet unaware of words.” Praise for Emily Paige Wilson In this book a keen ear for sound and a powerful love of language combine to create intelligent, lyrical poems that live vibrantly in the borders between nationalities and relationships where understanding truly happens. The result is a lively, rich and deeply felt debut of arrivals and departures that honor Wilson’s family and heritage, as well as language itself. I am duly impressed. —Mark Cox, Author of Readiness and Sorrow Bread, New and Selected Poems: 1984-2015 What is translation? Wilson would answer: alchemy, a snare, to have and halve, or “the space the rain takes as it falls.” Here, language is scrutinized against a blue light. Every facet is up for examination in Jalubí—linguistics, sound, ancestry—and the turning and layering is part method, part spell. This book is a vessel—Wilson, a force of wind. These poems will put a river in your mouth. —Leah Poole Osowski, Author of Hover Over Her and Exceeds Us About Emily Paige Wilson Emily Paige Wilson is the author of Jalubí (Unsolicited Press, 2022) and two chapbooks: Hypochondria, Least Powerful of the Greek Gods (Glass Poetry Press, 2020) and I'll Build Us a Home (Finishing Line Press, 2018). Her work has been nominated for Best New Poets, Best of the Net, and the Pushcart Prize. About Unsolicited Press Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. Learn more at www.unsolicitedpress.com. The publisher can be followed on Instagram and Twitter: @unsolicitedp Jalubí is available on May 24, 2022 as a paperback (104 p.; 978-1-956692-15-0) and e-book (all major retailers). The title is distributed to the trade by Ingram. The author is open to speaking with the media, holding readings, and engaging in other author opportunities. ### Press only, Unsolicited Press 619.354.8005 [email protected] For artist interviews, readings, and podcasts: Emily Paige Wilson [email protected] We love our authors. That sounds silly, but it's true. We love them so much we like to annoy them by asking questions about their writing lives. Today we bring you an updated interview with Francis Daulerio, one of the most "breath of fresh air" poets you'll ever read. We invite you to read the interview, and if you have a buck or two, support Francis by purchasing his upcoming poetry collection, JOY.  If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?
Oh jeez, I’ve been a massive fan of Anthony Bourdain’s work for a good long time. I always admired how easily he was able to navigate the really complicated elements of culture and religion and politics and distill it all down to a palatable examination that didn’t feel like it was being swayed by anything other than reality. I’m absolute shit in the kitchen, but it’d be a real honor to share a bowl of home-grown garlic scape pesto my wife and I make each spring. It’s no culinary masterpiece, but I think he’d like it fine. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? I worry a lot about the headspace I’m creating for my readers. My first book was so sad (too sad, if I’m honest), that I’ve subsequently tried to layer in large helpings of hope wherever possible. It’s important to recognize how difficult life can be, but there’s no sense in wallowing, and I certainly don’t want my writing to take anybody to an unhealthy or even dangerous place. When I write now, I try to remind myself that there is hope to be found, and I try to aim for it whenever I can. What books are on your nightstand? We have books all over the house, so we eventually started turning different rooms into different sections. Philosophy and art in the living room, fiction and poetry in the study. You get it the idea. The nightstand serves as our nonfiction section. Stuff like Matt Haig’s Reasons To Stay Alive, Ross Gay’s Book of Delights, Maggie Smith’s Keep Moving. Good books to grab if you wake up with the scaries. The Buddhism section also lives there along with a few random books on gardening. It’s very zen. All the vibes. Favorite punctuation mark? Why? The em dash. I’m a poet ffs. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? Many of them, actually. I was a pretty lousy student in high school. I probably could’ve used some meds, but early aughts catholic school wasn’t the place to talk about mental health or medication (imagine that!). What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? I’m actually a little mad at myself for not thanking Lexapro in the acknowledgements page of the new book. What a life-saver! I wrote 3/4 of Joy from my typical, unmedicated state of constant anxiety and then finished and edited it feeling like a totally new person. I know medication isn’t for everyone, but it drastically improved my daily life. Does writing energize or exhaust you? The first stages of writing a new poem are totally energizing, and the editing process can be, too, if it’s enlightening or transformative. Generally though I do get exhausted by the tedious nature of editing. Once that spark of creativity is gone and I’m left with a heap of words to move around, things get a bit less exciting. What are common traps for aspiring writers? I think social media makes it easy for an aspiring writer to feel excruciatingly inadequate. You see all these people dropping links to new publications and it can quickly start to feel like you’re the only one striking out, when in reality we’re all getting bombarded with rejections all the time. It can be difficult to learn how to interact in the writing community before you’ve really gotten your feet wet, which is why I think that space has turned into such a shitstorm. The good news is, once you get some publications under your belt, you get to take imposter syndrome for a spin. So there’s that… What is your writing Kryptonite? Any and every other thing. Have you ever gotten reader’s block? I don’t think I’ve gotten traditional reader’s block, but there are definitely long stretches where I simply can’t find time to sit down and read at length. I try to take advantage of gaps between projects and time off work, but life with young children doesn’t make for loads of free time. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? This feels similar to the “do artists need to experience pain to create” question, and while I think the answer is probably no, I can’t help but think that the difficulties I’ve lived through have made me better equipped to write the way I do. Maybe that’s just me trying to make myself feel better. I’ve had panic attacks, and afterwords tried to tell myself that living like this isn’t all bad because it somehow helps me create. I don’t think that’s true, but in the moments I want to feel like I’m earning my spot by suffering. I’m sure there are folks who can do this without feeling intense emotions, but I’m not sure how. I definitely couldn’t. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer? I couldn’t write anything without my friend Rich Appel. He’s an incredible poet and editor, and he’s the first person I email when I’ve written something new. Honestly there’s not a poem in any of my books that he didn’t help with. I also get a lot of inspiration from my MFA friends Nick Gregorio and Daniel DiFranco, and I’ve learned a lot about how to exist in this community from Maggie Smith. I feel quite lucky to be surrounded by such incredibly creative people. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? Books! What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? I have a very vivid memory of playing cards with my older cousin in the trunk of my aunt’s Chevy Blazer. Our parents were all in the house, and while he beat me in each game, he taught me how to curse, which words meant what, and how to drop them in at the appropriate times. Looking back, it was a pretty transformative experience (I’m only half kidding). How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? Zero. I’ve got some ideas for a few different books, but nothing started yet. I’m thinking about trying out comedic nonfiction essays, but we’ll see where that leads. There also some poem ideas rattling around up there. Who knows. What does literary success look like to you? Mega yachts and piles and piles of cocaine.  You are invited to a literary reading with Emily Paige Wilson and Laura Kiesel. Emily Paige Wilson is the author of Jalubí (Unsolicited Press, 2022) and two chapbooks: Hypochondria, Least Powerful of the Greek Gods (Glass Poetry Press, 2020) and I'll Build Us a Home (Finishing Line Press, 2018). Her work has been nominated for Best New Poets, Best of the Net, and the Pushcart Prize. Laura Kiesel is a longtime poet, essayist and journalist. Her articles and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, The Guardian, the Washington Post, Vice, Vox, Ozy, Narratively, Salon, The Manifest-Station and many others. Her poems have been featured in upstreet, Medulla Review. Fox Chase Review, Blue Lake Review, Stone Highway Review, Noctua Review, Naugatuck River Review, Wilderness House Literary Review. Originally from Brooklyn, New York she now lives in the Boston area where she teaches creative nonfiction, literary journalism and poetry at Grub Street and Arlington Center for the Arts. She is the servant of two adorable but demanding cats and has a habit of staying up way too late at night, usually reading. The reading will feature readings by both authors followed by an open Q+A window. You can join the reading by going to our events calendar and joining via Zoom.  PORTLAND, OR; May 17, 2022— Hunting Geese by Sarah Rau Peterson is a short story collection that features characters as multi-layered as Montana herself. The unnamed protagonist in Hunting Geese grapples with life choices and his just out-of-reach family while positioned on the banks of the frigid Yellowstone River awaiting the descent of geese. She Would Have and The Needing Place addresses the dynamics of a complicated father-daughter relationship told from each perspective while skirting the issues of generational gaps and aging. Wednesday’s Child’s narrator wonders what she, as a mother, did to push her daughter away, and Chickens is about, well, it’s about chickens.
From the Book HE’S PARKED ON THE RIVERBANK to get away from the wife, holding his thermos mug and staring out at the decoys. The sky has gone pink, and he’s waiting for the geese to drop for their nightly visit. The shotgun’s loaded but the safety’s on and he can keep it on the seat next to him since Dog died. He sips his coffee-with-brandy, but it’s lukewarm despite the thermos and the bitter taste gives him heartburn. The radio won’t stop blaring talking head commentary about the upcoming presidential election—Jesus, it’s still over a year away—and he wishes he could get a sports show, maybe some rock and roll out here instead. His hands ache from the cold, his old hands that have set hundreds, thousands of decoys into frozen riverbanks, lakeshores crusted with ice, waiting, waiting. He thinks of Freezeout Lake, so cold that winter—what, damn near forty years now—he remembers it was too cold to wait for the birds outside even though the first few were already scoping out his decoys. Scattered cars and pickups around the shorelines puffing clouds from the mufflers. He knew, too, that every one of those vehicles were tuned into the same AM station out of Calgary as he was, and nobody stopped listening even when the geese came down, and all at once the horns and flashing headlights, noise that all but drowned out the sound of the startled birds lifting off and out of range, but they all whooped and hollered, all the hunters like young boys, because they believed in miracles, yes they did, when the Ruskies lost that hockey game. The wife, a few years back he had told her about that cold night in ’80, after they made that movie and everyone was talking about it again, and he teared up and then downright cried over how nobody pulled in any geese that night, but they were all brothers who emerged from warm vehicles to chant USA! USA! together into the frigid air. She wasn’t really listening, he could tell, but he got downright pissed off when she told him she didn’t remember it. Didn’t remember it! Didn’t remember the call? Al Michaels? Beating the freaking USSR, the Red Army guys? Her face was blank, and she’d said—she actually said—that she didn’t follow football. He chuckles to himself, now. That had been a hell of a conversation. He warms his hands against the heater vent, rubs them together, arthritic knuckle against arthritic knuckle. About Sarah Rau Peterson Sarah Rau Peterson is a first-generation Montanan. She lives with her husband and two children near Miles City, where she divides her time between the family’s cattle ranch, her middle school history classroom, and her children’s activities. She publishes occasionally in The Montana Quarterly. About Unsolicited Press Unsolicited Press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. Unsolicited Press based out of Portland, Oregon and focuses on the works of the unsung and underrepresented. As a womxn-owned, all-volunteer small publisher that doesn’t worry about profits as much as championing exceptional literature, we have the privilege of partnering with authors skirting the fringes of the lit world. We’ve worked with emerging and award-winning authors such as Shann Ray, Amy Shimshon-Santo, Brook Bhagat, Kris Amos, and John W. Bateman. Learn more at unsolicitedpress.com. Find us on twitter and Instagram, @unsolicitedp. HUNTING GEESE is available on May 17, 2022 as a paperback (66 p.; 978-1-956692-19-8) and e-book (all major retailers). The title is distributed to the trade by Ingram. The author is open to speaking with the media, holding readings, and engaging in other author opportunities. ### Press only, Unsolicited Press 619.354.8005 [email protected] For artist interviews, readings, and podcasts: Sarah Rau Peterson If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?
I am a huge fan of Miriam Toews. I would love to have dinner with her and, like a leech, I’d pick her brain about her writing process and ask for advice; however, my cooking is not nearly as awesome as her writing, so I’d ask her what she wanted to eat, and then I’d practice making said meal until it was go time, and, realistically, I’d probably mess the meal up and end up ordering out. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? I think I have a huge case of imposter syndrome. I wish I could say that I combat that by putting my head down and continuing to write despite my insecurities, but sometimes it gets the better of me. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? I love the character Jenny Fields from John Irving’s The World According to Garp. She is a badass who can do it all. What books are on your nightstand? There are two books on my nightstand right now. The first is This Bright River by Patrick Sommerville. I love his work on Station 11 and other shows, so I grabbed his novel to read. The other book on my nightstand is Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. I haven’t read it, and I probably never will. My sister passed away at the age of 36, and it was her favorite book, so by not ever reading it, I feel like there’s something that I can still learn about her, even 10 years later. I find it strangely comforting. Favorite punctuation mark? Why? I love the ellipsis. I think it invites engagement from the reader. It kind of forces them to fill in the blanks… What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? The assignment was to independently read a Shakespeare play and do a report on it. I was a lazy high-school student who avoided work whenever possible, so my choice was Shakespeare’s King John. I picked that one because I figured it was one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known plays, and there was a pretty good chance that my teacher had not read it. I was right! If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? "You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it." - Octavia E. Butler Does writing energize or exhaust you? It energizes me. I get in the zone, and I lose track of time when I’m writing. What are common traps for aspiring writers? I think aspiring writers don’t realize how much time and energy it takes to write. Writing is a craft with limitless room for improvement. If you want to write, you’d better be prepared to never be satisfied. What is your writing Kryptonite? I have to be careful of what I read while I am writing fiction because it frequently seeps into my writing, and the writing ends up feeling forced and lifeless. Have you ever gotten reader’s block? I usually do not have reader’s block. I do, sometimes, have difficulty figuring which book to read from my list of to-read books. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? I believe that it’s possible, but not the norm. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer? Ben Tanzer comes to mind. Through Ben, I have met a lot of other awesome writers from Chicago: Mark Brand, Joseph G. Peterson, Peter Anderson, Giano Cromley, and Jerry Brennan to name a few. For me it’s nice to know that there are like-minded people out there. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book? I want each of my books to stand on its own. Honestly, I cringe when I read my past work. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? Buying a computer solely for my writing was the best money I’ve ever spent as a writer. What authors did you dislike at first but grew into? This is a surprisingly difficult question for me to answer. There are so many more authors who I liked at first, but I’ve grown to dislike over the years than there are authors who I have grown to like. I think Stephan King might be the best answer to go with here. For me, he is so hit or miss that it took a while for me to find something in his repertoire that I liked. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? I came home from school one day to find that my younger sister had ratted me out for swearing at school. I got in a lot of trouble for that. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel? Dave Newman’s Raymond Carver Will Not Raise Our Children is an underappreciated favorite of mine. As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? A seagull. They are capable of beauty, but they also spend most of their time fighting for scraps and picking through the trash. What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters? Not all characters in The Craigslist Incident were based on real people (I need some plausible deniability, here), but for those characters who are loosely based on real people, I will defer to Anne Lamont: “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” What does literary success look like to you? Every time I achieve a literary goal, I set another one. I just keep plugging away. I don’t think I will ever feel successful. What’s the best way to market your books? I believe that after all has been said and done, the best way to market a book is through word of mouth; therefore, I believe it is important for me to get my book out to as many readers as possible. What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex? I am petrified that I will get something wrong, and that mistake that will take the reader out of that fragile, magic, fiction bubble that I worked so hard to create. What did you edit out of this book? I think a better question for me would be: What have you edited into your novel? For years, my focus was poetry, so I focused on condensing a narrative into as few words as possible, and, unfortunately, that habit followed me into my prose writing. When I worked with the Unsolicited editing team, I found that I was adding scenes to the plot rather than cutting scenes. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work? I think I would be working somewhere in the field of psychology. I also love teaching, so I would for sure be teaching.  If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?
Well, I’m not a very good cook. I’d eat breakfast with Craig Lancaster as long as he made it. I’d eat leftovers from Mary Karr’s fridge and whatever Alexandra Fuller wanted me to eat! Basically I’d do whatever those women wanted me to! What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? It’s terrifying to just start. It’s terrifying when I’ve gone weeks with no new ideas, and it’s terrifying when I get ALL the ideas at once because I worry that they’ll go away! I think the best thing I do is scribble ideas in a notebook, whether it becomes pages and pages or it’s just a doodle or some sort of outline. I have come to terms with the idea that sometimes my notes just aren’t meant to see the light of day. I have also worked hard to just take a breath and send my work out there. Rejection hurts, but it’s not the end of the world. There’s a great anecdote from Stephen King from his early years in which he uses a railroad spike to tack all the rejection letters to his wall. It happens to, quite literally, the most prolific of them all. We indie authors aren’t alone! Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? Janet Fitch is one of my most favorite authors, and her first novel White Oleander really changed the way I viewed characters. They don’t have to have linear or neat, clean growth. They can have an ugliness, a rawness that almost hurts to read. I felt that about her characters in Paint It Black, but I have an absolute obsession with Marina Makarova in The Revolution of Marina M and Chimes of a Lost Cathedral. I can’t find the right adjectives to do her justice. What books are on your nightstand? My dad listens to “books on tape.” (He does use a streaming service but hasn’t broken into modern lingo yet.) He talks a lot about this Louisiana ex-cop called Dave Robicheaux, and he’s so animated and uses this terrible accent when talking about it. He gets so excited about these books, so I’ve been checking out James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux series from the public library. I could lie and say it’s War and Peace on my nightstand, but it’s a stack of good ol’ boy mysteries. A bad guy gets eaten by his own pigs, people! That’s bedtime entertainment! Favorite punctuation mark? Why? I’m an Oxford comma girl. I love a good semicolon; I don’t, however, use it a lot in fiction. But I can’t stop using exclamation points! I just have a ton of excitement! What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? I used CliffsNotes (does that date me?!) to get through The Scarlet Letter, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Great Expectations…I read so much that the librarians waived the 3-book maximum, but I couldn’t read anything I was assigned. I didn’t read The Great Gatsby or To Kill a Mockingbird or Catcher in the Rye until I was in college. What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? Oh, definitely my lifelong companion Brown Bear. I used to call him Winnie the Pooh, even though he’s not the yellow honey fiend. I dropped him in the street when I was about two, and my mom put an ad in the paper: “Lost. Little brown bear.” My earliest memory is of going to a woman’s house to retrieve him. He’s been everywhere with me. If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? “If you don’t write it, who will? Just do the damn thing!” Seriously, though. Just write it. If it’s in you, get it out. Does writing energize or exhaust you? Oh, it’s energizing. Sometimes manic. I never feel like I’m “done,” but I’m not exhausted by it. What are common traps for aspiring writers? I think we all have a level of hubris, but it’s important to recognize that. Not everyone’s first book is picked up by, say, Random House. And that’s more than okay. Better than okay! Also, guard your work. Blogs and other easy-to-publish sources don’t protect your work the way it deserves to be protected. Don’t give up. Yes, you may have to work a “real” job. You may not write for three years. You may choose to attend nine thousand writer’s retreats and never come out with a single idea. All of it is okay. Do you write? You’re a writer. Is your grandma your only reader? She’s proud of you. What is your writing Kryptonite? Does this question mean I’m Super Man? I’m so easily distracted by whatever I find on the internet. I’ll take a break, fall into the proverbial rabbit hole, and emerge 2 hours later. Were those cat videos worth it? Have you ever gotten reader’s block? Ooh, good one. Nope. I will read books multiple times until they become part of my soul. I am never not reading something. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? Sure. Tell that story!! I guarantee that someone else has a similar experience as that author. Writing should come from every single experience. There’s no “one size fits all” for emotion. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer? I’m internet friends with several Montana writers, and just seeing them working (and succeeding, and failing sometimes, and living, and feeling) gives me an understanding that we’re all in this together. Not one of us is this hermit who lives on an island of self-importance, rolling around in stacks of cash. It’s a small community of folks who support each other through (often inappropriate) humor and the much-needed encouragement to just keep writing. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book? I write short stories, and sometimes one story is connected to another but told through different narrators. The one connection I think I will always have is Montana, but I’m in the stand-alone camp. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? It encouraged me! The thought that other people will see my words in print gives me the motivation to do more. It’s such a dang process though, but I haven’t changed it. I do what works for me, which is long-hand notes and notebook scribbles. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? Any money spent at a book store, a book sale, library overdue fines…reading makes a writer, and it’s the one thing that consistently encourages me. What authors did you dislike at first but grew into? I always had a hard time with the ones I was “supposed” to read. I eventually came around to Faulkner. I’ve never been into reading just to say I’ve read a certain book or author. I still don’t like Dickens. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? When I was young, my best friend and I said this: “sticks and stones can break my bones but words can really hurt!” I remember being made fun of at the time and realizing that the things that come out of people’s mouths can cut deeply. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel? Plain Bad Heroines by emily danforth. She had huge success with her first novel The Miseducation of Cameron Post, but her second is just this intense noir/mystery/queer/magical/mystical piece of genius that involves a real Montana woman (Mary MacLane) who was so controversial and outspoken and outrageous in a time when women were decidedly not. The moon, because the writing process certainly follows an ebb and flow. Sometimes it’s full and rich and bright and super, and other times it’s dark and absent (but still spinning around there somewhere). What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?! I owe them the assurance that I am not intentionally basing characters on them, even though they think otherwise. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? A million? What does literary success look like to you? Honestly, I’ve written for so long. I’ve never tried to make it a “career.” Success, for me, is handing a real, bound, published book to my parents and saying “I did it.” Having an actual book. Maybe two. But something that other people read, something that stands alone. That’s success. It’s not the finish line. What’s the best way to market your books? Who likes to toot their own horn? I like the simple “post online” method and hope it spreads like wildfire! Not the most effective. What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex? Bodies. I don’t know how a man settles into his body. I can only guess and observe and put a little of what I know about those around me into male characters. It’s really hard to avoid stereotypes. What did you edit out of this book? A lot of swear words! If you didn’t write, what would you do for work? I am currently a librarian and 8th grade teacher. I love working at our middle school. We own a cattle ranch. It’s an amazing privilege to work outside. I’d love to create art full time. Honestly? I’d be pretty good at being a professional nap-taker.  PORTLAND, OR; May 10, 2022--Against a backdrop of newsfeeds and hints of eco-doom, #TheNewCrusades centers on a series of letters to an uncertain deity hovering above and within a particular American madness. These poems are fractured little diaries seeking a wholeness; they track the ways we move back and forth between larger social-political selves and inner-personal selves.
The news here is professed through protests, graffiti, broken mirrors, ambient radio, synchronized fires, and all-night newsfeeds--all of it projecting a cryptic and indefinable set of rules that churn about as permutations of some lost algorithm. They address a tamed violence held barely in check, examining masculinity and fatherhood and the undercurrents of suburban domesticity. In the end, they are a barrage of cries at breaking the boundary between you and I, questions rising into prayers that ask, are we closed or open systems? Can we really know each other at all? Praise for Bill Neumire "As Bill Neumire shows, to tell the truths about America requires a lyricism that is as wily as it is direct, as elegiac as it is exuberant. #TheNewCrusades is a reckoning about the coal-mouthed glow of the American heart and the darkness & us that characterizes the messy promise of our body politic. Well past Whitman’s earnest appraisal of who we were, Neumire instead sees the alarming contradictions of who we really are, made fruitful & rueful by our metastatic news and hungers. Brash and also tender, Neumire’s poems are the honest lullabies we need now to keep from sleep, to open our eyes, to wake up." --Rick Barot "#TheNewCrusades begins “Here I take the box of world…” and the book does just that. It’s a box, and a book, that foretells violence, questions masculinity, mourns the falling away of cities and nations and nature and people. Bill Neumire has an ear for the memorable phrase, an eye for the image that hurts. “Dear hashtagged american morning, / if you promise / everything’s fine I can stand in a pall of crabapple leaves / like an elephant feeling seismic signals,” he writes, not believing it for a second. But these poems believe: in the leaves and the elephant and the hashtagged morning, then undergo them all like a trial. The box of world is recognizably ours: we have all undergone it, but never so eloquently nor with such patient clarity as this book does." --Kathy Ossip About Bill Neumire Author of two chapbooks--Resonance of Kin (PuddingHouse 2013) and Between Worlds (Foothills 2013)—Bill Neumire’s first full-length book, Estrus, was a semi-finalist for the 42 Miles Press Award. He regularly reviews books of contemporary poetry for Vallum, and for Verdad where he works as poetry editor. About Unsolicited Press Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. Learn more at www.unsolicitedpress.com. The publisher can be followed on Instagram and Twitter: @unsolicitedp #TheNewCrusades is available on May 10, 2022 as a paperback (132 p.; 978-1-956692-14-3) and e-book (all major retailers). The title is distributed to the trade by Ingram. The author is open to speaking with the media, holding readings, and engaging in other author opportunities. ### Press only, Unsolicited Press 619.354.8005 [email protected]  In Peripheral Visions and Other Stories, the characters choose to play the best game they can with the cards they’ve received. For some, it’s making the most of the circumstances in which they find themselves, even if it’s not the life they planned. For others, it’s following an unconventional path-not the easiest course or the one that others would take, but the one that’s right for them. But they never lose hope that life will get better if they can just hold on. Peripheral Visions and Other Stories was a finalist in the 2021 Eric Hoffer Book Awards, a finalist and Bronze Award winner in the 2020 Foreword INDIES competition, a finalist in the 2020 N.N. Light Book Awards (short story), and won second place in the Florida Writers Association 2018 Royal Palm Literary Awards (RPLA) competition, with three of the stories having also earned contest placements. Nancy Christie is the author of two award-winning short story collections: Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories and Peripheral Visions and Other Stories—both published by Unsolicited Press. Christie’s third short story collection, Mistletoe Magic and Other Holiday Tales, will be published in 2023 by Unsolicited Press. Her short stories have appeared in numerous literary publications including The Saturday Evening Post, Goat’s Milk, Commuter Lit, Ariel Chart, Page & Spine, One Person’s Trash, Two Cities Review, Talking River, Edify Fiction, Toasted Cheese, Wanderings, The Chaffin Journal and Down in the Dirt, among others, with several of her stories earning contest placements. Christie has also authored three non-fiction books: the inspirational/motivational book, The Gifts of Change (Atria/Beyond Words) and two award-winning books for writers: Rut-Busting Book for Writers and Rut-Busting Book for Authors (both by Mill City Press). The founder of the annual “Celebrate Short Fiction” Day, Christie is the host of the Living the Writing Life podcast. A member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) and Florida Writers Association (FWA), Christie also teaches writing workshops at conferences, libraries and schools nationwide. May 9th
R&R Book Tours (Kick-Off) http://rrbooktours.com Reads & Reels (Spotlight) http://readsandreels.com Timeless Romance Blog (Spotlight) https://aubreywynne.com/ Riss Reviews (Spotlight) https://rissreviewsx.wixsite.com/website May 10th Not a Bunny Blog (Review) https://notanybunny.wordpress.com/blog @aliciareviewsbook (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/Aliciareviewsbooks/ Nesie’s Place (Spotlight) https://nesiesplace.wordpress.com May 11th @booklymatters (Review) https://www.instagram.com/booklymatters/ @amber.bunch_author (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/amber.bunch_author/ Breakeven Books (Spotlight) https://breakevenbooks.com May 12th Liliyana Shadowlyn (Review) https://lshadowlynauthor.com/ @gryffindorbookishnerd (Review) https://www.instagram.com/gryffindorbookishnerd/ B is for Book Review (Spotlight) https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com May 13th Ravenz Reviews (Review) http://ravenzreviews.blogspot.com/ @itsabookthing2021 (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/itsabookthing2021/ Bunny’s Reviews (Spotlight) https://bookwormbunnyreviews.blogspot.com/ If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make? Spicy enchiladas for Daphne Du Maurier – the greatest suspense writer of all time. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? I’m scared that I won’t have the time in my life to write all of the projects that I want to, and/or that I will start a piece and then never finish it. The best way to combat that, I think, is to work according to your own schedule, but make sure you put in work every day, even if that work is only conceptualizing the project(s). Also, respect the editing process: once the first draft is finished, that’s when the bulk of the work begins and the piece really starts to take shape. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? I mentioned Daphne du Maurier above, but in terms of literary characters I’m obsessed with, I’ll say Villanelle from Jeannette Winterson’s The Passion, one of my favorite novels. What books are on your nightstand? Currently, Class, Politics, and Ideology in the Iranian Revolution by Mansoor Moaddel (partially as research for an upcoming book) and Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. (I always try to maintain an eclectic reading list.) Favorite punctuation mark? Why? The ellipsis. So much mystery and angst is contained within those three dots. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? I couldn’t get through The Scarlet Letter the first time around. I’ve since tried to reread it with slightly more success. (As far as Hawthorne goes, “Young Goodman Brown” is my favorite.) What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? My record player, which accompanies nearly all my writing sessions. If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? “Conquering self-doubt is the first step to being the writer you want to be.” Does writing energize or exhaust you? Writing energizes me but editing exhausts me. What are common traps for aspiring writers? I think writing what you expect other people want to read (or what you think publishers or marketers want to sell) is the worst trap. That inevitably leads to uninspired or generic writing. Any artist can only create the work that speaks to them – that they themselves would want to read or watch or listen to. What is your writing Kryptonite? Stress. Exhaustion from my day job or social obligations makes me too distracted to focus on the work the way I should. Have you ever gotten reader’s block? Not really. I have a plan in my head for what book is next on the docket. (Although I do worry that I won’t have enough time to read all the great books out there. It’s a good problem to have, in my opinion.) Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? No. Thinking critically about the world is also a must, but it’s not enough to only be conceptual - there must be passion to your ideas. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer? I’m friends with several fiction writers based (or formerly based) in the Twin Cities, either published or unpublished; and with numerous international film critics and theorists. There’s not enough time to list all the ways they help me become a better writer! It is indispensable for artists to have a community and a discourse to share ideas, support each other, constructively criticize them, commiserate through the rough periods, and get excited about the work they admire. In particular, I used to be part of a group of horror and sci-fi writers in Minneapolis that would share their ideas and early drafts of work on Google Docs. This was important because we would also frequently talk about how speculative genres are underrecognized for their artistic and subversive potential. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book? Both. That might be a cop-out answer, but it’s true. Every work should stand on its own, but an artist should have a collective body of work with at least thematic connections between them. I do also admire sequels, prequels, spinoffs, and other works that expand the universe of a work of art, not simply to capitalize on a familiar name. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? It increased my confidence. From starting to write the book to publication was about nine years. If you put in the work and have faith throughout the process, then the end goal really is achievable. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? This may sound like paid promotion (it’s not!) but about six years ago I spent almost $1,000 to work with Mark Malatesta, a professional literary coach (and former agent). He helped me write my query letter and synopsis and compile a list of agents to reach out to, along with providing insight into what I could expect from the querying process. He landed me my first agent, and even though a publishing deal didn’t come directly from that, it was indispensable experience. What authors did you dislike at first but grew into? J.G. Ballard is the first author that comes to mind. I don’t love his early book The Drowned World (which was the first thing I read by him), but have really admired almost everything else. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? Weirdly enough, I remember the O.J. Simpson trial being televised when I was about ten years old, and it’s one of the first major public discourses I can remember. Even at the time, I noticed that the way people talked about it (especially as it related to their racial identity) was especially charged. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel? The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is one of the best British novels of the 19th century. As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? The bur oak tree. It’s a majestic tree native to the American Midwest that grows slowly but lives a very long time – an apt metaphor for the writing process. It also is not outwardly beautiful (it doesn’t have dazzling fall colors) but the leaves often have a faint golden hue in the autumn, which is a kind of understated glamor I admire. What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters? An attempt to make those characters as complex, genuine, and rooted in sympathetic motivations as possible. That should describe every character, but especially those based on real people. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? About five (and even more unfinished screenplays). I used to feel very anxious about these unfinished or unpublished works, but now I think it’s constant motivation – a reminder of how many other stories I want to tell. What does literary success look like to you? To have my work read by strangers (no matter the number, but the more the better) who connect with it in some way is the ultimate goal. To write a novel (and edit it numerous times until it’s “final”) is incredibly gratifying, but the book doesn’t really come alive until it’s read by people who simply want to read it because they love literature. The true epitome of success would be to make enough money from writing and editing that it could be my full-time job and I could focus on my art as much as I think it deserves, without relying on a day job. But no matter how financially lucrative it is, I’ll continue writing regardless. What’s the best way to market your books? I’ve always thought that word of mouth is the best strategy no matter the art form. So getting the book out there to critics, readers, and writers who also respect genres like horror and believe that great work can be made within that format is my ideal approach. If the work is good enough, word of mouth will be spread (through social media, conversation, interviews, etc.) and the book will gain a following, even if it takes some time. What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex? I think writing any character is extremely challenging, no matter their sex, racial identity, sexual orientation, etc., but it’s the most exhilarating challenge in writing fiction. You have to fully inhabit each character, whether their identity is relatively similar or totally different from your own, and try to understand them inside and out; develop a backstory for them, envision their hopes and fears, even if you don’t necessarily write about that in the novel. So the most difficult thing is to try to know them and empathize with them completely but convey that succinctly. That’s a challenge even with people we know in real life: human beings are always mysteries, and that’s what makes them so compelling. (I do think that writers need to basically be empaths, though. I can’t imagine writing a compelling character if you’re not radically empathetic to them.) What did you edit out of this book?” SO MUCH. Hollow went through at least six rounds of edits, including an early round with a New York editor named John Paine who really helped improve the novel and allowed me to recognize its early weaknesses. I cut out a scene in which the protagonist investigates the central mystery by visiting a hospital in Grange, the town in which the novel is set. I also cut out some horrific scenes involving the witch in the novel, since they were somewhat repetitive. More beneficial, though, were the scenes I added, including more backstory about the Ben and Amy characters, and the scene in which Ben goes to visit his estranged wife and then leaves in shame at the last moment, which is now one of my favorite scenes in the novel. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work? I currently do have a day job in the marketing department of an educational theater company. I’ve also worked at restaurants, movie theaters, art museums, coffeeshops, you name it. Writing is my passion and the thing I want to dedicate my life to, so I’ll keep working day jobs as long as I have to to support that passion. But ideally that work would involve the creative arts somehow; film is my other great passion, so I’ve also really enjoyed working at theaters and film festivals.
 On May 4th, we are hosting a reading with two poets that write poetry in two very different ways. The reading will be held live on Zoom at 5:30PM Pacific Time. You can join on our events page (just click the event and then the link). Grace Marie Grafton Grace Marie Grafton is the author of six books of poetry. Jester (2013) was published by Hip Pocket Press. Author Mary Mackey writes that this collection of poems “links us to a communal imagination which transcends the conventional limits of both poetry and fine arts.” Whimsy, Reticence and Laud (2012) was published by Poetic Matrix Press. Poet/novelist Tobey Hiller writes of this book, “In these lush sonnets.....the wild and the cultivated often collide.” Other Clues (2010), composed of experimental prose poems, was published by Latitude Press. Of this collection, poet Melissa Kwasny writes, “There is wisdom amidst the chaos. Eros. Nature. There are tutelary spirits of the plants and the nouns.” Ms. Grafton's chapbook, Zero, (1999) won the Poetic Matrix Press contest. Her poetry has won honors from “Bellingham Review”, San Francisco PEN Women's Soul Making contests, “Sycamore Review” and “Anderbo.” Her poems have recently appeared in “Fifth Wednesday”, “Cortland Review”, “Ambush Review”, “Askew'”, “The Offending Adam”, “Sin Fronteras”, and “basalt”, among others.. For over three decades, Ms. Grafton taught children to write poetry through the CA Poets in the Schools program, winning twelve Artist In Residence grants from the CA Arts Council for her teaching. She was awarded Teacher of the Year by the River Of Words Youth Poetry Contest, sponsored by Robert Hass, US Poet Laureate. Bill Neumire
Author of two chapbooks--Resonance of Kin (PuddingHouse 2013) and Between Worlds (Foothills 2013)—Bill Neumire’s first full-length book, Estrus, was a semi-finalist for the 42 Miles Press Award. He regularly reviews books of contemporary poetry for Vallum, and for Verdad where he works as poetry editor.  Celebrating the launch of a book is a momentous occasion. This summer we invite you to experience Francis Daulerio's JOY by attending a book tour event. Francis will be touring the East Coast as well as making several virtual appearances. The lineup goes from Philly to Brooklyn. The team at Unsolicited Press and Francis would be honored to have you in the audience. You can buy tickets HERE. This is one book tour that you will not want to miss. All virtual events are free and accessible on our Events page.  JOY is Francis Daulerio’s second full length collection of poetry and fifth release in the last seven years. Beginning with one pregnancy and ending with another, JOY is a meditation on the ways in which we struggle to stay alive, live among each others’ wreckage, and hold each other up. Through what Bon Iver’s Sean Carey describes as “Daulerio’s relentless hope and love,” JOY explores the challenges of seeking happiness while living with depression and anxiety, frequently settling in the mundanity of normal life, hunting for beauty in the plain and celebrating each bit of it. While the title may suggest a lighthearted read, the book is more about the seeking than the finding, centering around the birth of Daulerio’s first child while coping with the loss of friend and collaborator, Scott Hutchison. Though painful at times, it is a life-affirming book that encourages readers to push through the hardships we all face to find their own sense of meaning.
JOY is packed tight with fifty-four poems, a few which have been previously release through magazines, but most of which are brand new. It also has a foreword by author Maggie Smith (Good Bones, Keep Moving), and stunning cover art by UK artist Helen Ahpornsiri. JOY is due out June 21, 2022. Preorder a copy today and have it in time for the tour. Francis will have a limited amount on hand at each stop.  With April coming to a close, we want to end National Poetry Month with a bang by hosting a reading with the darling Rowe Carenen, the poet who wrote FIRST DRAFTS FROM THE BREWERY. You can join the virtual event by heading over to our events page (click on the event and the info for the Zoom meeting is in there). The reading is at 5:30PM Pacific Time.  First Drafts from the Brewery explores the ends, and beginnings, of relationships, the value of true-blue friends, and the delights of the seasons. Less a how-to guide to divorce, and more a long and lingering porch-chat complete with good beer or a strong whiskey, this collection embraces simplicity while staring down pain without flinching. But not to worry, there’s plenty of cats, puppies, and cozy blankets.  Rowe Carenen is a graduate of Salem College and the University of Southern Mississippi. When asked, she'd say that poetry has been her passion ever since she realized that words could convey more than just the facts. Her poems have appeared in various literary journals and magazines, including The Revenant Culture, GERM, Terrible Orange Review, the Running with Water anthology, and her first collection, In the Meantime, was published by Neverland Publishing in 2014. She lives in Greenville, South Carolina, with her cat Minerva Jane and dog Neville Jameson.
 PORTLAND, OR; April 26, 2022 -- Less Than What You Once Were begins in a pivotal moment for the speaker—during the 2008 “Battle of N’Djamena” in Chad’s capital. This destabilizing experience—in which the speaker’s home is broken into—results in the family embarking on a months-long departure from the place, and the narrative begins to cycle through childhood memories, from the first night when Brown lands at N’Djamena’s airport as an eight-year-old boy to the failed attempt at bird hunting with a slingshot. These centering memories soon give way to stories of displacement as a young adult and, much later, a return to the country of his youth. This fragmented memoir, told in a similar, episodic style to Claudia Rankine’s Citizen, is both a coming-of-age story and also a story of exile, ending in a state of dislocated adulthood, the speaker longing for a return to a childhood home that can’t be accessed.
About Aaron Brown Born in Texas and raised in Chad, Aaron Brown is the author of the poetry collection, Acacia Road, winner of the 2016 Gerald Cable Book Award (Silverfish Review Press). He has been published in World Literature Today, Tupelo Quarterly, Waxwing, Cimarron Review, and Transition, among others, and he is a contributing editor for Windhover. Brown now lives in Texas, where he is an assistant professor of English and directs the writing center at LeTourneau University. He holds an MFA from the University of Maryland. About Unsolicited Press Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. Learn more at www.unsolicitedpress.com. The publisher can be followed on Instagram and Twitter: @unsolicitedp Less Than What You Once Were is available on April 26, 2022 as a paperback (130 p.; 978-1-956692-11-2) and e-book (all major retailers). The title is distributed to the trade by Ingram. The author is open to speaking with the media, holding readings, and engaging in other author opportunities.  Born in Texas and raised in Chad, Aaron Brown is the author of the poetry collection, Acacia Road, winner of the 2016 Gerald Cable Book Award (Silverfish Review Press). He has been published in World Literature Today, Tupelo Quarterly, Waxwing, Cimarron Review, and Transition, among others, and he is a contributing editor for Windhover. Brown now lives in Texas, where he is an assistant professor of English and directs the writing center at LeTourneau University. He holds an MFA from the University of Maryland.  John W. Bateman lives in the Deep South, chasing words and finding stories. Influences include comedian and writer Bob Smith, photographer Duane Michals, his fairy godparents, and coffee. His work has appeared in OneNewEngland, The Huffington Post, Glitterwolf Magazine, Nately's, the SFWP Quarterly, and lots of notebooks stacked in a bookcase somewhere. He has won a few awards for screenwriting and received a 2018 Emerging Filmmaker grant from the Mississippi Film Alliance. Who Killed Buster Sparkle? is his first novel.
 PORTLAND, OR; March 1, 2022--First Drafts from the Brewery explores the ends, and beginnings, of relationships, the value of true-blue friends, and the delights of the seasons. Less a how-to guide to divorce, and more a long and lingering porch-chat complete with good beer or a strong whiskey, this collection embraces simplicity while staring down pain without flinching. But not to worry, there’s plenty of cats, puppies, and cozy blankets.
Praise for Rowe Carenen First Drafts from the Brewery is a book about repair, about what we do when the waters haven’t quite claimed us yet—that furtive in-the-meantime. “Grief,” our speaker says, “lives in my body.” But also in that body lies the psychic excavation of so many riches: confetti and PetSmart, Lemon Pledge and Elvis, resin. And in our grieving bodies we are kept such great company: land surveyors, Paul Simon, bad dates, grandparents, even famous writers. There lives inside these thoughtful and honest, observant poems invoking familiarity. I used to love a song that asked: “Where do you go when you’re lonely?” These poems answer that. You go everywhere, and with all your people, and with all your things. And you clink the festive glasses of curiosity and gratitude while you’re at it. --Mamie Morgan, author of EVERYONE I’VE DANCED WITH IS DEAD (Jackleg Press) About Rowe Carenen Rowe Carenen is a graduate of Salem College and the University of Southern Mississippi. When asked, she'd say that poetry has been her passion ever since she realized that words could convey more than just the facts. Her poems have appeared in various literary journals and magazines, including The Revenant Culture, GERM, Terrible Orange Review, the Running with Water anthology, and her first collection, In the Meantime, was published by Neverland Publishing in 2014. She lives in Greenville, South Carolina, with her cat Minerva Jane and dog Neville Jameson. About Unsolicited Press Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. Learn more at www.unsolicitedpress.com. The publisher can be followed on Instagram and Twitter: @unsolicitedp First Drafts from the Brewery is available on April 19, 2022 as a paperback (88p.; 978-1-956692-12-9) and e-book (all major retailers). The title is distributed to the trade by Ingram. The author is open to speaking with the media, holding readings, and engaging in other author opportunities. Who are you as a poet? What do you represent? BB: I hope I never have an answer for this. I can tell you what other people would say about my voice. There are patterns, images that come again and again—flying, disappearing, dancing, jumping. Peacocks and racoons and fire escapes. Stellar nurseries. Blankets and threads. Wildness, mostly, strangeness, dream-like stuff—the mirror you find in the woods. The black widow you find crying on the windowsill. Buddhas and shadow goddesses. But I also have poems about discrimination and politics and Taco Bell. I don’t want a fixed idea of who I am as a poet or any other way, because once you have that idea you start living or writing within those boundaries, and one of my favorite things about writing is how my own poems surprise me and take me to new places. My best work is about moments when we become more than we are. There is a place for poetry on every topic and emotion, but my favorites are triumphant, a reminder to myself that I can fly, I will fly regardless of my wounds or fears or mistakes or other obstacles. That we are vastness, that separation is an illusion. That the destiny of consciousness is enlightenment. And when I feel the truth of it in my gut, that means it’s true for everyone, and I think everyone needs to be reminded sometimes that they are perfect, they are beauty, they are power and courage and they can fly too, because it’s easy to forget that in this world. What is your proudest poetic accomplishment? BB: My first published poetry collection, Only Flying, came out in November. In one sense, it’s something I’d been trying to do for two years, revising it and sending it out again and again to small presses. Unsolicited Press was the fifteenth place I had sent it, and I didn’t have much hope for publishing it anymore—I just kept doing it anyway. But in another sense, it’s something I had been trying to do for forty years, since I wrote my first poetry collection in first grade. My daughter was five months old when I signed the book contract, and I was teaching almost full time at PPCC. So for the entire process of editing, cover design, marketing, and all the other stuff that goes into making a book, I was working from a corner of the bedroom from 2-5 in the morning. My office is a divider in the room with a lamp with a blue light bulb in it, and I had to be careful not to type too loud. I couldn’t have done it without the help of my husband and the rest of my family. I still don’t know how I did it, really, but that’s what my life was like when it happened. It had been my dream since I was a little girl, so not doing it just wasn’t an option. Talk to us about your process writing and, if applicable, performing. BB: There are two ways for me, the mystical way and the conscious way. Just before the pandemic, I had my students compare the Nobel Prize for Literature speeches of Toni Morrison and Bob Dylan. Toni Morrison is incredibly conscious—she knows exactly what she’s doing and why she’s doing it. And next to her, Bob Dylan looks like an idiot—when you think of good stuff, you put it in a song, he says, because it looks good. Water flowing down a ladder—it looks good. You don’t know why, you just write it down. He’s not really an idiot, though. His process is just different—mystical. Some poems are gifts. Words and images just come sometimes, come through you, and then your job is to get out of the way so they can be born the way they want to. This is the poem that comes at three in the morning, half dream and half vision, words or just an image, water flowing down a ladder. Even if I don’t know what it’s supposed to mean, I scribble it on a sticky note because it’s my job to write it down. These are some of the most surreal pieces, the most mystical. Poetry is the furthest words can bend. Poetry uses words to go beyond words. That’s the magic of it—poetry hotwires the brain, bypassing the logic circuits and electrifying the heart directly. One misunderstanding about poetry is that it has to be understood with the head. You can feel it, experience it without that. Sometimes the head is the problem. You don’t have to know what it means; it’s moving through you into the world. I work both ways: other times ideas come from the mind or imagination or the news. On a conscious level, poetry is an attempt to communicate feeling, insight, vision. My most conscious poetry is an attempt to recreate a flash of insight—a moment of vastness, or beauty, courage, rebellion, love, gratitude. Truth. Oneness between people or with the world or with the self. The trick is to make it a journey for the reader’s own imagination, so they have their own flash. Before performing my work, I practice at home. I print it out in a big font and number the pages and highlight every other line. And if I get nervous, I picture somebody like Sarah Silverman making fun of me, like, “Oh, poor widdle baby! Are you scared to wead at the open mic? What do you think this is, The Tonight Show? Just do it, dummy.” How would you describe the poetry community in Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region? BB: Most of my involvement in the local poetry community has been through Pikes Peak Community College, where I teach poetry and creative writing. When I finished my MFA, I immediately missed the deadlines, audience, and feedback on my work. Someone gave me the idea of starting a faculty writers’ group, and I did that—it’s called the Nearby Universe. But I made it for all employees, not just faculty, and I’m so glad I did. We have members from the testing center, admins, financial aid office, all over. Math and psychology teachers. It’s been all the things a community is—friendship, motivation, inspiration. A place to get honest feedback on our work. For almost five years now, we’ve been meeting once a month, taking turns workshopping and talking shop about publication, agents, imagery, style—really all things writing. Every winter, we have a write-in, too. We get together and just write next to each other for four hours, like parallel play for grownups. We used to do it downtown at a coffee shop, but the last few years we’ve been doing it on Zoom. Every class I teach is a poetry community, too. My students are amazing—they get me excited about writing again and again, challenge my ideas, and provide me with excellent reading. My students have written the best creative nonfiction braids I’ve ever read. How has poetry been a vehicle for activism, change, or advocacy in your life and community? BB: I have a few explicitly anti-racist and anti-sexist and anti-homophobic poems, and a lot of poems and stories about daring to be yourself and love yourself no matter what. So I hope their publication in literary magazines and in my collection has been a drop in the bucket somewhere. Within academia, change has been slow. Nationwide, college curriculums are starting to be more diverse, but the canon’s walls are thick. It has to start sooner than that. By the time they get to college, half my writers already think poetry’s not for them, not about them. Every semester I ask my students what poetry means, who they think of, and nobody says Lauren Hill or Kendrick Lamar. The answers are always the same: Sonnets. Rules. Shakespeare and Robert Frost and Edgar Allen Poe. What do they all have in common? They’re all dead, they say. All men. And all white. I use my classroom as a vehicle for change. In my poetry class, we study rap specifically, and 75% of the authors we read are people of color in all my classes. And when anybody questions that, I tell them I’m making up for lost time. What’s missing in our poetry community? BB: More emphasis on the arts and the imagination in education. More events and poetry play for kids and teenagers. I have 18-year-olds telling me they’re just not creative people—where did they learn that? The ideas that poetry is for everybody and that poetry is a way to freedom, a way to be yourself, not a dusty room full of rules, has to come sooner. What advances in poetry have you witnessed during your time in the poetry community? BB: The first poetry community I was a part of was my own group of friends in high school and college. Art was part of our connection—we would sing together. We would draw and paint and make sculptures and show each other. We wrote poetry—sometimes about each other—and we read our work to each other. We gave each other feedback, but mostly we uplifted each other and encouraged each other to keep writing and creating. So, in that sense, I’ve been in one poetry community or another for about 30 years. In that time, the biggest advance in the form itself has been the rise of prose poetry into the mainstream, the breaking of the only thing that was really holding poetry together, the only rule left: the line. This contributed to a psychological shift, I think, making poetry a little less pretentious and intimidating, and opening it up to new angles and voices. Now, boundaries between forms and genres are the thinnest they’ve ever been—there are graphic novels of poetry and computer games that should be called novels. There are novels written in hypertext, novels made of bites of prose poetry, and a thousand other hybrids and experiments happening. It’s an incredible time to be reading and writing poetry. What would you say to folks interested or just starting to engage with our poetry scene? BB: If you love it, do it. And don’t count yourself out until you’ve put your ten thousand hours into it. I get students who tell me they like poetry, they’re just not good at writing it, and when I ask how many poems they’ve written, the answer is five or ten or twenty or one. It takes time and effort. Take a class, and read it, and listen to it, and talk to other people who want to write it. Join a writers’ group, online or in person. How do you find and access our poetry community? Who are the players and places of connection? BB: My first poet friend was my grandmother, from as long as I can remember. Now I have a few close writer friends, people I can send drafts and fragments to and talk about ideas with, and I do the same for them. There’s also my writers’ group at PPCC, the Nearby Universe. There are literary magazines I follow and submit to regularly, like A Story in 100 Words and Loud Coffee Press. There’s a lot of community out there that I would love to explore if I had time, like The Pikes Peak Writers Association and Ashley’s group, Poetry 719. I want to go to AWP. But I’m a mom and my babies come first. I have two kids and I have a trampoline. So my plate is very full right now, but it’s delicious. I wouldn’t change a thing. You can support Brook Bhagat by ordering a copy of her book ONLY FLYING.
North Carolina Poet Maureen Sherbondy Releases 11th Poetry Collection: LINES IN OPPOSITION4/12/2022
 PORTLAND, OR; April 12, 2022--Poet Maureen Sherbondy has had enough. Her eleventh collection, Lines in Opposition, explores our need to set limits in times of conflict and confusion. These poems of defiance range from the artistic to the political to the familial, from Basho to Godot, Gretel to Ashbery, the Rockettes to Bubble Yum. At times wry and whimsical, at other times acutely serious, Sherbondy's poems testify to the importance of knowing when and how to draw the line.
About Maureen Sherbondy Maureen Sherbondy’s poems have appeared in Prelude, Calyx, European Judaism, The Oakland Review, and other journals. She has won the Hart Crane Memorial Poetry Contest, the North Carolina Poet Laureate prize, and many other awards. Her most recent poetry books are Dancing with Dali, The Art of Departure, and Eulogy for an Imperfect Man. Sherbondy teaches English at Alamance Community College in Graham, North Carolina. About Unsolicited Press Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. Learn more at www.unsolicitedpress.com. The publisher can be followed on Instagram and Twitter: @unsolicitedp LINES IN OPPOSITION is available on April 12, 2022 as a paperback (106 p.; 978-1-956692-10-5) and e-book (all major retailers). The title is distributed to the trade by Ingram. The author is open to speaking with the media, holding readings, and engaging in other author opportunities.  Join us on Wednesday to celebrate the poetry of Maureen Sherbondy and Megan Mary Moore. Same time: 5:30PM Pac Time. Same place: Zoom Same people: Managing editor hosting You can log onto the event here. Megan Mary Moore is passionate about horror and poetry. She holds an MFA in poetry from Miami University. Her work has appeared in Rattle, Rogue Agent, Haunted are These Houses by Unnerving Press. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio where she teaches dance and talks to ghosts. Maureen Sherbondy has been published in Calyx, European Judaism, The Oakland Review, Prelude, and other journals. Her poetry books include Eulogy for an Imperfect Man, Beyond Fairy Tales, The Art of Departure, and six chapbooks. LINES IN OPPOSITION by Maureen Sherbondy
$16.95
Poet Maureen Sherbondy has had enough. Her eleventh collection, Lines in Opposition, explores our need to set limits in times of conflict and confusion. These poems of defiance range from the artistic to the political to the familial, from Basho to Godot, Gretel to Ashbery, the Rockettes to Bubble Yum. At times wry and whimsical, at other times acutely serious, Sherbondy's poems testify to the importance of knowing when and how to draw the line. Book Details Genre: Poetry ISBN:978-1-956692-10-5 Publication Date:4/12/2022  We are hosting a special reading on Tuesday, April 12, 5:30pm – 6:30pm in honor of Ted's book coming out! Head over to the events page to access the event. No RSVP required. Ace Boggess is author of the novels States of Mercy and A Song Without a Melody, but is known more for his four books of poetry: I Have Lost the Art of Dreaming It So, Ultra Deep Field, The Prisoners, and The Beautiful Girl Whose Wish Was Not Fulfilled. His writing, both poetry and prose, has appeared in hundreds of literary journals, including Harvard Review, Notre Dame Review, The Bellingham Review, Rattle, River Styx, North Dakota Quarterly, J Journal, Mid-American Review, and Southern Humanities Review. He received a fellowship for fiction from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts and spent five years in a West Virginia prison, an experience he writes about with intensity and humor. Theodore Worozbyt has received grants from the NEA, and the Georgia and Alabama Councils for the Arts. His work appears widely, in such publications as Antioch Review, Bennington Review, Kenyon Review, New England Review, Poetry, Po&sie, The Southern Review, and TriQuarterly. His books are The Dauber Wings, Letters of Transit, winner of the Juniper Prize, and Smaller Than Death. He teaches at Georgia State University. I Have Lost the Art of Dreaming It So by Ace Boggess
$16.00
I Have Lost the Art of Dreaming It So is comprised of poems the author wrote as responses to questions he collected over the years, whether asked directly or mined from other poems, novels, billboards, surveys, Facebook memes, leaflets, and many other places. He used these questions as a way of looking inside his life, the lives of the askers, and the world around him. Genre: Poetry ISBN: 978-1-947021-32-7 Release: August 28, 2018 TUESDAY MARRIAGE DEATH by Theodore Worozbyt
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The first poem in this fourth full-length collection by Theodore Worozbyt closes with an image that suggests a mythical bird, transcendence, unending wealth and success, caesarean birth, violent death, a surgeon lurking in the name of an ancient fish, and an end that comes as a beginning: “Golden eggs /slit from a sturgeon's belly finish it.” So begins the undertaking, in this volume, to compress language itself into a ball, to roll it forth, not toward one overwhelming question, but to scores of them. If the title arcs a life with astonishing and unnerving brevity, and if most of those overwhelming questions remain unanswered, the title poem turns to us, on the final page, to offer the only human consolation we ever get to keep: “Let us begin again.” Book Details Genre: Poetry ISBN:978-1-956692-09-9 Publication Date: April 5, 2022 If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make? T. S. Eliot. I would make a roast chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? That I will run out of interesting things to write about. I combat my fears by reading work by other writers. I also spend a lot of time listening to the world around me and paying attention. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? F. Scott Fitzgerald What books are on your nightstand? Greasy Lake (T.C. Boyle), The Immortalists (Chloe Benjamin), By the Wayside (Anne Leigh Parrish). I carry around books by Robert Bly and John Ashbery for poetry inspiration. Favorite punctuation mark? Why? : I like lists. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? I was an obedient student. I read every single assigned book. And I loved to read. What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? My coffee pot. If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? Don’t give up. Only writers who give up never get published. Does writing energize or exhaust you? Writing energizes me and keeps me balanced. What are common traps for aspiring writers? Trying to chase trends. Trying to write like the masters. What is your writing Kryptonite? A negative political climate. Have you ever gotten reader’s block? No. I have a very active imagination. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? Yes, but their work might be terrible and distant. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer? Sharon Kurtzman, Jacob Appel, Therese Fowler, Elaine Orr, Crystal Simone Smith, Diane Chamberlain, Barry Peters. Yes, they nourish me as a writer. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book? Some of my books work together. Some stand alone. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? Not at all, but I took myself more seriously as a writer. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? Buying more books and attending writers’ conferences What authors did you dislike at first but grew into? I like all authors. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? My first words to my mother: “Let me do it myself” What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel? This Side of Paradise. Gatsby gets all the attention. As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? A horse or a frog. What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters? I make my characters up. What does literary success look like to you? I write one new poem or story a week that I am pleased with. What’s the best way to market your books? I give readings, appear on NPR, and teach workshops. What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex? I do better writing characters from the opposite sex because I have been surrounded by brothers and sons my whole life. I have much male energy. What did you edit out of this book?” I deleted a few poems that felt weaker. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work? I teach full-time. I sold workers’ compensation before. I think I would study rocks.  Maureen Sherbondy is the author of LINES IN OPPOSITION, a poetry collection.
In Lines in Opposition, Sherbondy explores our need to set limits in times of conflict and confusion. These poems of defiance range from the artistic to the political to the familial, from Basho to Godot, Gretel to Ashbery, the Rockettes to Bubble Yum. At times wry and whimsical, at other times acutely serious, Sherbondy's poems testify to the importance of knowing when and how to draw the line. If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?
Penny Niven. She was my mentor and I’d make truffle mac & cheese with ground bison, roasted brussels sprouts, and Guinness Chocolate Cake. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? That I’ve already written my best stuff. So I just breathe, accept that that may be true, and write anyway. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? Oh Ross Gay! I’m utterly in love. What books are on your nightstand? Bible, Jim Butcher’s White Night, Flannery O’Connor’s Prayer Journal Favorite punctuation mark? Why? I LOVE a semicolon! I think it is entirely underused. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? Sorry, I read them all. What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? My “Joy” tea mug If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? The world is better with your voice in it. Does writing energize or exhaust you? Yes, both. Sometimes I’ve had several poems in the back of my head and finally getting them out is energizing. But other times I’m writing some of the harder darker stuff and I just want a nap. What are common traps for aspiring writers? Editing while writing. Just get the words out there and THEN go back. What is your writing Kryptonite? Crippling self-doubt Have you ever gotten reader’s block? Sure! Hate it. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? No, I don’t. I think so much of writing is from an emotional place. Now, my father (award winning novelist John Carenen) says he doesn’t have emotions, but I beg to differ. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer? I have an incredible writers’ group full of friends. They are forever encouraging me to to write more and tell the truth. In my head I’m bffs with Leesa Cross-Smith. Her books make me a better writer because she is so honest and beautiful and rich in writing. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book? I think it is a body of work, but more tracking my own growth and progress as a human. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? I don’t think it has. I hope not. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? My faux fireplace in my living room. It creates exactly the right cozy vibe. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? When I was maybe 9 I tried writing a Doogie Howser esq journal and shared it with my mother. She teared up and I realized that I could share what I was feeling without having to say a word out loud. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel? I’m going to have to go with Leesa Cross-Smith’s Whiskey and Ribbons. I think it is nothing short of brilliant. Her prose is often poetic and I get swept up in her language. Also the Alice Hoffman Practical Magic series. I love her work and I just want to wear warm sweaters, leggings, and fuzzy socks and curl up on the couch with my cat and some tea and get lost in her world. As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? I’d like it to be an owl, but in reality my cat Minerva. What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters? I don’t think I owe them anything. Maybe a heads-up that they’re in the book? How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? Two What does literary success look like to you? Just that strangers found hope or some aspect of themselves in my words. What did you edit out of this book?” Poems that didn’t ring true any more. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work? Yoga teacher. I’m certified, but my creativity goes into my writing and my editing. |
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