New Interview Out (& Girl Time)

An interview I did with Extract(s): Daily Dose of Lit about my book Inappropriate Sleepover is out now. You can read it here.

AWP being in Minneapolis this year means I get to see Ria Misra and Katrina Wollet!

DRPJ at AWP, Book Finalist x 2, Forthcoming Poetry, etc.

I recently found out that my second book The Crimes of Clara Turlington was a finalist at Portage Press.

I also recently found out that the book is currently a finalist at Vine Leaves Press. I'm very flattered! 

Today I had a poem accepted by Eleven Eleven.

I was recently interviewed about Inappropriate Sleepover by the wonderful Jenn Monroe for Extract(s): Daily Dose of Lit. The interview will be out next week.

AWP is happening soon! If you're at the bookfair, come visit Dressing Room Poetry Journal at table 854! 

Lately, things have been...busy... I'm...tired... I feel a little like this or this. Overdramatic sigh.

Eight

I found out on Saturday that my second book The Crimes of Clara Turlington (formerly titled Butter Sad) is a semi-finalist in the Pamet River contest at YesYes Books. This is the eighth time the book has been named a finalist or semi-finalist in book contests.

On March 8th, Jennifer L. Knox, Blueberry Morningsnow, and I were the judges at the Poetry Out Loud state finals for Iowa. It is always really fun to hang out with Jen and it was great to meet Blue.

It is the time of the year when writers recently accepted into MFA programs make decisions about where they will go in the fall and people have been asking me about the NEOMFA Program. Talking to people about the NEOMFA is making me miss Mary Biddinger even more than usual! I can't wait to see Mary at AWP!

Winter (Sigh)

I'm trying to decide if I want to cut my hair and if so, how much. Yesterday morning I took these photos before I left the house to go teach. I laughed when I looked at them because they are so obviously pictures taken in the wintertime. (Sweater, pale skin.) Oh, winter.

Finalist Again

My second full length manuscript The Crimes of Clara Turlington (formerly known as Butter Sad) is a finalist again.

I'm ready for spring break.

Next weekend Poetry Out Loud is happening (the state finals for Iowa) and I'm one of the judges.

Here's the info if you want to check it out:
Iowa Poetry Out Loud State Contest
Sunday, March 1, 2015 (snow date March 8, 2015) | 1 pm
Iowa State Historical Museum
600 East Locust Street
Des Moines, IA 50319-0290
The Iowa State Poetry Out Loud Finals are free and open to the public. 
Please plan to turn off your cell phones.

Two Poems in the New Issue of Painted Bride Quarterly and Two Poems Forthcoming in Superstition Review

I have two poems in the new issue of Painted Bride Quarterly. You can read them here and here.

I found out almost a week ago that I had two poems accepted by Superstition Review. The issue will be out this spring. The magazine has an iTunes channel so I'll be either making a video or audio recording for that.

Also... Lately some people have been asking me about this (and the internet can be a strange place) so I thought I'd mention it. I don't have/use a lot of usual social media (facebook, twitter, pinterest, instagram, etc.). I post things on this blog and have a website. I have some poetry videos on YouTube. I do have google plus and linkedin. My book Inappropriate Sleepover has a site and the url of Dressing Room Poetry Journal's site is still the same. (Visit Dressing Room at the AWP bookfair in April!)

Valentine's Day was this weekend and kitschy things were happening.

So much to do this week...

Two Poems Forthcoming in Verdad

This past Saturday I had two poems accepted by the journal Verdad. I'll let you know when the poems are out.

I've been having insomnia and weird dreams this week. It might be because of the bad winter weather and the trucks beeping and shoveling snow on my street in the middle of the night. It might be because I watched Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for the first time last weekend. You can't unsee that one.