Come to the party! City Lights Books in Sylva NC, Friday March 23

Friday, March 23, 7:00 p.m. City Lights Books in Sylva, NC.
Book Launch for the Future Cycle Anthology 2011, and for Scott Owens' newest poetry book, For One Who Knows How To Own Land. 
Scott will read and talk about his book which has received rave reviews.

Reading from the anthology will be Glenda Beall,   Robert S. King,   Mary Ricketson, and Carole Thompson. Come to the party!  We hope everyone will come, mingle, eat and drink as well as enjoy some excellent poetry.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Voices from Echoes Across the Blue Ridge

May 20, 21 I will be in Hendersonville, NC for the Blue Ridge Bookfest held annually at Blue Ridge Community College. Bill Ramsey who heads up the event says it is going to be one of the best ever.
Seven of us will host a panel discussion - Voices from Echoes Across the Blue Ridge - with panelists Jayne Jaudon Ferrer, Rosemary Royston, Nancy Simpson, Lana Hendershott, Nancy Purcell, and JC Walkup giving their thoughts and advice on publishing and Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, anthology published by Winding Path Publishing for NCWN West.

Ann B. Ross, author of the famous Julia series, is special guest of honor at the reception Friday evening. Bill says they plan a dramatization of one of her books. I might have to wear my mask because of the perfume in the room, but I plan to be there.


The bookfest is free to the public. Look for the Netwest table and take home a copy of Echoes across the Blue Ridge, signed by all of our panelists. I hope to see you there. You might also want to pick up a copy of Now Might as Well be Then, my poetry chapbook.

How Quickly Can an Editor Say NO?

As I tell my students, rejections are a normal part of writing and we must not take them personally. And, if an editor actually comments on your submission, that is a reason to rejoice.

For several weeks I've worked on an essay for an anthology. The deadline for my submission was November 30. I researched, revised, and sent my essay to my good friend, Ellen, who edited and returned it to me.

She was extremely helpful. I made the changes she suggested. She wanted me to write a more powerful ending and so did I.

While I mulled over my last paragraph, I found I had a fractured vertebrae in my back, visited my sister in the hospital and took dinner to her husband who is recovering from back surgery. That was down in Roswell, GA.

I was about to give up on this essay, feeling I had more important things on my mind. I came home from Atlanta on November 30. It was late in the evening when I decided to try to write an ending that was worthy of my subject, ageism in the writing world.

I hit Send on my computer about 12:20 a.m., and my essay was on its way through cyberspace. I went to bed.
On December 1, I began my doctor's prescription - rest, rest, rest and pain meds every four to six hours.

I opened my e-mail after lunch and there it was. A reply from the editor of the anthology. Wow, I thought. This was fast. They must really like my piece.

But no. My essay was rejected. They had so many submissions and had to divide up the topics, etc. and mine did not make it.

I do believe that was the quickest rejection I have ever received. I wonder if it was even read, but I thanked the editor for reading my work and will take her suggestion to send it out again.


Since I began submitting 15 years ago, my work has been published in about 75 different publications, some journals publish more than one poem or essay. I have my file of rejections and acceptances. I go back and read them occasionally. I have received rejections consisting of one sentence, and I've received rejections written by hand. I've received suggestions on how to improve my poem or essay, but I've never received a rejection or an acceptance within fourteen hours of submitting.

Today's technology - is this a blessing or a curse? I had to laugh.

Have you ever received an acceptance or a rejection that fast?

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