The Writing Path Blog

I’m happy to have had my poems recently appear in these journals with a focus on poetry with a spiritual theme: PilgrimageNow under the editorship of Maria Melendez, this print journal describes itself as “a small magazine living the big questions; a community-in-print serving an eclectic fellowship of readers, writers, artists, naturalists, contemplatives, activists, seekers, adventurers, and other kindred spirits.” I like their emphasis on the natural world. Ruminate MagazineAn attractive print journal that looks…

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My list of poetry publishers who read outside of contests has just grown, thanks to editor/publisher Adam Deutsch and his eagle eye (Cooper Dillon Books). I added: Black Ocean PressFour Way BooksH_NGM_NOctopus BooksSteel Toe Books Carolina Wren has closed poetry submissions and now reads only prose outside of contests. Slowly recovering my blogroll. Today I added back Mary Biddinger’s blog the word cage. I enjoy her images as well as her words. Send me your…

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I don’t normally do the brag thing on this blog, at least not too much. But when I thought back on my 2010 in poetry and prose, I wanted to make a list just for my own aide-memoir. It surprised me. I didn’t remember doing all this until I started the list. All in all, a good literary year. Here’s the list: Took two poetry workshops with Kim Addonizio Published eight poems in literary journals…

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So many blogs and websites (not to mention booksellers) are offering gift-giving book ideas that I thought I’d offer an alternative: good stuff to dig into for a break to soothe your ruffled holiday feathers. This time of year is hectic, even under the best of circumstances. Diving into a good book of poetry or fiction can be a good way to cope. Some ideas — gift yourself! Tinkers — I found this novel fascinating…

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I intend to spend as much of the holiday season as I can reading, and that includes bloghopping around among the amusing, informative, intimate, surprising, and sometimes hilarious posts of my fellow literary bloggers. Just in a few minutes of bloghopping via my blogroll and those of the blogs I link to, I found these great resources and blogs: Mira’s List (includes funding for writers and artists) How a Poem Happens Kristy Bowen Poetry Publishers…

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I did it! I finished the first draft of my 265-page novel, took a breath, had some excellent champagne, and the next day, began revising. It took a year to draft it; it will take that long to revise it, probably. Naturally, I don’t want to embark on this journey without companions. Here are some friendly advisers I’ve found to hold my hand and brave the adventure by my side: How to Revise a Novel…

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I’m pleased to have my guest post appear at Voice Alpha, an exciting new blog that’s “a repository for thoughts, theories, suggestions, likes and dislikes and anything else related to the art and science of reading poetry aloud for an audience.” My blog entry went live today. Thanks, Nic Sebastian, for inviting me to write on this topic. I’ll be continuing to read, and also listening and reading on the companion site, Whale Sound, to…

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It has arrived, and it will let me read e-Books bought there on my iPhone, laptop, desktop, or any device — best of all, my new book is stored in the cloud! I can access it anywhere. Check it out: Google Bookstore. Also best of all (can I have two “bests? — I think this warrants it), Google Bookstore carries Powell’s Books and other Indie Bookstores. That means, “Hello, small press industry, come on into…

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Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from your favorite third-party software, Blogrolling.com. They just posted this terse little announcement: Blogrolling Has Ceased Operation The Blogrolling service is no longer available.If your site is still using Blogrolling code you should see a blank space where your blogroll used to be. That is because rpc.blogrolling.com is currently serving up a blank file.We will continue to serve this blank file for six months. My entire, carefully accrued blogroll: GONE!…

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For centuries, until the Renaissance, pretty much all art was commissioned by religious authorities. Churches, temples, mosques, paid artists and musicians and poets to celebrate and illustrate their particular faith. Now things have pretty much reversed, and most art is produced outside of the religious  context. Yet a healthy percentage of contemporary American poetry is based on spiritual feelings, if not overly religious ones. However, the market devoted specifically to publishing spiritual poetry is minuscule.…

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