Mary Soon Lee's Mailbox Blues for 2012-2013

This page contains Mary Soon Lee's 2012-2013 mailbox mutterings. For more recent news see the latest Mailbox Blues.

2013 Year-End Summary

Happy New Year! In 2013, I wrote 86 poems. 5 of those have already been retired and 2 have been merged, reducing the total to 80 poems. I had 26 poems accepted in the year, 14 poems published and 1 short story reprinted.

20 December 2013: Coal City Review

My poem "Herb's Marathon" has been published by Coal City Review :-)

19 December 2013: Concho River Review

My poem "Africa" has been accepted by Concho River Review :-) This has been a good year for me: I've had 26 poems accepted, and I am now up to 85 new poems written this year (57 of which are part of the fantasy sequence that continues to obsess me).

16 December 2013: Evansville Review

My poems "Pan-Roasted Lobster with Bay Leaf" and "Cristina" were both accepted by the Evansville Review. I am particularly glad because these are two favorites of mine. (The first is a poem about Lucy, the second is a poem from a sequence about a book club.)

13 December 2013: Red Rock Review

Today my poem "Odd Birds" was accepted by The Red Rock Review, and I also got to watch the second "Hobbit" movie with Lucy and friends. So it was a good day :-)

4 December 2013: Uppagus and an update

My poem "Last Four Days!" has been accepted by Uppagus :-)

Update: I've now written 77 poems in 2013, and am still obsessed by my fantasy series of poems (one more added to the set today).

21 November 2013: Green Hills Literary Lantern

My poem "Yours" has been accepted by Green Hills Literary Lantern, which will be my second appearance there :-)

17 November 2013: Dreams & Nightmares

My fantasy poem "The Bastard Prince" has been accepted by Dreams & Nightmares in a wonderfully swift two days :-)

31 October 2013: Westview + Update

Today I had three poems accepted by Westview :-) The poems are titled "She and Me," "Not Enough," and "Breaking."

Update on progress: I have written 62 poems so far in 2013, exceeding my target of 52 new poems for the year (even allowing for the fact that I have already retired several of the poems).... I continue to be somewhat obsessed by my fantasy series of poems: 34 out of my last 36 poems have been part of that sequence.

28 October 2013: Star*Line :-) :-) :-)

My poem "Interregnum" has just been published in Star*Line. I am particularly happy about this publication: I am currently working on a series of fantasy poems, and this is both the first poem in the sequence and the first to be published. Many of the poems in the series -- including "Interregnum" -- have overt fantasy elements, such as unicorns, dragons, and demons. I have been having a lot of fun writing them :-) Almost too much fun -- sometimes I don't want to stop writing even when William and Lucy are back from school.... This particular poem was written at the start of August, and accepted on its first trip out at the end of August. Another poem in the sequence has also been accepted by Star*Line, and will hopefully be in their next issue.

N.B. As icing on the cake, this issue of Star*Line also contains an (excellent) poem titled "Mer-angutans" by my friend Timons Esaias.

21 October 2013: Main Street Rag

I am happy to report that my poems "Houseguest" and "On Reading Packaging" have been accepted by Main Street Rag. Over the past ten years, I have had 15 poems published by Main Street Rag, and I am very grateful to M. Scott Douglass for his encouragement.

2 October 2013: Louisiana Literature + Update

Yesterday I received email saying that my poems "What Matters" and "Roasted Herbed Leg of Lamb" have been accepted by Louisiana Literature :-) :-)

Update on progress in 2013: I have written 51 poems this year, so I am only one poem away from my target of 52 new poems in the year. However, I have already retired 4 of those poems, and I combined two other poems into one. So that makes 46 poems still in submission or accepted (3 of the 46 have been accepted).... I have had a dozen poems and 1 story published in 2013, and 14 poems accepted.

I am continuing to enjoy writing my sequence of fantasy poems, and hope to add another poem to the sequence by the end of the week.

25 September 2013: Iodine Poetry Journal

It's official: this is a good week, but a fattening one. Today I received my contributor's copy of Iodine Poetry Journal, containing my poem "The Hardest Part." Tomorrow I will be buying a celebratory dessert, and we have already enjoyed the celebratory dessert for Monday's publications :-)

23 September 2013: Evansville Review + 5 AM

In a rare double event, I received contributor copies for two poems today: "Lego People," which appeared in the Evansville Review, Volume XXIII, and "Coffee Shop for the Solitary," which appeared in 5 AM, issue #37 :-) :-) :-)

I also note that I have been continuing to work on my sequence of fantasy poems, and I am having a lot of fun doing so.

1 September 2013: Star*Line (again)

As well as accepting "Interregnum" at the end of August, the editor of Star*Line also invited me to submit a revised version of two of the other poems, merging them together into one poem. And today she accepted the rewritten poem. Hooray! :-)

29 August 2013: Star*Line

My poem "Interregnum" has been accepted by Star*Line. The editor, F.J. Bergmann, was wonderful: her email response came within a few hours of my submission, and she suggested edits that improved the poem (punctuation changes, one word change, and two word deletions). I am particularly happy that this poem was accepted, since it is one of the only genre poems that I have written in the past few years. (This summer I began a fantasy sequence to which this poem belongs.) Also, this poem was accepted on its first time out, which is a rare and happy event for me.

16 August 2013: Pinyon + update

My poems "Household Appliances: Junior" and "Alert" have been published by Pinyon :-)

Also a belated update: I have written 34 poems so far in 2013, which coincidentally is also the number of poems that I retired in July. (When I retire a poem, I stop trying to get it published.)

18 July 2013: Spillway

My poem "Rat" has been accepted by Spillway :-) The editor requested a change to the poem's layout that I like, and she also replied with delightful speed (1 day).

15 July 2013: Green Hills Literary Lantern

My poem "Problems (again)" has just been published by Green Hills Literary Lantern :-)

12 July 2013: Atlanta Review

My poem "Giants" has been accepted by the Atlanta Review :-) This will be my fourth appearance in The Atlanta Review. The poem was written this April, and was accepted on its first time out, which is very rare for me.

1 July 2013: Update

At this halfway-point through the year, I have written 30 new poems so far in 2013, and revised many more. On the non-writing front, William and Lucy are enjoying summer break. We have been on our main family vacation (a week visiting Andrew's family in England, followed by 4 nights in Venice). And Lucy has been more than a month without a nosebleed :-) :-)

1 June 2013: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

My poem "Amber" is in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The poem is about my friend Amber Miro, who died in March 2012.

31 May 2013: Ship of Fools

My poem "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" has just appeared in Ship of Fools #68, my seventeenth poem to appear in Ship of Fools (!) They first published a poem of mine back in 2003.... In happy non-writing news, William completed the last of his eighth-grade exams yesterday :-)

28 May 2013: Chariton Review

My poem "Anna" has just been published by The Chariton Review :-)

7 May 2013: 5 AM

My poem "Coffee Shop for the Solitary" has been accepted by 5 AM :-)

19 April 2013: Bryant Literary Review

My poem "An Appeal" has been published in the Bryant Literary Review :-)

8 April 2013: Red Rock Review

My poems "Red Rock Canyon" and "Inside Out" have been published in the Spring 2013 issue of The Red Rock Review :-)

31 March 2013: End-of-month update

Four poems written this month, bringing me to an unimpressive total of fourteen poems so far in 2013.

On the exercise front, I went to the gym just twice, bringing me to 16 gym visits this year.

In other news, William and Lucy had their 17-day-long spring break, during which Andrew and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary (at Walt Disney World with William, Lucy, and friends).

2 March 2013: Coal City Review

My poem "Herb's Marathon" has been accepted by Coal City Review :-)

28 February 2013: End-of-month update

Five more poems written this month, bringing me to a lacklustre total of ten poems so far in 2013. On the plus side, four of those five poems were in a sequence that I'm having a lot of fun creating, and I also revised eighteen older poems.

On the exercise front, I went to the gym 8 times, bringing me to 14 gym visits this year.

26 February 2013: Lightspeed Magazine

My science fiction story "PauseTime" has been reprinted online in Lightspeed Magazine :-) :-) This story originally appeared in Spectrum SF #4, back in November 2000, and I am very happy that it's been reprinted.

25 February 2013: Chariton Review

My poem "Anna" has been accepted by The Chariton Review :-) :-)

23 February 2013: Ship of Fools

My poem "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" has been accepted by Ship of Fools, my seventeenth acceptance from its editor, Jack Hart. Rejections are so common, and their frequency so discouraging, that I really appreciate his encouragement over the past ten years. (Likewise, I appreciate the encouragement of M. Scott Douglass at Main Street Rag, and of the poetry editors at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.)

31 January 2013: End-of-month update

A slow start to the new year. I have written 5 new poems (one of them part of a larger project that I am fond of) and been to the gym six times. It has been a somewhat stressful month, but I am hopeful that February will be better.

25 January 2013: Pinyon

I am happy to report that my poems "Alert" and "Household Appliances: Junior" were accepted by Pinyon :-)

11 January 2013: Iodine Poetry Journal

Apologies for the nearly month-long gap between updates. First there was the pre-Christmas-rush, then Christmas, then a (lovely) family vacation, then catching-up (only partially caught up at this point). Two good things to report: my poem "The Hardest Part" was accepted by Iodine Poetry Journal, and yesterday I wrote my first poem of 2013 :-)

12 December 2012: Red Rock Review

My poems "Red Rock Canyon" and "Inside Out" have been accepted by The Red Rock Review :-) :-)

It has been a good couple of weeks for me on the poetry front, with 3 poems accepted and another poem published, but in case anyone is wondering, I do also receive plenty of bad news. So far in December, eight different magazines have rejected the poems I sent them.

8 December 2012: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

My poem "Ten Words" is in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, my eleventh poem to appear there :-)

6 December 2012: The Evansville Review

I am delighted to report that my poem "Lego People" has been accepted by The Evansville Review :-) :-)

1 December 2012: Progress Report

63 poems written so far in 2012, and I am trying not to write any more as I am behind on so many other things, including the all-important Christmas preparations. Exercise: 71 gym visits so far this year.

Also, I received payment (very promptly) for my recent reprint sale to Lightspeed.

25 November 2012: Lightspeed Magazine

I received an email from John Joseph Adams, the editor and publisher of Lightspeed Magazine, who is interested in reprinting my science fiction story "PauseTime." I would be delighted if he does so :-)

22 November 2012: Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! (Fish drawn by Lucy using Drawing Pad.)

5 November 2012: Bryant Literary Review

My poem "An Appeal" has been accepted by Bryant Literary Review :-) This is my most recently written poem to find a home, "An Appeal" being less than a year old.

2 November 2012: Progress Report

60 poems written so far in 2012; I am now past my official goal of 52 poems for the year. Hooray! Exercise: 65 gym visits so far this year.

20 October 2012: Progress Report

50 poems written so far in 2012 -- close to my goal of 52 poems for the year. Exercise: 62 gym visits so far this year.

Also, I have begun porting my website from its old home over to a new one.

4 September 2012: Green Hills Literary Lantern

My poem "Problems (Again)" has been accepted for the 2013 issue of Green Hills Literary Lantern :-)

18 August 2012: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

My poem "On Reading Children's Books" was accepted yesterday by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and appeared in today's paper, much to my delight.

6 August 2012: Curiosity, Main Street Rag, Progress Report

Early this morning, William, Andrew and I watched the Mars Science Laboratory land the Curiosity rover on Mars :-)

I have also had two poems published in Main Street Rag; the poems are titled "Autumn Fire" and "Half-Caste."

Lastly, a progress report: 35 poems written so far in 2012. Exercise: 48 gym visits so far this year.

9 July 2012: Progress Report

Progress report: 33 poems written so far in 2012. Exercise: 43 gym visits so far this year.... This represents zero progress on the poem front since June, which is due to William and Lucy having started their long summer break. I don't expect to write any new poems except during the week when they are doing summer camp, but I have revised a slew of older poems.

7 June 2012: Concho River Review + Progress Report

My poem "Open Houses" has just been published by Concho River Review :-) This is my fourth appearance in Concho River Review.

Progress report: 33 poems written so far in 2012. Exercise: 38 gym visits so far this year.

1 May 2012: Progress Report

Poems: 24 written so far in 2012. Exercise: 28 gym visits so far this year.

There is something unsatisfactory in merely counting how many poems I've written -- clearly good poems ought to count for more than bad poems, but as I cannot sit down at the computer and command myself to write a masterpiece (nice though that would be), I will stick with the current method.

5 April 2012: Progress Report

Poems: 18 written so far in 2012. Exercise: 22 gym visits so far this year.

7 March 2012: Amber Miro

My friend Amber Miro, my childhood best friend and lifelong friend, died yesterday. It seems unreal. The sky is blue, the sun is shining, but she is dead.

6 March 2012: Progress Report

Poems: 15 written so far in 2012. Exercise: 16 gym visits so far this year.

As well as writing new poems, I have been going through my backlog of poems, submitting some, revising some, and retiring others (i.e. ceasing trying to get them published). I'm also reading other people's poetry when I have spare time (hah!), and recently finished T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets," which I greatly liked (four long poems first published during World War II).

6 February 2012: Progress Report

Poems: 8 written so far in 2012. Exercise: 10 gym visits so far this year.

On the non-writing front, I have been greatly enjoying watching William play basketball with his school's 7th grade team. I am almost at the point of wanting to watch a professional basketball game on TV as the school games are so much fun.

13 January 2012: Concho River Review

My poem "Open Houses" has just been accepted by Concho River Review :-) This is my first acceptance of the year :-)

3 January 2012: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Looking back over 2011, I see that I wrote 66 poems, equalling 2010's tally. I also succeeded in losing a little weight and exercising more often (a total of 99 times -- if only I had gone swimming or to the gym once more!)

For 2012, I am setting myself a goal of 52 poems, for a one-poem-per-week average. I would also like to keep exercising and to lose a few more pounds.

Our family had a happy and busy and companionable Christmas break, and it is sad to think it probably won't be until next Christmas -- if then -- that Andrew can take so much time off from work.