Mary Soon Lee's Mailbox Blues for 2014-2015

This page contains Mary Soon Lee's 2014-2015 mailbox mutterings. For more recent news see the latest Mailbox Blues.

28 December 2015: Dreams & Nightmares

My poem "Again" has been accepted by Dreams & Nightmares, my sixth poem to be accepted there :-) "Again" is one of the King Xau poems, so I am particularly glad it has found a good home.

12 December 2015: Songs of Eretz

I have had three more poems accepted by Songs of Eretz Poetry Review :-) These three are all reprints. (They were finalists for the Songs of Eretz Poetry Review contest, but, after they didn't win, the editor asked to publish them.) The poems are "Papa," which first appeared in Uppagus, "Giants," which appeared in the Atlanta Review, and "Interregnum," which first appeared in Star*Line.

8 December 2015: Songs of Eretz

I have had five poems accepted by Songs of Eretz Poetry Review :-) The five include one poem about King Xau and two poems that Lucy particularly liked.

6 December 2015: Uppagus

My poem Cans is online at Uppagus :-) The poem is about my childhood and my father.

4 December 2015: Mirror Dance

My poem Dread, set two and a half years after the end of Crowned, has just been published by Mirror Dance :-)

2 December 2015: Silver Blade

My poem The Wild Horses Came Hastening is online in the latest issue of Silver Blade. It's part of the saga about King Xau and takes place eight years after the end of Crowned.

28 November 2015: Companionship

I have added my poem Companionship to The Sign of the Dragon webpage. The poem first appeared in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review, before being reprinted in Crowned.

9 November 2015: Dreams & Nightmares + Heroic Fantasy Quarterly

My poem A Tale at Bedtime is in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #26; this poem first appeared in Crowned under the title "Bedtime." And my poem "A Gift" is in the latest issue (#101) of Dreams & Nightmares. Both poems are part of The Sign of the Dragon. "A Gift" is the poem furthest on in the sequence to have so far been published, being set 11 years into King Xau's reign.

30 October 2015: Silver Blade

I am very happy to report that my poem "The Wild Horses Came Hastening" has been accepted by Silver Blade, my first sale to them. The poem belongs to The Sign of the Dragon, and is my most-recently-written poem to be accepted. (I wrote it last month.)

29 October 2015: Atlanta Review + Star*Line

My poem "At the Word Party" is in the latest issue of the Atlanta Review, and my poems "The Washerwoman's Daughter" and "Vengeance" are both in the latest Star*Line. ("The Washerwoman's Daughter" was first published in Crowned.) The two Star*Line poems are both from The Sign of the Dragon, though neither of them is about King Xau.

25 October 2015: Uppagus

My poems "In Dublin" and "In Malaya" have both been accepted by Uppagus :-) One is about my Irish grandparents and the other about my Malaysian grandparents.

24 October 2015: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Anthology

My poem "Succession" has been selected to appear in an anthology of poems drawn from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The poem first appeared in Red Rock Review, then in Crowned, then in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

20 October 2015: Red Rock Review + World Fantasy Convention

My poem "What the Table Wants" is in the latest issue of Red Rock Review :-) Also, I will be at this year's World Fantasy Convention, and will be on two panels: "What is 'Epic' about Epic Fantasy?" and "Fantasy landscapes and the limits of imagination."

16 October 2015: HWA Poetry Showcase

My poem "Necromancer" is in the HWA Poetry Showcase, Volume II. "Necromancer" is part of The Sign of the Dragon.

14 October 2015: "Brighid" / poetrynook.com

My poem Brighid, first published in Apex Magazine, has won the 48th weekly poetry contest at poetrynook.com :-) And I have already received the $25 prize via Paypal.

6 October 2015: "Brighid"

I just entered my poem Brighid in poetrynook.com's latest weekly contest. The poem first appeared in Apex Magazine.... While I am (evidently) still enthusiastic about this contest, I note that I would be wary of sending them poems that have NOT already been published, since I think that entering the contest would qualify as a form of publication, and so make it hard to sell/place the poems elsewhere....

5 October 2015: Spillway + New Yinzer

Today I received my contributor's copy of Spillway 23, containing my poem "Cup in Hand." And I also had two poems, "Kitchen" and "Ask Me Now," published online by The New Yinzer. A good day.

29 September 2015: "What Xau Remembered" + Apex + Sasquan

I just entered my poem What Xau Remembered in poetrynook.com's latest weekly contest. I plan to enter a poem most weeks, as they accept reprints and have no entry fee. The poem first appeared in Uppagus.... I also recently received payment from Apex Magazine for my poem Training: Endurance, and a check from Sasquan, courtesy of having been a program participant.

28 September 2015: Lunar Eclipse

Book Cover

William took this photo of the lunar eclipse last night, as seen from the road across from our house through a break in the clouds....

26 September 2015: "Stables"

I just entered my poem Stables in an online poetry contest. I don't think this is a contest with high readership, but they pay $25, are open to reprints, and have no entry fee. I note that the poem was first published in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review. N.B. Information about this week's entries is at poetrynook.com/contest/46th-weekly-poetry-contest.

17 September 2015: "Uncle Pat"

My poem "Uncle Pat" was published in Iodine Poetry Journal :-)

26 August 2015: "Stables"

I have added my poem Stables to The Sign of the Dragon webpage. The poem first appeared in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review, before being reprinted in Crowned.

24 August 2015: Worldcon

Lucy (my 10-year-old) and I are back from Worldcon. We got back very late yesterday, and are both a bit jetlagged and a bit tired, but we had a good time. Lucy particularly enjoyed the dealers' room, from where she procured at least 5 t-shirts (my favorite being one that combined Star Wars, Star Trek, and Dr. Who on one t-shirt), plus a ring (the One Ring), a necklace (with a Harry Potter time-turner), and a Lord of the Rings mini-handbag. I particularly enjoyed meeting people with a shared interest in SF/F, including two people I had communicated with electronically but never seen (Beth Cato and Rich Horton). The travel provided plenty of reading time: I re-read "Tehanu" by Ursula K. Le Guin for the third or fourth time (and liked it very much indeed), plus I read two books by Lois McMaster Bujold, the first books by her that I've read in fourteen years, and enjoyed them a lot (barring one scene that crossed the threshold from dark-but-entertaining into dark-and-disturbing).

17 August 2015: Mirror Dance

My poem "Dread," set in the seventh year of The Sign of the Dragon, has been accepted by Mirror Dance :-)

13 August 2015: Ship of Fools

My poem "Letters" has been accepted by Ship of Fools :-)

7 August 2015: Sasquan/Worldcon reading (chocolate!)

I will be giving a reading at Worldcon at 12:30 pm on Thursday August 20 in room CC-301. I hope to have English chocolate to give away. I will also be on four panels -- here's my full schedule.

4 August 2015: Apex Magazine

My poem Training: Endurance has just appeared in Apex Magazine :-) The poem is part of The Sign of the Dragon, but takes place after the events in "Crowned".

3 August 2015: Heroic Fantasy Quarterly

My poem Dragonslayer, first published in "Crowned", has just appeared in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly :-) They also promptly paid me $25, which is the most I've received for an individual poem since 2006, when America paid me $100 for a poem titled "Silk Road."

2 August 2015: Uppagus

My poem "Why the King Wept" has been accepted by Uppagus, the eighth poem of mine that they have accepted :-) The poem is part of The Sign of the Dragon.... And speaking of Uppagus, I will be one of the readers at their Uppagus Speaks event this Thursday evening.

30 July 2015: "The Ride"

I have added "The Ride" to the group of poems from The Sign of the Dragon that are online (free!) on my website www.thesignofthedragon.com. "The Ride" first appeared in Star*Line, and takes place eleven years into the story.

23 July 2015: Red Rock Review + Confluence

My poem "What the Table Wants" has been accepted by Red Rock Review (my seventh poem to be accepted by them) :-) In other news, if you live near Pittsburgh, you might be interested in attending this year's Confluence this weekend (July 24 - July 26). Confluence is an annual literary conference focusing on speculative fiction. And if you do make it there, please consider coming to my reading at 4 pm on Saturday, or come to one of my panels, or say hi to me in the hallway....

20 July 2015: Star*Line

I have four poems in the new issue of Star*Line. The poems are "Old Astronauts," plus three poems from The Sign of the Dragon: "Opus," "What Atun Learned," and "Darkness." "Opus" contains rhyme, a rarity for me. "Darkness," which I wrote in January, is my first prose poem, though I have written a couple more since then.

18 July 2015: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette + Heroic Fantasy Quarterly + Main Street Rag + Ship of Fools + Amazon

Catching up on my mail and this blog after a very enjoyable family vacation.... My poem "Succession," which first appeared in "Crowned", was accepted and then promptly printed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.... "Dragonslayer," which also first appeared in "Crowned," has been accepted by Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.... "National Museum of Ireland" has been accepted by Main Street Rag.... "Titles" has been published in Ship of Fools.... And, lastly, "Crowned" is now available from Amazon (and still available from Dark Renaissance Books).

29 June 2015: Atlanta Review + Green Hills Literary Lantern

A good day: I had four poems accepted :-) "At the Word Party" was accepted by the Atlanta Review, and will be my fifth poem to appear there. And "Ovation," "A Reader's Primer," and "Eating Under the Sky," were accepted by the Green Hills Literary Lantern. Both "Eating Under the Sky" and "Ovation" are about my son, one when he was just four years old, the other when he was in seventh grade.

19 June 2015: Louisiana Literature

My poem "Holding You" (about carrying my daughter Lucy) has been accepted by Louisiana Literature :-)

17 June 2015: Crowned - in print!

Crowned, the first book in The Sign of the Dragon has just been published by Dark Renaissance Books :-) :-)

Click here to order a copy! Or three copies! N.B. I am unsure whether Dark Renaissance Books ship outside the USA.

One note of caution: the book contains material, including swearing and violence, that might be considered unsuitable for children.

15 and 16 June 2015: Star*Line

My poems "Hero" and "Vengeance" have been accepted by Star*Line :-) Both poems belong to The Sign of the Dragon, and both have a slightly different tone than most of the poems in the sequence. "Vengeance" even rhymes! And two of the rhymes are thanks to the excellent F.J. Bergmann.

11 June 2015: Crowned :-) :-) :-)

The official release date isn't until 6/19/2015, but today I received my copies of "Crowned: The Sign of the Dragon, Book 1", published by Dark Renaissance Books :-) :-) :-)

9 June 2015: Uppagus

My poem Perfect is in the latest issue of Uppagus :-) This is my sixth poem to appear in Uppagus.

In non-writing news, William and Lucy are both now on summer break. I am trying to spend less time writing while they are home, and have instead embarked on a most enjoyable reading binge.

5 June 2015: HWA Poetry Showcase

My poem "Necromancer" has been accepted for the HWA Poetry Showcase, Volume II :-) HWA is the Horror Writers Assocation.... The poem is part of The Sign of the Dragon; while I consider the sequence to be an epic fantasy, several of the individual poems are dark enough to count as horror.

22 May 2015: Crowned: Book Contract

Today I signed a book contract with Dark Renaissance Books :-) :-) :-) They will be publishing Crowned, the first book in The Sign of the Dragon, and it will include wonderful illustrations by M. Wayne Miller, such as this one of Xau and the dragon. I am very, very happy :-) :-) :-)

Illustration by M. Wayne Miller

6 May 2015: Apex Magazine

My poem "Not Like This," a favorite of mine, has been accepted by Apex Magazine :-) It is the 33rd poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be accepted :-)

5 May 2015: Rune

My poem "Equal Rights" has been published by Rune Literary Journal.

2 May 2015: Star*Line + Rhysling Anthology

I have three poems -- "On Reading Fantasy," "Cure," and "After" -- in the latest issue of Star*Line :-) "Cure" and "After" are the 21st and 22nd poems from The Sign of the Dragon to be published.... And I also have three poems reprinted in The 2015 Rhysling Anthology: "Numbers," "The Matter of the Horses," and "The Virgin and the Unicorn." Both "Numbers" and "The Matter of the Horses" are part of The Sign of the Dragon. "The Matter of the Horses" first appeared in Ideomancer, and "Numbers" and "The Virgin and the Unicorn" both first appeared in Star*Line.... A good day!

1 May 2015: RHINO + Update

My poem "Words" has been published in RHINO 2015 :-)

So far this year, I've written 38 new poems, revised a large number of other poems, had 22 poems accepted, and 26 poems published. And (today) dodged a health scare, which is the best news by far.

30 April 2015: Ideomancer + Main Street Rag

My poem "Solstice" has been accepted by Ideomancer :-) This is the 32nd poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be accepted.... And my poem "Tiny Tower" has been published in Main Street Rag.

28 April 2015: Star*Line

My poem "Darkness" has been accepted by Star*Line :-) :-) It's the 31st poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be accepted. It's also my first prose poem to be accepted.

28 April 2015: Concho River Review

My poem "Television" has been published in the Concho River Review :-)

19 April 2015: Star*Line

My poem "What Atun Learned" has been accepted by Star*Line :-) :-) It's the 30th poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be accepted and one of the most recently written. (I finished the first draft on April 8th.)

10 April 2015: Ship of Fools

My poem "Titles" has been accepted by Ship of Fools :-)

6 April 2015: Rune

My poem "Equal Rights" has been accepted by Rune.

4 April 2015: Songs of Eretz

On my final day as poet-of-the-week at Songs of Eretz Poetry Review, my poem Life Without Makeup has been reprinted; this poem first appeared in Main Street Rag.

3 April 2015: Uppagus + Songs of Eretz

My poem Pigeon Six is in the latest issue of Uppagus. It is the twentieth poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be published :-)

And I have two more poems in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review:

"Inside the Suits" - a reprint of a poem first printed in Main Street Rag.
"Before" - a reprint of a poem that first appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

1 April 2015: Songs of Eretz

I am delighted to report that I am the poet of the week at Songs of Eretz Poetry Review. You can read Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday's poems online:

"Sizing Up" - a poem about William's first day at PreKindergarten.
"Companionship" - a poem from The Sign of the Dragon
"Reading Companions"

28 March 2015: Spillway

My poem "Cup in Hand" has been accepted by Spillway :-)

In non-writing news, we have just returned from a 4-day vacation in Florida. William and I went to the Kennedy Space Center all four days (it was great). Lucy and Andrew went there on three days. I am still absorbing all that we saw. I had not anticipated how much of an impact it would have on me to see Atlantis, especially since I have seen a space shuttle before. But it almost made me cry. And we got to watch the launch of the latest GPS satellite.

23 March 2015: Tales of the Talisman + Red Rock Review

My poems "Daybreak" and "Demon Fire" are both in the latest issue of Tales of the Talisman, and are the 17th and 18th poems from The Sign of the Dragon to be published :-) And my poem "Army" is in the latest issue of the Red Rock Review :-) N.B. "Army" is not from The Sign of the Dragon, but is instead a poem about my son.

21 March 2015: Star*Line

My newest poem, "Opus," has been accepted by Star*Line :-) I am very happy :-) It's the 29th poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be accepted :-)

16 March 2015: Songs of Eretz

I have had five poems accepted by Songs of Eretz Poetry Review :-) :-) Three of the poems are reprints, "Life Without Makeup" and "Inside the Suits" were both first published in the Main Street Rag, and "Before" was first published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Two of the poems have not been published before: "Reading Companions" and "Companionship," the latter being the 28th poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be accepted.

14 March 2015: Ship of Fools

My poem "Night" has appeared in Ship of Fools :-) It's the sixteenth poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be published.

13 March 2015: Uppagus

Earlier this week, Uppagus emailed accepting my poem "Pigeon Six" :-) It's the 27th poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be accepted.

9 March 2015: Rejection

When I began the Mailbox Blues, almost 20 years ago (!) I reported all my rejections here. Nowadays, I consider my duty done once I report my rejections to Duotrope. But since today I had four separate rejections, I thought I would list them as a reminder that I receive plenty of bad news, not just good news. Today I had a swift 15-day rejection from Harpur Palate, a 20-day rejection from Missouri Review with a very nice comment handwritten on it (this market is close to the top of my list because they've been sending me encouraging feedback), a 133-day rejection from Ploughshares, and a 542-day rejection from Florida Review. This last response time is, of course, horrible, and I do try to use Duotrope to avoid markets that will take over a year to reply....

8 March 2015: Songs of Eretz

My poem China: Ancient Technology Exhibition has been reprinted online in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review. This poem first appeared, over ten years ago, in The American Scholar.

7 March 2015: Apex Magazine

My poem "Training: Endurance" has been accepted by Apex Magazine :-) It is the 26th poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be accepted. I'm happy!

2 March 2015: Cold Mountain Review

My poem "On Reading Materials" has been published by Cold Mountain Review :-)

1 March 2015: Mirror Dance, Mobius, Update

My poem "Training: Horse" is in the Spring 2015 issue of Mirror Dance. It's the fifteenth poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be published :-) I note that I very much liked the other three poems in the issue.

Also, my mainstream poem "Builder" is in the latest issue of Mobius: The Journal of Social Change.

So far this year, I have written 23 new poems, and have lost count of how many older poems I've revised, but more than a few.

27 February 2015: Leonard Nimoy

I am very sad to hear that Leonard Nimoy died today. His portrayal of Spock was an important part of my childhood. In addition to acting, he also wrote poetry, including the following lines from his book "You and I" -

I am not immortal.

Whatever I put off for later
May never be.

Whoever doesn't know now
That I love them
May never know.

25 February 2015: Star*Line

My poem "The Washerwoman's Daughter" has been accepted by Star*Line in a very speedy 11 minutes! It's the 25th poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be accepted :-)

24 February 2015: Songs of Eretz

My poem Stables has been published online in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review. The poem belongs to The Sign of the Dragon, and is a favorite of mine.

21 February 2015: Dreams & Nightmares

My poem "Wolf Moon" has been accepted by Dreams & Nightmares :-) I caused the editor, David Kopaska-Merkel, some inconvenience, but he was very nice about it, and indeed has been friendly and helpful in all my dealings with him. (This is the fifth poem of mine that he has accepted.)

"Wolf Moon" is the 24th poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be accepted.

On the non-writing front, we had two snow days last week due to cold weather (much jubilation from Lucy resulted), and have today had several inches of actual snow.

15 February 2015: Rhysling Award

My poem "The Virgin and the Unicorn" has been nominated for the 2015 Rhysling Award :-) It first appeared in Star*Line.

11 February 2015: Songs of Eretz

My poem Autumn Fire has been reprinted online in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review. This poem first appeared in Main Street Rag.

8 February 2015: Rhysling Award

My poems "Numbers" and "The Matter of the Horses" have both been nominated for the 2015 Rhysling Award :-) :-) Both poems belong to The Sign of the Dragon and I am very happy :-)

4 February 2015 (later): Songs of Eretz

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review has accepted four of my poems. Two, "China: Ancient Technology Exhibition" and "Autumn Fire," are reprints of poems about my father. One, "Sizing Up," is a poem about William's first morning at PreKindergarten, back when he was four years old. And the last, "Stables," is one of my favorite poems from The Sign of the Dragon. Dr. Gordon, the editor, was exceedingly fast and helpful.

4 February 2015: Free State Review

My poem "Hair" has just been published in Free State Review :-)

1 February 2015: Uppagus + update

My poem Papa has been published online by Uppagus :-) Timons Esaias, a good friend, also has a poem in the issue.... One month into 2015, I have completed ten new poems and revised fourteen older poems.

10 January 2015: Star*Line (and again)

... my poem "On Reading Fantasy" has also been accepted by Star*Line.

9 January 2015: Star*Line (again)

I am happy to report that my poem "Old Astronauts" has been accepted by Star*Line.

7 January 2015: Star*Line

Four of my poems are in the latest Star*Line, issue #38.1. Three of the four ("The Ride," "Demon Eclipse - Children's Chant," and "Moon Swan") belong to The Sign of the Dragon, and "The Ride" is a personal favorite of mine. The fourth poem ( Reasons Not to Bother a Dragon) is an editor's choice poem, and so may be read online.

31 December 2014: New Yinzer + Year-End Tally

My poems "Kitchen" and "Ask Me Now" have both been accepted by The New Yinzer :-) This brings me up to 46 acceptances for the year, plus 33 publications, and 109 new poems written. My most productive writing year in a long time (and the most fun).... Happy New Year!

29 December 2014: Red Rock Review

My poems "Army" and "O Cat!" have been accepted by Red Rock Review :-)

24 December 2014: Star*Line

My poem "After" has been accepted by Star*Line :-) This is the twenty-second poem from "The Sign of the Dragon" to be accepted. F.J. Bergmann is a swift, friendly, all-around excellent editor to work with. Though I might be biased, since this is the tenth poem she has accepted from me in the past sixteen months....

18 December 2014: Concho River Review

My poem "Television" has been accepted by the Concho River Review :-)

16 December 2014: Ideomancer + Main Street Rag

My poem "The Matter of the Horses" has been published by Ideomancer :-) This is the tenth poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be published.... And my poem "Tiny Tower" has been accepted by Main Street Rag.

12 December 2014: Rhysling Award

My poem "Interregnum" won the 2014 Rhysling Award for Best Long Poem :-) :-) :-) "Interregnum" is the opening poem in The Sign of the Dragon, and first appeared in Star*Line. There's a video of me reading the poem.

5 December 2014: Orion

Hooray for the successful liftoff of Orion :-)

29 November 2014: Star*Line

My poem "Cure" has been accepted by Star*Line. The editor, F.J. Bergmann, proposed a revision that I love, so the poem that she accepted is better than the poem I originally submitted :-) This is the twenty-first poem from "The Sign of the Dragon" to be accepted.

28 November 2014: Red Rock Review

My poem "Succession" has been published in the Red Rock Review :-) "Succession" is the ninth poem in The Sign of the Dragon to be published.

21 November 2014: Ship of Fools

My poem "Night" has been accepted by Ship of Fools. This will be my 21st poem in Ship of Fools. "Night" is the twentieth poem from "The Sign of the Dragon" to be accepted, and another personal favorite of mine. It's one of the darker poems and has no fantasy element beyond being set in an invented milieu.

13 November 2014: Dreams & Nightmares

My poem "Dragon" has been accepted by Dreams & Nightmares :-) This is the nineteenth poem from "The Sign of the Dragon" to be accepted, and a personal favorite of mine.

I continue to work hard on The Sign of the Dragon. This week I have added three new poems and revised eight existing ones. I am working my way through the sequence, and am now close to the end of the first war. A year ago, there were a grand total of three poems concerning this war, but I have been adding to it since the end of July, and there are now 22 poems dealing with the war and its aftermath.

7 November 2014: Free State Review

My poem "Hair" has been accepted by Free State Review :-) This has been a good week for me! As well as the acceptances, I have written four new poems and revised five older ones.

6 November 2014: Ideomancer + Iodine Poetry Journal

My poem "The Matter of the Horses" has been accepted by Ideomancer :-) :-) This is the eighteenth poem from "The Sign of the Dragon" to be accepted. I wrote this poem relatively recently, at the end of August, but it is set early on in the sequence, eight months into Xau's reign.

My poem "Uncle Pat" has been accepted by Iodine Poetry Journal, my ninth poem to find a home there :-)

5 November 2014: Uppagus + Rhysling + update

My poem "Perfect" (a poem about Lucy) has been accepted by Uppagus for their 12th issue, due out in June 2015 :-) Also my poem "Interregnum," first published in Star*Line, has been reprinted in The 2014 Rhysling Anthology :-)

So far this year I have written 92 new poems, and revised or retired many others. I am currently working my way through "The Sign of the Dragon", adding new poems and revising existing poems as I go.

3 November 2014: Cold Mountain Review

My poem "On Reading Materials" has been accepted by Cold Mountain Review :-)

29 October 2014: Read (part of) "The Sign of the Dragon"

Part of "The Sign of the Dragon" is now available online in one handy place. There are only three poems up so far, but fourteen more are in the pipeline. (I will be adding poems six months after they are first published.)

28 October 2014: Main Street Rag

My poems "Houseguest" and "On Reading Packaging" have been published in Main Street Rag, my sixteenth and seventeenth poems to appear there :-)

27 October 2014: Ship of Fools + Star*Line

My poem "Miss Date" has been published in Ship of Fools, my twentieth poem to appear there (!) And my poem "The Hundred Dragons of Sumbral" has been published by Star*Line, my sixth poem to appear there. "The Hundred Dragons of Sumbral" is the eighth poem from "The Sign of the Dragon" to appear, with another nine awaiting publication.

22 October 2014: Mirror Dance

My poem "Training: Horse" has been accepted by Mirror Dance :-) This is the seventeenth poem from "The Sign of the Dragon" to be accepted. It is set early on in the sequence, but was written recently (this summer).

19 October 2014: Star*Line

My poem "Reasons Not to Bother a Dragon" has been accepted by Star*Line :-) (I submitted this poem at the same time as the one accepted earlier this month, but the editor requested a rewrite.)

9 October 2014: Star*Line

My poem "Moon Swan" has been accepted by Star*Line :-) This is a good time to mention what a superb job F.J. Bergmann, the editor of Star*Line, does at consistently replying quickly. The poem is the sixteenth piece from "The Sign of the Dragon" to be accepted, and also the most recently written one to be accepted. (I wrote it in September.)

6 October 2014: Dreams & Nightmares plus Louisiana Literature

A good day: my poem "Demon Stain" appeared in Dreams & Nightmares (issue #99), and two of my poems -- "What Matters" and "Roasted Herbed Leg of Lamb" -- appeared in Louisiana Literature (Volume 31, number 2) :-) :-)

N.B. "Demon Stain" is the seventh poem from "The Sign of the Dragon" to be published.

2 October 2014: Uppagus

My poem What Xau Remembered has been published online by Uppagus :-) This is the sixth poem from The Sign of the Dragon to be published, and another nine have been accepted.

29 September 2014: Westview + Update

Three of my poems have been published in the latest issue of Westview :-) The poems are titled "She and Me," "Not Enough," and "Breaking."

Looking back on the first three-quarters of the year, I see that I have written 75 new poems. I also retired 46 poems, most of them older work, plus I revised a large number of older poems.

22 September 2014: Mobius

My poem "Builder" has been accepted by Mobius: The Journal of Social Change, a speedy 1-day acceptance. This is in contrast to certain other publications into which poems disappear as if into a black hole. At the weekend, I finally got around to withdrawing work from two magazines that had been considering my poems for over three years. Yes, three years. Since both submissions were made online, I was able to check the submission manager to verify that the poems were still theoretically under consideration. (On the plus side, at least the submission manager made it easy to withdraw the poems.)

13 September 2014: Uppagus

My poems "Papa" and "Cans" have both been accepted by Uppagus :-) Both of the poems are about my father.

Earlier this week I spent a whole morning changing a name in my poetry sequence. In July, I introduced a character called Sun into the story. Last week I finally admitted that it was a poor choice of name, since it can be confused both with the sun in the sky and (when read aloud) with the word son. This was a wrench, since I like the name and felt it suited the character. So I spent two hours considering other possible names, and then another hour or two making the change (Sun was named in nine poems by then). Hey ho.

3 September 2014: Star*Line

My poem "Demon Eclipse - Children's Chant" has been accepted by Star*Line in a swift two days :-) This is the fifteenth poem in The Sign of the Dragon to be accepted. I revised the poem just before submitting it, and am now very glad that I did so. (Today I wrote a new poem, then spent hours upon hours trying to get it right. Sometimes I feel decidedly lacking in skill.)

1 September 2014: Ideomancer

My poem "The Horse Lord" has been published by Ideomancer :-) This is the fifth poem to be published from The Sign of the Dragon.

26 August 2014: Retirement

Today I retired twenty poems, which was a disheartening experience. It is demoralizing to condemn poems that I once believed in, but it is necessary work. Onward.

24 August 2014: Dreams & Nightmares

I am happy to report that my poem "Demon Stain" has been accepted by Dreams & Nightmares. The poem is part of "The Sign of the Dragon"

22 August 2014: Update

On the writing front, little to report. I wrote quite a bit in July, but have been in vacation-mode for the past few weeks. My sister-in-law and her family visited us for the first time in 16 years -- long overdue -- and after nine days with us in Pittsburgh, we all went down to Orlando for a week of theme parks, swimming pools, and sunshine (with occasional thunderstorms).

2 August 2014: Uppagus + Update

My poem Seventy Miles has been published in Uppagus, my second appearance there :-)

Despite Lucy and William being on their long summer break, I didn't stop writing after all. In July, I completed ten more poems in "The Sign of the Dragon", bringing me to 62 poems written so far this year.

27 July 2014: Dreams & Nightmares; Confluence

My poem "A Gift" has been accepted by Dreams & Nightmares. "A Gift" is part of "The Sign of the Dragon", and is a personal favorite of mine, despite being one of the quieter poems. So I am happy :-)

I received the acceptance while I was at Confluence, the annual Pittsburgh speculative fiction conference, where I also got to read from "The Sign of the Dragon" for the first time :-)

21 July 2014: Ship of Fools + Tales of the Talisman

My poem "Miss Date" has been accepted by Ship of Fools :-) I think it was accepted about ten days ago, but I only found it yesterday evening when we returned from a family vacation. "Miss Date" is a short poem about the teacher that I had when I was nine years old.... Also today, I received payment for the two poems recently accepted by Tales of the Talisman.

18 July 2014: Tales of the Talisman

My poems "Demon Fire" and "Daybreak" have been accepted by Tales of the Talisman. Both poems belong to The Sign of the Dragon sequence :-)

8 July 2014: Green Hills Literary Lantern

My poem "Yours" has been published in the Green Hills Literary Lantern, my second appearance there.

6 July 2014: Ideomancer

My poem "The Horse Lord" has been accepted by Ideomancer :-) I am particularly pleased as "The Horse Lord" is a pivotal poem in my sequence The Sign of the Dragon.

27 June 2014: Ship of Fools

My poems "Phyllis" and "Peripatetic" have just been published in Ship of Fools #70 :-)

26 June 2014: Update

I have completed my target of 52 new poems written in 2014 :-) William and Lucy are enjoying their summer vacation, and I am spending less time writing and more time reading.... I have finished seven books so far in June, four of which I loved ("My Dear I Wanted to Tell You" by Louisa Young, "Ancillary Justice" by Ann Leckie, "The Crossing" by Cormac McCarthy, and "The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party" by Alexander McCall Smith).

3 June 2014: Apex Magazine

My poem "Brighid" has been published online in Apex Magazine, Issue 61, June 2014 :-) "Brighid" is the fourth poem to be published from my high fantasy sequence The Sign of the Dragon.

30 May 2014: RHINO + Update

My poem "Words" has been accepted by RHINO :-) This will be my first appearance in RHINO.

I have written 44 poems so far in 2014, but I am expecting to slow down greatly during Lucy and William's imminent summer break.

23 May 2014: Concho River Review

My poem "Africa" has been published by Concho River Review, my fifth appearance there :-)

22 May 2014: Red Rock Review

My poem "Succession" has been accepted by the Red Rock Review, which has previously published 3 of my poems :-) "Succession" is the second poem in The Sign of the Dragon.

18 May 2014: The Sign of the Dragon

I now have a website, www.thesignofthedragon.com, for the high fantasy poetry sequence that I'm writing. I have titled the sequence "The Sign of the Dragon," in tribute to At the Sign of the Dragon, the lovely SF/fantasy/detective bookshop I went to when I was growing up.

17 May 2014: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

My poem "Janet" is in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

16 May 2014: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

My poem "Janet" will be in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The poem is about my friend Janet Eames, who died in January.

9 May 2014: Evansville Review + Update

My poems "Pan-Roasted Lobster with Bay Leaf" and "Cristina" have appeared in the Evansville Review, Volume XXIV :-) Both are from earlier poetry sequences of mine, the first a short sequence about cooking with Lucy, the second about a fictitious book club.

I have now written 39 poems so far this year, 38 of them part of the current fantasy sequence.

29 April 2014 (later): Star*Line again

My poem "The Hundred Dragons of Sumbral" has been accepted by by Star*Line :-) The poem is part of the fantasy sequence. I've now had three poems from the sequence published, and have five more awaiting publication. Happiness :-)

29 April 2014: Apex Magazine + Star*Line

My poem "Brighid" has been accepted by Apex Magazine :-) "Brighid" belongs to my fantasy sequence, and is closely related to my poem "Numbers" .... which has just been published in Star*Line 37.2 :-) (I received my contributor's copy today.)

This has been a good few days for me! But don't get the impression that I only receive good news. In the past week, I've also had rejections from Poet Lore and Whiskey Island. And even when a magazine accepts a poem, they usually reject others at the same time, e.g. Apex Magazine rejected four other poems when they accepted "Brighid."

27 April 2014: Star*Line

My poem "The Ride" has been accepted by Star*Line :-) I submitted the poem earlier in April, and F.J. Bergmann said she would be open to seeing a rewrite. Very happily, she then accepted the rewrite. (N.B. I have found F.J. Bergmann to be a lovely editor to work with -- fast, friendly, helpful.) This poem is part of my fantasy sequence.

26 April 2014: Atlanta Review

My poem "Giants" has just been published in the Atlanta Review :-) This is my fourth appearance there. The poem is a relatively recent one, written a year ago, and (which is a rare but happy event for me) accepted on its first time out. It is about my parents.

24 April 2014: Rune

My poem "Bookshelves" has just been published in the print edition of Rune, and my poem "Tutor" has just been published online as one of Rune's web exclusives :-) ("Tutor" is another of the poems in my fantasy sequence.)

19 April 2014: Uppagus

My poems "Seventy Miles" and "What Xau Remembered" have been accepted by Uppagus :-) I also have a poem in their current issue.... "What Xau Remembered" belongs to the fantasy sequence, so I am especially pleased that it will be published, and "Seventy Miles" is about my father.

15 April 2014: Red Rock Review

I received contributor copies of The Red Rock Review containing my poem "Odd Birds." :-) I wrote the first draft of this poem all the way back in 2002, but revised it much more recently.

2 April 2014: Uppagus

This is turning into an excellent week. My poem "LAST FOUR DAYS!" is in the current issue of Uppagus.

1 April 2014: Magazine of Speculative Poetry + Update

My poems "Mathematical Terms" and "Her Thousand Faces" have both been accepted by the Magazine of Speculative Poetry, bringing me up to four poems in their inventory. Hooray! "Her Thousand Faces" is another poem in the fantasy sequence, but deals with different characters than the other poems published/accepted so far.

I have written 23 poems so far this year; all but one belong to the fantasy sequence, though quite a few of them have no fantastical component.

31 March 2014: Rune

I have had two poems accepted by Rune, one titled "Bookshelves" for the print version, and one titled "Tutor" for the online version. "Tutor" belongs to the sequence of fantasy poems that I've been working on, though this particular poem doesn't contain any overt fantasy element.

26 March 2014: Dreams & Nightmares

My poem "The Bastard Prince" has been published in Dreams & Nightmares #97 :-) I wrote the poem at the end of last May, the first in my spate of fantasy poems. (Though it didn't end up fitting in the same fantasy world to which most of the poems belong.)

3 March 2014: Star*Line

My poem "Numbers" has been accepted by Star*Line :-) The poem belongs to the fantasy sequence that I've been working on for a while now. I wrote it in January, and Star*Line was the first place to which I sent it. Although it is one of the most recently written poems in the sequence, it takes place halfway through the current story line.

13 February 2014: Rhysling nomination

I was very happy to discover that my poem "Interregnum" has been nominated for the Rhysling Award :-) The poem was first published in Star*Line 36.4 in October 2013.

4 February 2014: Magazine of Speculative Poetry + Update

My poem "Footnotes on Gertrude's Genome" has been accepted by the Magazine of Speculative Poetry, so I should have two poems in their next issue. Hooray!

So far, just over a month into 2014, I have written 10 new poems, ranging in length from 12 lines to 276 lines.

29 January 2014: Ship of Fools

My poems "Phyllis" and "Peripatetic" have both been accepted by Ship of Fools, which was warming news on a very cold day here in Pittsburgh.

15 January 2014: Spillway

My poem "Rat" has been published in Spillway.

13 January 2014: Janet Eames + Star*Line

My friend Janet Eames died this morning after a long battle with cancer.

My poem "The Virgin and the Unicorn" has been published in Star*Line.

6 January 2014: Magazine of Speculative Poetry

My poem "Voyager 1" has been accepted by the Magazine of Speculative Poetry, which is a nice way to begin the year (and welcome news on a very cold day here in Pittsburgh). The Magazine of Speculative Poetry has published 7 of my poems, but none since 2003! I am glad to once more have genre poems to submit.