Life is Busy! Please Stand By!

On the book front, I’m trying to drum up reviews, which reminds me uncomfortably of trying to query agents (I had an agent once, the way some people have weirdo ex-boyfriends or lunatic wives they lock in the attic… the less said about her and her wish to insert “a tantalizing glimpse of Millicent’s polka-dot stockings” into my story, the better… She actually said that. About Millicent!) Anyway, I have at least one person who’s agreed to review my book, and I’ll be sending out another bundle of reviewer-queries in the next few days.

Some reviewers want a press release, which is something I’ve heard of in songs and stories, but that I didn’t think anyone actually used anymore (and let’s be honest, were they ever really used, or did they just exist, taking up space on paper, where they were skipped over by unreading eyes). My problem with press releases is that they are meant to be almost like a little news story about the book and author, but I don’t want any part of it. No one wants to read about me; I’m not a magician or a cute maid or a goblin. I’m just an author, and we all know what they’re like. Not to be trusted, I say. (It’s very late, and it’s been a long day.) Anyway, there is a reason my “About” page and my author “bio” in the back of my book are so short: I’m a wonderful person in real life, but marvelous as I am, I’m hardly what you would call “interesting”, at least to Joe Totalstranger reading a press release of some hither-to-unheard-of book.

So that’s one thing I’m working on. I also found out that one can have an official author page on Goodreads(who knew!?), which I’m trying to spiffify, but I haven’t had much time so far. Anyway, please give it a look and read the reviews on there. Leave one, if you’ve read Miscast Spells.

In other less author-ly news, I’m applying for millions of things: a summer teaching position, several different full and part-time teaching jobs next year, and graduate school. All these applications are due in the next two weeks, which—coupled with my trying to figure out the worlds of review-querying, Goodreads-author-page-ifying, and press-release-ification—explains why this post is so very lackluster… There you have it.

Never fear, though! April 1st begins National Poetry Month, and I have decided to try my hand at writing one form poem a week. Please look forward to it!