After my
first book, Dream of the Antique Dealer’s Daughter, was published last year, my
brother interviewed me for the Grub Street writer’s blog Beyond the Margins.
The last
question he
posed was an interesting one:
DS: What’s next for you? Will there be a sequel to Dream of the Antique Dealer’s
Daughter?
RSJ: I would love to try a chapbook next rather than another
full-length book. And, who knows, maybe I’ll finish my young adult novel. For
now, I’m enjoying being a first-time author.
Well, I’m
still working on the novel, but I’m about to have my second book, a chapbook of
poems titled Gale Warnings, published by Finishing Line Press out of
Kentucky. It’s wonderful news and I’m still pinching myself from excitement.
This
journey began last summer when I returned from a week’s trip to Texas. I had a
few weeks before I started teaching again at the community college and a little
extra time. I discovered that Finishing Line Press was offering a chapbook
contest, so I began preparing a manuscript. The deadline was September 15 and I
had to move quickly.
I
looked through folders of poems and began selecting ones that looked promising.
I already knew I wanted to use my poem, “Gale Warnings,” as the title of my
book. Cynthia Brackett Vincent, editor of the Aurorean, had selected me to be a
feature poet for the Fall/Winter 2014-2015 issue. One of the three poems she
picked to print was this one. As I whittled down a list of possibilities, I
began to see connections between poems (ones of loss, striving. ocean and
nature themes). I also included several of the poems I had written as part of
my Mutual Muses pairings..
My
full-length book is comprised of seven sections. By contrast, my chapbook is
one long sequence of poems. I sorted by intuition and instinct. When I was
finished, I went over it several times, printed out a hard copy, and sent it
off. Months went by and I never heard another word about my fledgling
manuscript until one day in February, I received the happy news that they wanted
to publish my book! I had not won the contest but I was still in the runnng to
have my book considered for publication.
The
book is dedicated to my three sons and the cover art is from a pen and ink my
husband Greg did in his early years. Like my first book which features cover
art by my very tallented sister-in-law, Liz Smith, this book has personal
connections as well.
Gale
Warnings is now available for pre-ordering at Finishing Line Press.: If
you visit their website – www.finishinglinepress.com,
you can either access my book at the bookstore site or Preorder Forthcoming
Titles..
.