A listing of my published works and appearances.
2018
Thalía (poetry): Spectral Realms #9 [Hippocampus Press]
2019
Morbidezza (prose poem): Spectral Realms #10 [Hippocampus Press]
Gargoyle (prose poem): Spectral Realms #10 [Hippocampus Press]
I just basically rewrote one of my older poems, Moribond, in between calls at work. It’s gotten rejected at least once previously (by Vastarien, I believe it was) and has gotten lukewarm response when I posted it Facebook in the past, so I figured I’d take a critical look to see what they saw that wasn’t up to par for publication. The biggest problem I saw with it was that, syllabically speaking, it was all over the map. There were lines ranging from 9-12 syllables which made it very awkward and clunky. How I missed that before, I don’t know.
Anyway, I spent this afternoon trying to make the lines of a uniform length and choosing words that would also help it flow better. I think I succeeded in doing so without changing the poem so much that it is unrecognizable from the original version. Now I may show it to someone to see what they think before I send it out again. I wish I had an editor so I could have a second set of eyes looking out for this stuff before I submit my work to these publications. If all goes well with this piece I may try to revise some of my other poems and prose. I really would love to get my hands on my old prose piece Satanic Sonata, but at the moment it only exists in a handwritten entry in my old poetry journal, which is packed away in storage at the moment.
Update 02/14/2019:
My Facebook friend, poetess Chelsea Arrington, has agreed to take a second look at Moribond. I’ll let you all know what comments or criticisms she may have, if any.
I was tagged by editor Duane Pesice in a message on Facebook*, and it seems my vignette Night Hag, about a real life visit from a succubus, has been accepted for The Phantasmagorical Promenade from Planet X Publications! I believe this will be my first paid publication. I realize the irony that a story about a succubus is in a collection of ghost stories, but the visitation has a very phantasmal vibe to it, so I think it will fit.
Cover art by Lucy Alvarado.
*I have since gotten the official acceptance email.
Hippocampus Press has finally gotten caught up with their blurbs for the latest issues of Spectral Realms, and I am mentioned, albeit in passing, in the blurb for #10!
‘The tenth issue of Spectral Realms demonstrates that this journal of weird poetry is going strong as it completes its fifth year of publication. Once again, this issue features the work of many of the leading voices in contemporary weird verse: Wade German, Adam Bolivar, Christina Sng, Frank Coffman, Ann K. Schwader, Chad Hensley, Thomas Tyrrell, and Ian Futter. Manuel Arenas, Liam Garriock, David Barker, and others provide vivid prose-poems. Jeff Hall’s “In the Garden of Thasaidon” is a tribute to Clark Ashton Smith, while Manuel Pérez-Campos’s “The Mirror of Arkham Woe” draws inspiration from H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Colour out of Space.”’
I have two pieces in the next issue and if Rosaire is accepted, I may have one in #12, but if I want to keep seeing my name mentioned in the blurbs, I have to keep up the pace and consistently send them good pieces to publish. So, I need to get writing!
Logo for Spectral Realms from Hippocampus Press.
I got a response from editor S.T. Joshi on my submissions for Spectral Realms #11. He said he would accept The Baleful Beldam if he could make a minor change in the opening line, which he deemed as containing a *false rhyme. I of course gave him the green light to make the change.
As for Rosaire, he said he hadn’t had a chance to read it yet but thought it might be a tad long for inclusion into the journal, but he would let me know after he had a chance to read it and consult his designer, Dan Sauer I assume, to see how many pages it would take up.
I feared it might be too long, but I replied that if he were inclined to read it, despite it’s length, that I would be interested in hearing his impression of it’s merit. Fingers crossed on that one. Of course, I shall keep you all posted on any further updates.
*”A false rhyme is something that is completely random. A “true” rhyme has the same “consonence” (sic) sound at the end as well as the same “vowel” sound just behind it, like “day” & “way”. A false rhyme may have the same “vowel” sound at the same point but a different “consonence” (sic) sound at the end, like “lamb” & “dan” (sic) It’s done quite a bit in song & poetry. Put another way, it’s an imperfect rhyme.”
[http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_false_rhyme_retrieved 01/31/2019]
With the official release of Spectral Realms #10, I have just sent Mr. Joshi two more pieces for consideration, my poem The Baleful Beldam, and the prose poem Rosaire, both of which I tweaked a bit before sending them out. He has acknowledge receipt of the pieces and I have my fingers crossed that he will like them. He still has Vampire Vigil, which I believe will be in issue #11. More on this as things develop.
Spectral Realms #10 is now available for order at http://www.hippocampuspress.com and will be featuring my prose poems, Morbidezza and Gargoyle. The cover art, Chiron’s Burden – Pleiades Children by Kim Bo Yung, is the one they had intended to use for the previous issue, but for some reason they had to hold off for a bit, which most likely was the cause for the delay in the release of Spectral Realms #9. I think it looks lovely.
Cover art for Spectral Realms #10. [“Chiron’s Burden – Pleiades Children” by Kim Bo Yung]
Yesterday I had a few pleasant surprises when I went online at the library. For starters, I got an email from my friend Denisse in which she sent me a draft of the layout for Black Hymeneal. I didn’t even think she was still working on it, but what she sent me looked very nice and the font was gorgeous! I still would like to make some edits in the text since some of the information in the old introductions are outdated. I may also put a gallery in the back of the back featuring the illustrations and cover art my friend Michele Bledsoe did for the original conception of the book.
I also got a message from my friend, author Galad Elflandsson, informing me that his long awaited collection of Yellow Sign tales from Cyäegha is finally coming out and even sent me a scan of the cover art. It is to be called Tales of Carcosa and he said he might be able to procure me a signed copy, and I told him if he could then I would promise not only to read it, but review it on here as well.
photo by S.J. Griffin
