With the end of March comes the start of April—and, with the start of April, National Poetry Writing Month, a/k/a NaPoWriMo. Accordingly, this seems as good a time as any for an update…

First, of course, I will be participating in NaPoWriMo again this year, my fourth year. Since I have been setting myself monthly challenges this year, my challenge for April will be to use whatever the daily prompt on napowrimo.net is—even if I don’t like it.

Second, after being sidetracked by alternating bouts of illness and copy-editing work, I have set up a giveaway for my most recent collection of poems, Coffee Stains, on Goodreads. I will post details as soon as it goes live.

Third, I am preparing to start on my next book of poems. Tentatively titled This Is Fifty-Three (though I haven’t completely discarded the idea of calling it This Book Has No Nature Poems), and with the challenges I have been setting for myself recently in mind, I am looking to do something bigger this time—literally. I am looking at 8.5 inches square (my previous books are all 5.5 x 8.5), full color, with more poems, and more prominent visual/graphic components. I guess you could say I’m aiming for more of a Super Deluxe Edition rather than the usual simple presentation.

Fourth, I also plan to expand on my previously posted list of poetry reading etiquette. That is, I plan to include actual reasons for each item, with anecdotes from my personal experience. I hope that this will put the items on the list in perspective, and perhaps even provide a laugh or two of the “it’s funny because it’s true” variety. (Gotta love that Homer Simpson!)

While there are still a few hours left in the evening, I will now unwind by watching The Matrix. Until tomorrow…

(31 March 2016)