“The Imposter” is Published

Ivan Bilibin’s illustration for Vassilisa the Beautiful

I’ve mentioned in the past my love of Baba Yaga ever since I read Johanna Cole’s Bony Legs. Well, I love this character so much that I went and wrote a poem about her. The poem, “The Imposter,” has been published in the Ginger Bread House Literary Magazine. You can read it here.  You should also check out some of the other work that Gingerbread House published. I particularly enjoyed Annaliese Wagner’s “Go West, My Daughter” and Maggie Graber’s “Well.” 

Two Milestone

Illustration by Walter Crane

While I’ve linked to poems that I’ve published in the past, I’m happy to be able to, for the first time, link to a published piece of fiction, “Not All Enchantments Have a Happy Ending.” You can read it here at the Río Grande Review. It’s a flash fiction piece and a dark fairy tale that takes a little inspiration from “Brother and Sister.” Be sure to check out some of the other stories and poems published in the issues. I particularly enjoyed Karin Rosman’s  “Three Does and a Buck.”

In other news, this has shown up in my notifications:

I had always assumed that my internet writing was something akin to yelling into a void. Due to my self-doubt, I could not believe that anyone would want to read my writing, so my first follower shocked me almost as much as the 500th. In fact that self-doubt is so great that I keep thinking of reasons to be suspicious, usually along the lines of some century old conspiracy involving pirates and space aliens who are not interested in reading my ramblings. But in all seriousness, thank you for following and reading my blog. I really do a appreciate it.

Time to Brag About Myself and My Friends

I’m excited to announce that I got two more poems published in the sixth issue of the wonderful magazine The Mas Tequila Review. You can find a copy on amazon.  The two poems are “Rescued from Carmilla,” a reinterpretation of Sheridan Le Fanu‘s famous vampire tale, and “Three Texts: a Girl and a Wolf” an exploration of the difference between the Grimm’s “Little Red Cap,” Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Story of the Grandmother.”

Illustration by D. H. Friston to Carmilla

I’m excited to be published alongside other poets such as Linda Hogan,  Pam Uschuk, Tony Mares, Merimée Moffitt, Julie SuZaNNe BröKKeN,  Rich Boucher, and Jennifer Givhan.

I wanted to highlight my friend Casandra Lopez who is also included in this issue.  She is the co-editor, along with another friend Tanaya Winder, of the new online magazine AS/US: A Space for Women of the World.  Particularly I want to to share their V-day issue featuring great poetry, fiction, essay, and even dancing dealing with the issues of violence against women.  You should follow this link and check out their magazine.  Or you could always buy their fist issue as as well.

What is the Etiquette?

This morning I read an article from The Missouri Review’s blog called “Three Ways to Improve the Editor-Writer Relationship.” The advice was helpful particularly the first piece: email writers and editors when their work moves you.  I think letting people know that “hey this was great” is a wonderful way to build community and encourage writers (this may even be a News Years resolution for me). I’m not going to follow all the advice though—in particular number three, I just don’t see myself starting a magazine anytime soon. But the lack of relationships between editors and writers is something that I’ve been very much aware of recently.

Long ago, I learned that just because your work was rejected by a magazine that doesn’t mean you should stop submitting to them. Some of my favorite magazines have rejected me many times, and I hope they understand that the reason I keep submitting is because I love them.

However, I’ve recently realized that I don’t submit to magazine that have accepted my work. When I made this realization, I thought “That’s silly. Those places have already shown that they liked my work, I should submit again.” But I didn’t.

When writing the cover letters to these magazines, I suddenly became self-conscious of my formal tone—was I being insulting by not being more casual since they already accepted my work, or would I be acting entitled by assuming the previous publication put us on informal terms. Some may think this is silly, but I find conversation through technology particularly stressful. I hate making phone calls because I can’t see the other person’s a body language, and every email I write I imagine how the person receiving it reads it and must think I was being sarcastic. All this is with people I know.  Now throw in the fact that when I’m contacting an editor, I’m basically communicating with a stranger, who I want to publish me and who knows that I want them to publish me, and I become frozen.  It all comes down to the fear that they will dislike me, because I failed at some internet etiquette.  Obviously, I’m over thinking this situation.  I should just submit.

As you all obviously know, technology is changing how people connect and friendships run, and I can’t help but feel it is for the better.  But Lord, I’m bad at this internet thing.  I get so worried that I’ll stick my foot in my mouth, I often remain silent.

Two Poems Published

These poems have actually been out in the world for a couple of weeks now, but I have not been keeping track of good news as of late.  Here is the link to my poems “Leda and Helen” and “Say Nothing,” which have been published by the wonderful online magazine Rose Red Review.  Many of the works published there deal with themes from myths and fairy tales, be sure to check out the other great writers they have published.

Cassandra by Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys

A Few Reasons to Write

As you’ve read this blog, have you ever wondered the reasons I write? Well if you have you’re in luck– you can read my reasons here.  If you haven’t wondered why I write, you should still check it out for the other great writers featured.

As you can see my friend has recently started the I Write Because Project— inspired by a summer workshop she took with Priscilla Long.  As I know many of you are writers as well, you should submit your reasons for writing.  You can find the guidelines here.

I look forward to seeing why all of you write.

Edouard Manet– Woman Writing

Not Bad Advice Per Se

The problem with submitting to a plethora of places is that you tend to get a plethora of rejection letters—all at the same time. For writers, it is an universal truth that the number of rejections one receives will far out weigh the number of acceptances—in some ways it joins death and taxes in its dependability.

As you can guess, I’ve received a few rejections recently. Regardless of how I feel, there is nothing to do but to keep writing and keep submitting.

But, one thing that depresses me when submitting is doing the research.  Of course it is because I’m following that one piece of advice that we’ve all heard—whether  it is from other writers, the editors of the magazine, or thick manuals on how to publish work—read the literary magazine to see if they publish work like yours.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love reading literary magazines whether they’re in print or online, but reading with the question of “would they publish me?” tends to sour the experience.   I’ll come across a really amazing poem, and the first thing that jumps into my head is “Wow, this is awesome! They’ll never publish me.”  I much rather just enjoy the work in the magazine.

Recently, I’ve become suspect of that bit of advice.  In the first place, I can never identify work “like” my own.   My poem may share themes or may have similar style to a lot of poems out there, but when I compare my work to the work of others all I can see are the differences.

When I submit to places that have published work “like” my own, I get rejected—and not the nice “We did not have room for your work this time” but the “your work is not what we are looking for.”  In other word, “Don’t waste our time by submitting again.”

Now I’ve submitted to magazines whose work I not only enjoyed, but also felt that my poems would not be something that the editors would go for.  And more often than not, I was correct. But the few times I’ve been published, it has always been those long shots. (Brief note: I still follow the submission guidelines for each magazine.  Always fellow the submission guidelines).

What this whole pattern seems to suggest is that I may not be the best judge of where my poems fit aesthetically in the contemporary tradition.  Or, maybe editors get sick and tired of reading poems that deal with the same themes or are written same style over and over.  Ultimately, I think the advice should be to read literary magazines, and if you find the work exciting submit even if it seems like a long shot.

“On Returning to Tent Rocks with Friends” is Published.

New Mexico is different from any other place.  “But,” you may say, “that is true of all states.”  I agree, dear reader, but I doubt people from Ohio ever have to explain that Ohio is part of the United States.  Unfortunately, us New Mexicans must often explain that “No, we are part of the United States, not part of Mexico,” and really that is just tip of the iceberg.

New Mexico is currently celebrating its bicentennial.  One of the many events honoring New Mexico’s 200 years of statehood is 200 New Mexican Poems, an awesome online anthology that you should check out.

I’m honored that my poem, “On Returning to Tent Rocks with Friends,” is 1 of the 200 hundred.

“The Scars Left by Water” is Published

I just wanted to share some good news: the anthology La Llorona has just come out, which features my poem “The Scars Left by Water.”  The poems and stories in this anthology all deal with the legend of La Llorona, the weeping woman who haunts the water ways of the American South West and Mexico.  The anthology also features other great writers such as Jennifer Givhan, Richard Vargas, Jules Nyquist.  If you like folklore and good writing you should check it out.

Reasons to Submit

Vida’s 2011 count is in, and it looks a lot like the numbers from 2010.   Oh there have been some improvements—Granta had more women authors—but overall the field is still male dominated.   There are many complex reasons for these numbers.  A ton has already been written about them, and I am not in positions to try to understand everything that contributes to them.

However, one thing that contributes to these numbers is that a very particular type of male perspective is often treated as the default or the “normal” one, and all other perspectives are in turn “abnormal.”  This may mean that some work is dismissed as unimportant, as has been done to many women authors who write about domestic issue.  Hell, even a writer as important as Jane Austen gets criticized for writing books about marriage.  This bias may also mean that when a woman writes about other topics her perspective is dismissed as unrealistic.  I’ve known non-fiction writers who when writing about harassment, abuse, and assault were called liars by their classmates.   This bias doesn’t just affect women, but men who are of a different race, religion, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status than the “norm.”

I’m not saying that this bias is the only or even the major cause of the low numbers, but I think that it plays a role in them.  Hell, I’ve been guilty of subscribing to this bias, why else would I think, as a teenager, it was weird that I, a female, would want to explore horror, death, religion and myth in my writing?

As I’ve been reading the comments and articles on Vida’s count, I see one point brought up again and again: what are the numbers of women submitting.  This question is a legitimate one, but much to my chagrin it’s often use to dismiss the numbers.  If less women are submitting we should ask why, not claim that there’s no problem.  Also, I would like to note that no one—based on what I’ve read—has compiled actual numbers on how many women submit.

I submit a lot, but now I’m going to redouble my efforts.  In fact, I would like to imagine that whenever a woman writer hears someone say “The reason women don’t get published is because they don’t submit,” she’ll say to herself “Well, I’ll fix that,” and submits even more.  I hope that when anyone—regardless  of gender, race, religion, sexual-orientation, or class—sees that they are underrepresented, that their stories are not being told, they will then drown publications with their submissions.